“That’s a wrap,” Eddie Murphy #67, Tony Scott, a cigar and a movie star in his arm and the entire cast.Enjoy this very special pictorial of my pictures I took on this set in 1987.
Director Tony Scott, fresh off TOP GUN, giving direction to Brigitte Nielsen in her final thrilling scene.Cigar in hand as always, this picture is my favorite one of all I took on this location in The Baldwin Hills Oil Fields. Dent Industries is crooked oil business. I could’nt have posed this better, this content laded direction. Cigar, pointed finger, with hat he wore directing TOP GUN. Picture means more to me now than then. Absolutely great director at work….
Eddie Murphy in his impressive Detroit Lions vintage jacket.He is about to be shot in this plot twister moment…
Brigitte Nielsen right before this action sequenceis to beginfilming.At this time she is married in real life to Sylvester Stallone
I’mShotgun alongside the Panavision camera. Sequence is the pivotal twist in this film. Who shoots who…Tony Scott in previous picture is directing our blonde star on her movements, what the camera sees and reaction needed.
Brigitte twists and turns as her character is taken out. The legendary Buddy Joe Hooker is assisting this action sequence.
Our female lead, Karla Fry- is about to pull the trigger and kill Axel Foley but Sergeant John Taggart shoots her before she can unload her gun.
A round of applause..excellent death scene indeed!
Buddy Joe Hooker doing his own stunt being shot off this rooftop. Dent is a fictitious oil company.
This crime is all but solved…
Beverly Hills P.D.
Case solved…Axel explains to the chief of Beverly Hills police.
Let’s make 3 – This show is Good. Sure enough, #3 was to be made and they used Universal Studios for several sets and animations for Wally’s World- Theme Park.
Brigitte Nielsen and Donnie Norden. Brigitte never stopped working out in between scenes, part of a hockey family. Her brother was on set and he plays Hockey in Sweden.
Downtown Los Angeles…distant. The final shot of the day on location in the Baldwin Hills Oil Fields.
The Sequel Everyone is waiting for…
Beverly Hills Cop- 2 filmed the action packed finale on a location I grew up on, in Baldwin Hills. In 1956, The Highway Patrol, starring Broderick Crawford, used these exact roads and sets in an episode titled Oil Lease. In that episode a bazooka was used as a weapon to hold up oil workers from their hard earned payroll checks.
30 years later – rocket launchers replaced bazookas as weapons of choice. In each case, the law outsmarted the bad guys and apprehended them. On this set of COP 2, Tony Scott is the hottest director in Hollywood. Fresh off TOP GUN- he’s pumping out gold. This was the first time I met him. Later on, he would film scenes with Deja vu, starring Denzel Washington. A chemistry exists when actors and directors have synchronicity that takes over the stage. It’s a rare quality.
TOP GUN and Deja Vu are serious films, while COP 2 is a comedic adventure. One of my all time favorite sets I’ve ever been on was Blade Runner, directed by brother Ridley Scott. Quite the brother combo. Tragically, Tony took his life by jumping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro after a bout with brain cancer. Even in his own death- a finish fit for a sad blockbuster movie was his chosen final scene. Legends never die…they just move on.
