Fritz Manes

WILLIAM GRIMES “Fritz Manes, Producer of Eastwood Films, Dies at 79” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/12/movies/fritz-manes-producer-of-eastwood-films-dies-at-79.html


Fritz Manesはクリント・イーストウッドとは中学、高校、軍隊を通じた知り合いで、海兵隊除隊後、UCLAで演技を学んだ。1973年にイーストウッドの制作会社Malpasoに雇われ、制作を担当することになる。しかしながら、彼がプロデューサーとしてクレディットされているイーストウッドの作品はどれも(偶々)観ていないのだった。しかし、1986年の『ハートブレイク・リッジ』を巡る米軍当局とのトラブルの責任を取らされるかたちでMalpasoを解雇される。


The relationship with Mr. Eastwood cooled markedly during the filming of the 1986 film “Heartbreak Ridge,” about a Marine sergeant. Since he was a Korean War veteran who had been awarded the Purple Heart, Mr. Manes was expected to smooth out any difficulties with the Marine Corps, whose cooperation had been obtained for the project.

The film’s salty dialogue and less than accurate depiction of events surrounding the invasion of Grenada raised hackles among the military brass, and the Marine Corps disavowed the film, as did the Department of Defense. Mr. Manes was unceremoniously eased out of Malpaso.

In Patrick McGilligan’s warts-and-all biography “Clint: The Life and Legend,” Mr. Manes described to the author an often tortured relationship in which Mr. Eastwood dangled the possibility of substantial acting roles to keep Mr. Manes jumping through hoops as a producer, and doled out credit erratically.

“With this guy, if you got any credit for anything it was a miracle,” Mr. Manes said. “He used to choke on the word ‘producer.’ ”

Mr. Eastwood, in a 1997 interview with The Independent of London, said, “I promoted him into a position, and he didn’t perform.”


Mr. Manes’s firing at Malpaso was messy. One day he discovered that Warner Brothers, which distributed Malpaso’s films, had stopped authorizing his paycheck. Mr. Eastwood, on being asked for an explanation, told Mr. Manes that he had decided to close the production company’s offices for a while, but when Mr. Manes talked to other employees, he discovered that he alone was being let go.

In 1986, after the split with Mr. Eastwood, Mr. Manes formed his own production company, Sundancer, and served on the California Film Commission.

どちらも、関係がぶっ壊れた後の証言なので、感情が解きほぐせないほど縺れてしまっているな。
Fritz Manesは何本かのイーストウッド映画にちょい役として出演もしており、その中には『アルカトラズからの脱出*1もあり。
アルカトラズからの脱出 [DVD]

アルカトラズからの脱出 [DVD]

*1:Alcatrazという言葉についてはhttp://d.hatena.ne.jp/sumita-m/20100426/1272309085で言及した。