FRANCO ZEFFIRELLI IS DEAD TO ME

The Guardian

Now this really is someone I thought had died years ago.

I'm sure Jonathon will be mourning today.

One of the people who claimed unwelcome advances, IIIRC, was Bruce Robinson, from Shrew. He looked a lot like Keanu, 50 years ago. Was also the object of Adjani's desire in Adele H.

I know too much.

I was molested.

That's Johnathon, R3. The gay spelling didn't mean Franco had a right to molest him, but you can see where he thought he might be into boys.

RIP.

Far right Christian hypocrite!

Did Mel know he was gay?

Guess he won’t be visiting Ricky Schroder in jail.

Apparently “backed the Roman Catholic Church against homosexuals”

The Catholic Church is nothing but a glorified hate group and front for child rape at this point. It deserves no legal protection whatsoever. Jesus is the Devil.

Another pair of star crossed lovers he brought to life. This movie and book still haunt me. I can't even get through this clip. Ugh I almost think R&J's fate was better than David's trip to the loony bin. And then he comes home to find out they destroyed her letters.....UGH!!!!!

Immense successful career in Opera design and direction. Some turds, but many classics and the designs themselves were/are warhorses - and what the public wants. When a company tires of them they are sold for a good price to another company in another country.!

He was twice an Italian senator, on the right.

He came out as a homo, too!

Renaissance man.

International Hypocrite

[quote]He came out as a homo, too!

What good is that when the chump sided with our enemies against us?

[quote]DEAD TO ME

Speaking of which, he sexually harassed my ex-husband!

Bruce Robinson was smoldering hot in Kleinhoff Hotel.

He got a lot of hot ass in his day. Maybe even Tommy Cruise.

No references to the molestation charges in any of the obituaries.

Why does this creep get a free pass?

Because he’s white and Italian.

I cant only dream of the orgies he and Luchino had in Capri. Can you imagine the guests list? DIVOON

actually, i CAN dream of the orgies. Fucking autocorrect

What the hell are you talking about, r10???

He gave us Martin Hewitt (even though he would soon turn fat & ugly)

Thank you.

R27 I still cannot figure out her boobs in that pic. They look pancake flat, but then the shot where she jumps out of bed, they're huge.

those are called natural boobs

R7 wait, what? Do I have to change my name?

Martin Hewitt turned fat and ugly?

"Jesus of Nazareth" is one of my favorite religious films and I write this as a fire-eating non-believer.

i don't think i've seen a Zeffirelli movie in the last 30 years. I hear Tea with Mussolini is very nice, tho. (and it surely has a dream cast)

Tea With Mussolini is charming. Based on his childhood.

Perfect time to re-post this.

So young.

Johnathon has spoken.

R35 you missed where it was already posted, waaaaay up at R3

R35, are you also R3?

Schaech was awfully hot. Was he ever into the homosex? He talks about this incident causing him to develop a sex addiction.

Oops, sorry, I rushed through the posts to see if it had already been posted and didn’t see it.

I’m guessing Zeffirelli didn’t mess with Leonard Whiting or Martin whatsisname. I think he was more into the rough trade/Italian-ish look which is why he went after Bruce Robinson and probably Tom Cruise. It’s a good thing Douglas Booth was born twenty years too late to be in one of his film.

Tom Cruise and Douglas Booth are Italian-ish?

Booth could pass for Italian-dark hair, full lips. Tom Cruise less so but he did look rough trade in those days.

Coincidentally Schaech admitted on Rosie O’Donnell’s or Ellen’s show that he found Tom Cruise hot, and it didn’t appear to be ironic. They cut to commercial.

Uncle Monty in Withnail and I was partly inspired by Zeffirelli's behavior during Romeo and Juliet. "Are you a sponge or a stone" is something he asked Robinson.

I have some questions.

Why was this guy obsessed with the teen sex?

Did Francis get it on in Brother Sun Sister Moon?

That is all.

Tom Cruise definitely presented hole to be cast in Endless Love. It was his first movie.

Yes, R27, gays will be forever grateful to Zeffirelli for that scene of Leonard Whiting's naked ass.

Seeing that naked ass in high school English class for Shakespeare was a great experience.

