Producer Michael Deeley recalls The Deer Hunter

Award winning producer Michael Deeley has admitted he does not like watching his own movies. The 77-year-old whose producer credits include films like The Italian Job and Blade Runner says: "When I do have to look at films of mine I see what I did wrong, when I should have said 'Yes' to the director to ask for more money for a scene, or when I should have said 'No' when I gave it. So it rather irritates me." His admission comes as one of his films, The Deer Hunter, is being re-released as part of a special Blu-Ray collection by Studio Canal. The epic which stars Robert de Niro, Meryl Streep, John Savale and Christopher Walken amongst others, follows a trio of Pennsylvanian steel-workers who fight in the Vietnam war and the emotional devastation the experience brings upon them. The movie received nine nominations at the 1978 Academy Awards, of which it won five, including Best Film, Best Director (Michael Cimino) and Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Walken). After working for more than fifty years in one of the glitziest and yet toughest industries Michael Deeley has also penned some of his most memorable moments in Hollywood in a new autobiography. In Blade Runners, Deer Hunters and Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: My Life in Cult Movies Deeley describes how in one instance he brought the city of Turin to a standstill during filming The Italian Job. "It was a virgin city. No film had ever been shot there before. So they didn't know how much of a newsness filmmaking could be for the people who live there. We taught them that." Both the book and the special Blu-Ray edition are available in stores now.

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ITN | October 6, 2009

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