Final Cut: Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven's Gate, the Film that Sank United Artists [Paperback]

Steven Bach (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 16, 1999

Heaven's Gate is probably the most discussed, least seen film in modern movie history. Its notoriety is so great that its title has become a generic term for disaster, for ego run rampant, for epic mismanagement, for wanton extravagance. It was also the film that brought down one of Hollywood’s major studios—United Artists, the company founded in 1919 by Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, D. W. Griffith, and Charlie Chaplin. Steven Bach was senior vice president and head of worldwide production for United Artists at the time of the filming of Heaven's Gate, and apart from the director and producer, the only person to witness the film’s evolution from beginning to end. Combining wit, extraordinary anecdotes, and historical perspective, he has produced a landmark book on Hollywood and its people, and in so doing, tells a story of human absurdity that would have made Chaplin proud.

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

The best account of American moviemaking in the age of conglomerate control of the studios.

Review

"The best account of American moviemaking in the age of conglomerate control of the studios." — Pauline Kael, The New Yorker

"A landmark book on movies…must reading!" —Kirkus Reviews

"A compulsively readable account of adventures in the film trade. An intimate view of what goes on in the corridors of Hollywood power…distinguished by its awesome objectivity." —David Brown, The Zanuck Brown Co.

"Buffs will love this one…inside and fascinating looks at Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Sellers, writer William Goldman, Dino De Laurentiis, Truman Capote, Martin Scorsese, et al." —Newsday

"A riveting, witty and essentially heartbreaking chronicle of a catastrophe…" —Peter Bogdanovich, director of The Last Picture Show

"One of the few indispensable books about Hollywood." —Jack Kroll, Newsweek

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Newmarket Press; Revised Edition edition (August 16, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557043744
• ISBN-13: 978-1557043740
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.2 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #299,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating account of a filmmaking disaster July 12, 2004

By Chris K. Wilson

Format:Paperback

It was called a "runaway," and never has a term been more appropriate. In this case, it was a movie running millions of dollars over budget with an end nowhere in sight. The 1980 film "Heaven's Gate" has become synonymous with failure, its very name punned whenever big-budget productions flirt with disaster. Steven Bach's "Final Cut: Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven's Gate, the Film That Sank United Artists" gives a terrific blow-by-blow account of this gargantuan flop. A former producer at United Artist who suffered the ax after "Heaven's Gate," Bach penned this detailed tome a couple of years after fallout.

The book should be a fascinating account for film lovers. "Final Cut" details the history of United Artists and filmmaking in the 1970s - a truly golden era. At United Artists, Francis Ford Coppola premieres "Apocalypse Now," Woody Allen helms "Manhattan" and Martin Scorsese prepares "Raging Bull." But the man of the hour in 1978 is a quiet guy named Michael Cimino. He just won an Academy Award for directing "The Deer Hunter," and now he wants to make a western - a big, big western.

Bach accurately reveals the difficulties United Artists was going through at this time, losing several long-time executives who jump ship to form the Orion film company. Bach and company, wishing to re-establish United Artists as a major player, take on Cimino's western project. Cimino sets up shop in Montana, the location work a two-hour's drive from the nearest cement road. He ships an antique train across five states to the Montana wilds. He hires over 700 extras. He signs a cast of mainly unknowns including Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, Isabelle Huppert, John Hurt and Sam Waterson. And he films only during the twilight hour, a period right before dusk so scenes will have a golden hue. But what terrifies United Artists most is Cimino is filming 50-60 takes per scene, and printing almost every take. Such obsession was unheard of.

As Bach reveals in "Final Cut," Cimino's western (now hovering around $25 million) was going to have make blockbuster numbers just to turn a profit, performing in the "Jaws" and "Star Wars" neighborhoods. United Artists attempts to fire Cimino, at one point even asking David Lean to take over. Cimino realizes the dire situation, finally bucks up and finishes the film. With promotional and post-production fees, "Heaven's Gate" cost United Artists $44 million - the most expensive film in history up to that time.

Heaven's Gate is premiered in New York, a three-and-a-half hour monstrosity that receives devastatingly bad reviews. It is eventually released to the theaters and makes $1.8 million. It is the biggest bomb in motion picture history (cue dead elephant hitting the cement). Heads roll at the studio, Cimino's career is finished and United Artists, a film company created by Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, is purchased by MGM to disappear forever into the sunset.

Cimino's "Heaven's Gate" spelled the end of the free-spirited, amazingly creative decade of the 1970s. Producers and studios took the reins out of the hands of superstar directors (Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" ran a similar "Heaven's Gate" route, but he pulled success from the fires of disaster, perhaps inspiring this debacle as much as anything else). "Final Cut" is a tragedy exposing the end of a golden era of filmmaking and a once-great studio. It's as good as an Irwin Allen disaster film, and a lot cheaper.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down - compelling story still relevant October 26, 1999

By James P. Lammers

Format:Paperback

Steven Bach's account of the "Heaven's Gate" fiasco has never been more relevant than now. With weed-like conglomerate corporate growth each day and the Dilbert-like stupidity spawned in most corporate environments, this book should serve as a lesson to many of us.

His compelling story of divided responsibility, group thinking and diluted control goes a long way to explaining the excesses of Cimino and the movie.

Bach writes beautifully and directly. He covers the machinations of the story from the corporate side only. I wished for more of the on-the-set stories - the book would have been improved with a few chapters by someone who witnessed the on-set story. One hilarious on-set story I heard about "Heaven's Gate" before reading this book described how the director needed more space in the street and wanted sets on both sides of the street destroyed and rebuilt 6 feet back. Someone suggested destroying and rebuilding one side only, 12 feet back, and saving half the cost. Cimino told him that it wouldn't have the same feel, and they commenced destroying and rebuilding the entire set! Although these sorts of on-set anecdotes aren't in the book, many other incredibly good ones from the management side are there.

The book describes the history of UA, the history of the skirmish the movie is based on, and the entire before, during and after of the film's development from the viewpoint of Transamerica and UA.

I read it cover to cover in just a few days, and laughed often. A great book!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Watching a Studio Wreck July 7, 2001

By Michael Samerdyke

Format:Paperback

This is a book I can't put down once I start reading it, and I re-read it every few years. It starts when a new management team takes over United Artists. They have to put together a slate of films. "Heaven's Gate" is one of their choices, and we see how this film moves from one choice among many to the behemoth that wrecks the studio. Contrary to some of the reviewers who say the book doesn't get to "Heaven's Gate" soon enough, I think the book is well-structured.

I also like the way Bach displays three different directors: Cimino, Scorsese and Woody Allen. Cimino is obviously the egomaniac out of control. Allen comes across as the "good director," always conscious that he is working with somebody else's money. Scorsese comes out between the two extremes.

Hey, if this book were only about "Heaven's Gate," I wouldn't like it so much, but we also get some insight into "Manhattan" and "Raging Bull," two much better movies.