Top 10 favorite films by director Mike Nichols

On Wednesday, November 19, 2014, the world of entertainment lost another one of its shining stars, famed stage and screen director Mike Nichols. He was 83 years old.

Nichols is one of the 12 individuals to have won what is sometimes referred to as the grand slam of show business, having won competitive awards in film, television, music/audio, and theater. A more detailed account of his accomplishments can be found here.

Nichols directed a wide variety of films ranging from comedy to drama to musicals and showed deft craftmanship in each genre he tackled. However, what most of his films, regardless of the genre, made use of was satire, of which Nichols was a master.

To honor his memory, I have picked my top 10 favorite films directed by Mike Nichols to share with you. It is very hard to rank these, as all have their unique qualities, and I’m sure some of you would rank them otherwise, but I think most would agree that all of his films had something to say, and they all said it well.

image courtesy of Kristin Callahan/ACE/INFphoto.com

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10. Working Girl, 1988

Melanie Griffith stars in this romantic comedy as Tess McGill, a stockbroker’s secretary with a degree in Business, who dreams of becoming an executive someday. After she insults one of her boss’ colleagues, she is reassigned to new executive Katharine Parker played by Sigourney Weaver. Her new boss feigns interest in Tess’ ideas, but then tries to steal one and pass it off as her own. When Parker (Weaver) has a skiing accident that lays her out for awhile, Tess finds out about her boss’ deceit. She takes this chance to pass herself off as her boss and introduce her merger idea to another executive, Jack Trainer, played by Harrison Ford, with whom she develops a romantic relationship.

The film was well received, with six Oscar nominations and four Golden Globe wins, including Best Original Song “Let the River Run” by Carly Simon, which also won an Academy Award and a Grammy.

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9. Silkwood, 1983

Silkwood stars Meryl Streep as Karen Silkwood, who works at a plutonium processing plant making plutonium fuel rods for nuclear reactors. Concerned that the corporation is not taking proper measures to protect the employees from radiation exposure, she becomes a union activist, lobbying for safeguards and testifying before the Atomic Energy Commission. When an incident occurs that contaminates Silkwood and other workers with radiation, the corporation tries to put the fault on Silkwood. Silkwood soon discovers doctored photographs and falsified reports and begins her own investigation.

This dramatic film was inspired by the real life of Karen Silkwood. Silkwood was investigating wrongdoing at the plutonium plant where she worked as a chemical technician. While on her way to meet with a New York Times reporter to disclose her findings, her car was run off the road and she died in the crash. A highly publicized lawsuit on behalf of her children won a record-setting judgement in 1979 and affected the future of liability law and the construction of nuclear power plants in the United States.

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8. Regarding Henry, 1991

Regarding Henry stars Harrison Ford and Annette Bening in a J. J. Abrams screenplay about a successful Manhattan lawyer who walks into a robbery in progress at a convenience store and is shot twice, in the brain and in the chest. He suffers a lack of oxygen which causes brain damage. Henry has lost speech and movement and has retrograde amnesia (memory loss of events occurring or information learned before the injury or disease). He slowly learns to walk and talk again through physical therapy, but is still beset with amnesia. As he trepidatiously works toward regaining normalcy in his life, he realizes he doesn’t like himself as he learns of his former unethical and narcissistic ways. This is a wonderfully touching movie about the rebirth of a man and a family.

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7. Wolf, 1994

Nichols’ romantic horror film, Wolf, stars Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer and James Spader. Nicholson plays a mild-mannered editor-in-chief, Spader plays the ambitious, back-stabbing protege, and Michelle Pfeiffer plays the rebellious daughter of the man helming the ruthless takeover of the publishing house (Christopher Plummer), all caught up in this romantic tale of lycanthropy. Yes, there be werewolves!

The film was nominated for six Saturn Awards (best horror film, actor, actress, supporting actor, writing and makeup), which are presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. Jim Harrison and Wesley Strick won for Best Writing.

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6. Wit, 2001

Wit is a television movie based on the 1999 Pulitzer Prize winning one-act play of the same name by Margaret Edson. The film stars Emma Thompson as Vivian Bearing, an English Literature professor who has been diagnosed with metastatic Stage IV ovarian cancer. As she suffers through the side effects of experimental treatments, she begins to take stock of her life. There are flashbacks as well as moments where she breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the viewer as she comes to understand the significance of compassion. In Emma Thompson’s words, “It’s about someone who realizes that being clever simply isn’t enough.”

The film was critically acclaimed and won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie, a Humanitas Award and a Peabody. Nichols won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing and a Berlin International Film Festival Special Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.

