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Home > Lord John Film Festival
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 When we published Lord John Signatures we neglected to let anyone know that the book was considered a work-in-progress and that the design was meant to resemble an autograph book, oblong in shape. This time at the outset everyone should be encouraged to add additional signatures near posters, on pages previously signed ....in any space where they can fit. Each individual book can then become a work-of-art in its own right as well as being unique. We will continue to update this page as time moves along.
It began with Billy Wilder in his Beverly Hills office and from there I have literally travelled around the world collecting signatures, stories and anecdotes. This has been a dream project for an editor-publisher to undertake
and I am extremely grateful to all the participants for their many courtesies......
  I recently visited Jules Dassin in Athens, Greece where he lives on Melina Mercouri Drive and heads a foundation under her name with an avowed mandate to have the Elgin Marbles returned to the Parthenon. The premises for the foundation borders the Acropolis and has a museum dedicated to Mercouri attached. Dassin has a self-deprecatory wit and a self-effacing demeanor so one has to search the archives to find photographs and mention of him in the museum. Nevertheless, he is the director of "Rififi," "The Naked City," "Topkapi," ""Brute Force," and of course "Never on Sunday." Rififi is considered the first film noir by many critics and film enthusiasts.
   Roman Polanski put his hand on my shoulder when I wearily proclaimed that this would be my last publication. He said, "no, no, just do smaller projects." Then producer Alain Sarde walked in and noted all the book pages strewn about the tables and desks, and declared, "this is a scene from a movie." I quickly retorted that it indeed was a movie.
Jean Simmons thinks that her character in Great Expectations is a brat whereas I don't think anyone could be lovelier ... and as talented opposite Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry.
  I told Gena Rowlands that Opening Night had been made as an homage and a tribute to her talent. She replied that John Cassavetes had never said anything like that to her. Never mind, it is still true. Theirs was a partnership similar to Tavernier and Noiret, DeNiro and Scorsese, Mercouri and Dassin, Cary Grant with Hawks and Hitchcock, Tracy and Hepburn, not to mention Bogart and Bacall.
Connections
 
Connections. Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden and Rod Steiger are connected in this book by the film "On the Waterfront" and their proximity to Marlon Brando. Karl Malden shared a dressing room with Marlon on Broadway and was directed by him in One-Eyed Jacks. There is a scene in that movie where Brando spits in Malden's face just prior to being horse-whipped by Malden. The spit was unscripted and Karl thought Marlon was very brave because he was steaming when he picked up the whip. Saint has some touching moments with Brando in the waterfront film ... as she did later with another great, Cary Grant. Steiger had classic moments on screen: the one in the cab with Brando is spectacular, the pawnbroker and the silent scream, the gum-chewing and crackling character In the Heat of the Night with Sidney Poitier.
 
