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It's a Family Affair: 15 Collaborating Hollywood Households
RT compiles a list of the finest in familial filmmaking.
by RT Staff | February 05, 2008
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It's a Family Affair

With Ben Affleck behind the camera, and his brother Casey delivering a breakthrough performance in the lead, Gone Baby Gone was one of 2007's best reviewed films, and a tribute to the skills of the talented siblings that made it. But it's not the first time that family members have joined forces to create a memorable movie.

The early days of cinema were filled with famous onscreen relations, including Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Jack and Mary Pickford, Charlie and Syd Chaplin, and various members of the Buster Keaton's clan. It's a trend that's continued to this very day -- families like the Bridges (father Lloyd, sons Jeff and Beau), the Voights (father Jon, daughter Angelina Jolie), and the Stallones (Frank, Sylvester, and Sly's son Sage) have all shared the screen together. (And need we even mention the Olsen twins?) With the DVD of Gone Baby Gone hitting the shelves, it's  a good time to delve into movies that were truly family affairs: flicks in which brothers, sisters, parents, and offspring teamed up, behind or in front of the camera, to make movie magic.

Owen, Luke, and Andrew Wilson
Though you'd expect comedic anarchy of Marxist proportions (the brothers, not the 19th century political radical), Owen, Luke, and Andrew Wilson find themselves in somber mood when thrown on the same set, creating chill, low-key movies like The Royal Tenenbaums and The Wendell Baker Story. Their separate filmographies also suggest the brothers approach film more seriously than their Frat Pack brethren. Luke frequently breaks ground in new genres, and Owen co-wrote Wes Anderson's first three features, revealing a rather mad genius underneath his rascally, split-nosed exterior. And what Andrew (call him the group's Zeppo) lacks in screen time, he makes up with fabulous character names, i.e. Bottle Rocket's Future Man or Idiocracy's Beef Supreme.


 

Francis Ford, Sofia, Roman Coppola, with Special Appearances by Jason Schwartzman, Talia Shire, and Nicolas Cage
Nepotism greases a lot of wheels in Hollywood, and no family has gone farther on that notion than the Coppola empire. In addition to casting sister Talia Shire as Connie, Francis Ford Coppola bypassed baby auditions by casting daughter Sofia in The Godfather as an infant Michael Rizzi. After graduating from Ridgemont High, Nicolas Cage weathered the 1980s with The Cotton Club and Peggy Sue Got Married, both directed by uncle Francis. And Jason Schwartzman got through his rocky post-Rushmore years with a gig in CQ (directed by cousin Roman Coppola) and recently starred in Marie Antoinette, directed by other cousin Sofia (whose directorial efforts have absolved her infamous performance in The Godfather: Part III).


 

Charlie and Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez
If you're watching a movie starring a Sheen or an Estevez, chances are another Sheen or Estevez will show up sooner or later. Martin Sheen and his brother Joe Estevez starred in a couple TV movies in the 1970s; Charlie joined them in 1998's No Code of Conduct. Martin played Charlie's father in Wall Street, and made a memorable cameo in Hot Shots, Part Deux. Emilio Estevez directed and co-starred with his father Martin in The War at Home and Bobby, and joined forces with his brother Charlie in Men at Work, Young Guns, and, in an inspired bit of stunt casting, playing porn tycoons the Mitchell brothers in Rated X. And the list goes on.


 

Alfred and Patricia Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock's instinct for perfect casting is legendary -- as was his disdain for his players ("Actors should be treated like cattle," he once said). However, one actress the Master of Suspense smiled upon was his daughter Patricia, who had key parts in Strangers on a Train, playing a partygoer who discovers the depths of Robert Walker's depravity, and in Psycho as Janet Leigh's chatty office-mate. It's the underrated Stage Fright, though, that was truly a family affair, scripted by Mrs. Hitchcock, Alma Reville, and featuring Patricia as the close friend of star Jane Wyman. She also starred in 10 episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents; at the end of one of them, Hitch said to the camera, "I thought the little leading lady was rather good, didn't you?"


