Films with or about Fitzgerald

There are three different kinds of films listed on this page: #1 documentaries about F. Scott Fitzgerald's work and life, #2 fictional movies about Fitzgerald himself and #3 movies in which Fitzgerald makes an appearance as a minor character. And then, of course, there's Woody Allen's Zelig which features the few seconds available of Fitzgerald on camera.

F. Scott Fitzgerald - Winter Dreams

The documentary Winter Dreams was made in 2001 - at a time when some of Fitzgerald's contemporaries were still alive. It features interviews with the daughter of Fitzgerald's landlord at Baltimore and with neighbors of Zelda's family in Montgomery as well with authors like E.L. Doctorow and literary scholars like James L.W. West. Frankly, what they have to say about Fitzgerald's life and work is not particularly illuminating. However, the movie does manage to provide an accurate biographical account without relying on any third-person commentary. Instead, the filmmakers have used quotes from Scott's and Zelda's writings - their novels, their letters, their journals - to provide context to their collage of interviews, vintage photos, movie scenes and portraits of the places where the Fitzgeralds used to live.

Famous Authors - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Anyone interested in an informative, well-researched and visually pleasing documentary on Fitzgerald's life should make a point of not watching this entry in the Famous Authors series. Present-day impressions of the places where Fitzgerald lived plus a limited selection of familiar photos is all that the 30-minutes portrait has to offer. However, while the footage is mostly irrelevant and boring, the commentary on the soundtrack is even worse, as it quickly becomes obvious that whoever wrote it, didn't have much of a clue: according to this attempt at biography, Fitzgerald was born in 1894, Irving Thalberg made its impression on the movie industry as a director and Save me the Waltz was a personal attack by Zelda on Scott. A perfect waste of time and money.

Biography - F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great American Dreamer

This 50-minute biography focuses on Fitzgerald's relationship with Zelda as well as the cultural, economic and social environment Fitzgerald lived in during the 1920s.

Beloved Infidel

Beloved Infidel is based on Sheila Graham's account of the time she spent with Fitzgerald during his Hollywood years. The movie ends with Fitzgerald's premature death. Gregory Peck stars as Fitzgerald, while Graham is being played by Deborah Kerr. The movie is overly melodramatic, but if one forgets about the real story behind it, it's quite enjoyable as typical Hollywood fare of the 50s.

Midnight in Paris

Owen Wilson gets lost in nocturnal modern-day Paris, boards a vintage car at midnight and unknowingly crashes a 1920s party where he first runs into none other than Zelda Fitzgerald who is soon joined by her husband. After this initial encounter - and after introducing the Owen Wilson character to Ernest Hemingway - the Fitzgeralds soon fade out of the story. Nevertheless, Midnight in Paris is well worth watching, not only because Allen manages to bring Scott and Zelda as well as Hemingway to life, without pitting them against each other, but also because he challenges the viewer with a paradox: his movie caters to feelings of nostalgia and enables the viewer to participate in Wilson's yearning for an era that's long gone, yet at the same time he drives to the final point that whatever time we live in, it will always be the present - and never attain the charm of the past.

Mrs. Parker and the vicious circle

Fitzgerald makes a very brief appearance in Mrs. Parker and the vicious circle. He's being portrayed by actor Malcolm Gets.

Zelig

Woody Allen's fake documentary Zelig features the only available film material of Fitzgerald. The clip lasts only a few seconds and shows Fitzgerald while he is sitting at a desk writing a letter. Of course, Allen's commentary claims that he's writing about human chameleon Zelig. The episode is placed right at the beginning of the movie.