I was watching an old episode of South Park on Pluto the other night. It had a reference to William Hurt in Altered States. I realized I hadn't seen that movie in 30 or 40 years. I remember being struck by the way the woman playing William Hurt's wife shouted her odd, verbose dialogue that she could have spoken calmly.
Ken Russell directed. He hated Paddy Chayefsky's script, but couldn't change a word without being sued, so he tried different things to make it sound at least vaguely natural. I don't remember the movie that well, but reportedly he had actors talk very fast in some cases or talk while eating in others. He had to ban Chayefsky from the set.
The next day, I saw the news that William Hurt died in Portland, Oregon, at age 71. That sounds so young to me now.
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