Show - Pa 4e 4 t A'1E--i- Etc l':4 2'3 L' Cities Play Starring Roles in Films t 4 iti 1 ' 'f 4 m i v IA f- t 4 f ' 4 1 kv Jr f i i t4 ' I I? ' t4 I ' ' - :i d '' -- - t 4 1 v - N 2 - t- By Henry Sheehan Orange County Register The great romantic filmmaker Ernst Lubitsch once said that Paris was his favorite city but that he meant "Paris Paramount" 15 much as he did "Paris France- As he would with any actor Lubitsch would costume and make up his urban landscapes but without submerging their clattering chattering essences In perhaps the most famous example Lubitsch's Paris wooed Greta Garbs icy Russian at least as ardently as did Melvin Douglas in 1S39's "Niriotchla- Over the years movies have evoked the great and lesser capitals of the world not just as backdrops but as actual players as crucial to their dramas as any of the human cast members Sometimes the city is an urthilled presence but has a key role to play Mack Sennett and Hal Roach made their silent comedy shorts at opposite ends of the Los Angeles area But the wide dusty streets of the embryonic metropolis with their comfortably spaced bungalows are as inextricably bound in their slapstick as the Keystone Kops forever being tossed into Silver Lake) or Laurel and Hardy forever bumbling through some Culver City home repair) Of course its easy to use a city for a kind of dramatic shorthand In "True Lies- - for example Washington on the one hand and Miami and South Florida on the other represent opposing power poles in the United States Washington's monuments and Miami's skyscrapers are quick reads for official power and underground 4 i - - -- 1 4 t 1 ' - '' 44' f '1 i ' pt 1 ' ''''14"": ' - -- 4 or4444-4--- 14 - 3 ' ‘‘ ' 1: - ' ' '4' - - 4 - i -- ' 1 2 " 242- b br I - 14 sa'rgt ' t ' abot ' ' I 74442--42- vA t ' '' -- 4' -: t R Sirko11- e t ' i - I ( - 744 - 'I' 44 8 1 a '- 11 ls " I 111' li 1' ri' ' 411r '' ' ' $ 1 41) fr It :? 1 e4 : 't ' 1 t 2 - t It 4 T v k 2 v Amoolated Pres Forrest Gualp Hanky it at the bedside of his ailing mother (Sally Field in "Forrest Gump Studios ere afraid to take on the story of Forrest Gump and are surprised by its success f 771 Studio's Reject Tams Into Hit Ey Robert 71- - These things (did) ting her movie in turnaround! not happen without his knowledge He (was) in '17etkos L Angeles Times HOLLYWO4DD — In 1983 producer Wendy Finerman went to Warner Eros to pitch a movie based on the novel -- Forrest GumpA quirky story about a man with a low IQ whose remarkable life intersected key moments in modern American history author Winston Grooms book was a difficult concept to sell to a major studio but Warner Bros took a gamble acquired the property and Finerman went off to develop a script -Today Forrest Gump- starring Tom Hanks and has become one of the Zemeckis directed by Robert — for Paramount Picyear's fgge tures In 1990 Warner Bros unable to come up with the Lod of screenplay it wanted put the script in "turnaround- That Hollywood jargon for when a studio decioes not to go forward with a project and offers it to other buyers in order to recoup its development costs While Paramount today is basking in the enor— it has grossed more than mous success of $163 million this summer and could be an Oscar contender next year — studio executives are also kicking themselves because a previous regime at Paramount let slip away The Keanu Reeves has grossed more thriller than $100 million this summer for 20th Century Fox That one studio can create a blockbuster from the same source material rejected by others is one of the great ironies of Hollywood Every studio has a story about the big one that got Steven away Columbia Pictures once had "ET: The Extraterrestrial- - but let it go to Vrdersal Pictures which then turned it into a $400- million blockbuster Warner Bros gave up on -Home Alone- - because of an escalating budget and tt went on to gross nearly $286 million for Fox 'A ' League of Their °WTi was at Fox before it became a big hit for Columbia But for the studio executives who let the big ones the embarrassment can be stinging getaw-eIf you ask the question today -- Who at Warner made the decision to Eras and later at Columbia Tot-reWho at Paramount or Gump'?pass 911 made the