- Hope Alexander-Willis as Tucker's Secretary #1
- Taylor Young as Tucker's Secretary #2
- Jim Giovanni as Police Sergeant
- Joe Lerer as Reporter at Trial
- Morgan Upton as Ingram
- Ken Grantham as SEC Agent
- Mark Anger as Blue
- Al Nalbandian as Jury Foreman
- Brian Storey as Doorman (uncredited)
Background
right|thumb|250px|A 1948 Tucker Sedan at the [[Blackhawk Museum]]
From childhood, Coppola envisioned a film about the Tucker automobile He then purchased the rights from the Tucker Estate in 1976, Taking inspiration from Citizen Kane (1941), Kabuki theater and the work of Bertolt Brecht, Coppola initially planned to make Tucker as a "dark kind of musical". similar to Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), which he produced. Coppola abandoned Tucker for the time being and went to work on Peggy Sue Got Married (1986). Coppola was also displeased by Seidler's credit, stating: "They gave a credit to a writer who had nothing to do with the script that I used." The filmmakers devised a $24 million production budget, but Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, TriStar Pictures and Paramount Pictures wanted Coppola and Lucas to lower it to $15 million. Distributors were also dubious about working with Lucas after the 1986 commercial and critical failures of both Labyrinth Martin Landau was enthusiastic about accepting the pivotal role of Abe Karatz as a means to avoid typecasting. The construct of family values played a crucial role in the Tuckers' life and Coppola studiously selected Joan Allen for the part of Vera, Tucker's devoted wife while Christian Slater and Elias Koteas fill in the other central roles of eldest son and Tucker's friend and confederate, Alex Tremulis. Coppola's family was undergoing a stressful time during the production and he dedicated the film to Gio, his eldest son, who died before filming began. Forty-seven of the original 51 Tucker '48s still exist, Twenty-one of the cars were borrowed from members of the Tucker Automobile Club of America and were extensively used as both "set dressing" and in starring roles. The production is notable as the first film to have audio mixing work done at Lucas's Skywalker Ranch. Production wrapped on July 17, 1987, Prior to final editing, the studio insisted on amplifying the title to Tucker: The Man and His Dream. Coppola included the involvement of Preston Tucker's children, grandchildren and members of the Tucker Estate during the development of Tucker in the late 1970s, as well as during filming in 1987. Coppola and Lucas acknowledged that they purposely intended to portray Tucker in an entirely sympathetic way. The Tucker Automobile Club made up of a legion of Tucker owners and collectors pronounced in their trade journal, TACA, that the "basic theme of the movie is quite accurate..." although "the film compresses time and often takes artistic license with facts in order to more effectively present the story".
Anahid Nazarian, Coppola's librarian, spoke of the historical inaccuracies. "Preston Tucker didn't really have an assembly line; there's one in the film. He actually had five kids; there are only four in the film. Our story takes place in one year; the real story took place over four years. People who know the story will find a lot of what they call errors. I'm sure I'll be deluged with letters."
Reception
Box office
Tucker: The Man and His Dream was released in the United States on August 12, 1988, earning $3,709,562 in its opening weekend in 720 theaters. The film eventually grossed $19.65 million in US totals and was declared a box office bomb because it did not reimburse its $24 million production budget, despite positive reviews. It later became a cult classic for years to come.
Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "Though it may not be as comprehensive as some would like, Francis Ford Coppola's cheerful biopic of the failed automotive designer features sparkling direction and a strong central performance from Jeff Bridges." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade "A" on an A+ to F scale.
Richard Schickel of Time magazine praised the film for its exaggerated kitsch style. He also believed the role of Preston Tucker to be Jeff Bridges' best performance. Janet Maslin from The New York Times agreed, writing that Coppola, known for his dark approach on his previous films, "found the directorial range to actually make a feel-good movie". In addition, Desson Thomson, writing in The Washington Post, called the film a "satisfying commercial breakthrough for Coppola" and praised the cinematography of Vittorio Storaro, as well as the ubiquitous approach for Dean Stockwell's cameo appearance as Howard Hughes. Roger Ebert gave a mixed review. "Preston Tucker lacks an ounce of common sense or any notion of the real odds against him. And since the movie never really deals with that – never really comes to grips with Tucker's character – it begins as a saga but ends in whimsy."
Although Coppola enjoyed his working relationship with Lucas, he commented in a July 1988 The New York Times interview with Robert Lindsey that "I think it's a good movie - it's eccentric, a little wacky, like the Tucker car – but it's not the movie I would have made at the height of my power." Coppola was able to stoically accept the critical and commercial reaction to Tucker: The Man and His Dream. "Every time in my career I tried to make, dare I say it, an art film, it never did well."
