Tom Priestley, the British film editor whose work assembling the dueling-banjos sequence and hellish “squeal like a pig” attack in John Boorman’s Deliverance landed him an Oscar nomination, has died. He was 91.
His death on Christmas Day was only recently revealed.
Priestley also cut two other movies helmed by Boorman: Leo the Last (1970), which won the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival, and Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977).
He also edited The Great Gatsby (1974); Blake Edwards’ The Return of the Pink Panther (1975); That Lucky Touch (1975), starring Roger Moore; Voyage of the Damned (1976), featuring an all-star cast; and Roman Polanski’s Tess (1979).
Priestley was the only son of renowned British novelist and playwright J.B. Priestley, who wrote the classic 1945 drama An Inspector Calls for the theater and served as a BBC Radio broadcaster during the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II.
Upon its release in 1972, Deliverance became the...
His death on Christmas Day was only recently revealed.
Priestley also cut two other movies helmed by Boorman: Leo the Last (1970), which won the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival, and Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977).
He also edited The Great Gatsby (1974); Blake Edwards’ The Return of the Pink Panther (1975); That Lucky Touch (1975), starring Roger Moore; Voyage of the Damned (1976), featuring an all-star cast; and Roman Polanski’s Tess (1979).
Priestley was the only son of renowned British novelist and playwright J.B. Priestley, who wrote the classic 1945 drama An Inspector Calls for the theater and served as a BBC Radio broadcaster during the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II.
Upon its release in 1972, Deliverance became the...
- 2/19/2024
- by Rhett Bartlett
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Herbert “Cowboy” Coward, who as the sadistic toothless man in John Boorman’s Deliverance terrorized canoeists and audiences alike with the chilling line, “He got a real pretty mouth, ain’t he?,” has been killed in a car accident. He was 85.
Coward died Wednesday when the Nissan he was driving was struck by a pickup truck driven by a 16-year-old in Haywood County, North Carolina, North Carolina State Highway Patrol officials told Wlos-tv.
Coward; his girlfriend, Bertha Brooks; and two pets, a chihuahua and a squirrel, died at the scene, they said. The other driver was taken to a hospital. No charges have been filed.
In the early 1960s, Burt Reynolds was making $100 a week falling off rooftops as a stuntman at the Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, when he first met Coward, who was there playing an outlaw character named Pa Clanton.
Coward died Wednesday when the Nissan he was driving was struck by a pickup truck driven by a 16-year-old in Haywood County, North Carolina, North Carolina State Highway Patrol officials told Wlos-tv.
Coward; his girlfriend, Bertha Brooks; and two pets, a chihuahua and a squirrel, died at the scene, they said. The other driver was taken to a hospital. No charges have been filed.
In the early 1960s, Burt Reynolds was making $100 a week falling off rooftops as a stuntman at the Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, when he first met Coward, who was there playing an outlaw character named Pa Clanton.
- 1/25/2024
- by Rhett Bartlett
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
John Boorman’s Deliverance arguably has two signature scenes. One is harmless enough, the “duelling banjos” sequence where a young Ronny Cox goes up against a local banjo-picking country boy played by Billy Redden, although it has a foreboding end. The second sequence, which gave rise to the term “squeal like a pig,” has lived on in nightmares for the entire half-century since this film made its theatrical debut in 1972. But, while everyone knows those scenes, Boorman’s white-knuckle thriller is often dismissed, and in this episode of Wtf Happened to this Movie, we dig into the Jon Voight and Burt Reynolds-led classic.
Deliverance tells the tale of some Atlanta businessmen who decide to canoe down a river in the Georgia wilderness before it gets damned. They are led by Reynolds’ Lewis, a swaggering, macho outdoorsman. Jon Voight’s Ed is his best friend, a more casual outdoorsman, while...
Deliverance tells the tale of some Atlanta businessmen who decide to canoe down a river in the Georgia wilderness before it gets damned. They are led by Reynolds’ Lewis, a swaggering, macho outdoorsman. Jon Voight’s Ed is his best friend, a more casual outdoorsman, while...
- 10/5/2022
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
Lynn Stalmaster, who was the first casting director to receive an Academy Award, died today at home in Los Angeles. He was 93 and his death was confirmed by Laura Adler of the Casting Society of America.
Stalmaster had a legendary vision for casting. He is credited with moving Dustin Hoffman into The Graduate, Christopher Reeve as Superman, and tabbing the young John Travolta for TV comedy classic Welcome Back, Kotter, among many others.
The November 2016 Governors Awards saw Stalmaster become the first casting director to receive an Academy Award. The honorary Oscar recognized his long and meritorious career.
Stalmaster also had another notable achievement: on Norman Jewison’s 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair Stalmaster became the first casting director to receive a single-card credit in the titles.
Stalmaster has more than 400 casting credits among them such classics as Inherit the Wind (1960), The Great Escape (1963), In the Heat of the Night (1967), They Shoot Horses,...
Stalmaster had a legendary vision for casting. He is credited with moving Dustin Hoffman into The Graduate, Christopher Reeve as Superman, and tabbing the young John Travolta for TV comedy classic Welcome Back, Kotter, among many others.
The November 2016 Governors Awards saw Stalmaster become the first casting director to receive an Academy Award. The honorary Oscar recognized his long and meritorious career.
Stalmaster also had another notable achievement: on Norman Jewison’s 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair Stalmaster became the first casting director to receive a single-card credit in the titles.
Stalmaster has more than 400 casting credits among them such classics as Inherit the Wind (1960), The Great Escape (1963), In the Heat of the Night (1967), They Shoot Horses,...
- 2/13/2021
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Tarence Ray and Tom Sexton from the Trillbilly Worker’s Party take Joe and Josh on a cinematic journey through the South.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011)
The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia (2009)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
Deliverance (1972)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Boogie Nights (1997)
In Bruges (2008)
The Birds (1963)
Cleopatra (1963)
The Blind Side (2009)
Moneyball (2011)
Next of Kin (1989)
Speed (1994)
Gravity (2013)
Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
Hustle and Flow (2005)
Black Snake Moan (2007)
Dolemite Is My Name (2019)
Black Snake (1973)
Mandy (2018)
Sling Blade (1996)
One False Move (1992)
The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
George Washington (2000)
Prince Avalanche (2013)
Halloween (1978)
Halloween (2018)
Halloween: H20 (1998)
Halloween (2007)
Joe (2014)
All The Real Girls (2003)
Chrystal (2005)
The Accountant (2001)
O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000)
Wild River (1960)
The Ladykillers (2004)
The Ladykillers (1956)
Baywatch (2017)
Tin Men (1987)
52 Pick-Up (1986)
Gremlins (1984)
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Mad Max (1978)
Mad Max 2 – The Road Warrior (1980)
Alien (1979)
Aliens (1986)
Fire Down Below (1997)
Coal Miner’s Daughter...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011)
The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia (2009)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
Deliverance (1972)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Boogie Nights (1997)
In Bruges (2008)
The Birds (1963)
Cleopatra (1963)
The Blind Side (2009)
Moneyball (2011)
Next of Kin (1989)
Speed (1994)
Gravity (2013)
Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
Hustle and Flow (2005)
Black Snake Moan (2007)
Dolemite Is My Name (2019)
Black Snake (1973)
Mandy (2018)
Sling Blade (1996)
One False Move (1992)
The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
George Washington (2000)
Prince Avalanche (2013)
Halloween (1978)
Halloween (2018)
Halloween: H20 (1998)
Halloween (2007)
Joe (2014)
All The Real Girls (2003)
Chrystal (2005)
The Accountant (2001)
O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000)
Wild River (1960)
The Ladykillers (2004)
The Ladykillers (1956)
Baywatch (2017)
Tin Men (1987)
52 Pick-Up (1986)
Gremlins (1984)
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Mad Max (1978)
Mad Max 2 – The Road Warrior (1980)
Alien (1979)
Aliens (1986)
Fire Down Below (1997)
Coal Miner’s Daughter...
- 5/5/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Eric Weissberg, who arranged, played banjo on and won a Grammy for “Dueling Banjos,” from the 1972 movie Deliverance, died Sunday of Alzheimer’s disease complications. He was 80.
His son, Will Weissberg, confirmed the news to our sister publication Rolling Stone.
More from DeadlineNotable Hollywood & Entertainment Industry Deaths In 2020: Photo GalleryLifetime Casts Trio In Pilot 'The Lottery', Duo In 'Deliverance Creek'Pilots 'Eye Candy' & 'Deliverance Creek' Cast Regulars
Born on August 16, 1939, in New York City, Weissberg was a bluegrass musician from an early age, having seen Pete Seeger play at his school in Greenwich Village, and went on to attend the Juilliard School of Music in the 1950s. He also played guitar, mandolin, fiddle, pedal steel, and string bass.
He also became a frequent collaborator of Tom Paxton and Judy Collins and worked as a session man for such acts as Bob Dylan, Talking Heads,...
His son, Will Weissberg, confirmed the news to our sister publication Rolling Stone.
