11/5/23
Newsletter #504
The Crack of Dawn
So, 16-year-old me said to 15-year-old Sam, “We should make a movie.” And Sam replied, “Write a script.”
I had played around with script form, but I’d never actually written a script. At 16, I was deeply ensconced in the Warner Bros. pictures of the 1930s and 1940s, predominately the gangster and detective films. My brain went directly to The Maltese Falcon (1941) and The Big Sleep (1946), both detective stories. Not fighting the impulse, I thought, “OK, it’s a detective story. Now, who was my detective?” So I just started putting names together. I took Victor McLaglen, combined it with Shirley Temple, and got Victor Temple – my detective, to be played by me (mistake #1). The story would be called, The Case of the Topanga Pearl. I added the character of the aggrieved, beautiful femme fatale, then the Joel Cairo/Peter Lorre character, and then I felt I had something (although it wasn’t a story yet). I then added an old man (Lionel Barrymore, in my mind) to the beginning. I had him rant (to the camera) about having spent his whole life searching for, and finally finding, the invaluable, Topanga Pearl. He shows it to us, then someone sneaks up from behind, hits him over the head and takes the pearl. Now I had a story. Not a good one, but a story. However, I wanted it to be a comedy so I could work with all the same people that Sam was working with, meaning Bruce Campbell and Scott Spiegel, and I couldn’t even imagine them in a serious film. No, a comedy seemed great, but how on earth did you write one of those?
I started by giving the detective a first-person, voice-over narration, like The Big Sleep, “I went into the store and there she was. A dame with great gams.” I honestly never saw myself in the part; it was always Humphry Bogart; but I never considered not playing it. I then recycled a few scenes from those aforementioned movies, and suddenly I had a thing that sort of resembled a seven-page screenplay – typed, and everything. I made copies. I stapled them. I gave one to Sam, who would play Joel Cairo (on his knees), and he was impressed. I’m sure when he said, “Write a script,” that I would actually do it. I gave one to Scott, who would play the old man (with a white, cotton ball beard), and he too was impressed. In a burst of inspired, creative casting, I called my friend from theater class at school, Ellen Sandweiss, and she took the part of the femme fatale. I also gave her a stapled copy of the script. Think of script, type it up, copy it, give it out, I could do that.
We shot the whole film in one day at my parent’s house. This was my first experience at scripted production, and I immediately felt totally unprepared. I forgot to get a crew. I actually did have everything I needed and shot the whole the script. The highlight was Ellen entering the office, dropping into a chair, and dramatically putting her hand to her forehead. Then Sam entered, on his knees, pointing a pistol and hollering, “Please to give me the pearl!” Ellen says, “You wouldn’t kill me, Fritz, you loved me once.” Sam says, “Be thankful. Now I will only kill you once,” and shoots her. He turns the gun on me. I shrugged helplessly, channeling Woody Allen, which I do the whole movie. The old man played by Scott enters and inexplicably strangles Sam. It was admittedly improbable, but I had to finish up, it was getting late, and besides, I hadn’t figured out how to end the story anyway. It didn’t make any sense, but we did have a lot of fun.
And that’s when I quit the University of Michigan – which was a total drag – packed up and moved to Hollywood. I enrolled at Columbia College, which was a low-end film school in Hollywood, and they had Super-8 equipment and editors. One night, I brought in my reels of Topanga Pearl and cut it together. Wow was I unprepared during shooting. And now in the editing room, with my lack of preparedness, I had given myself very little to work with. I swear, I honestly looked around for a that other, mythical, 50-foot reel of film — the one that contained all the shots I hadn’t gotten. I didn’t find it. I was somehow able to cut the film together, but it barely qualifies as a movie to me. The idea of showing it to anyone, ever, seemed impossible. It was nothing more than a display of my lack of understanding regarding how movies are made.
Of course, to my consternation, though not surprise, the film is available on YouTube.
The Case of the Topanga Pearl (1976) - YouTube
At least I feel like I did pretty well with the script part; particularly the copying and stapling. And calling Ellen was a good idea, and she ended up starring in Evil Dead.
This was also the first time that I would seriously contemplate something that I would think about on numerous occasions to come, “Why didn’t I cast Bruce in my part? He’d do a better job; he’s an actor. Plus, it would leave me more time to direct.” It took me several more movies to figure that one out.
Anyway, this is the film that resulted when Sam and I happen to take a walk at the same time when we were kids.
It’s already dawn.
For goodness' sake, don't be so nice.
I watched it earlier today. It's a nice movie and I love to watch it every once in a while. Great job ! :)