Ishtar
Abstract for conference presentation titled “‘Marty, Let’s Work Together as Agents: Rescuing the Reputation of Isthar (1987)”
Presented at Northeast Popular Culture Association conference, Queens, NY, October 2009
Released in 1987, Elaine May’s Ishtar has become irrevocably connected to concepts of Hollywood fiasco, blockbuster flop, and over-the-top-over-budgeted filmmaking. It is the punchline to a long running joke; the set-up of which seems to have been long forgotten. It is often spoken of only in terms how bad the film is, how laughable (not in a good way) the film’s release was, or how big of a failure it was, is, and continues to be. Interestingly, many of those who criticize it so readily are likely to have either never seen the film or have probably not seen the film for quite some time. The film does not play on cable or network television, is not available on a Region 1 (North America) DVD, and only recently became available as a “Watch Instantly” film on Netflix. In fact, it is likely if you’ve watched the film recently, you either owned a black-market bootleg DVD, a non-Region 1 DVD and DVD player, or a VHS produced in the late 1980s (these would seem to suggest you are either not living in North America or you are a big enough fan to seek out the film through such channels).
A decade prior to Ishtar’s release, Elaine May was largely recognized as the “leading woman director” (of only a small pool of contenders) in Hollywood. Ishtar was May’s final filmas a director. Like her previous films, Ishtar was turned in late and over budget. Upon its 1987 theatrical release, an almost instantaneous shockwave of negative criticism ran across the United States and Canada. Roger Ebert called the film “a truly dreadful film, a lifeless, massive, lumbering exercise in failed comedy.” Hal Hinston called the film “a mammoth dud, a catastrophe, a huge floundering stinker of biblical proportions.” Why would a film staring two Oscar winners (Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty), directed and written by a woman with decades of entertainment experience, and with music written by another Oscar winner (PaulWilliams) be so hated?
May’s former partner, Mike Nichols, called the case against Ishtar a “studio suicide,” a purposeful campaign against the film in order to force it into a negative shadow. In regards to Ishtar, this theory would suppose that following a lack of financial, creative, and media-related support on behalf of the studio, critical and media reception, poor ticket sales, and a generally negative trend followed. May clarifies, “I thought—only for five minutes—it’s the CIA. I didn’t dream that it would be the studio. For one moment it was sort of glorious to thinkthat I was going to be taken down by the CIA, and then it turned out to be [the new C.E.O. of Columbia Pictures, David Puttnam].”This paper—derived from my recently completed doctoral dissertation on the roles, use,and influence of fictional amateur musician narratives in film in regards to lasting culturalinfluence, commercial success, and notions of “authenticity”—will explore the borderline conspiratorial theories involving Ishtar’s “studio suicide,” the importance of the film as Cold War-era social and political commentary, and the film’s usage of metaphor as commentary on May’s career, the role of women in Hollywood, and the relative unimportance of “quality” and“talent” in the professional entertainment industry. As Chuck Stephens noted in 2006, to view Elaine May’s creative output without “at least some fore-knowledge” of her life is to generallymiss the deeply metaphoric, yet strangely open commentary of her situations.