Blaze | |
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Directed by | Ron Shelton |
Screenplay by | Ron Shelton |
Based on |
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Produced by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Haskell Wexler |
Edited by | Robert Leighton Michael King (uncredited) |
Music by | Bennie Wallace |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution |
Release date |
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Running time | 117 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $22 million[1] |
Box office | $19,131,246 |
Blaze is a 1989 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Ron Shelton. Based on the 1974 memoir, Blaze Starr: My Life as Told to Huey Perry, by Blaze Starr and Huey Perry, the film stars Paul Newman as Earl Long and Lolita Davidovich as Blaze Starr. Starr makes a cameo appearance as well.
At the 62nd Academy Awards in 1990, the film received a nomination for Best Cinematography for Haskell Wexler. However, the award went to Freddie Francis for Glory. This was Wexler's fifth and final nomination, having previously won for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and Bound for Glory (1976).
The film tells a fictionalized story of the latter years of Earl Long, a flamboyant Governor of Louisiana, brother of assassinated governor and U.S. Senator, Huey P. Long, and uncle of longtime U.S. Senator, Russell Long. According to the memoir and film, Earl Long allegedly fell in love with a young stripper named Blaze Starr.
The film received mixed reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 75% of 12 critics' reviews are positive.[2][3][4] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a "B+" on scale of A+ to F.[5][6]
Blaze debuted at number 9 at the North American box office on its opening weekend.[7]
More significantly, 71% of the audience for "Blaze" was over 35.