Oscar Profile #135: David Mamet

Born November 30, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois to Bernard and Lenore Mamet, a lawyer and a teacher, respectively, David Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, film writer and film director. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his 1984 play, Glengarry Glen Ross and Tony awards for that and 1988’s Speed-the-Plow. He is known for Mamet speak, his tendency to write dialogue in which characters either stutter or speak in incomplete sentences.

Mamet’s early works were performed in his native Chicago at the American Theater Company, which he co-founded. His early works included Sexual Perversity in Chicago and American Buffalo. The latter was his first play produced for Boradway in 1977. His A Life in the Theater written that same year was his first filmed work. It was made for PBS.

Mamet’s first filmed screenplay was for the 1981 remake of James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice directed by Bob Rafelson. The script for The Verdict from the novel by Barry Reed, which he had written in the late 1970s was rejected by director Sidney Lumet who had several other writers work on their own versions, one of which was almost filmed. Eventually Mamet re-wrote his to Lumet’s satisfaction. Mamet received the first of his two Oscar nominations for the filmed result.

Other successful films made from Mamet’s screenplays include 1984’s About Last Night…, the film version of Sexual Perversity in Chicago; 1987’s The Untouchables andHouse of Games, the first of twenty films he has directed so far, and 1988’s Things Change. All of this was interspersed with his TV and theater work. He did not have another successful film until the 1992 film version of Glengarry Glen Ross, which was directed b James Foleyy. Subsequent films of note included 1997’s Wag the Dog for which he received his second and last Oscar nomination to date; 1998’s The Spanish Prisoner and Ronin which was written under a pseudonym; 1999’s The Winslow Boy and 2000’s State and Main.

His most recent works include the TV movie, Phil Spector; a remake of About Last Night which is in post-production and Come Back to Sorrento which is in pre-production.

In addition to his unique way of writing dialogue, Mamet is known for casting his friends in his films, most notably first wife Lindsay Crouse (1977-1990) and second wife Rebecca Pidgeon (1991- present). In addition to his writing and directing accomplishments, he has had bit parts as an actor in three films. David Mamet continues to be in high demand at the age of 65.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

THE VERDICT (1982), directed by Sidney Lumet

Mamet’s original script for The Verdict was rejected by Lumet primarily for its ambiguous ending in which the jury goes out and doesn’t come back with a verdict, which per Lumet and just about everyone else was the whole point of the story. After being re-written by others including Jay Presson Allen, whose version was almost filmed, Mamet came back with a satisfactory version in which the verdict is read and everyone except the losing side is happy. The filmed result brought Mamet his first Oscar nomination. It also provided Oscar nods for Paul Newman and James Mason who do some of their best acting ever as opposing lawyers.

HOUSE OF GAMES (1987), directed by David Mamet

Mamet made his directing debut with this psychological thriller. Like many of Mamet’s screenplays, this one centers on a pair of con artists played by Mamet’s wife of then ten years, Lindsay Crouse, and Mamet’s co-Chicagoan, Joe Mantegna. Crouse plays a psychiatrist with a suicidal patient who seeks out Mantegna to try and get the better of him at his own game. The results keep you on the edge of your seat.

GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (1992), directed by James Foley

Mamet wrote an alternately hilarious and disturbing monologue for Alec Baldwin that sets the tone for this dark examination of the soul that wasn’t in his Pulitzer Prize winning play.

Occurring during the course of one night and the following morning in the lives of a group of sleazy real estate salesmen, the film is an acting bonanza for some of the finest actors then working. Al Pacino received an Oscar nomination as the most aggressive of the lot, but Jack Lemmon as the aging, once smooth, now most pathetic of the losers, is the one who gives the film’s most unforgettable performance. Others of note include Alan Arkin, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, Jonathan Pryce and of course, Baldwin.

WAG THE DOG (1997), directed by Barry Levinson

Mamet received his second Oscar nomination for this satire about the machinations behind a Presidential election. Dustin Hoffman also received a nomination for his portrayal of a Hollywood flack, supposedly based on Robert Evans. Filmed in the wake of the Clinton sex scandal, the film has some serious things to say about the way Washington operates, but the satire is so over the top that it loses its punch long before it ends.

STATE AND MAIN (2000), Directed by David Mamet

The residents of a small New England town will do anything to please a film crew that comes to town to make their latest movie in order to obtain their own fifteen minutes of fame. This very funny satire features an all-star cast that includes Alec Baldwin, William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Charles Durning, Patti LuPone and David Paymer. It deservedly won numerous awards for Best Ensemble including that of the National Board of Review.