“The Mystery of Natalie Wood” is a made-for-television biopic about the life and career of Natalie Wood from her childhood in the movies in the 1940’s to her death in 1981. Director Peter Bogdanovich (“The Last Picture Show” 1971) made the film in a semi-documentary fashion, with interviews with friends and relatives interspersed with the dramatic segments. The teleplay written by Elizabeth Egloff was very organized and lucid, a good basis from which Bogdanovich to build this motion picture.
Justine Waddell is an excellent choice to portray Wood: Beautiful and talented, but not doing an exact imitation. Ditto for Michael Weatherly, who played Robert Wagner. There is a physical resemblance between the two. It is ironic that Wagner played Weatherly’s father in thirteen episodes of CBS-TV’s “NCIS” from 2003-2016.
The cast also includes Alice Krige ( The Borg Queen of “Star Trek” fame) as Maria Gurdin, Natalie’s mother, and Robert Taylor (Sheriff Walt Longmire of “Longmire”) as Nicholas Ray, the movie director of “Rebel Without a Cause.” Others include Matthew Settle, Colin Friels, John Noble, Steven Vidler, Paul Pantano, Natalie Roy, and Sophie Monk as Marilyn Monroe and Malcolm Kennard as Christopher Walken. Grace Fulton and Elizabeth Rice played Natalie as a child and teenager, respectively.
“The Mystery of Natalie Wood” was first aired on ABC-TV on March 1, 2004.
The Mystery of Natalie Wood (2004)
cinema
My Review
“The Mystery of Natalie Wood” is a made-for-television biopic about the life and career of Natalie Wood from her childhood in the movies in the 1940’s to her death in 1981. Director Peter Bogdanovich (“The Last Picture Show” 1971) made the film in a semi-documentary fashion, with interviews with friends and relatives interspersed with the dramatic segments. The teleplay written by Elizabeth Egloff was very organized and lucid, a good basis from which Bogdanovich to build this motion picture.
Justine Waddell is an excellent choice to portray Wood: Beautiful and talented, but not doing an exact imitation. Ditto for Michael Weatherly, who played Robert Wagner. There is a physical resemblance between the two. It is ironic that Wagner played Weatherly’s father in thirteen episodes of CBS-TV’s “NCIS” from 2003-2016.
The cast also includes Alice Krige ( The Borg Queen of “Star Trek” fame) as Maria Gurdin, Natalie’s mother, and Robert Taylor (Sheriff Walt Longmire of “Longmire”) as Nicholas Ray, the movie director of “Rebel Without a Cause.” Others include Matthew Settle, Colin Friels, John Noble, Steven Vidler, Paul Pantano, Natalie Roy, and Sophie Monk as Marilyn Monroe and Malcolm Kennard as Christopher Walken. Grace Fulton and Elizabeth Rice played Natalie as a child and teenager, respectively.
“The Mystery of Natalie Wood” was first aired on ABC-TV on March 1, 2004.