On the Cheap: My Life in Low Budget Filmmaking
Author: Greydon Clark
Date: 2013-10-01 07:00:00+00:00
Description: During four decades Greydon Clark has worked in front of and behind the camera to bring some of the most memorable exploitation movies to life. “On the Cheap” is an in-depth, first person account of a lifetime spent in this fascinating Hollywood sub-culture. From the sexy pep squad of “Satan's Cheerleaders” to the dirty dancing of “Lambada, The Forbidden Dance,” to “Joysticks,” “Without Warning,” “Black Shampoo” and dozens of others, Greydon breaks down each of his films into easily understood categories: screenplay, financing, pre-production, production, post-production and distribution, allo
Publisher: Lulu.com

On the Cheap

My Life in Low Budget Filmmaking
by Greydon Clark

© 2013 by Greydon Clark – www.GreydonClark.com

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, transmitted or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

All photos from the author's collection.

Inquiries should be addressed to Greydon@GreydonClark.com
Published in the United States of America
Printed in the United States of America on re-cycled acid free paper

Cover design by Eddy Crosby

Special appreciation to Mike White and David Reskin

For Jackie, Trevor, Travis and all the cast and crew.

CONTENTS

- Pre-Title Sequence
- Opening Titles
- Satan's Sadists
- Dracula vs. Frankenstein
- Mothers, Fathers and Lovers
- The Bad Bunch
- Psychic Killer
- Black Shampoo
- Satan's Cheerleaders
- Hi-Riders
- Angels Brigade
- Without Warning
- The Return
- Wacko
- Joysticks
- Final Justice
- Uninvited
- Skinheads
- Sight Unseen
- The Forbidden Dance
- Dance Macabre
- Mad Dog Coll
- Russian Roulette
- Dark Future
- Star Games
- Mike Hammer
- End Credits

PRE-TITLE SEQUENCE

Somehow, I've been convinced to write my autobiography. Each morning I sit at my desk staring at the blinking cursor wondering what the hell I've gotten myself into. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to write my story in a modified screenplay format. I've written several dozen screenplays and think that format might be more interesting and informative for the reader. A screenplay is written in the third person, present tense. The writer describes the dialogue and action as if he or she were watching a movie screen – a dispassionate God's point of view. An autobiography, by its very definition, is written in the first person, past tense, the writer speaking directly to the reader telling the autobiographical story of his or her life.

INT. SLUG – DAY

A screenplay has a "SLUG" at the beginning of each scene designating whether it's interior or exterior, a brief description of the location and whether it is day or night. Each separate location requires a separate SLUG. If you were filming in a house, you would need a SLUG for each room you filmed in, kitchen, living room, bedroom etc. Each SLUG is numbered and that number becomes the scene number listed on the slate (sometimes called the clap board). The SLUG is invaluable to wardrobe, props, electrical, camera etc. to help them be prepared for production. When I write about each film I am combining my SLUGS into broad categories: screenplay, financing, pre-production, production, post-production and distribution to make the material more understandable. I'll place my first person narration in the area normally used for general description - which is the area you're reading now. You'll find dialogue in the middle of the page where dialogue is found in a screenplay. Like all dialogue, the writer hopes that the actors delivered the lines as written, most often not exactly... but close enough.

I realize that the casual moviegoer doesn't care how a film is made. They simply look at the film and enjoy it or not and that's the way it should be. The filmmaker doesn't put a flashing asterisk on the screen with a title card saying, "The actors only had take one and we only had an hour to film this scene." However I assume my reader is not a casual moviegoer and is interested in how I made these pictures, budgets, shooting schedules etc.

I'm bending the rules a bit, but if I followed rules, I never would've run away from home and joined the circus in the first place. Is everything a hundred percent accurate? Doubtful, but this is the way I remember it happening, as accurate and honest as I can be. It's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Greydon Clark
www.GreydonClark.com
Greydon@Greydonclark.com

Opening Titles

OPENING TITLES

I was born lucky; lucky to be born mentally and physically healthy; lucky to be born to parents who loved me; lucky to be born into a free society; lucky to be born where a person with little education, from a modest middle class background could follow their dreams; lucky that I fell in love with the movies; lucky indeed.

On February 7, 1943 I was born Greydon Dennis Clymer, son of Greydon Wayne and Edith Lucille in Niles, Michigan, a small town in the southwest corner of the state. My father was a barber in a one-chair shop in a neighboring town, Buchanan. My mother was a homemaker. I had an older brother, Larry, an older sister, Cheryl. When I reached my early teens, my parents attached a basketball hoop to a tree in our backyard. I became obsessed with shooting hoops and played for hours. During winter months, I shoveled the snow from a cement slab in front of the tree. By the time I got into high school, I had grown to 6'1" and started for the varsity basketball team. I never studied much in school and was an average student at best. The thought never occurred to me that I should continue my education, but I did want to play basketball in college. My grades were marginal and I thought that if I could put on my college application that I was president of my senior class, it might help. Most people knew me from being on the basketball court and I was easily elected class President. Unlike almost everyone living in southwestern Michigan, I was not a conservative Republican. My senior year in high school coincided with the 1960 presidential election between Kennedy and Nixon. I became a lifelong liberal. I loved going to movies and would see everything that came to town. There were two movie theaters in Niles, one a drive-in, the other an old single screen indoor. My grandmother on my father's side played the piano at this theatre during the silent movie days; this was as close as my family ever got to show business.

Valparaiso University was nearby and I received financial aid from the basketball coach to attend. I left home for Valparaiso in the fall of 1961, the first member of my family to go to college. I started on the freshman basketball team. That summer I got a job working at Clark Equipment Company in Buchanan. Working in their hot, noisy foundry taught me one thing – I didn't want to work in a hot, noisy foundry. I gashed my right hand on a piece of equipment and couldn't play basketball for a couple of months. I foolishly decided not to return to college. During the fall of 1963, I was mooching off my folks, selling cars in South Bend, Indiana when Dr. Martin Luther King arrived to give a civil rights speech. The car dealership needed someone to drive their car in a parade honoring Doctor King. I proudly volunteered.

CAR SALESMAN

You support that nigger troublemaker. How could you do that?

GREYDON

How could you not? He's a great man fighting for the rights of everybody.

I proudly drove a convertible with a group of local Dr. King supporters in the back seat. We arrived at the designated area and I waited to hear the great man speak. I never understood racism; how could one group of people somehow think they were inherently better than another group?

Ben Hecht once said, "If you had no education, no skills and no training, but plenty of ambition... show business was for you." It sounded like he was describing me. What did I want to do with the rest of my life? A tiny voice whispered in my ear, "Why not be an actor?" It was an improbable thought. I had never known anyone who acted. I loved the movies, was that enough? Actors appeared in movies, right? Why couldn't I be an actor? One thing stood in my way. I was a 21-year-old male citizen of the United States. There was something called compulsory selective service. I was about to be drafted into the United States Army.

It was January 1965 when I stood in line with several hundred other guys wearing nothing but my under shorts. It was a cold winter in Detroit and I was taking my final army physical. After several hours, I entered a large room with hundreds of guys being sworn in. When I got to the front of the line, I presented my identification card to a uniformed soldier. He shook his head and pointed to the far side of the room where there were five or six guys standing in front of a desk. I hurried to the designated area and waited in the short line. A soldier examined my identification card.

SOLDIER

You have a scar on your eardrum. You are classified 1Y.

A few months later, Lyndon Johnson expanded military operations in South East Asia and the army accepted everyone. If I'd taken my physical then, I would have gone to Vietnam and my life would have taken a drastically different path. I was very lucky that I did not have to participate in that damn war. My heart goes out to all the young men and women who went to South East Asia. It's the rich, old white men who send the young, mostly minority, men and women to fight and die in their wars. If those old bastards had to go to war, there would be fewer wars to fight. I had a childhood sickness that scarred my eardrum... lucky me. I was free to do anything I wanted... no excuses.... That voice whispered in my ear once again, "What about acting?" I always loved the movies – could I really be an actor? I didn't tell a soul that I was considering show business. It seemed so impractical, so far beyond my reach. I told my folks I was going to California because I liked the warm weather. It was February 1965 when I ran away from home and joined the circus.

HOLLYWOOD

I was about to turn twenty-two when I stopped at the intersection of Hollywood and Vine with a few hundred bucks in my pocket. My father and I shared our first names, Greydon. I liked the unusual nature of the name Greydon, but thought I needed a simpler last name than Clymer. I decided to take the last name Clark. Greydon Clark... sounded good. I found an inexpensive apartment and happened across a book titled, A Young Actor's Guide to Hollywood. John Morley was listed as an acting coach. I went to see him and he asked me to read a scene from Sweet Bird of Youth. I had never seen a play; he cued me and I read the appropriate lines.

MORLEY

You obviously have had no training. Were you ever in a play in school?

GREYDON
Too busy playing basketball.
MORLEY

Waste of time. You have potential. Class is five dollars. Individual lessons ten.

I think the potential he saw in me was the ten bucks. Morley was a tall thin man in his fifties. He was a former dialogue coach at the studios. When they discontinued their contract system he became an independent acting coach. I started seeing him twice a week. Within a month, I was nearly out of money and eating one fast food hamburger a day with peanut butter and crackers in the evening. I found a job selling super eight-millimeter movie cameras and projectors to people in their homes at night. I never told anyone at the sales office about my acting aspirations and never told anyone at the acting classes that I was selling crap door to door.

The luckiest day of my life was when Morley introduced me to Jackie Grumley, an actress in his class. She was stunningly attractive with a smile that took my breath away, big brown eyes, a fantastic figure; a charming, sweet, attractive girl. I can't say that I fell in love at first sight, but I certainly fell in lust at first sight. Jackie had grown up in Burbank and knew something about the business. She and her sister Bobbie worked as extras in West Side Story. She was attending class and working as a secretary for Chuck Connors, The Rifleman. I called her several times and wanted to get together, but she was not interested in a struggling actor.

I was good at selling the movie cameras and within six months I had my own little office on Ventura Boulevard with a half dozen guys going out each evening selling cameras for me. For the first time since coming to Hollywood, I was making enough money to save a few bucks. I joined a dozen or so actors in weekly classes where we did scenes from plays and were critiqued by Morley. I knocked on countless doors of agents but completely failed to get an interview. The thought of giving up never entered my mind. Some might accurately say that I was too dumb to quit. Before I knew it, two years passed since I left Michigan for Hollywood. Other than attending acting classes, I had made no progress toward an acting career. My sales work was paying the rent and I was surviving. Vicki Volante, an attractive young actress, stopped me after Morley's class.

VICKI

I'm being called back for a final interview on a movie. The director has been hitting on me. He wants me to be more than just an actress. Would you come with me and I'll introduce you as my boyfriend, maybe it'll help.

Did I want to meet a director of a movie? I'd been in Los Angeles for more than two years and the closest I ever got to a movie was when I bought a ticket. The next day Vicki and I met her director. Sitting at a small desk in a tiny office was Al Adamson, a thin, balding man somewhere in his late thirties. The office was so small that when Vicki stepped inside I had to stand in the open doorway. She introduced me as her friend; she did not use the term boyfriend. The phone rang and Al picked it up.

AL

Yes, I'll be playing tonight.

Their interview finished and, as we were leaving, I turned back to him.

GREYDON
What do you play?
AL
Basketball, you play? Any good?
GREYDON

I played in college... But it's been a couple years.

AL

Why don't you join us tonight at the Hollywood YMCA, around seven?

What an amazing piece of luck being Vicki's beard! If that phone call had come fifteen minutes earlier or later, I might have never had the opportunity to meet Al Adamson. The classic definition of luck is when opportunity meets preparation. I didn't know how prepared I was, but I thought this might be a big opportunity. That night I went to the YMCA to play basketball with Al. I had not touched a basketball for a full five years. I hoped I could still hit my jump shot. I played well enough to impress him.

AL
How do you know Vicki Volante?
GREYDON

Acting class. I knew she was meeting a director so I asked her if I could go along.

Since she introduced me as her friend and not boyfriend, I thought it was better not to get into the boyfriend thing.

AL

So you're an actor. We play here three or four nights a week. Want to be a regular?

GREYDON

Sure, of course I'd like that... Would it be okay if I came to your office and hung around a bit? If you need anyone to help, I'd like to do it.

AL
I've got no money to pay you.
GREYDON

That's not a problem. I'll just volunteer. I wouldn't expect to be paid.

Volunteer... Not expect to be paid... Those were magic words to Al.

HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS – PRE-PRODUCTION

Al was preparing The Fakers, later released as Hell's Bloody Devils. He was meeting with his production manager (PM), John Bud Cardos. A PM is an extremely important position on a film. He or she is the person responsible for coordinating the entire production for the director. Al had previously directed a couple of low budget pictures. Everything seemed so chaotic, so unplanned, so unfocused. He let me take the screenplay home and that night I read the first script I had ever seen. I went into his office every day and became an unpaid gofer.

Al began reading actors for various roles, he needed someone to read the lines opposite the auditioning actors. I was there. I was available. I was free. Who better to help him read the actors? It gave me a chance to show Al I could read lines. Rex Carlton, the writer and executive producer, was in the office several times a day. Most of his conversation with Al was about raising money for the production. A start date was set and I eagerly looked forward to the beginning of production.

One of the more difficult things for a young actor to do in Hollywood is to get into the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). There is a classic "Catch 22": no one can be hired on a film unless they are a member of SAG. No one can become a member of SAG unless they are hired on a film. Which comes first? Catch 22. If an actor finds a producer, who is willing to insist to SAG that he wants this particular actor for this particular role and he has interviewed other actors and has decided on this new actor, SAG is forced to allow the actor to join. When Al agreed to help me get into SAG, I was confident that meant I would get a part in his movie. It was the fall of 1967 and I just had my first real break in the movie business. Al and I played basketball several times a week, went to movies, lunch and even went to Palm Springs to lie in the sun and chase girls. He never asked me and I never told him how I was filling my rice bowl. I had half a dozen sales guys in people's homes every night selling the eight-millimeter stuff. I had been able to keep my two worlds completely separate. They were about to clash.

HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS – PRODUCTION

Al gave me a small role in the movie. I played an F.B.I. assistant to Broderick Crawford, an Academy Award winner for All the King's Men. I had my first and only line. I was sitting at a small desk behind Crawford, who turned to me with an outstretched hand.

GREYDON

This is the file you're looking for, sir.

That line was enough to get me into SAG. The difference between an extra and actor is simply that an actor speaks. I knew Crawford, from his television series, Highway Patrol. Scott Bradyand Kent Taylor were also in the picture. I knew Brady from western movies and Taylor from Boston Blackie on television. I was acting with "stars." I felt part of a team, each person wanting to make the best picture they could. I was on the set every day working as Al's personal assistant. I was not an assistant director (AD). An AD is a very specific job dealing more with the crew than actors. It seemed to me that Al was not as prepared as he should have been. He didn't know what he wanted from a scene. The production promoted Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch for the entire shooting schedule. In exchange, we filmed a scene with Colonel Sandersat a Kentucky Fried Chicken store. When it came time to film Colonel SandersAl waved me over.

AL

Greydon, I want you to go tell the Colonel to step up to the actors sitting at the table and have him say, "Ain't that chicken finger lickin' good?"

I was on a movie set for less than a week and still had only a vague idea of what was going on. I was young, dumb and brash but if Al wanted me to talk to Colonel Sanders, I was happy to do it. I stepped to the Colonel with a big smile, my hand outstretched.

GREYDON

I love your chicken. The director wants you to walk over to these young people sitting here and say... "Ain't that chicken finger lickin' good."

COL. SANDERS

I ain't a-gonna do it and I'll tell you why. When I first started selling chicken in Chicago they ran television commercials of me talking about finger lickin' good chicken. We got hundreds of phone calls saying, get that dirty old man off television talking about lickin' his fingers. So, I ain't a-gonna do it.

GREYDON

I understand. But this is a joke with these young actors. They're going to look at you and recognize the real Colonel Sandersand chuckle.

COL. SANDERS

That's very nice, son. But I ain't a-gonna do it.

I returned to Al and told him what the Colonel said.

AL

Go back and get him to do it.

I went back to the Colonel, who smiled and shook his head.

GREYDON

This whole scene is a little comedy about how much those two young people love your chicken and seeing the actual Colonel Sandersthey some fun with it.

COL. SANDERS

I ain't a-gonna do it.

I went back to Al, shaking my head.

GREYDON
He ain't a-gonna do it.
AL

Okay, let's just do the scene and see what happens.

GREYDON

Okay, Colonel, here's what we're going to do. When the director says action you walk over to the actors, smile at them and say something good about your chicken. They'll react with a chuckle of recognition... okay?

Al called for action and the Colonel stepped to the two actors.

COL. SANDERS

Ain't that the best chicken you ever tasted?

That's the first bit of direction I ever gave an actor. The Colonel took my direction and said, "I ain't a-gonna do it." The director of photography (DP) was Laszlo Kovacs. A DP, sometimes called the cinematographer, works with the crew to give the look of each shot that the director wants. Laszlo would shoot Easy Rider about a year later and became a world renowned DP. Al ran out of money and closed the production with half the picture finished. Cast and crew were free to leave the closed production and go elsewhere to work. After a few weeks, Rex Carlton got the additional funding to complete the picture. He got the money from the mob and when he was unable to pay them back, he filled his bathtub with warm water, slit his wrists and killed himself. There may be no business like show business but show business is one tough business. I was working on the production for over a month and loved every minute; it was exciting, interesting and intense. I was twenty-four years old and I wanted to make movies the rest of my life.

Al had his additional funding, gathered the crew and picked a date for filming to begin. The production was moving to Utah for three weeks to finish the movie. I had a decision to make; stay in Los Angeles to run my sales organization or go with the production to Utah. Not something I even had to think about, I wasn't going to blow this filmmaking experience so I could continue a door-to-door sales operation. I knew I could not leave my business and expect anything to be there when I got back. I went into the office two days before I was scheduled to leave for Utah and met with my best salesman, Chuck Goodman.

GREYDON

Chuck, I have an acting part in a movie that's shooting in Utah. Here's the deal: I'm going to give you this entire company for nothing. All I want you to do is take over the rent, the phones and the payroll. Do we have a deal?

GOODMAN

You're giving me this company and I don't pay you anything... you're crazy. Do you know how many failed actors there are in Hollywood?

GREYDON

I do. But this is something I want to do.

We made the deal; I wished him well and never looked back. I went to Al's office and he told me that he wanted me to ride with him to Utah. Working on this film was like my attending film school. I soaked up as much knowledge as I could about filmmaking. When you're filming interiors, you have to set lights up and adjust them endlessly. Day exterior requires a few reflectors and you're ready to go. Want to dolly... be prepared to wait while the grips set up and level the dolly track. Stage the actors with complicated movements... get ready for numerous takes. I was learning something new every day. One day we were filming a scene where an automobile speeds away from the camera moving in a right to left direction. Something went wrong and we had to do it again. Bud Cardos, the AD, told the driver to turn the car around and go to its first position.

GREYDON

Why don't we just film it while the car's driving back?

Bud looked at me as if I was a total idiot. I was.

CARDOS

The screen direction would be wrong.

