Tucker: The Man and His Dream is a 1988 American biographical film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Jeff Bridges as automobile inventor Preston Tucker.
The film recounts Tucker's attempt to produce and market the innovative Tucker 48, which was met with scandal including pressure from the Big Three automobile manufacturers and accusations of stock fraud from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Joan Allen, Martin Landau, Elias Koteas, Frederic Forrest and Christian Slater appear in supporting roles. Landau was nominated for the Academy Award and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In 1973, Coppola began development of a film based on the life of Tucker, originally with Marlon Brando in the lead role. Starting in 1976, Coppola planned Tucker to be both a musical and an experimental film with music and lyrics written by Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. The project eventually collapsed when Coppola's American Zoetrope experienced financial problems. Tucker was revived in 1986 when Coppola's friend, George Lucas, joined as an executive producer.
Tucker: The Man and His Dream was released by Paramount Pictures on August 12, 1988. The film received positive reviews from critics, despite underperforming at the box office. Tucker: The Man and His Dream produced a spike in prices of Tucker 48s, as well as a renewed appreciation for Tucker and his automobiles.
Plot
Detroit engineer Preston Tucker has been interested in building cars since childhood. During World War II he designed an armored car for the military and made money building gun turrets for aircraft in a small shop next to his home in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Tucker is supported by his large extended family, particularly his wife Vera, his sons Preston Jr. and Noble, and his daughter Marilyn Lee.
As the war winds down, Tucker becomes inspired to build the "car of the future". The "Tucker Torpedo" will feature revolutionary safety designs, including disc brakes, seatbelts, a pop-out windshield, and headlights which swivel when the car turns. Tucker hires young designer Alex Tremulis to help with the design and enlists New York financier Abe Karatz to arrange financial support. Raising the money through a stock issue, Tucker and Karatz acquire the enormous Dodge Chicago Plant to begin manufacturing. Abe hires Robert Bennington to run the new Tucker Corporation on a day-to-day basis.
Launching "the car of tomorrow" in a spectacular way, the Tucker Corporation is met with enthusiasm from shareholders and the general public. However, the Tucker board of directors, unsure of his ability to overcome the technical and financial obstacles ahead, send Tucker off on a publicity campaign and attempt to take complete control of the company. While Tucker travels the country, Bennington and directors change the design of the Tucker 48 to a more conventional design, eliminating the safety and engineering advances Tucker was advertising. At the same time, Tucker faces animosity from the Big Three automakers—General Motors, Ford and Chrysler—and from the authorities, led by Michigan Senator Homer S. Ferguson.
Tucker returns from his publicity tour and confronts Bennington, who curtly informs him that he no longer has any power in the company to make decisions, and that the engine originally planned for the car is not viable. Tucker then receives a call from Howard Hughes, who sends a private plane to bring Tucker to his aircraft manufacturing site. Hughes advises Tucker to purchase the Aircooled Motors Company, which can supply both the steel Tucker needs, as well as a small, powerful helicopter engine that might replace Tucker's original 589 power plant.
Unable to change Bennington's design, Tucker modifies the new engine and installs it in a test Tucker in the secrecy of his backyard tool-and-die shop. This prototype proves successful, both in durability and in crash-testing. However, Tucker is confronted with allegations of stock fraud. Ferguson's investigation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) causes Karatz—once convicted of bank fraud—to resign out of fear that his criminal record will prejudice the hearings. Yellow journalism all but ruins Tucker's public image, but the courtroom battle is resolved when he parades his entire production run of fifty Tucker 48s, proving that he has reached production status.
After giving a speech to the jurors on how capitalism in the United States is harmed by efforts of large corporations against small entrepreneurs like himself, Tucker is acquitted on all charges, but the Tucker Corporation falls into bankruptcy. In the film's closing shot, Tucker's entire production line—fifty "cars of the future"—is driven through the streets of downtown Chicago, admired by everyone as they pass.
Epilogue Preston Tucker died of lung cancer six years after the trial. Although only 50 Tucker 48s were ever produced, 46 of them remained roadworthy and in use as of 1988.
All of Tucker's innovations— aerodynamic styling, padded dash, pop-out windows, seatbelts, fuel injection, and disc brakes— were gradually adopted by larger automakers and are found in nearly all modern cars today.
Cast
Background
From childhood, Coppola envisioned a film about the Tucker automobile and while attending the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in the early 1960s, further refined a film concept based on the life of Preston Tucker. In June 1973, during the filming of The Godfather Part II (1974), Coppola announced his intention to start development at American Zoetrope as writer, producer and director. He had already approached Marlon Brando for the lead role.Schumacher 1999, pp. 183, 283, 324. He then purchased the rights from the Tucker Estate in 1976, and, in addition to Brando, discussed the leading role with Jack Nicholson and also considered Burt Reynolds.Schumacher 1999, pp. 396–399, 402. Taking inspiration from Citizen Kane (1941), Kabuki theater and the work of Bertolt Brecht, Coppola initially planned to make Tucker as a "dark kind of musical". He later said that the idea approximated the style of an experimental film,Coppola, Francis Ford. Tucker: The Man and the Car (1948) DVD audio commentary (included on the DVD for Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), released in 2000). San Francisco: American Zoetrope / Paramount Home Video, 2000. similar to Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), which he produced.
The musical would have featured Tucker predominantly, but storylines would have interwoven Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Samuel Firestone and Andrew Carnegie as supporting characters. Leonard Bernstein agreed to write the music, and Betty Comden and Adolph Green were hired to write the lyrics. They all spent a week at Coppola's home in California, planning the musical which resulted in Bernstein writing one song. Coppola also approached Gene Kelly as a consultant for the dance choreography. However, financing for Tucker fell through when Coppola's production company, American Zoetrope, filed for bankruptcy after the box office failures of One from the Heart (1982) and The Cotton Club (1984).Mottram, James. "Interview: Francis Ford Coppola on the film he couldn't refuse" . The Independent, November 16, 2007. Retrieved: May 25, 2009. Coppola abandoned Tucker for the time being and went to work on Peggy Sue Got Married (1986).
In 1986, during the production of Captain EO (1986), Coppola's friend George Lucas encouraged him to revive development for Tucker, believing it to be "the best film Francis had ever been involved with". In addition, Lucas agreed to serve as executive producer and offered the use of his filmmaking companies, Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic. He also convinced Coppola to drop the musical idea in favor of doing a homage to the films of Frank Capra, especially Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). Coppola became interested in the American Dream aspect of the storyline, as well as post-World War II capitalism and politics. At one point, Coppola approached Capra to produce the film with Lucas, however, Capra thought Tucker was a failure and Coppola dropped that plan.
Coppola originally intended to write the screenplay himself, but due to his commitment to the filming of Gardens of Stone (1987), engaged Arnold Schulman who scripted Capra's A Hole in the Head (1959). Schulman was angered when screenwriter David Seidler, who'd been previously attached to the project, was granted a co-writing credit by the WGA, stating: "Believe me, I was pissed off about the credit grabbing on Tucker. I'm still pissed off. That is one instance where every word of the script is mine." Coppola was also displeased by Seidler's credit, stating: "They gave a credit to a writer who had nothing to do with the script that I used."Schumacher 1999, p. 324. The filmmakers devised a $24 million production budget, but Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, TriStar Pictures and Paramount Pictures wanted Coppola and Lucas to lower it to $15 million. Distributors were also dubious about working with Lucas after the 1986 commercial and critical failures of both Labyrinth and Howard the Duck. Lucas decided to cover the $24 million budget himself, and pre-production proceeded.
Production Development and production for Tucker: The Man and His Dream included the involvement of Tucker's children and grandchildren. Jeff Bridges was cast in the title role and, for research, studied Preston Tucker's mannerisms and movements through home movies. Tucker's descendants also granted Bridges the opportunity to sport the man's black pearl ring and cuff links for his wardrobe. Preston's son, John Tucker, said that Bridges has "got it all in the mannerisms and the look. My father was very positive, always thinking of what came next. Jeff captures that."Corliss, Richard and Jean McDowell. "How Bridges Fights Boredom". Time, August 15, 1988. Retrieved: May 25, 2009. Martin Landau was enthusiastic about accepting the pivotal role of Abe Karatz as a means to avoid typecasting.Garcia, Chris. "Martin Landau Rolls Up in a New Vehicle". Austin American-Statesman, August 7, 1988. Retrieved: May 24, 2009. The construct of family values played a crucial role in the Tuckers' life and Coppola studiously selected Joan Allen for the part of Vera, Tucker's devoted wife while Christian Slater and Elias Koteas fill in the other central roles of eldest son and Tucker's friend and confederate, Alex Tremulis. Coppola's family was undergoing a stressful time during the production and he dedicated the film to Gio, his eldest son, who died before filming began.