R47, he was apparently being kept by David Geffen, who was one of the producers of Endless Love. Maybe he was a pass-around.

He was a creep but he led such a fabulous life. Imagine having people like Maria Callas and Anna Magnani as your BFFs.

"This movie and book still haunt me. "

Are you nuts? The book, "Endless Love", by Scott Spencer, was a a good book, if rather overwrought. But the movie version, which was not a good representation of the book at all, was astoundingly bad. Brooke Shields couldn't act to save her life and poor Martin Hewitt had to passionately exclaim dialogue like this all through the the movie: "I love her! I'll always love her!" and "We love each other other! Many years later a SECOND movie version was made of Spencer's novel, and it had even less to do with novel then the first wretched movie version did. Scott Spencer hated both versions.

Tea with Mussolini is fabulous. Surely with the all Star cast of Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright, Lily Tomlin and Cher it must be a DL fave?

I think his "Romeo and Juliet" is the definitive film version of Shakespeare's play. It really is the best one ever made. Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey, although not experienced actors, suited their roles perfectly, both of them amazingly gorgeous.

I thought "Jesus of Nazareth" was a masterpiece. Except for some unfortunate casting (Ann Bancroft as Mary Magdalene? Ernest Borgnine as a Roman soldier?) it was an amazing piece of work.

I'm sure he had affairs with younger men, but I seriously doubt Zeffirelli "molested" anybody. Johnathan Schaeck's story of how Zeffirelli "molested" him sound like total bullshit.

Who gives a fuck about Jonty Schaeckek, fuck him.

Zeffirelli was Golden

Zeff was the Golden Age of opera.

I’m sure he and his buddy James Levine had a swell time picking up young’uns on the deuce in the 1960s and 1970s.

Have Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey commented yet?

not as nice as leonard's but still....thanks franco

Zef chased after Benvolio/B Robinson on the set of R & J.

Zeffirelli was at one point scheduled to direct Mommy Dearest starring Anne Bancroft.

Who did he kiddie diddle? He was a Roman Catholic, they are famous for doing that.

Thanks for the lovely view, Franco:

Did he tap that ass? He seems like the typical Italian princess though........

Hell, he gets a pass just for Romeo and Juliet alone. One fine movie, and what can we say about Leonard Whiting that hasn't already been said?

Sorry but his films are a snooze. Have you tried to watch Last Tango in Paris?!

Too bad he didn't make Last Tango,

Thank you, R68! I was looking for a great photo of LW, and I couldn't find one, but you did.

Who?

A lover of mine, sadly no longer with us, worked on a number of his films and confirmed the stories about him chasing younger men ( all in their twenties ) around, himself included. They all thought it was amusing if pathetic, played him along and took advantage of it without putting out because it got them free accommodation in great hotels, great meals, much booze and a decent salary. He was hardly Weinstein.

Zeffirelli’s movies and operas were long boring slogs. And he was a creep.

Bye, bitch.

"Zeffirelli’s movies and operas were long boring slogs."

That's true, if you have the attention span of a three year old.

What the fuck what, cunt? I work in opera and his operas are boring literal translations that bring zero insight to the work. He got work in America because he did nothing other than make picture perfect sets of the original locations in Tosca, for example, and he had a brief association with Callas. Who gives a fuck? Old dying Met patrons, that’s who, not exactly arbiters of artistic taste. Romeo and Juliet, his only movie of real note, is a crashing fucking bore fortunately now largely ignored and forgotten. And he has a looooooooong history of aggressive and creepy behavior with young men and boys just like Levine while being a huge self loathing homophobe. The only reason he’s gotten away with it is because #metoo didn’t happen early enough and he was OLD.

So fuck him and fuck you for giving him a pass because he exploitatively showed you a teen boy’s ass.

It's not worth losing your shit over, R74. This is just a gossip site, so chill.

When's the last time you took a dump, R74? Excluding on the DL.

is r74 a frau or a SJW?

A Frau with shitty shoes, R77.

Fuck this site really is just filled with old bottoms trying to relive the days they were relevant.

I think he made some great movies!

Young Toscanini is famously terrible. I've never seen it but i'll leave you with this image from the movie.

