One of Hollywood’s most successful filmmakers, Richard Donner has passed away at the age of 91. He leaves behind a body of work that spans both the golden era of television and the ‘birth of the blockbuster’ film period; productions that remain in the hearts and minds of audiences all over the world.
Hollywood is mourning his loss, as Donner was not only a huge creative force but a mentor to a generation of actors and directors. “Being in his circle was akin to hanging out with your favorite coach, smartest professor, fiercest motivator, most endearing friend, staunchest ally and, of course, the greatest Goonie of all,” Steven Spielberg told Variety, referencing their collaboration on 1985’s The Goonies. “He was all kid. All heart. All the time. I can’t believe he’s gone, but his husky, hearty laugh will stay with me always.”
Recalling his finest work is a challenge, as he was so prominent across so many years on so many projects. But below are perhaps the works that will be remembered as, ‘classic Richard Donner’...
‘NIGHTMARE AT 20,000 FEET’ Episode; THE TWILIGHT ZONE (1963)
Donner was a key figure in the burgeoning television sector. Beginning with a 1960 episode of the western Zane Grey Theatre, he would helm everything from The Loretta Young Show and Gilligan’s Island to The Rifleman and Perry Mason. His most famous small-screen effort would become the 1963 Twilight Zone classic, ‘Nightmare at 20,000 Feet’, a taut white-knuckler, written by Rod Serling and Richard Matheson, starring William Shatner as the nervous flyer convinced a monster is trying to bring down his flight.
SARAH T. - PORTRAIT OF A TEENAGE ALCOHOLIC (1975)
Donner’s status in the television sector ensured he was called upon during the TV-movie boom of the 1970s. With hundreds of hours of episodic work and such small but respected films as X-15 (1961), Salt & Pepper (1968) and Lola (1970) to his name, Donner stepped up to direct the issues-based drama, Sarah T. - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1975) with Linda Blair in the title role, for Universal Television.
THE OMEN (1976; pictured above, Donner with star Gregory Peck)
Producer Alan Ladd Jr. shepherded Donner into the project, convinced the predominantly television work of the director captured the intelligence and empathy needed to elevate the ‘devil child’ narrative into something unique. With veteran DOP Gilbert Taylor, Donner embraced the larger screen format and crafted a horror classic that became the director’s first box office blockbuster.
SUPERMAN THE MOVIE (1977; pictured above, Christopher Reeve and Donner on-set)
Richard Donner attacked his new assignment with gusto after producers Ilya and Alexander Salkind secured the director. Donner hacked away at the script he had inherited, excising much of Mario Puzo’s campiness and working with an uncredited Tom Mankiewicz to bolster the scale and iconography of the DC Comics’ figurehead. Also, it was Donner who worked hardest to secure a reluctant Gene Hackman as ‘Lex Luthor’. Under Richard Donner, Superman became the highest-grossing Warner Bros film in the studio’s history.
LADYHAWKE (1985; pictured above, Michelle Pfeiffer and Rutger Hauer in Ladyhawke)
Alongside his 1992 drama Radio Flyer, Ladyhawke is perhaps Donner’s most personal, invested work. The fantasy/romance Ladyhawke stumbled out of the gate at the box-office but has become one of his most beloved films. Lensed by the great Vittorio Storaro and boasting a stunning cast in their photogenic prime (Rutger Hauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Broderick), it was nevertheless a difficult production; Hauer and co-star Leo McKern clashed bitterly, and the remote locations were not suited to a large-scale Hollywood shoot.
THE GOONIES (1985; pictured above, Steven Spielberg, left, on-set with Donner)
Donner shot first-unit footage on this adventure classic; producer Steven Spielberg oversaw second-unit production. The collaboration proved commercial filmmaking gold; The Goonies captured cast lightning in a bottle, hit big with the family audience of the day, and earned generations of fans in its home entertainment afterlife. Upon learning of his passing, Goonies star Sean Astin tweeted, “Richard Donner had the biggest, boomiest voice you could imagine. He commanded attention and he laughed like no man has ever laughed before. Dick was so much fun. What I perceived in him, as a 12 year old kid, is that he cared. I love how much he cared.”
LETHAL WEAPON (1987)
In the wake of its goofball sequels, it is largely forgotten that Donner’s original buddy-cop classic beats to a very dark heart; a story centred by a grief-stricken, PTSD sufferer whose dangerous unpredictability and crippling melancholia sees him, in one shocking scene, come within a trigger-finger’s twitch of blowing his own head off. Donner was maturing as a director within the American studio system; with Lethal Weapon, he fearlessly subverted the genre, redefining it for future generations. “I will sorely miss him, with all his mischievous wit and wisdom,” Mel Gibson said, in a press statement, “He was magnanimous of heart and soul, which he liberally gave to all who knew him.”
The SCHULER-DONNER Productions
Alongside his beloved wife Lauren Schuler (already a Hollywood force with hits Mr Mom, Pretty in Pink and St Elmo’s Fire to her name when she paired with her husband professionally), Donner’s integrity and commercial flair came through in his work as producer. Under their Schuler Donner banner, the couple oversaw Three Fugitives (1989), Free Willy (1993) and its sequels; Kevin Kline in Dave (1993); Bulworth (1998), with Warren Beatty; the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan romancer, You’ve Got Mail (1998); Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday (1999); and, the vast X-Men franchise, starting with Bryan Singer’s 2000 original.