What the Hell Happened to Melanie Griffith?

Melanie Griffith is the daughter of Hollywood icon, Tippi Hedren, an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner.  She rose to the A-list in the 80s working with directors like Brian De Palma, Mike Nichols and Jonathan Demme.  But after a promising decade, she stumbled and fell off the a-List in the 90s.

What the hell happened?

Melanie Griffith and her mother, Tippi Hedren - 1966
Melanie Griffith and her mother, Tippi Hedren – 1966

Griffith was born into show business.  Her mother, Tippi Hedren, is best known for the films she made with Alfred Hitchcock, The Birds and Marnie.  Hedren suffered numerous indignities at the hands of the legendary director.  Griffith was a child at the time and remembers a strange gift from Hitchcock.

“It was, like, a coffin box… and I opened it up and in it was a doll of my mother from The Birds… It was, like, made by the studio.  Can you imagine the psychological effect (of that)… He was a very weird guy.”

That’s for sure.  Although, Hitchcock probably never slept with a lion.

Melanie Griffith and pet lion Neil
Melanie Griffith and pet lion Neil

Yes, Griffith grew up with a lion named Neil for a pet.

Melanie Griffith and Neil the Lion
Melanie Griffith and Neil the Lion

Hedron later regretted allowing a full-grown lion to sleep in her daughter’s bed and hang out by the pool.  “We were stupid beyond belief to have that lion in our house,” she admitted.  I’m guessing she feels the same way about Don Johnson.

Griffith’s biological father, Peter Griffith, was also in “the biz” as an actor and producer.  Her parents divorced when she was only four years old.  Her father re-married a model/actress and her mother re-married agent/producer, Noel Marshall.  Given this upbringing, it is no surprise that Griffith started doing commercials at nine moths old.  At the age of 12, Griffith made her movie debut with an uncredited role in the Glenn Ford movie, Smith.

Melanie Griffith - Harrad Experiment - 1973
Melanie Griffith – Harrad Experiment – 1973

At age 14, Griffith had another uncredited role in her mother’s movie, The Harrad Experiment.  James Whitmore starred as a college professor who oversees a bizarre and controversial social experiment at Harrad College.  The experiment involves pairing up incompatible members of the opposite sex to make them confront their sexuality.  Hedren played Whitmore’s wife who helps oversee the shenanigans.

Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson at the wrap party for The Harrad Exeriment
Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson at the wrap party for The Harrad Experiment

Don Johnson, who was 22 years old at the time, played one of the horny college co-eds in the movie.  Despite a seven-year age difference, Griffith and Johnson began dating.  Three years later, they were married.  According to Griffith, their relationship was failing and they decided to tie the knot out of desperation.  “We thought if we were married and it still didn’t work, we’d divorce.”  Six moths later, that’s exactly what happened.

Melanie Griffith - The Drowning Pool - 1975
Melanie Griffith – The Drowning Pool – 1975

In 1975, Griffith graduated to credited roles.  In The Drowning Pool, Griffith (who was seventeen at the time) played a promiscuous whose mother is caught up in a blackmail scheme.  Her mother was played by Joanne Woodward who in real life was married to the movie’s star, Paul Newman.  Newman reprised his role from the 1966 film, Harper, in which he played a detective.  The sequel was not as successful as the original.

Melanie Griffith - Smile - 1975
Melanie Griffith – Smile – 1975

Later that year, Griffith played a beauty pageant contestant in Michael Ritchie’s satirical comedy, Smile.  Bruce Dern starred in the movie which was adapted into a musical by Marvin Hamlisch and Howard Ashman in the eighties.

griffith night moves
Melanie Griffith – Night Moves – 1975

Griffith’s most significant role of the year was in the neo-noir detective drama, Night Moves which starred Gene Hackman.  Hackman played a detective hired to find and return the runaway daughter of a well-known actress.  Griffith naturally played the runaway and James Woods appeared as a shady mechanic.

Night Moves was not a success when it was released, but it has gained critical support over time.  Many now consider it the last great film by director Arthur Penn.  Night Moves is perhaps best known for Griffiths many nude scenes.  She was reportedly only 17 when she filmed them.

Ryan O'Neal, Melanie Griffith, Tatum O'Neal and Joanna Moore
Ryan O’Neal, Melanie Griffith and Tatum O’Neal

At the time, Griffith was living life in the fast lane.  She began secretly dating actor Ryan O’Neal who was 16 years her elder.  She also befriended O’Neal’s daughter, actress Tatum O’Neal.   Griffith was 18 at the time and Tatum was only 12 but they became best friends.  According to Tatum O’Neal, she didn’t know that her best friend was dating her father until the three of them traveled to Paris:

I thought she was my best friend. But there’s an agenda that I’m not aware of, which is that they’re going to sort of get together — and I walk in on them and I end up trying to take my life in a very sort of severe way.

Although O’Neal felt betrayed, she remained friends with Griffith.  She accompanied Griffith on another trip to Europe.  While the girls were in Paris, Griffith took the 12-year-old O’Neal to a drug-fueled orgy.  In her autobiography, O’Neal claimed to have had a sexual encounter with Griffith in a Paris hotel room while they were high on opium and hashish.  From Paris, they traveled to London and then Israel where Griffith was filming a movie.  O’Neal traveled back to Los Angeles alone.

Griffith admitted that she was out of control, “Sure, I used to do drugs, I used to drink. I was wild. I could do anything I wanted, and I did.”

Melanie Griffith - Joyride - 1977
Melanie Griffith – Joyride – 1977

Griffith kept busy throughout the late 70’s.  In 1976, she appeared in the TV mini-series, Once an Eagle.  The following year, she appeared in three movies.  First, she played a hitchhiker in the basketball drama, One on One which starred Robby Benson and Annette O’Toole).  The she starred in the road movie , Joyride.

Desi Arnaz Jr. and Robert Carradine starred as a couple of California boys who quit their jobs and head to Alaska seeking a fortune in salmon fishing.  Was salmon fishing really that lucrative in the late seventies?  Beats me.  Doesn’t matter because the boys’ plan is quickly disrupted when they get drunk and robbed.  Griffith played Carradine’s girlfriend who helps land them jobs when their salmon fishing dreams come crashing down.

Wow, that trailer is one of the most 70’s things I have ever seen!  The only way it could be more seventies would be if John Travolta showed in a white leisure suit and started dancing to the Bee Gees.

Melanie Griffith - Ha-Gan (aka The Garden) - 1977
Melanie Griffith – Ha-Gan (aka The Garden) – 1977

Ha-Gan (aka The Garden)was filmed in Isreal.  It was about an old man who maintains his own perfect garden in the middle of a growing urban area.  Griffith played a tourist who wanders into his garden.  She is naked and dazed after a sexual assault.  The old man mistakes her for an angel.  At least Griffith was 18 by this point.

Melanie Griffith - Starsky and Hutch - 1978
Melanie Griffith – Starsky and Hutch – 1978

Griffith kicked off 1978 with an appearance on the popular 70’s cop show, Starsky and Hucth.  In the episode, Griffith’s character’s is set up on a blind date with the much older and notoriously promiscuous cop, Hutch.  But really, this is just an excuse to get S&H for help with her brother’s gambling problems.  The police agree to help, but they also spend a lot of time squabbling over who gets to take Griffith out.

Melanie Griffith - The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries - 1978
Melanie Griffith – The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries – 1978

Next, Griffith played a psychic accused of being a witch presumably because she weighs the same as a duck and is therefore made of wood.  We’re just using deductive reasoning here.  She feels drawn to an eerie mansion (the same one that was used in the movie Psycho) and asks The Hardy Boys for help – and one assumes hair tips.

Griffith also appeared in the TV movie, Daddy, I Don’t Like This.  I do not like the sound of this!  Well, don’t worry.  It wasn’t what the title made it out to be.  Burt Young starred as a dad who tries to toughen his son up by paying bullies to beat him up.  On second thought, I’m not sure that’s a whole lot better than what I originally thought it was.

Later that year, Griffith appeared in two episodes of the sitcom, Carter Country.  The show was about a redneck sheriff and his college-educated deputy in a small town in Georgia.  Oh, and the deputy is black.  The cast included a racist officer who was shown to be a member of the Klan.  Imagine In the Heat of the Night played for laughs.  No, I can’t either.  Griffith played a young reporter in her two appearances.

Griffith ended the year with a supporting role in the TV movie, Steel Cowboy.  James Brolin starred as a trucker who I assume is made of steel.  A robot trucker.  I don’t know.  After the last two, I’m kind of afraid to look this one up.  Oh, turns out it was just a Smokey and the Bandit rip-off.  That’s a relief.

Melanie Griffith - Vega$ - 1978
Melanie Griffith – Vega$ – 1979

In 1979, Griffith made a guest appearance on the TV drama, Vega$.  She played a girl who is murdered while visiting Sin City.

The following year, Griffith was struck by a car at a crosswalk on Sunset Boulevard. She suffered a fractured arm and had amnesia for several days.  According to Griffith, the brush with death gave her pause for thought:

Everything came crashing down.  I thought of the accident as God’s way of telling me to slow down and figure out what to do with my life.

Melanie Griffith - Underground Aces - 1981
Melanie Griffith – Underground Aces – 1981

In 1981, Griffith starred opposite Dirk Benedict in the slapstick comedy, Underground Aces.  Benedict and Griffith played zany parking attendants at an exclusive Beverly Hills Hotel.

Melanie Griffith - The Star Maker - 1981
Melanie Griffith – The Star Maker – 1981

After that, she appeared in the TV mini-series, The Star-Maker.  Rock Hudson played a famous Hollywood director who has a reputation for using the casting couch to find starlets and future wives.

Melanie Griffith - She's In the Army Now - 1981
Melanie Griffith – She’s In the Army Now – 1981

Griffith’s next TV movie was the comedy, She’s In the Army Now.  The Private Benjamin rip-off starred Kathleen Quinlan, Jamie Lee Curtis and Griffith as army recruits going through basic training.  the Tv movie happened to coincide with an actual Private Benjamin TV show.

After that, Griffith appeared in the TV movie, Golden Gate.  Perry King starred as a… oh who cares?  Let’s get back to those lions.  Because DANG!  This is the single craziest thing I have covered in all of WTHH!

Melanie Griffith - Roar - 1981
Melanie Griffith – Roar – 1981

Remember Griffith’s exotic house pet, Neil the Lion?  Griffith’s mother and step-father were so taken with lions that they decided to make a movie about them.  Griffith’s step-dad, Noel Marshall “wrote”, directed and starred in the infamous animal adventure movie.  I put “wrote” in quotes because really, all he did was fill a house with wild animals and filmed his family members being attacked by them.  Marshall played a researcher who lives among hundreds of wild cats.  Hedren played his estranged wife and Griffith and her step-brothers played their kids.  The lions were played by real, man-eating lions.

When Marshall and Hedren couldn’t find enough trained animals to make their movie, they had the insane idea to stock a ranch with 150 wild lions, tigers and other assorted predators.  You would think Hedren, who starred in Hitchcock’s animal attack movie, The Birds, would have known better.  For five years, the family filmed themselves interacting with the untrained animals.

By now, even Marshall admits that this was a terrible idea.  “In hindsight, I know how stupid it was to do this film.  I am amazed no one died,” he admitted during the movie’s 2015 re-release.

The movie was originally scheduled to shoot for six months.  But that stretched out to five years as Marshall scrambled to finance the $17 million dollar movie.  At other times, production was shut down due to injuries.  Cinematographer (and future director of Speed) Jan de Bont, had his scalp removed by a lion.  He required 220 stitches to his head!  Griffith was mauled and needed facial reconstructive surgery and 100 stitches.  Hedren suffered a fractured leg and Marshall was gored so often that he contracted gangrene.  In all, there were 70 documented attacks during the making of Roar.

During one scene, Griffith is mauled by a lioness.  The attack is very real.  Hedren tries in vain to pull the giant cat off of her daughter.  Their panic is palpable in the scene.  You can’t watch and yet you can’t take your eyes away from the screen.  Eventually, Griffith’s step-brother, John, threw himself onto the floor as a distraction when his father refused to yell “Cut.”

We had safe words, and the safe word was ‘Noel’—my father’s name.  So Melanie’s down there and she’s yelling, ‘No, no, NOEL!’ He didn’t do shit. Both Tippi and Melanie would try to be in scenes with me because they knew I could stand up to Dad, but they also know I would make sure they wouldn’t get hurt.

Griffith - Roar
Melanie Griffith – Roar – 1981

When Roar was finally released to theaters in 1981, it flopped.  The $17 million dollar movie grossed a paltry $2 million dollars.  This spelled financial ruin for Marshall who had sold many of the family’s assets to finance the project.  He and Hedren split up the following year.

The movie was rediscovered more than three decades later and received a limited theatrical release in 2015.  Neither Hedren nor Griffith were involved.

Melanie Griffith and Steven Bauer
Melanie Griffith and Steven Bauer

In 1982, Griffith married her second husband, actor Steven Bauer (best known as  Manny Ribera in the Brian De Palma’s Scarface.)  The couple metwhile they were co-starring in She’s In the Army Now.They had a son together in 1985 and divorced in 1987.  During the their newlywed period, Griffith took a little time away from her career.

Melanie Griffith and Tom Berenger - Fear City - 1984
Melanie Griffith and Tom Berenger – Fear City – 1984

Griffith returned to the big screen with Abel Ferrara’s sexy thriller, Fear City.

Tom Berenger played a boxer who retired after killing a man in the ring.  Now he owns the biggest strip club in New York (Fear) City.  Billy Dee Williams played a cop who is investigating a series of murders.  There’s a serial killer on the loose and he’s killing strippers.  This presents a problem for Berenger professionally.  But also it poses a personal problem as he is in love with one of his dancers played by Griffith.

Warning, this trailer is not suitable for work.  Or if there are kids in the room.  Or if you are offended by naked strippers, martial arts or pulpy narration like “Everyone is watching them.  Someone is waiting for them.  Now everyone in New York is living in Fear City.”

How gritty was Fear City?  The film had to be drastically reedited in order to get by the MPAA ratings board.  The board felt there was too much sex, violence and drugs.  The cuts were so severe that there are noticeable jump cuts in the finished film during many of the killings.  Ultimately, 20th Century Fox decided to dump their movie to an independent distributor.

Melanie Griffith Body Double (1984)
Melanie Griffith – Body Double – 1984

Griffith’s big break came in Brian De Palma’s 1984 thriller, Body Double.

De Palma was a “student of Hitchcock” which is a polite way of saying that he ripped off the master of suspense shamelessly.  Body Double borrows liberally from Hitchcock classics, Vertigo and Rear Window.

Craig Wasson played a claustrophobic actor who lost his job on a vampire movie because he couldn’t stand being locked in a coffin while shooting.  When he returns home early, he discovers his girlfriend is cheating on him.  He meets a stranger at an acting workshop who offers him a place to stay.  The stranger has a friend who needs a house-sitter for his Hollywood Hills home.  As a bonus, the strangers shows him a telescope through which he can watch a sexy neighbor who dances every night.

One night, Wasson witnesses the neighbor being abused by her boyfriend.  Eventually he begins following her and a relationship begins.  Later, he watches her through the window again expecting her usual dancing.  Instead, he sees that someone has broken into her home.  He is helpless to prevent her brutal murder.

After the murder, Wasson has trouble sleeping.  So he does what anyone else would do under these circumstances.  He starts watching porn.  He comes across a porn star played by Griffith who dances in the same way as his murdered neighbor.  So he decides to pose as a porn producer and introduce himself.

Originally, De Palma intended to cast an actual porn star in the role.  When Columbia realized what the actresses background was, they nixed that idea.  Annette Haven, the porn star in question, later stated that she didn’t like the script anyway.  De Palma also wanted Body Double to be the first Hollywood movie to include actual unsimulated sex scenes.  As in, porn.  The studio had other ideas that didn’t involve making actual pornography.

Melanie Griffith - Body Double - 1984
Melanie Griffith – Body Double – 1984

Body Double was mostly panned by critics.  And understandably so.  It’s hard not to laugh at the film’s excesses.  It’s hard to tell whether or not De Palma intends this as a Hitchcock satire or an homage.  While most critics dismissed the film as excessively violent and misogynistic, Roger Ebert gave it a very positive review.  Several critics singled out Griffith’s performance for praise.

The movie flopped at the box office where it opened in third place behind The Terminator and Terror in the Aisles.  Over the years, Body Double has developed a cult following on video.  According to DePalma:

Body Double is the kind of movie that people always talked to me about. It got massacred by the critics when it came out, but I can’t tell you how many people come up to me to this day and talk to me about Body Double. So who knows… times change.

Melanie Griffith - Alfred Hitchcock Presents - 1985
Melanie Griffith – Alfred Hitchcock Presents – 1985

In 1985, Griffith appeared in the pilot episode of a reboot of the classic TV series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents.  Several of the episodes in the new series were remakes of originals including the one Griffith appeared in, Man From the South.  Griffith’s then-husband, Steven Bauer, played a gambler who accepts a bet from an eccentric old man played by John Huston.  Huston bets Bauer he can’t light his cigarette lighter 10 times in a row.  Bauer stands to win a sports car if he is successful or loose his little finger if he fails.  The cast included Hitchcock leading ladies, Tippi Hedren and Kim Novak.

griffith - something wild
Melanie Griffith – Something Wild – 1986

In 1986, Griffith starred opposite Jeff Daniels in Jonathan Demme’s quirky comedy, Something Wild.

Griffith played a variation on the manic pixie dream girl who turns Daniels’ life upside down.  Daniels played an uptight banker who Griffith catches in the midst of a dine-and-dash.  Griffith’s Lulu is intrigued by this relatively mild rebellion and takes Daniels’ Charlie on a series of adventures.

The great thing about Something Wild is that it takes an unexpected dark turn in the film’s final act.  Usually in these movies, the hero learns to loosen up through the irresponsible and self-destructive behavior of a beautiful stranger.  That’s true here too, but the couple’s actions have real life repercussions when Lulu’s violent ex boy friend Ray, played by a never-scarier Ray Liotta, arrives on the scene.

Something Wild is sexy, romantic, occasionally dark, funny and appropriately enough wild.  Critics responded to its quirky charms even if mainstream audiences didn’t know what to make of it.  The movie opened in seventh place at the box office behind Jumpin’ Jack Flash which had been in theaters for five weeks.

Griffith, Daniels and Liotta were all nominated for Golden Globes for their performances.  Griffith lost out to Sissy Spacek who won for Crimes of the Heart.  Although Something Wild was not a hit at the box office, it has developed a cult following on video.

Melanie Griffith - Miami Vice - 1987
Melanie Griffith – Miami Vice – 1987

In 1987, Griffith had a guest spot on her ex-husband’s hit TV show, Miami Vice.  Griffith played a high priced hooker who is mixed up in a murder Crockett and Tubbs are investigating.  Star Trek’s George Takei also appears as a villain.

Griffith divorced for the second time that year.  She later admitted that this caused her to abuse liquor and cocaine.   “What I did was drink myself to sleep at night.  If I wasn’t with someone, I was an unhappy girl.”

cherry 2000
Melanie Griffith – Cherry 2000 – 1988

Every “What the Hell Happened” article includes at least one “big year”.  In Griffith’s case, that year was 1988 which started off with the direct-to-video release of the sci-fi flick Cherry 2000 in which Griffith had really, really red hair.

Cherry 2000 is about a future in which there are sex robots.  Amazingly, Griffith does not play one.  Instead, she played a flesh and blood tracker who helps a rich man find a replacement part for his broken android wife.

Cherry 2000 was actually filmed in 1985 and was slated for release the following year.  However, the movie was never released theatrically in the United States.  Instead, it opened in Europe.  Orion released Cherry 2000 on video in the US in 1988 based on advance word of mouth that Griffith’s next movie would make her a star.

Seriously, how was she not  a sex robot in this thing?

Griffith has named Cherry 2000 as her least favorite of her movies, but it’s not bad at all if you enjoy a little cheese with your sci-fi.

