Talia Shire reflects on Prophecy 40 years later
In a recent interview with ComingSoon.net promoting the Blu-ray release of Rad, Talia Shire took a moment to reflect back on the 1979 horror flick Prophecy, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. While the film was something of a critical and box office disappointment it currently carries a strong cult following with even the likes of Quentin Tarantino claiming he has a soft spot for it.
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Shire, who played Maggie Verne in the film, was initially hesitant to discuss Prophecy — “Oh dear,” she replied when asked about the title — but eventually went on to praise director John Frankenheimer, the film’s cast and even championed its message about the environment.
“Well, first of all, that had the great John Frankenheimer, right, who was, I mean — and again, I’m much older, but I remember watching or hearing about his work with live television,” Shire said. “For anybody out there, there was this thing called live television, which is rather a remarkable feat, how they organized those productions. And John was the young director of live television. And so, I had always respected his work. And it was an opportunity to work with him and wonderful, wonderful actors.”
Said actors include Robert Foxworth, Armand Assante, Victoria Racimo and Richard A. Dysart.
“And it was a piece that spoke to ecology, ecological issues,” Shire continued. “And we’re talking 40 years ago, but 40 years ago it was speaking to pollution and the consequences of pollution. No, it wasn’t a big success, but I think it’s also discovering an audience today.”
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Here’s the official plot synopsis from Google: “When a dispute occurs between a logging operation and a nearby Native American tribe, Dr. Robert Verne (Robert Foxworth) and his wife, Maggie (Talia Shire), are sent in to mediate. Chief John Hawks (Armand Assante) insists the loggers are poisoning the water supply, and, though company man Isley (Richard Dysart) denies it, the Vernes can’t ignore the strangely mutated wildlife roaming the woods. Robert captures a bear cub for testing and soon finds himself the target of an angry mutant grizzly.”
