Rosebud (1975)

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Paul Bonnecarrere (novel)
Joan Hemingway (novel)

Release Date:

24 March 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Thriller | Action

Plot:

In a bold coup a Palestinian terrorist group capers the yacht Rosebud and kidnaps the 5 millionaires daughters on it...

Plot Keywords:

High Society | Kidnapping | Debut Film | Middle East | Terrorism

Cast

Peter O'Toole	...	Larry Martin
Richard Attenborough	...	Edward Sloat
Cliff Gorman	...	Yafet Hemlekh
Claude Dauphin	...	Charles-Andre Fargeau
John V. Lindsay	...	Sen. Donnovan
Peter Lawford	...	Lord Carter
Raf Vallone	...	George Nikolaos
Adrienne Corri	...	Lady Carter
Amidou	...	Kirkbane
Joseph Shiloach	...	Hacam (as Yosef Shiloach)
Brigitte Ariel	...	Sabine
Isabelle Huppert	...	Helene Nikolaos
Lalla Ward	...	Margaret
Kim Cattrall	...	Joyce Donnovan
Debra Berger	...	Gertrude

Runtime:

Germany:121 min | USA:126 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | West Germany:18 (nf) | UK:15 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:18 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Bastia, Haute-Corse, France

Company:

Oting SA

Trivia:

Robert Mitchum was originally cast in the lead, but shortly after filming began he and director Otto Preminger had a major blowup and Mitchum either quit (according to Mitchum) or was fired (according to Preminger). Peter O'Toole was hired to replace him.

Movie Connections:

References Citizen Kane (1941)

Soundtrack:

I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City

This film is no disaster movie...

...but it's a total disaster - unbelievably bad, horrible, it's one of those thrillers where you keep thinking: The plot HAS to thicken now, there MUST be some action coming up etc. - But then you realize: more than one hour has passed, and nothing seems to fit. The timing is painfully slow, there are several rather silly and absurdly boring scenes instead of hardly any good action or suspense, and - alas - it's all in vain because then you realize there is no time left for the movie to get its act together.

"Rosebud" is a complete mess, albeit with an impressive cast. But what should one really think of skin-and-bones Peter O'Toole in the lead as a secret agent (whose charms are as limited as could be, given his wooden appearance), what should one think of Richard Attenborough in an absolutely grotesque rôle? The anamorphic cinematography and Laurent Petitgirard's score are quite fine, but that's about it.

This movie leaves the impression of some talent-free director trying to imitate a decent spy thriller without any acceptable script at his hands (I didn't happen to read the novel, but it must have been better, considering its popularity in the 70s). But the bitter truth is that renowned director Otto Preminger, one of the really great Hollywood filmmakers, the maker of "Laura", "Anatomy of a Murder", "Exodus", was responsible for this bummer. How on earth could this happen??