The reason operas are a slog is the sanctimony around them for several decades. Many operas were written as entertainments for principally social occasions, and one could intermittently pay attention when something spectacular or enchanting took place. I was an opera goer for 2 decades from my 20's to 40's, and my tricks included sitting out acts and of course taking aisle seats so I could get the fuck out and smoke, drink, or eat, or make out with my date. If I was lucky, get some sex.

R79, don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out 😘

R51 I already identified myself as a MARY! for the way I feel about the movie & book. The story is just too much.

A lot of his work was pretty looking but empty.

I heard Donatella & Susan Dey are holding rival Press Conferences. Pitch black veils over scarlet red dresses!

R66 = Larry King.

Is this why Shaech wasn't a bigger star?

i find hilarious that after Soul Man, C. Thomas Howell was in ANOTHER movie featuring black face like The Young Toscanini. His agent must've been a total idiot.

R88 No, he cannot act

[quote]i find hilarious that after Soul Man, C. Thomas Howell was in ANOTHER movie featuring black face like The Young Toscanini. His agent must've been a total idiot.

Funny, when I did it it didn’t hurt my career.

I'm reading Zeffirelli's Wikipedia entry and it says he adopted two adult men? WHAAA??? Anyone know more??

[quote]Zeffirelli adopted two adult sons, men with whom he had worked for years and who lived with him and managed his affairs.

Yeah, I’m sure those “affairs” involved olive oil and Chianti.

Pretty but empty".....That describes a lot of the posters on Datalounge, R85.

Well, except for the "pretty" part, R94.

[quote]RIP Maestro

Mary!

R92: a few other famous italian gays of Zeffirelli's generation did the same. It was a way to be sure your younger companion /lover would have rights after your death before gay marriage became available. Singer Renato Zero and movie producer Marina Cigogna (both celebrities in Italy) did the same.

True, r97. Adoption was the only way to really secure inheritance and prevent the will from being challenged by relatives. It wasn't that uncommon.

R97 / R98 -- interesting! I had no idea. Do we know anything about Franco's adoptees?

Even if you didn't care for his films, he had a knack for making everyone look beautiful. Cher adored him.

How come none of the big name actresses from "Tea With Mussolini" got Oscar nominations?

Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Cher, Joan Plowright, etc.

Welcome home, R79.

R100. I seem to remember they were kids of very humble origins. They are now both almost 50 yo. And they are set for several lifetimes!

if you read italian, an interesting interview with Z. from 2015. Great vintage pictures if you dont read italian.

This is who Timmy Chalamet is playing in the French Dispatch isn't it?

R102, while the acting was uniformly praised, the movie was not.

i didn't know that, r106! Are we sure it's the same Zeffirelli?

He was an artistic genius --with stunning opera productions and movies like Romeo and Juliet (let's conveniently forget Endless Love).

His politics (anti-gay and stating that women who had abortions should be executed) came from internal conflict of being gay in an uber-Catholic country

[quote]How come none of the big name actresses from "Tea With Mussolini" got Oscar nominations?

1998 was when Miramax was in full Oscar grab mode. This was an MGM release; they had just gotten out of bankruptcy a few years earlier, ironically, they had ended up there in the first place because of the incompetence and corruption of another Italian, Giancarlo Parretti.

[quote] I work in opera and his operas are boring literal translations that bring zero insight to the work.

When war house operas have been done for literally the millionth time, how much more insight can one get. I just want a big, glitzy Turandot and Aida, and I'm happy at this point.

At the MET, the theater is so huge that any nuance is lost anyway. so why bother? Zeffirelli understood that

I believe Noel Coward legally adopted his much-younger lover.

Yes, this is the same Zeffirelli that Timmy is portraying in The French Dispatch, r108.

that sounds interesting. too bad I hate wes Anderson.

visited the Fondazione Zefferelli in Florence a few months ago. An overview of his creations in film, opera and theater: many models of stage sets, costumes, and film clips. An entire room that "activates" thorough modern technology the many drawings he made for the film of Dante's Inferno, which was never made.

Sounds like a swine, and not in a good way. I'm so glad that he was never that interesting to me, though Shrew is pretty to look at.

Leonard and the other guys wearing their codpieces:

^^Bruce Robinson on the left. Between harrassment episodes.

