Cutter's Way (1981)

Director:

Ivan Passer

Writers:

Newton Thornburg (novel)
Jeffrey Alan Fiskin (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 April 1982 (Ireland)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Cutter does everything his way. Fighting. Loving. Working. Tracking down a killer.

Plot:

Richard spots a man dumping a body, and decides to expose the man he thinks is the culprit with his friend Alex Cutter.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Southern California | Cane | Melancholy | False Accusation

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	Richard Bone
John Heard	...	Alex Cutter
Lisa Eichhorn	...	'Mo'
Ann Dusenberry	...	Valerie Duran
Stephen Elliott	...	J. J. Cord
Arthur Rosenberg	...	George Swanson
Nina van Pallandt	...	Woman in the Hotel (as Nina Van Pallandt)
Patricia Donahue	...	Mrs. Cord
Geraldine Baron	...	Susie Swanson
Katherine Pass	...	Toyota Woman
Francis X. McCarthy	...	Toyota Man (as Frank McCarthy)
George Planco	...	Toyota Cop
Jay Fletcher	...	Cord Security Guard
George Dickerson	...	Mortician
Jack Murdock	...	Concession Owner
Essex Smith	...	Black #1
Rod Gist	...	Black #2
Leonard Lightfoot	...	Black #3
Julia Duffy	...	Young Girl
Randy Shepard	...	Young Man
Roy Hollis	...	Working Stiff
Billy Drago	...	Garbage Man
Caesar Cordova	...	Garbage Truck Driver
Jonathan Terry	...	Police Captain (as Jon Terry)
William Pelt	...	Detective #1
Ron Marcroft	...	Detective #2
Ted White	...	Guard #1
Tony Epper	...	Guard #2
Andy Epper	...	Guard #3
Chris Howell	...	Guard #4
H.P. Evetts	...	Guard #5 (as H.P. Eveetts)
Ron Burke	...	Guard #6
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mark Valenti	...	Party guest (uncredited)

Directed by
Ivan Passer

Writing credits
Newton Thornburg		(novel "Cutter and Bone")
Jeffrey Alan Fiskin		(screenplay)

Produced by
Larry J. Franco	....	associate producer (as Larry Franco)
Paul R. Gurian	....	producer
Barrie M. Osborne	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Jack Nitzsche

Cinematography by
Jordan Cronenweth		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Caroline Biggerstaff		(as Caroline Ferriol)

Casting by
Susan Shaw

Production Design by
Josan F. Russo

Art Direction by
Josan F. Russo		(as Josan Russo)

Set Decoration by
Thomas L. Roysden

Makeup Department
Lola 'Skip' McNalley	....	hair stylist
Ben Nye Jr.	....	makeup artist
Bron Roylance	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Barrie M. Osborne	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jeffrey Chernov	....	second assistant director
Larry J. Franco	....	first assistant director (as Larry Franco)
Jim Van Wyck	....	dga trainee

Art Department
Gary Fettis	....	lead man
Robert Scaife	....	construction coordinator (as Robert E. Scaife)
'Dangerous' Bob Widin	....	assistant property master
John Zemansky	....	property master

Sound Department
Gregg Barbanell	....	supervising sound editor: Mag City
Robert L. Harman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Petur Hliddal	....	production sound mixer
Ron Horwitz	....	supervising sound editor
Hudson B. Marquez	....	boom operator (as Hudson Marquez)
William L. McCaughey	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bob Newlan	....	assistant sound editor
Jim Stuebe	....	cable person (as James Stuebe)
Howard S. Wollman	....	sound re-recording mixer: Ryder Sound Services (as Howard Wollman)
Gregg Barbanell	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Stunts
Ron Burke	....	stunt person
William H. Burton	....	stunt coordinator (as Bill Burton)
Rita Egleston	....	stunt person
Andy Epper	....	stunt person
Tony Epper	....	stunt person
H.P. Evetts	....	stunt person
June Evetts	....	stunt person
Hugh Hooker	....	stunt person
Chris Howell	....	stunt person
Glynn Rubin	....	stunt person
Jay Salerno	....	stunt person
Ted White	....	stunt person
Loyd Catlett	....	utility stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Cary Griffith	....	key grip
Richard Hart	....	gaffer
Johnny E. Jensen	....	first assistant camera (as Johnny Jensen)
Donald E. Thorin	....	camera operator (as Donald Thorin)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jane Ruhm	....	key costumer

Editorial Department
Donah Bassett	....	negative cutter
Paul Dixon	....	assistant film editor
Aubrey Head	....	color timer
Mark Winitsky	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Eric Harry	....	musician: glass harmonica
David Hassinger	....	music recording engineer
Jack Nitzsche	....	composer: song "We're Old Enough to Know"
Walter Repple	....	musician: zither
Curt Sobel	....	music editor: La Da Productions