Tony Scott R.I.P… This stone at Hollywood Forever Cemetery has his name carved into it and all his films. A fitting tribute to a man who lived life like his own movie…
This sensational MGM Lot 3 photo is compliments of Todd Spiegelberg. Todd and David Barns excel at matching pictures of sets on these studio lots. They connect these pictures to the films and T.V shows filmed on these dusty old streets…
We’re taking control of your TV set..“Please Stand By”…That was your standard test pattern. It was also the original title for this series that lasted two seasons. The creators feared audiences would change the channel. They thought this was an emergency broadcast system interruption, so the name was scrapped.“Leave my TV alone!”…Donnie Norden– 1963“Looks like a friendly planet“…The Zanti Misfits 1963.“Look Out Kid” –The Zanti Misfits…Terrorizing TVs everywhere.Vasquez Rocks...A very popular location. I have filmed there, Sliders-TV series. Wind Machines…blowing dust and tumbleweeds.“Another film company rolling in here again… I’m sick of terrorizing these idiots!”MGM Lot 3 and Vasquez Rocks blend together.MGM has Baldwin Hills as a western backdrop.“I think I got bit”…”I’ll get help if I don’t die first““We’re up here earthlings”Headed to MGM Lot 3…MGM Lot 3- Two other sci-fi series film back here. The Twilight Zone and One Step Beyond. All three, including My Favorite Martian used this very street. One of two church steeples on Europe Street can be seen sprouting behind the western corner. Combat filmed this lot regularly in 1963.The simple two window, one door set right of the driving M.P. appeared in the Dust episode of the Twilight Zone. In that episode, a man gets saved from a gallows pole by some Magic Dust. This building was the jail where the man was incarcerated.This picture of mine is same angle as screen grab. Notice The Mutiny on the Bounty masts are sticking up above the Western Street- far end.Zanti set two years prior- The Twilight Zone episode “DUST”Wait till the Zantis get a hold of you!Oh shoot!…“They’re here”…Confirmed…“I’m a classic monster- buddy!”The MGM grip department mountedthis capsule on the roof. A studio union operated spacecraft.This kind of stuff ends up in our property storage on the backlot. And possibly, it will land at my house to complete its mission. Two kids could easily carry this to my MGM version of Mission control.These Zantis are available for purchase on-line…duplicates of course.Technically, “Zantis are trespassers!”“Where’s MGM security when you need them?”...“I want- off this lot!““Get back trespassers!”“I brought a capsule full of friends”“Run little guy!““O.K. this is worse than I thought”“Air Police- MGM Police- everybody open fire!”“I got some grenades off the Combat set”…Zantis, Germans, this lot has ammo everywhere…This is where- War is filmed.“That ought to do it!”The aftermath…The camera twists in the wind as the TV tries to regaincontrol through its roof antenna.Moving the antenna doesn’t fix this problem, it’s just magic.These trains block the view into the lot, we work this fence line. An irrigation drain is on the public side of a chain link fence. We run up and down it to view into the lot. We look in between the wheels. The Horse Soldiers is a film starring John Wayne. John Ford directed it. The movie had one of the best battles ever staged out of these trains.This is a hiding spot, but MGM was well aware of it. Salt Rock guns shoot at you here as you attempt to exit. The irrigation run -off trench worked like a WW 1 trench. Many Culver Residents met their fate in this gully that still occupies and exits along what is now Raintree condos. This area was like Gettysburg. If you’re going to get shot, it’s probably in this location. That’s a real good name for this town…This is my MGM Art Department photo of this street in this story.I am fortunate to have been given my own private stash of MGM backlot pictures from Tony Vallone, he headed the Department. He was hired by MGM in 1938. He was a kid in the Real Boystown when MGM went on location to film in Nebraska. Over the decade of the 70’s, my backlot notoriety spread through the studio as I became…The Phantom. I spent an entire afternoon going through cabinet after cabinet of MGM stills. I was handed an envelopes and told “take what you wish!