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5. The Birdcage, 1996

The Birdcage, with script written by Elaine May, is the delightful 1996 remake of Jean Poiret and Francis Veber’s 1978 Franco-Italian film, La Cage aux Folles.

The Birdcage stars Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as a cabaret owner and his drag queen domestic partner who is also the star act at his club. Armand (Williams) has a grown son, Val, who is engaged to be married, and the couple want their parents to meet. But Val’s fiancee’s father (Gene Hackman) is an ultra-conservative senator, so she tells a few lies to her parents about Armand and Albert’s (Lane) relationship, sexual inclinations and religious background. As the gay couple try their best to deceive Val’s fiancee’s parents, mayhem ensues and laughter for the viewer abounds.

The film was nominated for the American Film Institute’s 100 Years...100 Laughs list.

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4. Postcards from the Edge, 1990

The screenplay for Postcards from the Edge was written by Carrie Fisher (Star Wars’ Princess Leia) and based on her 1987 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. The comedy-drama stars Meryl Streep as a recovering drug addict trying to revive her acting career; Shirley Maclaine as Streep’s overbearing mother, a former musical comedy star; and a supporting cast of well-known actors such as Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, Annette Bening, Richard Dreyfuss and Rob Reiner.

Questions were raised about whether the novel/film depicted the real life relationship between Fisher and her mother, actress Debbie Reynolds. Fisher said in an interview at the time that it did not. "I wrote about a mother actress and a daughter actress. I'm not shocked that people think it's about me and my mother. It's easier for them to think I have no imagination for language, just a tape recorder with endless batteries."

The film was well received and was nominated for Oscars, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes. Meryl Streep demonstrated her comedic chops and won the American Comedy Award for Funniest Lead Actress in a Motion Picture.

Maclaine and Streep both deliver powerful singing and acting performances.

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3. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 1966

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? features the dynamic and volatile propensities of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The film is an adaptation of the play of the same name by Edward Albee. Burton is George, an associate history professor, and Taylor plays Martha, George’s seductive wife and daughter of the college president. George Segal plays Nick, a young, newly hired instructor, and Sandy Dennis plays his wife, Honey. The film is a black comedy-drama that takes us through one gruelling night for Nick and Honey as guests of their bitter, aging hosts, George and Martha, who ensnare them in their drunken evening of marital warfare.

The film is one of only two in the history of the Academy Awards to be nominated in all eligible categories (13, at the time). It won five (best actress, supporting actress, and the “black and white” categories of art direction, cinematography and costume design). This was Nichols’ first film as a director.

The film has been preserved in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

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2. The Graduate, 1967

Dustin Hoffman had his breakthrough film role in the film adaptation of the 1963 novel The Graduate by Charles Webb. Buck Henry and Calder Willingham wrote the screenplay.

Hoffman, at the real age of 30, plays Benjamin Braddock, a 20-year-old college graduate who is seduced by an older woman, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), and ends up falling in love with her daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross).

The picture was nominated for not only what’s known as the “Big Five” Academy Awards (best picture, director, actor, actress and screenplay), but also for best cinematography and best supporting actress. Mike Nichols won for best director. The film and Nichols also won Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards. It is included in The American Film Institute’s 100 best American movies. It has also been preserved in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Much of the music used for the soundtrack is by Simon & Garfunkel, most notably the “Sound of Silence,” “Mrs. Robinson” and “Scarborough Fair.” The then folk/rock duo gained a much greater audience with this film. The chart-topping “Mrs. Robinson” led the film’s soundtrack to the top of the charts in 1968.

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1. Catch-22, 1970

The Graduate is certainly Mike Nichols’ most well-known film and I’m sure many viewers’ favorite. However, one of Nichols’ movies stands out even more in my memory, and that is Catch-22.

Alan Arkin stars as Captain John Yossarian in this film adaptation of the Joseph Heller novel Catch-22. The satirical anti-war film’s cast includes well-known stars Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel, Charles Grodin, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Paula Prentiss, Martin Sheen, Jon Voight, Orson Welles, Bob Balaban, Jack Gilford, Norman Fell and Buck Henry, who also wrote the screenplay.

Yossarian is a U.S. Army Air Force B-25 bombardier stationed on an island off the coast of Italy during World War II. His squadron flies dangerous missions and after seeing many of his friends killed in action, he searches for a means of escape. He tries to convince the colonel that he’s had a mental breakdown but the doctor tells him that the military’s “catch-22” policy won’t accept that as a reason to be discharged because "he would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he'd have to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't, he was sane and had to." Meanwhile, other members of his squadron employ many ludicrous ways of coping with their situation.

Though the film suffered commercial and critical failures (M*A*S*H being released the same year didn’t help), it retained a cult following. It currently holds an 88 percent Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.