''Blaze'' is a 1989 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written and directed by

Ron Shelton Ronald Wayne Shelton (born September 15, 1945) is an American film director and screenwriter and former minor league baseball infielder. Shelton is known for the many films he has made about sports. His 1988 film ''Bull Durham'', based in part ...

. Based on the 1974

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

''Blaze Starr: My Life as Told to Huey Perry'' by

Blaze Starr Blaze Starr (born Fannie Belle Fleming; April 10, 1932 – June 15, 2015) was an American stripper and burlesque star. Her vivacious presence and inventive use of stage props earned her the nickname "The Hottest Blaze in Burlesque". She ...

and Huey Perry, the film stars Paul Newman as

Earl Long Earl Kemp Long (August 26, 1895 – September 5, 1960) was an American politician and the 45th governor of Louisiana, serving three nonconsecutive terms. Long, known as "Uncle Earl", connected with voters through his folksy demeanor and c ...

and

Lolita Davidovich Lolita Davidovich ( sr-Latn, Lolita Davidović, italic=unset; born July 15, 1961) is a Canadian-born film and television actress, best known for portraying Blaze Starr in the 1989 film '' Blaze'', for which she received a Chicago Film Critics As ...

as Blaze Starr, with Starr herself making a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

. At the 62nd Academy Awards in 1990, the film then received a nomination for Best Cinematography for

Haskell Wexler Haskell Wexler, ASC (February 6, 1922 – December 27, 2015) was an American cinematographer, film producer, and director. Wexler was judged to be one of film history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of the Inte ...

. However, the award went to

Freddie Francis Frederick William Francis (22 December 1917 – 17 March 2007) was an English cinematographer and film director. He achieved his greatest successes as a cinematographer. He started his career with British films such as Jack Cardiff's '' Sons and ...

for '' Glory''. This was Wexler's fifth and final nomination, having won previously for ''

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive ...

'' (1966) and '' Bound for Glory'' (1976).

Plot

The film tells the highly fictionalized story of the latter years of

, a flamboyant Governor of Louisiana, brother of assassinated governor and U.S. Senator

Huey P. Long Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...

and uncle of longtime U.S. Senator

Russell Long Russell Billiu Long (November 3, 1918 – May 9, 2003) was an American Democratic politician and United States Senator from Louisiana from 1948 until 1987. Because of his seniority, he advanced to chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, servin ...

. According to the novel and film, Earl Long allegedly fell in love with a young stripper named Blaze Starr.

Cast

* Paul Newman as Governor Earl Long *

Jerry Hardin Jerry Hardin (born November 20, 1929) is an American actor. Hardin has appeared in film and television roles, including the character nicknamed Deep Throat in ''The X-Files''. Hardin was born in Texas and studied acting at London's Royal Academ ...

as Thibodeaux *

Gailard Sartain Gailard Sartain (born September 18, 1946) is an American retired actor, often playing characters with roots in the South. He was a regular on the country music variety series ''Hee Haw''. He is also known for his roles in three of the Ernest m ...

as LaGrange *

Jeffrey DeMunn Jeffrey DeMunn (born April 25, 1947) is an American stage, film and television actor known for playing Captain Esteridge in '' The Hitcher'' (1986), Sheriff Herb Geller in ''The Blob'' (1988), Andrei Chikatilo in '' Citizen X'' (1995), Harry Terwi ...

as Eldon Tuck *

Richard Jenkins Richard Dale Jenkins (born May 4, 1947) is an American actor who is well known for his portrayal of deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series '' Six Feet Under'' (2001–2005). He began his career in theater at the Tr ...

as Picayune * Brandon Smith as Arvin Deeter *

Robert Wuhl Robert Wuhl (born October 9, 1951) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He is best known as the creator and star of the television comedy series '' Arliss'' (1996–2002) and for his portrayal of newspaper reporter Alexander Knox in Tim Bu ...

as Red Snyder * James Harper as Willie Rainach *

Rod Masterson Rodney Gregory Masterson, Jr., known as Rod Masterson (February 14, 1945 – September 12, 2013), was an American film and television actor from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Background A native of Alexandria in Central Louisiana, Masterson was one of ...

as ''Alexandria Daily Town Talk'' Reporter

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B+" on scale of A to F.

Box office

''Blaze'' debuted at number 9 at the North American box office on its opening weekend.

References

External links

* * * 1989 films 1980s romantic comedy-drama films American political drama films American romantic comedy-drama films Films directed by Ron Shelton Touchstone Pictures films Films set in the 1950s Films shot in Louisiana A&M Films films Films about striptease 1989 comedy films 1989 crime drama films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films {{1980s-romantic-comedy-film-stub