Transportation Department
Dennis Hollis	....	transportation coordinator (as Dennis H. Hollis)

Other crew
Joanie Blum	....	script supervisor
Amanda Gill	....	assistant: Mr. Gurian
Josef Lustig	....	assistant: Mr. Passer
Jimmy Medearis	....	head wrangler
Dan Perri	....	title designer
Mark Radcliffe	....	location manager
Elise Rohden	....	production coordinator
Kurt Woolner	....	production accountant

Thanks
Barry A. Ebert	....	thanks: the producer expresses his deepest appreciation to those without whom this picture would not be possible
Deborah Elaine Finn	....	thanks: the producer expresses his deepest appreciation to those without whom this picture would not be possible
William J. Levitt Jr.	....	thanks: the producer expresses his deepest appreciation to those without whom this picture would not be possible
David H. Pittinski	....	thanks: the producer expresses his deepest appreciation to those without whom this picture would not be possible

Production Companies

• Gurian Entertainment

Distributors

• United Artists Classics (1981) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1982) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• La Da Productions  music editing
• Mag City  supervising sound editing
• Ryder Sound Services  sound re-recording (as Ryder Sound Services, Hollywood)
• Grant Avenue Studio  music recording
• Manta Sound Company  music recording (as Manta Sound)
• Music Mix Group IV  music recording
• Panavision  camera equipment: lenses and Panaflex® camera (as Panavision®)
• Technicolor  color (as Technicolor®)
• Movie Magic  opticals
• City of Santa Barbara, The  special thanks (as City of Santa Barbara, California)
• Old Spanish Days  special thanks (as Old Spanish Days, Inc.)
• Cruz Drum Corps  special thanks
• Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)  approval certificate: no. 26264
• International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)  this picture made under the jurisdiction of (as I.A.T.S.E.)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:R | Iceland:L | Canada:R (Ontario) | Australia:M | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Gurian Entertainment

Trivia:

The initial budget was supposed to be $3.3 million but then United Artists executive David Field found out that U.A. would only make the movie if the filmmakers were able to reduce the price tag to under three million dollars. Passer and company played along. Then, United Artists said that the film needed a big name star for it to succeed at the box office. The studio liked Jeff Bridges' work in the dailies for Michael Cimino's opus Heaven's Gate and said that they would only further support the film if the filmmakers got the actor to be in their movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: Just after Bone's car breaks down in the alleyway we see a shot of the second car pulling up behind his and stopping. In the following shot from the inside of Bone's car you can see the the headlights of the second car still moving through the back windscreen.

Quotes:

George Swanson:I'm going to score one for you, Alex.
Alex Cutter:You've been watching too many Babe Ruth movies, George.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Soundtrack:

We're Old Enough to Know

not really "underrated" but more like ignored. This movie is very good.

A friend of mine gave me the novel Cutter and Bone (AKA Cutter's Way) was based on, so that immediately creates a problem, comparing two different art forms.

Forget the novel (by the obscure Newton Thornburg) for this purpose only. The movie is a moving meditation on power, desperation, and paranoia. It is also a great love story.

I always end up writing "...you've read the other comments so you know what this is about" but Cutter and Bone is so many things, it cannot be pinned down easily.

As noted in the favorable reviews here, this is chock full of great film acting that moves the story along as well as making come alive. Who was the clueless shmoe who said "nothing happens"? What movie was he watching?

Adrift in post-Vietnam America, Cutter finally finds something in life that has meaning; the murder of a young hitchhiker.

But any meaning is too much for the damaged Cutter who becomes relentless in the pursuit of a possible killer who also is of the wealthy, powerful elite that sent OPS (other people's sons) to Vietnam. Cutter finally has a genuine target ("he's not anyone Rich, he's RESPONSIBLE" says Cutter to Richard Bone in a great line delivery by John Heard) for his unfocused righteous anger.

Bone tries to sabotage the investigation but ends up buying in at the very end. Why? He has the rage also, as did many Americans who weren't politically active, did not serve in Vietnam. It's a rage that infected a nation with guilt, self-doubt, and eventually, a new hubris, a kind of "never again" attitude toward "less developed" nations that has us yet again on the brink of yet another war in a series of wars that seem to never end and we hardly even notice anymore (remember Grenada? Bombing Tripoli and Benghazi? proxy armies in Nicaragua and El Salvador, etc.?)

The other part of Cutter and Bone is a love triangle and a very well explicated one at that. Cutter and Bone both love Mo who can't love herself. Bone is not as shallow as he appears and it scares him. Cutter is too damaged and angry to love her enough until she is gone.

I've known these people in one way or another, and that is why this movie has always meant so much to me. It is also about a great country I used to live in that began to disappear about the time this movie is set, and has since metamorphosed into a large wounded, angry monster, bereft of the tears for near-paradise lost that this excellent movie depicts.