Auto Focus (2002)

A story about "Hogan's Heroes" star Bob Crane and his friendship with John Carpenter.

Director:

Paul Schrader

Writers:

Robert Graysmith (book), Michael Gerbosi

Stars:

Greg Kinnear, Willem Dafoe, Rita Wilson

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Greg Kinnear	...	Bob Crane
Willem Dafoe	...	John Carpenter
Rita Wilson	...	Anne Crane
Maria Bello	...	Patricia Olson / Patrica Crane / Sigrid Valdis
Ron Leibman	...	Lenny
Bruce Solomon	...	Edward H. Feldman
Michael E. Rodgers	...	Richard Dawson (as Michael Rodgers)
Kurt Fuller	...	Werner Klemperer
Christopher Neiman	...	Robert Clary
Lyle Kanouse	...	John Banner
Donnamarie Recco	...	Melissa / Mistress Victoria
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Mel Rosen
Michael McKean	...	Video Executive
Cheryl Lynn Bowers	...	Cynthia Lynn
Don McManus	...	Priest

Storyline

In 1965, Bob Crane, who had achieved some earlier success as a television supporting actor, was working as a successful morning radio DJ at KNX Los Angeles. Despite enjoying his work, photography (especially of the female form) and drumming, Crane wanted to be a movie star. So it was with some reluctance that he accepted the title starring role in a new television sitcom called Hogan's Heroes, a WWII POW comedy. To his surprise, the show became a hit and catapulted him to television stardom. The fame resulting from the show led to excesses and a meeting with home video salesman and technician John Carpenter, with who he would form a friendship based on their mutual interests, namely excessive sex (for Crane, purely heterosexual sex) and capturing nude females on celluloid. His fame allowed Crane to have as much sex as he wanted, which was incongruent to his somewhat wholesome television friendly image, and the way he portrayed himself to almost everyone except Carpenter and his ...

---

Plot Keywords:

sex | friendship | video | radio | arizona | 

---

Taglines:

A day without sex is a day wasted.

---

Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexuality, nudity, language, some drug use and violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 November 2002 (Canada)

Also Known As:

A szexfüggő

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$123,761 (USA) (18 October 2002)

Gross:

$2,062,066 (USA) (24 January 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Puller Inc., Good Machine, Propaganda Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The bald actor who plays a reporter interviewing Crane about midway through the film is Crane's real son, Bob Crane Jr. (Robert David Crane).

---

Goofs

Toward the end of the film, John Carpenter says that everyone's getting into "Betacam". However, that video format was introduced by Sony in 1982 for professional use, four years after Bob Crane's death. What they meant to say was "Betamax", the consumer format, which debuted in 1975.

---

Quotes

[dream sequence]
Bob Crane Jr. at 12: Go balls deep, pop!

---

Connections

References Celebrity Cooks (1975)

---

Soundtracks

"Give It What You Got"
Written by Soloman Roberts
Performed by B.T. Express
Courtesy of Roadshow Music Corporation/Music and Media International, Inc.
By Arrangement with June St. Entertainment

User Reviews

The Weird Story Of Bob Crane

As anyone who is reading this knows, this was the story of TV's Bob Crane, star of "Hogan's Heroes," a popular show in the 1960s. The story of Crane, the one that makes him a subject of a major motion picture of his life, are two things: 1 - the good-guy TV hero was, behind the scenes, a huge sex addict; 2 - he was murdered, with no one ever convicted of the crime. To this day, it is still unsolved.

The movie hints very strongly that the killer was Bob Carpenter, played here by Willem Dafoe. Carpenter was a close friend of Crane's. Greg Kinnear does a credible job of portraying the television star.

However, the part about Crane's murder is only dealt with in the final minutes of the film! That was very disappointing and I was hoping to find out something or at least be given more information. They just kind tacked this on the end of the film.

Most of the film was about Crane's and Carpenter's escapades with women.....lots of women, beautiful and big-chested women, which you see in abundance in this film. Dafoe is the sleazy friend who introduces Crane to the beginning of the VCR age. That led to a whole bunch of sex-on-film and really whetted Crane's big sexual appetite.

Anyway, for people who watched "Hogan's Heroes," and there were plenty, this is a bio of him and perhaps, for those who know nothing about his death, who killed him.