PATREON EXCLUSIVE - Cable Box Theater - Wait Until Dark (1983)

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HP.
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What does November the eighth mean to you? Specifically November
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the eighth, nineteen seventy two, Where were you on that day?
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I wasn't even born yet, father alone.
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And yet the day was a momentous one. That was
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the day the New York Rangers faced the Vancouver Canucks.
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More perspecting that more importantly, it was the day that
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Home Box Office debuted its very first programming, which was
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that NHL game Home Box Office, premiering very locally in
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Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, before spreading like a virus across the globe.
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Now there are twenty three HBO stations. Is it even
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HBO anymore? We call it Max these days. Point B
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special appearance by miss Ripley Jean Hey, she's always been
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a Cinemax fan. HBO the very first paid cable service,
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just to start servicing the entire United States, offering programming
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uninterrupted by advertising, uninterrupted by meddling, television sensors, unedited programming.
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Now they could offer concerts, they could offer a stand
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up comedy, and on occasion, they could offer theatrical productions.
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And that's what cable box theater is all about. Welcome
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patrons and new listeners all alike. This is Cable Box
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Theater with me in here in this inaugural episode HP,
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host of Night, mister Walters and composer of Everything Great
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from the weirding Way Media Network.
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Oh. Thanks, it is such a pleasure to be here,
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Father Malone. I'm so excited that this is such a
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part of our shared experiences growing up watching these things
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on cable. So I'm really excited to talk about this.
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And for our inaugural episode, we're gonna be We're gonna
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be talking about a theatrical production from nineteen eighty three.
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It is Wait Until Dark, the Frederick not penned stage
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play that actually premiered in nineteen sixty six at the
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ethel Merriman Theater. Within a year, it had been transformed
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into its first adaptations, first separate adaptation. That was a
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film adaptation directed by Terrence Young, starring Audrey Hepburn and
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mister Allan Arkin. And there are some other people in there.
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But really this is a two hander. It's a two
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hander with a bunch of peripheral characters. HP. Had you
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seen the film of Wait Until Dark prior to the
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production we're discussing today.
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I did not. I saw Wait Until Dark the movie
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much much later. I want to say I probably saw
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it within the last fifteen years, not which is a
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long time, but relatively speaking, that we're talking nineteen eighty
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two was when the HBO taped version of it was, so, yeah,
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it was quite a bit after it. How about yourself.
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Yeah, my introduction to Wait Until Dark was the theatrical
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production we're discussing today. Before we go any further, I
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want to mention that everything we're going to be discussing
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here on cable box theater will be available for free
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to the public in one form or another. In this case,
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you're going to want to head to YouTube. You're going
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to want to type in Wait until Dark Stacy Keach
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After that that'll do. That'll bring you to this particular production. HP.
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If you had to summarize the plot of Wait Until Dark,
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how would you do that?
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So it's pretty easy to summarize. We have the protagonist
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as a blind woman, the newly blind. I don't think
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she was had an accident that rendered her blind. She
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has a husband who came back from a business trip
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with a doll that was given to him under mysterious circumstances.
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This doll is filled with drugs heroin, and the people
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who want it back devise a plan by which they're
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gonna use khanmen to try and convince her that her
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husband is involved in some shady dealings. This is all
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in an effort, a plot to convince her to give
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them the doll before the husband is aware of what's happened.
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And this is she's not nearly as helpless as they
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think she is, and that's where the story goes.
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You can go ahead and spoil it listen. Actually, speaking
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of spoilers, and I did mention where you can see
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these things, but we are going to be spoiling the
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fuck out of everything we're talking about here. In a
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case like this, which is all predicated on mystery. This
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is a mystery thriller. You're gonna want to seek it
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out if spoiling is a problem for you, because because
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here we go.
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Yeah, this is your last chance to see it. If
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you want, pause the podcast right now, go to YouTube,
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watch it, then come back and listen to us chop
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it up. Okay, so this is your last chance. Go Okay,
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we're back. Let's talk about this. Spot them alone, Let's go
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for it.
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Oh, let's go for it. Okay, So okay, Now I
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had seen this stage production on television like you did.
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I'm sure it was on a lot.
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I think part of the charm of these televised plays is,
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and I believe you made this point on one of
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your weekly roundups, which is there wasn't a lot. There
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was a lot of air time to fill on these
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cable networks and not a lot of content fill it.
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So this was one of those things. It was an
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easy way to fill time in a given day, right,
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just videotape a performance of a play and just there
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you go, you slap it up there. So it was
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on a lot, But I can't say that as a
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nine year old, I actually sat there and watched it
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from start to finish. I would usually turn on HBO.
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There's Stacy Keach doing his thing, there's Catherine Ross. I
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didn't have a lot of context, but I just remember
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the look of it, the stage set with the stairs.
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It's iconic. But I honestly don't think I really followed
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the plot much as a nine year old. Did you?
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I would assume you, being much more refined in your
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viewing habits, did you watch it all the way through
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as a kid.
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Oh yeah, multiple times, over and over and over again.
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This felt like a suppressed memory when I re encountered it.
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The image of Stacy Keach in an all white suit
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during a dark out sequence which the last act of
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this play, part of it takes place in total darkness,
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and although not obviously total darkness on stage, just a
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hint of light, but certainly he shines through the darkness
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in his white suits. I certainly remembered that there were
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aspects of his performance that I had not remembered, and
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we're certainly either we're certainly going to get to that
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interesting choices. I remember really enjoying this production as a child.
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I felt like it was like, somehow a version of
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Hitchcock that was available to young me. I felt like
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it was because all you kept ever hearing about thrillers
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and mysteries was fucking Hitchcock and how he had done
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it all, and it was already done. But here was
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this thing that was live and breathing on the television
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in our home that was new. I didn't know there
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was a history with it being a readaptation of a film,
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but I certainly really liked the production a lot. Upon
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rewatch of both of the film and this adaptation, I
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have come to a conclusion, which is I don't really
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like way it until.
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Well, it's interesting that you say that, because I still
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really enjoy it. I watched the movie again and I
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watched this production to prepare, and I will say I
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enjoyed it. But and maybe this is what you're getting at.
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There's a lot of suspension of this belief required to
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watch this. It's not necessarily the most believable scenario. If
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I am these nefarious characters and I want to get
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this doll back from a blind woman, there's a lot
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easier ways to do it than concocting this convoluted scheme
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with multiple characters, people playing different characters, walking in, coming out.
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It's I decided very early on that that's the mode
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you have to be in to watch this. And once
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I decided to do that, I had a great time.
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I was on the edge of my seat. I thought
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it was really entertaining. But you just have to accept
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the fact that they're going they're taking the long way home. Right.
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Knowing what we know about criminal element, particularly with the
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character we're given here, Harry wrote, if this play film
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any iteration of it has produced anything. It's the fantastic
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character of Harry wrote who in the film version, portrayed
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by Alan Arkin, portrayed as a psychotic beatnik, a very
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subdued psychotic beatnik, very low talking, very measured performance.