I felt like Burgess Meredith in “Time Enough at Last.” I met this Penguin at MGM on the film “Rocky.” He was hanging out outside a stage. I went up to him. I told him how much I love his Twilight Zone episodes. “Mr Dingle” I call him…
We are on Ghost Town St…51.This irrigation catch basin trench still exists along the southern border of Raintree. It was there back when MGM was. This was a very strategic trench; we could see clearly into Lot 3. Trains partially blocked our views down the Western Streets. Security chases often conclude here. You’re successful if you escape without a buttocks full of salt rock. This was like a trench from W.W1. Its purpose was to protect MGM, now Raintree, from storm runoff water. Three other catch basins on the oil field side provided additional protection. The runoff cascades down these hills toward the old backlot. There have been times where this backlot flooded. But we had canoes and several different watercrafts to overcome flooding.Lot 3 looking west-Raintree Condos now surround a smaller but original lake.This picture from an oil derrick captures Lot 3, Raintree in a similar current angle today. The field in the foreground is currently a Pumpkin Patch for kids… Mr. Bones will greet you here. The eucalyptus trees are original to MGM and that straight line is the Eastern MGM Lot 3 boundary. The best place to sneak in at. There is usually no one around these parts and when you’re inside the studio, the jungle is your friend. Some rusted old fence posts with barb wire still stand, representing MGM. Chain link fences were used facing hills, so camera doesn’t pick up a wooden fence. Those were used on Jefferson and Overland Blvd. Half the lot had green wood fences with- No Trespassing Signs, Forbidden by Law, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer attached everywhere. Charles Bronson close up Death Wish 4. Plexiglas camera protection…shots fired!Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, and Telly Savalas appeared in the Twilight Zone before making this film.This pointed ear concept developed forDavid McCallum would beused on Leonard Nimoy as Spock.
1963- MGM Backlot 3
The Outer Limits filmed a few episodes on the MGM backlots in its two-year run. Joseph Stefano wrote most of the episodes. He just completed work with Alfred Hitchcock. He wrote the screenplay for Psycho. He was this show’s –Rod Serling. Many monsters and props got reused after the show was canceled. Many of the crew ended up on a new series-Star Trek. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy both appeared in The Outer Limits before liberating outer space.
The process used to make David McCallum’s ears pointed in The Outer Limits would be copied for Spock.
Talent existed everywhere and Cinematographer Conrad Hall photographed 15 episodes. He was the man behind the lens for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in 1969. This series ended abruptly due to a schedule change. it would be located as the lead in for Lawrence Welk. The opposition was Jackie Gleason, my dad’s favorite guy. It was an attractive show for a younger audience, so this change to a mature time zone lead in failed. I watched it. I love this show’s opening television take over. It seemed real. You can tell by my kid picture. This TV is for watching Combat, back off Space Men.
My last post was located on the Universal Backlot, featuring The Birds, in 1963. 21 miles away, these Zanti creatures were terrorizing MGM, by way of The Vasquez Rocks. MGM Lot 3 fits the landscape needed to match up those real rocks with sets built at MGM. Lot 3 is the most rustic backlot ever built.
A 67-acre playground of bombed out European Villages, Western Towns… complete with blowing tumbleweeds, jungles with canoes, tall ships and even a paddleboat. Half-tracks, tanks, jeeps, trains and planes are parked everywhere. All these sets have a 1400-acre oil field directly behind it.
The Baldwin Hills are the backlot extension very few are aware of. But you have seen them. Laurel and Hardy and The Little Rascals used dirt roads. These roads can easily get you lost. They are located right behind MGM Lot 3. I worked on Beverly Hills Cop 2 in the hills overlooking these sets. We were firing bazookas; “Dent Industries” was an fictitious oil company. I recently saw an episode of the Highway Patrol. It starred Broderick Crawford himself in 1955. He was pursuing oil larceny suspects. They were robbing payroll with a Bazooka of all things. If you live long enough, everything happens twice. Bazooka attacks, 30 years apart. I also met Charles Bronson up here, overlooking this studio, on Deathwish 4.
We chatted about the Twilight Zone episode titled- TWO. He starred with Elizabeth Montgomery in that classic on MGM Lot 3. We were pointing sets out, where they stood, from atop these hills. Then we talked –The Dirty Dozen. The famous climax on a backlot located in England. Yep, “The Chateau” was on a backlot across the ocean at MGM’s British Studio. Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson and John Cassavetes fought for their lives as the Chateau goes up in flames. This show happens to be my all-time favorite movie along with Butch Cassidyand the Sundance Kid. My 3rd favorite is Kelly’s Heroes.
So, these hills are extensions of the backlot, and Howard Hughes owned a hilltop overlooking Desilu. Howard was going to build a mansion up on the top. It would overlook Los Angeles and the distant Hollywoodland sign in the Hollywood Hills. However, something happened in 1924. Richfield/Standard Oil discovered oil reserves up here. An oil boom sprouted wells surrounding this entire area. Howard sold the property to Charles Wright. He stated, “The last thing I want to see is oil wells out my living room.” Wrightcrest became a Culver City Street. Charlie built himself a mansion where Howard had planned to build one. This change came after crude was discovered.
Rance McGrew and Mr. Garrity and the Graves have the hills off in background in those classic Twilight Zone episodes. Combat avoided camera angles that would connect to these hills.
What’s cool was this lot was a wildlife area due to its location. Skunks, possums, raccoons-like the one that took out hunting dog- Rip and Hyder Simpson. This is-that place, The Hunt was done here. Rod Serling would walk these trails developing concepts and plots. I daydream here too.
Owls, hawks, crows, and doves combine aviation forces here. Snakes, squirrels and gophers complete this fun backlot. Horse stables still exist up in these hills. When Combat filmed, birds took flight and rodents took cover on the safer oil field side. Filming turned into escape time for these critters who fled this studio home when Combat yelled “ACTION”
When the lot was quiet, you could hear the churning oil wells. MGM Lot 3 was the best backlot in history. The legend of Arnold Gillespie and his MGM ocean still resonates back here in this wilderness area.
Lastly, The Zanti Misfits was ranked #98th on TV Guide’s 100 Greatest Episodes of all-time.
That’s today’s story, everywhere I go –I kick up movie dust
Good news…I have regained control of my TV- just in time to watch some quality reruns!
Let’s Go Back Jack and Do it Again… There’s those old kids again they never stop climbing fences
Book signing at Sony – If MGM Guards could see us now. They are represented fondly in this book Maureen is holding.
I hear sirens , Hurry up and get this shot!
Huron Avenue, that’s my street, and all the kids who live on it know my new hobby… Trespassing MGM.
My helmets and ammo made a big impression. While playing Combat, I had a belt full of blank ammo shells and a fancy helmet. I had found the helmet in a building in German Village, when we first met.
Her backyard is France …1944. I was at war. While running through the neighbor’s yards, I met this girl while I was shooting other kids. Now, I just tolerate girls mind you. She is different. I think- I kind of fancy her,and her bombed out backyard!
I always thought she would have made a swell boy. Her name is Maureen. The prettiest girl around these parts, I find myself wanting to impress her. I want to show her around MGM, but I am torn. Jimmy and I have an alliance that girls do not belong there. They would slow us down and they scare too easily. Dare I say our first crush is MGM lot 2. I figure she will probably say “No” to trespassing anyway. I casually ask her if she would like to come with me. I offer fair warning: “I guess this is illegal.” She rubbed her hands together and said “Let’s Go.”
Understand, most of the boys are scared. The prettiest girl around is all in. That is, if she can climb.
Well this Saturday morning she strolled down to my house in comfortable pair of running shoes. We walk the tracks on the steel rails themselves, like a tight rope. When we arrive at the barb wire pole behind Grand Central station. I brief her. I fill her in on what to expect. We kick at the gravel alongside the rails. This is where the rubber meets the road, literally. If she climbs this successfully, it’s a good sign we will work out. She is dressed in cutoff jeans and a T shirt, not a whole lot of protective clothing. I am going to get a kick out of this!
” There you are, that’s the climb, I will go first, watch where I grab.” I say
I’m now inside as her pretty little head pops above the fence, followed by her pretty behind. The prettiest climb I have ever seen. Slow-motion, pretty, like a shampoo commercial. She jumps down and looks thrilled. I dampen her enthusiasm by letting her know she needs to do it faster … next time. Silently, I am Frigging impressed.
