Speak of the Devil

Earlier today I mentioned that I was happy I hadn't had any obituaries to report on. Wouldn't you know, but when I look on Wikipedia's list of notable deaths just a few hours later, there are two people who each deserve mention:

Miroslav Ondříček was 80. Ondříček was a cinematographer who started out working in the 1960s on films directed by Miloš Forman. Among those early movies were Loves of a Blonde and The Firemen's Ball. Ondříček would go on to work with Forman quite a few times after Forman left for the west, with the most notable example being Amadeus; without Forman he handled the camera for Mike Nichols on Silkwood.

Gene Saks also died yesterday, at the age of 93. Saks was much more a stage director than a movie director, but he had a couple of notable film credits, notably directing the work of playwright Neil Simon. Saks did Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, and Brighton Beach Memoirs on the big screen when it comes to Simon's works. Away from Simon, Saks directed the sparkling comedy Cactus Flower.