Poltergeist
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"Just
saw the 'Poltergeist' HD remaster on Monsters HD the other day. Looked
great, and MILES better than the crappy old DVD! BTW, I happen to be a
huge 'Poltergeist' fan as well. I actually have
some info for you that might be of interest. I am an author, and started
a 'Poltergeist' book a few years ago. I even did interviews with James
Karen, Zelda Rubinstein, Jerry Goldsmith, and started an aborted one
with Craig T. Nelson. Long story short, but some forces at Amblin
threatened (or hinted at) legal action about the book. So my publisher
dropped it, and I went on to do [another book].
Anyway,
the interviews were interesting -- I still have them on cassette tape.
Particularly the whole 'Who really directed 'Poltergeist'' thing.
Rubinstein was hilarious -- 'Tobe Hooper couldn't even direct traffic!'
-- while James Karen was all pro-Hooper. Goldsmith claims he never even
met Hooper, only Spielberg. Nelson was just a
jerk, quite frankly. So I will certainly be interested in seeing what,
if any, of the controversy is tackled on the new DVD."*****************************
Poltergeist II
"Ah! I remember Grais and Victor being there. A couple of really bright 'nice kids,' who seemed a bit frustrated with Brian Gibson's oddly irrational suggestions (we all often found ourselves just staring at him, after he blurted out one nonsensical idea or another). Gibson appeared to be "in way over his head" as a feature film director at the time. I spoke with [another crew member] once following the film's release, and related my surprise at how good it turned out, considering what a 'twit' the director seemed to be. With a sly chuckle, he revealed 'Yeah, post production really saved that picture. That guy didn't have a clue.' How ironic that he managed to win an Emmy for the 'The Josephine Baker Story' a few years later. I wonder who saved that one for him?
I'm surprised to hear of his passing-he couldn't have been all that old. Not a bad guy; just 'dorky.' And yes, 'What's Love Got to Do With It' wasn't a bad movie at all. But I still can't help but think that he was helped a great deal by others involved in the production...He just didn't strike me as competent in the role of movie director, in any way. I really don't remember anything he said, specifically. It just all struck me as silly and arbitrary-the sort of clueless suggestions that you'd hear from Chris Farley's 'obsessed fan' character from 'Saturday Night Live' ('ya know what would be really cool?...'). The only thing I actually recall, was his embarrassing example of a 'girly shriek' he thought should be heard during the Worm metamorphosis scene. And all the lines he came up with sounded like admonitions from John Cleese's 'Tim, The Enchanter' from Monty Python's 'Quest for The Holy Grail.' I guess you could say we were 'nonplussed.'"
Poltergeist III
"[Gary Sherman] HATED the [performance of the] actor cast as the psychologist; remarking several times with an anguished sigh, that the lousy performance 'just kills every scene he's in'-but he was stuck with it."
***********************
[Regarding the claims of Gary Sherman that the ending was not a re-shoot and in reference to the experience of working with Gary during both principal photography and the re-shoot, this person said] "Gary is the king of spin..."
[This same person went on to talk about how they and others felt after Sherman screened a rough cut of the film before the re-shoot, and how Sherman seemed proud of "how well" it turned out] :
"It was The Emperor's New Clothes, all over again, as Gary Sherman strutted along stark naked. My apologies to Gary, believe me, my intention is not to run him down, but when it was over, that's the way we all felt."
I recently discovered this posting on Zelda Rubinstein's listing at the IMDB:
"Hello,
I met this fine woman once in Tampa. I met her at a party thrown by some friends of mine who own a company 'Creatures of Delight', she was friends of theirs, and I must say my first impression of her was........what a bitch. But, after a few drinks she apologized to me, and I realized what I had done to provoke that response. I remembered her from the Poltergeist films, and said I loved her. She sat with me and other people at the party and went on to explain how MGM had "ripped" her off. She explained how they paid her for the first film and in that contract she "actually" was signing off any other sequels. So she had to make part 2 and part 3 for free, because she didn't read the fine print. So, I understand how many of you have good and bad things to say about her. I mean come on. This is what she does for a living. She REALLY is a nice person, but we ALL have bad days. I mean, there are days when I meet people and I am pissed off (for whatever reason) Whether you are in the public eye or not....give them a break. I could sit and tell you the whole story about her (which I have no idea what, but she is a very nice person to listen to.....especially after a few drinks)..But give her a break...Trust me my first impression of her was not very nice. "
**********************
Finally, I stumbled across these court filings while doing some research online. At first I thought the studio tried to sue Heather O'Rourke and Oliver Robins, but after receiving copies of the full court documents, it turns out that all three of these cases were simply standard documents MGM had to file with the L.A. County Superior Court before production on P2 and P3 began. Apparently under CA law, the Court has to approve the contracts for any minor child actors. Heather was paid $75,000 to do "Poltergeist II," a substantial increase from the rumored $35,000 she was paid to do the first film:
LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL CASE INDEX
CASE NAME: METRO GOLDWYN MAYER FILM CO v. O ROURKE HEATHER, et al
CIVIL CASE NUMBER: C 544091
FILING DATE: 04/22/1985
DISTRICT: CENTRAL (LOS ANGELES)
CASE TYPE: CIVIL
PARTY: PLAINTIFF DEFENDANT COMMENT
--------- --------- -------
METRO GOLDWYN MAYER FILM CO O ROURKE HEATHER
METRO GOLDWYN MAYER FILM CO P H M A INC
LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL CASE INDEX
CASE NAME: METRO GOLDWYN MAYER FILM CO v. JOURNEY BEYOND PROD INC, et al
CIVIL CASE NUMBER: C 544092
FILING DATE: 04/22/1985
DISTRICT: CENTRAL (LOS ANGELES)
CASE TYPE: CIVIL
PARTY:
PLAINTIFF DEFENDANT COMMENT
--------- --------- -------
METRO GOLDWYN MAYER FILM CO JOURNEY BEYOND PROD INC
METRO GOLDWYN MAYER FILM CO ROBINS OLIVER
LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL CASE INDEX
CASE NAME: METRO GOLDWYN MAYER PICTURE, et al v. O ROURKE HEATHER, et al
CIVIL CASE NUMBER: C 633518
FILING DATE: 01/23/1987
DISTRICT: CENTRAL (LOS ANGELES)
CASE TYPE: CIVIL
PARTY: PLAINTIFF DEFENDANT COMMENT
--------- --------- -------
METRO GOLDWYN MAYER PICTURE O ROURKE HEATHER
METRO GOLDWYN MAYER PICTURE O ROURKE PROD INC HEATHER
METRO GOLDWYN MAYER PICTURES O ROURKE PROD INC HEATHER
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