Robert Altman

Robert Bernard Altman (born February 20, 1925) is an American film director known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a somewhat skewed perspective.

Filmography

• The Last Broadcast (2006, in post-production)
• Paint (2005)
• The Company (2003)
• Gosford Park (2001)
• Dr. T & the Women (2000)
• Cookie's Fortune (1998)
• The Gingerbread Man (1997)
• Kansas City (1996)
• Prêt-à-Porter (aka Ready to Wear) (1994)
• Short Cuts (1993)
• The Player (1992)
• Vincent & Theo (1990)
• Tanner '88 (1988)
• Aria (short segment) (1987)
• O.C. & Stiggs (1987)
• Beyond Therapy (1987)
• Fool for Love (1985)
• Secret Honor (1985)
• Streamers (1984)
• Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)
• Popeye (1980)
• A Perfect Couple (1979)
• Health (1979)
• Quintet (1979)
• A Wedding (1978)
• 3 Women (aka Robert Altman's 3 Women) (1977)
• Nashville (1975)
• Thieves Like Us (1974)
• California Split (1974)
• The Long Goodbye (1973)
• Images (1972)
• McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
• Brewster McCloud (1970)
• M*A*S*H (1970)
• That Cold Day in the Park (1969)
• Countdown (1968)
• The James Dean Story (1957)
• The Delinquents (1957) (Altman's big-screen directorial debut)
• Early Independent Projects:

In the early Calvin years in Kansas City during the 1950s, Altman was as busy as he ever was in Hollywood, shooting hours and hours of footage each day, whether for Calvin, or for his many independent film projects he pursued in Kansas City in numerous attempts to break into Hollywood:

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• The Pulse of the City (1953-54) (A low-budget television series about crime and ambulance chasing produced and filmed in Kansas City by Altman and co-creater Robert Woodburn using local talent. Ran for one season on the independent Dumont network)
• The Model's Handbook (1952) (A half-hour pilot for an unrealized television series sponsored by Eileen Ford and her agency and directed by Altman)
• Fashion Faire (1952) (A half-hour fashion parade written and directed by Altman for a fashion show agency)
• Corn's-A-Poppin' (1951) (Altman wrote the screenplay for this poor Kansas City-produced feature film)
• Selected Calvin Industrial Films

Out of 65 or so industrial films directed by Altman for Calvin Company, all of them less than 30 minutes in length, we have selected eleven which are notable for their relationship to the director's later work, or the fact that some garnered numerous national and international festival awards:

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• The Magic Bond (1956)(A documentary film sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, one of Calvin's and Altman's highest budgets to date, and one of Altman's last Calvin films. Also includes a startling opening sequence not only using the later Altman trademark of an ensemble cast and overlapping dialogue, but also a sort of anti-war message which is also featured in Altman's 1960s episodes of the TV series Combat)
• Honeymoon for Harriet (1955) (A promotional film for International Harvester, starring Altman's then-wife, Lotus Corelli, who also appears in The Delinquents as a mother)
• The Perfect Crime (1955)(Another award-winning highway safety film, once again with a promotional message from Caterpillar)
• Better Football (1954)(Rules-of-sports film, once again starring William Frawley as a pigskin coach who cannot resist the one-liner, for comic relief)
• The Builders (1954) (Promotional film for Southern Pine Association)
• Modern Baseball (1953) (Rules-of-sports film)
• The Last Mile (1953) (A bleak highway safety film also serving a purpose as an ad for Caterpillar Tractor's road-building equipment. Won awards from the Association of Industrial Filmmakers and the National Safety Council in 1953)
• King Basketball (1952) (Another rules-of-sports films shot on location in the Southwest)
• The Dirty Look (1952)(A sales film for Gulf Oil starring "special guest" William Frawley as a prattling barber for comic relief. Calvin often used Hollywood stars in cameo or starring roles in their films to sell the film's message to viewers more easily)
• Modern Football (1951)(A documentary-style training film on the rules and regulations of football, shot on-location in the Southwest)
• The Sound of Bells (195O) (A Christmas-themed "sales" film produced for B.F. Goodrich concerning itself with the plot of Santa Claus visiting a service station on Christmas Eve)