MSDMIBE EC013
Melanie Griffith – The Milagro Beanfield War – 1988

Later that year, Griffith appeared in a small role as a trophy wife in Robert Redford’s The Milagro Beanfield War.  The movie is an adaptation of the novel of the same name. It deals with the conflict that arises when a rich developer attempts to build a resort that would displace the local Hispanic farmers.  The Milagro Beanfield War was screened at the Cannes Film Festival outside of competition.  Reviews were mixed and the movie was a disappointment at the box office.  But it was a step in Griffith’s career rehab towards respectability.

griffith stormy monday
Melanie Griffith – Stormy Monday – 1988

Later that year, Griffith appeared in Mike Figgis’ directorial debut, Stormy Monday opposite Sean Bean, Tommy Lee Jones and Sting.

Stormy Monday was yet another sexy neo noir thriller.  Bean stars as a lowly janitor who works at a nightclub owned by Sting.  Sting may have at one point been involved in organized crime, but he is trying to run a clean business now.  Tommy Lee Jones played an American gangster who comes to Newcastle in order to pressure Sting into selling his club.  Griffith played a waitress who falls for Bean but works as an escort for Jones.

Reviews were mixed with many critics complaining that Stormy Monday was all style and no substance.  In a positive review, Roger Ebert agreed that the movie was about the neo-noir style.  “Stormy Monday is about the way light falls on wet pavement stones, and about how a neon sign glows in a darkened doorway.”  It opened in limited release topping out at just under 50 theaters.

Griffith - working girl
Melanie Griffith – Working Girl – 1988

Griffith’s career changed completely when she starred opposite Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver in Mike Nichols’ comedy, Working Girl.

Griffith, of course, plays a prostitute.  I mean, the movie is called Working Girl and it stars an actress who has specialized in strippers and prostitutes up to this point.  Wait!  She isn’t a prostitute?  Well, she sort of is, but not literally.  Instead, Griffith played a Staten Island secretary who fills in for her boss (played by Weaver) after her boss is injured in a skiing accident.  Posing as an executive, Griffith negotiates a big deal with Ford.

First Griffith doesn’t play a sex robot in Cherry 2000 and now she’s not a prostitute in Working Girl.  My world makes no sense any more.

In the film’s most famous line, Griffith says, “I have a head for business and a bod for sin.”  I was shocked by how often this quote was mangled on the internet.  It’s “bod” people.  Not “body”.  What the hell!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMKDouP2xeI]

Working Girl featured a number of actors who would go on to great success in their careers including Alec Baldwin, Oliver Platt and Kevin Spacey.  It also co-starred Joan Cusack who would score an Academy Award nomination for the film.  Even David Duchovny makes a pre-fame appearance.

Melanie Griffith - Working Girl - 1988
Melanie Griffith – Working Girl – 1988

Reviews were almost universally positive.  Many critics singled out Griffith for praise.  Roger Ebert noted that Working Girl was a return to form for the director and a sure step forward for the actress.  “Working Girl is Nichols returning to the top of his form, and Griffith finding hers.”

Working Girl opened in 4th place at the box office behind The Naked Gun which had been in theaters for four weeks.  That doesn’t sound like the opening weekend of a box office hit.  In fact, Working Girl never held one of the top three positions during its entire run.  But it did hold on in the lower half of the top 10 movies for ten solid weeks.  That’s what they used to call “having legs”.  Movies don’t do that anymore.  By the end of its run, Working Girl had grossed over $60 million in the US and over $100 million worldwide.

Come awards season, Working Girl was nominated for six academy Awards including a Best Actress nomination for Griffith.  She lost to Jodie Foster for The Accused.  Working Girl only ended up taking hom Best Song for Carly Simon’s anthem,  Let The River Run.  Prepare yourself.  This is gonna stick in your head all day.

Working Girl fared better at the Golden globes where it was nominated in comedy categories.  It also received six Globe nominations, but won four of them including Best Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Supporting Actress for Waver, Best Actress for Griffith and, yes, Best Song.  Here’s a clip in which Griffith attempts to thank all of he co-nominees.  Emphasis on the word “attempts”.

During filming of Working Girl, Griffith received a wake-up call.  One day, director Mike Nichols pulled her aside to talk to her when she showed up to the set drunk.  Three weeks after the shoot, Griffith checked into rehab at the Hazelden Foundation in Minnesota.

melanie_griffith_and_don_johnson
Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson

In 1989, Griffith reunited with her ex-husband, Don Johnson.  They remarried when Griffith was 5 months pregnant with their daughter, Dakota.  The on-again/off-again couple separated for good in 1995.  Griffith credits Johnson for standing by her while she sobered up.

Melanie Griffith - In the Spirit - 1990
Melanie Griffith – In the Spirit – 1990

By 1990, Griffith was ready to take advantage of her new-found respectability,  She did that be appearing in the indie comedy, In the Spirit.  Marlo Thomas and Elaine May played two women on the run from a murderer.  Griffith shows up playing – what else? – a hooker.

Melanie Griffith and Michael Keaton - Pacific Heights - 1990
Melanie Griffith and Michael Keaton – Pacific Heights – 1990

In 1990, Griffith starred opposite Batman and Matthew Modine in John Schlesinger’s not-so-sexy thriller, Pacific Heights.

Griffith and Modine played a yuppie couple trying to renovate their San Fransisco dream house.  In order to pay for it, they take in a tenant played by Michael Keaton.  Turns out that Keaton’s more Joker than Batman this time around.  He doesn’t pay the rent and drives other tenants away, but getting rid of him proves to be legally challenging.  Beverly D’Angelo and Tippi Hedren had supporting roles.

Pacific Heights got mixed to negative reviews.  Thanks to Batman, it opened in first place at the box office.  But it fell off pretty quickly and only ended up grossing about $30 million at the box office.

Griffith Bonfire
Melanie Griffith – Bonfire of the Vanities – 1990

Later that year, Griffith co-starred with Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis in Brian De Palma’s comedy, Bonfire of the Vanities.

Where to start with the appropriately titled Bonfire of the Vanities?  Books have literally been written about what went wrong making this movie.  Most famously, Julie Salamon’s The Devils’s Candy chronicles the making of this notorious flop.  Griffith refused to read the infamous tome.  “I’m not going to read the book. I don’t know why anybody would want to. Maybe I was demanding but that was a hard shoot too.”

The movie was based on Tom Wolfe’s cynical satire of the same name.  In the book, Sherman McCoy is a Wall Street investor who refers to himself as a “Master of the Universe.  He’s built more like Arnold Schwarzenegger than Tom Hanks.  He was not a sympathetic guy as is evidenced by the plot which centers around a racially charged trial over a hit-and-run in which Sherman is complicit.

It’s tricky material to adapt into a big budget Hollywood movie with a Christmas release.  And yet, that is what Warner Bros decided to do.

De Palma himself would later summarize what went wrong with Bonfire:

“The initial concept of it was incorrect. If you’re going to do The Bonfire of the Vanities, you would have to make it a lot darker and more cynical, but because it was such an expensive movie we tried to humanize the Sherman McCoy character – a very unlikeable character, much like the character in The Magnificent Ambersons. We could have done that if we’d been making a low-budget movie, but this was a studio movie with Tom Hanks in it. We made a couple of choices that in retrospect were wrong.”

Melanie Griffith - Bonfire of the Vanities - 1990
Melanie Griffith – Bonfire of the Vanities – 1990

How screwed up were the filmmaker’s priorities?  They spent $80,000 for a 10 second shot in which the setting sun lined up with the a runway at JFK air port.  That’s an expensive back drop!

According to Salamon, Tom Hanks dismissed Uma Thurman’s audition for the part eventually played by Griffith as “high school”.  (Maybe he’s not such a nice guy after all.)  Lena Olin also auditioned for the role and told the crew she had never heard of Hanks (this was before he was a beloved Hollywood icon).  And the crew bitched about how hard it was to make Griffith look attractive on film.

Perhaps as a result of comments from the crew, Griffith made a rash decision during the film’s Christmas break.  Without telling anyone associated with the film, she went out and got a boob job.  When she returned to continue shooting, she grabbed De Palma by the head and shoved his face in her new boobs.  She didn’t get the reaction she was likely looking for as the director was less than thrilled by the idea that his leading lady would noticeably change bra sizes from one scene to the next.

Melanie Griffith - Bonfire of the Vanities - 1990
Melanie Griffith – Bonfire of the Vanities – 1990

Oh, also Bruce Willis was an asshole no one got along with.  But I think we already knew that.

I could go on all day about Bonfire of the Vanities.  But since the entire disaster has already been well-documented, I will just say that the reviews were terrible and the movie flopped in spite of Griffith’s newly enhanced rack.  It opened in an embarrassing 8th place at the box office behind The Russia House which opened in about half as many theaters that week.  It grossed under $16 million dollars.

Bonfire of the Vanities was nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Actress for Griffith.  She “lost” to Bo Derek who “won” for Ghosts Can’t Do It.

Melanie Griffith - Women and Men: Stories of Seduction - 1990
Melanie Griffith – Women and Men: Stories of Seduction – 1990

Griffith ended the year with an appearance in the steamy anthology picture, Women and Men: Stories of Seduction.

The movie was a compilation of three short films by three different directors.  One story featured Beau Bridges and Elizabeth McGovern.  Another starred Molly Ringwald and Peter Weller.  The final segment starred Griffith and James Woods as a couple on vacation in Spain debating whether or not to terminate a pregnancy.

The TV movie debuted on HBO.

griffith paradise
Melanie Griffith – Paradise – 1991

In 1991, Griffith starred opposite her first and third husbands (both of whom were Don Johnson) in the little-seen country drama, Paradise.  The film also features future hobbit, Elijah Wood and Thora Birch.

Johnson and Griffith played a couple who are struggling with the loss of their young son.  Wood played a boy who comes to stay with them for the summer.  Birch played a neighborhood kid who befriends him.

Reviews were negative and the movie opened in sixth place at the box office behind The Super.

griffith - shining through
Melanie Griffith – Shining Through – 1992

In 1992, Griffith co-starred opposite Michael Douglas in the World War II drama, Shining Through.

