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:

You can't buy absolution...What you seek is something that can only be given.

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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

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Latin

Release Date:

23 June 2000 (Spain)

Also Known As:

A nagy rézgyûrû

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

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Orson Welles had hoped to direct this movie in the early 1980s, and to play the role of Minnaker, not least as he had been a "New Deal" Democrat close to Franklin D. Roosevelt, but he was unable to attract enough funding. He had been given a list of six "bankable" stars who could play Pellarin, including Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson, Robert Redford, and Burt Reynolds, and was told by investors that if he could sign up one of them, then the movie could be made; but all six actors refused for various reasons, according to Welles' partner Oja Kodar, Redford was unavailable, Nicholson asked for too much money (he would not work for less than two million dollars, which was the entire proposed budget of the movie), while both Eastwood and Reynolds were uncomfortable with the movie's homosexual subtext, fearing its potential effect on their screen images, and Eastwood in particular feeling that it was at odds with his conservative values.

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Goofs

Despite both gubernatorial candidates apparently being from Missouri, they sport deep south accents. This is never explained.

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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

Cocoa Fizz
Composed by Christopher Curtis
(c) 1999 Original Soundtrack Recordings

User Reviews

Citizen Novocaine

It might seem hard to imagine that a movie based on an Orson Welles script, starring William Hurt, Nigel Hawthorne, Natasha Richardson and Irene Jacob couldn't get a theatrical release. Get a snootful of ten or fifteen minutes of this flatliner and you'll understand why. The movie does make one contribution to Welles scholarship: it proves once and for all that in the case of the superhuman Welles, the words of the page were not the main event.