Fred MacMurray: The Guy Next Door (1996)
*** (out of 4)
Another good documentary from Gene Feldman, this one taking a look at the life and career of Fred MacMurray, the actor most people will remember for "My Three Sons" as well as films like DOUBLE INDEMNITY. The documentary lasts well under a hour but it does a very good job at showing what made MacMurray so good. He clearly had the ability to be the charming leading man but he also wasn't afraid to hit some darker roles as well as some silly ones like THE ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR. The documentary features interviews with his second wife, film historian Richard Jewell as well as the likes of Jack Lemmon, Nancy Olson, Billy Wilder and Edward Dmytryk. Fans of MacMurray might wish that this here ran longer and gave a more detailed look at his career but with these interviews I think this is somewhat priceless. It's great being able to hear from someone like like Wilder and Lemmon and especially when it came time to discuss MacMurray's role in THE APARTMENT, which we learned turned a lot of his fans away from him. There's also some good stuff from Dmytryk who worked with the actor on THE CAINE MUTINY. While there's no question that a more detailed film would be nice, what we get here is certainly good enough to sit through.
