from Curtis Harrington's Ganies (1967) ROBERT Aiken (right) and Florence Marly in a scene from Curtis Harrington’s Games. The lead roles of James Caan and Katherine Ross were modelled on Halitywood couple Dennis Hopper and Brooke Hayward. reat divide Cr Harrington brought his own styie to: commercial cinema Robert Aiken Contributing Writer PEOPLE have asked me, “How come you got to know so many people in Hollywood? You seem to have known everyone.” First of all, it’s a small communiy (the business) and it is worldwide. Friends intcoduce one another to the celebrities they know. And, if you: are somewhat known yourself, people want to meet you. Also, as a conscientious astrologer, word gets around. Es a Photo Robert Alken CURTIS Harrington understands the Hitchcockian distinction between surprise and suspense. Curtis Harrington introduced me to the beautiful Leigh Taylor-Young and Ryan O'Neil, Diane Varsi, Christopher Isherwood, Anais Nin and Henry Miller (indirectly). 1 brought him and Horst Buchholz together, and, later, Orson Welles, among others. Curtis has nor been quite the same since actually meeting Orson and working with him. He laughs more boisterously and more often and “throws his weight around” a bit (in the form of strong, fixed opinions, « kind of intellectual hauteur). He no longer cares about what people might think. Very frank, outspoken. He “suffers fools, not so gladly.” For years, I have urged him to exercise more tact. However, when he is appalled, he is __ appalled! Perhaps at your ignorance of “this or that.” He indulges in onc-upmanship (was in fact, impressed by a clever book on the subject). Outrageous(!) a favourite exclamation (often with delight). He used me in Games, again with Florence Marly (a fine lady, she was). The picture was made at Universal, star- ring James Caan (the best up and com- ing young actor around whom they could afford), newcomer, Katherine Ross (who went on to star in Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid) and Simone Signoret, the temperamental star of the great French classic ' Diabolique. Curtis’ version, a twenty-four day shoot with a budger of $750,000. The young leads were originally modelled on friends, Dennis Hopper and wife, Brooke Hayward (whom Curtis, later, considered marrying). Signoret couldn’t stand Caan (who went on to play Sonny Corleone in The Godfather and the stu- dio executives had trouble dealing with her prima donna expectations and demands on top of her leftist attitudes and ways (her disdain tor “the suits in the tall, black towers” and what they stood for). Her character gets away with murder in the picture and so Universal was conflicted as to how to market it, hence, it was poorly distributed. Curtis’ personal favourite is, What’s The Matter With Helen starcing Shelley Winters, Debbie Reynolds and Agnes Moorehead. Whoever Slew Auntie Roo starred Shelley Winters and Ralph Richardson. It was Curtis’ dark take on Hansel and Gretel, the 1920's fairy tale. Kevin Thomas of the L.A. Times regarded The Killing Kind (1974) as his best achievement (so far). It starred Ann Sothern and John Savage. I was impressed by the visually rich, exotic, Mata Hari (*85) which starred Sylvia Kriste: (of Emmanuel fame). research, I discovered happily that there was more erotic activity ia her life than we could ever put on screen.” The dangers of work- ing in Hollywood for the intensely personal artist were always appar- ent to Curtis. Hollywood tends to compromise, sometimes destroy it’s most poeti- cally creative talent. Stroheim, Sternberg, Griffiuh and Welles — all Hollywood casual- ties. Curtis had been strongly influenced by Sternberg, Welles and James Whale. He did, in a sense, cross “the com- mercial divide” quite early on. His description of a short, Renascence, made when he was 16, applies to What’s The Matter With Helen: “A woman encum-: bered by an unsavoury past symbolically destroys the past, and for a while achieves a state of innocence; but in running forward she is only running backward. The evidence destroyed con- fronts her and she becomes as she was before.” The motifs from his shorts invariably recur in his features — mirrors, black- clad figures, red roses, masks, skeletons, wigs. I used to explain to him (astrologi- cally) why he had found the borror- thriller to be an appropriate genre for his self-expression. They had never appealed to me. Through Curtis, £ learned to “get a kick out of” how it was done. He gets emotionally involved, relishes the scary stuff. I find it, more often than not, funny (a “hoot”). 1 have never known anyone who laughs so upreariously in a movie the- atre. If he’s there, the audience knows it. He just lets himself go, especially if the line or scene is “outrageous(!)”. He was not always like that. When I first met him, he would sit there in severe judgement; the discerning critic was foremost. He was more a fault-finder than love-finder. He acknowledges that I taught him to suspend his critical fac- ulty, to just surrender and allow himself to be swept away, to be choicelessly aware of what is unfolding before him and critique the picture afterward. “Don’t you want the viewer to be fully see Director Page 28 Friday, March 24, 2000 - Nerth Shore News - 17 American Beauty tipped for Oscars AS far as this year’s Academy Awards go, every- body’s all-American. Beauty, that is. American Beauty, the Sam Mendes film about a repressed, loveless marriage, is poised to rake in the big honours on Oscar night. Here are the nominees in the top five categories and my predictions for who will take home trophies Sunday night. @ BEST PICTURE — American Beauty — The Cider House Rules — The Green Mile — The Insider — The Sixth Sense The Cider House Rules is the type of film that usually wins Best Picture but American Beauty will take the top spot. A man in the throes of a mid-life crisis, Lester Burnham looks at the man he’s become and doesn’t like what he sees. He and wife Carolyn share a marriage for appearances’ sake, putting their souls and their teenage daughter in jeopardy. It struck a chord with North American moviegoers, and won't go unre- warded by the Academy. BEST DIRECTING —- Sam Mendes for American Beauty — Spike Jonze for Being John Malkovich — Lasse Hallstrom for The Cider House Rules — Michael Mann for The Insider — M. Night Shyamalan for The Sixth Sense [have a soft spot for the bizarro world created by Spike Jonze here, but expect Sam Mendés to scoop Best Director for his flawless American Beauty. From gripping performances and cinematography to good lighting and a fitting score, this type of cohesive filmmaking doesn’t happen by accident and is a credit to an excellent director. Play us again, Sam. @ ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE — Russell Crowe for The Insider — Richard Farnsworth for The Straight Story —~ Sean Penn for Sweet and Lowdown — Kevin Spacey for American Beauty — Denzel Washington for The Hurricane This is one of those rare years where evervone nominated in this category actually deserves to be here. It comes down to Kevin Spacey and Denzel Washington. Washington's portrayal of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter had moments of real power, but Spacey should clinch it. Other noteworthy contenders who See Award Page 2t 0 something lk about! 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