A Fuller Life

James Franco leads the eulogies in this profile of the larger-than-life filmmaker Samuel Fuller, who also had eventful stints as a journalist and serviceman.

Samuel Fuller was one of classic Hollywood’s great characters. An enterprising filmmaker who crafted memorable, modestly budgeted films in a range of genres, including Shock Corridor and Pickup on South Street, he was also a great raconteur who like nothing more than regaling audiences with stories of his eventful life, which encompassed a stint as a crime journalist and service on the front-line of World War Two.

So it’s fitting that his daughter Samantha’s profile is largely structured as an oral history of the great director’s life. A range of celebrity admirers including James Franco, Joe Dante, William Friedkin, Monte Hellman, Tim Roth and Jennifer Beals read from Fuller’s copious and colourful diaries, detailing the man’s many adventures and filmmaking exploits. They’re interspersed with clips from his marvellous features, and the overall result is a rich and rewarding account of a life lived to the full.