The adventures of a professional screenwriter and frequent film festival jurist, slogging through the trenches of Hollywood, writing movies that you have never heard of, and getting no respect.
Lancelot Link Thursday! If you wonder what the President has for dinner on Thanksgiving after he pardons the turkeys, here are some articles about screenwriting and the biz plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...
Here are five cool links plus this week's food chase...
Today is THANKSGIVING in the USA, a time when we eat until we explode... much like Mr. Creosote. So - no car chase this week...
Happy Thanksgiving!
- Bill
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Expanded version with more ways to create interesting protagonists! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is almost *200* pages! Only $2.99 - and no postage!
NEW CLASSES!
STRUCTURAL FREAKS! - 80 minute CD packed with information! Ready for the freak show? William Goldman says "Structure is everything". Do you understand structure? Is your script running out of steam halfway through? Exploring different methods of structuring your screenplay - alternatives to the three act structure like the Navajo Story Circle, Tag Teams, Strange Chronologies, and more. Using examples like INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, RUN, LOLA, RUN and PULP FICTION and THE HANGOVER and TIMECRIMES and CRASH and SLACKERS and other odd storytelling methods. The Structural Freaks Class sells for $15 (plus $5 S&H)
NOIR & MYSTERY - 80 minute CD packed with information on writing Film Noir and Mystery scripts. Using examples from CHINATOWN to OUT OF THE PAST to DOUBLE INDEMNITY you'll learn how to create stories in this dark, twisted genre. How to plant clues, red herrings, suspects, victims, spider women, fallen heroes, the funhouse mirror world of noir supporting characters... and the origins of Film Noir in literature Noir dialogue and how noir endings are different than any other genre. All of the critical elements necessary to write in this critically popular genre. The Noir & Mystery Class is only $15 (plus $5 S&H).
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My first job (other than moving lawns and delivering papers and helping my dad) was at the Century Movie Theater in Pleasant Hill... where I was a doorman, an usher, and acting manager (which required me to run the projectors sometimes).
Back in those days they didn't have digital projectors, they didn't even have those platters that held a whole film... Films were in reels that were 20 minutes or less and had to be changed over from one projector to another seemlessly - you've seen how that works in FIGHT CLUB.
But what FIGHT CLUB didn't have the balls to show you - or the research to mention - is that projectors did not have *bulbs* back then... they used *fire*. There were not light bulbs bright enough to project a movie on a screen that far away, so the only other option is FIRE. A carbon arc. So I had to learn how to run the projectors and replace the carbons (probably once a night for each projector) in case the projectionist got sick or drunk or just didn't show for some reason. The show must go on - and that meant I had to run the projectors. And I did this *many many many* times.
A couple of years later I had a job as manager/projectionist at a little indie cinema and ran the projectors 6 nights a week. Those projectors also used fire and had a changeover about every 17 minutes. Here's how that works...
Though Hitchcock is most closely associated with thrillers, most of his films have humor... and he actually made a romantic comedy and some other non-thriller films, plus this nice little comedy. Don’t expect to laugh out loud at THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY, it’s more of a “smile comedy” - gentle humor. And though it isn’t a romantic comedy, it is a comedy about romance... and a dead guy. The trouble with Harry is that he’s dead. Though I’m sure this comparison will result in angry comments, the film is kind of like WEEKEND AT BERNIES... just not as stupid and a lot more charming. Screenplay by John Michael Hayes who also wrote REAR WINDOW and TO CATCH A THIEF and THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH remake for Hitchcock... and I believe is still alive and writing. The dialogue in this film *sparkles* - lots of double meanings and clever lines... and all of it low key.
Nutshell: Little Arnie (Jerry Mathers - the Beav) is playing army in the woods when he hears gun shots - three of them - and hits the dirt. When he thinks it’s safe, he approaches, toy gun ready for action, and discovers Harry (Philip Truex) dead. When he runs home to tell his mom, a hunter comes out of the woods, rifle in hand - Captain Wiles (Ed Gwenn - Santa in Miracle On 34the Street). He approaches Harry’s body carefully, sees that he is dead... and realizes it’s his fault. He fired three shots - he hit a can, he hit a sign... and he hit Harry. Before he can hide the body, a freakin’ parade of people walk past... and either don’t notice Harry (they aren’t looking down) or in the case of a homeless guy, sees Harry and Harry’s fancy shoes - and takes them. By the time the Captain goes to drag Harry away, he’s discovered, corpse’s feet in hand, by town spinster Miss Gravely (Mildred Natwick - who played spinsters all of her life) who asks, “What seems to be the trouble, Captain?”
No one in this film reacts to the dead guy as you would expect... and that’s part of the fun. No one is shocked that Harry is dead, they all just see him as an inconvenience. Miss Gravely kicks Harry’s body a few times to make sure he’s dead.
And here’s where the story gets weird... in order to remove Miss Gravely’s attention from the dead guy, the Captain begins flirting with her. It’s awkward - both are past middle aged and single all of their lives. But anything to keep her from thinking about the dead guy. Miss Gravely asks if he’d like to come over for tea and muffins later. Harry is the “love corpse” - bringing couples together in this film!
Our hero is abstract artist Sam Marlowe who has just moved into this small town, and has put his strange paintings up for sale at the general store. He’s fussy about getting them right-side-up, even though they’re just blobs of paint. When he’s out sketching in the woods, he comes across Harry... and sketches him. Then discovers the Captain hiding behind some trees. They discuss the Harry problem... and that’s when little Arnie and his mom Jennifer (Shirley MacLaine in her first film) come to check out Harry... and Jennifer does something strange - she says Harry deserved it, instructs Arnie not to tell anyone about Harry, and the two leave.
Sam helps the Captain bury Harry... which ends up being an amusing scene.
Since Jennifer seems to have known Harry, Sam tells the Captain that he will talk to her and find out whether she’s going to call the police.
Oh, the police in this small town is a part time deputy sheriff named Calvin Wiggs (Royal Dano - one of those character actors who is in every movie ever made). Wiggs gets paid by the arrest - so he’s like a commission cop, out to make a sale. When someone says they heard shots in the woods, he’s going to try to close the deal and arrest someone. He’s in direct contrast to Sam, who is all about art - not money. All of the characters are in contrast to each other in this film. We have an older couple and a young couple, etc.
When Sam slyly interviews Jennifer about Harry, he discovers that Harry was her evil ex-husband... and she clobbered him when he showed up at her doorstep. She’s sure that *she* killed Harry. Of course, the sparks of attraction fly and now Sam wants to cover up Harry’s death to help the woman he’s falling in love with.
And when the Captain goes to eat muffins at Miss Gravely’s house, he finds out why she was so casual about Harry’s dead body earlier - she’s certain that *she* killed Harry. She was taking a walk in the woods and this strange man accosted her, so she hit him repeatedly with her shoe... and he went down, dead.
CAPTAIN A real handsome man's cup.
MISS GRAVELY It's been in the family for years. My father always used it... until he died.
CAPTAIN I trust he died peacefully. Slipped away in the night?
MISS GRAVELY He was caught in a threshing machine.
Now we have three possible Harry-killers (four if you add little Arnie with his toy gun) and one commission cop looking for the body.
Harry’s body gets dug up and re-buried a bunch of times, and the body is dragged all over town... ending up in Jennifer’s bathtub at one point. Eventually, they solve the Harry Problem and the film is over. The end.
Hitch Appearance: Early in the film, walking down a country road.
Sound Track: This is the very first movie Bernard Herrmann scored for Hitchcock - and it’s a fun, jaunty bit of music that keeps the tone light and frothy while they are discussing what to do with a dead guy.
Great Scenes: One of the great things in this film is the look - beautiful color photography of New England in the fall - everything is red and yellow and orange. It’s like a bunch of the best postcards you’ve ever seen.
Dead Body: Another great thing about HARRY is how Hitchcock finds the perfect framing and angle and composition to make the dead guy *funny*. Shot after shot has you *laughing* at a dead person - which is not exactly normal. The two things going against laughter from a dead body on screen is that is’s a dead body... and the actor is severely limited in delivery and gesture. So finding that one perfect angle that makes the dead body look silly is required... and that takes someone who understands film. There is a shot of the *feet* used at the end of the film (and earlier) that makes a dead guy funny as hell. Every time someone stumbles on Harry we get another funny angle of the dead guy.
Captain’s Rifle: I’ve said before that there is often a fine line between thriller and comedy, and HARRY lives on that line. There’s a great little suspense scene that is *funny* as the Captain, with his rifle, the one that shot Harry, must walk past Deputy Sheriff Wiggs... so he tries hiding it, and isn’t entirely successful. We worry that Wiggs will notice the rifle, but the Captain trying to keep it hidden is funny. Note that this is all about the situation... and the tone used in the film. Change the tone to straight thriller and you have a great little suspense scene as the suspect has to walk past the policeman while carrying the murder gun.
Harry In The Tub: Another comedy- suspense scene has Harry in Jennifer’s bathtub... just as Deputy Sheriff Wiggs shows up! At this point in the story, they’ve spent the whole day burying and digging up Harry, but Miss Gravely has decided to confess to Wiggs that she killed Harry by accident. It was really self defense, Harry accosted her. But Harry is covered with dirt. So they have put him in the tub to clean him up, and are cleaning his clothes (which ends up funny because each has a cleaning method they think works best, which leads to a debate over something trivial in the grand scheme of things)... and that’s when Wiggs shows up. Now they have to keep Wiggs from accidentally opening the door to the bathroom or finding the clothes hastily hidden around the room. All of the cast is here - our older couple, our young couple... and Arnie. And it’s Arnie who comes out of the bathroom, leaving the door open so that we see Harry’s legs hanging over the edge of the tub looking silly, and asks, “What’s Harry doing in our bathtub?” Hitchcock used keeping the dead body hidden from authorities to create suspense in ROPE, but here a similar situation is played for laughs.
Art Trips Up Artist: Wiggs has come to Jennifer’s house because of Sam’s sketch of Dead Harry... which perfectly matches the description of the dead guy the homeless guy says he got his overly fancy shoes from. Just like in a thriller where the protagonist’s life is used against him, here we have an artist’s skill at sketching someone - and making it lifelike (I guess deathlike in this case) is what leads the Deputy Sheriff to Sam - as suspect! Sam is the only person in this whole film who we know didn’t kill Harry. Now Sam must find a way to explain the sketch of the dead guy to Wiggs... and that creates comedy.
The Millionaire & The Secret: While the Harry Problem is going on, down at the General Store, a Millionaire driving by has noticed Sam’s paintings, and returns with an art critic. The Millionaire wants to buy all of the paintings - and will pay millions. But Sam has no use for money, so he makes a deal - everyone gets to make a wish, and the Millionaire will make that wish come true in exchange for the paintings. This is a great piece of cinema magic, because *you* start to think of what you might wish for. All of the wishes are the perfect mix of fantasy and practical - like Jennifer who wants a big delivery of fresh strawberries every week - even when they are out of season. The only wish we do not hear is Sam’s - he whispers to the Millionaire. This creates suspense and mystery for the rest of the film - what did he wish for?
THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY is a magical light comedy about a dead guy who brings couples together... Imagine pitching that logline! With Halloween coming up, it might be a fun film to watch (the fall setting - and it’s about a dead guy), and it’s okay for kids - though I’m not sure the pacing is fast enough for kids.
