Born on this day – Robert Loggia:

Robert Loggia

Actor

January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015

Credits:

The Savant (2019); Cries of the Unborn (2017); The Red Maple Leaf (2016); Independence Day: Resurgence (2016); Sicilian Vampire (2015); La Trattoria Sitcom (2015); No Deposit (2015); Bleeding Hearts (2015); The Big Fat Stone (2014); Before It's Too Late (2014); An Evergreen Christmas (2014); Scavenger Killers (2014); Snapshot (2014); Real Gangsters (2013); Family Guy (1999); Apostle Peter and the Last Supper (2012); Margarine Wars (2012); The Diary of Preston Plummer (2012); Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012); Men of a Certain Age (2009); The Life Zone (2011); The Great Fight (2011); The Grand Theft (2011); Fake (2011); Hawaii Five-0 (2010); Obituary of the Sun (2010); Harvest (2010); Shrink (2009); The Least of These (2008); The Boneyard Collection (2008); Monk (2002); Her Morbid Desires (2008); Scarface: The World Is Yours (2006); Wild Seven (2006); Tom Goes to the Mayor (2004); Forget About It (2006); Rain (2006); Funny Money (2006); The Deal (2005); Kojak (2005); The Sopranos (1999); Queens Supreme (2003); All Over Again (2001); The Shipment (2001); The Guardian (2001); Grand Theft Auto III (2001); Malcolm in the Middle (2000); Dodson's Journey (2001); The Fearing Mind (2000); Dharma & Greg (1997); Touched by an Angel (1994); The Outer Limits (1995); Frasier (1993); Return to Me (2000); FeeSpace 2 (1999); Bonanno: A Godfather's Story (1999); American Virgin (1999); Flypaper (1999); Joan of Arc (1999); The Suburbans (1999); Stories from My Childhood (1998); Hard Time (1998); Holy Man (1998); The Proposition (1998); Wide Awake (1998); Joe Torre: Curveballs Along the Way (1997); The Don's Analyst (1997); The Dog of Flanders (1997); Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997); Lost Highway (1997); Pandora's Clock (1996); Mistrial (1996); Independence Day (1996); The Right to Remain Silent (1996); Man with a Gun (1995); Picture Windows (1994); Between Love and Honor (1995); Coldblooded (1995); Jake Lassiter: Justice on the Bayou (1995); I Love Trouble (1994); White Mile (1994); The Last Tattoo (1994); Bad Girls (1994); Mercy Mission: The Rescue of Flight 771 (1993); Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7 (1993); Lifepod (1993); Wild Palms (1993); Innocent Blood (1992); Afterburn (1992); Gladiator (1992); The General Motors Playwrights Theater (1991); Necessary Roughness (1991); Sunday Dinner (1991); The Marrying Man (1991); Spies Inc. (1992); Mancuso, FBI (1989); Opportunity Knocks (1990); Triumph of the Spirit (1989); Relentless (1989); Running Away (1989); Dream Breakers (1989); Oliver & Company (1988); Favorite Son (1988); Intrigue (1988); Big (1988); Old Dogs (1987); Echoes in the Darkness (1987); Amazon Women on the Moon (1987); Gaby: A True Story (1987); The Believers (1987); Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8 (1987); Hot Pursuit (1987); Over the Top (1987); Magnum, P.I. (1980); That's Life! (1986); Armed and Dangerous (1986); Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985); Streets of Justice (1985); Jagged Edge (1985); Prizzi's Honor (1985); The Ferret (1984); Murder, She Wrote (1984); A Touch of Scandal (1984); Matt Houston (1982); Overnight Sensation (1984); Tales of the Unexpected (1979); Emerald Point N.A.S. (1983); Scarface (1983); Curse of the Pink Panther (1983); Psycho II (1983); Trail of the Pink Panther (1982); Falcon Crest (1981); Little House on the Prairie (1974); An Officer and a Gentleman (1982); A Woman Called Golda (1982); S.O.B. (1981); Nero Wolfe (1981); Fantasy Island (1977); Casino (1980); Charlie's Angels (1976); Vega$ (1978); Flatfoot in Egypt (1980); The Ninth Configuration (1980); Quincy M.E. (1976); Kaz (1978); No Other Love (1979); Hawaii Five-O (1968); Sword of Justice (1978); Starsky and Hutch (1975); The Eddie Capra Mysteries (1978); The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977); The Rockford Files (1974); Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978); First Love (1977); The Six Million Dollar Man (1973); Speedtrap (1977); The Bionic Woman (1976); Police Woman (1974); Switch (1975); Raid on Entebbe (1976); Arthur Hailey's the Moneychangers (1976); Wonder Woman (1975); Scott Free (1976); Street Killing (1976); S.W.A.T. (1975); Columbo (1971); Cannon (1971); Mallory: Circumstantial Evidence (1976); McMillan & Wife (1971); Doctors' Hospital (1975); Ellery Queen (1975); Harry O (1973); Caribe (1975); Mannix (1967); The Manhunter (1974); Kojak (1973); Turn the Other Cheek (1974); Young Dr. Kildare (1972); The F.B.I. (1965); The High Chaparral (1967); Then Came Bronson (1969); Che! (1969); The Big Valley (1965); The Name of the Game (1968); Tarzan (1966); Custer (1967); The Wild Wild West (1965); T.H.E. Cat (1966); The Three Sisters (1966); Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964); A Man Called Shenandoah (1965); The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1965); The Trials of O'Brien (1965); Run for Your Life (1965); Kraft Suspense Theatre (1963); The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962); Combat! (1962); The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965); Gunsmoke (1955); The Doctors and the Nurses (1962); Ben Casey (1961); Route 66 (1960); Breaking Point (1963); 330 Independence Avenue, SW (1963); The Eleventh Hour (1962); Cattle King (1963); Rawhide (1959); The Defenders (1961); The DuPont Show of the Week (1961); The Dick Powell Theatre (1961); The Untouchables (1959); Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955); Alcoa Premiere (1961); Target: The Corruptors! (1961); Naked City (1958); Play of the Week (1959); Moment of Fear (1960); An Arabian Night (1960); Overland Trail (1960); Kraft Theatre (1947); The Magical World of Disney (1954); Strindberg on Love (1960); One Step Beyond (1959); Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (1958); Wagon Train (1957); The Lost Missile (1958); Cop Hater (1958); The Eighty Yard Run (Playhouse 90) (1958); Matinee Theatre (1955); Studio One (1948); The Garment Jungle (1957); Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956); The Secret Storm (1954); Search for Tomorrow (1951).

