The star of Ben Stiller’s favourite 1972 movie told him he had terrible taste: “He gave me a look”
When you grow up in a showbiz family, you’re going to have a healthy appreciation for the pictures, like Ben Stiller, whose parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, were a famous comedy duo in the 1960s, and as a result, he’s gone on to become not only a gifted comic performer, but a decent dramatic actor and an extremely talented director as well.
Not to take anything away from his skill, but this was always going to happen. Born in 1965, Stiller came of age in the 1970s, so some of the funnyman’s favourite films come from this glorious time for cinema.
In a special ‘Ask Me Anything’ (AMA) on Reddit, the actor revealed that his top spot changed a lot during this period, as his tastes and opinions were constantly in flux; however, there was one epic picture that left a lasting impression on his young mind.
“For a while, The Poseidon Adventure was my favourite,” he recalled, “I remember going to see that at the Lowes Theatre at 83rd Street and Broadway probably ten times in the theatre”.
Released in 1972, when Stiller was seven years old, The Poseidon Adventure is a stone-cold classic of the ‘disaster movie’ genre. Set on New Year’s Eve, the story follows the luxury cruise ship SS Poseidon, a grand old vessel that is due to be decommissioned, but sets off on one final voyage before it sails off into the sunset. However, as is the case with anything in movies that is one day from retirement, the ship dies when a massive wave flips the Poseidon upside down, leaving a small group of survivors to navigate their way to safety.
At the time, much was made of the stellar ensemble cast of The Poseidon Adventure, as the film boasted five different Academy Award winners in Jack Albertson, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons, Ernest Borgnine, and the biggest name of all, Gene Hackman.
The double Oscar winner plays Frank Scott, a reverend who becomes the survivors’ de facto leader. A young Stiller was very taken by his performance, and many years later, he found himself in the incredibly rare scenario of being face-to-face with his childhood idol.
“I did get a chance to tell Gene Hackman what a huge fan I was of it when I worked with him on The Royal Tenenbaums,” Stiller continued, “I’m sure of all the Gene Hackman movies I could have pulled out, it was Poseidon Adventure, and he gave me a look like ‘that’s your favourite?’ but he was awesome in that.”
Poor Ben Stiller, all he wanted to do was praise his co-star and celebrate one of his favourite movies, only to have that sentiment snarkily thrown back in his face, but he was probably expecting this, as Hackman was very open about how much he hated The Poseidon Adventure, even once claiming that he would never watch it, and only saw it as a way to make money and nothing else, which is a little bit sad, yet you have to admire his honesty. Also, Hackman famously had a torrid time working on The Royal Tenenbaums, so that probably didn’t help either.