More from DeadlineNotable Hollywood & Entertainment Industry Deaths In 2020: Photo GalleryLifetime Casts Trio In Pilot 'The Lottery', Duo In 'Deliverance Creek'Pilots 'Eye Candy' & 'Deliverance Creek' Cast Regulars
Born on August 16, 1939, in New York City, Weissberg was a bluegrass musician from an early age, having seen Pete Seeger play at his school in Greenwich Village, and went on to attend the Juilliard School of Music in the 1950s. He also played guitar, mandolin, fiddle, pedal steel, and string bass.
He also became a frequent collaborator of Tom Paxton and Judy Collins and worked as a session man for such acts as Bob Dylan, Talking Heads,...
- 3/24/2020
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Since the 2016 presidential election, Americans have been urged to reach “outside the bubble.” As Donald Trump’s presidential victory made the deep divisions in this country painfully clear, the following years have only solidified the belief on both sides that half the country is completely unreachable. In the new documentary “Hillbilly,” filmmakers Ashley York and Sally Rubin posit that no group is more misunderstood than Appalachian Americans, a group that has either been totally neglected by the media or unjustly maligned with caricatures and stereotypes.
The official synopsis reads: “‘hillbilly’ goes on a personal and political journey into the heart of the Appalachian coalfields, exploring the role of media representation in the creation of the iconic American ‘hillbilly,’ and examining the social, cultural, and political underpinnings of this infamous stereotype. Filmed in Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, ‘hillbilly’ uncovers an unexpected set of artists, poets, activists, queer musicians,...
The official synopsis reads: “‘hillbilly’ goes on a personal and political journey into the heart of the Appalachian coalfields, exploring the role of media representation in the creation of the iconic American ‘hillbilly,’ and examining the social, cultural, and political underpinnings of this infamous stereotype. Filmed in Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, ‘hillbilly’ uncovers an unexpected set of artists, poets, activists, queer musicians,...
- 12/11/2018
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
After his first, and very popular, top ten for Blogomatic3000 on virus outbreaks in the movies, author and critic Kim Newman is back once again with and all-new Top 10 inspired by the eminent release of the awesome comedy horror Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, which hits stores next week…
The clever joke at the heart of the witty horror comedy Tucker and Dale vs Evil is that college kids who go camping in the backwoods have seen so many movies about degenerate, inbred killer hillbillies they’re terrified even of basically sweet-natured, if ill-groomed folks like the eponymous duo played by Tyler Lebine and Alan Tudyk. In truth, the American cinema hasn’t been especially enlightened in its depiction of the rural poor of the Appalachians and other mountainous backwoods regions, but it hasn’t presented quite as overwhelmingly negative a vision as you might think.
Here’s a run-down...
The clever joke at the heart of the witty horror comedy Tucker and Dale vs Evil is that college kids who go camping in the backwoods have seen so many movies about degenerate, inbred killer hillbillies they’re terrified even of basically sweet-natured, if ill-groomed folks like the eponymous duo played by Tyler Lebine and Alan Tudyk. In truth, the American cinema hasn’t been especially enlightened in its depiction of the rural poor of the Appalachians and other mountainous backwoods regions, but it hasn’t presented quite as overwhelmingly negative a vision as you might think.
Here’s a run-down...
- 9/23/2011
- by Phil
- Nerdly
10. Lonnie – Deliverance (1972)
‘If you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise…’ Never have truer words been rung than these for a small band of city boys, led by Burt Reynolds, as they decide to take one last canoe trip up the river. Their first sign that something wasn’t quite right should have been banjo-picking hillbilly boy, Lonnie (Billy Redden). With a face only a mother/sister could love, this walking deformity is kind enough to offer us a friendly smile when we first encounter him – it’s a gift we soon regret as pure revulsion is revealed in the young one’s toothless, inbred grin…
What did we learn?: The next time a woodsman tells you you’ve got a pretty mouth… run!
9. The Grady Twins – The Shining (1980)
You know how it is – you’ve got psychic issues, your mum’s a...
‘If you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise…’ Never have truer words been rung than these for a small band of city boys, led by Burt Reynolds, as they decide to take one last canoe trip up the river. Their first sign that something wasn’t quite right should have been banjo-picking hillbilly boy, Lonnie (Billy Redden). With a face only a mother/sister could love, this walking deformity is kind enough to offer us a friendly smile when we first encounter him – it’s a gift we soon regret as pure revulsion is revealed in the young one’s toothless, inbred grin…
What did we learn?: The next time a woodsman tells you you’ve got a pretty mouth… run!
9. The Grady Twins – The Shining (1980)
You know how it is – you’ve got psychic issues, your mum’s a...
- 4/14/2010
- by admin@shadowlocked.com (Michael Burgess)
- Shadowlocked
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