The Life of Reilly

Infobox Film
name = The Life of Reilly


caption= Movie poster for "The Life of Reilly"
director = Barry Poltermann & Frank Anderson
producer = Bob Fagan and Wrye Martin
writer = Charles Nelson Reilly & Paul Linke
starring = Charles Nelson Reilly
music = Frank Anderson
cinematography = Anthony Balderrama
editing = Barry Poltermann
distributor =
released = 2007, Theatrical
runtime = 84 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://www.charlesnelsonreilly.com
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0498366 "The Life of Reilly" is a 2006 American film chronicling the final stage performance of Charles Nelson Reilly in his one man play "Save It For the Stage: The Life of Reilly". Reilly, an actor famous for his double entendres on ‘70s game shows and lesser known for Tony Awards on Broadway stages, performed his one man show for the last time in October of 2004. This film is an adaptation for the screen of Reilly's final two performances of his play filmed in front of an audience at the El Portal Theater in North Hollywood, California.

Written by Mr. Reilly and Paul Linke, and directed by Frank Anderson and Barry Poltermann, the film is essentially an edited down version of Reilly's much longer stage show interspersed with clips, images and music.

"The Life of Reilly" premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March of 2006 to positive reviews and proceeded to play for over a year on the festival circuit, including the Seattle International Film Festival and Newfest.

"The Life of Reilly"'s limited theatrical release began in November of 2007.

Original Stage Performance

"The Life of Reilly" was originally a theatre piece called "Save It For the Stage: The Life of Reilly", which was first performed in Los Angeles, CA in July of 2000. The play was based upon lectures that Reilly had been giving to college theater students and was written for the stage by Reilly and Paul Linke, and was directed by Mr. Linke.

Reilly then took "Save it For the Stage: The Life of Reilly" around the country, including the New Conservatory Theatre Center, San Francisco, CA and the Irish Repertory Theatre, New York City, both in 2001.

The New York Times hailed the play as "a homey, entertaining evening, what one imagines it might be like to meet Mr. Reilly through mutual friends, have a couple of drinks and listen to a series of his anecdotes..."

San Francisco's SF Weekly called Reilly's performance "nebbishy, cranky, excitable, grouchy, Bronx-accented, eccentric, and fey: He's like a loudmouthed, American Quentin Crisp."

The running time of the performance often ranged over three hours. Some critics cited the play's length in reviews, such as this review from Variety: "If there's something exasperating about the show's expansiveness, there's something endearing, too, about Reilly's insistence on his two full acts of stage time. His celebrity has been peculiar and peripheral -- he's far better known to most for his high-camp guffaw on "Match Game" than for directing Julie Harris in "The Belle of Amherst" or appearing on Broadway in "Bye, Bye Birdie" and "How to Succeed in Business." So why not let him run a little amok? At 70, he's earned it. And with his sharp wit and scruffily friendly, eccentric stage presence, he's wonderful company."

For his work in "Save it For the Stage: The Life of Reilly" Reilly was nominated for a Drama Desk Award in 2001 and an Outer Critics Circle Award in 2002, both for Outstanding Solo Performance.

ynopsis

The film begins with Reilly recounting his childhood and his parents in New York City and Connecticut. We meet his family — an institutionalized father, a racist, baseball bat-wielding mother, and a lobotomized aunt, amongst others. “Eugene O’Neill would never get near this family,” Reilly declares. Prior to being put into an institution, Reilly’s father, a Paramount Pictures poster artist and illustrator, was offered the chance to go into business with another illustrator with the intention of making their first animated film in color together. The catch was simply that the senior Mr. Reilly would have to move himself and his family to California. Perhaps a defining moment in young Reilly’s life, his father asked his mother her thoughts and she unceremoniously rejected the possibility. The other illustrator went west without the senior Mr. Reilly as a partner. That other illustrator was named Walt Disney. After the missed opportunity to partner with Walt Disney, Reilly's father began drinking heavily and eventually had a nervous breakdown. Upon being institutionalized, the senior Mr. Reilly’s family was forced to move out of the Bronx up to Connecticut to live with Mrs. Reilly’s family. When Reilly turned eighteen, he moved to New York City. “If you wanted to be an actor in those days,” he explains, “You did something that’s really unheard of today… you studied." Young and hungry (literally), Reilly managed to find an acting class at HB Studios, which was rather liberal in its door policy and would let in aspiring actors even if they didn’t have the money to pay. Reilly’s class was taught by a young, award-winning, soon-to-be-legendary actress, Uta Hagen. In the class were such future stars and notables as Steve McQueen, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, Hal Holbrook, Jason Robards, and Gene Hackman. It was a group of future Academy Award, Tony Award and Emmy Award winners, and, as Charles explains, “We wanted to go on the stage, none of us had any money, and this entire list… couldn’t act for shit.” It was about this time when a friend of Reilly's arranged a meeting with a powerful NBC executive. Reilly went in and was told, “They don’t let queers on television.” In retrospect, Reilly describes it as, “A short meeting.” Despite the apparent prejudice against him, his talent and tenacity landed him on Broadway, winning his first Tony Award for his role in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying", as well as leading roles in the original Broadway casts of "Bye Bye Birdie" and "Hello, Dolly!"

Reilly went on to become a fixture in television appearing in numerous episodes of "Car 54, Where Are You?", "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir", and starring in "Lidsville". He also made hundreds of guest appearances on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", second in number of appearances only to Bob Hope, and had a more recent memorable guest spot on "The X-Files". Over the years, he developed a habit of looking through the week’s "TV Guide" to see how many times he would be on TV that week. Coming in at over a hundred separate appearances, he reflected on the NBC executive who told him he would not be allowed on television — but now Reilly wondered, “Who do I have to fuck to get off?!” Success came to Reilly’s professional life, and he has used all the knowledge and expertise he has gained through a lifetime spent acting to teach. His longtime friend Burt Reynolds gifted him a theater in which to teach the craft of acting, and it has fulfilled Reilly ever since. As we leave him in what he calls “The twilight of an extraordinary life”, we see a portrait of an artist, a victim of prejudice who rose above it, a trailblazing comedic personality, an entertainer, a son, a teacher, and a man laid bare for all to see.

Reviews

Four weeks after the release of "The Life of Reilly" the film had a "100% fresh" rating from critics at Rotten Tomatoes [cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10006630-life_of_reilly/|title=Life of Reilly at Rottentomatoes.com|accessdate=2007-12-05] and was listed as the best reviewed film of 2007. [cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/top/bestofrt_year.php?year=2007|title=Best of Rottentomatoes.com, 2007|accessdate=2007-12-05]

John Simon (critic) reviewed "The Life of Reilly" saying that "(Reilly's) life provided the blueprint, but Reilly's literary artistry had to construct it into a fabulous narrative full of sharply observed detail, irresistible humor, unmilked melancholy and humanely observed humanity. Much of it is worthy of Balzac, Dickens or Mark Twain." cite web | work=Broadway.com | title=The Life of Reilly | author=John Simon |url=http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=556602 | accessdate=2007-11-14]

The Village Voice wrote that "Rambling, blithe, nostalgic, and out for revenge, Reilly presents a witty anecdotal timeline of his life, and the bittersweet milestones play like a Spalding Gray monologue loosened up with a few shots of tequila." [cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0746,hillis,78325,20.html|title=Tracking Shots: The Life of Reilly|author=Aaron Hillis|date=November 13, 2007|accessdate=2007-12-01]

References

External links

* [http://www.charlesnelsonreilly.com "The Life of Reilly" official site]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3G-envKrYk "The Life of Reilly" Theatrical Trailer]
*imdb title|0498366