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He's menace personified for me in the movie. It's because
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maybe younger listeners to this podcast might know him. He's
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not necessarily known for his bad guy roles.
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Right, He was primarily known for comedies Yeah right.
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Miss Sunshine. More recently The in Laws. I think he
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was in with Peter falk Right, of course, the Return
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of Captain Invincible, which is one of our personal favorites.
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To see him in such he really is scary in
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this role. To see him in such an nefarious evil
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role is a revelation for me even now rewatching it,
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I said, why I forgot how really good he is?
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You know, Yeah, I've always been a mind of that.
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The quiet villain is the scariest villain, and so his
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choices all through that performance are fucking great because he
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never really he loses it at the end because it's
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necessary to lose it by the end, but he maintains
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control until that last moment. He is wearing his sunglasses
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until he's doused in chemicals in the dark. He's a
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cool cucumber. Now to your point about the stuff that
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you have to suspend disbelief on the point I was
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making is that given a character like Harry, he would
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immediately go into that house and knock her out or
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stab her to death and then ransack the place and
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find the down leave. That's what would have happened.
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The only hole in that theory is that they don't
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know where the doll is. She doesn't know where the
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doll is. No one knows where it is until about
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three quarters of the way through the play. So I
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could see him breaking in, killing her whatever, disabling her
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in some way, but he's still not going to be
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able to find the doll. And that's I guess that's
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where the scheme comes in.
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Yeah, it just seems a lot of machinations and it
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seems a lot of costumes in order to convince a
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blind woman you're somebody else.
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There is because he portrays a man aggrieved by his
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wife who they portray as cheating on her husband with
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and then he also plays that gentleman's father who comes
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in and up ends the whole place. But to me,
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that's a delight. In this case, we'll get to the
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eighty two production, But in terms of the movie, it's
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a delight for me because Alan Arkin is just so
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good in every iteration of Harry wrote we get to
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see because they're throwing everything but the kitchen sink at
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this blind woman, trying to convince her of this thing
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going down and keech, I shouldn't short change Stacy Heach
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because he's great in a similar way that he has
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to do the same things. He has to pretend to
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be different characters. He's got to try and convince this
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woman of the veracity of his story. But again it's hard.
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He's very much in Alan Arkin's shadow through the whole production.
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I think, I think if you didn't have Alan Arkin
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in that movie, it wouldn't be much of a movie
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on it. Agreed, and God bless them. We all love
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Andrey Hepburn, but she's a little too austere for playing
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the mousey, newly blinded housewife of a struggling photographer in
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a Greenwich Village basement apartment.
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I didn't mind that as much because it gave me
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more sympathy because I felt like she because she seemed
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worldly and refined that it was much more of a
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loss for her to lose her sight. The issue that
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I had with her performance might have just been the
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tenor of acting at that time. I just found her
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at times overly hysterical and overly you know, just laying
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it out there, you know, a little more reservation I
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think might might have improved it a little bit. But again,
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you know, acting means and modes change with the decades,
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and I think that was just more appropriate for that
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movie at that time.
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Would you say that she was better or worse than
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Catherine Ross in the same role.
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I would say I liked I enjoyed her performance better.
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I somehow I found her more believable. My issue with
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excuse me, my issue with Catherine Ross was it was
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a decent performance, but it was almost too measured in
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in how she conveyed the character A little bit. I
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wanted a little bit more. Maybe a little more hysterics
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might have been more interesting to me, because she is
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in a very scary situation and eventually she finds herself
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in but it was a little too guarded, I think.
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So what is the middle ground between Audrey Hepburn and
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Catherine Ross where one is too hysterical and one is
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not hysterical enough.
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I don't know. What do you you mean an actress
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who might have bridged the gas?
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Yes, hmmm, Angie Dickinson. Angie Dickinson, she could have done it.
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She could have done it. I don't know.
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You know it's Angie Dickinson circa nineteen sixty six, like
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when they made the original movie instead of Audrey Hepburn stick,
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Angie Dickinson in that role.
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Could have been interesting, could I don't know. Does she
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have the chops of an Audrey.
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Hepber dare you? Does she have the chops of an
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Audrey Hepburn. She has just as many chops. They go
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to the same chop shop.
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It's hard to She was policewoman, right, Yeah, it wasn't
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exactly taxing her acting ability.
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She's a big bad mama.
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Yeah, you're only supporting my point.
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I am not. How dare you I'm saying she shines
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in garbage?
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Oh okay, Well, I guess you raise a good point there.
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I guess probably as good of a choice of an
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actress as one that I can think of right off
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the top of my head.
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Okay, let's agree the only good thing about that movie
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is alan Ark and we'll move on.
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No, that's not true. I will reject that to that assertion.
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The thing the other thing that well, I won't boil
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it down to only these things, but I would say
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another thing that it has over the eighty two production
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is the music.
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Oh well, yeah, music by.
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Henry Mancini is superior.
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In the movie.
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You think that's better than Lalo Schiffrin's attempt in the
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stage production, I do, because versus Shiffrin, I didn't see
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this coming.
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Yeah, I thought Henry Mancini's score was much more innovative.
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He used two pianos, but what was interesting was one
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was tuned four steps below the other. So it creates
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this weird dissonance, this uneasy feeling through the whole picture,
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especially towards the end. And I think that atmosphere was
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brilliantly captured. Not to say that Lalo Schiffrin's score was
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something to sneeze at it. It was fine, it was great,
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but in my opinion, it doesn't compare with the sixty
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seven soundtrack.
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I will just say that they're both pretty great. I
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was not expecting a score for the stage production at all.
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So the fact that we got a good one and
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the fact that it was different made that one special.
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But I completely agree with you about the Mancini scory.
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It is superior and those discordant kind of notes that
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they're jangling on out during the opening sequence. Even I
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had the movie on a couple of times, so at
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one point just had it on in the background and
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I could not focus on what I was doing because
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there was something just stabbing me in the fucking neck.
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It was Henry Mancini.
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Yeah, it's like this. It was like ASMR before there
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was such a thing as ASMRI. It kickles this thing
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in your brain that makes you uneasy. By the way,
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did you know that Henry Mancini wrote the theme to
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What's Happening? Do you know that?
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No?
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I didn't know that either. I just found out. How
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cool is that?
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It's absurd?
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It's absurd. Anyway, we can move on. So, yeah, I
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thought the music was superior. In the sixty seven version.
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We talked about Alan Arkin.
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I'll say this about the movie. The movie is seems
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more sent bound than the stage production filmed on videotype.
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That's exactly what I was about to say Botom alone,
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it was much it was if by that you mean
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it was more claustrophobic and more, you know, more you
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00:17:48.279 --> 00:17:50.839
felt more closed in. I think the movie did a
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00:17:50.839 --> 00:17:52.880
better job than that, but it's only it only makes
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sense because you have the ability to have, you know,
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different lenses to focus in on framing of cast and
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everything like that. It's harder to do that. I'll get
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that with a stage production. And also given the fact
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that the stage production is the original, we can't forget
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that this movie was an adaptation. Like you said, so,
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00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:17.079
yeah it was. I found it a little more effective
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in that sense. But the set is the set. It's iconic.
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When you see that the curtain come up on that
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eighty two production, it's you know where everything is because
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that's it. I'm sure it's clearly written in the stage
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directions and everything where everything needs to be. But that
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staircase coming down the middle, the windows off to the
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to stage right, that's all brilliant that it's wonderfully captured
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in both cases.
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Oh, I agree with all of that, But by set bound,
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I meant that the film production looks like they filmed
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it on a fucking set. It seems like they're they're
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in a studio somewhere.
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I could see that it is a little bit artificial.
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They got a couple of hiccup shots that may or
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may not be on the streets of New York. There's
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an Amsterdam thing and an airport thing at the beginning,
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00:19:01.079 --> 00:19:05.079
or rather a Montreal or some Canadian location. But once,
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00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:08.359
once we get to that set, it's just a fucking set.
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00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:10.079
It feels like a set, and then they go out
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onto the back lot.
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Yeah, but that's but to me, that's almost like a
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nod to the stage origins of the original play.
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Absolutely not. Fuck. You go to the Lower East Side
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fucking film this in a basement apartment. You have the
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ability to do that. It's nineteen sixty six. This is
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the way to do it.
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I didn't mind it. I didn't mind it, but I
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see your point. I just didn't mind it as much
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as you. I didn't mind the artifice of being on
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a set, all right.
346
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So we're talking about the stage production of Wait Until Dark. Now,
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the stage productions, and we've mentioned Catherine ross is playing
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Susie in this one. Stacy keach Is wrote, and then
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00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:48.599
a whole bunch of other people, including David Leisure, who
350
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is one of the policemen who rushes at the end.
351
00:19:50.839 --> 00:19:52.759
That he was, of course, Joeysuzu.
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Joe is Suzu. And he was also in that at
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00:19:55.240 --> 00:19:57.319
sitcom Empty Nest with Richard Mulligan.
354
00:19:57.480 --> 00:19:59.359
That's right, and he's one of the Harry Christian is
355
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an airplane.
356
00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:05.400
That was see. That was his debut movie role and
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this was his second big role, was Cop number two
358
00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:10.079
in Wait Until Dark.
359
00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:14.039
My God, Robin Gamble. He's one of the cops in it.
360
00:20:14.119 --> 00:20:16.960
He's a recognizable face. He's terrible in this. He's the
361
00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:18.000
Sergeant Carlino.
362
00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:21.000
Oh yeah, but he lives in the shadow. Let's face
363
00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:24.920
it is it. Jack Weston played the Carlino And of
364
00:20:24.920 --> 00:20:28.240
course what do we know Jack Weston from Father Malone,
365
00:20:28.519 --> 00:20:29.440
The Four Seasons.
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Don't eat in the Mercedes. That's all I have to
367
00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:32.759
say about Jack Weston.
368
00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:36.480
Maybe we'll get to that someday, because that's also very
369
00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:37.200
stage bound.
370
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Oh, we're definitely getting to that because they've got a
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television series on the way.
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The rest of the cast of the eighty two production,
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I couldn't pick him out of a lineup, but certainly
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it's the It's Stacy Keach. It's Catherine Ross and the
375
00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:55.319
fellow who played mister Hendrix. His name escapes me, but
376
00:20:55.359 --> 00:20:57.319
I've seen him in other things. I can't think of
377
00:20:57.319 --> 00:20:57.839
his name, though.
378
00:20:57.960 --> 00:21:00.640
He's the senator in Porky's two. The next stays trying
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00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:01.480
to get re elected.
380
00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:06.039
That's right, Edward Winter. You're right, But like you were saying,
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00:21:06.279 --> 00:21:09.519
much like sixty seven, this is all about Stacy Keach
382
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:12.680
and Katherine Ross. The other the guy who the other
383
00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:17.119
two confidence men, Mike Tallman and Sergeant carlino Are. I
384
00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:19.119
couldn't pick them out of a lineup. But it's all
385
00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:20.880
about Stacy Keach and Catherine Ross.
386
00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:23.799
Okay, we've already talked about Katherine Ross. I think she's fine.
387
00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:26.599
I think she's giving a different performance. I think she's
388
00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:30.160
giving a as you said, a more It's odd because
389
00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:34.559
in the film version, Audrey Hepburn is over the top
390
00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:37.839
and Alan Arkin is completely underplaying it, and here in
391
00:21:37.880 --> 00:21:41.599
the stage production, Katherine Ross is underplaying it and Stacy
392
00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:43.279
Keach is going way the fuck over the top.
393
00:21:43.720 --> 00:21:45.359
It's interesting that you put it that way, but you're
394
00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:50.440
one hundred percent correct, Stacy Keach in this is it's
395
00:21:50.519 --> 00:21:53.559
much more like my impression initially was he's much more
396
00:21:53.559 --> 00:21:57.680
of almost like a haughty super villain take on the character.
397
00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:03.319
He just he's laughing Minigah and just seems so unhappy.
398
00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:09.720
It's worthy. He seems so what's the words. Yeah, he's
399
00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:13.400
just over the top, laughing and menacing in a different
400
00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:15.759
way than Alan Arkin never was.
401
00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:19.799
I won't give it to you. I won't give it
402
00:22:19.799 --> 00:22:25.960
to you. I won't give it to you. You remind
403
00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:27.200
me of somebody else has said that.
404
00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:30.839
Only She said, I don't know where it is.
405
00:22:31.880 --> 00:22:35.720
I don't know, I don't know. I don't know.
406
00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:36.640
I don't know.
407
00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:37.359
I don't know. I don't know.
408
00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:40.599
I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.
409
00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:48.759
So I've heard people say that before, only she was
410
00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:50.039
much more stubborn.
411
00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:53.599
I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. It's
412
00:22:53.759 --> 00:22:55.599
very Caesar Romero's joker.
413
00:22:56.359 --> 00:22:58.839
It's very joker like, and I did write that down.
414
00:22:59.160 --> 00:23:02.480
It doesn't go completely over the top until the moment
415
00:23:02.519 --> 00:23:06.680
that we're driving towards here, but it is very much
416
00:23:06.839 --> 00:23:10.960
like a joker type thing. Where's he's discussing his plan
417
00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:14.880
with the other two surrogates and he's so amused by
418
00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:18.720
himself and by the machinations of the scheme that he's
419
00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:22.400
come up with, it's almost like he should be like, ha,
420
00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:27.400
like doing these He doesn't necessarily do that, but he's
421
00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:31.640
definitely he's not menacing in a quiet way. He's menacing
422
00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:35.559
in a bellowie, take charge of the room kind of way.
423
00:23:35.640 --> 00:23:37.559
I don't know how would you describe his performance.
