Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 18, 1995 TAG: 9503210125
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK DAWIDZIAK KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Still, although television viewers know him as a regular Joe (or Dan, as the case may be), Goodman is no stranger to bigger-than-life roles. Filmgoers have seen him as everything from Stone Age homeowner Fred Flintstone to home-run king Babe Ruth.
Goodman wants to hit a dramatic home run as another bigger-than-life character. He has the title role in ``Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long,'' which Turner Network Television will premiere at 8 Sunday night.
The cable movie chronicles the controversial Long's spectacular life and death in Louisiana politics. A colorful showman with a populist theme (``Every Man a King''), the former traveling salesman became the state's governor in 1928. Some say he was the state's dictator at the time of his assassination in 1935.
So Goodman has swung from home-run king to Kingfish. Even before he steps to the plate, however, concerns are being raised over the TNT film presenting a distorted picture of Huey Long.
Is Goodman worried about starring in a movie that strays from historical accuracy?
``Are you talking about `The Flintstones'?'' Goodman joked in Los Angeles.
On a slightly serious note, the ``Roseanne'' star admits that ``Kingfish'' is not 100 percent accurate. The subtitle, after all, is ``A Story of Huey P. Long,'' not ``The'' story.
``Oh, absolutely,'' Goodman said. ``We tried to make it a little bit larger than life, I believe, in the grand-opera tradition.''
``All the King's Men,'' the 1949 film with Broderick Crawford as the Long-like Willie Stark, is another story of Huey Long. ``The Life and Assassination of the Kingfish,'' a 1977 TV movie with Ed Asner as Long, is another. Ken Burns' 1985 documentary is another.
``Huey's like the elephant and the six blind men who come at it from different angles,'' Goodman said. ``Each one thinks it's something else and describes something different.''
Long rode the populist wave to national prominence by exploiting anger and resentment caused by the Depression. He promised a share-the-wealth restructuring of the economy while planning a third-party challenge to Franklin Roosevelt's 1936 re-election bid.
How did Goodman prepare to play this bombastic brawler from the South?
``I watched hours and hours of professional wrestling to get the accent right,'' he said.
That's another joke. He read T. Harry Williams' acclaimed biography of Long. He watched all the film and newsreel footage available. He studied Burns' documentary.
He did his homework.
Goodman believes Long's tactics have resonance in the political campaigns of 1992 and '96: ``Well, I think Newtie [Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich] tapped into a feeling of malaise and anger. Ross Perot, as well, realized that the little people - actually the middle class - are feeling so squeezed.
``That's what Huey did. He woke up and shook the people, and he set up targets that they could hate. And interestingly enough, he didn't destroy his targets ... He never really went for the kill, just the political kill.''
If you're thinking that Goodman found likable qualities in Long, you're right.
``He liked to have a good time,'' said the star of such films as ``Matinee'' and ``Raising Arizona.'' ``He had a hell of a sense of humor and he was a brilliant man. He also had an iron will and an incredible amount of energy. I would like to have run with him for a while. Couldn't keep up with him, though.''
One reason Goodman landed ``Kingfish'' was his affection for Louisiana, where there still is a great deal of affection (and hatred) for Huey Long.
``My affection for Louisiana is why I took on the project in the first place,'' Goodman said. ``There are people there today who still have pictures of Huey in their kitchen.
``I have a house down there. I married a Louisiana girl. I've been going down there off and on since 1972. I just fell in love with it the first time I was there.''
Despite this affection and Long's record of public-works programs, Goodman sees the cautionary lesson about misuse of power.
``He tapped into that feeling [of anger] and turned it to his advantage by using all the tricks he knew,'' Goodman said. ``Whether he could have turned the whole country to him, we'll never know. But if he had, I think, yeah, he would have been dangerous. ... It could always happen again.''
by CNB