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| “I
always say, ‘Hey, don’t lie
to me on your resume. If you have a special
talent, I will use it.’”
—Marshall
Known to most around the world as Laverne
DeFazio on the beloved television comedy,
"Laverne and Shirley," Penny Marshall
is also one of today's more talented mainstream
film directors. Born in the Bronx in 1942,
Penny is the younger sister of another acclaimed
mainstream director, Garry Marshall. Penny
attended high school in New York before
going to the University of New Mexico, where
she got pregnant. Soon after, she married
the baby's father — a marriage that
lasted only two years. While juggling her
schedule as a single mom and secretary,
her brother offered her a role in his film
"How Sweet It Is," starring Debbie
Reynolds. The year 1971 marked a turning
point for Marshall — she received her
big TV break as Oscar Madison's secretary
on "The Odd Couple," and married
actor and director Rob Reiner (the two are
now divorced). Her biggest break, however,
came later, when her brother needed two
women to guest star on his TV hit, "Happy
Days," and gave the roles to Marshall
and her then writing partner, Cindy Williams.
The one-time gig turned into a long running
TV series of their own ("Laverne and
Shirley"). The show's run ended in
1983, and Penny turned her attention to
film. Her first feature film as a director,
"Jumping Jack Flash," is best
forgotten, but she has more than made up
for it with the films she has since directed;
among them, "Big" with Tom Hanks,
"Awakenings" with Robin Williams
and Robert DeNiro, and "A League of
Their Own."
Penny Marshall's most noteworthy accomplishment:
she is the first female to direct a movie
that grossed over 100 million dollars. |
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Awakenings (1990)
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The doctor and his
first success story
take a stroll. |
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Robin Williams with
another success story.
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Laugh a little, cry a lot in this film based
on the real-life research of author/neurologist
Oliver Sacks.
Robin Williams is a new doctor in a ward full
of comatose patients. When he gets permission
to test a possible cure for their ailment
(post-encephalitis sleep disorder), he chooses
Robert DeNiro as his first guinea pig with
unimaginable results.
Of course, there is an all-star cast in this
film: Robin Williams, Robert DeNiro, Julie
Kavner, Anne Meara. Despite the serious subject
matter, Marshall's most poignant moments in
the film are comedic, the genre where the
director obviously feels more comfortable.
This film received several Academy Award and
Golden Globe nominations.
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League of Their Own (1992)
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"All the Way
May" and Rosie
O'Donnell.
Photos © Columbia
Pictures |
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Tom Hanks and Gina
Davis give signals
to the batter. |
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"A League of their Own" is Penny
Marshall's most noteworthy film — both
for its box-office success and its critical
acclaim. The second world war has begun, and
many of the major league baseball players
have been drafted into the military. Sensing
the loss of profits, baseball owners create
the All-American Girls Baseball League, recruiting
women from kitchens all across the US and
Canada. As the films begins, it is the 1990s
and the Baseball Hall of Fame is dedicating
a wing to the all-female league. The story
is told in one long flashback that takes us
back to the league's inaugural year. Two talented
sisters (Gina Davis, Lori Petty) are plucked
— literally — from the farm and
given the opportunity to establish themselves
as bonafide baseball players, with the public
and each other. This film features that famous
Marshall trademark the all-star — cast.
Along with Davis and Petty, A League of Their
Own also stars Madonna, Tom Hanks, and Rosie
O'Donnell. The film has had long term appeal
among both men and women. Almost ten years
later, not a day goes by that someone doesn't
refer to me as — "All The Way, May."
Thanks, Penny!
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Man (1994)
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Ragu and his ne'er-do-well
pupils. |
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Ragu asking himself,
"what am I doing
here?" |
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Danny DeVito plays Bill Ragu, an advertising
exec who is fired from his job. As a condition
of his unemployment insurance, Ragu agrees
to accept ANY jobs that his unemployment counselor
might find for him. And, she does — teaching
thinking skills to a class of Army recruits.
Ragu must contend with teaching students who
would much rather learn to use an AK-47 than
read Shakespeare. He also has to learn how
to maneuver through Army regulations. Eventually,
he does both in this cross between Private
Benjamin and Dead Poet's Society, and learns
a little something about himself in the process.
The film is cute, not AMAZING! Like many Penny
Marshall films, the cast is chock-full of
well-known actors (Mark Wahlberg, Gregory
Hines, Cliff Robertson), although in significantly
smaller and less powerful roles than we are
accustomed to seeing.
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Riding
In Cars With Boys (2001)
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Not the way most parents
want to see their
daughter's get engaged.
Photos © Columbia
Pictures |
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Babies raising babies:
A young Beverly with
her young son. |
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"Riding in Cars with Boys" is Marshall's
latest release. The film is based on the autobiographical
novel by Beverly D'Onofrio, and tells the
story of a 15 year old girl, with dreams of
becoming a writer, who gets pregnant and is
forced to grow up and put her own life on
hold to take care of her child. Told in flashback,
the film touchingly goes through Beverly's
failed marriage attempt with the child's drug-addicted
father.
Riding in Cars' star-studded cast includes
Drew Barrymore, Steven Zahn, James Woods,
Lorraine Bracco and Brittney Murphy. The script
is witty and humorous where it needs to be,
considering the all-too-serious subject matter.
It's not what the audience sees that gives
me pause, however. It's what you don't see.
Most of the film's 132 minutes are spent on
Beverly between the ages of 15 and 22. The
audience never gets to see how Beverly was
able to pull herself out of her situation
and write the book she always dreamed of writing.
Having never read the novel the film is based
on, I do not know if that is an ommission
of the scriptwriter or the novelist. Ultimately,
it doesn't really matter.
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Top
image of "Penny Marshall," © from
the film "Riding in Cars with Boys"
+ summary and film synopses
by
May
Seckular |
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