I don’t know what they are watching in that picture, but the theater is empty and they don’t seem to be enjoying themselves.  Hey!  Maybe they are watching Shining Through!

Griffith played a secretary in the 1940’s.  She ends up working for an attorney played by Michael Douglas because she is fluent in German.  She suspects that her humorless boss is hiding something and eventually comes to find out that he is a spy.  She accompanies him on several secret meetings and eventually they become romantically involved.

Roger Ebert summarized critical reaction with this quote:

“I know it’s only a movie, and so perhaps I should be willing to suspend my disbelief, but Shining Through is such an insult to the intelligence that I wasn’t able to do that. Here is a film in which scene after scene is so implausible that the movie kept pushing me outside and making me ask how the key scenes could possibly be taken seriously.”

Reportedly, Griffith learned a little history while making Shining Through. Griffith gave an interview in the New York Daily News where she made the following comment about the Holocaust, “I didn’t know that 6 million Jews were killed. That’s a lot of people.”  When asked to clarify, Griffith responded:

Until I started researching the movie I didn’t know it was that many people. I thought it was like in the hundreds of thousands. I didn’t realize it was 6 million people. What I was trying to say was I think a lot of people don’t know it was that severe. I wasn’t born during the war. I was born in ’57 . . . but I think a lot of people don’t know.

Griffith’s comments earned her the nickname “Brainiac” in the Toronto-area press for years to come.

Shining Through “won” Worst Picture and Griffith “won” Worst Actress at the 1992 Razzie Awards.  It opened in third place at the box office behind Fried Green Tomatoes which had been in theaters for six weeks.  By the end of its run, Shining Through ended up grossing just over $20 million in the US on a $30 million dollar budget.

griffith a stranger among us
Melanie Griffith – A Stranger Among Us – 1992

Later that year, Griffith starred in Sidney Lumet’s thriller, A Stranger Among Us.

Griffith played an undercover cop in what I can only assume was meant to be Witness with Hasidic Jews instead of the Amish and Tess McGill instead of Harrison Ford.  Griffith goes undercover to investigate the murder of a Hasidic diamond-cutter and ends up falling for one of the locals.

A Stranger Among Us received mostly negative notices.  Roger Ebert wrote that “If there has ever been a crime, in all the history of crime movies, that has a lamer solution than this one, I cannot remember it.”  It opened in 9th place at the box office behind Prelude to a Kiss – a flop that had already been in theaters two weeks.  It ended up grossing about $12 million dollars on a $33 million dollar budget.

griffith - born yesterday
Melanie Griffith – Born Yesterday – 1993

Proving that Griffith did not learn from past mistakes, she made another movie with hubby, Don Johnson in 1993.

In Born Yesterday, Griffith played a ditzy blonde showgirl who only recently learned about the holocaust.  (I may have added that last detail.)  She’s dating a wealthy businessman played by John Goodman.  He’s embarrassed by just how incredibly stupid she is, so he hires a reporter played by Johnson to smarten her up a little.  Before you can say “librarian glasses”, Griffith is smarter than anyone gave her credit for.

Born Yesterday was another critical whipping boy.  It didn’t fare any better at the box office either.  It opened in second place behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III which was in its second week in theaters and ended up grossing around $18 million dollars.

Judy Holliday, who starred in the original version of the film in 1950, took home an Oscar for her performance.  Griffith wasn’t quite so lucky.  She was once again nominated for a Golden Raspberry for Worst Actress, but this time she “lost” to Madonna who “won” for Body of Evidence.

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Melanie Griffith – Milk Money – 1994

In 1994, Griffith returned to prostitution (or playing prostitutes in movies anyway) for the romantic comedy, Milk Money.

Griffith plays a hooker named V who flashes a kid for money.  The kid then invites V to live in his tree house and hooks her up with his dad (played by Ed Harris who should know better).  Anne Heche appeared as Griffith’s best friend who was also a prostitute.

You may have noticed a trend post Working Girl.  Critics haven’t liked a single one of Griffith’s movies since she let the river run.  Of all the movies in Griffith’s critically panned filmography, Milk Money has the lowest score on Rotten Tomatoes.  It opened in fifth place at the box office behind The Mask which had been in theaters for six weeks.  Milk Money ended up grossing about $18 million dollars on a $20 million dollar budget.

griffith - nobody's fool
Melanie Griffith – Nobody’s Fool – 1994

Later that year, Griffith had a supporting role in the comedy-drama, Nobody’s Fool which starred Paul Newman and the asshole from Bonfire of the Vanities, Bruce Willis.

Newman played a grumpy old man who is pressing for worker’s compensation for a bad knee.  Secretly he does jobs for Willis who plays his rival.  Griffith played Willis’ wife who flirts with Newman  Although her role was relatively small, Griffith still found time to flash her boobs.

Originally, director Robert Benton wanted Kim Basinger for Griffith’s role.  But Basinger was unavailable.This was the second time Griffith had worked with both Newman and Willis.  Obviously Willis was in Bonfire.  Newman had co-starred with Griffith way back in the beginning of her career (and this article) in The Drowning Pool.  This was also the final movie for Jessica Tandy.

Nobody’s Fool was actually a good movie.  Newman was nominated for an Oscar.  Reviews were good and the movie was a modest hit.

griffith - too much
Two Much – 1995

In 1995, Griffith starred opposite Antonio Banderas and Daryl Hannah in the screwball comedy, Two Much.

Banderas played the owner of a struggling art gallery who keeps afloat by convincing widows that their loved ones bought a painting from him before he died.  He attempts to pull this scam on a mobster played by Danny Aiello, but the mobster doesn’t take the bait and sicks his henchmen on the art dealer.  Incidentally, Banderas’ character’s name is Art Dodge.  Just pointing that out.  Art ends up hiding in a Rolls Royce which happens to belong to Aiello’s ex-wife played by Griffith.  Griffith likes what she sees and immediately hooks up with the hunky art dealer.

Because this is a screwball comedy, Griffith decides to marry Banderas after two weeks.  On the one hand, she’s rich and he needs the money.  On the other, she married Don Johnson… twice.  Complicating matters (cause screwball comedy, y’all) Griffith has a sister played by Hannah.  She’s an art professor and Art is immediately attracted to her.  But she’s put off by the impression that he is chasing after her sister’s money because he totally is.  So he does what any sensible person would do.  He creates an imaginary twin brother named Bart.  To complete his disguise he dons glasses Clark Kent style and takes his hair out of his pony tail.  As Art, Banderas continues his relationship with Griffith,  As Bart, he poses as an active painter and woos Hannah.

Critics didn’t think much of Two Much.  Reviews were universally negative.  It had a blink-and-you-missed-it one week run at the box office in only 348 theaters and grossed just over $1 million dollars on a $24 million dollar budget.  Griffith and Hannah were both nominated for Golden Raspberries for their performances.  Griffith “lost” to Demi Moore who “won for The Juror and Striptease.  Hannah “lost” to… Griffith.  Say wha?  Keep reading.

On the upside, Griffith and Banderas started a romantic relationship.  Griffith dumped long-time husband and drug addict, Don Johnson for the latin hunk.  The couple was married the next year after their respective divorces were finalized.  They had a daughter together and in 2002 received  the Stella Adler Angel Award for their charity work.

So, at least something good came out of Two Much.  Poor Daryl Hannah came away empty-handed.

Melanie Griffith - Buffalo Girls - 1995
Melanie Griffith – Buffalo Girls – 1995

Next, Griffith starred opposite Angelica Huston in the HBO TV movie, Buffalo Girls. Huston played the legendary Calamity Jane.  Griffith played a brothel madame, Peter Coyote, Sam Elliot played Wild Bill Hickok and played Buffalo Bill and Gabriel Byrne played Teddy Blue.  Buffalo Girls was nominated for 10 Emmys but Griffith was not among the nominees.  She was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress but she lost to Shirley Knight.

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Melanie Griffith and Demi Moore – Now and Then – 1995

Later that year, Griffith appeared as part of the ensemble cast of Now and Then.

Now and Then told the four childhood friends who reunite as adults to relive the summer of 1970 when the girls bonded in a tree house.   Moore played a science fiction author who narrates the film.  Rosie O’Donnell played the tomboy of the group.  Christina Ricci played her character as a child.  Rita Wilson played the pregnant friend who still lives in her family home.  And Griffith played the rich friend who goes on to be a successful actress and has multiple marriages.  That had to be a stretch!  Her younger self was played by her Paradise co-star, Thora Birch.

O’Donnell said that originally her character was meant to be a lesbian.  But dialogue was later lopped in to give her an off-camera boyfriend.  Moore’s daughter, Rumer Willis, played her character’s younger sister.  Kirsten Dunst was offered a role as Rita Wilson as a child but she turned the part down when she learned she would need to gain weight.  The supporting cast included Cloris Leachman, Hank Azaria, Bonnie Hunt, Janeane Garofalo and Brendan Fraser in an uncredited cameo.

Critics panned the sappy coming-of-age drama.  Roger Ebert dismissed it as a “gimmicky sitcom”.  Despite the critical drubbing, Now and Then opened in second place at the box office behind Get Shorty.  It went on to gross nearly $30 million dollars on a $12 million dollar budget.  Over time, the movie has developed a cult following and at one point there was talk of turning it into a TV series.

griffith mulhullond falls
Melanie Griffith – Mulholland Falls – 1996

In 1996, Griffith co-starred opposite Nick Nolte and Jennifer Connelly in the neo noir crime thriller, Mulholland Falls.

The movie is based on the real-life “Hat Squad”, a group of four LA cops who broke the law to enforce it.  Nolte, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Madsen and Chris Penn played the cops.  The talented cast included Andrew McCarthy, Treat Williams, John Malkovich, Daniel Baldwin, William Peterson, Bruce Dern and Rob Lowe.  Griffith played Nolte’s wife who is placed in jeopardy by his investigation of a murder.

