There Will Always be a Geekland

[collisionwork]

Or: Scene from the Life of a Director/Adaptor

IAN and BERIT at home, in the living room. BERIT is at one computer, playing a videogame. IAN is at another, typing in and adapting the transcript of Orson Welles' original cut of The Magnificent Ambersons into playscript form. He reaches a scene description in the book, and is thinking about how to transfer it into a stage direction, when he reads a footnote on the description. He frowns, and looks back and forth from the footnote to the scene description. Thinks a moment, turns around in his chair towards BERIT.

IAN: Hmmn.

BERIT: What?

IAN: Okay, so there’s an anachronism in Ambersons, and I don’t know whether to keep it in the script. I mean, it’s Welles’ anachronism, and somewhat deliberate.

BERIT: Yeah?

IAN: So there’s this scene where George and Lucy are walking down a street, and they pass a movie theatre where you can see several posters for early films playing there. And there’s an in-joke from Welles. One of the posters is for a Jack Holt western. Jack Holt was a silent movie star, and the father of Tim Holt, who’s walking past playing George Amberson Minifer. Thing is, the scene is supposed to take place in 1905, and none of the films you see the posters for would have been made yet. Actually it’s way too early for movies in those style to be advertised that way at all. One of them definitely wasn’t made until 1910 to 1912 – they mention it it the footnotes of the book here, but they don’t point out the anachronism.

(IAN checks later and also discovers that Jack Holt’s first film was made in 1914)

IAN: Oddly enough, I just found out in that Val Lewton documentary last night that Jack Holt was still around in the ‘40s and wound up appearing in a couple of those Lewton films that were made on the Ambersons set pieces the following few years, the ones that put RKO back in the black after Welles nearly bankrupted them, when they put “Showmanship Not Genius” on their corporate stationary as a "Fuck You" to Welles and brought Lewton in to make cheap horror films that would actually make money. Anyway, it’s Welles’ anachronism, and I’ve been sticking to Welles, even when he makes mistakes or does clumsy stuff, and I’ve always liked the touch of those posters in the scene and wanted to put it in the show . . . so . . . you think I should keep it?

BERIT is thinking – she smiles playfully.

BERIT: I don’t suppose anyone in our cast would be related to a silent movie star . . ?

Beat.

IAN: Oh, yeah.

BERIT: ‘Cause then . . .

IAN: Oh god, right.

If you haven’t realized – since IAN and BERIT think the same way and aren’t having to say it out loud – they’ve decided that the perfect thing would be to have someone in the cast with a silent movie connection, and they would find a poster (preferably anachronistic) for a film with that connection.

BERIT: That would be seriously serving up some extra-nerdy with a side helping of geeksauce.

IAN: Yeah, but if there was I’d have to DO it.

BERIT: Well of COURSE! I mean this whole thing is an exercise in geekery.

IAN is amused by the conversation and starts asking BERIT to repeat some of what she said so he can take it down.

BERIT: I just want to point out that the geeky-ass idea of finding out if anyone in the cast was related to a silent movie star was MY geeky idea.

IAN: Yes, well, I had actually THOUGHT of it before you mentioned it, but I had discarded the possibility as too far-fetched, so I wasn’t even going to bring it up. Now of course I HAVE to.

BERIT: Yeah.

IAN turns back to the script, thinks a moment, then types the stage direction: “GEORGE and LUCY, at this point in their walk, pass a movie theatre – NOTE TO CAST: please let us know if you have any familial connection to anyone who acted in or made silent movies, we’ll want to use posters from those, if possible.”

Wish us luck on that idea . . .

Comments

Or...

[(Anonymous)]

Or you could create a fake poster of a made up relative of whomever is playing George Amberson Minifer.

Berit, you can thank me for that suggestion later...like at three am, after you've finished cursing my name.

Edward

Ps Is a a sign of my geeky-ness that I totally understand that as a very romantic story?

[silverplate88.livejournal.com]

You could improve on your extra-nerdy geeky exercise by photoshopping [into the silent film poster] the real image of your real cast member who's related to the silent film star ! Guess in sound tech it's called overdubbing ....

Thereupon the present relatives of the present cast member would become orbital when they find out that they have had a famous filmstar in the family and never knew about it until they came to the show ....

[collisionwork]

Oh, great, between you and our friend Edward's comment above, we now have a fallback plan in the likely case that we don't have anyone with a silent-film-related ancestor in the cast.

Which does mean, I'm sure, that Berit will wind up cursing your names at 3.00 am some night as she makes up an incredibly-accurate period poster in Photoshop featuring our George's face.

Heh-heh-heh.

Aged...

[(Anonymous)]

You'll want to age him, of course...a few wrinkles...a period correct hairstyle...or maybe a dapper hat

EAE

3 AM cursing

[silverplate88.livejournal.com]

YIKES!! Dunno about Edward, but the last thing I want is to be cursed by Berit --- not just at 3 AM but really at any of the other 23 hours!

Anyway, can't speak for Edward, but I'm not there ---- and I spose it's better that she curses us than you [who is].

On the other hand, should such Photoshopped poster pack them in so tight that all the box office profits put you two into a higher tax bracket, well then, I'd take full credit [along with a cut!]