Once, in an unguarded moment in the editing room, Hal Ashby related a story about how he attempted to commit suicide. He planned to swim out in the Pacific Ocean until he drowned, but first determined he should find the perfect bathing suit to do so. However, the search proved futile and Ashby couldn’t find trunks that he liked…so he scrapped the idea altogether.
In October, the Dryden will pay tribute to Hal Ashby with five tragicomic films from the 1970s. Being the perennial misfit himself, Ashby’s stories often follow characters excommunicated from some walk of life. The Landlord (October 1) stars Beau Bridges as an inexperienced businessman who becomes alienated from his well-to-do family after getting involved in a mixed-race and mixed-class relationship. The life of Woody Guthrie is celebrated in Bound for Glory (October 29), as the musician finds himself chafing not only against society, but also against the people who love him. The title characters of Harold and Maude (October 8) are only drawn together by their very inability to fit in anywhere else. Jack Nicholson and Otis Young portray naval officers in The Last Detail (October 15) who think they belong to a group, but learn that they can only rely on each other. In Shampoo (October 22), hairdresser George Roundy, played by Warren Beatty, finds his company coveted by all those around him, but the attention only makes him unhappy. All these stories contain a perfect balance of black humor, poetry, and uncomfortable moments, delivered in a style that has deeply influenced an entire generation of American filmmakers.
After his streak of ’70s hits, Ashby found himself repeatedly outcast from Hollywood in the 1980s. More than any other word, “tragic” is used to describe Hal Ashby’s life. His last ten years were fraught with studio conflicts, aborted pictures, substance abuse, and seriously declining personal relationships. If it weren’t for these bleak moments, however, the rest of his career wouldn’t shine so brightly. Not unlike the anecdote about the suicide and the swimming trunks, Ashby’s stories carry a hint of joy and redemption just beneath the surface. The emphasis when describing Hal Ashby’s work should ultimately be on triumph, and not tragedy.