I had no idea what he was talking about... screen direction? I closed my eyes and pictured the scene in my mind, trying to visualize it on a movie screen. I realized for the first time there was such a thing as physical direction on a screen. Objects moved toward or away from each other. Cars, planes, horses, people etc., all had to move in a particular screen direction. Either right to left or left to right, or up or down, in a physical direction within the screen. I had seen hundreds of movies and this very basic element had never occurred to me. If a person moves from the right edge of the frame toward the left edge in a shot, then the next shot he must also move from the right to the left, otherwise it looks like he has turned around and is going in the direction he just came from. When one actor speaks to another in a close-up, they must appear to be looking at one another, even though sometimes the actor who is off camera won't even be on the set. I had a lot to learn and enjoyed every minute of it. Utah solidified my thinking that the director of the movie was undoubtedly the best job on the set. Some crew members resented me, rightfully thinking I was exceeding my authority on the set. I was Al's friend and was acting as an "assistant to the director," which is the credit I finally received on the film. I helped with the casting, selecting locations, and generally asserted myself more on the set than my experience would allow. We headed back to LA in Al's Mustang.

GREYDON

So what's next?

I had no idea how difficult it was getting a movie made. More than a year later, Al shot additional footage and turned The Fakers, a James Bond rip-off, into Hell's Bloody Devils, a motorcycle movie.

THE LAST OF THE COMANCHEROS – SCREENPLAY

AL

I have a thirty-page outline of a Western story. I don't even have a script.

GREYDON

I'll write the script.

I jumped in without thinking. Al jerked his head toward me.

AL

You'll write the script? What makes you think you can write a script?

I had only seen one script in my life, but I was confident, perhaps over-confident.

GREYDON

I'll write it for free and if you like it and use it, you can pay me then.

AL

All right, I've got nothing to lose. I'll give you a shot. I'll get you the outline.

Al paid me a whopping total of two days SAG minimum for more than two months work. I visited the editing room and saw my scenes on a Movieola (a behemoth of a machine used to edit sound and picture). It was the first time I saw myself on film. I thought I looked okay, but the part was so small most people would not even be aware I was in the picture.

There was a wrap party at Al's apartment. I wanted to bring an attractive girl with me. My mind immediately went to Jackie. I called her about the wrap party. She may not have been interested in me, an unemployed, struggling actor, but she was no fool. Going to a movie wrap party was always good for a young actress. At the wrap party, Jackie made the impression that I knew she would. She was unbelievably good looking and had a combination of beauty, charm, and a naÃ¯ve sweetness to her that was irresistible to everyone. After the party, I took Jackie back to my apartment and tried to get romantic. She was charmingly not interested. Jackie knew what she wanted and I was not it.

It was late summer of 1967 when I got the story outline on The Last of the Comancheros. Comancheros were outlaws who slaughtered Indians and sold their scalps to white settlers. The hero, a man in his late forties, leaves his gang in the opening scene. Years later, he becomes sheriff in a small western town. When his old gang rides into town, conflict ensues. I had no idea where to begin. Whenever I have a problem there is always one solution; go to a movie. Sergio Leone's For A Few Dollars More was playing on Hollywood Boulevard. I sat in the darkened theater and imagined Clint Eastwoodplaying the lead in my screenplay. A movie needs character, conflict and resolution... the better all three, the better the film. One story element followed another, one character built on the other. It seemed easy, as if I was telling someone about a movie. This was long before personal computers; I began to write in long hand.

What if... I added the part of an infant Indian who was about to be killed by the gang; the leader saves him and raises the child on his own. Ten years later, he was the sheriff in a small western town and the young Indian was his surrogate son. I may have been a first time writer, but I was not a complete idiot. I put a good part in it for myself, a young deputy sheriff, a real co-starring role that goes throughout the movie.

One day when I was leaving Al's office, I noticed an attractive young woman in the lobby. I got her phone number and we began dating. Sandy was a nurse and among other many great qualities, had a small manual typewriter. I started typing the screenplay; at least it would look professional. I finished about half the first draft in long hand before I met Sandy. Putting those pages into a typed screenplay gave me a chance to do a rewrite on the first half of the script and I learned the real value of rewriting. I thought I had done a good job on the handwritten screenplay, but as I was typing and rewriting, I realized this was going to be much tougher than I first thought. You write, rewrite and rewrite again and you're still far from happy with the result. Another month and I was ready to show Al my first draft. He read the script overnight. The next morning...

AL

Not bad.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Not bad." That was good enough for me.

David L. Hewitt, a low budget producer/director, had an office at the Hollywood Stage. He was preparing a science fiction picture, The Mighty Gorga.

GREYDON

Anything in your picture for me?

We went into his office, he handed me a script and told me the part to read.

HEWITT

That's good. I'm paying scale. One day's work.

THE MIGHTY GORGA – PRODUCTION

I was playing Anthony Eisley's brother. It may have been only one day, but it was a real part. Eisley and I were sitting in makeup chairs getting base applied. Eisley was curling his eyelashes when Scott Brady handed a spray can of black shoe polish to makeup.

BRADY

Hit my bald spot. Would you?

What a strange business I'd chosen. The Mighty Gorga production was even more chaotic than Adamson's. Hewittcame to the set without the slightest idea of what he wanted.

THE LAST OF THE COMANCHEROS – FINANCING

I was in Al's office when Rodolfo Medina, a producer from Spain, stopped in.

MEDINA

Do you have anything that could be done in Spain? I've got a below the line deal.

"Below the line" refers to production budgeting categories. The above the line is the producer, director, writer and cast. Everything else - crew, equipment, locations, laboratory, post-production etc. is below the line.

AL

I've got a western script I'm working on. Greydon, tell Rodolfo the story.

GREYDON

The Last of the Comancheros... Our lead character saves an Indian baby and leaves his gang... Ten years later, he is the sheriff of a small town and is raising the kid.

MEDINA

Stop right there. I know somebody who would be interested. She's a Beverly Hills woman who has major contacts in the business. I'll get back to you on this.

Al and I assumed we'd never hear from him again. Amazingly, a week or so later Rodolfo walked into the office with a big smile on his face.

MEDINA

Marilyn Hinton wants to meet you at her house.

Al and I met Mrs. Hinton, the mother of Darby Hinton, who was co-starring on the Daniel Boone television series. She wanted Darbyto co-star as the young Indian boy.

MRS. HINTON

Tell me more about the story.

Al turned to me and nodded. I elaborated on the story, emphasizing the role of the young boy. She seemed interested. I handed her a script. We said goodbye, waving to little Darbyswimming in an indoor pool. Within a week, Al received a call from Marilyn Hinton; Robert Taylorread the script and wanted to meet with Al. Robert Taylorwas the longest tenured contract player at MGM. I was amazed to hear he liked the script.

On December 22, 1967, Al and I drove to Robert Taylor's Mandeville Canyon home. We headed up a long winding driveway past a manicured lawn when a huge, rustic, western mansion came into view – a real movie star's home. A man in a white coat led us into an elaborate den where Robert Tayloroffered his hand. He was somewhere in his mid-50s with a rugged, handsome leading man aura about him. I thought he would be perfect for our star. I noticed he was chain smoking.

TAYLOR

I have some script questions. What happens to my character between the opening scene and ten years later?

Al turned to me and nodded.

I really hadn't given it a thought, but ad-libbed an answer.

GREYDON

I think he drifted from town to town hiring out his gun to the highest bidder. He used dance hall girls to help raise the infant, eventually when the Indian boy reached an age where he needed an education, he settled into this town.

Taylor seemed satisfied. The whole meeting took less than a half hour. We headed back to LA and I realized Al did not have the funding for the picture

GREYDON

How does this work, Al? Where does the money come from?

AL

If Robert Taylor gives us a commitment we can raise enough money for the above the line. Rodolfo supplies the below the line and we shoot in Spain.

Marilyn Hinton telephoned the next day and suggested we call Dan Sklar, a respected motion picture attorney. Al took me with him when we met in Sklar's office.

SKLAR

I have a contact at ABC television. With Robert Taylor's commitment we can get this made as a movie of the week.

Weeks went by and suddenly a phone call; ABC approved the script. They were putting up three hundred thousand for American television. Robert Taylorand ABC approved my first script, not bad. Al took off for Spain; I was to follow in a week. I got my first passport and was on my way to Spain; I stopped and saw my folks in Michigan when I heard a radio newsflash.

RADIO ANNOUNCER

Famed actor Robert Taylor is in Cedars-Sinai Hospital diagnosed with lung cancer.

I was stunned. I returned to LA and moved into my girlfriend's apartment. Al returned in a few weeks and asked me to come to his place.

AL

The whole deal has fallen apart. Without Robert Taylor ABC is backing off. I can't believe this happened to me.

Happened to him? Al, don't feel like the Lone Ranger, this was also happening to me... Let alone Robert Taylor, who would be dead in less than a year.

Satan's Sadists

SATAN'S SADISTS – SCREENPLAY

The Last of the Comancheros wasn't going to happen. Luck is a two-sided coin, good or bad. When luck goes against you... pick yourself up and get back in the race.

GREYDON
So now what?
AL

I saw some people in New York. They've got fifty thousand dollars to make a movie. What am I going to do with fifty thousand dollars?

GREYDON

Why don't I just write something that we can do for fifty grand? Give me a few days and I'll come up with something. We can make another movie.

The Naked Prey was playing on Hollywood Boulevard. The picture takes place in Africa, natives chasing a big game hunter. It was all exterior with only four or five people in the entire film. It was a simple yet effective chase movie that looked like it could be made on a very low budget. Could I write something with a similar concept that could be done for fifty grand? Biker pictures were hot. What if... a motorcycle gang replaced the Africans and chased a young couple? I had my basic characters, the protagonists and antagonists. All I needed now was the story. I decided to pitch it to Al.

GREYDON

I've got something that will work. A motorcycle picture... A biker gang chasing a young girl and guy out in the desert... It all takes place in one-day exterior... No wardrobe changes and only half a dozen or so speaking parts. Lots of sex and violence. What do you think? Can you get the backing?

AL

Depends on the script. The concept sounds good. Write the screenplay.

The way I've written most of my scripts is to first decide on the characters. Who's the good guy and who's the bad guy? What's the conflict and resolution? Most screenplays are written and then production decides what the budget will be. I was working backwards; I needed to write this script so that we could film on Al's fifty grand. I wrote the lead protagonist, a returning Vietnam vet, for myself. Al, who was not political at all, was completely unaware when I slipped in an anti-Vietnam war message. I delivered my first draft of the script to Al at his apartment in the summer of 1968. The next day we met at his office. Al liked it.

GREYDON

I'm living with Sandy since I got back from Michigan and I need money...

AL

I haven't gotten any money yet. It'll be the same deal as on Comancheros. If we make the picture and I make any money, you'll be taken care of.

There are little theaters in Hollywood where struggling actors appear for exposure in the industry. I unsuccessfully auditioned a dozen times. Finally, I was cast in a play, Poor Richard, as a young newspaper columnist with four scenes, limited to fifteen minutes on stage. I enjoyed live theater, but making motion pictures was where my heart was.

SATAN'S SADISTS – PRE-PRODUCTION

I rewrote the script and Al was quite pleased with it. He chose a start date and we began casting. Russ Tamblyn from West Side Story, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers etc. was at the soundstage making Free Grass. Al handed me a copy of the screenplay.

AL

Get the script to Russ Tamblyn. Tell him I want him to play the lead.

A few days later, Russ got back to us and agreed to do the part. Regina Carrol was an attractive waitress at a cafÃ© near the soundstage. Al thought she might be good for the part of the motorcycle mama. She came to the office for a reading and was cast.

AL

I've decided who I'm going to cast as the returning Vietnam vet.

GREYDON
I thought I was going to play that role.
AL

No. I need somebody with more experience for that big a role. Gary Kent is going to do it. You can play any biker you want.

I was disappointed that I wasn't going to get to play the returning vet that I wrote specifically for myself. I chose the role of the most interesting biker, Acid, a complete stoner. I wrote the female lead as an innocent college student. I didn't consciously write it with Jackie in mind. I was living with Sandy and Jackie was someone I occasionally saw at Morley's acting class. I gave her a call. When she picked up the phone and realized it was me, she must've thought, "Here's that guy again. Why won't he just leave me alone?"

GREYDON

Al Adamson is doing another picture and there is a good part in it for you. I know I can get you in for a reading.

I delivered the script to her apartment within the hour. She looked as great as ever.

GREYDON

It's the lead role of Tracy. You still working for Chuck Connors? Think you could get a couple weeks off to do this movie?

JACKIE

I'm sure I could. Chuck understands the business.

Jackie read for Al and me. She left the office and Al turned to me.

AL

Do you think she can do it, Greydon?

GREYDON

She'd be great.

We cast her. Two additional people from Morley's were cast; Evelyn Frank played Scott Brady's wife and Breck Warwick played the guy who is killed in the opening.

SATAN'S SADISTS – PRODUCTION

It was late fall of 1968 when the cast and crew of Satan's Sadists settled into a cheap motel in Indio, California, a small desert town near Palm Springs. We had six people on the crew and most of the cast did double duty as crew members whenever we could. I didn't look much like a typical biker; I put a false mustache on and assumed an attitude. I didn't like the way Al staged the opening rape scene. He had Bambi Allen act as if she was enjoying being raped. I told Al that a woman would never enjoy rape and urged him to change the way he was staging the scene; he completely dismissed me. The scene bothered me enough that I decided not to take screenwriter credit as Greydon Clark. I used my middle name, Dennis, and my father's middle name, Wayne. The gang enters a small roadside cafÃ©. Violence erupts and they kill everyone except a Vietnam vet and a young waitress, who escape into the desert. The gang hops on their bikes and the chase begins. I was never on a motorcycle in my life and found it very difficult to ride the damn thing. When you see the gang riding, I'm the guy in the back. We shot the entire film on a twelve-day shooting schedule. Bud Cardos did a call sheet each night listing the order of the scenes scheduled for the next day. However Al would not stick to the call sheet. No one knew what Al wanted. The actors, knowing that I wrote the script and was acting as Al's assistant, turned to me with their questions. Especially Jackie, who was in front of the camera for the first time in her life.

JACKIE

How does Al want me to play this scene? What does he want? What are we doing next? Am I doing okay? This just doesn't feel right.

I tried to give her what confidence I could and constantly huddled with Al between takes.

GREYDON

What do you want here, Al? How do you see this playing?

Gary Graver, the director of photography (DP), and I waited while he vaguely communicated to us what he wanted. Graver set the camera while I relayed the information to the actors.

GREYDON

The camera is going to be over there. Al wants you to come in here.

Satan's Sadists was my continuing education in filmmaking. I didn't feel like I was directing. I was just helping Al get the picture made. Acting for the camera seemed natural to me. Technically, I had a lot to learn, but I was never nervous. The two major factors needed for acting are imagination and concentration. The actor has to imagine, some would say feel, what the character might do and have the concentration to do what is required technically to put it on film. Actors use many different techniques. One is not necessarily better than the other – whatever works. The twelve days in Indio solidified my belief that being the director was the best job in filmmaking. In pre-production as well as on the set everyone turned to the director and asked what he wanted done. I always loved being the boss, the captain of the team, the guy in the center of the arena. I was naturally attracted to directing.

SATAN'S SADISTS – POST-PRODUCTION

It was mid November 1968 when we finished filming Satan's Sadists. By the time Jackie and I drove back to her Burbank apartment, I realized what a special person she was. I wanted to see her again and hoped she was also interested in seeing me. I was no longer the struggling actor; I was an actor and a writer who knew something about production. I did have one small problem. I was living with Sandy in her apartment and she was paying all the bills, but I wanted to see Jackie. I moved out of Sandy's apartment, found a place across from the Paramount Studios and started dating Jackie.

Gary Graver was editing Satan's Sadists in a small editing room at the Hollywood Stage. I knew nothing about editing movies, but was eager to learn and looked over his shoulder while he was cutting; it was my last class in film school.

GRAVER

We need a shot in the other direction. Why didn't we shoot it? Damn. Now we have to figure out how we can make this work...

He cut and re-cut scenes, putting them together like a giant jigsaw puzzle, trying to make each scene work. Al was not involved; he let Graver make the editorial decisions. In a couple of months, the picture was finished and we needed to screen for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to get a rating. The-rating board that screened the film had never seen a raw exploitation, low budget sixteen-millimeter film like Satan's Sadists. Much of it must have shocked them. Graver had to re-edit a few scenes and we got an R-rating. Jackie took credit as Jacky Taylor. SAG had several actresses with very similar names. She later changed her professional name to Jacqulin Cole.

If Al Adamson had been a different type of director, I would not have had the opportunity to work with actors, to help position the camera, to get involved in the filmmaking process. I'm hesitant to speak ill of Al; I owe him a lot, but the simple truth is, he was not a very good director. He was unprepared; he didn't know what shots he wanted; he almost never gave direction to actors. Al would say action, cut, and not much else. I don't want to overstate this; Al was the director of the film and had final say on the set. Nevertheless, his method of direction allowed me to step in much more than would normally be possible; my experience working with Al was invaluable to the remainder of my career.

SATAN'S SADISTS – DISTRIBUTION

I knew nothing about how films were distributed and was not involved in Satan's Sadists ' distribution. The picture opened in the spring of 1969 and was a huge hit. It cost about fifty thousand to make and grossed over a half a million. It jump started Al's long successful career. I wrote the script, worked in pre-production, on the set during production, had a co-starring role, worked months in the editing room and the total amount of money Al paid me was two weeks SAG minimum, six hundred dollars. I was eligible to collect unemployment compensation, which helped me pay my rent and buy a few hamburgers. If my rent fell due before my unemployment check, I had to convince the landlord to wait. I was very lucky making it through those lean times. Al had promised, "If I make any money you'll be taken care of." I should've defined "taken care of" and maybe got it in writing.

Dracula vs. Frankenstein

BLOOD SEEKERS – SCREENPLAY

I was stopping in at Al's office on a daily basis. One day, out of the blue...

AL

New York wants a horror picture. I want you to write it and I'll give you ten percent of whatever I get. No money up front, but when I get paid, you get paid.

I wrote another script on spec. If the picture ever went into production and if Al ever received any money, I would get my ten percent... if... if... There was no storyline, but I agreed to do it. Al and Regina were living together – this film was going to star Regina. I came up with the idea for a script, Blood Seekers. It was about a crazy scientist who captured young girls on Venice Beach and brought them to his hidden laboratory to experiment on their blood. I needed a reason for Regina's character to get involved with the crazy scientist. What if... her sister was one of the kidnapped girls? I had two basic characters; Regina and the crazy scientist, my good guy and bad guy. I was going to write a good part for myself. Hippies were in the news, protesting the war, calling for peace and free love. I was very anti-war and thought that I could add a hippie character that would be an interesting part for me to play; I named him "Strange." I finished the first draft of the script. Al liked it and got it to his New York moneyman, Sam Sherman, who financed Satan's Sadists. Sam liked it. I was going to do another movie. Lucky me. The picture was eventually released as Dracula vs. Frankenstein. My total involvement was when it was titled Blood Seekers.

BLOOD SEEKERS – PRE-PRODUCTION

It was March of 1969 and we still did not have a start date on Blood Seekers. I prepared as if the picture was a go. I scoured thrift shops and found a great pair of black and white striped pants, very tight and very low. I found a colorful blanket that I cut a hole in the middle of and slipped over my head. I was determined to be memorable in the movie and decided to play Strange like a Jerry Lewis klutz; a good guy, a nice guy, a goodhearted guy, but someone who was a beat off from the rest of the band. Al called me in his office.

AL

I got the money. I can get you five hundred dollars a week for the part of Strange.

GREYDON

What about the script? I was supposed to get ten percent of what you're getting.

AL

I'm getting nothing up front. It will be years before I see any money. I'll give you two weeks at five hundred dollars -- that's above scale -- for your acting and that will include the script. Or would you prefer ten percent of nothing?

SAG minimum was three hundred dollars per week. Al knew I wanted to do the part and that I was desperate for money. He knew I would have to take the deal.

BLOOD SEEKERS – FINANCING

I was in the office in early March 1969 when Mardi Rustamand his brother, Mohammed, stopped in to see Al. They were from Kurdistan and had been in this country for about a dozen years. The Rustambrothers owned a small film laboratory in Hollywood.

MARDI

I want to invest thirty thousand dollars in Blood Seekers and do the lab.

That was exactly what Al needed. He had a hundred grand from Sam Sherman. If he added Rustam's thirty thousand, the shooting schedule could expand to three weeks instead of two. The time a director has to shoot a film is inarguably the most important aspect of production. Fifteen days versus ten is fifty percent more time; more setups, more takes, a more experienced cast, more time with stunts and effects; everything you do on the set goes back to the shooting schedule and budget.

BLOOD SEEKERS – PRODUCTION

With the additional funding from Rustam, we had money to spend on some name actors: Anthony Eisley, as Regina's love interest, J. Carrol Naish and Lon Chaney, Jr., as the mad scientist and his assistant. Jim Davis played a police detective. Angelo Rossitto was a little person helping Naish. Even Russ Tamblyn had a cameo as a biker, not a bad cast for another low budget picture. Once again, Gary Graver was the DP. I let my hair grow, it curled around my shoulders; I looked the part of a Venice Beach hippie. After the third day filming, Mardi Rustam rushed toward me, bubbling over with excitement.

MARDI

I looked at the dailies and you're stealing the picture. You're gonna be a big star.

GREYDON

Thanks a lot, Mardi. I appreciate that very much.

Jackie had no interest in working with Al Adamson again and we cast Anne Morrell as my girlfriend. Anne was a very cute actress who had no idea what she was doing. I instinctively felt the camera and asked the DP where the frame line was. A good actor knows from technique or instinct that their picture is being taken. Filmmaking requires a ton of technical expertise, not letting the technique show is the trick for the actor.

The first day of filming with Naish and Chaney arrived and, among my other duties, I picked up Lon Chaney at an older hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. I knocked on his door and he greeted me with a rough whisper.

CHANEY

Good morning.

We were unaware that he had throat cancer and most of his voice box had been removed. He filled a large thermos with straight vodka, threw on a jacket and started out the door. I wondered whether he would be able to deliver his dialogue. When we got to the soundstage, I told Al about Lon's voice problem and he just shrugged. We were in store for another surprise when J. Carrol Naish arrived. Mr. Naish was seventy-four years old and he showed up to work in a wheelchair. Al came to me with a worried expression on his face.

AL
What'd you think? Can we make it work?
GREYDON

A wheelchair should not be a problem. Doesn't he work only on the soundstage?

Naish only appeared in his amusement park Haunted House of Horrors and his laboratory. Lon Chaney prowled the beach and captured the girls. Chaney mimed his role while he sipped his vodka. The first scene with J. Carrol Naish was with Strange and Samantha walking through The House of Horrors. Naish had dialogue with the two of us. He could not remember his lines, "going up" time after time. Al and I huddled.

AL

Let's try cue cards.

I wrote his lines with a black magic marker on large white poster boards. If you look closely, you can see him reading his lines off the cue cards. He had one glass eye that failed to move from left to right while he's reading. A very weird effect; it made him appear even more wacko. Anthony Eisley looked more like a middle-aged corporate executive than a hippie. Al put him in a turtleneck and hung love beads around his neck. I did a quick rewrite and made him more of an observer of the Venice beach hippie culture than a member of it. Strange leads a police detective, played by Jim Davis, through an alleyway. Jim later scored a big hit with the TV series Dallas. Instinctively, I chose the camera side for my character, a long haired, flamboyant hippie. Mr. Davis smiled at me.

DAVIS

Greydon, I'll let you upstage me in this scene. You need the footage. I don't.

Was I trying to steal the scene from him? I wouldn't have known how.

GREYDON

Am I doing it all right? Is it okay? I wasn't trying --

DAVIS

It's okay, you're doing fine. Just keep doing it that way. I just want you to know I am aware of what you're doing.

He might've been aware - I wasn't. Regina's character sings and dances. It was the first time I saw a song put on film. I was unaware of a technique called "playback" where the song is prerecorded and played back while the actor lip-syncs.

BLOOD SEEKERS – POST-PRODUCTION

GREYDON

Al, could you get me a hundred bucks a week to help in the editing room?

AL

I have no money to pay you.

Al constantly bragged about the money that Satan's Sadists was making, but didn't have a hundred bucks a week for me. Several years later, Al filmed an additional forty minutes on the film and changed the title from Blood Seekers to Dracula vs. Frankenstein. I was not involved in that picture. The film often appears on lists of the ten worst ever made.

The production was another amazing learning experience that I treasure. The valiant effort by J. Carrol Naish struggling with his lines; Lon Chaney miming his way through his part; Anthony Eisley being very professional, very patient with young people like me; Jim Davis giving me the camera. I learned a lot by watching pros like those actors on the set. Thanks, guys.

Mothers, Fathers and Lovers

MOTHERS, FATHERS AND LOVERS – SCREENPLAY

I studied biographies of Frank Capra, John Ford, Raoul Walsh, Howard Hawks, all the great American directors. Reading about their lives was not only informative, but also fascinating. Reading how these guys described their days on the set, I realized just how far from "real movies" I really was.

It had been more than four years since I first came to Los Angeles. I knew a lot more about the movie business after my experiences with Al. However I realized I was on a fast track going nowhere. I was just another struggling actor; hoping that someone would hire me. I continued to knock on agents' doors with no success; the two films I wrote and acted in were far off Hollywood's radar. I found the filmmaking process fascinating and hoped that somehow I could make a living working in the movies. The thought of giving up never occurred to me. I was not qualified to do anything else.

Mike Nichols' The Graduate changed my life. The movie seemed to be saying that an individual should control his or her own life... to not be fearful, but be courageous and follow one's dream. An actor is at the mercy of someone hiring him. I decided to create my own roles from my own scripts. I didn't consider myself a director, or even potentially one. I thought I could write a script, give myself a starring role and convince someone to make the picture with me playing the lead. It was summer of 1969 and the Vietnam War was raging. I decided to write an antiwar, antiestablishment, social comedy about a Vietnam vet who returns to a provincial society he no longer accepts. I wanted it to be funny, entertaining and make a statement about what was going on in the world. Stanley Donen's Two for the Road and Richard Lester's Petulia each had a time shifting element in their films containing flashbacks in flashbacks in flashbacks. My character was being pushed into a traditional life and into marrying his longtime girl. What if... the entire film took place on his wedding day; flashing back and forth to his life before, during and after Vietnam? I wrote it as a satirical comedy with Jackie and me playing the leads. I finished writing Kiss the Establishment Goodbye which I eventually filmed as Mothers, Fathers and Lovers and got the script to Al to read. A day later, I went in to his office.

AL

I think it's good and might make a good movie. But it's not the kind of picture Sam Sherman and I are making.

A social satire about what was happening in society was not his cup of tea.

MOTHERS, FATHERS AND LOVERS – FINANCING

Jackie and I were seeing each other every day. I was living off unemployment and able to squeak out my rent. In downtown Los Angeles, there was an old, decaying grindhouse charging fifty cents admission. One afternoon we were in the theater watching 100 Rifles when somebody started kicking the back of my seat. Bob Brown, a guy I hadn't seen since my days selling home movie systems, sat behind me. We chatted a few minutes after the film finished. He had a small manufacturing business in downtown LA and had slipped away for a matinee.

GREYDON

Bob, you remember when you were having trouble with your car payments and I loaned you five hundred dollars? I could sure use it now...

BOB

You still selling stuff? What are you hustling now?

GREYDON
I'm an actor.
BOB
You're kidding. Have you done anything?
GREYDON

Well, I wrote and co-starred in a motorcycle movie that cost fifty thousand dollars to make and made more than five hundred grand. I also wrote and co-starred in a horror film that's getting ready for release. I just finished a script that I want to produce.

BOB

Jesus, sounds like you've been busy. You want your five hundred bucks?

Bob wrote me a check for a hundred and told me he would give me the rest in a week. I took his check and ran directly to the bank to hammer it before he could cancel. I figured I was lucky to get the hundred bucks and would never hear from him again. I was wrong. Bob called me in a few days and wanted to get together for lunch. We sat down for Chinese and he handed me a four hundred dollar check.

BOB
So, how do you produce a movie?
GREYDON

It all starts with the script. You get the money and shoot the script.

BOB

How much do you need to make it?

GREYDON

I can do it for ten thousand dollars.

I responded quickly, perhaps too quickly. How the hell I ever thought I could produce a picture for ten thousand dollars is beyond me, but I didn't want to scare him away.

BOB

Ten grand? I can get you that. Tell me about the story.

Bob remembered me from the sales organization and had confidence in me. He reiterated that he could come up with ten thousand dollars. As I drove the 101 over the hill to the valley, I was excited at the prospect of producing my first movie. I got in to my apartment and called Jackie at Chuck Connors' office.

GREYDON

Jackie, great news. Not only did Bob pay me the four hundred he owed me. He's giving me ten thousand dollars to make Kiss the Establishment Goodbye.

JACKIE

Ten thousand? Can you do it for that?

She was right to be skeptical. I went to the script and started examining it in the light of having a micro budget for production. The first thing I needed to do was decide who should direct the film. I only knew two directors, Al Adamson and David Hewitt.

MOTHERS, FATHERS AND LOVERS – PRE-PRODUCTION

I went into see Al. We were not as close as we once were, but I still considered him a friend.

GREYDON

Al, I raised some money for production. It's only ten thousand dollars, but --

AL

Ten thousand dollars? You'll never be able to make a movie for that. You shouldn't try. You need much more money. You know that.

GREYDON
Would you be interested in directing?
AL
Not with that kind of money.
GREYDON

I'm going to make this movie one way or the other.

AL

You can't use that title, Kiss the Establishment Goodbye. You and I talked about the Jimmy Cagney movie Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye. That's how you came up with your title. If you use that title, I'll sue you.

I walked out the door. I never saw Al Adamson again. I went to see Dave Hewitt.

GREYDON

Dave, I've got the money to produce a picture. I've got ten thousand dollars.

HEWITT

You can't make a picture with ten thousand dollars. Are you going to direct?

GREYDON

I hadn't thought about it. I thought maybe you --

HEWITT

With that kind of money, you're the only one that should direct.

I hadn't consciously thought of directing, but the more I thought about it the more convinced I was that I would be better than either Adamson or Hewitt. Unlike today where low budget films shoot digitally, raw stock and film processing were a major expense. I went to see Mardi Rustam at his laboratory.

GREYDON

Mardi, I'm going to produce and direct my first film. I've got the money for production, but I need raw stock and processing. Can you help me?

A finished film is roughly ten thousand feet. I planned to shoot a total of thirty thousand feet, a three to one ratio. Major films shoot hundreds of thousands of feet of film and take many months for production. I left Mardi a script and returned to his office in a few days.

MARDI

I read it. I'll front the lab and raw stock. I want to play Nancy's father.

I had no idea Mardi aspired to be an actor, I should've known; there are really only five jobs in the entire industry: producer, writer, actor, DP and director. Anyone doing anything else is biding their time until they can do one of those jobs. If the truth were known, there may only be one job... everyone wants to direct. I looked at Mardi and wondered... Could he really give me a decent performance? I needed his lab and raw stock. What choice did I have?

GREYDON

We have a deal.

We shook hands and I left his office. When I look back at the production of Mothers, Fathers and Lovers from the perspective of having directed twenty feature films it's amazing that I had the ego – some people might correctly say the stupidity – to produce my first film with only ten grand. On a studio movie, the director receives the initial shooting schedule created by an AD. The director approves it and they move on. In every movie I made, I created my own shooting schedule. We shot Satan's Sadists, all day exterior in two weeks; Mothers, Fathers and Lovers was a far more complicated script with multiple interior locations. I had the same two weeks. My and Jackie's homes, a wedding chapel, a hippie head shop and a topless bar made up ninety percent of the shooting schedule. I secured the right to film in a builder's furnished model home for screen credit. For Jackie's home I found a house that stood on top of a private mountain. The owner had never been approached for filming, we agreed on a nominal fee. Our characters came from wealthy families and our personal wardrobe wouldn't work. I contacted Arpeja, a hip clothing company in LA They agreed to supply wardrobe for Jackie and me for screen credit. I got fish and chips from a fast food franchise for lunch everyday by agreeing to film in one of their locations. I promoted everything I could.

We began casting. Frank White> starred with me in the stage play, Poor Richard. I got him the script and he eagerly agreed to play my father. Evelyn Frank, who played Scott Brady's wife in Satan's Sadists, wanted to play Jackie's mother. Evelyn knew Barbara Perry, the actress who played Pickles on TheDick Van Dyke Show. Barbara came in to read for us and we thought she would be perfect for the role of my mother. Lawrence Bamen heard about the picture from a crewmember. He read for the part of my best man and we cast him. Jackie suggested Bambi Allen, from Satan's Sadists, to play a hippie. She was eager to work. I needed lights, grip equipment and a camera. I met a guy at an equipment rental facility while running errands and picking up equipment for Adamson. I went to see him.

GREYDON

I'm making a two-week picture and have almost no money. Can you help?

We went to the back of his place and he pointed to old equipment on a high shelf.

EQUIPMENT MANAGER

If you use this. You can have it for two weeks for a thousand bucks total.

I had my equipment, cast and locations. I contacted crew members I worked with on the Adamson films. I asked them to work for less money than even Al paid them. Most agreed to give me two weeks. Gary Graver was not available; I had to find a new DP. Louis Horvath just arrived from Hungary and attended the same film institute as Laszlo Kovacs in their native country. I met with him and was very impressed. He spoke little English, but I decided to take a chance. Preproduction is where you plan your film. At a minimum, a film should have the same amount of pre-production time as production. Ideally, the department heads - wardrobe, makeup, grip, locations, sound and camera - should participate in the pre-production planning. On my budget, it was necessary for me to do the pre-production by myself. I met with the department heads two days before shooting began and filled them in on what preparation I completed. Louis Horvath was very enthusiastic about his opportunity and volunteered to give me a week's pre-production. We went to all of the locations and pre-staged the scenes.

MOTHERS, FATHERS AND LOVERS – PRODUCTION

I once read a quote from the great Mike Nichols, "Directing a motion picture is like having sex. You never know if you're doing it right until you see somebody else in action." Adamson and Hewitt were both very passive directors and I had little respect for them as filmmakers. A motion picture set is not a democracy. The director is the dictator. I was sometimes more dictatorial on the set than perhaps I should've been. I didn't have the time to discuss various interpretations of how a scene might be shot or played. I encouraged suggestions from cast and crew alike, but had to make quick decisions whether to use them or not. I found it much quicker to just tell everyone what I wanted and move forward.

When the camera is positioned in a certain direction, it is called a setup. Each scene contains a series of setups. You may move the actors or dolly the camera within an individual setup. You may shoot multiple takes on a setup, but when the director says," Cut" and accepts the setup the camera is repositioned and that is considered a new setup. Setups are edited together to create the movie. When you're on a short shooting schedule, you've got to average twenty to thirty setups a day. From my first day on the set, I decided the camera's position on every setup, a process I continued throughout my career. My setups could not be as complex as I wanted. The first setup for most scenes is the master and it is often the most complex, requiring the most time for staging and lighting. I worked with the actors and staged the masters while the DP roughed in the lights. Once I finished staging the master, I turned to my DP, shook my head in sympathy and told him the limited amount of time he had to finish lighting the scene. There was a clock ticking in my head telling me how much time I could devote to any one particular scene. If I took an inordinate amount of time to do one scene, I would find myself behind schedule, which in my case would have been disastrous.

It was December of 1969 when we began two weeks of filming on Mothers, Fathers and Lovers. We were stealing shots without permits and when we were on the street, I had to move even faster... a guerrilla style of filmmaking, with one small van and a half dozen on the crew.

GREYDON

Put the camera here. Set up some reflectors. Okay let's move before we're discovered. Onto the next setup.

We did quick technical rehearsals and shot. I seldom had the luxury of doing an additional take on something unless there was a technical problem. I only had thirty thousand feet of film and ten days. We were filming at the far end of Zuma Beach when a Highway Patrol car pulled to a stop behind us. I had a story ready for him.

Cop
Let me see your permit.
GREYDON

We're making a student film and just need an hour or so at the beach. Just a couple of quick shots. We thought since we weren't bothering anyone.

The cop looked around, saw how small our crew was, nodded his head and drove away.

Lewis Horvath was wonderful to work with, creative and quick. Some days would push sixteen to eighteen hours, if we were at a location and scenes had to be finished... We just pushed forward and got the job done. Video assist was not available and I could not go to video playback to see my acting performance. I had a tendency to do more coverage and more takes for the other actors than for myself. The two-week production completed on schedule and on budget.

MOTHERS, FATHERS AND LOVERS – POST-PRODUCTION

Lou Guinn owned a small editing facility in Hollywood; I made a deal with him for a hundred dollars a week that would allow me the use of his equipment. He gave me a quick tutorial on how to work with the Movieola and GC I jumped into the deep water. The time I spent with Gary Graverediting Satan's Sadists was invaluable. The editing room is where a director sees all of his mistakes and I had many. I cut the picture in two months; Lou Guinn supplied me with sound effects, but I had no money for music. Sheldon Lee, a crew member/actor I knew from the Al Adamson pictures, was a friend of Harley Hatcher who did the music on Satan's Sadists. If Harley liked a picture, he supplied music in exchange for publishing and record rights. No one had seen the film other than Jackie, who came into the editing room and watched on the Movieola. Sheldon contacted Harley and set up a screening. I was hoping for a good reaction.

HARLEY

Congratulations. I like it, Greydon. It's different and it's good.

I know where I want music and where I do not want music in my films. I know the type of music I want, but if you asked me to explain how to create that music, drums, strings, horns... I wouldn't have a clue. I sat with the composer at the Movieola and we discussed, scene by scene, where the music should go and what type of music it should be. The composer did his magic, bring back a piece of music and we would see how it worked. Harley's guys did a terrific job. Lou Guinn cut the sound effects for me and I was ready for my sound mix. A major film will spend months on a sound mixing stage where the final sound: dialogue music and effects are mixed together. I had two days for my sound mix. Mardi's lab did my answer print, which is the color corrected final print containing mixed audio and picture with titles and opticals. The fee to get your film rated at the MPAA was six hundred dollars; six hundred bucks I could have used to make my rent and car payments. Nevertheless, I had to get the film rated and I lugged over a print to their screening room, they called days later.

RATING BOARD

Your film, Mothers, Fathers and Lovers, has received an X-rating.

