Thoughts on Elliott Gould - Could He Have Remained a Star?

1969. Elliott Gould makes Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice. He becomes a star. He quickly signs a bunch of deals including setting up his own company.

He makes MASH and becomes a bigger star. Getting Straight and is even bigger - because its the only student protest film to make money and a lot of that is attributed to Gould.

He does Move which flops. Then does I Love My Wife which also flops. I think both these were failures you can't blame Gould for choosing - they were in the Bob and Carol vein. However apparently Gould turned down McCabe and Mrs Miller to do Wife. That was a mistake. Always go with your great directors.

He does Little Murders which flops. You definitely can't blame him for this. Hit play, great role. The movie's pretty good too. It probably should have had a name female co star. It's become a cult.

Gould goes to Sweden and does The Touch. No one likes it. But when Ingmar Bergman calls you have to answer.

Gould then flips out on A Glimpse of Tiger. This is Gould's fault. Drugs messed with his head. He goes on a two year sabbatical. Maybe that was too long but if that's the time you need to recover.

Gould comes back smartly with two Altmans - The Long Goodbye and California Split. Neither a big hit, and Goodbye cops it from some critics, but they are all films treated respectfully.

He does a buddy cop film, Busting. Can't blame him for that, a decent choice. It was made by Peter Hyams who later cast Gould in Capricorn One.

SPYS sounded weak. And was weak. It did reunite him with Sutherland but not Altman. This was a mistake. I don't know what else he was offered. Apparently At Long Last Love was an option. He does Who? and no one notices.

Gould then makes a series of "commercial" films - I Will I Will For Now, Harry and Walter Go to New York. They flop.

He winds up in a hit film, Capricorn One, and a good movie The Silent Partner, then makes a series of duds - Matilda, Escape to Athena, The Lady Vanishes, Falling in Love Again.

By the end of the decade he isn't a star anymore.

So what lessons can be learned
- don't let drugs affect your work
- if you have a relationship with a good director (Altman) you do it when they call - sure you'll get The Touch but you'll also get McCabe and Mrs Miller
- there's no such thing as "commercial"
- don't take off two years when you're popular because it won't last

He's still plugging away and has had a great career. I just wish Gould had remained a star for longer because his choices were so interesting when he had power.