By Lee Pfeiffer
Arthur Penn, the acclaimed director of stage, TV and screen, has died at age 88. A low-key man not prone to publicity or bombast, Penn quietly changed the course of cinematic history with his direction of the ground-breaking 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, which ushered in a New Wave of American cinema. Penn had already gained acclaimed through his work in the early days of TV. He directed the television adaptation of The Miracle Worker, as well as both the hit Broadway and big screen versions of the story. Penn also played a key role in American political history by advising John F. Kennedy how to prepare for his presidential debate against Richard Nixon in 1960. Most audiences who heard the debate on radio thought Nixon was the winner, but Penn shrewdly played up JFK's charisma and good looks for the TV audience. The result was that JFK won a narrow margin in the election.
Penn's work on the troubled Bonnie and Clyde is the stuff of legend. The film opened to anemic reviews and business before young audiences transformed it into a pop culture phenomenon that changed international cinema forever. Penn never replicated its success, though even his misfires have since built up cult status. Among his other films: The Left-Handed Gun, The Chase, Night Moves, Alice's Restaurant, Little Big Man and The Missouri Breaks. (Cinema Retro was fortunate to get an exclusive interview with Arthur Penn that will run in a future issue). Click here for New Times obituary by film critic David Kehr.