Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A riveting story of one of the most unforgettable characters, October 15, 1999
Stanley Tucci's portrayal of Walter Winchell is nothing short of brillant. It's no small wonder why he won an Emmy for this movie. The story and natural flow of Winchell's life, spanning over sixty years, was both eye-opening and gripping. The clothes, sets, and supporting actors all added to this interesting and factual story, and one not to be missed and enjoyed.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Portrayal Of A Complex Man, September 28, 1999
By A Customer
Recently while accepting his Emmy award for this film, Stanley Tucci sheepishly told the audience "This is a mistake". Well, wrong, Stanley, because you were absolutely fantastic portraying Walter Winchell, king of the gossip columnists for many decades. Luckily last year when it was on HBO I taped it, & I've watched it 3 times since then, it's that good! Highly recommended, and if you've not yet seen Stanley Tucci's work, this is a great way to get started. Highly recommended.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stanley Tucci's Emmy winning turn for HBO as the journalist Walter Winchell, September 15, 2006
Stanley Tucci won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie in 1999 for "Winchell," which is a testament to his skills as an actor because in this HBO movie he has to play Walter Winchell. The problem is when the biopic gets to the point in Winchell's career when he went on the radio and did the "Good evening Mr. and Mrs. North America and all the ships at sea. Let's go to press" bit. His high speed staccato delivery (clocked at an average of 197 words per minute), is ripe for caricature, and the way Tucci and screenwriter Scott Abbott ("Introducing Dorothy Dandridge") play it and write it Winchell on the radio is not the way he normally talks because he is so uptight about being on the radio that as soon as the broadcast is over he always runs to the men's room to be sick. Consequently, Tucci is able to refrain from having to talk like that for the entire movie (you might remember Winchell as the narrator of "The Untouchables" television series).
Walter Winchell is remembered for inventing the gossip column when he was working at the "New York Evening Graphic," and for being the first to expose the private lives of public figures in print. To a large extent, when we talk about the "cult of celebrity" that exists in the U.S. today, it is Winchell who deserves credit for creating the downside of being famous. Ironically, Winchell was living in a glass house in that regard, which this television movie touches on as well. But basically the story here is about his steady rise, his glory years, and then his sharp decline during the McCarthy period. At one point most people in this country were listening to Winchell's radio broadcasts, and yet the man ended up basically dying alone.
Winchell's redemption in director Paul Mazursky's movie comes from his relentless attacks on Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany at a time when the likes of William Randolph Hearst (Kevin Tighe) are praising the fuehrer. But no less a personage than President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Christopher Plummer) has alerted Winchell to the fact that the face of fear is coming and once Winchell identifies Hitler as that face, he goes after him. Even though Hearst keeps cutting references to Hitler out of Winchell's columns and Nazi thugs beat him up, Winchell keeps telling it like it is. Now, whether or not this is enough to make up for spending most of his time on gossip or for treating his staff, including his number one ghostwriter Herman Klurfeld (Paul Giamatti, who now has the same sort of respect as an actor as Tucci). Klurfeld is the nameless hero here, because Winchell has kept him nameless, but Mazursky has given him a face.
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