Winchell - DaaVeeDee

Winchell (DVD) (*)

~~$22.99~~ $16.97

Screened, competed or awarded at:
Emmy Awards
Golden Globes
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )
German ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )
German ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Germany ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
101 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Trailer(s)

Movie filmed in 1998 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Paul Mazursky

Written By:
Herman Klurfeld (book)
Scott Abbott (teleplay)

Actors:
Stanley Tucci ..... Walter Winchell
Glenne Headly ..... Dallas Wayne
Paul Giamatti ..... Herman Klurfeld
Christopher Plummer ..... Franklin D. Roosevelt
Xander Berkeley ..... Gavreau
Kevin Tighe ..... William Randolph Hearst
Frank Medrano ..... Melvin Diamond
Vic Polizos ..... Sam Hague
Paula Cale ..... Mrs. Klurfeld
Megan Mullally ..... June Winchell
Victoria Gabrielle Platt ..... Josephine Baker
John F. O'Donohue ..... Harry The Doorman
Michael Greene ..... Bellamy
Rod McCary ..... Emcee
Jonathan Aaron ..... Rabbi

Synopsis:

In the 20's, the controversial New Yorker journalist Walter Winchell begins his career writing gossips about his acquaintances. He is hired by the New York Daily Mirror and using inside information from informers, he becomes the first American gossip columnist. He becomes successful and is invited to host a successful broadcast show in the radio. In the 30's, he attacks Adolf Hitler and befriends President Franklin D. Roosevelt. After the World War II, Winchell attacks the communists and becomes a collaborator of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Winchell is not able to adapt his show to the audience of television and when McCarthy is censured by the Senate, Winchell becomes unpopular and his career virtually ends.

Biopic of the controversial muckraking journalist Walter Winchell. After spending 12 years in vaudeville, Winchell began writing a column in the New York Mirror. Part gossip, part half-truths, the reporting focused on well-known or prominent individuals and their dalliances. Winchell grew in popularity, particularly when he started his weekly Sunday night radio show. His reporting became more political in the late 1930s when he railed against Hitler. His star began to fall in the 1950's when Josephine Baker was refused service at the Stork Club and Winchell allegedly refused to do anything about it. The end came with his support of Sen. Joseph McCarthy and his own rabid anti-communism. Following McCarthy's style, Winchell accused anyone who stood in his way of being a communist. Soon, he found himself facing lawsuits, a failed attempt at a television show and eventually, the cancellation of his radio show.

Biography of 1950s gossip columnist and radio show announcer Walter Winchell who wrote in a very unorthodox style, but grabbed the public's attention with his dirt on public figures. However, as shown, he lived far from a clean life himself. He lived out of a hotel room away from his family where he fraternized with a known prostitute who was, of course, seeking to make her break in show business.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 15 November, 2005.