Edward R. Pressman

A graduate of both Stanford and the London School of Economics, Edward R. Pressman entered films as a partner of director Paul Williams (not Paul Williams the musician, though Pressman did produce the 1974 Williams vehicle Phantom of the Paradise). The first Pressman/Williams collaboration was Out of It, an up-close-and-personal look at what it's like to be a high school misfit. Made in 1967, Out of It lay on the shelf until it was released in 1969 to capitalize on the latter-day popularity of the film's co-star, Jon Voigt. Evidently more concerned with telling a good story than with box-office returns, Pressman has handled many a chancy, long-shot project, usually with salutary results. Among his riskier projects (at least in a financial sense) are Sisters (1973), directed by Brian DePalma; Badlands (1973), directed by Terence Malick and starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek; and Talk Radio (1988), a virtual nonstop monologue performed by Eric Bogosian. In 1992 alone, Pressman offered Jack Nicholson in the title role of Hoffa and Harvey Keitel displaying his privates in The Bad Lieutenant. Edward Pressman's biggest international success as executive producer was the 1981 German film Das Boot.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide