The main antagonist and relentless killing machine…
I chose this model to -“shoot the shit.”
Watch what you wish for because a year after this film titled ‘Westworld” was released -we crossed paths on the MGM backlot. I was trespassing, a hobby I developed to start the decade of the 70’s. I snuck in -uninvited of course, to my own magical westworld. Movie studios, superpower stars and villains walk side by side. Nothing unusual there, and this adult themed Enchanted Kingdom really existed in the movie world I was growing up in.
In 1974- on the set of “The Ultimate Warrior”, I had the moment of taking direction during a scene with Yul, We stared intently at each other as I walked out of a doorway and ended up behind the director. Yul never spoke- he stared as I stood behind the director as the director expressed what he was looking for in this martini shot-the last scene of the day.
This 30 second moment, like a showdown with a Gunslinger, was quick but lasting forever in my own seemingly robotic data base. I have been fortunate being in the entertainment business to have met everyone, however brief, but my late afternoon meeting with this gunslinger was forever a moment I will cherish. No words were required, we downloaded our thoughts and visualization recognition made us like two robots, one highly paid and legendary, the other was just a trespasser on a journey through Hollywood.
Written and Lived by…Donnie Norden
Phantom of the Backlots 