
Directing
Bob Rafelson
Born — Died
1933-02-21 — 2022-07-23
Place of birth
New York City, New York, USA
Known for
Directing
Credits
51 titles
Robert "Bob" Rafelson (February 21, 1933-July 23, 2022) was an American film director, writer and producer. He was most famous for directing and co-writing the film Five Easy Pieces, starring Jack Nicholson, as well as being one of the creators of the pop group and TV series, The Monkees (with Raybert/BBS Productions partner Bert Schneider). Rafelson was born in New York City, the son of a hat manufacturer. His uncle was screenwriter and playwright Samson Raphaelson. Rafelson and Nicholson have been collaborators for over thirty years. Nicholson and Rafelson wrote and produced and Rafelson directed Head, starring the Monkees, in 1968, followed by Five Easy Pieces. In subsequent years, Rafe…
Known for
The BBC's flagship cinema review TV program featuring reviews of new releases, news items and interviews. The title of the program changes each year to incorporate the year of broadcast.
Film '72
1971
6.5Micky, Mike, Peter, and Davy are four young men in mid-1960s LA, members of a struggling country-folk-rock band looking for their big break amid madcap encounters with a variety of people straight out of TV and movie central casting, with full knowledge that their existence is part of a weekly television series.
The Monkees
1966
7.2Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his drinking, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.
Leaving Las Vegas
1995
7.6High school seniors and best friends, Sonny and Duane, live in a dying Texas town. The handsome Duane is dating a local beauty, while Sonny is having an affair with the coach's wife. As graduation nears and both boys contemplate their futures, Duane eyes the army and Sonny takes over a local business. Each struggles to figure out if he can escape this dead-end town and build a better life somewhere else.
The Last Picture Show
1971
6.2Federal agent Alexandra Barnes believes that Catherine Petersen is a serial killer who marries rich men and then murders them for their money. But since Catherine is seemingly a master of disguise and has multiple identities, Alexandra can't prove anything with conventional detective work. With no other option, she goes undercover, pursuing the same man as Catherine, and hoping that Catherine will slip up and reveal her true identity.
Black Widow
1987
6.6The story of Captain Richard Francis Burton's and Lt. John Hanning Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile river in the name of Queen Victoria's British Empire.
Mountains of the Moon
1990
Film credits
2010s · 5 titles
5.2How did America change from Easy Rider into Donald Trump? What became of the dreams and utopias of the 1960's and 1970's? What do the people who lived in that golden age think about it today? Did they really blow it? Shot in Cinemascope - from New Jersey to California - this melancholic and elegiac road-movie draws upon the portrait of a confused, complex and incandescent America one year after the start of the electoral campaign. That golden age has become its last romantic border and an inconsolable America is about to pull on a trigger called Trump.
We Blew It
2017
NRThis 2009 documentary features directors Bob Rafelson, Peter Bogdanovich, and Henry Jaglom, actor-director Jack Nicholson, and actresses Karen Black and Ellen Burstyn, among others, reminiscing about the making of the groundbreaking films of BBS Productions.
BBStory: An American Film Renaissance
2010
NRA short video piece featuring director Bob Rafelson and actress Ellen Burstyn discussing the evolution of the characters in The King of Marvin Gardens (1972) and how accidents on the set proved beneficial to the film.
Reflections of a Philosopher King
2010
Documentary on the BBS company who released some of the best films of the 1970s.
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story
2010
6.0A video piece featuring director Bob Rafelson and actor Jack Nicholson, discussing the production of the film "Five Easy Pieces" (1970).
Soul Searching in 'Five Easy Pieces'
2010
2000s · 3 titles
5.6The artistry, triumph and lifelong friendship of the great cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond. With film school equipment, they shoot the Soviet crackdown of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. As refugees they struggle in Hollywood, finally breaking into the mainstream with their pivotal contribution to the "American New Wave."
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos
2009
6.5A 2002 video piece featuring director Bob Rafelson, cinematographer László Kovács, and actor Bruce Dern discussing style and process of the film The King of Marvin Gardens (1972).
Afterthoughts
2002
4.4Veteran film director Matty Bonkers, a Hollywood legend, arrives in Berlin for an honorary retrospective tribute. While introducing his film Mockery, he receives a phone call from his producer lying in intensive care at a hospital. Blau needs a favor for old times' sake. Could Matty finish a porn movie before his legs get broken by Tokyo Tony? Matty reluctantly agrees. On the set he meets movie star and ex-cello-player Inga - and the experience is bizarre spirited uplifting a comédie humaine.
Porn.com
2002
1990s · 5 titles
7.2Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his drinking, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.
Leaving Las Vegas
1995
6.8Hailed by some as a cinematic genius, a feminist voice and a true maverick of American cinema, dismissed by others as a voyeuristic fraud and the "world's worst director," Henry Jaglom obsessively confuses and abuses the line between life and art. Featuring scores of interviews (including Orson Welles, Dennis Hopper, Milos Forman and Peter Bogdanovich) and rare behind-the-scenes footage, this hilarious documentary explores the fascinating question of Who Is Henry Jaglom?
Who Is Henry Jaglom?
1997
8.4Documentary focusing The Monkees, the 1960s pop group originally created for a TV sitcom. Interviews with the band members, the show's creators, and musical collaborators and peers are featured.
Hey, Hey, We're The Monkees
1997
4.7The attractive Davida enters a shop shortly before off-time and wants to buy a bathtub. Just the manager is still there. As business is not well, he is willing to stay longer. Davida wants to try the bathtubs. Although this is not allowed in the shop the manager agrees. As if that is not enough, Davida says she wants the bathtub for two and needs to be sure it fits her needs. She wants the manager to take place in the bathtub too.
Wet
1994
3.9Four erotic short films, all with similar unexpected endings: 'The Dutch Master': a woman who enters a living painting; 'The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch': a woman is lured by noises from a chamber; 'Vroom Vroom Vroooom': a motorcycle transforms into a woman; and 'Wet': a hot tub salesman seduced by a woman.
Tales of Erotica
1996
1980s · 5 titles
4.4A middle-aged couple, on the verge of proceeding with a divorce, find themselves questioning their decision to separate when fellow friends and neighbors, oblivious to their marital troubles, assemble at their house for a 4th of July Weekend party.
Always … But Not Forever
1985
7.5A woman goes to Cannes and, lost in its chaos and unable to obtain tickets, ends up watching it on television from her hotel room.
Notre Dame de la Croisette
1983
NRNo synopsis available yet.
On the tracks of a filmmaker
1988
7.2A reporter travelling to Latin America witnesses a murder through the lens of his camera.
Mora
1982
9.0Bob Rafelson: Self-portrait
Modesty
1981
1970s · 2 titles
5.6A dishonest businessman asks rich layabout Craig Blake to help him buy a gym, which will be demolished for a development project in Alabama. But after spending time with weightlifter Joe Santo and gym worker Mary Tate Farnsworth, Craig wants out of the deal. The property negotiations turn ugly, causing a brawl at the gym and a spectacle at a big bodybuilding meet, as Craig learns that it's not easy to turn your back on fair-weather friends.
Stay Hungry
1976
7.1Robert Dupea spends his days doing various odd jobs, drinking and womanizing until an encounter with his sister makes him revisit his past.
Five Easy Pieces
1970
Series credits
The BBC's flagship cinema review TV program featuring reviews of new releases, news items and interviews. The title of the program changes each year to incorporate the year of broadcast.
Film '72
1971
6.5Micky, Mike, Peter, and Davy are four young men in mid-1960s LA, members of a struggling country-folk-rock band looking for their big break amid madcap encounters with a variety of people straight out of TV and movie central casting, with full knowledge that their existence is part of a weekly television series.
The Monkees
1966
Behind the camera
7.6High school seniors and best friends, Sonny and Duane, live in a dying Texas town. The handsome Duane is dating a local beauty, while Sonny is having an affair with the coach's wife. As graduation nears and both boys contemplate their futures, Duane eyes the army and Sonny takes over a local business. Each struggles to figure out if he can escape this dead-end town and build a better life somewhere else.
The Last Picture Show
1971
6.2Federal agent Alexandra Barnes believes that Catherine Petersen is a serial killer who marries rich men and then murders them for their money. But since Catherine is seemingly a master of disguise and has multiple identities, Alexandra can't prove anything with conventional detective work. With no other option, she goes undercover, pursuing the same man as Catherine, and hoping that Catherine will slip up and reveal her true identity.
Black Widow
1987
6.6The story of Captain Richard Francis Burton's and Lt. John Hanning Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile river in the name of Queen Victoria's British Empire.
Mountains of the Moon
1990
6.6The story of Captain Richard Francis Burton's and Lt. John Hanning Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile river in the name of Queen Victoria's British Empire.
Mountains of the Moon
1990
5.4While doing a friend a favor and searching for a runaway teenager, a police detective stumbles upon a bizarre band of criminals about to pull off a bank robbery.
No Good Deed
2002
7.3Aimless young Alexandre juggles his relationships with his girlfriend, Marie, and a casual lover named Veronika. Marie becomes increasingly jealous of Alexandre's fling with Veronika and as the trio continues their unsustainable affair, the emotional stakes get higher, leading to conflict and unhappiness.
The Mother and the Whore
1973
5.6A dishonest businessman asks rich layabout Craig Blake to help him buy a gym, which will be demolished for a development project in Alabama. But after spending time with weightlifter Joe Santo and gym worker Mary Tate Farnsworth, Craig wants out of the deal. The property negotiations turn ugly, causing a brawl at the gym and a spectacle at a big bodybuilding meet, as Craig learns that it's not easy to turn your back on fair-weather friends.
Stay Hungry
1976
5.6A dishonest businessman asks rich layabout Craig Blake to help him buy a gym, which will be demolished for a development project in Alabama. But after spending time with weightlifter Joe Santo and gym worker Mary Tate Farnsworth, Craig wants out of the deal. The property negotiations turn ugly, causing a brawl at the gym and a spectacle at a big bodybuilding meet, as Craig learns that it's not easy to turn your back on fair-weather friends.
Stay Hungry
1976
5.6A dishonest businessman asks rich layabout Craig Blake to help him buy a gym, which will be demolished for a development project in Alabama. But after spending time with weightlifter Joe Santo and gym worker Mary Tate Farnsworth, Craig wants out of the deal. The property negotiations turn ugly, causing a brawl at the gym and a spectacle at a big bodybuilding meet, as Craig learns that it's not easy to turn your back on fair-weather friends.
Stay Hungry
1976
6.5The sensuous wife of a lunch wagon proprietor and a rootless drifter begin a sordidly steamy affair and conspire to murder her Greek husband.
The Postman Always Rings Twice
1981
6.5The sensuous wife of a lunch wagon proprietor and a rootless drifter begin a sordidly steamy affair and conspire to murder her Greek husband.
The Postman Always Rings Twice
1981
7.1Robert Dupea spends his days doing various odd jobs, drinking and womanizing until an encounter with his sister makes him revisit his past.
Five Easy Pieces
1970
7.1Robert Dupea spends his days doing various odd jobs, drinking and womanizing until an encounter with his sister makes him revisit his past.
Five Easy Pieces
1970
6.2In this surrealistic and free-form follow-up to the Monkees' television show, the band frolic their way through a series of musical set pieces and vignettes containing humor and anti-establishment social commentary.
Head
1968
6.2In this surrealistic and free-form follow-up to the Monkees' television show, the band frolic their way through a series of musical set pieces and vignettes containing humor and anti-establishment social commentary.
Head
1968
6.2In this surrealistic and free-form follow-up to the Monkees' television show, the band frolic their way through a series of musical set pieces and vignettes containing humor and anti-establishment social commentary.
Head
1968
5.7A man who has failed as a father and husband commits a heist to make money for his fledging business, but things become complicated when his wife interferes.
Blood and Wine
1996
4.9A sleazy but affable guard dog trainer is blackmailed to steal a manuscript for a tell-all book from one of his clients.
Man Trouble
1992
5.5Private eye Philip Marlowe and his bride move to a desert town, where he uncovers a land scheme.
Poodle Springs
1998
5.9Jason Staebler lives on the Boardwalk and fronts for the local mob in Atlantic City. He is a dreamer who asks his brother David, a radio personality from Philadelphia, to help him build a paradise on a Pacific Island, which might be just another of his pie-in-the-sky schemes. Inevitably, complications begin to pile up.
The King of Marvin Gardens
1972
5.9Jason Staebler lives on the Boardwalk and fronts for the local mob in Atlantic City. He is a dreamer who asks his brother David, a radio personality from Philadelphia, to help him build a paradise on a Pacific Island, which might be just another of his pie-in-the-sky schemes. Inevitably, complications begin to pile up.
The King of Marvin Gardens
1972
5.9Jason Staebler lives on the Boardwalk and fronts for the local mob in Atlantic City. He is a dreamer who asks his brother David, a radio personality from Philadelphia, to help him build a paradise on a Pacific Island, which might be just another of his pie-in-the-sky schemes. Inevitably, complications begin to pile up.
The King of Marvin Gardens
1972
4.7The attractive Davida enters a shop shortly before off-time and wants to buy a bathtub. Just the manager is still there. As business is not well, he is willing to stay longer. Davida wants to try the bathtubs. Although this is not allowed in the shop the manager agrees. As if that is not enough, Davida says she wants the bathtub for two and needs to be sure it fits her needs. She wants the manager to take place in the bathtub too.
Wet
1994
3.9Four erotic short films, all with similar unexpected endings: 'The Dutch Master': a woman who enters a living painting; 'The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch': a woman is lured by noises from a chamber; 'Vroom Vroom Vroooom': a motorcycle transforms into a woman; and 'Wet': a hot tub salesman seduced by a woman.
Tales of Erotica
1996
3.9Four erotic short films, all with similar unexpected endings: 'The Dutch Master': a woman who enters a living painting; 'The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch': a woman is lured by noises from a chamber; 'Vroom Vroom Vroooom': a motorcycle transforms into a woman; and 'Wet': a hot tub salesman seduced by a woman.
Tales of Erotica
1996
10.0Part of the anthology series "Picture Windows," Bob Rafelson’s "Armed Response" draws on David Hockney’s Pool with Two Figures to tell the story of a wealthy lawyer whose American Dream shatters when his children plot his murder, forcing hidden family secrets to the surface.
Picture Windows: Armed Response
1995
9.0Bob Rafelson: Self-portrait
Modesty
1981
4.4Veteran film director Matty Bonkers, a Hollywood legend, arrives in Berlin for an honorary retrospective tribute. While introducing his film Mockery, he receives a phone call from his producer lying in intensive care at a hospital. Blau needs a favor for old times' sake. Could Matty finish a porn movie before his legs get broken by Tokyo Tony? Matty reluctantly agrees. On the set he meets movie star and ex-cello-player Inga - and the experience is bizarre spirited uplifting a comédie humaine.
Porn.com
2002
