Blow-up Over Castro Visit (Robert Duvall blasts Spielberg for his toadying Castro jaunt)

NY Post (print edition only) | 1/7/04 | Michael Starr

[dead]

Tough-guy actor Robert Duvall is blasting “presumptuous” Steven Spielberg for meeting with Fidel Castro in Cuba over a year ago.

“Spielberg went down there recently and said, ‘The best seven hours I ever spent was actually with Fidel Castro,’” Duvall tells Charlie Rose on tonight’s “60 Minutes II,” alluding to Spielberg’s November ’02 sojourn to Havana to screen eight of his movies there.

“Now, what I want to ask him – and I know he’s going to get p***ed off – ‘Would you consider building a little annex on the Holocaust museum or at least across the street to honor the dead Cubans that Castro killed?’”

“That’s very presumptuous of him to go there,” Duvall says. Rose then asks Duvall, 73, if he would deliver his message directly to Spielberg – who won an Oscar for directing the Holocaust movie “Schindler’s List” and is heavily involved in SHOAH, a Holocaust remebrance project.

“You bet, I’ll tell him that,” Duvall replies. “I’ll never work for at [Spielberg’s company] Dreamworks again, but I don’t care about working there, anyway.”

[NutCrackerBoy]

I agree with Walkingfeather. The diminutive form was used (no offense meant to Laura Dern's figure).

[Let's Roll]

Haven't seen "Second Hand Lions" yet but Duvall was Augustus McCrae, the way Peck was Atticus Finch, Gable was Rhett Butler etc.

[Clara Lou]

You didn't ask me, but I'll tell you anyway-- Lonesome Dove. It is absolutely outstanding, and Duvall did a fabulous job as Gus.

[section9]

Well, folks, SOMEONE'S got to post it:

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[NutCrackerBoy]

I should have used the word dystopian not "dystopic." For those who haven't seen THX 1138, Robert Duvall in the title role secretly begins flushing the state-mandated medication that all citizens are required to take. He gets his wife, LUH 3417, to do the same. They begin to feel feelings for the first time in their lives. But of course that is illegal. He has to go on the run from jackbooted thugs until the budget alloted to his recapture runs out.

[katana]

I can't honestly remember seeing a "bad" movie Robert Duvall was in. But then again, his presence in the cast is one of my definitions of a "good" film.

True Grit, The Godfather, The Great Santini, Apocolypse Now, The Apostle and more recently Second Hand Lions are only a small part of his filmography. One of the three or four best living film actors. Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman round out my list and even compared with them he may be the best.

[Green Knight]

Ping.

[sarasota]

Thanks, Chris.

[sarasota]

Now there's a movie that was painful to watch....

[SwatTeam]

I haven't seen "Second Hand Lions" yet but am looking forward to it. Did you see the one with James Earl Jones where Duvall finds out he has a half brother and it is JEJ? Can't remember the name of it but it was another one of my favorites.

[katana]

It's excellent and not a little bit weird in parts, but really entertaining and funny. Both Duvall and Michael Caine are great.

The film with James Earl Jones (how did I forget to add him to my list of the top 3 or 4 actors?) was A Family Thing from 1996.

[Your Nightmare]

Sorry, I'm pretty sure it was "tit." The IMDB seems to confirm that.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102753/quotes

[NutCrackerBoy]

Yes, the second part must surely be Replace that tit!. Perhaps IMDB made a slight error in the first part, and it should be transcribed as Put your damn titty back in your dress!. But I could be wrong: I am only a human being person.

[Britton J Wingfield]

Ping!

[RightWingAtheist]

Here is Duvall (yes, that really IS him underneath that alien mask) giving ET a piece of his mind:

[Pharmboy]

The AP Story:

Actor Duvall Slams Spielberg Over Cuba Trip
Wed Jan 7, 6:38 PM ET Add Entertainment - Reuters to My Yahoo!



LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Robert Duvall (news) probably won't be making any movies for DreamWorks any time soon.




In a CBS "60 Minutes II" interview set for broadcast on Wednesday, the Oscar-winning performer sharply criticized filmmaker and DreamWorks SKG studio co-founder Steven Spielberg (news) for visiting Cuba in November 2002.


"Spielberg went down there recently and said, 'The best seven hours I ever spent was actually with Fidel Castro (news - web sites).' Now, what I want to ask him, ... 'Would you consider building a little annex on the Holocaust museum, or at least across the street, to honor the dead Cubans that Castro killed.' That's very presumptuous of him to go there," Duvall told Charlie Rose, according to excerpts of the interview released by CBS.


The actor, who won an Academy Award for his role in the 1983 film "Tender Mercies," added, "I'll never work at DreamWorks again, but I don't care about working there anyway."


Spielberg's spokesman, Marvin Levy, responded by issuing a statement saying the remark Duvall attributed to the director about his meeting with Castro is "totally false."


"He never said it, or anything like it," Levy said, adding Spielberg's trip to the Communist-ruled island had been authorized as a cultural exchange by the U.S. government.


Spielberg spent four days in Cuba, launching a showcase of eight of his movies, meeting with Cuban filmmakers and paying visits to Havana's largest synagogue and a memorial to Holocaust victims at the city's Jewish cemetery.


The Oscar-winning director of "Saving Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List" also dined with Fidel Castro, spending about eight hours with the Cuban leader discussing art, politics and history.


During his trip, Spielberg made headlines by calling for an end to the 40-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, saying it was time to bury old grudges from the Cold War and expand interactions between Americans and Cubans.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I think I have seen every one of his movies

Did you absolutely love "Tender Mercies"?

[DCPatriot]

HIs recent movie with Kevin Costner and Annette Bening was absolutely superb. I think it was called "Open Range" or something like that.

He simply fills the screen with his presence.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

The Great Santini is one of my favorites.

The very best line from that movie was when Robert Duvall stands up in front of a group of airmen for a briefing and states;
"I don't want you to think of me as your Commanding Officer. I want you to think of me as...God."

[Curly007]

I thought he was great in To Kill A Mockingbird