424
00:23:38.119 --> 00:23:42.440
He's unfortunately missing his patented Mike hammer mustache here because
425
00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:44.319
this is the perfect time to be twirling it with
426
00:23:44.359 --> 00:23:48.039
what he's going for. I wonder if he's chosen this
427
00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:53.519
tack for the character because of how understated Alan Arkin
428
00:23:53.640 --> 00:23:56.839
was and because, let's face it, that in nineteen eighty two,
429
00:23:57.400 --> 00:24:01.039
that movie is still fresh in people's minds Arkins performance
430
00:24:01.079 --> 00:24:03.680
is still sitting there. Stephen King in his book Dance
431
00:24:03.720 --> 00:24:06.839
maccob has an entire section devoted to this film and
432
00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:09.160
that was like nineteen eighty and he's describing as one
433
00:24:09.160 --> 00:24:11.599
of the most horrifying experiences you could see. He's talking
434
00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:14.839
about a theater where the exit signs were burned out,
435
00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:18.160
so the entire audience was burned was in total blackness
436
00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:21.359
during the finale. So I wonder if Keach is going
437
00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:25.720
he did it so subtly let me just giggle and
438
00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:31.440
be happy as opposed to quiet and ultimately outwardly menacing.
439
00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:33.319
Did you know they wanted to kill me?
440
00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:37.200
I did. I knew it even before they did.
441
00:24:38.279 --> 00:24:41.240
They were awful images, and that's why you saw threw them.
442
00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:43.440
The lovely thing was the way I let them set
443
00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:46.039
it all up. Oh that silliness, A meeting in the
444
00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:47.359
parking lot, the whole thing.
445
00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:49.359
They had comic book mind.
446
00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:51.400
So he did it their way right until the end.
447
00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:53.920
You would have to think that that was a deliberate
448
00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:57.240
choice on his part because it is so diametrically opposite
449
00:24:57.640 --> 00:24:59.880
of what Alan Arkin brought to the role. I mean, he,
450
00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:03.359
like you said, he's doing everything but twirling his mustache. He's,
451
00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:08.119
for lack of a better term, he's flouncing about the
452
00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:11.759
apartment as he's describing his scheme and their role in
453
00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:14.920
it and how all of this, Whereas Alan Arkin, I think,
454
00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.000
is sitting through the whole analogue that happens in the movie.
455
00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:22.359
Should we should we get to that moment yet, because
456
00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:25.319
it's it's hard to keep talking about his performance without
457
00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:28.680
mentioning the part that goes completely batchet over the top.
458
00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:30.400
I mean, it's crazy.
459
00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:32.279
HP, Why are you trying to rest to our finale? Like,
460
00:25:32.519 --> 00:25:35.359
you know, where do we go after after that moment?
461
00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:38.759
Because we're dancing around it. Let's all right, let's let's
462
00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:41.720
back up for a minute. Yes, I would say, he he,
463
00:25:42.039 --> 00:25:45.000
he must have had that top of mind as he's
464
00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:48.119
doing this. As I think anyone playing wrote would that
465
00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:50.480
they're they're kind of in the shadow of Alan Arkin
466
00:25:50.599 --> 00:25:54.440
because not only is it a definitive performance, but because
467
00:25:54.480 --> 00:25:58.880
it's committed to celluloid, it's not like a theatrical performance
468
00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:02.640
or play a lot live theater performance where you just
469
00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:05.039
have the word of mouth to say, oh, that person
470
00:26:05.160 --> 00:26:08.640
was really good in that role. People can just pop in,
471
00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:11.079
they can watch it on TV, they can pop in
472
00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:15.440
a video cassette or later a DVD. Alan Arkins performance
473
00:26:15.480 --> 00:26:19.880
is captured forever, so it's only ever as far away
474
00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:23.000
as your nearest entertainment system.
475
00:26:22.839 --> 00:26:25.599
Right now available on to be for free.
476
00:26:26.359 --> 00:26:28.160
Exactly, which I think is one of By the way,
477
00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:31.480
one of the wonderful things about this series is, as
478
00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:34.400
Father Malone mentioned, these are all things that you can
479
00:26:34.440 --> 00:26:39.279
find for free, so enjoy that. That is just it's great.
480
00:26:39.680 --> 00:26:41.599
It's just so easy. You can hear this and check
481
00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:44.960
it out anyway. So anyway, my point is, you have
482
00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:48.960
if you're essaying the role of wrote, you've got to
483
00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:53.559
figure out a way to separate yourself from Alan Arkins performance.
484
00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:55.960
And I think that's exactly what he did here, because
485
00:26:56.440 --> 00:26:58.759
even though he begins, maybe in a little bit of
486
00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:01.759
an homage to Row, he starts out with the glasses,
487
00:27:01.799 --> 00:27:03.359
doesn't he comes in with sunglasses.
488
00:27:03.359 --> 00:27:06.559
Absolutely, he's completely aping Alan Arkin when he walks through.
489
00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:09.960
He's meeting everyone's expectations when he walks through the door
490
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:12.119
for the first time. Oh here we go, We're gonna
491
00:27:12.119 --> 00:27:14.759
get some Alan Arkin. Now, I got to say.
492
00:27:14.920 --> 00:27:15.000
So.
493
00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:18.160
We talked about this a little bit beforehand, and I
494
00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:23.400
mentioned that for me, Stacy Keach's is inseparable from my
495
00:27:23.559 --> 00:27:25.640
camera because that was on TV when I was a kid.
496
00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:28.920
That was my first exposure to Stacy Keach. I know
497
00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:33.240
that he has history as a comic comedic actor. He
498
00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:36.319
was in Cheech and Chongs, Thy Dreams, He's done a lot.
499
00:27:36.599 --> 00:27:39.319
He's a very versatile actor. But for me, that's all
500
00:27:39.319 --> 00:27:41.400
he ever knew him as. So to see him in
501
00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:45.480
this is to appreciate that the man has range and
502
00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:47.799
he can play a lot of different types of roles,
503
00:27:47.799 --> 00:27:50.920
not just the hard boiled detective and not just the
504
00:27:50.920 --> 00:27:54.200
clueless cop. He's really he's actually very good in this.
505
00:27:54.759 --> 00:27:58.400
Yeah, this was my first exposure to mister Keach, and
506
00:27:58.440 --> 00:28:01.799
then on the heels of this, it was as you mentioned,
507
00:28:01.880 --> 00:28:05.920
Chiechen Chong's Nice Dreams. So for me, Stacy Keach has
508
00:28:06.039 --> 00:28:10.000
always had range because he went from this terrifying performance
509
00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:14.759
to this ineffectual bumbling he's been up and smoke as well.
510
00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:18.000
Yeah, he's really. As I was watching this, I actually
511
00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:21.119
was thinking the older Stacy Keach I think might have
512
00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:24.079
actually made if they ever made a live action Dark
513
00:28:24.119 --> 00:28:26.200
Knight Returns. I think he might have actually made a
514
00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:28.000
pretty good older Bruce Wayne.
515
00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:31.440
Oh my god, absolutely, if they had made in nineteen
516
00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:34.200
eighty eight. Yeah, yeah, he.
