Today is the 80th birthday of the legendary Texas-born actor Rip Torn.  Let’s celebrate the man and the myth by watching him beat up Norman Mailer in the 1970 film Maidstone. 

(Maidstone, by the way, is only available on a Region 2, French DVD so clicking on the link will only take you to a page where you can order a paperback copy of the script.  And the script, to be honest, isn’t that great of a read.  Sorry.)

Here’s a little background.  Maidstone was the third film to be “directed” by writer Norman Mailer.  Like his previous films (and the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour), the idea was to get a bunch of odd people all together in one location, give them a loosely structured plot, and then allow them to just improvise.  The plot, in this case, was that Mailer was a famous film director who was also running for President and Torn was his brother who has been paid money to assassinate him.

According to the Peter Manso’s Mailer: His Life and Times, the entire shoot was a disorganized mess.  Torn, quickly, grew frustrated with Mailer as both a director and a human being.  The final straw apparently came when Torn saw Mailer using the film’s cameras to make a home movie of him playing with his children. 

So, Torn walked up to Mailer, announced that he was going to kill him, and bashed him on the head with a hammer.  Mailer responded by biting off a piece of Torn’s ear. 

Maybe it’s just the white trash country girl in me, but I always get a sneaky little thrill out of watching men actually fight for real.  However, that said, it’s not just the brawl that makes this a classic clip.  It’s the conversation between Mailer and Torn afterward.  Rip Torn’s just a badass and here’s wishing him a happy 80th birthday!