tinmenace
23-03-2007, 12:55 PM
Great movie from 1979 with Peter Sellers. A delightful tale....but it all comes together in the final 10 minutes of the pallbearers are talking about a replacement for President. They approach a pyramid-like mausoleum with the all-seeing-eye in which the casket will lie. They decide that Chauncey will be president (even though he's a simpleton, not as bad as GWB, but close).
The stunning thing about this is that the screenplay was written by Jerzy Kosiński who was married to Mary Hayward Weir from Indianapolis (stay tuned for my post on InDIANA) and committed suicide in 1991.
The movie was directed by Hal Ashby who spiraled downward with a massive drug addiction after the movie was made. He became reclusive and eccentric and wouldn't even eat in front of people. After his death, actor Bruce Dern said, "What happened to Hal Ashby, both what he did to himself and what THEY did to him, was as repulsive as anything I've seen in my forty years of the industry".
They who? We all know don't we?
~~~~~~~~~~
"Only if you've actually seen the film do you realize that it's not a Jesus allegory at all. Chance can walk on water because nobody ever told him he couldn't, not because he's the resurrection of Christ."
Being There - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Why the Film was Released with Two Different Endings
Hal always wanted to use a series of outtakes for the final credits. Obviously that's one of the things you have to do at the last minute, because until the final edit is locked down you don't know what the outtakes are. So Hal handed in the film with the TV commercial ending just to get the film in on deadline, then got to work on the outtakes ending.
When he tried to hand it in, the studio refused to accept it or send it out. The film opened small, to just a half dozen theaters. Hal personally went to each theater, went to the projection booth, knocked on the door and said to the projectionist "Hi, I'm Hal Ashby, the director of the film. The studio put in the wrong ending, but I've got the right one with me. How about if we edit it in?" The projectionists were all thrilled to meet him and gladly helped him out.
When the studio found out, they got the last laugh. Hal's contract specifically stated that he was to be paid his director's fee "upon proper delivery of a completed film." They didn't consider receiving a film with two endings "proper delivery," and they used that as an excuse not to pay him. Ten years later, when I first met Hal, he still hadn't gotten paid for directing Being There.
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. "Life is a state of mind"
http://www.dareland.com/lastshot.htm
Coincidentally, Richard Basehart the same fella that read the poetry by Pindar at the 1984 Olympic Closing Ceremony (see UFO category) is in the movie also.
Here's the trailer:
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.
Fascinating stuff!
The stunning thing about this is that the screenplay was written by Jerzy Kosiński who was married to Mary Hayward Weir from Indianapolis (stay tuned for my post on InDIANA) and committed suicide in 1991.
The movie was directed by Hal Ashby who spiraled downward with a massive drug addiction after the movie was made. He became reclusive and eccentric and wouldn't even eat in front of people. After his death, actor Bruce Dern said, "What happened to Hal Ashby, both what he did to himself and what THEY did to him, was as repulsive as anything I've seen in my forty years of the industry".
They who? We all know don't we?
~~~~~~~~~~
"Only if you've actually seen the film do you realize that it's not a Jesus allegory at all. Chance can walk on water because nobody ever told him he couldn't, not because he's the resurrection of Christ."
Being There - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Why the Film was Released with Two Different Endings
Hal always wanted to use a series of outtakes for the final credits. Obviously that's one of the things you have to do at the last minute, because until the final edit is locked down you don't know what the outtakes are. So Hal handed in the film with the TV commercial ending just to get the film in on deadline, then got to work on the outtakes ending.
When he tried to hand it in, the studio refused to accept it or send it out. The film opened small, to just a half dozen theaters. Hal personally went to each theater, went to the projection booth, knocked on the door and said to the projectionist "Hi, I'm Hal Ashby, the director of the film. The studio put in the wrong ending, but I've got the right one with me. How about if we edit it in?" The projectionists were all thrilled to meet him and gladly helped him out.
When the studio found out, they got the last laugh. Hal's contract specifically stated that he was to be paid his director's fee "upon proper delivery of a completed film." They didn't consider receiving a film with two endings "proper delivery," and they used that as an excuse not to pay him. Ten years later, when I first met Hal, he still hadn't gotten paid for directing Being There.
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. "Life is a state of mind"
http://www.dareland.com/lastshot.htm
Coincidentally, Richard Basehart the same fella that read the poetry by Pindar at the 1984 Olympic Closing Ceremony (see UFO category) is in the movie also.
Here's the trailer:
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.
Fascinating stuff!