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Show Par kite featured in controversial flick by RICK BROUGH Record staff writer The movie "Silent Night, Deadly Night" made headlines last Christmas when parents in the Middle West protested the picture's theme of a homicidal maniac in a Santa Claus suit. It is less well known that the picture, filmed in the Heber area in the spring of 1984, featured Park City actress and real estate agent Madeline Smith in a notable supporting role. And Madeline doesn't think the picture's theme is so strange. "I was always afraid of Santa Claus." The movie was directed by Charles Sellier (known for his films in Utah with the Sunn Classic Company). The story begins in the early '70s, when a young boy suffers the traumatic experience of seeing his parents killed on Christmas Eve by a crook dressed as Santa. As he grows up in an orphanage, he is further warped by the Mother Superior, who lives by the idea that "punishment is good" and tries to beat his Santa-phobia out of him. By 1984, the boy is a big, hulking teenager, who has the misfortune to get a job in a local toy store, where he is made Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve, his mind snaps, and, believing his job as Santa is to punish naughty boys and girls, he sets out on a murder spree. - Smith appeared in two segments. In the childhood scenes, as Sister Ellen, she is shocked to find the boy's "Christmas picture" is a scene with a mangled Santa and a decapitated reindeer. And at the climax of the film, she is present when the demented teen returns to take vengeance on the Mother Superior. (The orphange scenes were filmed in Charleston, near the Deer Creek Reservoir.) Her scenes were 10 years apart, but she aged only slightly for the second segment. "I don't look as old as lam," Smith told the Record. Smith is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and has appeared as an extra or speaking player in six films. She is billed as "A. Madeline Smith" to avoid conflict with actress Madolyn Smith. (The latter is remembered as the rich girlfriend from "Urban Cowboy.") Madeline's pictures include the television movie "Fire at County General" and "Revenge of the Ninja." At this point, she said, she has been accepted into that small pool of Utah actors who are used when Hollywood producers make films in the state. Movie acting, she said, has its challenges and benefits. You must deliver a consistent performance. "You have to do every scene at least four times, and that's if everything goes perfectly," she said. On the other hand, there is no gulf between local actors on the set and those brought from out of state. "They were just ordinary, interesting people who acted to make a living. If you are serious about acting, they will talk to you." (Lilyan Chauvin, who played tKe Mother Superior, returned to Utah this spring to give an acting seminar in the Park City area.) Smith said she is still thrilled to be working in movies, even if she has to get out of bed at 5 a.m. She likes the idea of being a character actress. "I don't ever plan on being a star," she said. "If you are committed, you can make a good living in the business." |
