In honor of ‘The Holdovers’: Remembering the Oscar-winning ‘The Paper Chase’
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Every school has that certain teacher who is a bully, heartless and at times sadistic. Everyone must take their class, but no one finishes the course unscathed. Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) of Alexander Payne’s acclaimed comedy-drama “The Holdovers” is one such instructor. Set in 1970, “The Holdovers” revolves around the by-the-books classics professor teaching at the same New England boarding school he had attended. Hunham is hated by his students, as well as his fellow teachers. And he’s also in hot water, after he failed one of the school’s largest donor’s son in his class. During the Christmas break, he is forced to supervise the “holdovers — -the students who for various reasons must stay on campus. He ends up sharing the holidays with one troubled student (Dominic Sessa) whose mother recently remarried; and the cafeteria administrator (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) grieving her only son’s death in the Vietnam War.
“The Holdovers” has earned stellar reviews and is a strong awards contender. Randolph has already earned several critics awards; “The Holdovers” is also nominated for eight Critics Choice Awards; three Golden Globes and four Independent Spirit Awards.
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Watching “The Holdovers” I couldn’t help but be reminded of James Bridges’ “The Paper Chase,” which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Based on John Jay Osborne Jr.’s 1971 novel of the same name, the dramedy revolves around James Hart (Timothy Bottoms), a first-year Harvard Law school student who becomes obsessed with Professor Charles Kingsfield (John Houseman), the brilliant and often ruthless contract law professor., Kingsfield never bothers to learn his students’ names but certainly keeps his charges on their toes“You come in here with a head full of mush and you leave thinking like a lawyer,” he tells them in his patronizing accent.
Kingsfield uses the Socratic method of teaching and on that fateful first class, he asks Hart a question. “Speak louder, Mr. Hart! Fill the room with your intelligence.” Totally unprepared, Hart ends up throwing up in class. As the term progresses, Hart attempts to challenge Kingsfield’s authority. During one class, Hart snaps at the professor: “You are a son of a bitch, Kingsfield.” The professor is unflappable. “Mr. Hart. That is the most intelligent thing you’ve said all day. Take your seat.”
Lindsay Wagner plays Kingsfield’s daughter who becomes Hart’s girlfriend; the cast also features Edward Herrmann, James Naughton and Lenny Baker.
Though Houseman doesn’t have much screen time — he only shot for 10 days — he dominates the film. It wasn’t surprising that at the age of 71, he won both the Oscar and Golden Globe for supporting actor. What is surprising is that he wasn’t the first choice — that was James Mason. Eventually, Bridges went to his mentor Houseman, who was not an actor.
The Rumanian-born Houseman, who joined Orson Welles and his legendary Mercury Theater in 1937, directed several stage productions after breaking with Welles, including 1946’s “Lute Song” with Mary Martin and Louis Calhern in ‘Coriolanus” in 1950. Between 1945-1962, Houseman produced 18 films including 1946’s ‘The Blue Dahlia,” 1952’s “The Bad and the Beautiful,” 1953’s “Julius Caesar” and 1956’s “Lust for Life.” His films were nominated for 20 Oscars, winning seven. He also was nominated as a producer of the best picture nominee “Julius Caesar.” Houseman also won three Emmy Awards.
In 1960, Houseman was named artistic director of the Professional Theater Group at UCLA. Eight years later he was asked to establish the drama division of Julliard and went on to become the co-founder and artistic director of the Acting Company, a repertory group of Julliard alumni including Kevin Kline and Patti LuPone.
Bridges had been one of Houseman’s former assistants at UCLA. “Almost every major theater in American is run by a Houseman protégé,” Bridges noted in the 1988 New York Times obit of Houseman. “Before there was Kingsfield there was John Houseman.”
Houseman was about to retire to a life he described “of fairly restricted options” and added it was “pure luck” that Bridges reached out to him. “I became rich through ‘The Paper Chase.’” And he became a movie star continuing to act in such films as 1975’s “Rollerball” and “Three Days of the Condor” and 1981’s “Ghost Story.” He reunited with Bridges for 1988’s “Bright Lights, Big City.”
He also reprised his role of Kingsfield in the 1978-79 CBS version of “The Paper Chase” and the 1983-86 Showtime revival. And he starred in a series of commercials for the financial investment brokerage Smith-Barney: “They make money the old-fashioned way; they earn it.”
In a 1986 interview, Houseman noted he didn’t have a “long list of regrets” about his career. “I’d been so very lucky. Things have fallen so consistently into my open mouth. There’s nothing I wish I’d done.”
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