Harold Becker

New York City native Harold Becker studied art and photography at the prestigious Pratt Institute and began his career as a designer and stills photographer. He segued to directing TV commercials and short films, including the award-winning "Ivanhoe Donaldson." In 1972, Becker made his feature debut as co-director and co-producer (with Souter Harris) with "The Ragman's Daughter," a superb, if somewhat forgotten, low-budget romance set in England and featuring strong performances from Victoria Tennant and Simon Rouse. Indeed, eliciting fine work from actors would become a hallmark of Becker's directing career. Over the course of his career, he would be responsible for helming vehicles that would showcase future stars ranging from James Woods and Ted Danson to Sean Penn and Tom Cruise.

It took seven years for him to find a suitable project to mark his solo directorial effort, but in settling on "The Onion Field" (1979), Joseph Wambaugh's based-on-fact novel about cop-killers who manipulate the legal system and avoid prosecution for years, Becker found a suitable project. Bringing a stark, cinema verite approach to the story, he crafted a beautifully realized police drama that doesn't traffic in pat answers or fairy-tale endings. Becker followed with yet another Wambaugh adaptation, "The Black Marble" (1980), a somewhat less successful feature about the growing romance between a female cop and her troubled partner. Part love story, part black comedy, the film never quite gelled, although it did provide for lively supporting performances from the likes of Barbara Babcock, Harry Dean Stanton and James Woods.

For his third feature, Becker helmed the gripping "Taps" (1981), a drama about a student uprising at a tightly-run military academy. Although recent Oscar-winner Timothy Hutton and George C. Scott provided marquee value, the film served as a showcase for a host of young male up and comers including Sean Penn (in his film debut) as an intense but conscious-stricken cadet and Tom Cruise (in his first major film role) as a murderous psychopath. For his next project, the director turned to the teen romance genre with "Vision Quest" (1985), about a high school wrestler (Matthew Modine) who romances an older woman of 21 (Linda Fiorentino). While it owes more than a passing debt to many of its contemporaries (the theme of the underdog overcoming odds was quite popular then), the film remains appealing despite its predictability.

"The Boost" (1988) was an excellent examination of the effects of drug use but the film was overshadowed by the off screen antics of co-stars James Woods and Sean Young. Their relationship provided much fodder for the tabloids and the well-crafted movie was unfairly forgotten. Becker bounced back with the police thriller-cum-romance "Sea of Love" (1989) which rejuvenated the ailing careers of stars Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin. The smart and sensual screenplay by Richard Price provided fine showcases for the stars and Becker handled the atmospheric suspense with skill and care.

While "Malice" (1993), a medical thriller about a doctor who thinks he's God (played to the hilt by Alec Baldwin), doesn't hold up if one examines the plot too closely (there are more holes than in a slice of Swiss cheese), it was still well-acted (by Baldwin, Bill Pullman and Nicole Kidman). "City Hall" (1996) reteamed Becker with star Al Pacino in a tale of political corruption that received an unfair critical drubbing and subsequent lackluster box office. The director reunited with Alec Baldwin (this time as an outright villain -- a government agent out to kill an autistic child (played by Miko Hughes) in "Mercury Rising" (1998). Once again displaying a flair for suspense and keeping things moving at a brisk pace, Becker appeared to have found his metier. He solidified that notion with "Domestic Disturbance" (2001), another thriller with a predictable plot that was aided immensely by its fast-paced direction and more than adequate work by stars John Travolta and Vince Vaughn.

Filmography

Life Events

1972

Feature directing and producing debut, "The Ragman's Daughter"

1979

Followed up with the harrowing adaptation of Joseph Wambaugh's novel "The Onion Field", starring James Woods and Ted Danson

1979

Directed another Wambaugh adaptation, "The Black Marble", a black comedy also starring James Woods

1981

Helmed "Taps", a gripping drama about an uprising at a military school that launched the careers of Sean Penn and Tom Cruise

1985

Directed the romance "Vision Quest", starring Matthew Modine as a champion high school wrestler who falls for an alluring older woman (Linda Fiorentino)

1988

Reteamed with Woods for "The Boost", a powerful portrait of drug addiction

1989

Directed "Sea of Love", a New York-set police thriller starring Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin

1993

Produced and directed the thriller "Malice", starring Alec Baldwin as a doctor with a god complex

1996

Was producer and director of "City Hall", a portrait of New York City politics starring Pacino and John Cusack

1998

Directed the action thriller "Mercury Rising", starring Bruce Willis as a maverick FBI agent guarding a child who unwittingly cracked a National Security Agency code; Alec Baldwin was cast at the villain