Movies That Are About Real People (Without Stating It)
Some people's lives are just too interesting to not put on film. Unfortunately those people tend to be the last ones who would want their lives made into movies. Filmmakers have always found ways around this, of course, and not mentioning names is usually a good start.
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- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinPaulette GoddardJack OakieDictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.Not expecting to fool anyone Chaplin renamed Adolph Hitler to Adenoid Hynkel, Benito Musolini to Benzino Napaloni, Goebbles to Garbitsch, Göring to Herring, and totalitarian Nazi Germany to Tomania. Chaplin was criticized in pre-production before the war, but war broke out in September 1939 and Chaplin kept to his schedule and began filming a week later. The film was released and it was nominated for 5 Oscars, and all of this occured 10 months before the US joined the war.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenDorothy ComingoreFollowing the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'In a story chronicled in the documentary "The Battle Over Citizen Kane" and dramatized in "RKO 281" the now-classic first film by Orson Welles was nearly stopped by the massive media empire of the man who inspired the character of Kane, William Randolph Hearst.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsJohn TravoltaEmma ThompsonKathy BatesA man joins the political campaign of a smooth-operator candidate for President of the United States of America.Based on a book written around the time of President Bill Clinton's re-election, and in theaters just before the long controversy of Clinton's final years in office, the film could have been an original story, but Travolta's obvious impersonation of the President made this a satirical jab at Clinton. A similarly flawed film, "W" was made about Clinton's successor, but that movie didn't bother to change the names.
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsChristian BaleCate BlanchettHeath LedgerRuminations on the life of Bob Dylan, where six characters embody a different aspect of the musician's life and work.Despite being about Bob Dylan, focusing on six actors portraying (and sometimes closely mimicking) Bob Dylan, and being endorsed by the real Bob Dylan, "I'm Not There" includes no mention of Bob Dylan until the very end when he and his music are credited as the basis of the film.
- DirectorRichard J. LewisStarsMaury ChaykinCynthia PrestonPaul GrossShot around the breathtaking coastline of B.C.'s Howe Sound, Whale Music is the triumphant adaptation of Paul Quarringaton's Governor General's Award-winning novel about the redemption of a faded rock star through love and music. Richard J. Lewis' exploration of the reclusive musician's efforts to create a piece of music that will summon the whales is a sensory and emotional tour de force.Adapted from the award-winning novel by Paul Quarrington, "Whale Music" is the story of reclusive former pop idol Desmond Howl. The character is based on the real-life Beach Boy, Brian Wilson. A film based directly on Wilson's life is being written by Oren Moverman, the screenwriter of "I'm Not There."
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.As with "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and numerous other serial killer films, "Psycho" was based on the real killer Ed Gein. Although still many steps back from the disturbed reality, Norman Bates is the closest rendering of Gein in film that isn't a direct adaptation of his life.
- DirectorEric IdleGary WeisStarsEric IdleJohn HalseyRicky FataarCharts the adventures of the prefab four, possibly the most famous band of all time.Made after the band had broken up, but before John Lennon was killed in 1980, Eric Idle and Gary Weis took advantage of anti-Beatles sentiment to make this mockumentary about a suspiciously similar band. Including cameos from Bill Murray, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Michael Palin, and a wonderfully self-aware Mick Jagger, this classic satire eventually got a sequel in 2004: "The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch".
- DirectorAndrew JareckiStarsRyan GoslingKirsten DunstFrank LangellaDavid Marks, a real estate scion, is suspected of killing his wife Katie, who disappeared in 1982.Based on the true story of Robert Durst, the New York real estate heir who was suspected of murdering his wife before he disappeared and eventually stood trial for the murder of a neighbor.
- DirectorPeter YatesStarsSteve McQueenJacqueline BissetRobert VaughnA nonconformist San Francisco cop is determined to find the underworld kingpin who killed the witness under his protection.The lead detectives in both "Bullitt" and "Dirty Harry" are based on real San Francisco inspector Dave Toschi. Most famously known as the lead investigator on the Zodiac killings, Toschi was portrayed by Mark Ruffalo in David Fincher's 2007 film, "Zodiac". Toschi served as an advisor on that film, which includes a meta-moment of the Toschi character watching "Dirty Harry."
- DirectorDon SiegelClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodAndrew RobinsonHarry GuardinoWhen a man calling himself "the Scorpio Killer" menaces San Francisco, tough-as-nails Police Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan is assigned to track down the crazed psychopath.