517
00:28:34.200 --> 00:28:35.720
Had the right He had the right build for it,
518
00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:37.599
he had the right look. Either that or even he
519
00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:40.000
actually might have even made a good Jim Gordon also
520
00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:42.400
because he does look like Commissioner Gordon a little bit
521
00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:45.680
with when he had white hair, but he had the build.
522
00:28:45.880 --> 00:28:48.839
He was stocky, a little wide. But yeah, to see
523
00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:51.079
him in this and to rewatch this after so many
524
00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:54.359
years gave me a new appreciation for how good he was,
525
00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:56.160
Like I said, because I in my mind he was
526
00:28:56.200 --> 00:28:58.519
already type cast as a hard boiled detective.
527
00:28:58.680 --> 00:29:01.640
You want to see a fantastic performance of Stacy Keach
528
00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:05.240
nineteen seventy two, The Life and Times of Judge roy Bean,
529
00:29:05.640 --> 00:29:09.759
starring Paul Newman. Paul Newman is horrifically miscast in the role.
530
00:29:10.200 --> 00:29:14.559
John Millius wrote that movie, and Wow, Stacy Keach shows
531
00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:18.079
up as a character named Bad Bob who is an
532
00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:22.440
albino gunfighter, and it must be seen to be believed.
533
00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:26.440
Stacy Keach sounds Stacy Keach is fucking fantastic. He seems
534
00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:30.200
down for anything. He didn't ever seem bound by any
535
00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:36.319
genre or medium. He fluidly going between television and movies
536
00:29:36.359 --> 00:29:39.680
his entire life, and always a solid performance. All I
537
00:29:39.720 --> 00:29:41.559
can say is, mister Keach, we love you.
538
00:29:42.519 --> 00:29:45.319
He's really good. Like I said, I'm so glad to
539
00:29:45.400 --> 00:29:48.880
have seen this and rekindled my admiration for the man.
540
00:29:48.920 --> 00:29:49.599
He's really good.
541
00:29:50.160 --> 00:29:55.079
Oh boy, let's talk about mister Keach's biggest choice in
542
00:29:55.160 --> 00:29:59.400
this play now. In the regular play, as HP has mentioned, wrote,
543
00:30:00.160 --> 00:30:05.519
his compatriot Lisa, who has smuggled the drugs and it's
544
00:30:05.559 --> 00:30:07.039
not a compatriot at all. He was there to kill
545
00:30:07.079 --> 00:30:08.519
her at the airport, right.
546
00:30:08.759 --> 00:30:11.440
Yeah, that's what motivates her to give up the doll
547
00:30:11.480 --> 00:30:13.839
because she gets off the plane. In the movie, she
548
00:30:13.960 --> 00:30:17.079
sees him waiting for him on the tarmac or whatever,
549
00:30:17.359 --> 00:30:20.400
and in a panic, she hustles over to this guy
550
00:30:20.440 --> 00:30:23.519
getting off a plane who is Susie's husband, gives him
551
00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:25.160
a sob story about I got to get this to
552
00:30:25.160 --> 00:30:28.039
a kid at the hospital. He takes the doll, and
553
00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:32.920
then she gets intercepted by Wrote and eventually murdered by him.
554
00:30:33.079 --> 00:30:36.880
Right and yeah. In both versions, when Sergeant Carlino and
555
00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:40.720
other guy are in the apartment with Wrote, they make
556
00:30:40.759 --> 00:30:44.000
the discovery that a rote has already placed the body
557
00:30:44.039 --> 00:30:46.920
of Susie or not Susie placed the body of Lisa,
558
00:30:47.319 --> 00:30:50.720
who was the drug mule, into the closet there. Right,
559
00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:53.839
That's the last we hear or really see of Lisa
560
00:30:53.920 --> 00:30:56.480
other than as dialogue for the rest of the thing.
561
00:30:56.559 --> 00:31:00.680
She doesn't really come back up, and certainly Alan Arkin
562
00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:03.680
doesn't really lean into what he did to her at
563
00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:05.720
all at the end of that film. But here in
564
00:31:05.799 --> 00:31:10.319
this adaptation, while the finale is going down, the finale
565
00:31:10.680 --> 00:31:15.160
involves wrote he's killed both of his partners in this.
566
00:31:15.400 --> 00:31:18.440
They're both dead now, and he's alone with Susie in
567
00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:21.480
the apartment. He's chained the door and he intends to
568
00:31:21.519 --> 00:31:24.319
get that doll. Susie has turned the tables on him,
569
00:31:24.440 --> 00:31:25.880
knocked out all the lights, but now he's got in
570
00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:29.359
the upper hand again and by opening the refrigerator. That's
571
00:31:29.359 --> 00:31:33.119
how it ends anyway. But before that, while he's interrogating her,
572
00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:35.200
alone with her in the apartment, and she knows he's
573
00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:37.200
got the knife, and he's got a thing of gasoline
574
00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:40.519
and he's taunting her. Stacy Keats has decided to open
575
00:31:40.599 --> 00:31:44.680
up Lisa's purse that he has kept missus wrote she's
576
00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:47.920
referred to. And then he proceeds to put on makeup
577
00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:52.799
during his monologue and dialogue with Susie, which the think
578
00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:53.640
of this one HP.
579
00:31:53.920 --> 00:31:56.039
And it's not even it's not even just that he's
580
00:31:56.039 --> 00:31:58.480
putting on makeup, but he's putting it on in a
581
00:31:58.599 --> 00:32:03.119
very exaggerated fashion, like the lipstick is big and smeary
582
00:32:03.160 --> 00:32:06.799
on his lips, He puts rouge on. He even produces
583
00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:11.519
an ear ring and puts an earring on. What the disconnect.
584
00:32:11.559 --> 00:32:14.640
That's weird enough as it is, but as he's doing this,
585
00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:19.279
he is basically describing, almost beat for beat, how he
586
00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:23.240
murdered Lisa, this woman Lisa, and what she was saying
587
00:32:23.240 --> 00:32:25.880
to him, and she was begging for her life. And
588
00:32:26.680 --> 00:32:29.400
I had to I watched it, and then later I
589
00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:32.279
had to go back and rewatch just that scene because
590
00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:34.160
I was watching it really late for the first time,
591
00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:36.039
and I had to say, did I hallucinate that? Did
592
00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:41.480
I dream that Stacy Keach was applying makeup grossly while
593
00:32:41.519 --> 00:32:45.359
he is basically taunting this woman and threatening to murder her.
594
00:32:45.880 --> 00:32:49.559
And there it is, And it's such a weird, weird
595
00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:55.240
it's an inexplicable choice, but it's such an indelible image
596
00:32:55.319 --> 00:32:58.960
to me that, honestly, like, I can forget everything else
597
00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:01.680
about this production, but this will stick with me because
598
00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:06.200
it's so out of left field and so jarring as
599
00:33:06.359 --> 00:33:09.039
a tableau. That's happening is anything I've seen in these
600
00:33:09.480 --> 00:33:12.200
sort of cable plays. I don't know what was going
601
00:33:12.200 --> 00:33:14.359
through your mind as you're watching this play out foam.