GREYDON

That's ridiculous! There are only three or four mild nude scenes.

RATING BOARD

You have north to south movement in your sex scenes. That's not allowed. Your actors can move east to west but not north to south.

GREYDON

North to south, east to west; what difference? It's all under the covers.

RATING BOARD

It looks like they're having sex. Simulated sex is an X-rating.

Today it would be a PG-13. I had no choice; I went into the editing room and made minor changes, taking less than fifteen seconds from the film. I resubmitted and received a GP rating.

MOTHERS, FATHERS AND LOVERS – DISTRIBUTION

Jackie and I were seeing each other every day. Bob Brown was happy with the picture and we were eager to set distribution. I liked the film and the few people who had seen it also liked it, but these were creative people – musicians, editors, crew people etc. I was concerned how distributors would react. Long before home video, the only way to get a picture released was through independent distributors directly to theatres. I needed to screen the picture for distributors. The cheapest screening room was Martin Nosseck's on Sunset Boulevard. Larry Woolner at Dimension Pictures was the first distributor I screened for. After the screening, we gathered in the lobby. He was upset.

WOOLNER

God dammit, you're just like Roger Corman. You want to make a picture that has meaning to it. Some damn picture that says something. Why don't you just make another horror movie or another biker picture? You know how to make pictures, but Dimension is not interested in this one.

He abruptly walked out of the lobby. Disappointed, I slumped back to the projection booth to pick up my reels of film. Martin Nosseck's teenage son, Noel, was the projectionist.

NOEL

It's a terrific picture. I really liked it. I love the way you cut back and forth. And it's funny, going after the establishment. And the antiwar message, that's great. You're really going do well with this picture. The girl that plays Nancy is very good. I liked you, too.

GREYDON

Thanks a lot. That's good to hear. Thanks.

I gathered my film reels and headed to my car, my head spinning. What just happened? The distributor hated the picture, completely dismissing it. Yet the young guy in the projection booth understood it and loved it. I told Jackie about the results of the screening. She was disappointed, but excited when I told her about the kid's reaction.

JACKIE

Well, that's good. The way he liked the picture; isn't it more important that the people you made the picture for like it? Besides, it's only one distributor.

GREYDON

It's great he liked it, but it's got to be distributed for guys like him to see it.

Joe Solomon of Fanfare Pictures was somewhere in his fifties, and I was concerned that he would not appreciate the picture. One of his assistants accompanied him, a guy about my age. I thought I might have a better chance with a younger guy seeing the picture. Once again, we gathered in the lobby after the screening. Like Woolner, Solomon was angry and actually shouted at me, the veins in his neck bulging.

SOLOMON

You should be ashamed of yourself for making a picture like this! If my sixteen-year-old daughter ever sees this picture, I'm coming after you personally! What do you mean making fun of marriage? I want my daughter to get married!

He stormed out the door. His assistant turned to me with a shrug and whispered.

SOLOMON'S ASSISTANT

I liked it.

In 1970 the idea of members of the opposite sex cohabitating before marriage was taboo. I tweaked the establishment by making a picture that examined society from a returning Vietnam vet's point of view and found it wanting; I might have to pay the piper. I screened the picture for all of the LA distributors and was unable to get even the slightest interest in the picture. Jackie and I were spending all of our time together and we decided that it was foolish for both of us to be paying rent. We moved in together; life-imitating art. I decided to take my last couple of hundred dollars and go to New York to screen for the independent East Coast distributors. I contacted about a dozen independent distributors and invited them to one big screening. There were about twenty people in the audience when the film began. They started to leave in the first thirty minutes; by the time the picture was half over, most of the audience was gone. When the end credits rolled there were only three distributors left in the audience. Two filed out without a word. Alexander Beck, primarily a foreign distributor, stopped to talk to me.

BECK

Greydon, this is a very, very well done picture. It really works. I like the way it's executed. You're a very good filmmaker.

Finally, a distributor that understood and liked the picture. How much was he going to give me and when will distribution start?

BECK

But I have no interest in distributing the picture. I need action and violence. It's too bad that something this good will not find its audience. What you should've done is... when the guy got back from Vietnam he should've gotten involved in violence... He should've robbed a liquor store or something.

GREYDON

That would be a completely different picture.

BECK

Exactly.

He shook my hand and walked up the aisle. Depressed, I headed back to the projection booth to pick up my film. Once again, there was a young guy running the projector. He went on and on about how much he loved the film and how much he got from it. It was always great to hear, but I'd heard it all before. It was a long flight home from New York to LA I put everything I had into this film and it looked like no one was ever going to see a foot of it other than my favorite audience – young projectionists.

Jackie decided it was time for her to stop working for Chuck Connors and maneuvered him into hiring her mother, Rose, to take her place. A very difficult few months passed. My unemployment was exhausted and I had no income. I was seriously behind on car payments and started parking my car a couple of blocks away from my apartment, hoping that the repo man would not be able to find it. Jackie took a secretarial job at a stockbroker's office to bring in a few bucks. Once again, I was living with a girl who was paying the bills. I read in Variety about a new company, Golden Eagle Distribution. Jim Nelson just finished sound supervision on Easy Rider and formed a new distribution company. Jim had long hair, with a full beard, wearing jeans and a flowered shirt. He was dressed like I was in the movie. I thought he might be more in tune with the audience I had in mind when I made the picture. I decided to explain the picture to him before he saw it.

GREYDON

I've screened for distributors and none of them get it. It's a social satire. A comedy, anti-Vietnam, pro-free love; an anti-establishment picture. Some of the old guys running distribution companies were offended.

NELSON

I'm so busy with all this post-production. Just leave me a print and I'll screen it.

I left my only print with him and thought, "At least I won't have to pay for this screening." A couple of days went by and Jim asked me to stop by his editing facility.

NELSON

I liked it a lot. I can see how those other distributors didn't get it. You're a better director than most of the guys I'm doing sound effects for. My partner, Bob Saxton, is in Charlotte. He'll be here next week.

Jim's partner came into town; they set up a screening and agreed that I should be there. Bob Saxton, somewhere in his forties, a real southern gentleman, with a thick drawl, owned a couple of theaters in small towns in the South and wanted to get into independent distribution. I wondered whether he would understand the picture. He looked very much like all the suit and tie businessmen who had completely dismissed it in previous screenings. Jim Nelson sat next to Bob during the screening. The film finished and they turned to me.

SAXTON

I don't understand the picture. It doesn't make any sense. Why wouldn't them two young kids just get married? The girl is a looker and her daddy's rich. But I don't understand Alice's Restaurant either and look at the business it's doing. Jim, you seem to understand this. You like it, don't you?

NELSON

Very much. I think we can make some money with this. Maybe a whole lot.

SAXTON

Well then... let's distribute it. Now, Greydon, we're just starting out and don't have money to give the producer. The standard distribution fee for an independent distributor is forty percent. We'll put up the cost for the prints and advertising. We'll put a lot behind the distribution and everybody will do real good.

GREYDON

I'm going to need some sort of guarantee. I've got investors and I owe the lab...

NELSON

Greydon, we'll get the picture distributed for you and we'll do it the right way.

GREYDON

Okay, let's make a deal. But if you haven't paid me fifty thousand dollars within one year, I'll get all the rights to the picture back.

NELSON

That seems fair. What do you think, Bob?

We all agreed and a couple of days later, my investor, Bob Brown, Jackie and I gathered to discuss the distribution deal offered by Golden Eagle.

BOB

So how long do we have to wait before they start getting it in theaters?

GREYDON

It'll take a few months. And look, if we don't get fifty grand from them in a year, we get the picture back.

BOB
What do you think, Jackie?
JACKIE

I trust Greydon's judgment. This might be the best deal we can get.

We went with Golden Eagle and Bob Saxtonreturned to North Carolina. Jim Nelson was up to his ass working on sound effects. Who was going to create the advertising campaign – the one sheet, newspaper ads, trailer, radio and TV spots? Once again, I volunteered to do something where I had no experience. Jim recommended Chet Collom, a very talented artist who created print art for motion picture campaigns. He and I spent about a month creating the ads. I wanted to change the title to Living Together.

SAXTON

You can't use the title Living Together, I won't be able to book the picture. It's against the law in most states in the south for unmarried people of different sex to live together. It's called unlawful cohabitation.

The picture opened in three theaters in Charlotte to moderate business. We showed a profit for the week and Saxton was very pleased. Young males really liked it; girls were another issue. A southern city, with laws against living together, was not exactly the ideal place to open the picture. Today, throughout the United States a large percentage of people live together before marriage. You could say my picture was a couple of decades ahead of its time. Months went by and Golden Eagle failed to book the picture in other markets. I complained to Jim Nelson who was about to produce his first picture at MGM.

NELSON

Bob Saxton seems unable to handle things. Distribution is not my field and I'm too busy to go back to Charlotte and get involved. I'm sorry, Greydon.

Even though Mothers, Fathers and Lovers made money in the limited number of theaters it played, Saxton, who was busy running his own theaters, did not book additional playdates. A long year passed and we received no money. I exercised my right to get the picture back and Golden Eagle, who was basically out of business, did not object. It was late summer of 1971; I had the rights to my picture back. A picture that I worked on for more than two years and not made a penny from – now what? Jackie continued working as a secretary at the stock brokerage and we were eking out our rent. Every little bit helped. How lucky I was to have her in my life.

The Bad Bunch

THE BAD BUNCH – SCREENPLAY

My next picture went through several titles during its theatrical distribution. When it came time to release the picture for home video we settled on the title The Bad Bunch. Sheldon Lee introduced me to Alvin L. Fast, a balding, fifty something, writer/producer. I screened Mothers, Fathers and Lovers for him. The film finished and he turned to me.

FAST

I like it. We should write something together. I can get production funding.

He wanted to do a big-budget film and we wrote a script, The Domino Conspiracy, about a charismatic Las Vegas hotel owner. Al was a very good writer and we worked well together. He was convinced he could raise production funding; we had dozens of meetings with potential investors. We never raised a penny. Alexander Beck said something at the New York screening of Mothers, Fathers and Lovers that kept playing in my mind.

BECK

When the guy got back from Vietnam he should've gotten involved in violence...

Was there something I could do to save my picture? I saw Al Adamson reshoot and successfully change The Fakers in to Hell's Bloody Devils. It was summer of 1972 and Blaxploitation films were big box office. What if... I changed Mothers, Fathers and Lovers into a Blaxploitation picture? I decided to create a completely different film, half the story from Mothers, Fathers and Lovers and half a new Blaxploitation story. It was an idea that saved my movie and ultimately saved my entire career.

There was a scene in Mothers, Fathers and Lovers with two soldiers in a clearing in Vietnam. A white guy (played by me) and his black buddy have a conversation about race. Shots ring out, both soldiers are hit and the black guy dies. The new script started with the killing in Vietnam. I go to Watts to pay respect to my dead buddy's father. I meet Makimba, the younger brother of my fallen friend. Through a series of misunderstandings, conflict arises between the two men. We intercut two simultaneous stories; one a white character and his middle-class struggles after his return from Vietnam and another of Makimba's struggles living day to day in Watts. The two stories intersect throughout the film, culminating with a final confrontation between the two men. I wanted to make an honest, violent, action, film exploring racial tension in America. The dialogue was strong and offensive, direct from the street. The racist cops called my character a "Nigger Lover" and that title leapt from the script. There were several films with, what is now referred to in polite society as, "The N word" in their title – The Legend of Nigger Charley, Run Nigger Run etc. - and I decided to go with the title Nigger Lover. I knew it was an offensive and explosive title, but I reveled in the controversy and hoped that the audience would examine its look at racism.

THE BAD BUNCH – FINANCING

My best chance to raise a few dollars for the new film was to go back to Bob Brown, my investor in Mothers, Fathers and Lovers. He was dating an African American woman and I was concerned that my idea for a Blaxploitation film might be offensive.

GREYDON

Blaxploitation films are doing huge business. I can change our film into Blaxploitation. Make it a whole new picture. It's going to be tough, violent and raw. I'm going to title the film Nigger Lover.

BOB

Jesus Christ, that'll get some attention. Can you do that?

GREYDON

Who can stop me? I need another twenty-five hundred dollars.

The more I talked about it with Bob the more I overcame his reluctance to give me additional funding. When I left his apartment, he was as excited as I was about the new film. Twenty-five hundred dollars: I should've asked for more.

THE BAD BUNCH – PRE-PRODUCTION

I needed to cast the fallen soldier's father, his brother, half a dozen young African American actors and two white racist cops. We placed a casting call in Variety and were inundated with resumes. I needed the lab, equipment and the crew; I scheduled a five-day shoot and everyone agreed to work with me again.

THE BAD BUNCH – PRODUCTION – WATTS SUMMER FESTIVAL

The Watts Summer Festival was a yearly carnival, with rides and attractions in a large park. It was scheduled for the weekend after we finished casting and I wanted to take advantage of it. We wrote a scene where my character is chased through the festival by Makimba's gang. It would look like we had a large number of extras and would give us great production value. I was not ready to begin our week of filming, but needed to shoot on the upcoming Saturday. We could then take a couple of weeks and do proper pre-production. We were scheduled to shoot the next day and Louis Horvath, my DP called.

LOUIS
Greydon, I can't shoot for you tomorrow.
GREYDON

What do you mean? You said you would do it. How sick are you?

LOUIS

No, I'm not sick. I'm working on a script with a friend and can't get away.

GREYDON

I've got a half dozen crew... the actors.... You know I can't reschedule... The Watts Summer Festival is tomorrow. You can't call me the night before and say you're not going to show up. You just can't do this!

I needed this guy. I controlled my temper and begged him to abide by his commitment. He relented and agreed to work the next day. The call time was six A.M. and I was relieved when Louis arrived and we began work. Stealing all our shots with a hidden camera, I moved easily through the crowd until I encountered Makimba and his buddies, who chased me through the Festival. I was able to get the day's filming without incident.

The title on the screenplay was Nigger Lover. I felt secure with my own feelings about race and wanted the title to hit people in the face. I asked the young African American actors what they thought about the title, and to a man they all liked the title Nigger Lover and thought the script accurately portrayed what was happening in their lives.

THE BAD BUNCH – PRE-PRODUCTION

Jackie, Bambi Allen and I were actors from the original picture needed for the new film. I wanted "name actors" in the roles of two racist cops. Aldo Ray was living in a low-end motel in Hollywood. I drove to the motel to see if I could make contact. I wouldn't say it was a flophouse... that may be unkind to flophouses. I knocked on Aldo's door. No answer. I shouted through the door.

GREYDON

Aldo! Aldo! It's me. Open the door. Come on, open up!

Aldo Ray, looking like he was in the middle off a three-week bender, opened the door.

GREYDON

I've got a good part in a movie for you. I'm directing and I want you to do it.

He waved me inside to what I can only describe as a garbage heap – fast food wrappers everywhere, a bare mattress on the bed, a television soundlessly flickering in one corner.

GREYDON

You play a tough, racist cop who hassles a black gang. It's a good role; works three days. I'm a big fan. I can only pay SAG scale.

ALDO

Okay I'll do it.

Aldo Ray, at one time a major star, had fallen on hard times. I was very concerned about what shape he would be in when he showed up on the set. I had one more role to fill, Aldo's racist partner. Jock Mahoney's agent called, I got the script to him and within a few days, Jock accepted the role. When I was a kid one of my favorite television shows was The Range Rider; I was happy to be working with its star. The cast, crew, lab, equipment and locations were all set and I was ready to begin filming. Once again, the night before shooting started I got a telephone call, this time from Jock Mahoney.

GREYDON

I look forward to working with you tomorrow, Mr. Mahoney --

JOCK

I don't have a suit that would work for the cop I'm playing.

GREYDON
He's just a plainclothes cop.
JOCK
I'm telling you, I don't have a suit.
GREYDON

Okay, go to someplace a cop would shop. Spend up to a hundred dollars.

Jock Mahoney just scammed a hundred bucks off me. Actors supply their own wardrobe whenever possible and are given a small wardrobe allowance. Jock knew he had me... shooting began tomorrow, what was I supposed to do? I didn't forget.

THE BAD BUNCH – PRODUCTION

The next day we began our five-day shooting schedule. Aldo Ray showed up, sober, and wearing his own suit. We were shooting in a sandwich shop in downtown LA and Aldo reminisced about acting with Hepburn and Tracy in Pat and Mike.

ALDO

I had a scene where I picked up Katie Hepburn in my arms and rushed her up a flight of stairs. I whispered in her ear, "Katie I'm going to fuck you..." She whispered back to me, "You do and I'll tell Spencer."

Aldo Ray was pleasant, on time, knew his lines, and hit his marks. Jock Mahoney was professional, though somewhat aloof, keeping to himself between takes. I never cared how an actor interacted with the crew or me. Some were gregarious; others wanted to be left completely alone. Whatever got the job done. All I wanted was the performance. Luckily Jackie had not aged a bit in the almost three years since the original film. However if you look carefully, you can see that when I walk out of one scene and into another, I look a bit older. Bambi Allen showed up for her first scene looking great and ready to go to work. Two days later, she worked in her final scene at a pool party and I was stunned and saddened by her appearance. She was stoned and had trouble staying awake. I kept her seated for her entire scene and she was able to deliver a few lines. I whispered in her ear.

GREYDON

Bambi, I couldn't have made this picture without you. Thanks for doing this... But you don't look good, kid. Take care of yourself... Get some help. Take care.

Bambi

Thanks, Greydon. I will, I will.

Within a few months Bambi Allen was dead, a beautiful sweet young, woman ended her life way, way too early. A couple of guys were new crew members. Louis selected Michael Mileham for assistant camera and Earl Watson was a grip. I was impressed with both young guys. At the end of the first day Earl, an African American, approached me. I was sensitive about the title and wanted to hear his opinion.

GREYDON

So, what do you think about that title? Offensive enough for you?

EARL

I like the title. I like the script. It says something. Can I help you in editing?

GREYDON

I'm gonna have to do it all myself. I just don't have the budget to pay someone.

EARL

That's no problem, just let me help you. No pay necessary. I've taken some courses at Los Angeles Community College and think I could help. I'll just hang around and do whatever you need.

GREYDON

Okay, you can join me at least for a few days and we'll see how it works out.

He sounded like me when I first went to work for Al Adamson. Some of the shooting days were extremely long; one day we put in twenty straight hours. Not the best working conditions, but necessity is a mother. I've been very lucky throughout my career that cast and crew were willing to work extremely long hours to get the job done. It was my responsibility to keep the energy and enthusiasm up on the set. If the director was still fighting to do the best work he could, everyone else was willing to pitch in.

The production went extremely well and we finished our five-day shooting schedule. Fred Scott and Tom Johnigarn, playing father and son, were especially good. Aldo and Jock were well cast as the racist cops. Bambi, Jackie and I made the transition between the two pictures work well. Louis Horvath did a fine job, but I never felt I could trust him again and this was the last time we worked together. He went on to have a nice career shooting mostly independent films.

THE BAD BUNCH – POST-PRODUCTION

Lucky Brown owned a small editing facility in the heart of Hollywood and he agreed to give me a corner of his place with editing equipment. I needed five thousand feet of film cut for the new footage and only shot ten thousand feet – giving me a two to one ratio. I edited out the mistakes and hoped that there was enough good footage to give me forty-five minutes of new film. I intercut the new film with the existing footage from Mothers, Fathers and Lovers and it worked. I had a new Blaxploitation film. Earl Watson, a very talented and intuitive young man, was in the editing room every day. I came in one morning and he proudly showed me a dialogue scene between my character and Makimba's that he had edited himself.

