From Page 17

there for your movie?“ I
would ask. He got it.

It was written about
Curtis (1960), before he had
directed a feature, that his
main problem would be how
to avoid becoming another
Orson Welles.

Robert Mundy, screen-
writer, refers to him as one of
the few directors with a visual
sensibility remotely
approaching that of a Welles
or a Sternberg. He under-
stands the Hitchcockian dis-
tinction between surprise and
suspense, and is able to
employ both — at the close
of Games, when Signoret_
murders Caan; suspense, in
The Killing Kind, when
Sothern kills her son.

Curtis’ work is intensely
personal, compromised, over
the years, by commercial fac-
tors and the butchery of vari-
ous producers. He made a
statement in Cinema (1962);
“The best way to become a
writer is to sit down and
write. The best way to
become a filmmaker is to
star. up and direct a film, a
more difficult situation to
achieve, the physical n materials
involved, staggering.” This,

- of course, is no longer the
case. Soon, practically every
child and his or her grand-
nother will be able to make
films (and videos); quickly,
cheaply, and (much of it) out
of control.

‘I made an interesting
8mm film (for Of ah off him
directin; cen Of Bloo:
(1965) Sens
International, starring our
friends, John Saxon and
Dennis Hopper. A low-bud-
get blend of science-fiction
and horror: “Roger Corman
had acquired the rights to
spectacular Russian footage
of spaceships. I saw the

; footage, and wrote a screen-

ay around it. We shot the

By in seven and a half days
at $65,000. Fast, considering
~ the Russian footage occupied

- only 20% of the finished
film.”

For a while; Curtis direct-

ed TV shows such as Wonder

. Woman, The Coloys; Charlie’s
_ Angels, Hotel, Dynasty, ete.
As has been pointed out:
many times, to this day, very’

° few directors working in

dozen Belle Epoque posters
and pieces. “I love posters as
works of art, documents of
the period Tlove bese.” (He
wishes he had been born
during the Belle Epoque).

Salvador Dali had found
art nouveau sublime. Curtis
fell in love with it. The living
room, cove-ceilinged. Each
room decorated, lit himself, a
rosy brick courtyard, a faux
marble blue, black and white
checkerboard floor, a bed-
room of Edwardian bric-a-
brac, an art nouveau chande-
lier (from Spain). A black
raven.

Curtis loves “spooky”, he
sees beauty in the macabre. A
favourite artist, Edward
Gorey. Many turn-of-the-
century drawings, late
Victorian prints, engravings,
signed memarabilia of his
movie making, Gloria
Swanson, et al, drawings by
Cocteau. Hundreds of fisci-
nating books, ten volumes of
Poe, the works of Aleister
Crowley, the occult, magic,
spiritualism, Gurdjieff,
Ouspensky, a Materin Medica
(he attributes his ongoing
good health to homeopathy),
a Tutankhamen head (from
some movie), a high art nou-
veau bed, iron, with copper
details, a lovely terrace,
which verges on a lovely
swimming pool and cutting
garden.

Curtis has entertained
Maria Rasputin, Gore Vidal,
Anais Nin, Shelley Winters,
Angela Lansbury, Simone
Signoret, Peter Weir, Hurd
Hatfield, Peter Ustinov,
Robert Stack; etc.
Colleagues, movie and the-
atre personages, artists, crit-
ics, journalists, old friends;
loves intimate sit-down din-
ners. He also provides lun-
cheons, teas, buffets,
impromptu pool dips, never a
“party to further my career.
Never a cocktail party.”

Some of my fondest mem-
ories of those Hollywood
days derive from times spent
with him. On the set of
Games I met Micheal Mac

FIG

ne
cs

Phote Robert Alken

FILMMAKER Jean-Luc Goderd visited Los Angeles in
the sixties during the heyday of the French New Wave.

Liammoir. (Curtis had
brought him over from
Ireland) who had, years
before, given Orson Welles
his first role in a play in
Dublin. Orson had shame-
lessly lied, claiming to be a
big star in America. Upon
accompanying Curtis to
London (early ’70s) I
encouraged him to visit
Ireland and Mac Liammoir.
He resisted, then, relented,
then, eventually, developed
genuine affection for my
beloved Emerald Republic.
During that same sojourn,
I rendezvoused with him
(after his shoot) in Paris, and
we spent a wonderful
Russian-style Easter with the
lively, erudite people who ran
the Cinémathéque (whom
Curtis had known from his
Parisian days), including
Henri Langlois. We all spoke

much of their friend, Jean-
Luc Godard, who had led
protests over the firing of
Langlois (the
Cinémathéque’s director)
and had instigated a shut
down of the Cannes Film
Festival. "A genius! A
genius!” announced
Langlois, repeatedly. Clearly,
they adored this revolution-
ary filmmaker who had actu-
ally, according to them,
threatened to blow up the
Cinémathéque if Langlois

were let go.