Reviews were mostly negative, but Mulholland Falls had a couple of high-profile supporters including Roger Ebert and Janet Maslin.  It opened in fifth place at the box office behind Primal Fear which had been in theaters for four weeks.  Mulholland Falls grossed less than $12 million dollars on a budget of nearly $30 million.

Griffith “won” a Golden Raspberry for Worst Supporting Actress beating out her Two Much co-star Daryl Hannah.

Melanie Griffith - Lolita - 1997
Melanie Griffith – Lolita – 1997

In 1997, Griffith starred opposite Jeremy Irons in Adrian Lyne’s ill-advised remake of Stanley Kubrick’s classic, Lolita.

Lolita is based on the book of the same name by Vladimir Nabokov.  Yes, it’s “that book by Nabokov” referenced in the Police song, Don’t Stand So Close to Me.  Iron played a professor of French literature who accepts a teaching position in New Hampshire.  He rents a room from a widow played by Griffith but takes an interest in her under-aged daughter played by Dominique Swain.  Irons does the only thing a man in his position can do, he marries Griffith so he can get closer to her daughter.

Not surprisingly, Lolita had problems finding a distributor in the United States.  The movie premiered in Europe first and then was picked up on Showtime in the US.  Lolita received a brief theatrical run in America in 1998.  It only played in one theater and grossed just over a million bucks on a budget of over $60 million dollars.

Melanie Griffith - Celebrity - 1998
Melanie Griffith – Celebrity – 1998

In 1998, Griffith appeared in a Woody Allen movie as every A-list actress must at some point in their career.  In this case, it was Allen’s dud , Celebrity which co-starred Kenneth Branagh, Judy Davis, Winona Ryder, Leonardo DiCaprio, Famke Janssen, Charlize Theron and Gretchen Mol.

As Woody Allen movies go, Celebrity is considered one of the director’s lesser works.  Reviews were mostly negative and it tanked at the box office.  But box office is rarely a consideration when you’re discussing Allen’s work.  For Griffith, the important thing is that she got to cross “Woody Allen movie” off her bucket list.

Melanie Griffith - Another Day in Paradise - 1998
Melanie Griffith – Another Day in Paradise – 1998

Later that year, Griffith reunited with James Woods in the druggie drama, Another Day in Paradise.

Woods and Griffith played a couple of criminals who partner up with a young couple played by future Mad Men star, Vincent Kartheiser, and future trivia question, Natasha Gregson Wagner.  Lou Diamond Phillips has a cameo as one of Woods’ contacts who sets him up with a job that goes wrong.

Reviews were mixed to positive.  Another Day in Paradise has the distinction of being the final film to receive “two thumbs up” from Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel.  Siskel passed away shortly after reviewing the film.  It played in only three theaters as it made its way around the film festival circuit.

berenger - shadow of doubt
Tom Berenger and Melanie Griffith – Shadow of Doubt – 1998

Griffith ended the year by starring opposite her Fear City co-star Tom Berenger in the direct-to-video thriller, Shadow of Doubt.

She played a brilliant defense attorney whose client, a rising rap star who is prone to violent outbursts, has been accused of murder.  But it wouldn’t be much of a movie if he was guilty, so Griffith investigates.  Berenger played Griffith’s ex-husband who also happens to be the D.A.  Huey Lewis co-stars.  Sadly, The News was a no-show.

Griffith also starred in a pilot for a TV comedy called Me and George.  Griffith played a New York publicist and single mom in the sitcom, but CBS did not pick up the show to series.

griffith crazy
Melanie Griffith – Crazy in Alabama – 1999

In 1999, Griffith starred in Antonia Banderas’ directorial debut, Crazy in Alabama.

Griffith played an abused housewife in 1965 who nonchalantly kills her husband and then heads off to Hollywood where she believes she will become a TV star.  Meanwhile, her nephew back in Alabama has witnessed a racially motivated murder.  He is under pressure not to reveal what he knows.  But he takes inspiration from his crazy, murderous aunt who keeps her late husband’s head in a hatbox.

Critics panned Crazy in Alabama for being a mess of a movie.  It opened at an embarrassing 15th place at the box office despite a pretty healthy theater count.  It grossed only $2 million dollars on a $15 million dollar budget.  The only question was whether or not Griffith would be nominated for another Golden Raspberry.  Of course she was!  This time, she “lost” to Heather Donahue for The Blair Witch Project.

Melanie Griffith - RKO 281 - 1999
Melanie Griffith – RKO 281 – 1999

Later that year, Griffith had a supporting role in the HBO movie, RKO 281.

The TV movie tells the story of the making of Citizen Kane which is considered by many to be the greatest movie of all times.  Orson Welles’ masterpiece was a thinly-veiled portrait of publishing tycoon, William Randolph Hearst.  Hearst, played here by James Cromwell, had an affair with film actress Marion Davies (played by Griffith) whom he tried and failed to make into a movie star.  In RKO 281, Welles (played by Liev Schreiber) contends with Hearst’s attempts to bury Citizen Kane.

Originally, RKO 281 was intended to be a theatrical film starring Edward Norton, Marlon Brando and Madonna with Ridley Scott directing.  But the studio got cold feet over the film’s projected $40 million dollar budget.  Eventually, the project was scaled down to a TV movie for HBO.

Reviews were positive and Griffith was nominated for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe.  She lost the Emmy to Vanessa Redgrave for If These Walls Could Talk 2 and the Golden Globe to Nancy Marchand for The Sopranos.  Still, the nominations had to take some of the sting out of all those Golden Raspberry nods.

Melanie Griffith and Penelope Ann Miller - Forever Lulu - 2000
Melanie Griffith and Penelope Ann Miller – Forever Lulu – 2000

In 2000, Griffith starred in Forever Lulu which costarred Patrick Swayze and Penelope Ann Miller.

Griffith played a mentally ill woman who tracks down her college sweetheart played by Swayze.  Swayze is unhappy in his career and in his marriage to Miller.  He is about to call Griffith’s doctor when she tells him that they have a son together that he didn’t know about.  She convinces Swayze to travel to Wisconsin to meet their son on his sixteenth birthday.  Along the way, she attempts to rekindle their romance.

Forever Lulu received an extremely limited release during which it grossed less than $37 thousand dollars.  It was panned by the few critics that actually wrote reviews.  It would have a zero percent score on Rotten Tomatoes however there aren’t enough reviews for the website to give the movie an official score.

Melanie Griffith in Cecil B. Demented, 2000.
Melanie Griffith – Cecil B. Demented – 2000

Later that year, Griffith starred in John Waters black comedy, Cecil B. Demented.

Stephen Dorff starred as a guerrilla film-maker who kidnaps a major movie star played by Griffith and forces her to star in his next movie.  As Griffith works with Dorff and his band of misfits, she starts to become one of them.  The supporting cast included Alicia Witt, Adrian Grenier, Lawrence Gilliard Jr. and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Reviews were mostly negative.  Roger Ebert called the movie “almost unwatchable” and likened it to “a home movie that’s like a bunch of kids goofing off,”   Cecil B. Demented received a limited release in a maximum of nine theaters.  It grossed just over one million dollars on a budget of $10 million.

Melanie Griffith - 2000
Melanie Griffith – 2000

Griffith checked into rehab for the second time in 2000.  Griffith issued a statement at the time:

My doctor has referred me to the Daniel Freeman Hospital to step down from the prescribed medication that I have been taking for a neck injury.  I appreciate everyone’s concern and I am sure that you will respect my and my family’s privacy.

Antonio Banderas stood by her during her stint in a California rehab facility.  According to Banderas, “It’s a tough thing and she confronted it … she spent time there and things became much better.”

Melanie Griffith - Tart - 2001
Melanie Griffith – Tart – 2001

Griffith returned in the 2001 coming-of-age drama, Tart.  The movie starred Griffith’s Lolita co-star, Dominique Swain.  It’s basically Mean Girls set in a Manhattan prep school.  Except instead of being played for laughs, Tart is deadly serious.  Mischa Barton played the leader of the popular girls and Brad Renfro played the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks.  Lacey Chabert also made an appearance.  Tart opened in theaters in Italy and went direct-to-video in the US.

Stuart Little 2 - 2002
Stuart Little 2 – 2002

In 2002, Griffith did some voice work in the family film, Stuart Little 2.  As in the original film, Michael J. Fox played a mouse who is adopted by a family consisting of Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie and Jonathan Lipnicki.  Griffith voices a bird named Margalo whom Stuart rescues from a falcon voiced by James Woods.  Despite mostly positive reviews, Stuart Little 2 was a box office disappointment.

Sylvester Stallone and Melanie Griffith - Shade - 2003
Sylvester Stallone and Melanie Griffith – Shade – 2003

In 2003, Griffith had a supporting role in the crime drama, Shade.  Sylvester Stallone played a gambler and Griffith appeared as his ex.  A group of hustlers played by Stuart Townsend, Gabriel Byrne, Thandie Newton and Jamie Foxx try to take on Stallone in a high stakes poker game but end up owing money to a local crime boss.  Shade played at the CineVegas International Film Festival followed by a limited release during which it received mostly negative reviews.

Melanie Griffith - Tempo - 2003
Melanie Griffith – Tempo – 2003

In the direct-to-video movie, Tempo, Griffith played an American expatriate living in Paris where she works as a black market courier.  She lives with a much younger man played by Hugh Dancy who meets and falls for another American played by Rachael Leigh Cook.  Cook works at a jewelry store which Griffith decides to rob.

Melanie Griffith - The Night We Called It a Day - 2003
Melanie Griffith – The Night We Called It a Day – 2003

Griffith followed up Tempo with a supporting role in the Australian movie, The Night We Called It a Day.  Dennis Hopper starred as Frank Sinatra and Griffith played his girlfriend at the time, Barbara Marx.  The movie is based on real life events during Sinatra’s 1974 tour of Australia.  Sinatra called a local reporter (played by Portia de Rossi) a “two-bit hooker” and gets blacklisted as a result.  The Night We Called It a Day went direct-to-video in the US.

Melanie Griffith - Heartless - 2005
Melanie Griffith – Heartless – 2005

In the 2005 TV movie, Heartless (aka Lethal Seduction), Griffith played an attorney who dabbles in immigration fraud and murder.  When a journalist poses as an illegal immigrant to investigate her, Griffith ends up seducing him and dispatching anyone else who gets in her way.

Melanie Griffith - Twins - 2005-2006
Melanie Griffith – Twins – 2005-2006

From 2005-2006, Griffith was a regular on the WB sitcom, Twins.  Sara Gilbert and Molly Stanton played a pair of fraternal twins with nothing in common.  Together, they take over their parents’ lingerie company.  Mark Linn-Baker of Perfect Strangers fame played the girls’ father and Griffith played their mother.  The show was cancelled after one season.  It was a casualty of the merger of the WB network with UPN to form what is now known as the CW.

Melanie Griffith - Viva Laughlin - 2007
Melanie Griffith – Viva Laughlin – 2007

In 2007, Griffith returned to television in the CBS series, Viva Laughlin.  The show was a musical murder mystery set at a casino in Laughlin, Nevada.  Hugh Jackman was one of the producers on the show and had a supporting role.  Viva Laughlin was a remake of a BBC serial and one of the network’s biggest shows of the new season.  CBS tried to hype the show by showing a preview of the pilot episode following an episode of CSI.  But viewers tuned out and critics panned the show.  Viva Laughlin was cancelled after only two episodes aired.

In 2009, Griffith returned to rehab for the third time.  According to Griffith, her daughters staged an intervention to address her alcohol and cocaine addiction:

My daughters really sat me down and said, ‘Look Mom, this is what it is. You really need to get help… I couldn’t have done it without them. I really couldn’t have. And I’m so grateful. I see now, I just didn’t get it before. It doesn’t mean that I’m stupid. It’s just that that’s what the disease is.

Griffith said her most recent stint in rehab helped her gain some perspective on her career as well:

I’m not desperate anymore or feeling weird about myself because I’m not working in this business. I’m older and wiser and there’s a lot more to life.

Melanie Griffith - Nip/Tuck - 2010
Melanie Griffith – Nip/Tuck – 2010

Griffith got back to work the following year,  Primarily, she had been relegated to guest appearances on TV shows like Nip/Tuck.  In a final season episode, Griffith played Kelly Carlson’s mother who ends up sleeping with her daughter’s ex after they meet at her funeral.

Melanie Griffith - Hot in Cleveland - 2011
Melanie Griffith – Hot in Cleveland – 2011

Griffith played herself in an episode of the sitcom Hot in Cleveland.  The character played by Wendie Malick goes to an audition desperate for a job.  When she gets there, she finds out she is auditioning to play Griffith’s mother.

In 2012, Griffith and her husband produced a pilot called American Housewife for the Lifetime Network.  Griffith would have played a suburban housewife with a seemingly perfect life.  But Lifetime ended up passing on the series.

Melanie Griffith - Dark Tourist - 2013
Melanie Griffith – Dark Tourist – 2012

Dark Tourist starred Michael Cudlitz as a man obsessed with serial killers.  Every year, he uses his vacation time to tour the home town of a serial killer.  Griffith played a kindly waitress who befriends him.  Dark Tourist premiered at Filmfest Muchen in 2012 and then received a brief theatrical release in the US in 2013.  Reviews were almost universally negative.  Critics found the movie’s tone excessively grim, but mostly praised Cudlitz and Griffith for their performances.

Griffith also had a supporting role in Nick Cassavetes’ drama, Yellow.  Heather Wahlquist, who also co-wrote the screenplay, starred as a beautiful young woman who seems to have a perfect life.  But she says she can’t feel anything and she takes twenty Vicodin a day just to get by.  Griffith played her mother, an outwardly Christian woman who drinks too much wine and cheated on her husband.

Melanie Griffith - Raising Hope - 2012
Melanie Griffith – Raising Hope – 2012

Griffith also had a couple of TV guest spots in 2012.  She did two episodes each of the Fox sitcom, Raising Hope (pictured) and the OUTtv drama, DTLA.

Melanie Griffith - Call Me Crazy: A Five Film - 2013
Melanie Griffith – Call Me Crazy: A Five Film – 2013

Call Me Crazy was a “Five Film”.  This is Lifetime Network speak for an anthology film consisting of five segments.  The previous Five Film had been on the subject of breast cancer.  Call Me Crazy dealt with various mental disorders.  The five segments were directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Sharon Maguire, Bonnie Hunt and Ashley Judd.  They starred Brittany Snow, Jason Ritter, Sarah Hyland, Lea Thompson, Chelsea Handler, Jean Smart, Octavia Spencer, and Melissa Leo.

Griffith starred in the final segment directed by Judd.  Jennifer Hudson played a vet who returns from war only to deal with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Melanie Griffith - Hawaii 5-0 - 2014
Melanie Griffith – Hawaii 5-0 – 2014

In 2014, Griffith had her most high-profile role in years with a three-episode guest spot on the TV crime drama, Hawaii 5-0.  Griffith played Scott Cann’s mother who has come to visit him in Hawaii.  But she behaves oddly which leads Caan to believe she is leaving her husband.

Around this time, Griffith was making headlines in the tabloids for two things.  One, she was photographed in a bikini while filming in Hawaii.  And two, she made some disparaging comments about the state of modern movies.  Griffith said she doesn’t go to movies anymore because they aren’t worth seeing.  “Most of the scripts are so shitty and stupid and superficial.”

Griffith went on to lament the quality of scripts that were being sent to her and to her husband.  She said that when she was in her 20’s and 30’s, she got sick of hearing actresses “bitch about not getting any work when they turned 50 … Now I understand it.”

Melanie Griffith - Automata - 2014
Melanie Griffith – Automata – 2014

Apparently one of the better scripts that Griffith and Banderas were offered was for the sci-fi thriller, Automata.  It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where most of humanity was killed by a solar flare and robots do the majority of the manual labor.  The robots are not allowed to harm humans or alter themselves or one another.  When a police officer played by Dylan McDermott destroys a robot that he believes was breaking the second law, Banderas is sent to investigate.

Critics panned Automata and it went direct to video.

Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas Divorce
Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas Divorce – 2014

Later that year, Griffith and Banderas announced that they were splitting after 18 years of marriage.  They released a joint statement indicating that the split was mutual:

We have thoughtfully and consensually decided to finalize our almost 20 years marriage in a loving and friendly manner honoring and respecting each other, our family and friends and the beautiful time we have spent together.

Melanie Griffith - Oscars 2015
Melanie Griffith – Oscars 2015

In 2015, Griffith attended the Oscars with her daughter, Dakota Johnson.  Johnson had recently starred in the hit movie, Fifty Shades of Grey based on the popular series of erotic novels.  When asked whether or not Griffith had seen her daughter’s movie, Griffith said she hadn’t.  What followed was a classic mother-daughter moment.

Who’s side to take in this one?  As the father of two daughters, I totally understand where Griffith is coming from.  On the other hand, given Griffith’s career history, her no-nudity stance seems pretty hypocritical.  I’m not sure she gets to be prudish even with her own daughter.

Griffith was cast in a pilot for a sit-com starring James Roday.  It was alternately titled The Brainy Bunch and later Nerd Herd.  The show was about parents raising genius kids and was rumored to have a solid script.  But the pilot never gained traction with the network.

So, what the hell happened?

I’m going to kick this one off with a disclaimer.  Griffith has had an incredibly long career as an actress.  At this point in her career, it would be unreasonable to expect Griffith to remain a box office draw.  That’s not what we’re talking about here.  The question of what the hell happened to Melanie Griffith is really about her career following her Oscar-nominated performance in Working Girl.

Working Girl opened a lot of doors for Griffith.  But she followed it up with one critically reviled flop after another.  It didn’t take long for those A-list opportunities to dry up.  In spite of that, you have to give Griffith credit for continuing to work.  She has been actively working as an actress for four decades.  Despite expressing some frustration with the roles available to her at this stage of her career, Griffith admits that work is no longer her primary concern.

It’s not about my career now. It’s just about finding great work and having a good time. My kids are almost grown. I’m getting divorced. I’m just happy.

But let’s be honest here, Griffith’s success is extraordinary given all of her personal issues.  She was mauled by a lion!  I’m not one to judge others on their parenting, but letting live lions into your house is insane.  Not to mention Don Johnson.  Griffith’s life spiraled out of control when she was a child and she has been struggling with addiction ever since.  It’s a miracle that she is alive, much less than she achieved movie star status.

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Jake
Jake
11 years ago

DePalma obviously ‘barrowed’ from Hitchcock a bit too often, but I still have a soft spot for him because he gave us “The Untouchables” (a movie I love)

cinemarchaeologist
11 years ago
Reply to  Jake

…wherein he switched from ripping of Hitchcock and ripped off Eisenstein!

THE UNTOUCHABLES really is a great movie, though. DePalma at least has good taste in the directors from which he steals.

seandaniel1966
11 years ago

The saddest part about this article is that Cherry 2000 is the best film mentioned. Was she really A-list?

daffystardust
Editor
11 years ago
Reply to  seandaniel1966

I’ve never seen Cherry 2000, but I’d stand behind “Something Wild” as a really good flick with Griffith in a starring role. Nobody’s Fool is very good, but her role is small. Night Moves is also worth a look and if you watch each of those last two you could compare her nude scenes pre and post boob job. If you were so inclined. Griffith was never a very good actress, but for a little while she was definitely a target starlet who played leads in major releases. Most of them were bad, but that’s a different conversation. Milk Money… Read more »

ScreamingDoom
ScreamingDoom
10 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Cherry 2000 (if you’re remotely still interested) is the story of a rich douchebag Of The Future who owns a sex robot (the titular Cherry) which he breaks via a spirited round of sex in washing machine suds. On going to Ye Olde Sex Robote Shoppe, he discovers that the model sex robot he had is no longer in production, replaced by newer, better models. While the salesman tries to get him sold on a newer model, the guy is obsessed with the old model, so decides to take her brain (a small computer chip that was salvaged from the… Read more »

Mastro
Mastro
10 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

The movie just works as entertainment. The lead – David Andrews – is basically C list (he is one of those guys who seems to be in everything) – but has presence here. Griffith and the other actors do well too.

