Kiefer Sutherland And Rob Reiner: How We Made "Stand By Me

This was the only audition where I did the reading and was hired right there in the room. I absolutely adored Spinal Tap, so to get that kind of affirmation from a director like Rob Reiner at that time in my life was really powerful.

Rob and I both agreed very strongly that there was no mushy side to this guy [villain Ace Merrill]. This is an asshole to the marrow of his bones; unfortunately, every town seems to have one. He was a bully and the only way to make the character work was if you hated him.

I worked with the main cast very little but when I’d get there early, they would be workshopping scenes and trying out each other’s lines. River [Phoenix] specifically had such an appetite to learn and be good – and, of course, he was. He was a year older than the rest of the boys and I think it made a pretty significant difference. When the others were doing age-appropriate things, River was asking questions like: “Would you mind running lines with me?” He saw me playing guitar and asked: “What song is that? Would you teach me?” His desire to get to the next level was so evident that you knew he was going to do something special. He was interested in storytelling from the perspective of learning and sharing as opposed to just entertaining.

‘This is an asshole to the marrow of his bones’ ... Kiefer Sutherland as Ace Merrill (right). Photograph: Columbia Pictures/Allstar

There was no animosity between the older and younger cast – I’ve never been that kind of actor. There’s a separation between how I am in my life and what we’re doing in between “action” and “cut” – thank God, because I’ve played some horrible characters, and Ace Merrill was one of them.

John Cusack was on the film for at least a week. I admired what he was doing and thought he was an actor I wanted to emulate. I got to spend time with him and we had some fun. We weren’t that far from Portland so we’d go to dances or try to meet girls. There’s absolutely nothing I don’t remember fondly about that film.

There was maybe a three-year period where I felt like the luckiest person on the planet. I got to do Stand By Me, The Lost Boys and Young Guns. I was cruising through and having a blast. There’s never felt like another time like that. In many ways, the story that was being told in the movie was actually happening to me in my life. Those are the summers and friends I will never forget.

Rob Reiner, director

Some friends were developing Stand By Me for the director Adrian Lyne but he left the project. They took it to me to read. I connected with the characters, loved the time period and everything about it. “Maybe I’ll take a shot at this,” I said.

For the next four days I drove around LA with a migraine because I couldn’t figure out what to do with it. It was this wonderfully observational piece that Stephen King had written about his experience going to look at a dead body with his friends. Once I hit on the idea of Gordie (Wil Wheaton) being the one that goes through this big emotional upheaval, then I hooked into it. In the book, Gordie was just an observer; once I decided to make him the main character, it all fell into place.

Wil had this sensitivity and intelligence. Jerry O’Connell (who played Vern) had never acted before apart from a commercial. The only one with real experience was Corey Feldman (Teddy). I’d never met a 12-year-old with that kind of rage inside of him, but in learning about his background and that his parents had split up and there wasn’t a lot of closeness there, I could see where it was coming from. River (Chris) was 13 and like a young James Dean. There was so much soul there. He had this great wisdom for a guy that age.

‘When it came out and was accepted it validated me’ ... Rob Reiner shooting Stand By Me. Photograph: PictureLux/The Hollywood Archive/Alamy

We shot in Brownsville, Oregon. It rains a lot there but we were lucky and got 60 straight days of sunshine. Even the day they were supposed to find the body was sunshine – we had to soak the whole set so it looked gloomy. I was looking for a town that had stopped in time and felt like it was in the 50s. We purposely tried to give it this hazy, gauzy and nostalgic look. Cinematographer Thomas Del Ruth did a magnificent job.

The vomit in the pie-eating scene was a mixture of large curd cottage cheese and blueberry pie filling and we were flinging it all over the place. That was fun, but the train sequence was difficult. For long shots we had stunt doubles and when I did shots with the actual boys, we used long lenses so the train looked like it was right on top of them even though it hadn’t even entered the trestle. They were supposed to be freaking out but didn’t feel the pressure. I started getting mad. It was hot and the crew had to push the camera down this long dolly track, so I said: “These guys are breaking their asses because you guys are fucking up!” The next time, they were frightened. Afterwards, they ran over, gave me a big hug and said “We did it Rob!” They were great.

Stand By Me means more to me than any of the other films I’ve made. It was the first time I did a film that reflected my own personal sensibility; it had a mixture of melancholy, humour and nostalgia. I was 12 in 1959 so the music was the music I listened to and the feelings I had in relation to my father, I injected into the film. When it came out and was accepted it validated me. It gave me a big boost to press forward.

