Extremely interesting, Don! I didn’t know how hard he took the Scarecrow disappointment. But really, what can one expect? Even for the Seventies, that was a niche project, like Duvall in Tomorrow or Hoffman in Straight Time. You do those projects for different reasons than reaching the largest audience or making the most money or even the awards potential. You do them for the pride, the feels, the work itself.

Besides Eureka and Another Woman, another terrific Hackman niche project of the Eighties was the offbeat comedy All Night Long (1981), by the Belgian director Jean-Claude Tramont, and co-starring Barbra Streisand of all people. When it came out, Pauline Kael loved it and so did I, and everyone else loathed it. 🙂