Re: RARA-AVIS: Great Article on Goodis

From: Allan Guthrie (allan@allanguthrie.co.uk)
Date: 12 Aug 2008

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    It might be very eloquent but I can't get past those opening lines.
    "Cirrhosis of the liver. That's how Goodis died." I don't know where this idea that Goodis was an alcoholic comes from, other than Wikipedia. Certainly not from anyone who knew him. And certainly not according to his death certificate, which states that he died of a 'cerebral vascular accident' in the Albert Einstein Medical Center (this happened three days after he took a beating from a bunch of thugs he refused to give his wallet to, so the story goes). While I'm on my high horse, there's also a widely spread belief that Goodis died in poverty (largely on account of the obituary that appeared in Sight & Sound in Winter 68/69). Bill Sherman, who wrote the offending obituary, has subsequently admitted he made a mistake. Goodis left a considerable estate -- by today's standards he'd have been a millionaire. Yep, the drunken penniless loser actually he died a sober and wealthy man. Since I'm on a run, there's also a rumour that Goodis was paranoid, as most obviously manifested by him suing Warner pictures over The Fugitive, the TV series which he believed was based on his novel, Dark Passage. In fact, there was never any doubt about this. The argument was about whether Warner owed him money in addition to the movie rights they'd already paid for. Warner eventually settled with the Goodis estate, posthumously.

    If you want to get some impressions of Goodis, the man, that bear some relation to reality, check this out: http://homepage.mac.com/babaganouj/microbrewjournalism/page11/page20/page20.html

    Um, carry on...

    Al

    ----- Original Message ----- From: "cinemart_temp" <cinemart_temp@yahoo.com> To: <rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 2:40 AM Subject: RARA-AVIS: Great Article on Goodis

    > Another celebration of the Goodis film series - very eloquent:
    >
    > http://www.movingimagesource.us/articles/no-exit-20080811



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