Catch-22 | 1970
- DIRECTOR |
- Mike Nichols
For years, Orson Welles had wanted to film Joseph Heller's surreal anti-war satire but Mike Nichols, hot from box-office smash The Graduate was given a hefty budget and plenty of freedom to film Buck Henry's adaptation of the novel.
Sadly, Welles, as he had done with another cherished project, Moby Dick, had to settle for a cameo role in someone else's movie.
The film is set during WWII, largely on a tiny airfield on the island of Pianosa in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Italy. To get the feeling of isolation, the airstrip and associated structures were built at Playa los Algodones, near San Carlos in Sonoma County, Mexico.
The barren area, about 260 miles south of Nogales, was then accessible only by boat so $180,000 was spent constructing a five-mile access road and another $250,000 to build the 6,000 feet runway.
The studio really had faith in Nichols – but I suppose it helped that the Mayor of nearby Guayamos owned the contracting company used.
The money was well spent. The area has been developed, with several hotels alongside Playa los Algodones, now dubbed 'Catch-22 Beach'.
Nevertheless the area remains instantly recognisable, overlooked by those twin peaks so prominent in the film. The jagged peak on the right is Mount Tetakawi and if you're a climber, well, help yourself.
The film's other big expense was the purchase and restoration to airworthiness of 18 period B-25s. The breathtaking take-off and formation flying, plus their constant physical presence really pays off.
But this must be the only time in Hollywood history that a director decided he had too many extras. The realism of a teaming airbase was undercutting the dreamlike feel of the film so 200 extras were dismissed leaving that deliberately disconcerting underpopulated feel.
There's a brief foray to the real Italy for the company's spot of R&R in Rome. The alfresco restaurant terrace where the guys meditate on love and the increasing number of flying missions is on the famous Piazza Navona. It's now Ristorante Panzirone, Piazza Navona, 73. The ominous tanks occupying the square were not so intimidating as they appear. They're plastic props which (at least according to the Director's Commentary) could be moved around by one man.
The Felliniesque meandering of Yossarian (Alan Arkin) through the nighttime streets uses the area around the Palazzo Farnese, and some interiors were filmed at the famous Cinecittà Studios.