Brando dead at 80. Hard to believe. The greatest actor...an icon...a genius. Ken Turan writes: "Now, in death, we should try to remember him when he was most alive, when he burned up the screen with performances the likes of which no one had ever seen. They ignited a generation, and they've still not cooled down."
Robert Bloch is present here in a long essay on early films prompted by his friendship with Buster Keaton, Boris Karloff, Joan Crawford and director Fritz Lang. When Bloch married for the second time (he always referred to his beloved Elly as his present wife) he took her to visit Joan Crawford who was ensconsed in a suite at a tony hospital. Crawford had a full bar set up so that they could have a celebratory drink while she was in her bed clothes. Janet Leigh is connected to him with Psycho and is lauded in this book by Charles Champlin for another of my favorites, Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. Janet was also in Manchurian Candidate directed by John Frankenheimer. Frank Sinatra inscribed the Manchurian poster for Frankenheimer: "Thank you, John, for a marvelous experience. Love, Frank Sinatra 1988." Another Frankenheimer tidbit: he had the fastest pen in the west when signing these book pages (37 minutes).
When I told Norman Jewison how much I admired and enjoyed the thrilling "Moonstruck," he replied with "Herb, you must be a romantic."
Faye Dunaway was in the seminal film, "Bonnie and Clyde," with one of filmdom's greats, Warren Beatty. Beatty fought the good fight for that film and has been lionized for its classic status. Faye has had remarkable turns in Network and Chinatown in a long and illustrious career.
At a brunch with Bertand Tavernier at the Chateau Marmont he mentioned that he had always wanted to meet Lizabeth Scott. The next day I brought her to a party in the Hollywood Hills for the French delegation to the Directors Guild and they chatted for 2-3 hours with mutual pleasure. Lizabeth has one of the great voices in cinema history, for originality and phrasing I've always compared it to George Macready's in Gilda. Tavernier has written books on American films and was first a knowledgeable critic before becoming a director. Bertrand also does commentary for Criterion: he was interviewed for Clouzot's The Raven (Le Corbeau) and though it was made under the Nazi regime (Continental Studios) in Paris it was a brilliant film and the Germans quickly withdrew it from circulation.
I watched Brian Cox's bravura performance in Conor McPherson's one-man play, "St. Nicholas," and recalled his authentic character portrayals in Manhunter, Rushmore, Troy, as Goring on TV, L.I.E. and so many films large and small. With apologies to Hemingway, Cox is a watchable feast. Richard Crenna was another actor from the old school who showed up and did the work with a minumum of fuss and fanfare. He was equally proficient in drama and comedy and counted Dick Van Dyke as a close friend. Crenna also believed that he was "killed" more often than anyone else in films. Lawrence Kasdan's Body Heat was just one example where he played a rich businessman doomed from the moment that he wed Kathleen Turner.
Gregory Peck had promised to sign pages for this book primarily because of To Kill a Mockingbird, his favorite film. Peck was always effusive in his praise of Harper Lee, the novel's creator, and of Horton Foote who wrote the screenplay. Horton is one of those rare writers, according to Peck, who can achieve equal success with original work or through adaptation. I was with Horton for ten days in Tennessee and got a chance to observe him teaching university students and beginning writers on the mechanics of their craft. He was kind, patient and masterful.
Hitchcock was a meticulous planner who had already seen the film in his mind prior to the actual shooting; Sidney Lumet rehearses his cast as if they were going to Broadway with a play; Michael Mann makes up a comprehensive back-story for each of his characters and then works closely with the actors until they are both comfortable and assured in their roles; Claude Lelouch is a taskmaster by his own admission and is impatient with ego and temperament.  It may be an oxymoron to state that every director is unique in his approach to making a movie. Mike Leigh works closely with each actor, assigning an actress to take classes in optometry prior to portraying one in Secrets and Lies, and only after he is satisfied that all the pieces on the chess board are in place does he craft a script. And Leigh is intensely loyal to his actors, creating his own stock company of players. I told Timothy Spall that he had brought tears to my eyes in Topsy Turvy; he replied that he was sad to cause me pain but pleased that I was emotionally involved. One of Leigh’s favorite movies is Ermanno Olmi’s The Tree of the Wooden Clogs, a film that must be seen.
Bill Clinton, a film buff in one of his compartmentalized lives, has praise and admiration for High Noon as directed by Fred Zinnemann. High Noon was made in an era where producers, in this case Stanley Kramer, hired the director and had final say on casting and script approval. Kramer had a great relationship with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, working with Tracy on Judgment at Nuremberg and on his last film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Karen Kramer has kept the fire burning for her husband and has been instrumental in reviving Mad World to prominence.
Zinnemann has more classic films to his credit: From Here to Eternity with an all-star cast, The Search which starred Montgomery Clift, the literate A Man for All Seasons scripted by Robert Bolt from his own play. Paul Scofield, Welles, Shaw, Wendy Hiller all add to the lustre. And a thriller that is a thriller: Edward Fox, letter-perfect in The Day of the Jackal where he attempts to assassinate De Gaulle.
Richard Rush sought out his favorite actor, Peter O'Toole, for The Stunt Man and was not disappointed. It is a bravura performance in a career loaded with magnificent portrayals. And with the DVD we are in luck because there is yet another full-length film on the making of the film added to the mix, much better than the standard brief interviews. Plus there is a deleted bedroom scene worth the price of admission. A terrific film that deserves every accolade.
 
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