Despite helming his "labor of love", Coppola was insistent that Tucker: The Man and His Dream would be his last Hollywood project. He reiterated a long-held dream of his own, embarking on a "period of amateurism and experimentation as a Hollywood dropout". One unexpected effect of the film's release was a renewed interest in the Tucker automobile and a boost in the collector's value of the Tucker 48;
Awards and nominations
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
|-
| rowspan="3"| Academy Awards
| Best Supporting Actor
| Martin Landau
|
|-
| Best Art Direction
| Dean Tavoularis and Armin Ganz
|
|-
| Best Costume Design
| Milena Canonero
|
|-
| Artios Awards
| Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film Casting – Drama
| Jane Jenkins and Janet Hirshenson
|
|-
| Belgian Film Critics Association Awards
| colspan="2"| Grand Prix
|
|-
| Boston Society of Film Critics Awards
| Best Supporting Actor
| Dean Stockwell
|
|-
| British Academy Film Awards
| Best Production Design
| Dean Tavoularis
|
|-
| Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
| Best Supporting Actor
| rowspan="2"| Martin Landau
|
|-
| Golden Globe Awards
| Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
|
|-
| Grammy Awards
| Best Album of Original Instrumental Background Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television
| Joe Jackson
|
|-
| Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards
| Best Supporting Actor
| rowspan="2"| Martin Landau
|
|-
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
| Best Supporting Actor
|
|-
| Nastro d'Argento Awards
| Best Costume Design
| Milena Canonero
|
|-
| National Board of Review Awards
| colspan="2"| Top Ten Films
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| National Society of Film Critics Awards
| Best Supporting Actor
| Dean Stockwell
|
|-
| Best Cinematography
| Vittorio Storaro
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| New York Film Critics Circle Awards
| rowspan="2"| Best Supporting Actor
| Martin Landau
|
|-
| Dean Stockwell
|
|}
Home media
Pocket Books published a novelization written by Robert Tine to coincide with the release of the film. Paramount Home Video released Tucker: The Man and His Dream on DVD in October 2000, which included audio commentary by Coppola, the 1948 promotional film Tucker: The Man and the Car (with optional commentary by Coppola), as well as a making-of featurette, Under the Hood: Making Tucker.
Disney acquired the rights to the film via their acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012. To celebrate the film's 30th anniversary, Lionsgate Home Entertainment released a high-definition remaster of the film on Blu-ray under license from Disney in 2018.
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
- Baxter, John. Mythmaker: The Life and Work of George Lucas. New York: Spike Books, 1999. .
- Cheetham Craig, ed. American Cars: The Automobiles That Made America. Rochester, Kent, UK: Grange Books, 2004. .
- Cheetham Craig. The World's Worst Cars. From Pioneering Failures To Multimillion Dollar Disasters. London: Amber Books, 2005. .
- Coppola, Eleanor. Notes on a Life. New York: Nan A. Talese, 2008. .
- "Company News: Roll Over, DeLorean; Shaky Attempt to Honor A Failed 40's Car Maker" . The New York Times, December 29, 1992.
- Cowie, Peter. Coppola: A Biography. New York: Da Capo Press, 1994. .
- Egan, Philip S. Design and Destiny: The Making of the Tucker Automobile. Orange, California: On the Mark publications, 1989. .
- Hearn, Marcus. The Cinema of George Lucas. New York: Abrams Books, 2005. .
- Lewis, Jon. Whom God Wishes to Destroy... Francis Coppola and the New Hollywood. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1995. .
- Padgett, Nina. "Visionary's Vehicle: 1948 Tucker Torpedo". Cars & Parts, Volume 36, No. 10, October 1993.
- Pearson, Charles T. The Indomitable Tin Goose: The True Story of Preston Tucker and His Car. St. Paul, Minnesota: Motorbooks International Publishers & Wholesalers, 1974. .
- Phillips, Gene D. Godfather: The Intimate Francis Ford Coppola. Lexington, Ky : University Press of Kentucky, 2004. .
- Phillips, Gene D. and Rodney Hill. Francis Ford Coppola: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers Series). Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2004. .
- Rasmussen, Harry. Imperial Palace Auto Collection. St. Paul, Minnesota: Motorbooks International (Paddock & Pearson, Inc.), 1996.
- Schumacher, Michael. Francis Ford Coppola: A Filmmaker's Life. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999. .