Jun 9, 2021
The recent death of actor George Segal sent me to finally watch Altman's 1974 gambling opus, 'California Split', starring Segal and Elliot Gould. It's a fantastic film and a great representation of the prime Altman ouvre. But behind the scenes and extending into the present day...there are cast-member murders, deaths, prison stints, and tragedies that offer a hypothetical parallell to the varied paths taken or not taken by many American children of the 60's navigating the decades beyond. In this episode, I talk about Altman's history in Hollywood, his three main periods of filmmaking, including his late-career renaissance in the 90's, and explore the tragic deaths of 4 female cast members as well as the bizarre cult that provided all the extras used in the film. A masterwork of American ennui and a timeless time capsule of 1970's American neuroses, 'California Split' is a lot of fun with some surprisingly moving conclusions when all is said and done.