Mailer, in London, Trades Jabs with Audience over New Film
John M. Lee's account of Mailer debating the audience after the London premiere of Maidstone at Cinema City, where he argued the film rewards repeated viewing.
Read an excerpt (rights pending)
“Mailer, in London, Trades Jabs with Audience over New Film,” an article by John M. Lee (New York Times, 17 October 1970, 21), recounts Mailer’s interaction with the audience after the world premiere of his film Maidstone (71.28) at Cinema City, a festival at the Roundhouse in North London. Pressed by young British film enthusiasts to make a film “with some content,” Mailer retorted, “As one leftist to another, I am now more interested in form than content,” and argued that the film rewards repeated viewing: “My bet on the film is that it’s capable of being seen over and over.” He maintained that movies had become so good “that serious literary people have to ask themselves if the art of the cinema isn’t superior to the art of the novel.” See 70.12. The full text of the article is held in the working archive at full text (rights pending, not cleared for display).