Maidstone was a film made in 1970, directed by, written by, and starring Norman Mailer

Norman Mailer

Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...

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Plot summary

Famous film director Norman Kingsley (Norman Mailer) runs for President while working on his latest film project. His brother Raoul (Rip Torn) continues to cling to him for his money.

Cast

Actor	Role
Norman Mailer Norman Mailer Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...	Norman Kingsley
Rip Torn Rip Torn Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn, Jr. , is an American actor of stage, screen and television.Torn received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1983 film Cross Creek. His work includes the role of Artie, the producer, on The Larry Sanders Show, for which he was nominated...	Raoul Rey O'Houlihan
Beverly Bentley	Kingsley's wife
Robert Gardiner	Secret Service Chief
Carolyn McCullough
Leonard Morris
Ultra Violet Ultra Violet (Isabelle Collin Dufresne) Isabelle Collin Dufresne is a French artist, author and former colleague and superstar of Andy Warhol.-Early life:...	Herself
Harris Yulin Harris Yulin Harris Yulin is an American actor who has appeared in dozens of Hollywood and television films.-Life and career:Yulin was born in...

Notability

The film is now famous for the improvised fight between Norman Mailer and Rip Torn. As the camera rolled, Torn struck Mailer in the head with a hammer, intending to "kill his character." Mailer's scalp opened up, and a vicious fight ensued. With the camera still rolling, Torn energetically strangled Mailer until the fight was broken up by Mailer's wife Beverly and Mailer's wailing children. During the melee, Mailer bit off a small chunk of Rip Torn's ear. The fight, in which the actors called each other by their real names, made it into the film, and the segment has proven very popular on the Internet in recent years.

External links

• Thank you, Norman Mailer . . . for showing me that autobiography is the only kind there is