I first show her the trains. We sit in the plush but filthy seats and talk about things. We avoid sports and the army. We just talk about stuff. There is really nowhere we have to be…any set is cool. Somehow, I am relaxed. This is going well, this girl thing.
I feel brave and we cross the field to a building we named Boystown. We named it after seeing a movie that used it called- Girls Town. Jimmy and I changed it to Boystown, since we’re boys…
We find a bench on the bottom floor. I wanted to bring it up to the top of this building. We can sit and view the Tarzan lake from a nice high vantage point. She helps me get this bench up to the top of this 4-story maze. I couldn’t do it without her so she is already paying off.
She is covered with dust but she even looks prettier filthy. Plus, none of the guys smell this good. The first piece of furniture is in the new Penthouse fort we are building. The Red Bronco has come in, and does the the rounds, below us. We can see the main gate from here, that’s big. We know we are alone when the guard exits that main gate. Not sure when he comes back, but, he is gone now…we are alone.
Jane’s looking pretty good to me right now …up here, not wanted or being chased. She’s is an angle. She glows in this dim room. Sun beams direct themselves on her glittering blonde hair. Her blue eyes are silver. A strong attraction takes over. I release a Tarzan like yell projecting over her towards Tarzan Lake. It is powerful enough for the birds in the forest below to take flight…
I lead her down from this maze of a building. We run across a dirt road holding hands. So Romantic, we our overdressed for this party.
Then, we cross over the lake. on a tiny foot bridge. I have a row boat stashed with a couple of paddles, just above the pond edge in thick bushes. Aah, the perfect way to end this afternoon. We float around listening to a transistor radio playing 93 KHJ…Boss Top Thirty hits.
The Real, Don Steele. Charlie Tuna, Humble Harve and Robert W. Morgan spin classic vinyl on a classic lake. The prettiest girl I know framed by this exterior,
Jethro Tull’s hit song Bungle in the Jungle evokes a journey to the jungle. The lyrics take you across the green pond. You traverse under two bridges. Meanwhile, the sun slowly begins to sink into a blaze of orange blinding light.
This area is secluded and a guard would probably have to leave the vehicle to see us…that rarely happens. We even doze off as we sit low in the boat. Hazy sun reflects through the trees and off the water. The lake is the sky as clouds in the sky duplicate their image on the water, as do our faces. The lake is a giant mirror of its environment. A pair of ducks mingle around us, as does a bull frog. This lake is loaded with crawfish, minnows, and carp but more so than anything else- history!
This is like dream, this legendary place is my new backyard. And, I have a new friend to explore it with. We dock and step off into the jungle that is magical and gigantic. I step on a twig, as it snaps, a thousand birds took off like a Hitchcock movie.
That can work for us. I remind myself of this. If the birds suddenly take off, it’s a signal someone bad may be coming.
The only problem the lake has for us is that it is located in the middle of the lot. This means you have a long run from here to the fence if things go bad. Better off hiding, most likely. I am always thinking ways to keep ahead of my pursuers. Small stuff adds up. I’ll take any advantage I can.
We end our day hungry like typical teenagers, so climb out over an old green wood fence. Maureen is probably the dirtiest kid in town right now. Using lake water to clean up smeared dust and created mud. She looks like a native in war paint. and now she smells like an aquarium. There is just something magnetic about her…
We picked a spot not barbed to exit. Maureen has already earned an advanced climbing badge. I grade kids on my own set of expectations like an Iowa Test at school. swears she will someday pole vault this sharp obstacle.For now…she’s one pretty -pole dancer.
Donnie thinks he so tough…Guys are the biggest chickens! That fence is nothing…
She runs over to her apartment. “Wait till she looks in the mirror. Good-by Jane,” I salute. She looks like she exited a Hollywood Movie.
I thought to myself as I was going to bed…”Girls aren’t so bad after all!”
Maureen and nephew Chad… notice MGM in background…German village and China St.
Leon, you asked for more Maureen, who doesn’t. Try this on for size.
A typical day in the life in our private Disneyland…
Written and lived by Donnie Norden and Maureen Miller…
This story is in my Book Two-“The Uninvited Visitor”
A very special moment on the set of ...King Kong
All activity on the lot indicates to me Kong is close to ready. However, sneaking in Lot 1 is dangerous. The MGM guards all know me. They know I don’t belong on this set or lot…Period!
However, I need to see where we’re at, like some producer kid. It’s time to pay Little Italy a visit. But first, I’m getting a couple of donuts, one orange iced, the other, a Kong cream pie. It’s a specialty donut, in honor of the Great Ape, being dressed just across the street. This donut shop, as is this city itself, is all things Kong.
It’s across this street I’m headed next. I have my little bag of delights. I need to climb a fence. A billboard of Logan’s Run proudly displays itself there. Poor Farrah. She is getting shoe marks all over her face. Her skimpy outfit is marked too on her section of this advertisement board. It’s the only spot I can get over at… sorry Farrah!
First, I hold my breath and close my eyes. Then, I toss this tiny donut package over the sign. I hope it floats softly like a balloon, limiting damage.
23rd Century -Get in spot for MGM Lot 1
I’m next. After grabbing one hand hold, my tennis shoes slip and slide. They glide like a cartoon on this extra-large movie poster. My right hand barely clasps the top of the fence. My momentum buys me the extra inches to pull myself up to the top. Then I go over, reuniting with my tiny bag of donuts. I may have just landed in the 23rd Century.
Kong is getting the star treatment and looks like an actor getting finishing touches before hitting the set.
The fabricated tree area has been switched to a rubber hose forest. Miles of hoses or tubes have been cut. They fit inside this massive, formidable 40 ft object. It has been hibernating here for months. He would be just a rubber doll without these arteries for oil to activate all his digits and facial expressions.
Activity is taking place around me at a mesmerizing pace…I find myself in between pit covers, artificial trees, and pallets of rubber hoses towering above me. I appear like Johnny Quest, with donuts!
That’s a fancy car kicking up all that dust…
A long black Mercedes-Benz wheels onto the set. It sends up a cloud of dust as it suddenly stops. I realize the attention all shifts to a dapper man, dressed in attire fit for a producer. I lick orange frosting off my fingers. I stand behind some artificial trees to get a better view of this person of interest. This is him, I think to myself, it’s Dino…
Everybody stares at the car, waiting for the great man, the producer, to emerge. Even King Kong stares, impassive, his giant ape face frozen 40 feet above the car. After a couple of seconds, the producer, Dino De Laurentiis, bounces out of the car. There is no doubt that he does this for dramatic effect. He flounces with energy. He pays absolutely no attention to the rest of us on the set – about 50 people. Looking up, he locks eyes with King Kong. He is here to see the giant monkey. De Laurentiis doesn’t even glance at the maybe three dozen special effects people who are swarming over Kong. Several of them take up positions at big instrument consoles. Each console has a series of levers that control hydraulic valves within Kong.
Slowly, gradually, I hear the hum of electricity. Then the whoosh of valves. Kong is coming to life… Maybe. Dino De Laurentiis has come to see the beast move. And it better move and move well. The Hollywood Press has been hinting at problems with the giant hairy star of the movie. Rumors suggest that the whole movie is at risk. And that is no small risk. It’s 1976. The $30 million budget for King Kong makes it the most expensive film in history at this point. Many people in Los Angeles think De Laurentiis’ remake of the 1933 classic starring Fay Wray is a folly. They believe this because the original is such an iconic movie. Additionally, they think no movie should cost $30 million and depend so much on unproven, untried special effects.
Giant jungle robots, indeed. Many movie insiders in ultra-competitive Hollywood are happy. They take not-so-secret delight at the prospect of seeing De Laurentiis fall flat on his face. He is the flamboyant Italian interloper. De Laurentiis is moving to the United States. He had a career in Italy. His work focused on spaghetti Westerns and niche films like Barbarella. He also worked on derivative, knockoff spy and gangster movies. Some people think De Laurentiis is too big for his riding britches. Remaking King Kong could be his Icarus moment. It is the moment when he flies too close to the Hollywood sun.