EARL

What do you think? You're not pissed or anything?

GREYDON

Of course not. The way you cut it is every time an actor speaks he's on camera. That's okay, but what keeps the audience involved is when you cut to the actor who is listening rather than speaking. Let's put in the reaction shots.

I had him stay in the editor's chair and do the fix himself while I looked over his shoulder. Throughout the years, I used the great Earl Watson as my editor whenever he was available. He's had a long and storied career and I consider Earl a close friend. We finished cutting the picture and I needed music for the new footage. I duplicated some of the music from Mothers, Fathers and Lovers, but wanted a title song for the new picture. Sheldon Lee agreed to write the lyrics and produce a song. I told him to make the lyrics as explosive as possible... "Nigger Lover... Honky Mother... Hassled by the man..." A great title song, thanks Sheldon – good job. There were a lot of people in and out of Lucky Brown's editing facility. Art Jacobs stopped by and looked over our shoulders while we were editing. Art was a television producer and owned a theater in Long Beach.

JACOBS

Greydon, what are you doing for distribution on your film, Nigger Lover? I think I can help you. I'm the new sales manager at Four Star International.

GREYDON
Aren't they a TV company?
JACOBS

They are, but they have a new theatrical distribution arm, Challenge Films, and I'm running it. I'd like to test your picture at my theater in Long Beach.

GREYDON

I don't know Art, I'm going to need to get some up-front money.

JACOBS

That won't be a problem with Four Star. They've got money.

GREYDON

I'll tell you what, Art, give me a week or so and I'll get back to you.

Earl put together the music and sound effects; we were ready for our second sound mix. I could afford one day at Ted Gomillion's tiny sound mixing stage above a garage in North Hollywood. Mardi Rustam's laboratory made our answer print. I screened for MPAA and got my R-rating. I was ready to show the picture to distributors.

THE BAD BUNCH – DISTRIBUTION

MGM had a huge success with Shaft and they screened at their studio. I got a call back.

MGM EXECUTIVE

Greydon, we like the picture. Can we keep the print another couple of days?

Things seemed promising. A major studio requested a second screening. They called again.

MGM EXECUTIVE

We're screening the picture again tomorrow at one o'clock. Why don't you come over after the screening to pick up your print and we can talk then.

I waited outside the screening for the MGM executives; it was the first time I was on a major studio lot. The door swung open and a half dozen guys filed from the screening room and stopped to talk. Their sales manager, Bill Madden, a guy in his fifties, offered his hand. Arthur Marx, a few years younger, stood next to him. There were no African American executives in the group. I don't know if there were any employed at MGM.

MADDEN

Greydon, we like the picture. You're going to do big business with this. A very explosive picture. This is Arthur Marx, our expert in colored distribution.

I wasn't certain what he meant by "colored distribution." Could he have meant color films instead of black and white? I don't think so...

MARX

Your movie is controversial to say the least. The colored gang has some good guys in it, like the one who goes to the cops.

He was referring to Alonzo, who finked on his brothers. The MGM executive thought he was a "good guy," the exact opposite of the intent of the scene. When I saw the picture with a black audience, they booed and hissed Alonzo, as I hoped they would.

MADDEN

MGM can't release a picture where two white racist cops are beating the hell out of a black kid in handcuffs. No major studio can release this picture.

MARX

My brother is a New York City cop and what you've shown is the way it is. However no major studio is going to admit that. Good luck with the film.

Two fifty-year-old white guys in suits and ties made a decision about what a young African American audience would react to; amazing. I had Art Jacobs set up a screening at Four Star. A couple of days later he got back to me.

JACOBS

Greydon, we like the film. I'm going to set up a screening at my theater in Long Beach. We get lots of sailors and I think they'll respond to the film.

I was confident that any audience, black or white, would like the picture. When I showed up at the theater there were about thirty raucous sailors in the audience, some black, some white. Their reaction could not have been better. They followed the story, laughed at the jokes, hooted and hollered at the racist cops. After the screening, Art rushed to me.

JACOBS

This is fantastic, Greydon. This film is perfect for us.

David Charnay was the head of Four Star. He was a typical Beverly Hills dealmaker with a perfect blow dried haircut and a custom suit. He looked like he could buy and sell me with the petty cash in his pocket.

CHARNAY

It's a fine picture, Greydon. Art thinks he can do some real business. We don't have money to give you up-front...

GREYDON

I've got to get at least fifty thousand dollars. I owe lab, equipment, investor...

CHARNAY

Fifty thousand dollars would be impossible. We might be able to get you twenty thousand as an advance.

GREYDON
That would barely pay my lab bill.
JACOBS
What if we paid the lab?
CHARNAY

We're not going to pay the lab and still pay you twenty thousand dollars.

JACOBS

How about we get you fifteen grand and we take over the lab? We'll take a standard forty percent distribution fee and front all the costs of distribution. I think this picture could easily gross a couple of million dollars.

I was down this road before, a distributor assuring me that I was going to make millions from my picture only to see the distributor not give the picture a real chance. What saved me before was a clause that gave me the rights to get my picture back.

GREYDON

I'll accept your advance... However I want a clause in the contract that says if you do not pay me a hundred thousand dollars within six months I get the rights to the picture back and any advertising or prints that there are at that time will become my property. The onus is on you guys...

CHARNAY

I don't know about six months. Let's make it a year.

GREYDON

Split the difference; nine months.

Jacobs and Charnay exchanged nods and we had a deal. A week later, we had a contract signed and I got my fifteen grand. It had been three full years since I began work on Mothers, Fathers and Lovers and I had not taken any money from the production budget. I took five thousand dollars for myself, paid Bob Brown five thousand and paid outstanding bills. For the first time in years, I had a few thousand dollars in my pocket. Jackie was working as a part-time secretary to pay the rent. I read an article in the LA Times about home purchases. The thought of us buying a home never occurred to me. The only credit I had was bad and I was working in a business that was notorious for instability. However the article explained that anyone could buy a home if they assumed a veteran's loan. I found a little home in Burbank that was selling for twenty-five thousand dollars with a V.A. loan that could be assumed. We were an unmarried couple, I was unemployed and Jackie was working part-time. However the new buyer's credit could not even be checked, good thing for us. We bought the home and I put it in Jackie's name.

Four Star was working on the advertising campaign and getting ready to release the picture. Art Jacobs called me and wanted to have a meeting. I walked into Charnay's office and before I could even say hello Art Jacobs hit me with the news.

JACOBS

We're changing the title of the picture from Nigger Lover to Tom.

GREYDON
What? Why are you doing that?
CHARNAY
That other title is just too offensive.
GREYDON

That's the title I shot the picture under... That's the title you bought from me. I know it's offensive... It's supposed to be. That's what makes it work.

CHARNAY

We are not going to release it under that title. I asked my long time colored maid what she thought of that title and she was offended. I was even embarrassed to use the word. We won't release a picture that is going to offend people. She's been with us more than twenty years... She's like a member of the family.

GREYDON
Does she have children?
CHARNAY
I don't know. I think she has a son.
GREYDON

The picture was not made for your maid. It was made for her son. If you asked him about the title Nigger Lover he would want to see the picture.

CHARNAY

We're screening the picture next week for the trade papers and I'm not going to have that title associated with Four Star.

GREYDON

That's a big mistake. You don't want to screen for the trade paper critics. They're going to kill us. They will never understand this type of picture.

I tried to convince them not to screen the picture and to release it under the title, Nigger Lover. The title was offensive – that was the point. Nevertheless, Four Star decided on the title Tom, perhaps the worst title imaginable for a Blaxploitation film. Al Kingston was a veteran agent working at The Swanson Agency. I told him about the picture and he agreed to see it. Four Star had a screening for the Hollywood trade papers to review the picture. Kingston was at the screening and called me immediately afterwards.

KINGSTON

Greydon, I just saw the picture. It and you are terrific. You're going to be a major force in this industry. My God, you're a young Orson Welles. I'll give you a call tomorrow morning and get you in to see Mr. Swanson. We'll all go to lunch.

More than eight years had passed since I'd come to Hollywood. Throughout much of that time, I'd been trying to get an agent to represent me so that I could break in to the major studios and do a "real" picture rather than these "two week wonders." It was finally happening. The next day The Hollywood Reporter review hit the streets. I expected them to hate the picture, but they went a giant step further and called me a racist. White critics savaged every single Blaxploitation film they reviewed. However I was the first and only filmmaker they called a racist. Al Kingston from the Swanson agency called me.

KINGSTON

The Swanson Agency cannot represent you after that review in the trades. I know you're not a racist. It's not fair and I think you made a great film. Mr. Swanson will not even meet with you. He has other clients to protect. I'm sorry, Greydon.

He hung up. This was my second picture. I've been lucky enough to direct twenty films. I never had an agent. I could understand how the picture would offend people. There were certainly things in it that I found offensive. That was my intent. However there's no way in hell that Nigger Lover is a racist film, unless you consider it's racist to show white cops beating up black kids. Jackie, who knew me best of all, was flabbergasted that anyone could think of me as a racist. I went into Art Jacobs' office a couple of times a week. We never discussed the review. They were finishing their advertising campaign for Tom. They were using the ad line... "Don't call me Tom... that was my slave name." I knew nothing about distribution, and asked Art about how he was going to distribute.

JACOBS

I've got my sub-distributors set up all around the country.

GREYDON
Sub distributors; how does that work?
JACOBS

The guys around the country who are going to handle the picture in their territory.

I was learning; a national independent distributor supplies the prints and advertising material to a sub-distributor who books the picture and pays for the local advertising. Roger Corman, Crown International, Dimension Pictures, all the independent distributors used the same sub-distributors around the country. The picture opened in Houston in early 1974 under the title Tom. A sober Art Jacobs called me on the Monday after the opening.

JACOBS

The opening was very disappointing. We did around five hundred dollars for the entire weekend. David Charnay said that we never should've gotten involved with a Blaxploitation film. It embarrasses him. The trade paper review especially embarrassed him. He doesn't want to release this picture.

Months went by and every time I called Art Jacobs it was one excuse after another. I continued to push Four Star for additional playdates on Tom. It was getting close to the nine months and the picture had only played in one theater. Once again, I was going to get the rights to my picture back. A few weeks before the deadline, Art called.

JACOBS

Four Star is closing their theatrical division. You get your picture back and I'm out of a job. You get a dozen prints and the advertising material.

I was convinced that the picture could find its audience and do some business. The title Tom was a disaster and if I went back to the original title, Nigger Lover, I just might be able to save the picture. Harry Clark was the sub-distributor who booked the picture in Houston. As luck would have it, he was coming to LA the following week. I got together with Chet Collom, the guy who did my print advertising on Mothers, Fathers and Lovers. We put together a couple of quick ads using the title Nigger Lover. I went to Harry's hotel, hoping to catch him. I saw him emerge from an elevator. I walked to him with my hand outstretched. He did not recognize me.

GREYDON

Harry Clark, I'm Greydon Clark. I directed and starred in Tom.

HARRY

I never saw the movie. I seldom look at the Blaxploitation pictures.

GREYDON

Look at these ads. I'm changing the title to Nigger Lover.

HARRY

This stuff is good. I can make some money with this in black theaters. I love the title... It might be difficult to book, but people are going to pay attention.

I created a new advertising campaign using the title Nigger Lover. We opened the picture in the same theater in Houston that Tom played in. Monday morning Harry called me.

HARRY

Greydon, we have a big hit. We did over three thousand dollars for the weekend. It's holding over and we'll get at least three or four weeks. I'm gonna book this all over my territories. I know the other subs around the country. I'll have them give you a call. You should play this picture in every major market.

I got half a dozen calls from other sub-distributors anxious to book the picture for me. Suddenly, I was an independent film distributor. I realized it would take months to get the picture booked around the country and additional months to collect.

Mardi Rustam expanded his laboratory into a new facility in Burbank just a few blocks from our home. He needed a secretary and Jackie got the job as his office manager. She and I ran the distribution company out of our garage. She came home after working full-time at the laboratory and worked in the evenings keeping track of the prints, advertising and collections. I spent the business hours on the phone with the sub distributors. We played around the country and did quite well. On Memorial Day weekend 1975, we opened in New York City with fifteen playdates throughout the city. The newspapers refused our advertisement under the title Nigger Lover. The film was advertised as Black Lover -- not exactly the same thing. Nevertheless, we did great business, especially at the grind houses around 42nd Street. Variety listed the top fifty grossing films that week; we were number twenty-three. Not bad for a "national distributor" working out of his garage.

Psychic Killer

PSYCHIC KILLER – SCREENPLAY

Mardi Rustam gave me a script, asked me to read it and come to his office at the lab.

GREYDON

I don't know what to do with this script. It needs a complete rewrite.

MARDI

I'll give you a thousand to rewrite and another thousand when we start shooting.

GREYDON
I'll direct?
MARDI

Yes. Let's get right on this. I want to make a horror film.

I was elated to have another opportunity to direct a picture. I happened to hear a radio interview with Dr. Thelma Moss, a parapsychologist working with Kirlian photography at UCLA. Kirlian photography photographs the aura that surrounds all living things. I went to see her and she showed me a demonstration of the aura around my own hand. What if... someone learned to control the living aura for malevolent purposes? That might be a basis for a good story. I needed to create characters who would fit into a horror film using Kirlian photography as its core. It took me a couple of months to finish the first draft on the script. I got it to Mardi, who loved it.

PSYCHIC KILLER – PRE-PRODUCTION

I'd completed a few weeks of prep when Mardi called me into his office.

MARDI

You can't direct the picture. My investors want Ray Danton to direct.

GREYDON

You said I was going to direct. This is not the deal we had.

MARDI

My investors insist. I want you to produce it for me so that you'll be able to step in and direct if something goes wrong. I've already given you a thousand dollars. I owe you another thousand for the script. I'll give you another thousand to produce it for me.

GREYDON

Mardi, I really don't want to produce a picture that I'm not directing.

MARDI

I promise, you produce this picture for me and you'll direct the next picture I do.

Mardi didn't have "investors." He was financing the picture himself. With Jackie working at his office, he knew how much we needed money and I had little choice.

GREYDON

I want the part of the young cop. It works a week and I want an additional payment of one week SAG. I have your word. I'll direct your next picture.

MARDI

You've got it. I'm concerned about Danton. Let me know everything he's doing.

Being Mardi's producer on Psychic Killer was an impossible job. Ray Danton was a very difficult, erratic person. We began casting and brought in Eddie Morse, the former head of casting at Paramount Pictures. We put together a very good cast - Paul Burke, Jim Hutton, Neville Brand and Julie Adams, Danton's wife. I suggested Aldo Ray for the role of a cop.

Morse

Oh, Jesus, he's a good actor, but he's a drunk. You can't trust a drunk.

GREYDON

He worked for me and he was sober; showed up on time and knew his lines.

DANTON

If he fucks up, it's on your head.

We cast Aldo and he was on his best behavior. I could've gotten Jock Mahoney a part, but I was afraid he'd ask for a new suit. Danton started reading actors for the role of the cop I was supposed to play. I barged into Mardi's office.

GREYDON

Danton is reading actors for the young cop. If I don't get that role, I'm walking.

MARDI

I told him you were going to play that part. The guy just wants to make trouble.

GREYDON

You're the boss. Make a goddamn decision and tell that bastard I have the part.

PSYCHIC KILLER – PRODUCTION

Shooting began and it wasn't more than a couple of days before things exploded. The crew was busy setting up lights and grip equipment while Danton was working with the actors. Suddenly Danton turned to the crew and screamed.

DANTON

I need quiet! You guys have to shut the fuck up! I need quiet for the actors!

Herb Pearl, the DP, calmly stepped to me.

PEARL

If he does that one more time, I'm pulling this crew.

GREYDON

Herb, I'm sorry. You know my position here. What the hell can I do? We just have to live with that crazy bastard. That's the picture business. The show must go on.

Jim Hutton had a very emotional scene, crying over the death of his beloved mother.

GREYDON

That was very nice, Jim. The way your eyes filled, it was beautiful.

JIM

You didn't notice I used a nitro popper?

He opened his hand to reveal a small tube concealed in his palm.

JIM

You sniff it and it brings the tears. I did it when I turned my back to camera.

I had a lot to learn. The film turned out pretty good. I like to think if I'd directed it would've been better.

PSYCHIC KILLER – DISTRIBUTION

Mardi instructed me to send the picture to the major studios, where we received polite turndowns. I brought Ed Mosk, a well-connected motion picture attorney, onto the production. He knew a law firm that purchased completed films on a tax shelter deal. Mardi agreed to let me send a print of the film to Syn-Frank in New York. A few days later, they got back to us expressing interest. Mardi wanted me to go to New York.

GREYDON

Mardi, you've got me handling all this distribution stuff. Now you want me to go to New York. Don't you think I should be paid for this?

MARDI

I paid you as an associate producer. This is part of your job. Besides, the next picture I do, you are directing. You have to make sure this picture is successful.

In a week I was in Manhattan. Sy Frank, an attorney in his fifties, was running things.

FRANK

We can buy your picture for two hundred thousand in advance and you would still participate in the back end. We take domestic only.

GREYDON

We would need at least three hundred thousand dollars up-front.

Mardi had three hundred grand in the picture and I figured if I could get him whole from this domestic deal there would be at least another couple hundred grand from foreign markets.

FRANK

Let's split the difference. We'll make it a two hundred and fifty thousand advance.

GREYDON

You guys know I am representing Mardi Rustam, the producer. Let me go back to Los Angeles and talk to him. I'll have Ed Mosk call you in a couple of days.

I got back to LA and presented the deal to Mardi.

MARDI
Couldn't you do better than this?
GREYDON

It puts you into profit and there's a pretty good upside from foreign.

Mardi reluctantly agreed and got his two hundred and fifty thousand dollars up-front plus an additional couple of hundred thousand dollars from foreign sales. He never paid me an additional penny for setting the deal with Syn-Frank.

We did get some extra money when Russ Meyer cast Jackie as one of his well-endowed girls in a party sequence in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. She also got a week working on Robert Forster's TV series Banyon and Menahem Golan cast her as a nineteen twenties flapper in Lepke, starring Tony Curtis.

Black Shampoo

BLACK SHAMPOO – SCREENPLAY

My sub-distributors wanted me to do another Blaxploitation film. I was happy to have a black actor star, but didn't want to do another film with cops, pushers or gangs. Warren Beatty's Shampoo was receiving lots of publicity; I had an idea and ran it past Jackie.

GREYDON

Mardi has his money back on Psychic Killer and I think I could get him to come up with a hundred grand for another low budget picture. I have an idea... it just might work. Warren Beatty is doing Shampoo. What if we did... Black Shampoo?

JACKIE
Black Shampoo; would that be legal?
GREYDON

Of course it is. What's Beatty going to do? He doesn't own the word shampoo or the word black. If we did it, we could put our lead character in Beverly Hills. I think it's time for the black audience to see a black actor in a Blaxploitation film living the good life. We can make him a very successful businessman.

She liked the idea and the next day I filled Al Fast in. He couldn't stop laughing.

FAST

You're kidding, right? Black Shampoo ; we could never get away with that.

GREYDON
Who could stop us?
FAST
Warren Beatty for one.
GREYDON

He's too smart to raise a fuss and give us the publicity we'd like. He'd ignore us.

FAST

It just might work. With that title we would be noticed again, that's for sure.

I wanted Black Shampoo to be a comedy, but I needed to put violence and action in the picture to satisfy my sub distributors. I contacted the subs and asked them if they wanted another picture called Black Shampoo ; they loved the idea. In the summer of 1975, Al Fast and I wrote the script. We needed to get Mister Jonathan, the owner of a successful beauty salon just off the Sunset Strip, involved in a life and death, action struggle. What if... he became romantically involved with a woman who had a history with a mob boss? Mister Jonathan was our good guy; the mob boss our bad guy. We completed the script; I broke it down to a three-week shooting schedule and did a budget for a hundred grand.

BLACK SHAMPOO – FINANCING

I went to see Mardi to discuss Black Shampoo. I pitched him the story idea and wasn't certain he grasped it. I did have his commitment that I would direct his next picture.

GREYDON

I need a hundred thousand dollars to make the picture, plus the lab and film raw stock.

MARDI

You didn't spend anything near that on your first Blaxploitation film. You will have to do it for half that; fifty thousand dollars.

GREYDON

I'll have to shoot it in two weeks instead of three and it can't be SAG. It'll be tight, but I can do it. We should make this picture... it's gonna be big. You come up with fifty grand plus the lab and I'll waive my producing and directing fee. We'll have to get a couple of grand to Al Fast for his script work... We'll split the picture's profits fifty/fifty.

BLACK SHAMPOO – PRE-PRODUCTION

Mardi agreed and I called Earl Watson to see if he was available.

EARL

I'd love to do it. Will I be an assistant or can I be the editor?

GREYDON

You're the editor. You deserve it. But I will approve every cut.

EARL

Of course. Is Louis Horvath going to shoot it for you?

GREYDON

No. I was thinking about his assistant, Michael Mileham. What do you think?

Earl highly recommended his friend Michael, who stopped in the office the next day.

MILEHAM

I know a guy who has a small van that's equipped with all the stuff we need, camera, grip and electrical. He comes along with it as the gaffer.

A few days later Dean Cundey and Mileham came to see me driving Cundey's Movievan; a regular street van that Dean ingeniously equipped for low budget production. There were three major roles to fill, Mister Jonathan's love interest, Brenda, and the mob boss. Mister Jonathan, the hero and centerpiece of the film, was our biggest challenge. Al Fast saw Candy Tangerine Man starring John Daniels. He thought John would be great for the lead in Black Shampoo and suggested I see the picture. That evening I saw John Daniels on the screen for the first time. John was an entrepreneur who owned a nightclub, Maverick's Flat, in Los Angeles. I stopped in to see him.

GREYDON

I just saw you in Candy Tangerine Man and thought you were very good. I'm producing and directing a film and want you to do the starring role.

I gave him the script, we shook hands and I left. The next day John came into our office.

JOHN

I like the script. How long would you need me and how much would you pay?

GREYDON

My budget's limited... I'm shooting for two weeks and I need you the entire time. You'll get more than any other actor. I'll give you a thousand dollars total.

JOHN

I'll do it for the grand but I want ten percent of the picture's profits.

GREYDON

I really want you in my picture. Make it five percent and we have a deal.

John agreed and we went over the script in detail. He wanted to supply his own wardrobe. When he left, I was confident that I had my leading man. We placed a casting notice in Variety and the next day in Army Archerd's column Black Shampoo was the lead story. Army asked Warren Beatty about our picture. Beatty responded, "What are they going to do next, Black Gone with the Wind?" Army called and asked if I had a comment.

GREYDON

Black Gone with the Wind? That sounds like a good idea to me. I'd like to see the civil war from the point of view of the slaves. It would be a more honest picture.

Black Shampoo 's connection to Beatty's Shampoo was already helping us. I toyed with the idea of playing the mob boss myself, but decided I would concentrate on directing. Joe Carlo came in for a reading. I liked his look and voice; he gave a solid reading for the part of the main antagonist. I cast Bill Bonner as his henchman and Sheldon Lee as his chauffeur. They also did double duty as crew members. The picture had a fair amount of nudity and, in those days, nudity was an issue. Before I saw an actor for a role that required nudity, I made certain they understood that nudity would be necessary. Tanya Boyd came in for an interview. She was extremely attractive and had a gentleness about her that I thought worked well for the female lead. I asked her to read a scene for me.

GREYDON

Very nice reading, Tanya. I think you'd be fine in the role. You know that the film will be rated R... Will there be any problem with the nude scenes?

TANYA

I trust you, Mister Clark. As long as it's tastefully done and part of the character, I have no problem with nudity.

We cast her and moved on to the next role. I have no problem with anyone's sexuality, who someone sleeps with is their business and I could not care less. I gave Mister Jonathan's character my attitude on homosexuality and he was friends with all his employees. Skip E. Lowe had a public access interview show on local cable television. Martin Short based his character, Jiminy Glick, partially on Skip, who was a flamboyant homosexual. Skip was perfect for the part of Artie, Mister Jonathan's salon manager. We cast him and he did a wonderful job for us. I looked for a salon that would allow me to film in their facility. I needed something that was upscale and could not find it. I would have to have a set built. I went back to The Hollywood Stage where I worked with Al Adamson eight years earlier. The stage had men and equipment ready to build sets. My budget would not allow me to hire an art director so I met with the owner, Ray Dorn, told him what I wanted the salon to look like and we made a deal for them to begin construction.

We were getting close to production, the cast and crew were locked and the salon set was under construction. Al Fast and I rewrote the script with the ultra-low budget and short shooting schedule in mind. The film ended with a chase sequence, Jonathan and Brenda running from the mobster and his goons. In a first draft of a script, a chase sequence is usually described in general terms. You find the location for the chase and then write the specifics tailored to that particular location. I found a location about an hour north of LA. When I pulled up to the house it looked like it might be a weekend getaway for a successful Beverly Hills salon owner. My budget wouldn't allow me to film interior, but I could use the wilderness that surrounded the house for my chase. Looking around the area, I saw a small cabin about fifty yards away. As I approached the cabin, I noticed firewood stacked near the entrance and a chainsaw leaning against the door. A chainsaw. What if... Jonathan used the chainsaw to defend himself? I stepped inside the tiny cabin and sitting in the middle of the room was a pool table. It was a small enough interior that it would be easy to light. A love scene on a pool table would be different and sexy. I could see the whole ending of my picture: the chainsaw, the pool table and acres of wilderness for our chase. We finished our final rewrite and were ready for production.

BLACK SHAMPOO – FINANCING

A week before we began shooting I went to see Mardi, who had not given me any money.

GREYDON

I've got sets being built. The cast and crew are ready. You've been stalling me with the money. I've got to get some cash this week.

MARDI

You'll get it. You know I've got it. I'll get you half tomorrow. And I'll give you the balance when you begin your second week.

GREYDON

Don't leave me hanging on this, Mardi. I made commitments all over town. Aren't you going to Hawaii with your family tomorrow afternoon?

MARDI

Don't worry about it. You'll get your twenty-five thousand before I leave.

I'd known Mardi Rustam for half a dozen years. I considered him a friend, a difficult guy to work with, but a friend. The following day I called Mardi at his office. Jackie knew that Mardi was supposed to give me the twenty-five thousand dollars that morning. He was not in his office and she had been trying to reach him at his home with no success. By mid-day, he was on a plane to Hawaii and I did not have my money. Jackie got home that evening and I was very pissed.

GREYDON

Mardi is out. Out of this deal and out of our lives.

JACKIE

What about the money for the picture? What are you gonna do?

GREYDON

I don't know. But I want that son of a bitch completely out of our lives. In the long run this guy can't help. He'll only hurt us. Once somebody breaks trust like he's done, it's best to get the hell away from them and stay away. We don't need that kind of shit in our lives. I want you to go back to your office, get all your personal stuff out of your desk and quit.

JACKIE
Can we afford that? Don't we need my income?
GREYDON

Of course we need your income, but we'll make it work somehow. If we hang around him, he'll just give us more lies and bullshit. He's out. Completely out.

I didn't see Mardi Rustam again for more than twenty years. I had no idea what I was going to do about Black Shampoo. I had commitments to cast, crew, equipment, locations, and the set was under construction. Not only did I need fifty grand for production, but I had to replace the film and laboratory all in less than a week. That Friday morning I woke up with something that resembled a plan. I knew it was a long shot, way beyond the three-point line, even way beyond mid-court, but when the clock is running out you take the Hail Mary shot. I put a phone call into Harry Clark, my sub-distributor in Jacksonville.

HARRY

How's Black Shampoo coming for ya? You started shootin' yet?

GREYDON

I've got a situation here and I'm hoping you can help me. My investor just pulled out. I need a fifty grand advance against distribution and I need it by Monday.

HARRY

Jesus Christ, Greydon, I can't get you fifty thousand dollars.

GREYDON
Then I can't get you Black Shampoo.
HARRY

All right, let me see what I can do and I'll get back to you in a couple hours.

He hung up the phone. I seriously doubted whether he would be able to come through with fifty thousand dollars, but it was the only option I had. A few hours later, he called.

HARRY
I can get you twenty-five thousand by Monday.
GREYDON

Don't do that. I would just spend it making the picture, but I wouldn't have enough to finish and we'd lose everything. It's got to be fifty thousand or nothing.

HARRY

Christ, you don't make it easy on a fella. Let me call some of the other subs over the weekend and see if they can chip in the other twenty-five thousand.

I was tempted to take Harry's twenty-five and begin shooting, but I couldn't take his money knowing I would not be able to have enough to finish the picture. It was a tough weekend. Jackie and I waited to hear if we were still in the film business. I worked on the budget. If I got fifty thousand dollars from the subs I could make the picture, even cover the cost of raw stock, but there was no way I could pay a laboratory fifteen to twenty thousand dollars for developing and printing. I needed to make a deal to get credit with a lab. Monday morning rolled around and I went to Movielab, a large independent film laboratory in the heart of Hollywood. I asked to see their credit manager. Jack Griffith was in his forties and not particularly friendly.

GREYDON

I start shooting on a film I'm producing in a couple of days. The laboratory I was going to use just flaked out on me; International Film Lab in Burbank.

GRIFFITH

I know that guy. He's a real piece of work. What happened?

GREYDON

Rustam was investing in my film and was supplying the lab work. He backed out over the weekend. I replaced his investment. I need credit for the lab.

GRIFFITH

We don't give credit to unknown producers. We keep the negative as collateral, but it's worthless if you don't finish the picture. How do I know you will finish?

GREYDON
Because I tell you I will.
GRIFFITH

That's a confident answer. Let me talk this over with my boss.

He walked into an adjoining office. After a minute or so, he returned.

GRIFFITH

Well, Mister Clark, we never do this but I'm gonna take a chance on you. Just be sure you finish the picture. I just promised my boss that you would.

I went home. Jackie told me that Harry Clark called. I immediately called him back, my entire career depended on what he was about to say.

HARRY

Greydon, you're asking for one hell of a lot. We barely know you. You've given us one picture and now want fifty thousand dollars in forty-eight hours.

GREYDON

I know it's a bitch, but that's the way it is.

HARRY

You're getting twenty-five thousand from me and five subs are sending you five thousand each. I convinced them. They think we're kin. When I told them you refused my offer to give you twenty-five thousand... I think that convinced them that you were a straight shooter. Don't make me look like a fool on this, Greydon.

GREYDON

This is going to work, Harry. You'll all get Black Shampoo next spring.

I was lucky enough to replace Rustam's investment and lab in just a few days.

BLACK SHAMPOO – PRODUCTION

I was at the soundstage going over how I was going to shoot the scenes scheduled for the first day when Michael Mileham, my DP, staggered toward me, his face swollen.

MICHAEL

I was in an automobile accident last night. Hit my face on the steering wheel.

GREYDON

Jesus Christ, man. Are you okay? I don't see how you can shoot this movie.

MILEHAM

No, no, I'm okay, Greydon. I'm fine. Let's get to work.

The rest of the crew showed up and the focus was suddenly on Michael and his accident. Everything I owned in the world was on the line and my DP was in terrible shape. He took a handful of pain pills and was woozy. How could he even keep the shots in focus? The stage was tearing the set down on Sunday. There was another production scheduled for Monday. If I couldn't film there for the three days as scheduled, it would be a disaster. This was our first day; we had no choice but to move forward.

GREYDON

Michael, I want to set the camera here. Let's establish the whole salon.

Michael nodded his head and turned to his crew. A DP, like the director of a film, is constantly on his feet. On a low budget film, the DP is also the camera operator. In the days before video assist, the director had to rely on his DP to tell him if a shot was in focus and if the camera movement was smooth. Michael was in no shape to tell me anything. He and Dean Cundey, who supplied our equipment with his Movievan and was my gaffer, were huddling in one corner. I walked over to them shaking my head.

GREYDON

Michael, I'm sorry, but this isn't gonna work.

MILEHAM

Dean's going to shoot the film for you.

GREYDON

The gaffer is going to shoot the film?

Michael nodded his head and stumbled toward the soundstage door. I turned to Dean.

GREYDON

I know it's your equipment, but have you ever shot anything before?

CUNDEY
Not really, but, I can do this.
GREYDON

You know we've got twelve days. I'm gonna push you hard and then push you harder. I'll set up the shots. If you've got any suggestions don't hesitate. No matter how hard I push you or how rushed you feel, if the focus is out or a camera movement is not smooth just tell me. I'll never get pissed about having to do something over again for technical reasons. But if I look at dailies and I'm surprised, that's unacceptable. Let's get to work.

We began the day's filming. Dean was very good, cooperative and easy to work with. Once again, luck was everything. Bad luck for Michael Mileham and good luck for Dean Cundey and me. John Daniels and Tanya Boyd were excellent as was Skip E. Lowe and the rest of the cast. The final scene on the soundstage was the first nude scene with Tanya Boyd. She was very relaxed and looked great. I filmed many nude scenes over the years and, like all filmmaking, it's a technical process. The actors have to hit their marks and move in a way so they can be photographed the way the director wants. The fact that it's a sex scene is immaterial. It's really choreographed like a dance number. "Move your arm a couple of inches lower, twist your head to your left so the camera can see more of you, move your leg a little higher, try and catch that light on your face."

Once we were shooting exterior, Cundey's Movievan was perfect for our guerrilla style of filmmaking. We stole everything – no permits, no cops, no lights, minimal equipment and only a three-man crew. We filmed the montage of Jonathan and Brenda getting to know one another in half a day with a wild camera and available light. The wild camera is much smaller, lighter and quicker to move around, however it's too noisy for dialogue. I was going to have a song playing over the montage and could add other sounds I needed in post-production. The actors had to have their makeup applied and change wardrobe in an automobile, but no one complained. When you're filming on a tight schedule, it's impossible to make a move within the day. You need locations that allow the crew to come to a specific place, unload the equipment and film the entire day in that location. To make a "company move" is too time consuming.

Lunch was a problem for the full twelve days, I sent a production assistant to the nearest fast food joint for quick takeout for everyone. We shot the Bar-B-Q party in one day on the far edge of the San Fernando Valley. I was able to rent a ranch and we invited friends to come join us as if it was a real party. We didn't have money to pay any of the extras so we told then there would be plenty of Bar-B-Q to eat.

The head mobster's home was an important location. I wrote it so that I could film everything day exterior around the front of the home or the swimming pool. The pool also gave me the added advantage of being able to photograph Tanya Boyd's lovely body. We had multiple scenes to film at the house and had to get everything in one day. There is one problem with filming day exterior and using only reflectors; when that great gaffer in the sky decides that it's time for the sun to set, your day is finished.

We moved out to the ranch area to film the ending sequence. Since we were out in the wilderness, there were no fast food joints for lunch. I sent a production assistant to a local supermarket instructing him to buy loaves of bread, bologna and mustard. It was going to be a hot couple of days and I told him to get plenty of sodas, the store brand. The crew was amazing and did not complain. The final days were the climax of the picture. We used multiple wild cameras, allowing us to film three angles at the same time on the action sequences. We shot the love scene on the pool table, the arrival of the gangsters and the chase through the mountains. Everything went well until I realized I had Tanya running through the rocky terrain in her bare feet. John picked her up and carried her a couple of times, but Tanya thought it was more realistic to have both of them running. She was a real trooper and never complained. On the last day of filming, Michael Mileham showed up. He looked much better and was welcomed by all, including Dean Cundey, who came to me at the beginning of the day.

CUNDEY

Michael should shoot the day. It's only fair that he takes over. I'll be the gaffer.

Michael was happy to be behind the camera. Dean Cundey: a class act. John Daniels was a very good, intuitive actor and did a great job in Black Shampoo. Like many inexperienced actors, he didn't like to rehearse a scene and wanted to "feel the moment." There are many different ways to rehearse; the most optimal is when the director and the actors rehearse before production begins. On a low budget film, that almost never happens, any rehearsal you are able to get is moments before the scene is shot. That rehearsal is done as much for the camera and sound as for the actors. I directed many inexperienced actors and would tell them to realize how they are being framed. You can't just move around because you feel the character would suddenly jump this way or that. The camera operator can't swing the camera to follow you if he doesn't know what you're going to do. Your performance is being put on film. An actor needs to learn where the camera is and how to cheat for it.

I staged the scene in front of the cabin where Bill Bonner slams his fist into John's stomach. I called for action, Bonner hit John and, unlike in the rehearsal where he bent over in agony, John dropped to his knees. Mileham turned to me eyes wide.

MILEHAM

Greydon, I'm sorry I didn't get it. He dropped out of frame. I didn't know he was going to drop to his knees. I'm sorry.

Cundey and I exchanged a knowing glance. I stepped to John and whispered in his ear.

GREYDON

John, it's great that you drop to your knees, but the cameraman didn't get it. He didn't know you were going to do it.

JOHN

I didn't know I was going to do it. It just felt right.

GREYDON

It was right, but nobody is going to see it. You dropped out of frame. Let's do it again and drop to your knees like you did before. This time the cameraman will know you're going to do it and he'll tilt down with you and we'll be fine.

I called for action and everything went well. We went inside the cabin to film the final sequence. I had three cameras running when Jonathan's caretaker, Fred D. Scott, who played the father in The Bad Bunch, burst through the door to save the day. Principal photography completed on schedule and on budget. John Daniels came to me a week after filming completed and wanted to sell me his five percent. I gave John a grand.

BLACK SHAMPOO – POST-PRODUCTION

I rented a small editing room in North Hollywood about five minutes from my home. I was very lucky that I had Earl Watson cutting the film. Earl and I were both learning our craft, six days a week in the cutting room. I put Earl in the first chair and looked over his shoulder. It took us about three months to finish the editing. Today it would all be done on a computer and finished in less than a month. When you finish your first cut of the picture, it's not unlike finishing the first draft of a screenplay; you go back to the beginning and start all over again. Re-cut, re-cut, and re-cut. Once you finally "lock" the picture, the next step is to look to music, sound effects and opticals. Earl recommended a composer, Gerald Lee. He had no experience, but Earl's strong recommendation was good enough for me. Gerald was eager to get his first opportunity and we made a deal for two grand. The music in the picture is one of its highlights. Sound effects on a picture are also one of its most important elements. Over the years, Earl not only became a renowned film editor, but also was in great demand as a sound effects and music editor. Titles and opticals were completed and we were ready to do our final sound mix. If the sound mix on a film is poorly done, it screams low budget. Ted Gomillion had moved into a large place in Hollywood and we mixed Psychic Killer there in ten days.