On this day in movie history - Scarface (1983):

Scarface

directed by Brian De Palma,

written by Oliver Stone,

based on the novel by Armitage Trail,

was released in the United States on December 1, 1983.
Music by Giorgio Moroder.

Cast:

Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Robert Loggia, Míriam Colón, F. Murray Abraham, Paul Shenar, Harris Yulin, Ángel Salazar, Arnaldo Santana, Pepe Serna, Michael P. Moran, Al Israel, Dennis Holahan, Mark Margolis, Michael Alldredge, Ted Beniades, Albert Carrier, Caesar Cordova, Geno Silva, Richard Belzer, Lana Clarkson, Charles Durning, Dennis Franz, Garnett Smith, Tony Perez, John Brandon.

On this day in movie history - An Officer and a Gentleman (1982):

An Officer and a Gentleman,

directed by Taylor Hackford,

written by Douglas Day Stewart,

was released in the United States on July 28, 1982.
Music by Jack Nitzsche.
Song Up Where We Belong performed by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes.

Cast:
Richard Gere, Debra Winger, David Keith, Robert Loggia, Lisa Blount, Lisa Eilbacher, Louis Gossett Jr., Tony Plana, Harold Sylvester, David Caruso, Victor French, Grace Zabriskie, Tommy Petersen, Mara Scott-Wood, David Greenfield, Dennis Rucker, Jane Wilbur, Buck Welcher, Vern Taylor, Elizabeth Rogers, David R. Marshall, Gary C. Stillwell, Tee Dennard, Norbert M. Murray, Daniel Tyler, William S. Graves, Brian D. Ford, Michael C. Pavey, Keith J. Haar, Pia Boyer, Danna Kiesel, Marvin Goatcher, John Laughlin, Jeffrey P. Rondeau, Michael Lee Bolger, Mark L. Graves, Meleesa Wyatt, Jo Anna Keane, Ed Begley Jr., Bradley James Bernard, Shannon Grimes, Raymond Kohn, Marc Kramer, Bernard Madrid, Tom Ricciardelli, Randy Tat.

On this day in movie history - Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956):

Somebody Up There Likes Me,

directed by Robert Wise,

written by Ernest Lehman,

based on the autobiography by Rocky Graziano with Rowland Barber,

was released in the United States on July 4, 1956.
Music by Bronislau Kaper.

Cast:
Paul Newman, Pier Angeli, Everett Sloane, Eileen Heckart, Harold J. Stone, Joseph Buloff, Sal Mineo, Ray Stricklyn, Robert Loggia, Steve McQueen, Angela Cartwright, Jack Orrison, Frank Campanella, Dean Jones.

On this day in movie history - Prizzi’s Honor (1985):

Prizzi’s Honor,

directed by John Huston,

written by Richard Condon and Janet Roach,

based on the novel by Richard Condon,

was released in the United States on June 14, 1985.
Music by Alex North.

Cast:
Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, Anjelica Huston, Robert Loggia, John Randolph, William Hickey, Lee Richardson, Michael Lombard, C. C. H. Pounder, George Santopietro, Ann Selepegno, Lawrence Tierney, Vic Polizos, Dick O'Neil, Sully Boyar, Raymond Heller, Joseph Ruskin, Seth Allen, Dominic Barto, Stanley Tucci.

The Ninth Configuration (1979) – one selfless act:

The Ninth Configuration

Every kind thought is the hope of the world.

– Ed Flanders, as Colonel Fell.

 

Many times, over the years, people have asked me the same question about The Ninth Configuration:

“What’s it like?”
My response is always the same: incomparable.

There’s no other movie to compare it to.

It’s set in an asylum, but it’s nothing like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

It’s the author’s official sequel to The Exorcist, exploring the themes of faith, suffering, good and evil, but it’s not a horror movie.

The Ninth Configuration was directed, written, and produced by William Peter Blatty.
He based the script on his own novel: Twinkle, Twinkle, "Killer" Kane, originally published in 1966.
This story is the second in Blatty’s “trilogy of faith”, an indirect sequel to The Exorcist, with the novel Legion as the third part.
The astronaut from the house party scene in The Exorcist, ominously warned by the possessed girl: “You’ll die up there!”, is Cutshaw in The Ninth Configuration.
 
The Ninth Configuration opens on a melancholic tone, as Captain Billy Cutshaw (Scott Wilson) sits by a gothic castle window, watches a torrential rainstorm outside, and listens to a song on a cassette player.

The song San Antone, performed by Denny Brooks, written by Barry De Vorzon, plays on the soundtrack as we move from Cutshaw in his room, to the castle grounds, surrounding area, and armed sentries braving the weather in hooded ponchos at the castle gate.

The song ends, Cutshaw stops the cassette, and sadly lowers his head.

 

The opening titles play over a striking nightmare sequence: a countdown to a moonshot is abruptly aborted as the moon looms up behind the rocket and launch pad.

Psychiatrist, Colonel Fell (Ed Flanders) informs us in voice-over narrative, that it’s sometime in the ‘70s, towards the end of the Vietnam war.

The castle is in a secluded, unspecified location, shrouded in mist, set somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.

The building is being used as a military asylum.

 

The castle shown in the movie is the Burg Eltz Castle.

It overlooks the Moselle River, between Koblenz and Trier, in Germany.

After the sad opening scene and the surprising dream credit sequence, there’s a genre switch again to comedy, as we’re introduced to the castle residents:

Lieutenant Frankie Reno (Jason Miller) is adapting Shakespeare’s plays, with dogs in the roles.

He has a problem with Hamlet.

Lieutenant Spinell (Joe Spinell) is Reno’s casting director.

Major Nammack (Moses Gunn) believes he’s Superman.

Captain Fairbanks (George DiCenzo) has multiple personalities.

One believes he can walk through walls.

He smashes a hole in one wall to punish the atoms after he takes a running bash and fails, miserably, to pass through.

Another of his personalities is a sword-carrying nun who exorcises a Cola vending machine.

Lieutenant Bennish (Robert Loggia) believes he has been abducted to the planet Venus, is enraged that his flying belt has been confiscated, and promises not to use it to escape.

Lieutenant Gomez (Alejandro Rey) is a painter, complaining there’s no color in the air.

Lieutenant Fromme (William Peter Blatty) believes he is the real psychiatrist and steals Colonel Fell’s jacket, pants, and stethoscope at every opportunity.

Major Groper (Neville Brand) attempts, in vain, to maintain discipline among the lunatics.

Sergeants Krebs (Tom Atkins) and Christian (Stephen Powers) patrol the castle and grounds, overseeing everything.

