The Big Brass Ring (1999)

Blake Pellarin is on the campaign trail to become Governor of the state of Missouri. While making a stop in St. Louis, a chance encounter brings his past back to haunt him. Will the truth ... See full summary »

Director:

George Hickenlooper

Writers:

Orson Welles (earlier screenplay), Oja Kodar (earlier screenplay)

Stars:

William Hurt, Nigel Hawthorne, Miranda Richardson

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Hurt	...	Blake
Nigel Hawthorne	...	Kim
Miranda Richardson	...	Dinah
Irène Jacob	...	Cela (as Irene Jacob)
Ewan Stewart	...	Kinzel
Gregg Henry	...	Billy
Ron Livingston	...	Sheldon Buckle
Jefferson Mays	...	Garne Strickland
Jim Metzler	...	Pacxy Barragan
Carmine Giovinazzo	...	Young Billy
Thomas Patrick Kelly	...	Young Blake
Mack Harrell	...	Homer Dix
Lisette Bross	...	B.C. Dix
F. Joseph Schulte	...	Senator Jack Moorehead
Peggy Freisen	...	Gigi Moorehead (as Peggy Friesen)

Storyline

Blake Pellarin is on the campaign trail to become Governor of the state of Missouri. While making a stop in St. Louis, a chance encounter brings his past back to haunt him. Will the truth ruin his chances for office or will he land the "Big Brass Ring"?

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Plot Keywords:

suspected homosexual | based on short film | nudity | remake | election | 

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Taglines:

In pursuit of power, the only thing worse than denying the truth - is telling it.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some graphic sexuality, and for language and some violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

George Hickenlooper and F.X. Feeney heavily re-wrote the screenplay and made substantial changes from the Orson Welles script (published in 1991 by the University of Santa Barbara Press). Welles' script concerned Senator Pellarin, a Democratic Presidential candidate in 1984 (closely modelled on Senator Gary Hart), and his troubled relationship with his disgraced homosexual mentor Kim Minnaker, a one-time Roosevelt New Deal Democrat, who was now living in exile as advisor to the corrupt government of an unnamed African dictatorship. Hickenlooper retained the basic concept, but instead re-cast Pellarin as a candidate for Governor of Missouri, and Minnaker as living in Cuba, while much of the dialogue was re-written and re-interpreted. None of Welles' satire of Reagan-era politics was retained in the final movie, while several key scenes, like a charged confrontation between Pellarin and Minnaker on a Ferris wheel, were also omitted.

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Goofs

In the scene just after Blake (Hurt) and Brandini (Jacob) make love, she is still in bed and is trying to encourage Blake to come public with the truth. She suggests that she might expose him if he doesn't. Blake then yanks the bed covers off exposing her completely naked body. But in the next second, closeup, she is seen with something covering her from the waist down.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Kim: Abraham Lincoln said it best: it is common enough that we triumph under adversity, but if you truly wish to test a man's character, give him power.

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Connections

References Citizen Kane (1941)

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Soundtracks

Then She'll Be Mine
Composed by Fuller French
Used by permission of Fuller French

User Reviews

True & False, adapting Orson Welles

Many viewers have raised the issue about how true or false this film is to the original screenplay Orson Welles developed in 1982 with Oja Kodar. Because I wrote the many final drafts of the screenplay directed by George Hickenlooper, I can comment with authority. (Fear not -- I'll avoid spoilers.)

On the surface it is a very free adaptation. Underneath, it is highly faithful... Welles's original script was set in Spain and the Congo. We set ours along the Mississipi and in Cuba. Nevertheless, the characters have kept their original names and essential personalities through the many adaptations George and I devised (whether separately or together) between 1991 and '98.

Welles's tale centered on a Presidential hopeful who escapes his wealthy wife's yacht and pursues a clandestine adventure with his aged political mentor (a part Welles wrote for himself). This grand sage, a fallen Lucifer of American politics, was a candidate for President in his own prime -- until he was outed as a homosexual. In Welles's original, the two old friends engage in a psychological chess match involving a long-vanished woman they both know. In ours, they play an equally rough game over a long-lost brother.

(Welles himself had a troubled brother, Richard, who shadowed him throughout his life. THAT felt like a deeper wound to explore in Welles's wake than the ghost of a missing mistress.)

In both versions, the reunion between the hero and his old mentor sparks a dark merry go round of busy pursuits. An ambitious reporter modeled on Italy's Oriana Fallaci chases Blake and flirts with him, and tries to penetrate the secret of his soul, particularly his connection to the old man. The candidate's wife (jealous of the mentor) schemes and looses a murderous espionage agent on the old man's tail.

Details vary, sometimes wildly, between what Welles conceived and what we executed. My wish in retrospect is that we had played certain cards face up in terms of story secrets. (I won't say which ones here -- no spoilers!) More and more, I'm convinced that Hitchcock was right to keep as few secrets as possible from HIS audience. Less confusing AND more suspenseful!

Were we wrong to take liberties? No. A film must be a living thing. As Welles always advised young filmmakers, "Be Bold!" He is after all the guy who conflated five Shakespeare plays into a single new one centered on the character Falstaff -- CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT.

I'm giving this movie only a "7 out of 10" out of respect to everyone who adds posts to this board yet is NOT one of the filmmakers. (I'm too close to be objective: My heart says, "Give it a ten." Flaws and all, I'm very proud of it.)

I can offer one bit of impartial praise: William Hurt, Nigel Hawthorne, Miranda Richardson, Irene Jacob, Jeff Mayes and Ewan Stewart all give superb, multi layered performances. Welles could have asked for no better group to embody the characters he originated.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Latin

Release Date:

23 June 2000 (Spain)

Also Known As:

The Big Brass Ring

Filming Locations:

St. Louis City Hall - 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Millennium Films, Pfilmco

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1