SUSAN ANSPACH 


For a 10-year period in the 1970's Susan Anspach was the wonderful female wild child of movies. She sought and landed female roles that actresses would kill for nowadays. Susan died recently at 75. She left a legacy of over 50 movies and TV shows. In 1996 she was hired by Dreamworks to teach their animation artists how to make their animated films more life-like.
Susan Anspach burst into stardom in Five Easy Pieces (1970). Jack Nicholson was already famous when this film was made, but Susan was an unknown. Nicholson was Bobby, the failed concert pianist. She played Catherine Van Oost, the aspiring concert pianist and student of Bobby’s father. She and Bobby have a hasty fling and she is seen no more. Nicholson scores with the famous chicken salad scene in a diner culminating with a clean sweep of all the dishes on the table. Many of us have identified with Bobby’s frustration with the hide-bound waitress.
Woody Allen’s Play It Again, Sam (1972) derives its title from a misquote from Casablanca (1942). But it is the quote everyone thinks is right, instead of ‘Play it Sam; play As Time Goes By.”  Anyway, Susan Anspach plays Nancy, Woody’s ex-wife who constantly torments him about his sexual inadequacy. The film starts where Casablanca ends and then gets tangled up with romantic similarities. Susan is quite unmanning as the vixenish Nancy. 
George Segal is Stephen Blume In Blume In Love (1973). He has a quickie with his secretary but Nina (Susan Ansach) finds out about it and shows him the door. After the divorce, he wanders around Venice inconsolably trying to relive the romantic place where they met. Nina in the meantime has landed a much younger hunk (Kris Kristofferson) named Elmo. Stephen’s pathetic attempts at getting Nina back are hurt by his finding that Elmo is a really good guy.
The Big Fix (1978) features Richard Dreyfuss as Moses Wine, a private eye and former radical activist. He is contacted by ex-girlfriend Lila, played by Susan Anspach, who wants him to help a gubernatorial candidate. Someone is distributing phony posters showing the candidate in cahoots with a wanted criminal. (Obviously way before social media!). Moses sets out to find the culprit. The plot gets twistier and darker, but keeps your interest. 
Michael Douglas is an Olympic wannabe marathoner in Running (1979), He overcomes many obstacles and finally gets to compete only to suffer a damaging fall. He struggles to finish after everyone else has gone home. Susan Anspach plays his ex-wife Janet, who is mainly around to feel sorry for him and then proud of him. Not a great part, but hey, not a great film either.
Susan Anspach’s last big one is the extremely strange Montenegro (1981). She plays Marilyn Jordan, who seems to have a perfect life but is restless. She eats her family’s entire meal, sets the bedclothes on fire and poisons the pet dog’s dish. Then she meets a group of wild Yugoslavians, sleeps with one of them, comes to her senses and returns home. There she cooks a gourmet meal for her family, with a light dessert which we are informed she has poisoned. I left out the weird parts...
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.