Dan's Papers - October 17, 2008

For Dominick Dunne, the party's not over. As one of the great voices of our time, Dunne still remains on the pulse of the who's who in American celebrity culture at the age of 82. He has produced, directed and written some of the most compelling and often controversial material over the past five decades and is featured in one of the 2008 Hamptons International Film Festival's Spotlight Films. In its North American premiere, Dominick Dunne: After the Party, follows Dunne through his self-admitted "complicated life," and his tribulations while following such celebrity-ridden trials like O.J. Simpson, Phil Spector, Claus von Bulow, Michael Skakel, the Menendez brothers and who could forget the heated William Kennedy Smith trial?

Kirsty de Garis and Timothy Jolly wrote, directed and produced After the Party, which features commentary and appearances by Graydon Carter, Joan Didion (his sister-in-law), Griffin Dunne (his son), Robert Evans and the "grand dame of dish," gossip columnist Liz Smith. The film is compelling, as viewers are offered an intimate walk through Dunne's remarkable journey, which touches upon both the absurd and the very poignant. "You would go to dinner and Audrey Hepburn was there and you wouldn't think anything of it," Dunne explained. "It was just a way of life the way we lived."

Born in Connecticut in 1925, to a "well to do" Irish Catholic family, Dunne was the son of a Harvard-educated heart surgeon who performed some of the first, most groundbreaking procedures in the field, including "taking a bullet from a boy's beating heart," patching him up and sending him home. Like most medical professionals, his father was not known for his personality and Dunne discloses the hurt he felt when his father would call him names like "sissy." But like many things in Dunne's life, this didn't hold him back. He served in World War II and was awarded a Bronze Star for his bravery in helping save another soldier's life. Yet, even after moving to New York briefly, something drew Dunne to Hollywood's glitz and glamour, and it wasn't long before he relocated there, right in the epicenter of the famous valley.

Prior to getting knee-deep in rubbing elbows, Dunne fell in love and married Ellen "Lenny" Griffin. They had three children together, Griffin, Dominique, and Alexander. One of the things that the film does best is to show the dynamic love between Dunne and Griffin. The couple would throw parties at their house with guests including Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Natalie Wood, Elizabeth Taylor, Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, Robert Wagner, Paul Newman and numerous other A-listers. Dunne became so immersed in these parties that he saved every invitation by ironing and pressing it flat into a scrapbook. "It was fascinating, I learned a great deal about how dangerous that lifestyle can be." Dunne became obsessed with climbing the social ladder so much that his marriage began to fail and soon he was divorced. He became addicted to alcohol and cocaine - got arrested trying to bring some "grass" in from Mexico, another not-so-proud moment. With the failure of his marriage, addiction, and two films, Ash Wednesday and Play it as it Lays that were box office disappointments, Dunne lost all hope.

Dunne retreated to a cabin in Oregon where he started writing. "I think it's important to publicly acknowledge failure when you're dealing with it. Instead of hiding in shame you must move on with it and accept it." Things were about to get a lot worse for Dunne and his family when, in 1982, his daughter Dominique was murdered. After this devastation, which he admits brought his family back together, he realized how flawed the judicial system could be (the murderer only went to jail for 2 1/2 years) and set out to stop it. When the judge in his daughter's trial thanked both families for their time, Dunne yelled out, "Don't thank them on behalf of my family, judge!" Dunne added," I made headlines the next day."

His daughter's murder led him to working for Vanity Fair. His first story was "Justice: A Father's Account of the Trial of his Daughter's Killer." Dunne then became a defining voice for Vanity Fair and although there have been a few bumps in the road, namely the incident between Dunne and Garry Condit, it's been nothing but bliss. (Condit sued Dunne for implicating him in the disappearance of Chandra Levy.) He is drawn to the cross between celebrity and justice - "the ugly part of being famous," he said.

One of the best parts of Dominick Dunne: After the Party is a scene where Dunne is staying in Hollywood's Chateau Marmont, where helicopters began flying overheard at 5:30 a.m. He was staying there to cover the ongoing Phil Spector trial and en route to the courtroom, Dunne tells the driver to go up the hill. He is met with hoards of paparazzi and discovers that none other than Southampton's very own Paris Hilton lives directly behind the Chateau Marmont. "It was just a Hollywood moment. She's part of that true celebrity culture. She's it. On another note, I've been very impressed by her commercials supporting Barack Obama. They're good."

On the Hamptons Dunne explains, "I've never written a Hamptons story. Although there was a couple that I was very intrigued by. I used to come out to East Hampton two weekends a month and then I moved to California and all that stopped. The Hamptons are a very special place."

In terms of his opinion of the film, Dunne said, " I think they did a very interesting job. I never knew the whole time they were doing it what their attitude was. They would just sort of turn up in and out of my life for two years. I think they captured what my life is like."

Asked about the future, Dunne answered, "Do I have future plans? Are you kidding me? I always have future plans. Even though I've been sick with bladder cancer, it hasn't slowed me down. I'm going to England tomorrow. Then after the Film Festival, I'll try to finish my novel at my country house in Connecticut."

In a parting shot, he added, "I'm still cooking, don't you worry."

Dominick Dunne: After the Party is playing Sat. Oct. 18 at 6:30 p.m. United Artists Cinema 4 and Sun. Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. in Southampton 1.