Lord Of The Rings: Amazon Moves Show To UK From New Zealand

Production of the new Lord of the Rings television series will move to the UK from New Zealand, Amazon Studios has confirmed.

The as-yet-untitled fantasy epic is set thousands of years before the events in JRR Tolkien's books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

It is a major blow for New Zealand's entertainment industry where the award-winning movies were also filmed.

UK culture secretary Oliver Dowden welcomed the decision.

He said: "Thousands of high quality jobs all across the UK will be created and supported by The Lord of the Rings television series so this is very exciting news."

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Treasury have been approached for comment on whether Amazon Studios has been offered financial subsidies to move production to the UK.

Amazon Studios, the film and TV arm of the technology giant, has already spent $465m (£336.5m) on the first season of the show.

It said the shift in locations was part of a plan to expand its production space and consolidate its footprint in the UK.

The first season of the show will finish filming in New Zealand and will be shown on Amazon Prime in September 2022.

Production will then move to the UK and four more seasons of the show are expected to be made.

New Zealand's economic development minister Stuart Nash said the government was "disappointed" by the decision.

In April, the New Zealand government had granted Amazon Studios extra subsidies on its production.

Amazon was already receiving a 20% rebate on its expenses for filming The Lord of the Ring series in New Zealand before the government added an extra 5%.

At the time, Mr Nash said the agreement with Amazon generated "local jobs and creates work for local businesses" and would "enable a new wave of international tourism branding and promotion for this country".

Commenting on the decision to move production from New Zealand, Mr Nash said the country's film industry was "incredibly competitive and highly mobile".

"We have no regrets about giving this production our best shot with government support," he said.

Amazon said it would not "actively pursue" the additional 5% subsidy it had been granted.

Vernon Sanders, vice president and co-head of TV at Amazon Studios thanked "the people and the government of New Zealand for their hospitality and dedication and for providing The Lord of the Rings series with an incredible place to begin this epic journey."

New Zealand's dramatic landscapes were also home to Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie trilogies.

The first Lord of the Rings film, The Fellowship of the Ring, was released in December 2001 and the final part of the trilogy was screened in 2003.

The popularity of the films helped promote New Zealand's tourist industry. Between 2001 and 2006, annual tourists to the country rose by 40% from 1.7 million to 2.4 million, according to a report.

Deep Red remains a giallo classic

Italian giallo filmmaker Dario Argento is most known for his collaboration with zombie godfather George Romero on 1978’s Dawn of the Dead and for his eccentric 1977 supernatural horror film Suspiria. While Suspiria may be his most popular work, perhaps his best film is Deep Red, a pulpy and off the wall serial killer thriller that packs somersaulting camera work, gallons of bright red blood, and a scene involving a puppet that would make Saw’s Jigsaw wet his britches. Now, you’re probably wondering what the term “giallo” means. Giallo, which is Italian for yellow, was the nickname for any suspense thriller, crime, or mystery tale that tended to be a bit pulpy. This term could refer to any thriller from any country but in Italy, it really took off and the film critic turned filmmaker Dario Argento was one of its frontrunners. The Italian giallos tended to be operatic, extremely gory, loaded with stylish camerawork, and huge amounts of gratuitous sex and nudity. The term refers to pulp novels that began in 1929 and featured distinctive yellow covers.

Deep Red begins with the murder of pretty German psychic medium named Helga Ulmann (Played by Macha Meril) just hours after she picks up the thoughts of a serial killer. Simultaneously, an English pianist named Marcus Daly (Played by David Hemmings) is chatting with his drunken friend Carlo (Played by Gabriele Lavia) outside the apartment where the murder is taking place. Suddenly, Helga’s body smashes through a window and in all the excitement, Marcus dashes up to the apartment to help Helga out. Once inside the apartment, he begins to realize that something is different about the crime scene. Teaming up with a peppy and self-assured photojournalist named Gianna Brezzi (Played by Daria Nicolodi), Marcus begins investigating the murders and attempting to solve what was different about he crime scene. As the investigation continues, the body count begins to rise and Marcus finds himself the target of the mysterious killer with a fetish for dolls and a spine-chilling children’s song.

Unshakably disturbing and unique, Deep Red is Argento at his absolute finest. Everything from Argento’s camera work, to the performance from David Hemmings, to Goblin’s funky score mesh to create something that still stands out today. It’s a special film that seems like something Alfred Hitchcock would have made while he was under the influence of a psychedelic drug. Deep Red also enjoys getting us in on the action and allowing us to play detective along side Marcus. Argento, however gives us one clue that he doesn’t give to Marcus: an eyeball with caked on eyeliner. Because of this tease, I found myself focusing on the eyes of every single character that wore eyeliner from there on out. But Argento is just toying with us and getting amusement out of our detective work. Every time I spotted the thick eyeliner, I would convince myself that I had figured out the identity of the shadowy menace and when the killer is finally revealed, it was the last person I expected it to be. This clue also gives Deep Red a white-knuckle unpredictability. The killer could be anyone and strike at any moment. It generates a colossal amount of dread throughout the course of its runtime. Argento, you clever cat!

Deep Red’s style doesn’t end with its standout score or Argento’s sumptuous touches. He molds the film into a full-blown opera that brings the chandelier down on the viewer. His camera sophisticatedly dances with the death on screen, making us fidget due to his restlessness. When Argento does remain motionless, he springs a creepy doll on us that sent me about three inches off the couch I was sitting on. Argento doesn’t skimp on filling his tracking shots with opulent colors, flamboyant backdrops, echoes of discreet sexuality, and soft melodrama. The finished product is distinctly European with images that belong in a gaudy gold frame.

David Hemming as the protagonist every-man Marcus is another victory for Deep Red. He certainly is the furthest thing from a masculine protagonist! At times, when we really pay close attention to his reactions to the horror playing out around him, he conveys the scared-for-life terror that an average person would in the situations he finds himself in. He was just a man going about his business when his world came crashing in on him (symbolically and literally). At one moment, the killer stalks him in his own apartment and his trepidation makes your arm hair stiffen. He leaps like a flailing madman at his door to slam it shut. Sure that is what most people would do in a situation like that, but his frozen anticipation is what really plays with us. Did he just hear that creak? Is he really hearing that faint music? Is someone really out there in the hallway? It is moments like this that Deep Red flirts with the supernatural. Ghost stories are whispered, superstitions are discussed, and the killers prolonged stalking of their victims are imperceptibly ghost-like in nature.

Deep Red becomes a classic case of style over substance, but this is not to say that the substance isn’t well done. While the plot is bursting with the spirit of Hitchcock and you will find yourself immersed in the whodunit, its Argento’s approach that overshadows the story. The style sticks in your head long after it has ended. But Argento also seems hellbent on playing with the conventions of a masculine hero, one who is bumbling and imperfect trying to operate in a world that is controlled by strong women (get a load of the arm wrestling scene). Baroque, chic, and glamorous, Deep Red is an undisputed classic among horror films from the heyday of the genre. It stands out because it lacks a gritty approach, which was how most directors were approaching the genre at this time. But Deep Red is polished and squeaky clean, then rolled in a whole bunch of glitter and handed a meat cleaver.

Written by Steve Habrat.

When TV becomes the villain

James Woods found out the hard way!

As did Carol-Anne.

She always wanted to be on Prime Time!

Too much TV can be bad for you.

The story of the asbestos snow in The Wizard of Oz

Yes, they used snow made of asbestos in the making of The Wizard of Oz. It wasn't the only life-threatening technique employed by the filmmakers to create one of Hollywood's greatest fantasy adventures. 

Why wasn't Marilyn Monroe's last film "Something's Got to Give" finished?

George Cukor set about shooting Something's Got to Give in 1962 but it would never be finished. Marilyn Monroe would die before filming all her scenes. The production was abandoned and what footage was shot remained locked away in an archive until 1989. 

From Wikipedia:

Something's Got to Give is an unfinished American feature film shot in 1962, directed by George Cukor for 20th Century Fox and starring Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse. A remake of My Favorite Wife (1940), a screwball comedy starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, it was Monroe's last work, but from the beginning its production was disrupted by her personal troubles, and after her death on August 4, 1962, the film was abandoned. Most of its completed footage remained unseen for many years.

20th Century Fox overhauled the entire production idea the following year with mostly new cast and crew and produced their My Favorite Wife remake, now titled Move Over, Darling (1963) and starring Doris Day, James Garner, and Polly Bergen.

On the first day of production, April 23, 1962, Monroe telephoned Weinstein to tell him that she had a severe sinus infection and would not be on the set that morning. Apparently she had caught the infection after a trip to New York City during which she had visited her acting coach, Lee Strasberg of The Actors Studio, to go over her role. The studio sent staff physician Dr. Lee Siegel to examine the star at her home. His diagnosis would have postponed the movie for a month, but George Cukor refused to wait. Instead he reorganized the shooting schedule to film scenes around his leading lady. At 7:30 am, Cyd Charisse was telephoned and summoned to the Fox lot. Later that morning the first scene filmed involved Martin's character and Charisse, in an encounter with children building a tree house.

Over the next month filming continued mostly without Monroe, who showed up only occasionally due to fever, headaches, chronic sinusitis and bronchitis. The production fell 10 days behind schedule. As Kennedy's birthday approached, no one on the production thought Monroe would keep her commitment to the White House although she had gotten clearance on April 9 to appear at the event (see article "Happy Birthday, Mr. President"). Studio documents released after Monroe's death confirm her appearance at the political fundraising event that had been approved by Fox executives.

By this time, the production was over budget, and the script was still not completely finalized, despite writer Walter Bernstein's efforts. The script was rewritten nightly, with Monroe growing increasingly frustrated at having to memorize new scenes every day. When not before the camera, she spent much of her time on the set in her dressing room with Paula Strasberg, Lee's wife.

Pool scene

Upon her return from New York, Monroe decided to give the film a publicity boost by doing something no major Hollywood actress had done before; in the scene in which Ellen is swimming in the pool at night, she calls playfully up to Nick's bedroom window and invites him to join her. Nick tells her to get out of the pool, then realizes she is nude. A body stocking was made for her, but Monroe took it off and swam around in only a flesh-colored bikini bottom. The set was closed to all but necessary crew, but Monroe had asked photographers, including William Woodfield, to come in. After filming was completed, Monroe was photographed in the bikini bottom, and without it.

Had Something's Got to Give been completed and released as planned, Monroe would have been the first mainstream star shown topless in a Hollywood motion picture release of the sound era.^{[citation needed]} Instead, that distinction goes to actress Jayne Mansfield in Promises! Promises! (1963).

Monroe's last day on the set

On Friday, June 1, 1962, Monroe's 36th birthday, she, Martin and Wally Cox shot a scene in the courtyard set. Monroe's stand-in, Evelyn Moriarty, bought a seven-dollar sheet cake at the Los Angeles Farmers Market. A studio illustrator drew a cartoon of a nude Monroe holding a towel, which read "Happy Birthday (Suit)". It was to be used as a birthday card, and signed by the cast and crew. The cast attempted to celebrate when Monroe arrived, but Cukor insisted that they wait until 6:00 pm (the end of the working day) because he wanted to get a "full day's work out of her."

It would be Monroe's last day on the set. She left the party with Cox, and had borrowed the fur-trimmed grey suit she had worn while filming that day because she was to attend a muscular dystrophy fundraiser at Dodger Stadium that evening with her former husband Joe DiMaggio and co-star Dean Martin's young son, Dean Paul Martin.

Monroe is fired

On Monday, June 4, 1962, Monroe phoned Henry Weinstein to inform him that she would not be on set that day once again. She had a flare-up of the sinusitis, and her temperature had reached 100 °F (37.8 °C). At a studio meeting, Cukor strongly endorsed her dismissal, and she was fired from the project on June 8, 1962. Life featured Marilyn, wrapped in a blue terrycloth robe, on its June 22, 1962 cover with the headline, "The skinny dip you'll never see."

The decision to fire Monroe was influenced by the progress of Fox's epic film Cleopatra, also in production that summer and far over its budget. Executives had planned a Christmas holiday release for Something's Got to Give, as a source of revenue to offset Cleopatra's increasing cost.

Monroe quickly gave interviews and photo essays for Life, Cosmopolitan, and Vogue magazines. The Life interview with Richard Meryman, published on August 3, 1962–just two days before her death—included her reflections on the positive and negative aspects of fame. "Fame is fickle," she said. "I now live in my work and in a few relationships with the few people I can really count on. Fame will go by, and so long, I've had you, fame. If it goes by, I've always known it was fickle. So, at least it's something I experienced, but that's not where I live."

Review: Morocco

Released by Paramount Pictures just three years after the arrival of motion picture sound, a romantic melodrama set in north east Africa shows how one of early Hollywood’s great directors quickly adapted to the modified medium. Mark Fraser happily revisits a black and white film which arguably deserves the title of minor classic. 

See the full review here.