I think Bruce had a slight resemblance to young Keanu, who was in that Bertolucci film... Another luscious mouth.

Another article about the maestro's sexual assaults.

He was a pig.

dunno about sexual harrassing but great european directors treating actor like shit is an old tradition. Visconti and Preminger literally slapped their stars on set. and their movies were great.

They often showed his Mini Series "Jesus of Nazareth", when I was a child at eastern on TV. It had an amazing cast.

[13] Shut up, Shmuel.

r88 - he didn't put out

R125 don't forget Ron Howard!

with the exception of Whiting, zero stars at his Florence funeral. wow, that's Cold.

Well, some are dead. And many others he made only one film with. And he didn't make all that many films. The opera people would be gone by now.

I wonder if at the end he still felt that women who have abortions should be executed. If so, good riddance.

Yes, but zero italian contemporary stars too. They usually go to these things. It's true: Zeffirelli was a pariah in Italy. Being openly right wing is social death at Cinecittà, just like in Hollywood. When Bertolucci died every italian celebrity from 20 to 80 said something. Almost zero for Z.

His opera productions drown the principal singers in absurd amounts of scenery, costumes, chorus, and useless wasted supers. They are outdated and suck. When the ancient people who protect his productions with their piddling donations finally die we’ll all be better off for it.

As a young gay, for me, he made Shakespeare and opera accessible and enjoyable.

I revisited TAMING OF THE SHREW yesterday. Liked Burton but boy, Liz’s horrible ,shrill voice almost single handily stops the film dead in it’s tracks.

Don't forget Michael York was in Romeo and Juliet too, as one of his first movies.

Franco had a good eye for male flesh.

R74, the tone and language in your post defeat your takedown. Silly.

Romeo and Juliet, Taming, his opera productions remain great works- period.

He was a dirty old man, when he got old. So what? I never had any problem handling such men when I was young. In fact in my day it was even a sign of status, lol, when powerful successful gay men went after you. I had no interest in the sex- sometime the man. No big wup.

Why so angry R74? If his productions were so awful the Met wouldn’t use them-

Shut up R138, you abuser protector. Stupid fucking cunt. His productions are shit, and now he’ll be remembered as nothing more than a rapist abusing asshole. His few productions left at the Met will be gone by next season.

BYE BITCH.

"They often showed his Mini Series "Jesus of Nazareth", when I was a child at eastern on TV. It had an amazing cast."

I thought that production was his masterpiece. The casting of Robert Powell as Jesus was a stroke of genius. He had tested for the role of Judas, but Zeffirelli was impressed with his ice blue eyes and had him made up and costumed to look like Christ. As Zeffirelli told it: "I went over to my photographer Armando Nannuzzi, who was adjusting the camera. I bent down and looked through the viewfinder into darkness when suddenly Armando lifted the lens cap and there was Christ. It was stunning. Then the seamstress, noticing a stray thread, ran on to the set to remove it and seeing the full effect for the first time said "Oh my God", and crossed herself. Who was I to argue."

Zeffirelli also said he had "considered" Dustin Hoffman or Al Pacino for the role of Christ. I guess they were big names, but to imagine either of them playing Jesus Christ is laughable.

As is a blue-eyed Brit.

[quote]with the exception of Whiting, zero stars at his Florence funeral. wow, that's Cold.

Where was Olivia Hussey?

Franco Zeffirelli gave us Romeo's buttocks.... And St Francis Of Assisi's buttocks. And those 'Endless Love' buttocks.

Did he give us Cassio's penis (in 'Otello")?

What else?

Tonight Rai tv will broadcast Traviata live from Arena di Verona in prime time to honor Zeffirelli. Very nice.

Leonard and Olivia last year.

I used to see Olivia quite a bit when she was married to Dean Paul, absolutely stunning in person with fabulous skin. Their son turned into a mess, poor thing.

What R72 and R74 said. Although I did appreciate the male nudity in his films when I was a teenager.

Maybe Hussey was ill or couldnt make it to Italy. I find very strange she missed the funeral. She owns everything to Zeffirelli.

She owes everything to him, too.

I can't believe his funeral took place in the Duomo of Florence. It's not like he was the president or something. And I also don't understand why Italians are so afraid of cremating their dead; they must have some of the lowest cremation rates in Europe. C'mon dagos, casket burials are so 1968.

^mh??? if the dead din't ask for a cremation, why would they cremate the body?

don't be dense, r150. Important public figures (artists, intellectuals, athletes...) get often public, grandiose funerals.

^also, Zeffirelli was a Florence icon, i'm sure the mayor arranged that big funeral in the Duomo.

Why wasn't Brooke Shields at his funeral? At some awards show she called him him a "dear" man and supposedly they got along well during the filming of Endless Love. Shields was a virgin at the time (or so she's said) and in order for her to simulate an orgasm face Zeffirelli had to pinch her toe. He had to help her simulate sexual passion. I saw one photo where he was on top of her; I suppose he was just trying to get her comfortable with the role, since his sexual interest was in males, not females.

[quote] if the dead din't ask for a cremation, why would they cremate the body?

Because that's one of the oldest burial practices known to man and it's much less space-consuming to bury an urn than it is to bury a coffin. It's become a standard practice in many European countries (more than 80% of the bodies in places like Sweden, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Denmark are cremated nowadays). It's mostly countries that are either crazy Catholic or Eastern Orthodox that still don't like doing that (I believe the Orthodox church doesn't allow cremation but I'm not sure what the Catholics' excuse is).

Schaech was PAINFULLY hot back then. Holy shit, in Doom Generation- he is so dirty hot.

Zeffirelli was wrong not to take no for an answer. But I thought it was shitty from Schaech to tell that story, and blame all his troubles on it. Come on, dude. I can't imagine it being as traumatic as he says it was.

^^^That's not for you to say buddy boy.

Schaech advertised and marketed his own body in his quest for fame and fortune.

I'm sure Jonathan took it up the pooper more than once, just not from someone 105.

I always confuse Schaech with Tony Ward. Same hooker energy.

Advertising is not the same as submitting to a blubbery blowjob.

The movie industry is an industry where people sell their commodities for profit.

I found out today that the wizened old actor who played Gremio in Zeffirelli's The Taming of the Shrew in 1967 was Noel Coward's husband back in the 40s.

I have always confused him with Fellini. Were they friends or rivals?

Fellini was a master. Z was a mehster.

[quote]Because he’s white and Italian.

Redundant.

R65 Fellini had a very limited repertoire of kooky, cold 1960s films and he never left Italy.

Zeffirelli was much more versatile doing opera, straight theatre and films in England, Italy and Hollywood.

He was able to attract top English actors to his films. And all his films were visually lush and emotionally extravagant.

And intellectually empty.

To every thing there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time for intellect; a time for passion

A time for romance; ; a time for 'froideur'.

The horrendous Bazz Lurhrrman did a movie version of Romeo and Juliet.

The publicity claimed it was up-to-date, hip, punk and funky, blah blah...

It started off with all that nonsense for the first 40 minutes but after that it reverted to a carbon copy of Zeffirelli's version.

Johnathon Schaech's attractiveness for me was heightened by the fact that he doesn't look very bright.

Likes 'em dumb and hung. And why not?

Fellini was a genius. Zeffirelli was a great illustrator.

But Fellini is forgotten today outside of European artistic circles. Zeffirelli's films are still remembered.

Fellini will never be forgotten, dont be silly. La dolce vita alone makes him unforgettable in pop culture.

R139’s rant aside- how do perfectly strong and fit young men get abused by an old queen? I understand power plays when the older man is a boss or superior. But no one who ever made a play for me that was unwanted got close to succeeding (when I was a young man). I kind of took it for granted. Now if I was a boy- that’s a different story. I was once chased around a reception desk by a client at a public tennis facility. I ran out on to the courts and got help.

^ oh, please. Lol.

"How do perfectly strong and fit young men get abused by an old queen?"

They don't. If an old queen made an unwanted pass at a young, fit man all the young piece would need to do is punch him out. It's not like they're little boys, for God's sake.

he was the director of the movie he was shooting. I dont believe that Shaeck (?) was traumatized to death, but he just had to think things very carefully about the whole thing

I wonder how much "thinking" Schaech was capable of?

