The Great Santini

THE GREAT SANTINI (1980) 35th Anniversary screening Tuesday, October 27, at 7:00 PM, with Q&A with BLYTHE DANNER to follow the screening.

Ben Meechum (Michael O’Keefe) struggles to win the approval of his demanding alpha male father (Robert Duvall), an aggressively competitive marine pilot.

THE GREAT SANTINI was nominated for two Academy Awards in 1980—best actor for Duvall and best supporting actor for O’Keefe. Based on Pat Conroy’s autobiographical novel, this is an intense family drama centering on a domineering Marine pilot, his long-suffering wife (Blythe Danner), and their children. In his celebrated book, Adventures in the Screen Trade, award-winning screenwriter William Goldman called the film and its famous basketball scene “brilliant and moving, filled with the knowledge of family love, family frustration, hate, and the wisdom of showing the proximity of these moods, how the one seamlessly shifts into the other.” Goldman also praised the acting of Duvall, O’Keefe, and Danner as “world class.” Stan Shaw, David Keith, and Lisa Jane Persky co-star in the film written for the screen and directed by Lewis John Carlino (Seconds, The Fox, The Mechanic, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, Resurrection).

Our special guest will be Tony and Emmy-winning actress Blythe Danner, who has given memorable performances on stage, screen, and television over the last 50 years. She has acted in classic and contemporary dramas on stage. On television she portrayed characters created by Tennessee Williams and F. Scott Fitzgerald in addition to her recurring role as Will’s mother in the long-running TV sitcom Will and Grace. On film she co-starred in 1776, Sidney Lumet’s Lovin’ Molly, Hearts of the West, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Woody Allen’s Alice and Another Woman,The Prince of Tides, and the popular Meet the Parents comedies, in which she played Robert De Niro’s wife. This year Danner won renewed recognition and acclaim for her starring role in the poignant hit dramedy, I’ll See You in My Dreams.