I understand the studio had no idea how to market it- and basically went to video/cable- where I saw it.

Oh- why do studios greenlight films that they have no idea how to market?

Mastro
Mastro
10 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

I’ve heard about the regime change thing- I don’t get it in the case of John Carter- which was a bit too expensive to eat for political reasons (you’d think)

I also get that promoting a film can be expensive- and if they think a film will bomb- throwing good marketing money after bad production costs doesn’t make sense-

Mastro
Mastro
10 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Wow- thanks for the detail

I usually don’t like people losing their jobs- but Rich Ross’s little Machiavellian plan makes it hard not to root against him.

What’s missing is the interests of Disney shareholders- they should chase Ross with pitchforks and torches.(to end with a movie reference)

cinemarchaeologist
10 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

CHERRY 2000 is GREAT, and if you haven’t seen it, you should definitely put it on your to-watch list.

daffystardust
Editor
11 years ago

I’ve got a soft spot for DePalma. I can’t really take him as seriously as I do lots of other directors, but almost without fail he delivers at least one complete WTF? moment in each movie that just transcends any questions about quality. Typically these scenes are shot in a way so that anybody who has seen more than one DePalma film can immediately identify that something crazy is about to happen. I wonder if anybody has compiled these scenes on YouTube? Have you seen Night Moves? LeBlog favorite James Woods also shows up, as does one of the 12… Read more »

forever1267
6 years ago
Reply to  daffystardust

Soft spot for DePalma too. He certainly is not a boring director, no matter how much he rips off others. He certainly knows how to manipulate and edit suspence.

Like the post I just said on Kasdan and Reiner, he is another who I wish could find one more great entertainment film to make.

seandaniel1966
11 years ago

Cherry 2000 is a ridiculous but fun romp about a guy named Sam with a sex robot that shorts out after getting wet. Sam gets Griffith to help him track down a replacement robot in post-nuclear war America.

This film and Air America are among my favorite movies from the late 80s. And both have Tim Thomerson.

When I first saw Cherry 2000, I thought Griffith was totally hot – and implants were something she definitely didn’t need. But she didn’t age well in my opinion, and her voice always grated on me.

Jake
Jake
11 years ago

Did you get my email about that essay, Lebeau?

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  lebeau

They Threw It Away – Self-Destruction and Acting Careers:
https://lebeauleblog.com/2013/01/05/what-the-hell-happened-to-melanie-griffith/

Antonio Banderas

Great start with Women on the Verge, then progressively got involved in one bomb after another, til he was tapped out. His career never recovered from that horrific movie where he was the Arab who was transported to Viking-land. It was one of the greatest bombs of all time.

by: Anonymous reply 29 01/06/2014 @ 03:41PM

Banderas’s career never recovered from Melanie Griffith

by: anonymous reply 79 01/06/2014 @ 05:17PM

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  lebeau

Melanie Griffith teenage love affair with Don Johnson

https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/melanie-griffith-teenage-love-affair-with-don-johnson.1322027/#post-33482379

Today at 4:00 PM #5

missmaya99 said: ↑
She was 14 and moved out of her mother’s house to be with 22-year-old Don. Drugs were a big part of their relationship. I think her mother was too busy raising lions to notice.

Tippi was extremely negligent. Melanie was a hot thottin mess when she was a young girl. Childhood friend Tatum also caught her in bed with her dad, the shi**y Ryan O’Neal.

She was 14 at the time.

daffystardust
Editor
11 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

…and there was this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1sNImbI2Zw

shudder<

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  daffystardust

Tippi Hedren recalls ‘sheer panic’ over daughter Melanie, 14, shacking up with Don Johnson in 1973… as family reunites for Hollywood Legacies shoot http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-5200007/Melanie-Griffiths-family-reunites-Hollywood-Legacies.html The Hedren-Griffith-Johnsons reunited to discuss their unorthodox family history for THR’s Hollywood Legacies issue with a spread shot by lensman Joe Pugliese. Melanie Griffith suited up in black to pose beside her mother Tippi Hedren, her ex-husband Don Johnson, and their daughter Dakota Johnson for the mag, which hit newsstands Monday. The silver-haired matriarch – turning 88 next month – recalled the ‘sheer panic’ she felt after her 23-year-old co-star in The Harrad Experiment started romancing… Read more »

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  lebeau

20 Famous Actors Who ‘Disappeared’ After Their Prime: http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2015/20-famous-actors-who-disappeared-after-their-prime/ Tippi Hendren (The Birds)/Melanie Griffith (Working Girl) To continue a theme, Melanie Griffith is yet another show biz offspring and, though she doesn’t look or sound much like her once well-known mom, Tippi Hedren, they do share something in common career-wise. A well-known story among film fans is how Alfred Hitchcock and his wife Alma were watching early morning TV while preparing for their new film, The Birds, and saw an alluring young woman in a diet drink commercial. Looking for a new version of the departed Grace Kelly, they subsequently… Read more »

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  lebeau

Melanie Griffith simply put, is one of those actresses who can really be sink or swim depending on the role. While Melanie was extremely likable, cute, and warm in comedies like “Working Girl” and “Something Wild”, she was never going to be as of a good dramatic actress as she was a comedic one. I think that post-“Working Girl”, Melanie made too many ill-advised forays into drama, which just showed how out of depth she was.

The Iron Cupcake
11 years ago

Working Girl was so awful. Melanie Griffith’s performance is one of the worst ever to get a Best Actress Oscar nomination. It’s only worth watching if you love the song “Let the River Run” (as I do).

Nobody’s Fool and The Milagro Beanfield War are better movies, but Nobody’s Fool is the only one where Griffith actually gave an OK performance. Her role isn’t as interesting as it is in the Richard Russo novel, but her performance isn’t too bad.

Terrence Michael Clay
10 years ago

Melanie Griffith in Working Girl: http://oscarnerd.blogspot.com/2012/07/melanie-griffith-in-working-girl.html Melanie Griffith got her only Oscar nomination to date for playing Tess McGill, a secretary who’s determined to make it in the business world in a very unorthodox way in Mike Nichols’ Best Picture nominated movie, Working Girl. Griffith was considered a front-runner for the prize, though I don’t believe that she ever was a serious threat for the win, especially considering her lightweight role and movie. I guess Sigourney might have gotten ahead of her (along with Jodie and Great Glenn), but I really don’t know. Her family’s Hollywood connections might have helped… Read more »

asiandude
11 years ago

TBH i find Melanie’s WTHH not really exciting as some1 like John Travolta (who has had many ups and downs / comebacks) or batshit crazy Sean Young.

Btw, i think when u make a WTHH, u should coincide it with smth like a new movie of the actor/actress etc. Like, u could save the Arnold WTHH later when his next movie cameout (btw, have u seen its trailer – so DTR it’s embarrassing). Eg; there’s a new Sean Penn gansta movie coming out and u could do a WTHH on him, but im afraid reading his WTHH wont be fun.

Johnny88
11 years ago

Why is “Working Girl” so overrated? Well personally I think it is because when “Working Girl” was released it was probabily the first film of his genre. Today movies that talk about business-women are so many and they all have the same cliches, but probabily “Working Girl” was something of a pioneer movie in his genre (comedy regarding businesswomen). If you see it today you say “nice, but it looks like many others”, but probabily in 1987 movies about business women were not so common so it looked like something new and fresh while now, 25 years later, this genre… Read more »

Johnny88
11 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

In 1987 i wasn’t even born so i watched “Working Girl” on TV something like 5 years ago. I was curious because of all that Oscar nominations, which are a rare result for a comedy, and my opinion is of a nice movie but nothing that deserves a “Best picture” nomination. I think that the reason for all that nominations were because Academy appreciated a movie reflecting a social change. Academy loves to send social or political messages so maybe that’s why all that nominations. PS and OT By the way, speaking about Awards, check your e-mail tomorrow, you’ll understand… Read more »

cinemarchaeologist
11 years ago

Way too little attention to CECIL B. DeMENTED, Lebeau. It’s actually a movie acknowledging what you’d written up to that point.

cinemarchaeologist
11 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Waters is great. The movie itself is about a gang of guerrilla filmmakers who have taken the “guerrilla” part a bit too far, and kidnap a washed-up former A-list actress to force her to star in their movie. Griffith is the actress in question, and it jabs at the sorts of movies she’d been making for a while, and what critics had been saying about her. Your article above could almost be a companion piece to it.

Terrence Michael Clay
10 years ago

10 Celebrities Who Should Have Never Attempted Plastic Surgery:
http://surgery.answers.com/cosmetic-surgery/10-celebrities-who-should-have-never-attempted-plastic-surgery

Melanie Griffith

Thank goodness, Melanie has a husband who loves and adores her; her botched plastic surgery regrettably has transformed her face over the past several years. Hollywood seems obsessed with lips. In particular, the upper lip. Melanie has always had plump luscious lips but, apparently, she felt the need to go bigger. The result was an over-plumped upper lip that looks stretched and unnatural.

moviefan
moviefan
7 years ago

She was unattractive BEFORE the plastic surgery:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/08/19/article-2396741-1B5C1C79000005DC-64_634x915.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/08/19/article-2396741-1B5C1C75000005DC-324_634x913.jpg

The people who write those things are such idiots. If they bothered to do any research, they would see that she had her entire face reconstructed around 1993. Good work. Angelina Jolie has done the same thing.

This other stuff happened after she married Banderas. She’s incredibly insecure and clearly lost her judgement when it came to cosmetic procedures. Her original work was brilliant. It took a lot of surgical help to look like this: http://c8.alamy.com/comp/BPEYJW/melanie-griffith-milk-money-1994-BPEYJW.jpg

benzeknees
11 years ago

Very interesting!

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  benzeknees

Melanie during much of her prime/heyday was really more “cute” (in kind of a “manic pixie dream girl” sort of way) than regarded as a super attractive starlet/bombshell.

http://i2.wp.com/favimages.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/actress-melanie-griffith-photos-young-cover-magazine.jpg?resize=583,768

What made her more attractive than she may have otherwise been, was her personality.