Zeffirelli was well versed in the Italian theater. His plays, movies, and operas reflected that knowledge. I believe he tried to recreate Il Teatro dello Spettacolo in each medium. R177 has it right, he tried to create a beautiful setting for each scene. His production of operas were the best example, since he created the sets for most of his productions. Critics and many people here on DL hate his settings as too traditional and boring. Strangely the audiences loved them. People still relate to that style, that's why the Met still owns his La Boheme. We all have a vision of how a play or opera should be interpreted. Some directors can delve into a libretto and see something new. Other directors make a play or opera all about themselves.

As Americans we were a way behind Europe, and stuck in traditional productions. This played right up Zeffirelli's style. In the 190s, the Metropolitan Opera was competing against Broadway's Cats, Phantom, and what ever else was going on. They were in deep financial trouble in the 70s, so Zeffirelli coming up with La Boheme in 1981 was a life saver for them. It was bringing in the audiences, selling out a 4,000 seat theater night after night. They had the casts to fit in the scenery which "ate them up". Don't forget the Otto Schenk - Gunther Schneider-Siemssen productions of Wagner. Very scenic beautiful and stage directions as Wagner wrote them.

Now that Zeffirelli and Schneider-Siemssen are dead, the Met will be able to breath a bit freer. I was deeply impressed and moved by it's production of Parsifal a few seasons back. It is non traditional, but it tells the story in a refreshing new way.

One other thing, I was able to watch the Met's HD presentation of Dialogues of the Carmelites last month. This was a production created in 1977, during the Met's financial crisis. A very spare production by John Dexter, it was an unexpected success, and has been on the Met's line up a few years longer than Boheme. I have seen it at the Met twice in the past. Seeing it again on the big screen still moved me deeply. What I want to get to here is, an audience wants be moved, or feel that they have been through a journey. It is all about getting to the heart of the viewer, and Zeffirelli was able to do that to that.

Yeah, but his filmmaking was seccond-tier.

Johnathon Schaech's mouth in particular was obscene. Also his pecs. SWOLLEN

In his prime, that guy must have been knee-deep in whatever genitalia he fancied. He looks so Mediterranean, but the name certainly isn't.

Schaech was an unknown 22 year old at the time.

He's deluding himself if he thinks Zeffirelli hired him for his thespian skills.

Thank you to whoever posted all the pics of Leonard Whiting, whom I never get tired of looking at. He didn't age well, and neither did Olivia (!!!) but oh, well. We can always watch the movie to see two of the most beautiful actors of all time in their prime. I've read that she was the love of his life. Unrequited, oddly enough.

Poor Leonard Whiting. He went bald in his twenties. He was gorgeous for about 15 minutes.

Whiting married an American model who looked a lot like Olivia Hussey. Their only child died of cancer a few years ago.

Olivia has been posting pics of her R&J days on Instagram, with RIP maestro, etc, so she is aware. Not sure why she did not attend the funeral. Although not everyone can up & go to Italy just like that, who knows.

There was a Law and Order episode where they talk about “the Zeffirelli production of Aida”, did that really happen or was it something they made up for L&O?

^ On stage, yes

I prefer the classic film with Sophia Loren!

That's a hoot. Why is Placido singing to a cocker spaniel?

That movie version of Traviata was amazing, mostly thanks to the divine Teresa Stratas.

"He was a creep." So many fucking prudes. He was a gay man who enjoyed being a gay man. You assholes are on the WRONG site.

And I just discovered "Brother Sun..." and loved it. And when I first got to L.A., one of my favorite moments was when I had to take a piss next to him at a urinal at the Beverly Hills Hotel. I knew then I was officially in Hollywood.

I believe she lost her voice from the same surgery (and doctor) Julie had, r198.

R135 Are you a fan of joyless and bleak, post-apocalyptic stage sets?

Pygmies amongst the chicken bones^^

Fuck off R199. No one wants your old man creepiness perving all over every twink that walks by. The days of the old closet cases with a little bit of power finding refuge in the arts and using it to fuck over every young male that comes in sight are OVER, and it couldn’t come soon enough.

Get used to it.

Get used

Who's THIS healthy woman?

You sound like a totally unhinged cunt. And the last person who should be on a gay site. Take your tragic "everyone's a victim" mentality somewhere else.

I enjoyed these buttocks (vicariously)