602
00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:17.240
It reminded me that that image that I had carried
603
00:33:17.240 --> 00:33:20.440
in my head of Stacy Keach since childhood. The one
604
00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:24.119
of him in the white suit also included glistening lipstick
605
00:33:24.519 --> 00:33:28.039
as he was lunging. I was shocked that I had
606
00:33:28.079 --> 00:33:30.519
forgotten about this, but then I had forgotten a good
607
00:33:30.599 --> 00:33:35.720
portion of it. But certainly yeah, inexplicable. Let's explicit now
608
00:33:35.839 --> 00:33:41.039
is the choice here that Harry wrote will recount his
609
00:33:41.240 --> 00:33:46.119
murders and put on trophies of his victims and assume
610
00:33:46.200 --> 00:33:48.559
their identity for a moment. Is this a common thing?
611
00:33:48.720 --> 00:33:52.319
Because here's the thing the psychopath wrote that Alan Arkin
612
00:33:52.759 --> 00:33:57.799
gives us. Is that low key psychopath here we mentioned
613
00:33:57.839 --> 00:34:02.160
the joker. This is a lunatic performance of his, like,
614
00:34:02.279 --> 00:34:05.160
once this makeup has gone on, he's way the fuck
615
00:34:05.200 --> 00:34:07.039
over the top. I'm not saying it's a bad performance.
616
00:34:07.079 --> 00:34:10.920
It's a good performance. It's just I'm wondering if he
617
00:34:10.960 --> 00:34:14.079
has made that choice that that's what he's doing, or
618
00:34:14.119 --> 00:34:18.000
has he decided that wrote is has some sort of
619
00:34:18.039 --> 00:34:22.760
dissociative sort of situation, or what I think is more
620
00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:27.440
likely than anything, This production comes on the heels of
621
00:34:27.679 --> 00:34:30.519
Brian de Palm was Dressed to kill, which had made
622
00:34:30.519 --> 00:34:36.440
a huge stir with a transvestite villain or transsexual villain.
623
00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:38.440
For me, I think you would have to. I don't
624
00:34:38.440 --> 00:34:41.800
think it's some indication that the character is gay or
625
00:34:41.840 --> 00:34:44.800
anything like that. I don't think it's that thought through.
626
00:34:45.400 --> 00:34:48.079
It feels it's I don't know. I read somewhere. I
627
00:34:48.119 --> 00:34:51.800
know actors they love props. They love to have business
628
00:34:51.840 --> 00:34:54.639
to do while they're delivering lines. It could be somebody
629
00:34:55.039 --> 00:34:57.400
lighting a cigarette, rolling a cigarette and lighting it as
630
00:34:57.480 --> 00:35:01.079
part of their whatever. I think this was partially just
631
00:35:01.159 --> 00:35:04.360
because actors like to do stuff with their hands and
632
00:35:04.440 --> 00:35:07.519
have business while they're delivering lines. And I think for
633
00:35:07.960 --> 00:35:10.519
this was just yet another way for him to differentiate
634
00:35:10.599 --> 00:35:14.840
himself from the Alan Arkin version of wrote this is
635
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.679
so unexpected and like I said, so indelible that it's
636
00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:23.519
a shocking choice. But here we are still talking about
637
00:35:23.599 --> 00:35:27.119
it's forty somewhad years later, so it's interesting. What I
638
00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:30.039
would be curious about is, let me ask you, have
639
00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:32.719
you ever seen any other productions of Weight until Dark?
640
00:35:32.760 --> 00:35:35.280
Is there anything approaching the weirdness of this moment.
641
00:35:35.719 --> 00:35:39.800
I've not seen it produced with this choice for Rote
642
00:35:39.960 --> 00:35:44.440
as a character. This is an actor's choice or director's choice,
643
00:35:44.440 --> 00:35:47.239
because this isn't in the book of the play. Yeah,
644
00:35:47.639 --> 00:35:50.920
the thing is scene through the lens of today's current
645
00:35:51.400 --> 00:35:57.000
sexual lens. This is beyond problematic, but is I just
646
00:35:57.039 --> 00:36:01.039
don't understand the intent behind it to comment on it
647
00:36:01.079 --> 00:36:03.280
other than it's weird and nicky and maybe not the
648
00:36:03.320 --> 00:36:04.599
best choice.
649
00:36:04.480 --> 00:36:08.039
Certainly, as you said, and with two modern viewers, it's
650
00:36:08.039 --> 00:36:12.559
definitely problematic or only hints at how weird and awful
651
00:36:12.599 --> 00:36:16.400
it is and squishy it is, but it's I don't know.
652
00:36:16.519 --> 00:36:21.599
I again, he's good as Rote, but he swings too
653
00:36:21.719 --> 00:36:27.960
far in the manic jokery, giggly, having way too much
654
00:36:28.039 --> 00:36:32.159
fun with this psychopathic role. That's that's why Alan Arkin
655
00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:35.519
will always be more effective, because he does way more
656
00:36:35.519 --> 00:36:38.920
with way less. It's hard to imagine Arkin making a
657
00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:41.079
similar choice with his version of the character.
658
00:36:41.400 --> 00:36:44.119
Yeah, I don't think he had any evil intent in
659
00:36:44.159 --> 00:36:46.440
his heart. I don't think he was trying to punch down.
660
00:36:46.639 --> 00:36:49.800
But at the same time, it's maybe one for the
661
00:36:49.920 --> 00:36:53.440
dust bin. He's certainly scary. He frightened me. Look, here's
662
00:36:53.480 --> 00:36:56.280
the thing. If you're comparing this to the original film,
663
00:36:56.320 --> 00:36:59.000
there is no comparison in performances. Alan Arkan is just
664
00:36:59.000 --> 00:37:04.559
fucking terrifying and completely believable, and Keach leans into cartoonishness
665
00:37:04.880 --> 00:37:07.639
from time to time, and a lot of times it
666
00:37:07.719 --> 00:37:11.880
feels like, as we've mentioned, just a way to differentiate
667
00:37:11.960 --> 00:37:15.119
his performance from Arkins, and it just feels like you
668
00:37:15.199 --> 00:37:17.840
don't need to go that hard. But as it turns out,
669
00:37:17.880 --> 00:37:20.360
we have an actual answer, right we do.
670
00:37:20.559 --> 00:37:23.440
This was an interview that Stacy Keach did with the
671
00:37:23.480 --> 00:37:27.079
Seattle Gay News in April two thousand and nine. The
672
00:37:27.159 --> 00:37:29.920
question was put to him by the interviewer. He says,
673
00:37:30.320 --> 00:37:32.840
towards the end of the interviewer says, and wait until
674
00:37:32.880 --> 00:37:35.039
dark with Catherine Ross. Towards the end of the show,
675
00:37:35.079 --> 00:37:38.480
your character pulls out lipstick and a feminine handkerchief, implying
676
00:37:38.559 --> 00:37:43.480
transvested behavior. What inspired that interpretation and Keats's response is
677
00:37:43.519 --> 00:37:45.960
interesting and it lines up with what you were saying earlier.
678
00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:49.119
Favl alone, I thought it would be dramatic. This character
679
00:37:49.159 --> 00:37:52.320
had power over her and yet she couldn't see him,
680
00:37:52.440 --> 00:37:54.960
but the audience could see me. I thought I'd show
681
00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:58.480
a duality, something theatric and dramatic. Plus it was something
682
00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:01.519
to distinguish my interpretation of a role that was so
683
00:38:01.599 --> 00:38:04.039
well done in the movie. So there you go. That's
684
00:38:04.079 --> 00:38:04.840
exactly what we.
685
00:38:04.719 --> 00:38:07.719
Thought, did Quentin Tarantino go that hard in two thousand
686
00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:09.239
and one when he took over the role.
687
00:38:09.719 --> 00:38:14.119
I can't imagine anything more horrifying in a different way
688
00:38:14.320 --> 00:38:18.039
than seeing Quentin Tarantino play the role of Rote, because
689
00:38:18.639 --> 00:38:21.920
on his best day, the man is nowhere near the
690
00:38:21.960 --> 00:38:24.960
actor that I have. Either of these gentlemen are at
691
00:38:25.159 --> 00:38:26.199
Arkin or Keach?
692
00:38:27.119 --> 00:38:30.480
And I remember you have you not seen on the radio?
693
00:38:31.079 --> 00:38:34.000
Sh it's terror? I don't need to, because I've seen
694
00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:37.199
all of his bit roles in all of his movies,
695
00:38:37.239 --> 00:38:40.239
all the cameos that he does. But and I remember
696
00:38:40.280 --> 00:38:43.960
when he got that part yet in that production of
697
00:38:44.000 --> 00:38:46.400
Weight Until Dark, and it was it's stun casting. Let's
698
00:38:46.480 --> 00:38:48.440
call it what it is. I would not have put
699
00:38:48.440 --> 00:38:51.800
it past him, being flamboyant and his choices to do
700
00:38:51.840 --> 00:38:53.840
something like that, but I would. It would have surprised
701
00:38:53.880 --> 00:38:57.320
me to no end if any of the other wrotes
702
00:38:57.559 --> 00:39:00.599
throughout the play's history have done anything close to that.
703
00:39:01.079 --> 00:39:03.760
But I guess in some way you could you could
704
00:39:03.840 --> 00:39:07.559
just mark that as another bit of fearlessness from Stacy Keach.
705
00:39:07.599 --> 00:39:10.840
The man doesn't care. He wanted to put his own
706
00:39:10.920 --> 00:39:14.039
stamp on the role, and by God, that's exactly what
707
00:39:14.119 --> 00:39:17.880
he did. Whether it stands the test of time as
708
00:39:17.880 --> 00:39:21.960
far as sensitivity is where that's what we're discussing, but
709
00:39:22.639 --> 00:39:25.400
it's certainly his own. No one can't stay.
710
00:39:25.280 --> 00:39:27.840
Different, right, That is one way to describe it. Do
711
00:39:27.880 --> 00:39:29.159
you recommend people go watch this?
712
00:39:29.639 --> 00:39:33.079
I do, I do, but I think it's very worthwhile.
713
00:39:33.199 --> 00:39:36.360
I'm such a fan of live theater anyway. I guess
714
00:39:36.360 --> 00:39:38.760
people should understand that going in. I think we both are.
715
00:39:39.239 --> 00:39:43.440
And this is such a great opportunity for us to relive,
716
00:39:43.719 --> 00:39:47.480
recapture the sort of wonder of these shows. And this
717
00:39:47.559 --> 00:39:49.360
is a great example of that because I don't get
718
00:39:49.360 --> 00:39:52.199
out to as much live theater as i'd like to,
719
00:39:52.800 --> 00:39:55.840
and that's what these shows did so well. They brought
720
00:39:56.039 --> 00:40:00.159
the theatrical performance to your living room, and that's that's
721
00:40:00.159 --> 00:40:01.880
what I got from this as well. It was fun.
722
00:40:01.880 --> 00:40:06.239
It was like watching a live performance. And the performances
723
00:40:06.280 --> 00:40:09.280
are all at a minimum, they're decent. Some of them
724
00:40:09.320 --> 00:40:12.159
are better than others. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. What
725
00:40:12.199 --> 00:40:14.039
did you think? What was your experience watching them?
726
00:40:14.039 --> 00:40:16.119
After all these years, you know, we've been getting a
727
00:40:16.119 --> 00:40:21.599
glut of live productions on television. These days, whether it's
728
00:40:21.760 --> 00:40:26.280
re enactments of old episodes of sitcoms or hey, it's
729
00:40:26.320 --> 00:40:32.079
Grease Live, Rocky Horror Live. And I understand the resurgence
730
00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:34.719
and popularity. And it speaks to what you said, which
731
00:40:34.760 --> 00:40:36.400
is it's nice to be able to sit at home
732
00:40:36.599 --> 00:40:39.960
and view professionals doing the thing and something that you
733
00:40:40.079 --> 00:40:41.719
might not have gotten a chance to go out and
734
00:40:41.719 --> 00:40:43.639
spend one hundred and fifty dollars to sit in the
735
00:40:43.679 --> 00:40:46.679
back row. But I will say that this is the
736
00:40:46.719 --> 00:40:49.360
way I prefer it. This is a film will a
737
00:40:49.400 --> 00:40:52.920
tape of a production going on on stage, where it
738
00:40:52.960 --> 00:40:56.920
seems like all of the recent television versions are just
739
00:40:56.960 --> 00:41:02.280
attempts to make movies in real time. They're very impressionistic,
740
00:41:02.360 --> 00:41:04.440
and they have lots of sets and moving parts and
741
00:41:04.480 --> 00:41:06.840
the cameras always and this is like sitting in the
742
00:41:06.880 --> 00:41:08.920
audience and watching a stage production. So that's what I
743
00:41:09.519 --> 00:41:12.199
like most about it. I still don't like Wait Until Dark.
744
00:41:13.800 --> 00:41:16.639
I think it's mediocre at best. I think Frederick Nott,
745
00:41:16.719 --> 00:41:18.920
who wrote it, he also wrote dial M for Murder,
746
00:41:18.960 --> 00:41:21.480
and I think that is far superior. There's a reason
747
00:41:21.480 --> 00:41:24.320
they keep redoubtedly they keep remaking dial M for Murder
748
00:41:24.400 --> 00:41:26.440
which they've done two or three times now. Not so
749
00:41:26.519 --> 00:41:29.119
much this wait until dark business. Although it's ripe for
750
00:41:29.199 --> 00:41:32.719
a redo, right and they fire up the NBC engine.
751
00:41:33.159 --> 00:41:35.719
There's rifts on it. I think. I remember years ago
752
00:41:35.840 --> 00:41:38.559
Victoria Principal did a TV movie where she was a
753
00:41:38.599 --> 00:41:40.960
blind woman, and not exactly the same thing, but I
754
00:41:41.000 --> 00:41:43.400
think there's been rifts on it. By the way, one
755
00:41:43.400 --> 00:41:47.360
of my one of my favorite movie experiences was seeing
756
00:41:47.400 --> 00:41:50.280
dial m from Murder in the original three D at
757
00:41:50.719 --> 00:41:51.760
in Brookline at.
758
00:41:51.639 --> 00:41:53.519
The Foolage Corner.
759
00:41:53.599 --> 00:41:56.840
Yeah, it was fantastic, but anyway, yeah, and I agree.
760
00:41:56.840 --> 00:42:00.880
I was actually encouraged when George Clooney think with spearheading
761
00:42:00.920 --> 00:42:05.760
this notion of doing live performances on television. He did
762
00:42:05.800 --> 00:42:08.480
a failsafe was the thing that I remember most. He
763
00:42:08.559 --> 00:42:10.360
might have done one or two others I don't recall,
764
00:42:10.480 --> 00:42:13.679
but I thought the attempt is noble enough in my mind,
765
00:42:13.800 --> 00:42:17.039
because you just don't see these anything like this much anymore.
766
00:42:17.400 --> 00:42:20.719
To your point, it's usually, let's redo an episode of
767
00:42:20.760 --> 00:42:24.000
different strokes or facts of life or all in the family,
768
00:42:24.039 --> 00:42:26.199
and that's fine. I watch those and I enjoy them,
769
00:42:26.599 --> 00:42:30.719
but there's usually some attempt to gust see them up
770
00:42:30.719 --> 00:42:33.719
for a modern audience. To your point, there's nothing for
771
00:42:33.840 --> 00:42:38.639
me like seeing just a videotaped performance of a theatrical
772
00:42:39.079 --> 00:42:43.320
play played from start to finish, no artifice, no crazy
773
00:42:43.440 --> 00:42:47.360
editing or camera tricks, just the actors doing their thing.
774
00:42:47.719 --> 00:42:49.280
I agree, like a good.
775
00:42:49.159 --> 00:42:52.360
Old playhouse ninety. All right, that's we're gonna wrap this
776
00:42:52.400 --> 00:42:55.199
one up here. Thank you all for listening, all you patrons.
777
00:42:55.239 --> 00:42:57.280
This is a patron on the episode. I know I
778
00:42:57.320 --> 00:42:59.480
introduced it as the sort of inaugural one where we're
779
00:42:59.519 --> 00:43:01.559
sharing it with everybody, but that's actually not the case.
780
00:43:01.599 --> 00:43:03.840
This is just for you guys. Thank you all for listening.
781
00:43:03.960 --> 00:43:07.400
Keep subscribing or something I don't know, get more subscribers, HP.
782
00:43:08.079 --> 00:43:09.679
Where can these other people find you?
783
00:43:10.239 --> 00:43:14.079
Oh? You can find me. I co host the podcast
784
00:43:14.159 --> 00:43:18.079
called Night Mister Walters, a taxi podcast with yourself. Of course.
785
00:43:18.599 --> 00:43:23.000
I also am producing new episodes of another podcast called
786
00:43:23.039 --> 00:43:26.159
Noise Junkies, which is a music podcast. Please check that
787
00:43:26.239 --> 00:43:29.119
out as well. I'm an occasional guest on the Culture
788
00:43:29.159 --> 00:43:33.079
Cast with Chris Stashu. Enjoy that, and I have a
789
00:43:33.519 --> 00:43:36.920
band camp site called Hpmusicplease dot bandcamp dot com.
790
00:43:37.239 --> 00:43:38.599
As for me, I'm not going to give you the
791
00:43:38.639 --> 00:43:42.079
Patreon thing. You're already here, but keep listening to Midnight Viewing.
792
00:43:42.079 --> 00:43:44.400
We're on there twice a week, you know that. Monday's
793
00:43:44.559 --> 00:43:47.480
Father Malone's Weekly round Up with Ripley Gene, and then
794
00:43:47.639 --> 00:43:50.320
Fridays or Thursdays or whenever the fuck I feel like it,
795
00:43:50.480 --> 00:43:53.840
well put out either Horror Anthology podcast with Towns from
796
00:43:53.880 --> 00:43:56.599
the dark Side I Do with Christashu and mister Mike
797
00:43:56.679 --> 00:44:01.159
White from the Projection Booth and Anthology's Attack with Antonio Lapour.
798
00:44:01.320 --> 00:44:04.599
There's too many shows, and it's all for you, all
799
00:44:04.719 --> 00:44:08.239
for you Patreon, and then I dive off with the
800
00:44:08.280 --> 00:44:10.880
news on my neck. Remember Damien, anyway.
801
00:44:11.920 --> 00:44:14.559
Give till it hurts people support, support.
802
00:44:14.760 --> 00:44:17.159
No, they're already supporting. Thank you guys, Thank you everybody.
803
00:44:17.280 --> 00:44:18.280
We'll talk to you next time.
804
00:44:18.400 --> 00:44:21.840
I played Harry Road Junior in the script and he
805
00:44:21.920 --> 00:44:28.679
was He's a monster. He's a statistic, drug ridden psychopath.
806
00:44:29.400 --> 00:44:32.920
I think playing heavy is liberating if you have a
807
00:44:32.960 --> 00:44:36.000
lot of rage and negativity in you that you want
808
00:44:36.039 --> 00:44:39.039
to xpia and I'm afraid to do in your own life.
809
00:44:39.159 --> 00:44:41.400
I have my problems like everybody does, but I don't
810
00:44:41.440 --> 00:44:44.119
think that's one of them. It wasn't liberating for me.
811
00:44:44.360 --> 00:44:46.480
In fact, I don't think anybody was terribly happy with
812
00:44:46.559 --> 00:44:48.719
what I was doing. For a long time, I had
813
00:44:48.760 --> 00:44:52.039
a plan for this guy, and that was that he
814
00:44:52.079 --> 00:44:57.280
gets unleashed the first time he pulls an iphon somebody,
815
00:44:57.599 --> 00:45:00.039
which was weeks into the shooting of the film I
816
00:45:00.119 --> 00:45:03.280
was playing him. Was what looked like him being a
817
00:45:03.400 --> 00:45:06.199
kind of a laid back guy, but it wasn't laid back,
818
00:45:06.360 --> 00:45:08.840
like a snake being laid back. He's just waiting for
819
00:45:08.880 --> 00:45:13.119
an opportunity. He was on every conceivable drug known demand,
820
00:45:13.559 --> 00:45:15.800
and they were all kind of counteracting each other, so
821
00:45:15.840 --> 00:45:19.480
he was in a state of negative neutrality. I remember
822
00:45:19.519 --> 00:45:21.920
that for like two minutes after I pulled a knife
823
00:45:22.199 --> 00:45:25.599
for the first time in the script, everybody breathed a
824
00:45:25.679 --> 00:45:28.199
sigh of relief, and everybody's, oh, yeah, okay, we see
825
00:45:28.199 --> 00:45:30.119
what he's doing. Now it starts to make sense.
826
00:46:00.679 --> 00:46:01.960
Sa