RSS“It’s the Movies That Got Small…”
17 May 2007 Comments Off
in Movies
I waited nearly two months for Nadine Jansen to arrive. Not the real Nadine of course, but a visual representation viewable on my television or my computer.
As for Nicole Peters, I had to wait a little more than a month before her DVD arrived via my loyal postal carrier. With these videos, the delays were all post-production.
Movie production is a business that pays attention to details like schedules and budgets, but delays and cost overruns are not truly preventable. The ‘suits’ back in the producers’ offices fret and worry, but the ‘artistes’ on the set go about their business with different agendas, massive egos, and quite often with a completely different attitude than the producers would like.
In the classic movie Sunset Boulevard (1950) a down-and-out loser, on the lam from his bookmaker, stumbles into the home of a former star of silent movies. The character Norma Desmond is played by Gloria Swanson, a real-life aging actress. Seemingly, this role was created just for her. William Holden is the unlucky opportunist Joe Gillis. As Miss Desmond prattles on, confused and deluded, Joe finally recognizes her, and makes a comment about her career.
Joe: You’re Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big.
Norma: (bristling) I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.
Joe: I knew there was something wrong with them.
Unfortunately, Joe’s fate was sealed even before he stumbled into the home of Ms. Desmond. “What was Joe’s fate?”, you must be asking. That’s him floating face down in the pool – which was the key shot in the opening scene of the movie.
But not everyone in the movie biz has such an exalted view of his or her own persona. The French director, Francois Truffaut, made a movie about making movies. It was called Day For Night (1973). Truffaut not only directed the movie, he acted in it as well.
This fine film showed the world that making a movie is a series of events, surrounded by issues involving the cast, the production, and even the locals who manage to creep into the shots thereby causing problems. After the problems are sorted out, the snippets and pieces of film are somehow stitched together to un-spool before our eyes as a coherent whole.
But it is not as easy as it looks. Truffaut’s character, Ferrand, had this line:
Shooting a film is like a stagecoach trip. At first you hope for a nice ride. Then you just hope to reach your destination.
Movies seemingly are the milestones of our lives. Most of the greatest events of history have been recreated to serve as a backdrop for memorable films. And we are more likely to remember the movie we saw when we kissed for the first time than the name of the girl who was on the other end of the kiss. Even as World War II raged, movies become the carrot at the end of the stick to inspire the men to perform.
Henry Fonda starred in Mister Roberts (1955) a film about men under stress during the war, even if they were aboard a backwater supply ship. Fonda’s Mister Roberts wanted to see some wartime action instead of the incessant boredom and hard labor of the supply fleet. The ship’s captain, played by James Cagney, was an irascible tyrant who withheld liberty privileges and other benefits to the crew for no reasons other than his own whim.
Jack Lemmon played Ensign Pulver, an outwardly funny fellow with an inner sense of right and truth. When Cagney shuts down the on-board films out of spite because Mister Roberts had asked for a transfer, Pulver reacts. Addressing the Captain over the ship’s intercom, Pulver fires off this comment:
“Captain, it is I, Ensign Pulver, and I just threw your stinking palm tree overboard. Now, what’s all this crud about no movie tonight!”
There would be plenty of people offering to do a re-write of that line, offering to add in plenty of ‘saltier’ expletives. But that was then.
Fortunately, you won’t have to make me an offer I can’t refuse to get me to show you some on-screen beauties. Yes, there will be video reviews right here at AoV. So stop by our webpage often for a look at some women whose looks will make time stop for you. Our reviews will launch our own views on some newer, but distinctly unforgettable moments from the ‘movies’.
This column was originally published on May 2nd, 2003 in AoV. It has been recently updated for publication in JustMeMike’s New Also on Video on May 17, 2007.