Ridley Scott Directs the John Paul Getty Kidnapping starring Michelle Williams and Kevin Spacey

dorriolds — Sun, 17 Sep 2017 00:01:35 +0000

John Paul Getty, III (1956–2011) was the favorite grandson of the wealthiest man in the world, the miserly oil baron Jean Paul Getty. Young John was kidnapped and his billionaire grandpa refused to pay the $17 million ransom. It is a chiller of a thriller coming to the big screen on December 8.
Ridley Scott directs the true crime thriller, All the Money in the World. David Scarpa wrote the screenplay based on John Pearson’s book and the movie boasts an all-star cast. Kevin Spacey is unrecognizable as J. Paul Getty. Michelle Williams plays the terrified mother of kidnapped Getty (Charlie Plummer). Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg) is a security man employed by the senior Getty.
The History
Getty, III spent his young life in Rome where his father was head of the Italian branch of the Getty’s family oil biz. But his Dad left when he was 9. By the age of 15 young Getty had been expelled from 7 schools and was a drug-taking, thrill-seeking partier.
At 3am, July 10, 1973 in Rome’s Piazza Farnese, Getty was kidnapped. He was pistol-whipped in the head, forced into a car and taken to a cave in Calabria. The kidnappers sent a ransom note demanding $17 million. Because Getty had been a rebellious kid who’d actually joked about staging his own kidnapping, when the ransom note arrived Getty’s family thought it might be a trick to get money from his notoriously tightwadded Dad.
The very real kidnappers blindfolded 16-year-old Getty and held him prisoner. He was beaten, tortured and tied to a stake. In November 1973, another ransom note was sent, this time to a daily newspaper but due to an Italian postal strike at the time it arrived 3 weeks late. The envelope contained a lock of Getty’s hair and his now partially-rotted sliced ear and a type-written note, “This is Paul’s ear. If we don’t get money within 10 days, then the other ear will arrive. In other words, he will arrive in little bits.”
That finally convinced Getty’s father to ask his tycoon Dad for the money but was refused. Getty’s grandfather argued, “If I pay one penny now, then I will have 14 kidnapped grandchildren.” Getty’s father agreed to pay the ransom, but begrudgingly. He negotiated! He ended up paying $2.9 million and his son—held captive for 138 days—was freed on December 15, 1973. Some of the kidnappers (an ex-con, a hospital orderly, a carpenter and an olive oil dealer) were caught but most of the ransom was never recovered. Getty’s father demanded that he pay back the ransom money plus 4 percent interest.
Getty married his 5-months-pregnant bride in 1974. His grandfather’s family trust barred him from marrying until he was 26. Because Getty was only 18 when he married he was cut off from the family’s money. In 1977, Getty had an operation to rebuild his mutilated ear. Getty and his wife had only one son before they divorced in 1993.
Getty’s twisted life turned worse. He was an alcoholic and drug addict—not that surprising, or even unusual—but one night in 1981 after combining valium, methadone and alcohol he suffered liver failure and a stroke. Getty was left a quadriplegic, unable to speak and nearly blind. He was 25 years old.
Getty’s father, also a drug addict, and also cut off from the family funds, said that Getty’s stroke was his own fault and refused to pay the astronomical medical bills. Getty needed round-the-clock care to be spoon-fed, changed and washed. His only means of communication were high-pitched screams.
The Getty brood took family dysfunction to epic extremes. In addition to Getty’s father’s heroin addiction, his sister Aileen Getty, was diagnosed HIV positive in 1985. She’s been in 7 institutions, had 12 shock treatments, 7 miscarriages, anorexia and was a self mutilator. Aileen is one of the longest survivors with the AIDS virus.
Getty was nursed for years by his devoted mother and a team of caregivers. He’d been gravely ill for much of that time. Getty died at the age of 54. He is survived by 2 children, son Balthazar and stepdaughter Anna, and 6 grandchildren. He’s also survived by his mother and 4 siblings: Getty Images co-founder Mark Getty, prominent AIDS activist Aileen Getty, Ariadne Getty and his half-brother Tara Getty. His actor son, Paul Balthazar Getty, has the letters BZAR tattooed on the fingers of his right hand. That seems a fitting way to end this heartbreaking tale of a mentally disturbed dynasty.

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Movie Madness

dorriolds — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 15:02:41 +0000

Hi there. My fiance decided we should celebrate my birthday for 3 days. He took me to one movie/day. My favorite was The Fighter. Christian Bale deserves an Oscar for his portrayal as Mark Wahlberg’s brother, a has-been and crackhead. The woman who plays Mom, Melissa Leo, steals every scene she’s in. I’d give her best supporting actress. I’ve never seen her before but bet we’ll see her in movies to come. A lesser actress would’ve overdone it. She NAILS it. Leo, born a native New Yorker, played Boston blue collar Mom perfectly. This film deserves 4 stars out of 4. It’s about loyalty, addiction, aching desires to be somebody, perseverance, relationships, family dysfunction, and so much more.

Black Swan was the film on Day 2. It’s a dark, trippy cinematic 3.5 stars. Natalie Portman was brilliant and will surely receive an Oscar nom. It was Portman’s tour de force performance. She was able to portray a professional ballet dancer’s relentless inner demons with total believability. Part of that is due to the screenwriter’s skill for showing the inner workings of a disturbed mind—not an easy thing to do. Another compelling character is her coach played by Vincent Cassel who previously appeared in the 4-star flick, Eastern Promises. If you’ve never seen that movie, run don’t walk, to rent it immediately. Black Swan is a must see movie but it’s also so intense it is a tad exhausting. Both Steve and I walked out of there and at the same time said “I need a nap.” It was that heavy—gut-wrenching—but don’t get me wrong. It’s spectacular and you’d be a fool to miss it.

On our 3rd movie day we went to see the 4-star The King’s Speech. It’s the story of King George VI of Britain and his quick, unexpected ascension to the throne. He is played marvelously by Colin Firth but for me the most captivating character was the unusually quirky Speech Therapist played by Geoffrey Rush who I love in every movie he’s in. He is an actor of the finest caliber, as one taxi driver with a thick Brooklyn accent once said, “He can really portray.” He first grabbed me in his magnetic performance as a child prodigy in Shine—the story of a gifted pianist whose volatile father drives him over the edge. In Quills he plays, with divine darkness, the infamous Marquis De Sade during his stay in an insane asylum. His wildly entertaining performances in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) and the next two sequels made me an ever more loyal fan. Helena Bonham Carter does a fine job playing the King’s devoted, loving, wife and showing once again that behind every good man is a great woman.

Ok, now I must stop blogging and meet Steve at the Clearview Chelsea Cinema—the same theatre we’ve seen all of these flicks. Today we’re seeing I Love You Phillip Morris starring Jim Carrey. Another actor we’re looking forward to watching is Steve’s long-time good friend, Antoni Corone, who is featured in the trailer. My review on that film will come soon.

Tomorrow we’ll see The Tourist — not because it’s got great reviews but because we both love watching Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp.

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Ridley Scott Directs the John Paul Getty Kidnapping starring Michelle Williams and Kevin Spacey

Movie Madness