While promoting my film "Point of Betrayal" in Cannes I ran across the crew that shot that film in Palm Beach filming an improvised comedy. The original writer Beverly Camhe had written an outline, Susan Shapiro who was the UPM on our film, had been let go on the first day of filming. The crew and cast asked me to assist - which I did playing a small part, then helping them with the casting of Rebecca Broussard (star of my film, plays Seymour Cassel's ex), and then participated in some of the scenes ("Tell her you like her shoes Francesco. It's a good way to duck a conversation.").
When Cannes was over,, the producer Tom Coleman got in a fight over the film, and put it on the shelf. He asked me to come in and see if I could make sense of it - I suggested reframing the piece around a funeral, so that this could be a "memory" of Cannes, and events that happened there around this producer Sy Lerner (Seymour Cassel) who was one of the many con men that grace the festival each year. My payment was a trip back to Cannes all expenses paid. I didn't ask for screen credit, but Coleman insisted I take it.
I had seen some hilarious scenes shot, I added some of my own, and this pizza is the result.
Tom Coleman sold it for distribution, but their deal fell apart over a point of profit. So it went on a shelf for 16 years. It came out on VHS, some fellow sold it to Netflix, which I had to call and let them know the fellow didn't own it. So it went back on the shelf.
It's here because there is some great comedy in here, and I cannot claim any credit for the comedy - only that I was able to keep the ship afloat and bring it into a harbor. And then, life happened, it was lost in a shuffle. Susan Shapiro is credited for the scenes in Cannes that she was involved with, Seymour Cassel did most of all the wrangling of people to be in the film.
Seymour, RIP, would literally would say "We're making a documentary about Cannes, want to be in it?" After getting them to sign away all rights (I have the contracts somewhere) then he'd say "Okay, in this scene it's an improv, I'm going to introduce you to the "next Tarantino." Perhaps it was the late nights, the alcohol consumed, but everyone in the film signed away all their rights for no compensation. So I insisted as part of my deal, we would not exploit them ("name above the title.")
Only one actor crossed off the part of his contract that said "we can use your name above the title" in this film. However, we didn't sell it as a Johnny Depp film despite his being hilarious in it - and I can report that all of the distributors said "the film is too inside, audiences won't get it" - despite screening it in Moscow, India, Santa Monica and other film festivals around the world where audiences roared with laughter. Loudly. In every screening.
A shyster is a shyster in any language, any country, and it's the 'holier than thou" which kept if off the internet. Even Harvey appears in it, telling a story about Brando. Maybe he worked behind the scenes to kill it, I don't know. The late Robert Evans did his scenes as a favor, as did Randal Kleiser, Larry Kasanoff, Ann Cusack, Rebecca Broussard, Eha Urbasalu, Lloyd Kaufman and others, including the guy who was the doorman at Rocket pictures from Pakistan. (He gets the biggest laughs in any screening I've been to.)
Seymour didn't like the film, refused to do reshoots because "you made me look like a shmuck!" was his retort - ("Um... but it's what's in the footage...") but Francesco Quinn, RIP did come in an do reshoots. Johan Schotte ultimately bought the film, owns it, has put it out in some venues, but not sure why it hasn't sold it to or gotten it onto Amazon or Netflix. I stopped asking about 20 years in.. (it's been 25). It is what it is.
But thanks to YouTube, you can hear Luana Anders on the phone in the funeral for her last role, literally "phoned in from her hospice care bed" and other tiny funny bits that live on in film history. This film is here for archival purposes only, all rights belong to Johan Schotte, he's a funny guy and we had many many laughs in France and on the Croisette and the Hotel Du Cap. It's a slice of life - sorry to say the producer Holly MacKonkey died while finishing the film, Francesco left the planet not much after - but his sense of humor and wit, and charm - it was he who asks Johnny, his pal from Platoon to appear in the film.
Over the years, I've said to people "I directed you in a film, but we've never met" including James Brolin, Johnny Depp, Chris Penn, Julian Lennon. That led to a fun night in Monte Carlo where Julian and I rocked out a small cavern club playing "Sweet Home Chicago" and "Route 66." If this film exists for any reason, it surely must have been for that evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment