October 1, 2025
SIFF and Greg Olson Productions Present
L.A. NOIR
shadows in paradise
Cutter’s Way (1981) Critic Pauline Kael: Jeff Bridges may be the most natural, least self-conscious screen actor who ever lived. Bridges lives in his roles, so definitely that little things seem to come straight from the character’s soul. Sometimes, just on his own, he makes a picture worth seeing. He’s the most American, the loosest, of all the young actors, unencumbered by stage diction and stiff, emasculated poses. Jeff Bridges: In 1973 I played in John Frankenheimer’s The Iceman Cometh, with Frederick March, Robert Ryan, and Lee Marvin. I was barely in my 20s, they were in their 50s, 60s, 70s. So for eight weeks of rehearsal I was hanging out with these master actors, who were all as anxious as I was, wanting to do justice to the material. I noticed in them that this fear and anxiety is the standard stuff that I needed to get used to in my career. It is something you can get used to. I saw how actors of that caliber worked. It was very enlightening. I realized I could do this for the rest of my life in a professional manner. Before this I was sort of along for the ride. Acting is a muscle for pretending, for working with make-believers making believe as hard as they can. What I learned from my father, actor Lloyd Bridges, wasn’t anything he said, if was the way he behaved. He loved his work so much that his colleagues rose to that level. I don’t know why the Coen brothers picked me to play The Dude in The Big Lebowski, maybe they watched me in high school. Surfboards and marijuana. I’ve always thought about the small picture and the big picture. There’s something going on that we’re not privy to. And that gives me a very hopeful feeling. These mysteries happen. You might experience this as a writer, where the process is doing you instead of you doing it. That’s the sweet spot, isn’t it? That’s the God who is unutterable. You put a name on it and it becomes the golden calf, you know? It’s not any of your concepts—it’s something outside of that. When creativity is happening, you try to get out of your own way. You’ve got to let the ego go sit on the bench, and just hear what wants to be done through you. Let’s see what wants to be born here. Cutter’s Way screenwriter Jeffrey Alan Fiskin: Jeff Bridges is a sweet, kind man and a superb actor. Caring and never pushy. He’s always, “If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know, but otherwise I’m gonna go to bed.” Thanks to poet, film curator and teacher Tova Gannana for her film essay and her L.A. Cruising, Radio On pre-film playlist.
Directed by: Ivan Passer Screenplay by: Jeffrey Alan Fiskin from Newton Thornburg’s novel Cinematography by: Jordan Cronenweth Music by: Jack Nietzsche Edited by: Caroline Biggerstaff
THE PLAYERS: Jeff Bridges as Richard Bone John Heard as Alex Cutter Lisa Eichhorn as Maureen “Mo” Cutter Stephen Elliott as J. J. Cutter Arthur Rosenberg as George Swanson Nina van Pallandt as Hotel Woman Ann Dusenberry as Valerie Duran Francis X. McCarthy as Paul Savage Chris Noth as Guard