The Paper Chase 4

Director James Bridges' unfairly unheralded record ('The Forbin Project', 1970; 'The China Syndrome', 1979; 'Urban Cowboy, 1980') is further diminished in that this provocative 1973 exploration into academia is so little known today. Not only does the script seem dead-on regarding the tribulations of an insecure Harvard Law School first-year student (Timothy Bottoms), but the supporting cast, John Houseman especially as tyrannical professor Kingsfield and Lindsay Wagner as his daughter, hit every note and moment with natural conviction. Amazon.com tells us: "James Mason was the original choice to play Professor Kingsfield, but he had to decline due to poor health. John Houseman was cast as Professor Kingsfield only after director James Bridges tried and failed to interest Mason, Edward G. Robinson, Melvyn Douglas, Sir John Gielgud, and Paul Scofield...Houseman had appeared in a small but important role in 'Seven Days in May' (and) he had previously been known primarily as a producer on radio (Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre of the Air, including 'The War of the Worlds' broadcast in 1938), stage (Welles' Mercury Theatre) and film (Joseph Mankiewics' 'Julius Caesar', 1953). This was his first major film role. It won him the 1973 Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor. Houseman...was cast and won an Oscar."