decision to pass on 'Speed'?" memories beZn to fade fingers are pointed and conversations guickly go Off the Record 'InHollywood it is a truism that just as people try to attach themselves to success they also try to distance themselves from failure And if it was you who ade a decision to pass on that mega-ki- t notices you hope nobody the case of -- Gump" the question is especially teitrigtring because at the time the project was placed turnaround by Warner Bros Finerman's hits'Ana-Mark Canton was in charge of worldwide production at the studio Did Canton who today heads Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures reject his own wife's project? Or was the decision made down the line by production executive Bruce Berman who in 1990 worked directly under Canton? Naturally all --that sources at Warner Bros will say is that it was a studio decision from tFirierman said that Canton was removed -on Mark not did decisions her any making projects get involved in the development of any of my pro" jects at Warners including Forrest Gump' Finer-masaid declining further comment Canton declined to be interviewed for this story However others contend Canton cannot distance himself completely from the decision that ultimately t bomb-on-ab- us star-rin- Spiel-berg- 's st $200-millio- n n wts made '"Mark Canton was aware of everything that went ion" said a source familiar with the project "There's something called pillow talk Are you telling me that his wife never told him that Warner Bros was put charge" day-to-da- y g day-to-da- r Newspapers Whatever happened to that idea of rating video games like they do with movies7 Two schemes for game rating have been introduced and should be showing up on packages by the holiday season Computer software will be rated by the Software Publishers Association's Recreational Software Advisory Council makers Tog as the Interactive callaborating Dtg hal Software Association pave cooked up a separate ratings Flan for Nintendo Sega Atari Jagtur and 3D0 (disc) titles Congress reportedly prefers IDSA's concept because it requires developers to submit exanct amples of actual game play storyboards in advance SPAS ratings will be set from a isclosure game-cartrid- I -- - c — 1 '? V'1° t "'o'V'' çî it "' f m i AP v ti t i I '4004t 4141 11 ' 44(ii 1 I 41 L tfr:1-''- ' eir i i : r - 4 -- - r -- A - oor11:1 -- 0:: it 4 I t lo "14:zif-- ve - - I ioc: t illc411 i l'il COo I mL1 ' ''' v more abstract issues making them instantly comprehensible in personal terms The romance "It Could Happen to You- - directed by Andrew Bergman (from the New York borough of Queens) is an unabashed love letter to New York opening with a visual flourish in which a sheet flung off a drying line functions as a curtain rising on the city's skyline But this isn't just a celebration of the city sites that are obvious to even the most indifferent tourist This story of a cop his wife a waitress and a fateful lottery ticket partakes of the city's everyday rhythms and stages As this movie puts it New York is intimacy experienced in hyper-driv- e and on a massive scale Day after day people come into fiercely close contact most of the time to break away but occasionally to bind Bergman takes the settings where these transitory encounters most frequently occur — the streets the subway but especially restaurant that bea Formica-tocomes the film's prime location — and forces them into the foreground ahead of iconographic sites such as the Empire State Building Here is individual human impulse reacting with architecture and city planning (or the lack of it) half-sheepi- half-pridef- IIIE ONLY GAS GRILL WM1 A WARRANTY ON: Stainin3 Steel Stainleu Steel es PYROKB4 Briquettes el ( 1502S Console Cart Model ' ctoreP2V ' WPWV7"4"-7-- if' or- CONSOLE CART MODEL 1502S el ? y4 A full 410 square atones Of cooking area dual burners a aide skull of genuine Vermont rock nb0 and four choice of basses You can site ashy Chicano kt America's favorite vial to barbecue A - ' 4 ' - Sout Main 4 - sue latiS dunes Deparnent P0 I 14-- N t0 6 to Gradation 28 MODELS TO CHOOSE FRO M el Saki I4jj lki Ittl tAl nroti1101 64 Ni ' Nate can Suomitliasalch 5 to The 0 Sdt Like Tribune Deserft 't' elte P '1L2 r-- call Model ' 5CO2S ' ' 0-'- 4' e- " - e I CONSOLE CART MODEL 5002S - TE F and The 50028 410 square Inches of grilling surface wake this a powerful choice for entertaining in litYit Two SANATEC!0 side shelves "tendert 0o '' I -- : : -- 1 it To t ' COliril VISIT CUR t2V SHOViPbOOLI e3 tr-- r--z nrt46 t"!:'1 7 "7'7- t'3 er7)!i 1 :II t ' 4S I :fr t V ': i 0: t 1 E k L4 Li 84145 Ex ' - 4' 7 Two burners tor orthino and one lot notistmg Our potontod ROT1S-AW- itt provides a osporoto vertical hoot scarce Mot memos front errand or tho moot No mossy Nero-tip- s ' - L Maria Salt Lake City For informatOn X aLl'irtiing i '1 i CONSOLE CART MODEL 2002S - Katt aid at Pork City Ural Boo 45813 ''k - owitiv end innovative features hovel bean onteratwee into this model Tern burners plus the teemed features thst Dwane is tomes for A great way to oloy outdoor cooking kl greats into Production Soptryi aor iota Hurst pc lt 4-- been - Send - - s 2002S Coracle Cart Editorial Intern: Tracy Mater Nstraiter i PATIO BASE MOOEL 1202S 41 to Editor Rana Necky Third-clas- s V ) :' P tu — ' - f'D4: c ' e " Managing Editor: Ldd Wagner Production Amistant: Jairnie ' if - amain: ' s :- " it Sta44?3 '''"L- gtJ : ' IIFS- 911w 7 4"4't ' Ed model 1202s —L:17:: j l'IMS21111t' c-- WASailpt - Utz Sceet Sak Lake Gty CT 84111 Phore Aberdsing Director Burners TOP-PORT- Model Correspondence may be aaessed to E 133 Top Casting Bottom Casting - 11111111111Pri Sal: Lake Trthwe and Deseret N Newspaper Agency Corpatica er SEAR-GRI- Z1 - k wItly iqplement cross-sectio- )q) Etc is a least by the natural and unnatural disasters that have wracked the Los Angeles environs Her demeanor is brash but that brashness has become an act of will The sense of ongoing injury widens to include the rest of the bus's passengers a Southern Calin fornia multicultural whose mostly silent suffering is in stark contrast to the one on board a tourist who just can't believe this kind of thing can go on Hey pal the film seems to say it's LA get used to it natural gas gri'lls 1Lf Jr e triiljti to ttaái - SarznitWasatzt E bruised temperamentally at i'lirtaliriirrirbittetriumoomowANEWATRUCKLOADOR ' The - WO UlOAlwimirlirlill-- d statement submitted by the makers !OSA calls for five ratings categories: Early Childhood (EC) for ages 3 and up: Kids To Adults (KA) 6 and up: Teen (T) 13 and up stature (34) 17 and up: and Adult Only (AO) 18 and up Game companies also will be required to label programs with short descriptions of violent content sexual themes profanity and "other" — everything from gambling to reading-skillpotential SPAs rating scheme relies on icons to indicate content A bomb denotes violence a hand covering an eye symbolizes nudity andor sex: an exclamation point notes questionable language The level of potency is noted with a four-levthermometer Packages also will feature brief descriptions of the rated content using phrases like "revealing attire" ' ' and coining out on top a million times a day Because the movie so understands the everyday but aspects of the city when it turns to the cliched romantic images such as a lovers' idyll in Central Park it actually renews them As for "Speed" there is a sense in which its exciting technique is so mechanical that its runaway bus could be running in any city with enough highways Houston with its clogged cencrete arteries suggests itself for example But that's where Sandra Bullocks efficiently wonderful performance comes into the picture A California golden girl with a sunny smile glowing skin and athletic build she also is clearly p self-assuran- Columbia sources said although -- Gump" was Nathanson's project Price had to have been aware of it since he was known to have been very meticulous about reading scripts "Somebody (a production executive) apparently decided not to bring it to me" Price said Then there is the question of professional jealousy Canton replaced Price as head of Columbia Pictures in 1991 Price has taken heat over the years for letting "ET" go to Universal Canton has taken heat for Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1993 fiasco "Last Action Hero" Could both men have rejected "Gump"! Scripts in turnaround it should be noted do not always become hits Warner Bros for example "Fat Man and Little Boy" "The Temp" and placed -Whispers in the Dark- in turnaround only to see Paramount make all three and then watch all three become duds But even some Paramount executives were surprised in 1992 when the studio put "Speed" in turnaround Some former Paramount employees put the blame squarely on the shoulders of Stanley Jaffe the irascible former president of Paramount Communications the studio's parent company They said he tossed out numerous scripts in late 1992 that had been acquired during the short-liveBrandon Tartikoff era One Hollywood source said people on the lot were astounded that Jaffe would get rid of "Speed" since theme seemed a natural as its an action picture ' ' was filmed in Los Angeles don't really have any impact beyond the symbolic- other sites could stand in without disrupting the movie's ultimate meanings That is far from the case with a trio of other summer films: "Barcelona" "It Could Happen to You- - and to a lesser extent "Speed" In these films if you changed their urban locations you inalterably would change the movie as a whole That seems perfectly obvious with Whit Stillman's "BarcelonaAfter all he named the movie after its Catalan location Its illuminated cathedrals sunny avenues and dimly lighted discos provide exotic settings for a tale of two American cousins bickering their way through professional romantic and political complications But the relationship of this beautiful old capital to the lead characters is at least as important as its lovely facade The city's natives have an obviously strong if frequently cockthat clearly eyed originates in their hometowns historical significance and modern vibrancy When that sense is arrayed against the nationalism of the two Americans it personalizes larger sure" ' — Assoc:sited Press But aside from a long Florida Keys causeway the locations y ' Keanu Reeves stars as Jack Traven in "Speed" one of this summer's hits where the location played an important role in the film The movie might d 9ame Ratings Give Content By Jonathan Takiff - lk ( source close to Canton however pointed out that Canton had been elevated in 1989 to executive vice president of Warner Bros Inc and though he was still responsible for overseeing production he decision-makinwas out of the loop -Allyn Stewart who brought Gump" to Warner Bros when she was a vice president of production there recalled that it was a "group decision" to put the script in turnaround Stewart said the decision was made at a meeting chaired by Berman and attended by as many as 10 of his staff She said neither Canton nor the studio's two top executives Bob Daly or Terry Semel were present Some point the finger at Berman while others say he is the convenient scapegoat "It was Bruce Berman- - one source recalled -Canton was not responsible for putting things into development" Berman was on vacation this week and could not be reached for comment but one of his defenders said You would be making a serious error if you laid this off on Berman" To be sure the Eric Roth screenplay that Paramount used for -- Gump" did not exist when Warner Bros put the project in turnaround Similarly the computer-generatespecial effects that Zemeckis inserted in the movie did not exist when Warner Bros bought the rights to the novel in October 1985 Indeed neither Hanks nor Zemeckis was attached to the project In 1990 Finerman got permission from Warner Bros to shop the script to Columbia where she had an overall deal Here again memories differ on what happened next Sources told the Los Angeles Times that Frank Price then chairman of Columbia Pictures rejected "Gump" after two of his top lieutenants Michael Nathanson and Amy Pascal had wholeheartedly supported it Nathanson and Pascal declined to comment Price today is adamant that he never read or -passed on the Forrest Gump" script "Absolutely" he said "I am quite sure I didn't Did anyone (at Columbia) see it One can never be A v1g- Knight-Ridde- frd°' it- - a3z IT Leskl ° ikIt GAS SPECIALTIES STOFIE C473 k':10 N4!A ev"'N ''' - tik -- -- 1 Jot BY I tP1 Por'"?p 41 4 l' tc t r 1drkle : DESIG'N AVALABIZ EAST 2100 Sof J I 1 ---- nWtm-- s wriipfrPft74”100mem4 |