De Laurentiis is looking less than cocky at this moment. He looks worried, his eyes never straying from Kong’s as he stands a few feet from his car, waiting. I’m enthralled, this is a very big moment in this film. He doesn’t speak. He doesn’t need to. Men scramble, levers are pulled, hums and wheezes and whooshes get louder. Is the big ape going to come alive for the big cheese?
Dino De Laurentiis…
Kong’s ears wiggle. There is a murmur on the set, but nobody shouts or cheers. Nobody says anything. Everyone is concentrating so much on the big robot that I can step out of my hiding place. I just turned 16. I am not supposed to be anywhere on this studio lot. I definitely should not be here on the tightly closed, high-security set of the biggest movie ever. This is happening during a critical special effects test. I am about half a football field away from De Laurentiis. I am next to the jungle scenery that has been my hiding place.
Kong blinks, slowly. This is promising. But the robot needs the capability to make much more complicated movements with its arms and legs. He must look real – and huge, and menacing – on the screen. If Kong moves like a robot, the movie will be not only a flop, but a laughingstock.
Slowly, Kong’s left arm rises, a little. He blinks again. His head turns left. His head turns right. His partially raised left hand is in a fist. Slowly, the ape’s massive fingers, the size of a real Gorilla’s legs, start to unfurl. I sneak a quick glance over at the Mercedes, and De Laurentiis is starting to smile.
Kong raises his left hand higher, so his hand is chest high, palm toward his chest. I suppose if you know how a 40-foot gorilla would move, the robot’s movements look pretty natural. Kong extends all four fingers and his thumb, so his palm is facing his chest. Amid more wheezes and whooshes and buzzes, slowly Kong folds his thumb in. Then his pointer finger, ring finger, and little finger. His middle finger remains extended.
King Kong is giving Dino De Laurentiis the bird.
Re-creation – photo.
The set erupts in cheers and shouts and laughter. I eat my cream filled Kong donut as Kong stares down, paralyzed. He passed his audition, barely… People clap, and so does De Laurentiis. With a cigar in his mouth, Dino flips the bird at his creation. He smiles as he exhales a plume of tobacco toward his leading man. This is the moment it’s become clear that the King Kong remake would become a mega-hit. This time it stars Jessica Lange in her first film role, along with Jeff Bridges. The film is released at the end of this year. I can feel it, all this hard work is culminated in this magical moment.
As fate would have it, after the exchange of gestures, everything is green-lighted to move to the backlot. The largest scenes yet remain to be filmed. Kong stands proudly with his finger extended over the Italy assembly area, I see everyone laughing and celebrating by smoking. The only one not smoking is me and Kong.
As the thrill of victory wears off, Dino leaves in a cloud of dust, excited as Dr. Frankenstein when his monster came to life before his eyes.
Kong stays in the same position, not contorting even for a moment to wave farewell. It turns out, this demo was like test driving a used car. Our hero has a hydraulic leak in the miles of rubber hose inside. This leak has depleted our star of the life blood. It’s needed to pump his massive joints. He’s not broken, just leaking oil. like some old used car.
Don’t worry-I’m hiding behind stacks of rubber Kong hydraulic tubing sitting on a sea of pallets…
Kong will maintain this posture until the leaking section is identified. It needs to be replaced. I’m not sure if Dino caught wind that Kong’s hand is stuck after he left the test range…
As we say in Little Italy…cambio olio -sprigati, sprigati, –Ti stiamo aspettando!
Welcome to Hollywood fellas, Winchell’s donuts is across the street, you still got a lot of work to do…
I better get out of here, Little Italy needs to cut up more rubber hose, Pronto!
Phantom of the Backlots 