Dick Cavett is still miffed about a publicity stunt 50 years later. The iconic talk show host, who led his own eponymous series for decades, visited the Criterion Closet (in the below video) to reminisce about a few of his most beloved films — and most infamous moments on his series.
Cavett recalled how the cast of “Husbands” were some of the most “crappy” guests on “The Dick Cavett Show” in 1970. Actors Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara, and John Cassavetes, who also directed the film, appeared on Cavett’s show on September 18, 1970. The trio pretended to faint, stripped off their socks, and had a meandering discussion onstage. Watch it here. Apparently, it was so bad that Cassavetes preemptively blamed whether or not “Husbands” flopped in theaters on the talk show appearance.
“That’s the movie that these three guys came on and made total asses of themselves. You can find it online: ‘The Worst Show Dick Cavett Ever Did,’” Cavett said. “They goofed around the whole time and did very funny things, like taking off your shoes and smelling their feet. Afterwards, John Cassavetes himself chewed them out mercilessly, and said, ‘You have just unsold most, if not all, of the tickets to this movie.’”
He added, “And they were like three kids being smashed with criticism. It was sort of sad to say, but it didn’t make up for how crappy they were on the show.”
“Husbands” went on to premiere at the San Francisco International Film Festival in October 1970. Though now a respected classic, the film did not initially land with audiences: ticket buyers apparently walked out of the premiere, and the Los Angeles Times said the film was “the most unanimously detested” film at the festival. IndieWire’s Ryan Lattanzio wrote in a retrospective essay that “Husbands” was later critically acclaimed and became an inspiration for directors such as Judd Apatow. “The dark night of the soul shared by Cassavetes, Gazzara, and Falk in ‘Husbands,’ captured with the in-your-face quality of a cinéma vérité documentary by cinematographer Victor J. Kemper, lands all the characters in the doghouse with themselves, their wives, and each other… ‘Husbands’ remains a must-see Cassavetes classic as a look into what’s happening on the other side of a woman’s panic.”
Also while in the Criterion Closet, Cavett quipped that the late Katharine Hepburn would be frustrated with the modern “The Philadelphia Story” Blu-ray cover.
“Katharine Hepburn I think would be annoyed that she’s only a small figure in this picture,” he said, adding that he had a unique bond with Hepburn. “It never occurred to me that I would ever get her to do these shows [like ‘The Dick Cavett Show’]. She called and she said, ‘You know you’ve made me a goddamn saint. Everywhere I go, if I go shopping, people suddenly adore me more than ever before.’”
And despite his trip to the viral closet, Cavett won’t be doing his Letterboxd four favorites anytime soon.
“‘What’s your favorite movie?’ sort of irritates me,” Cavett said. “Is there really any one movie that tops them all? I would rather people not ask me what my favorite movie is. But if you want to know, my favorite movie is ‘The Third Man.’”
Check out Cavett’s full visit to Criterion below.