GREYDON

I don't have money left for my mix. We're going to have to do it in three days.

GOMILLION

You know that's gonna sound like shit, Greydon. I'll tell you what; I think you're going to continue making pictures. I'll give you four days for the price of three.

We took the four days to mix the picture; I used Gomillion Sound on my next five films.

BLACK SHAMPOO – DISTRIBUTION

I submitted to MPAA. Things had changed a great deal since I submitted Mothers, Fathers and Lovers six years earlier. Black Shampoo had much more explicit sex, but received an R-rating without comment. It was early 1976 and we were looking forward to a spring release. I knew it would be almost a year before I would move into profit from the sub distributors, a year before I could make another film. Dimension Pictures was successfully releasing Blaxploitation films and I decided to screen for Larry Woolner at Dimension. Larry was the first distributor to see Mothers, Fathers and Lovers and had summarily dismissed it back in 1970. They now had their own screening room and requested that I not stay while they looked at the film. The next day I got a call from Woolner asking that I come to see him. He sat at his desk, chain smoking. His wife, Betty, was next to him.

WOOLNER

Greydon, we like your picture. We want to distribute it.

GREYDON

I appreciate that, but I got advances from my sub-distributors and--

WOOLNER

I know all that. We use the same subs that you do. As long as they get their money back, they don't care who they get the distribution from. Who do you think they're going to treat better: a guy like you who gives them one film a year or somebody like me who gives them a couple of dozen? You've got to ask yourself; are you a filmmaker or a distributor?

GREYDON

For me to walk away from my own distribution, I'm going to need a hundred grand up-front so I can pay those subs and you'll have to take over my lab bill.

WOOLNER

You didn't get a hundred grand from the subs, you got fifty from them.

GREYDON

I've got other obligations. I'll need a hundred grand, plus the lab or no deal.

WOOLNER

We'll get you the fifty grand as soon as the paperwork's ready with the other fifty in ninety days. And we'll take care of Movielab. Deal?

By making this deal, I could pay my subs back and get another fifty grand in ninety days to do another picture. Dimension took a forty percent distribution fee and recouped their advance and expenses before I received any additional money from my sixty percent share of box office rental. I wanted to make films not distribute them. Dimension released Black Shampoo and did quite well with it. The success of Black Shampoo allowed me to begin a series of pictures, almost one a year for the next twenty years. My sub-distributors were happy with the deal I made. I used their money for a little more than six months and when I sent them back their fifty grand, I added a ten percent profit. Additionally, each of them got the film from Dimension Pictures for their territories.

Jackie had a small part in Black Shampoo. I always enjoyed directing Jackie and wished that I had written a larger part for her. She should've gotten more acting work. Maybe I could do something about that on my next film. Al Fast and I wrote a script, Seven Soul Sisters, about seven women who unite to push drug dealers out of the ghetto. It was loosely based on The Magnificent Seven. I planned to have Jackie play the Yul Brynner part.

Satan's Cheerleaders

SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS – FINANCING

Al Fast and I continued trying to raise independent financing for production with no success. My sub-distributors assumed I was out of the distribution business and I could not expect them to advance money for production. Dimension Pictures made their second and final fifty thousand dollar payment to us for Black Shampoo. I concluded that if I were going to do another picture I'd have to boot strap it and finance it myself. Investing in a motion picture is a very risky endeavor. An individual worth millions can invest one of those millions; a big investment on their part, but not as big as the fifty grand I was willing to invest in my own film. It was all the money we had, our "case money."

GREYDON

Jackie, we should take the final fifty grand from Dimension and produce another picture. It's everything we have. What do you think?

JACKIE

We made money from Black Shampoo. You should make another movie.

Countless times over the years, I invested all we had into one of my movies and Jackie never complained or hesitated once, a remarkable woman. I could not produce Seven Soul Sisters, an action comedy, on a fifty thousand dollar budget. I needed a new idea.

SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS – SCREENPLAY

The Exorcist and The Omen were doing remarkable business and cheerleader movies were big. What if... I combine both? Al Fast and I wrote Satan's Cheerleaders with the budget foremost in mind; mostly day exterior, a small cast and another non-SAG picture shot in two weeks. What if... the cheerleaders encounter a coven of Satanists? We had our principals – the cheerleaders and a satanic cult. I wanted to have a good role for Jackie in the film and thought she would make an excellent chaperone for the cheerleaders. I showed Jackie the pages that Al and I wrote.

JACKIE

I'm not qualified to give my opinion on the script.

GREYDON

I'm not asking you to write the script with us. You're going to be doing the part of the chaperone. Just read it and let me know what you think.

She reluctantly agreed; her thoughts were very helpful.

SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS – PRE-PRODUCTION

After the first draft, I started scouting locations. I got a lead on a dilapidated ranch house with acres of wilderness that would be perfect for our story. I contacted the owner and he had his tenant, let's call him "Andy Moran," show me around. He and a couple of other "biker types" who looked like they came right out of Satan's Sadists gave me a tour.

GREYDON

Okay, Andy, I'll contact your landlord and we'll make a deal to film here.

I contacted the landlord and we agreed on a thousand dollar location fee for a week's shooting. We were about to begin casting when Mike MacFarland walked into the office.

SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS – FINANCING

Mike was about my age, intelligent, soft-spoken and well-mannered.

MIKE

We share an attorney, Ed Mosk. He says you're about to go into production on a low budget film. I may have a few dollars to invest. Tell me a little about it.

GREYDON

Satan's Cheerleaders, a comedy/horror. The title pretty much tells it all. I'm putting fifty thousand dollars of my own money in it.

MIKE

I've got twenty-five thousand. If I put that up what would you do with it?

GREYDON

Right now, it's a non-SAG movie... If I had an additional twenty-five grand, I could go SAG and put some stars in it. That would make a big difference.

Mike took the script and a print of Black Shampoo. A few days later, another meeting.

MIKE

If I invest twenty-five thousand in Satan's Cheerleaders, I want a producer credit and I want to learn all I can from you about making low budget movies. I'm getting ready to make my own picture in a couple of months.

GREYDON

I promised producer credit to my writing partner, Al Fast. You can help me all you want with production, but understand that with the budget I have, I'll have to make quick decisions. All final decisions will be mine.

MIKE

I understand and that's acceptable. How about executive producer credit?

We agreed and suddenly I had a SAG picture to make. Mike's investment, totally out of the blue, a complete stroke of luck, was critical to my career.

SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS – PRE-PRODUCTION

Going SAG increased the quality of my cast. However SAG actors work a five-day week so my two weeks shooting schedule became ten days, not twelve; win some – lose some. I wanted stars in the picture so I called Eddie Morse, the casting director on Psychic Killer.

EDDIE

I'm retired now and I don't want to get involved in readings and casting.

GREYDON

I've got five roles where I'd like to have name actors. You help me cast just those. Get the script to their agents. You wouldn't even have to leave your house.

Eddie agreed to get the script around to friends at various agencies. We had a very good cast for a low budget film: John Ireland, Yvonne de Carlo, Jack Kruschen, John Carradine and Sydney Chaplin. Eddie gave his friends in the agencies our contact information and they submitted their young actors directly to us. Al Fast, Mike MacFarland and I saw lots of young actresses for the cheerleaders. Kerry Sherman was very impressive; extremely attractive with unusual eyes and she gave an excellent reading for the main cheerleader. We settled on the four cheerleaders and moved to the guys. It had been nine years since I saw Darby Hinton when he was a little boy playing in his swimming pool while Al Adamson and I talked to his mother about The Last of the Comancheros. Darby was now nineteen, blond curly hair and looked perfect for the role of one of the cheerleader's boyfriends. Moreover, he had name value from the Daniel Boone television series. I was ready to cast him when MacFarland whispered in my ear.

MIKE

There's this kid I think I'd like to cast in my picture. Before you decide on Darby Hinton, would you see my actor? I'm not saying you have to.

GREYDON

Of course, bring him in. If he works and you want him, we'll cast him.

The next day Mike brought in Lane Caudell and I asked him to read for me. He gave a fine reading and I thanked him for coming in. After he left I turned to Mike.

MIKE

I want Lane for the lead in my picture and I want to see him on film.

GREYDON

If it helps you, we'll cast him in Satan's Cheerleaders.

We cast Joseph Carlo as the coach. Joe played the mobster in Black Shampoo under the pseudonym Joe Ortiz. Casting was complete and I turned my attention to the crew. The first person I called was Dean Cundey. Dean had shot a couple of pictures since Black Shampoo and I wanted to make certain he was available before I picked an actual start date. He was happy to hear from me and we worked out a date that was good for him.

CUNDEY

You should use Debra Hill as your script supervisor. She's really good.

Debra Hill came to see me. She was an extraordinary young woman, very clever, a great script supervisor. Earl Watson, working steadily since Black Shampoo, was not available. I couldn't afford an experienced editor and decided to cut the film myself. Donn Greer ran an acting school and had contacts with struggling actors who worked as extras. I hired Donn as my AD and used his daughter, Robin, as one of the rival cheerleaders.

SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS – PRODUCTION

Production began on the first week in November of 1976 at John Burroughs High School in Burbank with Jack Kruschen, an Academy award nominee for The Apartment. I had Kruschen for one week – fifteen hundred dollars. He was a pleasant, gregarious sort who liked kibitzing with the cheerleaders. I was moving very quickly doing setup after setup and needed to move Kruschen a half a step to his left. I gently put my hand on his shoulder to position him for the camera. Suddenly, he turned on me, eyes blazing.

Kruschen

Don't touch me!

The set fell quiet. The girls were shocked and I stepped away from Jack.

GREYDON

Jesus, Jack, I'm sorry. I just wanted you to move a half step to your left.

Kruschen

Then ask me. I don't like to be touched. I didn't mean to yell at you, Greydon. It's just a thing I have. Any you girls that want to touch me, don't hesitate.

I led the laughter on the set.

GREYDON

No problem, Jack. All right, Kerry, you heard him. Try to turn him on.

Kerry moved her hands up and down his body as she delivered her lines. It didn't bother me that Jack had gone off. When you have two weeks to make a movie you don't have time to be bothered; you get the shot and move on to the next setup. When you see an actor in one of my films it's almost certain that you're seeing take one. Actors always want additional takes. I can't blame them; I also wanted to do more takes. However budget limitations forced me to move quickly. I didn't give actors time to request another take. As soon as the shot was over, I told my DP where to position the camera for the next setup. The lights and camera would be moving before the actor had a chance to request another take. Kerry was very cool with nudity and had no problem; the other three girls were reluctantly facing a nude shower scene. The girls whispered to each other as Cundey and I set up the camera. Hillary Horan, Alisa Powell and Sherry Marks, all very inexperienced actors, approached me as one.

HILLARY
We're not sure about this scene, Greydon.
GREYDON

Don't worry about it, girls. It'll be fine and you'll all look good. You've known about this scene from the beginning. Let's just do it.

I turned to Cundey to finalize camera position. The girls stepped around the corner, disrobed and stepped back into the shower room wrapped in towels. We were ready.

GREYDON

Wardrobe, get rid of the towels.

Our wardrobe person stepped into the shower and gathered the towels. I positioned Kerry Sherman closest to the camera and the other girls farther away from the lens. One by one, each of the girls repositioned themselves so that Kerry would not block them.

ALISA
Can you see me here okay, Greydon?
SHERRY

How about me? Can you see me good? Don't block me, Hillary.

HILLARY

I won't. Greydon, don't forget me.

Suddenly they were actresses and they wanted to look good. We had one day filming with John Carradine – five hundred dollars. John was seventy years old with severe arthritis. The fingers on his hands were so arthritic and twisted that he could barely use them. He was playing a homeless vagrant and I had him picking up aluminum cans and tossing them in a plastic bag. As I staged the scene, I saw him struggling to bend over.

GREYDON

John, I can change this scene a bit so you don't have to bend over.

JOHN
What's the matter? Doesn't it look good?
GREYDON

It looks great, but I don't want to make you physically uncomfortable.

JOHN

Bullshit. If it makes the scene better let's do it that way. John Ford never gave a shit if I was comfortable. You shouldn't either. I can handle it.

John Carradine had been acting for more than forty years and still cared about his performance – a real professional and a pleasure to work with.

We had our first day filming at the location where Andy Moran and his biker friends were living. Around mid-morning Andy showed up to watch us film. I noticed a pistol strapped around his waist.

ANDY
Some nice-looking poontang you've got here.
GREYDON

Pretty girls; all part of the movies. Listen, Andy, these young girls are gonna freak out when they see that pistol. Could you keep it in your house?

ANDY

What's the matter? They never seen a gun before?

He grabbed a handful of donuts and headed toward his house. I never saw him wear his pistol again. Eddie Morse made the deal for the name actors and I did not have a chance to talk to any of them before production. It was John Ireland's first day and I went to greet him at makeup and wardrobe. He was playing a small town sheriff who was also the leader of a satanic cult. When I arrived at wardrobe, he was trying on his sheriff's costume. When some actors first try on wardrobe, they are very concerned and study themselves from every angle. Ireland didn't seem to care.

GREYDON

Mister Ireland, I'm Greydon Clark, the director. The wardrobe looks good. Are you comfortable with your character? Any questions?

IRELAND

You really think you are going to film everything we have scheduled today?

GREYDON

I think so. I certainly hope so. I'm setting up the first shot right now.

He grunted and slipped into his makeup chair. I had Ireland for one week – four thousand dollars. He had an unpleasant attitude when we first met, as if he didn't want to be working on such a low budget picture. However by midday he came around and was quite good in his part. I had Yvonne De Carlo playing Ireland's wife, the high priestess of the sect, for one week – twenty-five hundred dollars. Unlike Ireland, she was very pleasant and worked well with the young actresses, taking direction with a sweet smile. She constantly checked her wardrobe and requested a full-length mirror on the set. When she was chanting at the satanic altar, I positioned the camera shooting past her body toward the icon of Satan in front of her. She turned to me with that sweet smile.

YVONNE

Greydon, where you've got the camera... Is this going to make my ass look big?

GREYDON

That robe you have on is covering your beautiful backside. You look great.

Sydney Chaplin, playing a cult member, worked for three days – a thousand dollars. Sydney was very gregarious and full of stories about his famous father.

SYDNEY

I understand you have ten days to complete this film. My father sometimes took a full year. Couldn't do it like that now days.

I called the cheerleaders over to meet Sydney.

GREYDON

Cheerleaders, this is Sydney Chaplin, Charlie's son.

ALISA
I'm sorry, who is that?
GREYDON

Charlie Chaplin, the world's all-time greatest filmmaker.

SYDNEY

How quickly they forget.

He threw his arms around the girls and they walked away giggling. When it came time to film Sydney's scenes, he was full of ideas; little bits of business to help flesh out his character, another consummate professional who was a pleasure to work with.

This was the first of many times I worked with animals and was fortunate to hire Carl Miller and his dogs. I wanted two dogs to burst through a window and attack Yvonne De Carlo. Carl arrived with his dogs and asked me if he could make an announcement.

CARL

Listen up everybody! You have nothing to fear from these dogs. But don't talk to them. Don't pet them. Just treat them like the professionals they are. When you're in a scene with them, the director will tell you what to do. Thank you.

Carl prepared the dogs to break through the window. He placed thin wax paper where candy glass would eventually go. He used dog treats to train his dogs to leap through the window and break the wax paper. After three or four times where the dogs broke through paper, he put in the candy glass. We used candy glass instead of real glass; it breaks easier and is soft and won't cut. I positioned three cameras to film the scene. The cameras rolled and the dogs burst through the candy glass; must've been a surprise to them because it was a bit sturdier than the wax paper. Hollywood trainers treat their animals well; without them, the trainers would have an empty rice bowl. On the last day of filming at the farmhouse, I had a group of actors around the satanic altar and to get the proper shot, I used a crane for the first time. Andy Moran showed up.

ANDY
How much you paying me for this?
GREYDON

I made a deal with your landlord; the guy who owns the place. He said he was taking care of you. I've already paid him.

He angrily stormed away. I assumed I would never hear from him again. I was wrong.

I made a deal with Van Nuys High School to film a Friday night football game. We shot during halftime with my actors dressed in football uniforms. We had the weekend off to handle the turnaround from night to a 6 A.M. call Monday morning at Paradise Cove Beach, a relatively easy day in the sunshine. We wrapped filming in the fall of 1976. This was the second film Cundey and I made together. He and his crew were awesome. The more a director and DP work together, the quicker and easier things flow.

SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS – POST-PRODUCTION

I shot fifty thousand feet of film so I had very few editorial choices to make. Like most of my films it was a simple matter of eliminating the things that did not work and hoping I could figure out how to make the scenes flow with what I had. I valued Jackie's opinion and asked her to come to the editing room every morning to see what 'I'd cut the day before. I worked twelve-hour days, seven days a week and the editorial process went well. In a little over two months, I had my final cut. I hired a well-known sound effects editor, Dick Brummer, to cut sound and had Gerald Lee do the music again. I went into Gomillion Sound and we mixed in four days. Movielab made the answer print. I submitted the picture to MPAA and we got an R-rating without having to make any cuts.

SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS – DISTRIBUTION

Dimension Pictures was slow in reporting on Black Shampoo and I wondered if I would ever get more than the hundred grand I received up front. For many years, drive-in movies were a staple for the exploitation filmmaker. However drive-in movie theaters were being torn down and replaced by shopping malls. Multiplex theaters sprang up in those malls. I thought Satan's Cheerleaders could get some playdates in multiplexes. I still had good relations with my sub-distributors and when I spoke to them about Satan's Cheerleaders, they were eager to distribute it. We decided to distribute Satan's Cheerleaders ourselves. Chet Collom did a wonderful print campaign. Choosing a couple of minutes from your own ninety-minute film for a trailer is a daunting task. Movielab gave me credit to make seventy-five prints and we began the theatrical distribution in March 1977.

Harry Clark was my key sub. We moved the seventy-five prints around the country between the various subs and did quite well. We eventually played in every major market in many of those new multiplexes. Jackie handled the bookwork and I dealt directly with the sub distributors. When we played in Los Angeles, we got a very nice review in the LA Times. The nicest part of it was that Jackie was singled out for her "excellent performance as the schoolteacher." I got a telephone call from Andy Moran.

ANDY

This is the guy from the house you made your movie at. You were here five days. A hundred a day. You owe me five hundred bucks.

GREYDON

Look, Andy, I have a signed agreement from the guy that owns the place. I paid him a thousand dollars. This is between you and him.

Andy slammed the phone down. That night Jackie and I went to the movies. When we got home, the front window had been shattered, glass lying on the floor; there were three bullets wedged in a wall. Two Burbank police officers took a report.

POLICEMAN

Looks like a drive-by shooting. Any idea who would do this, Mister Clark?

GREYDON

Yeah, there's only one guy. Andy Moran. He lived in a house where I shot a movie. He's a biker type. Anything you can do about this?

POLICEMAN

Not much. We'll ask the neighbors if they saw anything, but I doubt it.

The next morning Michael O'Donnell, my PM on Satan's Cheerleaders, was installing new glass in the windows when the phone rang.

ANDY
That's just a warning. More is coming.
GREYDON

There are women and children here. How could you do this, Andy?

ANDY

Oh, you know it's me. This is not over. I want my five hundred dollars.

He slammed the phone down. Michael heard my end of the conversation.

MICHAEL

I know a guy... He's a private investigator. He might help.

The next day we met Michael's private investigator, I'll call him "Ted Burns."

BURNS

I represented Mary Tyler Moore in a similar situation. Some nut job was hassling her. I paid him a visit and it stopped. Some associates and I will pay your biker creep a visit. You say he has a gun... It could get rough. If he pulls on us, we may have to take him out. Could you handle that, Mister Clark?

GREYDON

Look, I'm a nonviolent pacifist; a hippie. I demonstrated against the war. I don't want anybody getting hurt. But you do what you have to do to get this son of a bitch off our back. We can't live the rest of our lives looking over our shoulder.

The next day a long black limousine stopped in front of the Satan's Cheerleaders farmhouse. Ted Burns and three associates slipped from the back seat. Each guy pulled a pistol from his shoulder holster. Burns yelled toward the house.

BURNS

Andy Moran, get your ass out here now! And the other shit head that lives here!

Andy and his biker friend took a few tentative steps from the house.

BURNS

Which one of you assholes is Andy Moran? Come over here Andy. We're gonna have a talk. You got yourself in some shit here, boy. I work for one of the big studios and Mister Clark works for my boss. You've upset Mister Clark so much he's not coming to work and that upsets my boss. Shit runs downhill, Andy. Well it's about to run all over you. You think Clark owes you five hundred bucks.

ANDY

I don't want no trouble. Let's just forget about this.

BURNS

We want you to be happy, Andy. I'm authorized to give you your five hundred bucks plus two hundred and fifty more for your trouble. Cash right now. That sound fair, boy? But let me tell you something. If Mister Clark ever hears from you... if you ever drive-by his house... if he ever even sees you, we're coming back here and next time we won't talk. We have an understanding, Andy?

ANDY

I understand. Mister Clark will never hear from me again. Or see me.

BURNS

Let's hope so, Andy. This could get very messy. Here's your money.

ANDY
No. You don't have to do that.
BURNS

All my boss wants is for Mister Clark to show up to work tomorrow. All I want is for you to be happy, Andy. I want you to be fucking happy.

Burns gave him an affectionate pat on the cheek and shoved seven hundred and fifty bucks in his hand. He and his associates climbed into their limousine and backed down the driveway. They went directly to our house.

BURNS

The chances of you guys ever seeing or hearing from Andy Moran again are absolutely zero. The idiot got his money and got his balls twisted real good.

I never heard from the creep again. It cost me two thousand dollars – money well spent.

GREYDON

Jackie, let's sell this house and move.

JACKIE

I was thinking the same thing.

The house sold quickly for fifty thousand dollars. We purchased it four years earlier for twenty-five thousand with no credit and no down payment by assuming a V.A. loan. We found another house, however it required a traditional mortgage. We had no credit, no steady income, but we did have twenty-five thousand dollars for a down payment.

MORTGAGE BROKER

It would be a lot easier for you to get this loan if you two were married.

Jackie and I were living together seven years. It had never occurred to either of us that we needed a piece of paper legalizing our relationship. We got back to our house.

GREYDON

Looks to me like we better get married. Today or tomorrow?

JACKIE
I don't know. Are you sure about this?
GREYDON

If we want to get the house it looks like we're gonna have to get married.

Real romantic of me, wouldn't you say? The next day we went down to a facility in Hollywood, signed a statement that stated we had been living together for more than a year and got married. We didn't tell anyone we were going to do it, neither her family nor mine. A few days later, we simply announced that we were legally married. Jackie was an amazing person who put up with a lot of shit from me.

I was known as Greydon Clark since coming to Los Angeles twelve years earlier, but had never legally changed my last name. We changed it and everything was legal; the bank felt we were now "honorable citizens." We got the loan for the new house and moved in.

Hi-Riders

HI-RIDERS – SCREENPLAY

I was anxious to come up with my next project, but realized I wouldn't collect enough on Satan's Cheerleaders for almost a year to fund another production. I was constantly thinking... What should I do next? Roger Corman, one of the smartest men in show business, had great success with Eat My Dust and Grand Theft Auto, both car action films. I read an article in the LA Times about street racers; guys trolling the streets of Los Angeles looking for drag races. What if... these guys had a gang, something like the old motorcycle gang? I liked and respected Al Fast, but decided I wanted to write this screenplay myself. I started writing the screenplay that would eventually become Hi-Riders . Usually I have my lead characters and basic story in mind before I actually begin writing. Hi-Riders was the exception. My main characters would be a street racing gang, but I didn't have much of a story. I wanted the street racers to be the good guys. Who were the villains? I decided to begin the screenplay and see where it led me. I visited Van Nuys Boulevard on a Friday night to watch the parade of cars crawl up and down the street. Hi riders, low riders, antiques, and street racers; there were hundreds of cars as well as spectators lining the street. I knew this would be a great opening for my story. I needed a headquarters for the Hi-Riders gang to live in. I'd heard that The Paramount Ranch had an old Western Street in complete disrepair. The ranch was in private hands and available to rent for filming. The caretaker, Dee Cooper, a cowboy somewhere in his sixties with a handlebar mustache, showed me around. It was a perfect location. Not only did it have a place for the Hi-Riders' headquarters, but it had paved roads that would work for car stunts.

Most screenplays are written in three acts. Hi-Riders is somewhat unusual; the villain does not make an appearance until the middle of the second act. I had a good first act introducing the Hi-Rider gang. The second act was in "drag city" were the guys hustle locals, leading to tragic deaths. The third act is a confrontation between our heroes and the villain. However I had not decided on who the antagonist would be. What if... a gangster's son was killed in a street racing accident? The mobster father could put a contract on the Hi-Riders. I showed my script pages every day to Jackie, who added important elements and encouraged me to continue writing. I had a first draft screenplay on Hi-Riders in a couple of months. It suddenly occurred to me that I had not written a part for Jackie.

GREYDON

I re-read the script and realized there was no part in it for you.

JACKIE

You're just now realizing that? I've been aware of it from the beginning... It doesn't make any difference. The script is really good and you should make the picture. It's not going to be cheap to make, is it? All those car crashes... And there's a lot of speaking parts in it. Where's the money coming from?

GREYDON

We are sitting on about fifty grand from Satan's Cheerleaders, but that won't do it.

HI-RIDERS – FINANCING

I used my credit at the film and sound laboratories to help Mike MacFarland finish his film, Goodbye Franklin High. Mike used Cundey and his crew and was happy with his film. He read my screenplay for Hi-Riders. The next day he stopped by the house. I was about to get very lucky once again.

MIKE

It's really, really good. Good characters... Good story... Lots of action. What do you think it would cost to make?

GREYDON

It's going to cost a lot more than the seventy-five grand we spent on Satan's Cheerleaders. We'd have to buy lots of cars and there's a ton of stunts... It could probably be done for a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars.

MIKE

I want to produce it. I can get the money from my investors.

HI-RIDERS – PRE-PRODUCTION

A hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars was equivalent to my budgets for Black Shampoo and Satan's Cheerleaders combined. I wrote the script with budget in mind and limited myself to three interiors: the gang headquarters, a small town beer bar and the house where the main bad guy lived. My biggest problem with Hi-Riders was the gang's cars. Not only was I going to have to find a dozen cars, I was going to have to destroy half of them. I did a shooting schedule and figured I could make the picture in three weeks, fifteen days. MacFarland wanted a start date as soon as possible; we picked a date sometime in June 1977. My next call was to the great Earl Watson. This was going to be a complicated action film and I needed Earl to be my editor. Luckily, he was available. I contacted Dean Cundey; he and his crew were available. I hired Michael O'Donnell as my PM and Donn Greer as my AD and art director.

GREER

How you doing the scene where the car rams through the side of the house?

GREYDON

Haven't the foggiest. Find a house near The Paramount Ranch. We're gonna have to figure out how we smash through somebody's picture window. I'm buying a dozen used cars and you're going to make them look like street racers.

I went to a used car lot on Vineland Boulevard. I didn't care what the cars looked like, I planned to jack their rear ends up, paint them and use "movie magic" to make them roar down the street. The car salesman approached me.

GREYDON

I'm buying a dozen cars from you today. Keep them for a couple of months and then sell half of them back to you. I need them to start and run.

Donn Greer picked the cars up the next day and delivered them to a paint and body shop where they were "customized" into street racers. Donn showed me a nice ranch-style house with a large picture window overlooking a manicured front lawn.

GREYDON

The owner's gonna let us crash a car through his picture window?

GREER

No, but do you see the breezeway between the garage and the main house? What if I built a den there, put a picture window in it to match the other one, and you could crash the car through our window.

GREYDON

It'll work. Good job. Make it happen. Build the interior so we can film the entire sequence here in one day...interior and exterior.

Hi-Riders was a car/action movie filled with stunts and I needed an experienced stunt coordinator to work with me in staging the stunt sequences. Vic Rivers was the stunt coordinator on Grand Theft Auto and we made a deal. I wrote the stunts very loosely. When I got together with Vic, we decided exactly how each stunt was going to play. The Paramount Ranch was adjacent to Malibu Lake. There was a long bridge stretching over the water between the lake and the ranch.

VIC

What if we had somebody fall off that bridge into the water? And, if you could build me a ramp, I could fly a car through the air into the water.

GREYDON

Sounds terrific. Looks a bit dangerous to me. You sure it's safe?

VIC

As long as you give me what I need, it'll be fine. I want a couple of scuba divers in the water and an ambulance on the set the entire day we do the stunts.

GREYDON

Whatever you want. Just keep it safe. Our stunts will be the last day of filming.

VIC

I know a stuntwoman, Diane Peterson. I think she could do the part of Lynn. I know she could do the stunts. Especially the last stunt where she drives through the window of the bad guy's house... It would be nice if you could actually see the actress's face crashing through the window.

I agreed to see her. Vic and I went to The Paramount Ranch numerous times to make sure everything was done the way he wanted. Permits and cops were required whenever we were on a public road. I got a copy of the script to Eddie Morse, my casting director.

EDDIE

Not a bad script, Greydon. I can get you four stars in the picture. You're on your own for the young people. I'd like screen credit on this one.

Casting stars is easy; get the script to them and, if they like it, meet their price and you have a deal. Mel Ferrer, Ralph Meeker, Stephen McNally and Neville Brand, all recognizable actors, were cast. Casting young, unknown actors is another thing and I don't particularly like it. I have such compassion for how difficult it is to make it in this business and so many young people think that they can be movie stars; it's difficult for me to turn any actor down. As a director, you want them to be wonderful. Usually there are two or three people who could do the part, but you can only choose one. That meant I had to turn down someone who would be devastated. Sometimes I worked with a new actor who I thought had a chance at a nice career. Only to discover a year or two later that he or she was completely out of the business. Show business is very, very tough. Talent alone is not enough; you have to be lucky to survive. Mike MacFarland knew that I had written the role of the drag race hustler for Darby Hinton and agreed to cast him. Darby was struggling to move from the kid actor on Daniel Boone to a young leading man and this was a big opportunity for him. Diane Peterson was the best-looking stuntwoman I had ever seen and we were lucky to have her in the part of Darby's girlfriend. The gang leaders love interest required nudity in one brief scene; Karen Frederick gave a good reading.

GREYDON

Your agent told you that there would be nudity required in a love scene.

KAREN

My agent said that there would be no pubic hair shown.

GREYDON

That's right. I'll close the set, but you will be completely nude.

Karen agreed and we had pretty well filled out the cast, with one major exception. We still did not have the leader of the street racers. Scott Newman, Paul's son, came in for a reading. He was a rugged, good-looking guy and gave an excellent reading for the leader of the Hi-Riders. We called him back for additional readings and liked what we saw.

GREYDON

Scott, we'd like to cast you. I think you're gonna be terrific.

SCOTT

Great. Thank you very much.

A day or two later Scott Newman called me.

SCOTT

Greydon, I'm sorry. I can't do the movie. My father says that you're just casting me because of his involvement in auto racing.

GREYDON

Of course, I saw you because your father's Paul Newman. But I would never cast anyone in my picture that I didn't think could do the job. My picture comes first.

SCOTT

I just can't do it. I'm sorry.

He hung up. We were a week away from filming and I'd lost one of my leads. William J. Beaudine had given a very good reading for the role and he was our second choice. He had a gentleness about him that worked for the softer side of the role, but I was concerned whether he had the look for the tough leader of the Hi-Riders. I remembered my own role in Satan's Sadists. I was far from a biker, but a fake mustache and attitude pulled it off. Maybe this guy could do the same. I'd rather have a good actor who didn't look quite right than someone who looked the part, but couldn't deliver the performance I needed. We called Bill, who had never worked in front of the camera before; back in to take a second look. After another reading we were convinced he would be fine.

GREYDON

Bill, I want you to do the role. I'm a bit concerned that you may not look exactly right so I want you to stop shaving and I'm going to put a fake mustache on you.

Bill was eager to do the role. In a little over a year, Scott Newman was dead. The report in the paper mentioned substance abuse. That monkey gets a lot of good people. We were just a few days before shooting when Dean Cundey came to me.

CUNDEY

Wouldn't it be great to have drag racers next to each other in widescreen, engines roaring? We can shoot in wide screen. Just a grand for the whole picture.

We filmed in the widescreen process.

Stuntmen have things blown up around them and they need to have confidence that the special effects guy will keep them safe. I use Conrad Rothmann for the special effects on Vic Rivers' request.

HI-RIDERS – PRODUCTION

Fifteen days to film a picture like Hi-Riders is not nearly enough time. I knew it and so did the crew, but I had a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollar budget and not a penny more. The more you work with a talented person like Dean Cundey the quicker and better things go on the set. A DP wants to "paint" a great picture. His tools are his ability to light a scene, a shadow here or there, a shaft of light on an actor's face. Cundey and I never argued, but I would've been disappointed in him if he had not wanted more time to light. It was a constant battle between what I wanted to do and what I had to do; a bow to that ticking clock that forced compromises. We had two ways to film close-ups of the actors behind the wheel during the drag races. We attached a small wild camera to the hood of a car using a suction cup and rope, turned the camera on, stepped away and had the actor actually drive the car. Lots of fun for the actors, but Cundey and I were never certain if we got the shot. We could also tow the car behind a pickup truck with Cundey and me in the bed of the truck. That way Cundey could look through the camera and see exactly what he was shooting and I could see the actor's performance. On public streets, we had to have cops at each end of the race to stop traffic. They were paid almost twice as much as any crew member. Actors want to do their own stunts; it's stupid to allow them to do anything the least bit dangerous. If an actor breaks a finger or twists an ankle the production could be delayed for days and cost a small fortune; never allow an actor to do what a stuntman can do. I didn't need a stunt coordinator to stage a simple fight and Vic Rivers was not on the set when we shot a fistfight between Darby and Roger Hampton. Darby came to me with an idea.

DARCY

Greydon, what if Roger gets me in a bear hug and while I struggle to get loose, I give him a big, wet kiss on the lips. He could push me away, wipe off his mouth and then I hit him with a right hook and the fight goes on.

Great idea, Darby! No wonder I kept using you in film after film. Bill Beaudine was very good as the leader of the gang. He came to the set well prepared and was easy to work with. It was his first picture... and his last. Talent is very important, but it's not enough, don't forget the role kismet plays.

The cars looked good but were far from drag racers. They were just old used cars, bought off the car lot. When I needed a shot of a muscle engine, we shot an insert using another vehicle for that particular purpose. Often the actual movie cars wouldn't start or would stall in the middle of a scene. Dalton Smith was our set mechanic. He not only played one of the Hi-Riders, but was a miracle man when it came to keeping the cars running. I set up one drag race between two cars and suddenly neither would start. After being down for a precious twenty minutes, I pulled Cundey to the side of the cars.

GREYDON

Dean, what if we set up a dolly shot and we pushed the camera quickly down the side of the vehicles... at the same time I had the actors jerk their bodies back like the car was taking off... Wouldn't it look like the cars had actually roared away?

CUNDEY

We'd have to be close so we couldn't see anything move in the background.

We set the dolly up, I yelled action, the actors jerked back, and we pushed the camera down the dolly track; it worked. Neville Brand played the bartender. Neville was a very cooperative actor and remembered me from his one day part in Psychic Killer.

NEVILLE

Greydon, I'll do anything you ask me to do. Except for one thing; don't ask me to take a drink. I'm an alcoholic and haven't touched a drop of booze in almost two years.

GREYDON

No problem, Neville. The beer is apple juice with a bit of 7-Up to make it foam.

Neville was great to work with. He was always on time and knew his lines. I used him on my next three films. I had little time for "chitchat" on the set, but Neville did tell me a story about starring in Elvis Presley's first movie, Love Me Tender.

NEVILLE

Jesus, in that movie, I was the one that killed Elvis. I got thousands of letters from teenage girls very pissed that I killed their idol. It helped my career.

Ralph Meeker showed up on the set walking with some difficulty and approached me with outstretched hand.

RALPH

Greydon, I had a small stroke a while back, but I'm fine. I hope it's okay. I read my part carefully and I'm sure I can do anything you want.

GREYDON

No problem, Ralph. It'll be fine for the part. I'm lucky to have you.

Mel Ferrer, a producer and director as well as an actor, was a quiet gentleman who kept mostly to himself. Stephen McNally was a recognizable star since co-starring with Jimmy Stewart in Winchester 73 back in 1950. Some actors want to be left completely alone and don't fraternize with other cast or crew. Sometimes it's because they're playing the villain and want to keep in character. McNally kept in character on and off the set. I set up his first shot, a master of him coming into the bar. Things went well and McNally took direction without comment. When a director covers a scene with a close-up of an actor, the actor who is not being photographed is "off-camera." If the off-camera actor is on the set, he or she will deliver their lines so the "on camera" actor can react to them. Mel Ferrer was delivering off-camera lines to McNally when he fumbled a few words.

GREYDON

That's okay. Mel, just feed him the line again and we'll keep going.

Mel's minor mistake was no big deal and he corrected himself. Everyone assumed we would go on, everyone except Stephen McNally. Without a word, McNally turned and walked out of the frame. I told Dean to cut the camera. Mel whispered to me.

MEL
Sorry, Greydon.
GREYDON

I've never had an actor just walk off like that before. I'm sorry, Mel.

MEL

I've been producing and directing for more than twenty years and I've never seen an actor do that either.

I moved to McNally and spoke softly.

GREYDON
Is everything okay, Mister McNally?
MCNALLY

I lost my concentration. Tell Mel Ferrer to deliver the goddamn line right.

GREYDON

Of course. Okay, everybody, let's pick it up with the line before the bobble.

On a low budget film if you need an additional take for technical reasons you don't have time or the film to go back to the beginning of the blown take and start all over. You pick it up and begin from the point it went bad. McNally had no problem doing that and we finished the scene. If Mel Ferrer had reacted differently, things could've gotten out of hand. