"Robby was no longer in a wheelchair in a cinema in Midtown Manhattan.”
I consider myself lucky that I am connected to the "Business of Show” purely as a consumer. That way, I may watch a movie the way I gaze at a work of art. Here is the work. What does it communicate? There are differences. The time devoted. Level of interest in the creator/s. While art often will make me read about the artist, I prefer to accept a movie as it is. I like the dumb magic. Impactful movies for me have been the ones that succeeded in hiding away their cast and crew.
I was quite curious about Tom Hanks’ novel, 'The Making of Another Major Motion Picture’. Would it be an imaginary account of say, making The Misfits? Citizen Kane? Turns out even my expectations have aged out! Besides, this novel keeps its promise: it describes, in honest and finicky detail, how a modern major motion picture IS MADE. As is fitting for our time, a difficult star is not the story. Technology, Teamsters and born problem solvers handle tantrums and death as calmly as they do COVID-19 protocols and "safety regulations required by all the unions, guilds, and OSHA…".
Cinema of yore and theater make tantalizing cameo appearances in the novel. The lead star admires Bette Davis. A cast member is the legendary Hamlet of shows at the (now defunct) U.P.L. (Urban Performance Loft) in Philadelphia. Names shimmer here and there: Brando. Sophie’s Choice. Debra Winger. Old Man Potter. Why, even cinemas, during the scourge of COVID-19, were catching Sepia! Mr. Hanks, as gifted and beloved a movie star as was James Stewart (who served in the Bombardment Unit of the US Air Corps in World War II) indulges us with a touch of nostalgia.
I got pulled into the novel by Lulu Andersen of Lone Butte, California. I was hoping to read more about that family and that town, but, of course, it was way too early: 1947. "Development Hell” for the motion picture of the novel begins in 2020.
I devoured the details and the footnotes too. Many of the footnotes were interesting and funny. The komix, Mr. Hanks acknowledges, "sprang from the artistry and expertise of Robert Sikoryak." I must say that the first pages of the last comic were brilliant. That scene on Main Steet! Fleetingly, I missed enfant terrible OKB wearing Aviator shades.
The novel says a lot by just existing as a fiction product of 2023, to be recorded as such by the diligent Smithsonian archivists. It does not fail to awe me that Firefall has only a few words in Knightshade: The Lathe of Firefall (K:TLOF)! Contrast that with a role like Hamlet. Secondly, Mr. Hanks points to the long-term, destructive effects of wars and violence. In the novel, the inspiration for the character of Firefall was a young American called Bob Falls who served in World War II as a flamethrower. What did flamethrowers have to do for the home team in order to be heroes? The komix give an idea.
Conscientious movie makers do their part to foster serenity in the world. They have always done so. Again and again, they make movies that are cautionary tales. Thank you. No lies. No wars. No despots. Otherwise, serenity is an impossible concept for most of us.
And I won’t ever say: “I hated that movie!” Not in Bill Johnson's neighborhood.
"Robby was no longer in a wheelchair in a cinema in Midtown Manhattan.”
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