DICK CAVETT SHOW, THE: A CONVERSATION WITH INGMAR BERGMAN (TV)
Summary
One in this series of late-night talk/variety programs, hosted by Dick Cavett, featuring interviews with newsmakers and people in the political and cultural forefront. Taped in Stockholm, the entire program is dedicated to an interview with Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman and actress Bibi Andersson, who is a veteran of eleven Bergman films. In the first half of the program, Cavett conducts an interview solely with the director, who comments on the following topics: his strict upbringing in Sweden, which prompted him to escape by playing with puppets and dolls; his first film made from his own script, "The Prison" (1949), which he describes as a "bad picture" before showing a clip of one sequence he regards fondly; the first film he saw, "Black Beauty," which he remembers as an overwhelming emotional experience; his memory of trading numerous tin soldiers for his brother's magic lantern, which he had coveted as a child; his lack of interest in mind-altering drugs; the director's cautious desire to someday direct a play in America; why he regards film actors as artists and not as movie stars; why he regrets losing his temper with his film and stage actors; why he refuses to take creative suggestions from business people who are not working creatively on a project; his views on psychiatry and his one experience being treated by a psychiatrist; and a clip from "Wild Strawberries" (1957) and his recollections of working with the film's aged star Victor Sjostrom. Bibi Andersson then joins the discussion. Highlights of this part include: Andersson's own version of Bergman's brief foray into psychiatric treatment; her dissatisfaction with her physical appearance; Bergman's reminiscences on his first collaboration with Andersson during the filming of a soap commercial; his pride in his television commercial work; Andersson's assertion that the famed director has a deep understanding of women; his own explanation for why he thinks women have more acting talent than men; a clip from the new Bergman film "The Touch" -- his first English-language film -- which features Andersson and American actor Elliott Gould; Bergman's revelations about which of his films he considers failures; the artistic lessons he learned from watching Alfred Hitchcock films; his love for the many different kinds of films there are; his appraisal of "Five Easy Pieces" as a recent example of a "wonderful picture"; Andersson's evaluation of Bergman as being a "fantastic actor"; Bergman's disagreement with this appraisal and his insistence that he hates acting; and his prediction that he will create five or six more films before dedicating his life to directing for the stage. Commercials deleted.
(Cavett hosted several talk shows under the title "The Dick Cavett Show," which aired on ABC from 1969 to 1972, on PBS from 1977 to 1982, on the USA network from 1985 to 1986, and on CNBC from 1989 to 1995. During 1973 to 1975, the show aired irregularly as part of "ABC's Wide World of Entertainment." Other versions of "The Dick Cavett Show" include a variety series on CBS in 1975 and a talk show on ABC in 1986.)
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: August 2, 1971 11:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:09:24
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:34876
- GENRE: Talk/Interviews
- SUBJECT HEADING: Talk/Interviews; Films - Production and direction
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1969-1972
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Marshall Brickman … Producer
- David Barnhizer … Director
- Kathleen Cacase … Associate Director
- Bob Cunniff … Writer
- Dick Cavett … Host
- Ingmar Bergman … Guest
- Bibi Andersson … Guest
- Elliott Gould
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Victor Sjostrom