 

Peter, Henry, and Jane Fonda
The three generations of Fondas epitomize their eras. Henry was the Old Hollywood everyman, Peter and Jane embodied the restless nature of the Move Brats, and Peter's daughter Bridget was a key player in Generation X cinema. Henry and Peter teamed up for two little known Westerns, The Rounders and Wanda Nevada; Jane joined her father in the Oscar winner On Golden Pond. Bridget was a child when she and her brother Justin made cameos in Peter's Easy Rider; years later, he returned the favor by appearing in Bodies, Rest & Motion with her. However, the most intriguing (and, frankly, creepy) Fonda family collaboration took place in Metzengerstein, part of the omnibus film Spirits of the Dead. Jane plays a spoiled aristocrat who falls for her neighboring cousin -- played by Peter. (She later becomes obsessed with his horse, but that's another story.)


 

John and Joan Cusack
The Cusack clan was born ready for show business. Family patriarch Richard Cusack was a documentary filmmaker and owned a production company. Though all of his kids have ventured into the thespian trade, it's John and Joan who currently hog the spotlight. Together, they've been featured in ten movies, starting with 1984's Sixteen Candles, with John as a member of Farmer Ted's geek squad and Joan the geeky girl in the neck brace. From there, they collaborated on projects like Grosse Pointe Blank, Say Anything..., High Fidelity, and the upcoming War, Inc. It's almost like for every iconic John performance, his sister is also there working patiently in the wings, tightening the screws for his machinations to be the ultimate dork heartthrob.

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Comments (1-10 of 10 posts) | Reply
GelflingJen writes:
on Feb 05 2008 09:40 PM

Gone Baby Gone was a great movie. Very surprised how good the acting was (Casey I mean).

(Reply to this)
157714
hewpot writes:
on Feb 05 2008 10:44 PM

merhmeh

(Reply to this)
Paralyzer writes:
on Feb 05 2008 11:31 PM

hey what about the coens, the hughes brothers and the baldwins(the guys were even satirised in sout park movie : bigger and longer)

(Reply to this)
506402
IBelieveInHarveyDent writes:
on Feb 06 2008 08:54 AM

wachowski(sp?)

(Reply to this)
422390
twinsfan2715 writes:
on Feb 06 2008 11:38 AM

they probably didn't include the coens or wachowskis because they do everything together

(Reply to this)
223631
abcdefz1 writes:
on Feb 06 2008 12:03 PM

The Smiths didn't include Pinkett-Smith..?

(Reply to this)
RT-Matchity writes:
on Feb 07 2008 05:47 PM

We left the Coens, the Wachowskis, the Farrellys, and the Hughes brothers off of the list because (as twinsfan2715 notes), those brother pairs do pretty much everything together.

And we left the Baldwin brothers off of the list because no combination of them has ever worked on a film together.


(Reply to this)
495616
Mishmerized writes:
on Feb 10 2008 05:41 PM

What about Eddie and Charles Murphy, they are starting to collaborate. Or how about the Wayans brothers? And then theres the Arquettes, theres gotta be heaps more lesser known Families out there

(Reply to this)
195538
Mary_Utah writes:
on Feb 12 2008 02:58 PM

In reply to this comment (#1566993)
The Wayan brothers are on the list (page 2)
Jada Smith was not in the movies with her husband and children
The article is about sibs/families that are in the same movies - otherwise you'd have to add the Douglas' the Barrymores, etc.,


(Reply to this)
421073
goldmonkee writes:
on Feb 23 2008 09:25 AM

Didn't MTV do away with the Life Achievement Award after giving it to Clint?

I stopped watching MTV altogether around that time, but I remember reading that they did, in part because he took it to heart (when it was supposed to be a spoof).


(Reply to this)
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