Regardless of credits to come, it seems a safe bet that people will always associate Michael Cimino with two movies. The first, "The Deer Hunter" (1978), won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director and provided him with the clout to let his megalomania run amok filming the second. That unqualified disaster, "Heaven's Gate" (1980), was responsible for bringing down a troubled United Artists, a studio that had managed to endure from the glory days of Chaplin, Griffith, Pickford and Fairbanks.A successful commercials director noted for his sophisticated camera work and arty filming techniques,