The humor works.
Before William Peter Blatty wrote his landmark 1971 horror novel: The Exorcist, he was a comedy screenwriter.
The patients, even though they say and do crazy shit, are all highly intelligent, some near-genius, and highly decorated for their combat service.
It seems unlikely that these men would be faking insanity to avoid combat, but suspicion still hangs over them.
Cutshaw is the odd man out: an astronaut who aborted his mission to fly to the moon, during the final countdown.

The question is why?
Cutshaw wasn’t in combat.
Why would he fake insanity?

To get to the core of the men’s problems, and to ascertain if their PTSD is real and they are on the level, a new psychiatrist arrives at the facility.
The comedy then shifts into drama.

Colonel Kane (Stacy Keach) is unconventional in his methods.
Temperate and stoic, no matter how much the inmates try to provoke him.

But there’s something else going on with Kane.
In his quiet moments, he suffers flashbacks.
Something’s there in his mind, deep in the rain-drenched jungle he envisions.

We see two of Kane’s dreams.
The first is a brief glimpse of three crosses in a cloudscape, bathed in light, possibly a vision of Heaven.

In the second dream, Cutshaw is walking on the surface of the moon, the lunar landing craft in the background.
Cutshaw places the American flag, then turns and raises his arms.
The camera draws back and we see Christ (played by Stacy Keach) on the cross.

As this scene plays out, we hear Kane, in voice-over, give an argument proving the existence of God:
 
“In order for life to have appeared spontaneously on earth, there first had to be hundreds of millions of protein molecules of the ninth configuration. But given the size of the planet Earth, do you know how long it would take for just one of these protein molecules to appear entirely by chance? Roughly ten to the two hundred and forty-third power – billions of years. And I find that far, far more fantastic than simply believing in a God.”
 
This monologue was inspired by the studies of Dr. Pierre Lecomte du Noüy, a French biophysicist, philosopher, theologian, and author.
An agnostic who converted to Christianity.
In his book Human Destiny, published in 1947, he describes through his telefinalist hypothesis, and study of the chirality of amino acids in a protein, that life and evolution could not have happened simply by chance; God is the driving force for everything.

Science tells us how things work.
Only God and faith can provide the meaning behind the mystery of life.

A battle of wills ensues between Cutshaw the patient and Kane the psychiatrist.
After disrupting a church mass, Cutshaw asks Kane:
 
“If you die first, in this life after death, will you give me a sign?”
 
Kane says yes.

Cutshaw dismisses it.

He meant the request as a mocking taunt, but Kane keeps his word.
 
They meet and debate the mystery of faith, reason for suffering, existence of God, nature of good and evil.

Kane argues that if evil exists in the world, so does goodness.

Proof of which is the existence of love, the selflessness of man, altruistic acts, that one person will sacrifice their own life in order to save another.

Cutshaw’s challenge to Kane is to give just one personal example of genuine altruistic self-sacrifice to back up his argument.
 
Tensions lead to a violent confrontation in a bar, involving Kane, Cutshaw, and a motorcycle gang led by Stanley (Steve Sandor) and Richard (Richard Lynch).

This movie is also notable as being the first to use the Howie Scream stock sound effect, in the moment when knife-wielding biker, Stanley, attacks Kane.

Like many movies, The Ninth Configuration, was poorly received on its release and widely criticized over the years.

I believe in credit where it’s due: Blatty helmed the entire project and achieved a memorable mind-trip, with a genre mix of comedy, drama, war story, tragedy and theological thriller.
You have to go into this movie with patience and an open mind.

Be sure to see the version labelled as the Definitive Cut; there have been several versions released over the years, differing in running time and with key scenes missing.
The Definitive Cut is the best version, with the inclusion of the prologue sequence, with the song San Antone playing, other scenes throughout, and a clearer ending.

I’ve always found watching The Ninth Configuration an entertaining and rewarding experience.

Stunning visuals.

Atmospheric setting.

Brilliant and, at times, hilariously written script.

All played out with an excellent ensemble cast that clearly had a blast making this movie.
I first saw it as a video store VHS rental in the early ‘80s.

I’ve seen it many times since then, and it is now part of my movie collection.

So many movies just follow a predictable format.

The Ninth Configuration dares to be a very different movie, in so many ways.

With understanding of the author and director’s vision, we can appreciate the achievement of everyone involved.

With so many layers to the story, a funny and quotable script, serious themes, effective plot twist, and an ending that is profound and genuinely moving, this is one of the most original and ambitious movies I’ve ever seen.

The Ninth Configuration was originally released in the United States on February 29, 1980.
A leap year.

Take a leap of faith and take the time to watch this surreal, thought-provoking, and underrated classic.