I found the article I mentioned below--"'Vee Vere Young Then': The
Filming of Hammett, An Interview with Joe Gores and Ross Thomas by
Brian Garfield" in the Spring 1984 issue of The Armchair Detective.
The dialect used in the title is in mocking tribute to the director
Wim Wenders. I don't know if the article has ever been reprinted but
it should be. It is a great piece. I will hit a few highlights but
there's much more to enjoy in the complete article.
The trek from the 1975 novel HAMMETT to the released movie took nearly
seven years. Garfield had several sessions with Gores and Thomas about
their experiences and eventually taped a final session with them on
January 10, 1984. Joe Gores did the first five drafts of the
screenplay, the last three in painful collaboration with Wim Wenders.
Then Tom Pope was hired and did two drafts, followed by Dennis
O'Flaherty, before Ross Thomas was hired.
Thomas said he was called about 1977 or 78 and asked if he would be
interested in polishing some dialogue. He said "sure" but heard
nothing more until 1980. Thomas then received a call from producer
Fred Roos who asked the writer to meet with him and Lucy Fisher, who
was in charge of production at Zoetrope. At this point 80 percent of
the movie had been shot by Wenders and they ran it for Thomas. He
told Garfield that other than a few lines cribbed from THE MALTESE
FALCON (which would have to be cut) "…it bore little resemblance to
Hammett or to Joe's novel or to any other thing I'd ever seen." He
told the two executives "Well, you've got trouble."
The executives told Thomas "What we'd like you to do, we'd like a
beginning and an end, see, and then we can use all this in the middle.
What we really want are bookends." As the movie was already over
budget, they were anxious to save the footage that Wenders had shot.
Because of attention being paid to other productions, no one from
Coppola on down had viewed any of the footage until recently. Thomas
told them it might be feasible but some new footage for the middle
would have to be shot. They asked him to return in a few days when
Coppola would be available to talk. Eventually, Thomas returned and
met with Coppola and about 15 other people in a session that was taped
with a transcript later delivered to all parties.
After a lot more back and forth that I will skip for brevity's sake,
the people at Zoetrope became quite enthusiastic and asked Thomas to
do another screenplay and even asked if he wanted to be "writer in
residence at Zoetrope" (which died a quick death a few days later due
to the financial troubles at the studio).
Skipping ahead, the movie seemed to be shut down but after a
"filmstrip" (based on Thomas' script)done by legendary director Sam
Fuller and a few actors was put on video and impressed Coppola, the
movie was on again. I knew Fuller had a cameo in the film and that he
was a pal of Wenders from reading Fuller's book but I didn't recall
the deeper involvement from my ready of this article many years ago.
The video was important because according to the article Coppola never
read anything and this was the best way to communicate with him.
New financing was provided by Orion and they were re-shooting almost
the entire picture. A key role played by Brian Keith was cut and
re-shot with Peter Boyle in the role. Coppola wanted Thomas "…to keep
the actors on the lines, to keep them from straying off." Thomas hung
around the set but was one day thrown out after Forrest blew up. In
a meeting later with Coppola, Forrest explained, "You know what Ross
does, don't you? He takes off his glasses and sighs. Every time we
get through sayin' the words, he takes off his glasses and sighs."
Coppola informs Forrest and the rest of the group that he really likes
the script but more importantly (he says with great emphasis) "…The
Chase Manhattan BANK likes this script!"
They go back to finish the shooting and Thomas says he didn't think
anyone interfered with them after that. "I know I didn't."
Thomas thought the finished movie was "awful—but not as awful as it
was." Gore thought it came out as a "pretty good "B" picture and
Garfield said that in that vein he thought "it is an enjoyable one."
Garfield offers a bit more detailed critique that I found quite
interesting. He faults the casting of Forrest who lacked magnetism as
well as Wenders style which constantly reminds the viewer they are
watching a movie. But he also says that Joe Gore's straight ahead
story telling didn't blend well with Thomas' incisive humor.
One last bit that I found hilarious—Gores says in one of the early
scripts that he read Hammett is having his shoes shined by a black kid
and then suddenly looks at the kid and says "Spade! Sure!" And thus
was his detective named Sam Spade.
Now I need to see the movie again. One thing I want to watch for that
I missed the first time is the small role Ross Thomas played as a
corrupt politician.
Richard Moore
--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Moore" <moorich@...> wrote:
>
> Ross Thomas also worked on the adaptation by Wenders of Joe Gores'
> novel HAMMETT, which was an interesting failure as a film. Somewhere
> I have read a transcript of a round robin discussion by the writers on
> that movie. If I can find it, I'll provide more details. If my
> memory serves, Thomas came in late in the process.
>
> Richard Moore
>
> --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Vantheman@ wrote:
> >
> > Mark amazing recall there. Ross Thomas did write an episode of
> Simon and
> > Simon
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 12/14/2008 7:54:01 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
> > DJ-Anonyme@ writes:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > I seem to remember hearing Thomas did some TV script doctoring, too.
> > Seems to me I remember a Mickey Mouse Gang in some show (Simon &
Simon,
> > or something like that) that was supposedly his addition. Am I
> > remembering anywhere hear the truth?
> >
> > Mark
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > **************Make your life easier with all your friends, email, and
> > favorite sites in one place. Try it now.
> >
>
(http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000010)
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
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