Paul S
11 years ago

I was really looking forward to your Melanie Griffith article, sadly I’ve been laid low by a plethora of Winter ailments which have kept me away from the computer for most of the last week or so. As a result your other commentators have covered most of the points I would’ve raised. Rest assured your first WTHHT of 2013 was worth waiting for, and I especially enjoyed the background regarding Tom Hanks and the other shenanigans on The Bonfire of the Vanities. Time certainly hasn’t been kind to Melanie or her most famous film Working Girl. I was very taken… Read more »

Terrence Michael Clay
11 years ago

Somebody in the comments section of Daryl Hannah’s WTHHT entry, made an interesting observation about the decline of Melanie Griffith’s status as an A-list star by the end of the ’90s: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Flebeauleblog.com%2F2012%2F09%2F23%2Fwhat-the-hell-happened-to-daryl-hannah%2F%23comment-10675&h=rAQEONBbP Reggie | October 5, 2012 at 7:58 pm The outcome of Melanie Griffith’s career was predictable. She was the daughter of an actress, started acting as a child in the late 60s, spent years paying her dues before achieving stardom in the late 80s (Working Girl). She had a star career throughout the 90s, but none of her movies were hits. The question that frequently comes up is:… Read more »

Terrence Michael Clay
11 years ago

Melanie Griffith in a way, seems like an older variation of Lindsay Lohan now when I think about it more. They both arguably got lucky in their “star making” roles (“Working Girl” and “Mean Girls” respectively) due in no small part to the talent involved (w/ “Mean Girls” it was mainly Tina Fey and Rachel McAdams). Both of their careers were part heavily derailed by their substance abuse, which ultimately took a drastic toll on their appearances.

johnny88
11 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Poor Antonio! He is doing bisquits commercials here in Italy 😀 I’m not joking

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D6WZaS9dpE

johnny88
11 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Yes he’s not the lone Hollywood celebrity to do commercials in other countries. Recently I remember also John Travolta and Jennifer Lopez doing commercials for italian industries. However here many mocked Banderas commercials because his acting carreer is not in his best moment.

Terrence Michael Clay
11 years ago

Is anybody else in agreement that Melanie more than often, miscast in her roles (even though you can argue that she at the very least, gave heartfelt performances most of the time) like for example, “Shining Through” (where she played a spy) and “A Stranger Among Us” (as an undercover homicide detective)? It’s sort of hard to take Melanie Griffith that seriously as an actress given her distinctive, breathy little-girl voice.

Terrence Michael Clay
10 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Melanie Griffith was apparently offered and turned down the role of Thelma (which later went to fellow WTHHT subject, Geena Davis) in “Thelma and Louise”.

http://styleblazer.com/100782/14-actressess-who-declined-a-leading-role-in-a-blockbuster-movie/7/

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

Future of Movie Stars: Who Will Shine? Who Will Fade Away? http://forums.previously.tv/topic/7750-future-of-movie-stars-who-will-shine-who-will-fade-away/page-11#entry828539 Here’s what I like about Dakota- she’s really good at making something work and feel real and organic. (Same thing that I like about Shailene.) She didn’t have much with either the Social Network or 21 Jump Street, but she still managed to pop and be memorable. THAT is what an actress should be- someone that can take cheesy, crap material yet somehow make the character feel real. I’m glad that she’s inherited her talent from her dad, not her mother. (Come on, let’s be honest, Melanie Griffith… Read more »

moviefan
moviefan
7 years ago

Her personal website was very candid. She has taken it down but it was up for many years and you can still see everything via The Wayback Machine. After Stella she desperately tried for another baby. She wanted multiple children with Antonio as she wanted to express that she loved him more than her previous husbands, each of whom she’d had one child by. She hosted a chat room where she IM’d with a fertility specialist and when the doctor wrote smoking reduces chance of having a baby for women over 35 & causes earlier menopause, Melanie admitted she didn’t… Read more »

babette
babette
11 years ago

Her voice. I cannot abide the sound of her voice! Even when she was a young, trailer trash ho playing young trailer trash ho roles, her voice gave me grand mal seizures.

As she got older her squeaky emanations sounded ever phonier, incongruous and desperate. And what she’s had done to her face over the years unfortunately only magnifies that despair.

She’s another on my long list of film creatures I detest.

Thanks.

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  babette

A similar thing can be said about Kathleen Turner’s husky voice. When she was young, it was considered sexy. But as Kathleen got older and her looks began to fade (due to her health problems combined w/ her weight gain), her voice became very off-putting.

Shakespeare I Am Not
Shakespeare I Am Not
10 years ago

To each his own I guess but I’ve always liked Kathleen Turner’s voice. That husky, smoky quality is what does it. She almost always sounds like she is hiding something or at least not telling ALL she knows.

Shakespeare I Am Not
Shakespeare I Am Not
10 years ago
Reply to  babette

Pardon the late post but just started following this really well written blog. My ex-wife used to refer to it as using a “baby-doll” voice. Not to be mean, but it does a have a tonal quality that is somewhere barely south of nails on a chalkboard. I wonder sometimes though if it’s just an act.

Terrence Michael Clay
10 years ago

Tippi Hedren has her own interesting “What the Hell Happened to…” story: http://styleblazer.com/131294/shunned-by-hollywood-15-of-tinsel-towns-most-notorious-pariahs/12/ When Tippi Hedren was hired to star in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, it seemed her career was be over before it started. The actress famously rejected the sexual advances of the director, who reacted by subjecting her to real-life torment on the film’s set. Following The Birds completion Hitchcock then refused to let Hedren out of her contract and sold it to Universal. After refusing to become a television performer, the studio had her all but blacklisted from mainstream movies. The actress subsequently saw her career devolve… Read more »

Mastro
Mastro
10 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

The industry was downright sadistic to women back then- note that Hitchcock sold her contract- it was Universal that killed her career.

Didn’t Hitchcock’s career go south soon after? Maybe he should have been nicer to her and kept her around-

Now that I think of it- I think Grace Kelly played her cards well-

Mastro
Mastro
10 years ago
Reply to  Mastro

I don’t get your argument- you say Tippi Hedren was an exceptional actress (and a star- after The Birds)- but had no power in Hollywood- BUT- the studio wasn’t that bad in blacklisting her!

I think you overrate her in Marnie- I think the part needed an experienced actress- and Hedren doesn’t completely pull it off- not really her fault- it was a very challenging part.

She certainly should have worked more- but Hollywood was tough then- hey they blacklisted Oscar winner Cliff Robertson for whistleblowing!

Jake
Jake
10 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Yes, he was a jacka$s to basically any actress who wasn’t Grace Kelly. I also hated how he basically screwed over Bernard Herrmann. Despite his great music for Vertigo, North By Northwest, Psycho, & Marnie, Hermann was given the boot by Hitch because he suddenly thought his music wasn’t good enough. I can only hope Spielberg never does the same to John Williams.

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

Isn’t it ironic that Melanie Griffith’s daughter, Dakota Johnson is involved in the “Fifty Shades…” franchise considering how Alfred Hitchcock ALLEGEDLY treated her grandmother, Tippi Hedren back in the day: To give you some perspective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dolgUUr8GxY&lc=z13vxhwhhyvzy5qro04cive5arjzid1qrgs Now Dakota’s grandmother has gone all out, especially in her autobiography released back in November, about how Hitchcock had her under contract at Universal and used his power to control her and grow his freaky obsession on her. He proceeded to rape and molest her during “Marnie” and then because she refused anything to do with him he kept her under contract but refused… Read more »

Terrence Michael Clay
10 years ago

Really That Bad? – The Bonfire of the Vanities: http://www.filmophilia.com/2011/10/13/really-that-bad-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities/ Really That Bad? is a new feature here at Filmophilia. In it writers examine a well known critical bomb and examine whether or not the film lives up to its reputation. Brian De Palma’s film version of Tom Wolfe’s bestseller The Bonfire of the Vanities has a reputation as one of the biggest flops of the nineties, and in turn one of the biggest flops in the carriers of De Palma, Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis. It quickly turned from being Warner Bros.’s Oscar contender to a critically bashed misfire.… Read more »

Terrence Michael Clay
10 years ago

Mr. Floppy 09.14.08: Bonfire of the Vanities: http://www.411mania.com/movies/columns/85230/Mr.-Floppy-09.14.08:-Bonfire-of-the-Vanities.htm Melanie Griffith was cast as Sherman’s love affair Maria Ruskin. Nothing against her, she still looked considerably good at the time, but I still think a young lover of a Wall Street investor who’s making millions should have been more sexy and more, you know, young. These criticisms were also heard at the time of her casting and maybe that was also the reason why Griffith after merely three weeks of shooting went and surgically enhanced her chest, which she unapologetically stuffed right in De Palma’s face upon her return. Bonfire of… Read more »

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

The CineFiles Podcast: Episode 18: http://thisisinfamous.com/?powerpress_pinw=67765-podcast It’s Episode 18 of The CineFiles podcast! And The CineFiles want to talk about box office bombs! Flicks like ISHTAR, HEAVEN’S GATE, HUDSON HAWK, JOHN CARTER and so much more! But first we talk about the films we’ve recently seen: MISSISSIPPI BURNING, THE REWRITE, MAGNOLIA, RUN ALL NIGHT, THE EXTERMINATOR, THE WEDDING RINGER, WOYZECK, AMITYVILLE HORROR II: THE POSSESSION, SOMETHING WILD, HAROLD AND MAUDE and finally Eric’s take on JURASSIC WORLD. As usual The CineFiles discuss the latest news and rumors. And then we move on to the bombs, yo! So thaw out that… Read more »

RB
RB
10 years ago

Working Girl was just on the other night, so I watched the first half (had to relinquish the screen in favor of a hockey game for the male contingent). It brought back memories of seeing it in the theater, and the buzz it created. At the time, i can’t remember another movie that captured so perfectly the 80s trend of women in business suits, trying to fit in. I thought Melanie Griffith was poised to become another Meg Ryan. Her understated delivery was just perfect for her role as Tess McGill, maybe she didn’t have the acting range but in… Read more »

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