The 4 movies Bob Dylan said he wished he had been part of

The legendary American singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Bob Dylan obviously knows everything about music and he has been one of the most prolific artists from the past six decades.

He talked a lot about music over the years and even wrote many books about the theme. But he is also a big movie and in a conversation with Interview magazine in 1986 he revealed which were the four movies he wished he had been part of. In this article you will see more interesting things about those films.

The 4 movies Bob Dylan said he wished he had been part of

“I Was a Zombie for the FBI” (1982)

This is a movie not many fans would expect Bob Dylan to mention, since it is a low budget sci-fi from the 80s. The plot shows a pair of criminal brothers who survive an airplane crash and discover a plan by aliens to conquer Earth. Their plan is to turn humans into zombies. When the FBI gets involved, the two brothers are forced to infiltrate the alien forces.

The movie was not very well received by critics but became a cult classic. It was directed by Marius Penczner and in an interview with Chud.com, he said he had the chance to meet Dylan. “We did (meet Dylan). I was doing a show somewhere and he was involved with it. We met in a hotel lobby and he said, ‘I got to tell you something man, I really love your film.’ I said, ‘Thank you, and if you want one I can send you a copy.’ ‘I already bought one.’ He said, and I said, ‘You bought that one copy we sold!’ But he was an insomniac and he used to stay up late watching Nightflight and he saw us on the show,” Marius Penczner said.

“The Devil and Miss Jones” (1941)

Released in 1941, the same year Bob Dylan was born, “The Devil and Miss Jones” is a classic movie. It shows the story of a tycoon who goes undercover to ferret out agitators at a department store. However, he gets involved in their lives instead. The movie was directed by Sam Wood and had in the cast names like Jean Arthur, Robert Cummings and Charles Coburn.

Coburn and writer Norman Krasna received Oscar nominations for their work on the movie.

“Ben Hur” (1959)

Released in 1959, Ben-Hur is the most famous and successful movie mentioned by Bob Dylan. Directed by William Wyler, it had a stellar cast featuring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd, and more. It had the largest budget (More than 15 million dollars) for a movie and also the largest sets built at the time.

The movie won a record eleven Academy Awards, including best picture, best director, best actor in a leading role and best actor in a supporting role. The movie made an estimated amount of over 146 million dollars at the box office during its initial release.

Although Charlton Heston had different political views from Dylan, he defended him during The Time Radio Hour. “Charlton gets a bad rap for his strong conservative beliefs and involvement with the NRA. But truth to tell, he was a strong advocate for civil rights, many years before it became fashionable….”

“Raintree County” (1957)

Released in 1957, when Bob Dylan was six years-old, “Raintree County” was directed by Edward Dmytryk. It had a stellar cast formed by Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Eva Marie Saint and Nigel Patrick. It shows the story of a student who falls in love with a Southern belle. However, their relationship is complicated by her troubled past and onset of the Civil War.

Although it was not very commercially successful, the movie was nominated for four Academy Awards.