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RARA-AVIS: Hellaman and _Hammett_ (film)
On Sat, 11 Jan 1997, Tosh <tosh@pop.loop.com> wrote:
> Did Hellman interfere with the Hammett movie made by Wim Wenders?
> Or did she passed away before that film was produced?
According to Mellen, Hellman began to obstruct the film _Hammett_ in
December 1975, when she learned that Coppola had bought the film rights to
Joe Gores's novel. She tried to get Hammett's daughter Josephine to take
out a court order stopping the production (Hellman couldn't do it herself
because she wasn't actually *in* the novel) because of the 'pain' it would
cause the family, which went as far as a solicitor's letter, then things
seemed to cool off for a couple of years, until Hellman discovered in 1977
that Nic Roeg was set to direct --- what a film *that* would've been! ---
and, following another solicitor's letter, Roeg backed out. Apparently,
Truffaut turned down the film, which was then offered to Wim Wenders, who
took it on and tried conciliatory moves toward Hellman, which failed. By
1981, there were articles appearing which described the Wenders film as
'unreleasable' --- 'the stuff nightmares are made of' is how Wenders
described the project (see Mellen, 408-409).
I have a vague recollection of an article [*SIght & Sound*?] which said
there were 'two versions' of the film --- I think the film was abandoned at
one point because someone [the original Hammett character?] left the cast
---can anyone shed any light?
I don't have a release date to hand --- was it 1981 or later? --- and
Hellman didn't become a *finished* woman until June 1984.
Looking at Mellen's notes, a considerable amount of correspondence appears
to passed between Hellman, her solicitior, and the parties involved, which
must've made the whole enterprise very difficult---as Hellman intended. In
Mellen's words, the film 'sank without trace. Lillian, it appeared, had
worn out them all'
Eddie Duggan
BTW, if anyone has a copy of this film, preferably PAL, but NTSC will do,
I'd very much like to see it.
Please email me to make arrangements. Thanks.
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