Curtis and { had seen
most of his radical pictures,
A bout de souffte, Masculin-
Féminin, Weekend, etc.
Contempt, a favourite,
Godard’s only big-budget
film, about the filmmaking
process itself. Lt stars Brigitte
Bardot, Miche! Piccoli, even
German master, Fritz Lang,
and Jack Palance; shot in
Rome and Capri. Martin
Scorsese has recently over-
seen it’s redistribution (a
brand new 35mm print).

We appreciated the way
Godard would break down
the barrier between narrative-
film/experimental-flm to
create liberated forms. We
had met him years earlier at
USC where he spoke of L.A.
as “a huge garage” (fumes,
smog}. There was discussion,
during that appearance, of
the changes from positive to
negative in Une Femme
Mariée, the displaying of the
clapper-board in La Chinoise,
the freedom of his work, the
spontaneity — Pierrot le fou
being a good example.

Both Curtis and my actor
friend, Horst Buchholz, are
godfathers to my daughter,
Anais Amber. Anais Nin (I
named her after her) was her
godmother. (Anais means
“Persian Goddess of the
moon”). It was fun getting
them all into an L.A. Russian
Orthodox Church for the
baptism. My father-in-law
was an Episcopaiian prizst, a
systematic theologian who
leaned heavily toward the
Orthodox. My wife and I
knew the Archbishop of the
Russian Orthodox Church
(for Southern California and
Texas). None of us was/is

“Orthodox.” It was for bal-
ance, actually. We were, how-
ever, deeply moved by the
beauty of the experience.
Anais (Nin) was, in fact,
impressed with the Russian
version of her name,
“Anisia,” and told us that she
would have used it all along
had she known.

I recently suggested to
Curtis, that new that he has
come “fuil circle”...perhaps,
this will “usher in” (pun
intended) a new era for him;
that is, would he consider
going “digital” (knowing full
well his preference for film
over video). To my surprise,
he is open to it. “Blair Witch
has changed the nature of
the game,” I opined. This,
he acknowledges.

He can now work “faster,
cheaper...” and, in his case,
“very much in control.” He
is a master, a most extraordi-
nary human being (not with-
out his eccentricities, biases
and prejudices), woefully
misunderstood (of course),
but, nevertheless, sympathet-
ic, dearly loved (an Aussie
lady friend once affectionate-
ly referred to him as a “bush
baby”) and ap reciated by
many beyond his consider-
able, ever-increasing “cult -
following”.

— Robert Aiken, a former
actor-screenwriter, is an inter-
nationally known professional
astrologer and therapeutic
counsellor, teacher/writer with
forty years? experience. He
offers empowering personal
counselling sessions as well as
thorough, in-depth, tape-
recorded astrological readings.
Phone:. (604) 926-4961. E-
mail: starsrus@axionet.com

Superior Service

and Qual

ty

There is no substitute

for experience

. Hollywood, are positioned to-
* jnitiate projects, to supervise
- the development of the

screenplay, to direct with an
* adequate budget and 'to edit
.'_ their films without unduc
interference. Curtis.
Harrington has required freer
coriditions to produce the
‘best work. He has deserved
: More opportunitns to realize
~ his own projects, to actualize
‘his own unique vision (as had
Orson Welles). -
_: In. 1967, [strolled up Ivar
(Hollyw ood Hills) and found
an old, ¢ dilapidated house (on
Vine Way); a Mediterranean
villa. Tc was for sale, and I
- knew that Curtis would be
~ interested. He bought, reno-
ated, and, today, one enters
by climbing the steep steps,
past a stone lion, to a late-
Victorian coloured-glass-pan-
elled door, and encounters
inside a treasure house of art
nouveau. A iush illusion.
Near the entrance, a Duncan
Phyfesque sofa from an
‘MGM studio prop auction,
an ofiginal fin de siécle Ibels
poster, a pair of Marlene
‘Dietrich’s shoes, Josef von
-:Sternberg’s gloves and spats,
cherished pieces from antique
shops, yard sales, over 2

reveniing heat loss is important

to House Warmers. Since 1979

House Warmers has been .
-replacing windows and installing
skylights on the North Shore. In that 20 years they have worked
in about 14,000 homes. There is no substitute for experience,
and this is the kind of experience you want working for you.._

7), ote) OF

With no damage te your home, old draughty single paned
windows can be quickly and professionally replaced with. new
efficient and secure Climate - Gard series 2000 thermal windows.

The Housewarmers promise to you is the best quality, the best.
value, and the most experience. That is, “Superior sete and
quality, we manufaciure it, we install tt it, we guaranty it.”

MINDOWS ~ ~ SKVLITES |

laced STA AR. eed CTT Sed OOTY EE Led ND I

ESTIMATES WITH NO

OBLIGATION 986-3102

18 ith et Pender orth Vencouvor is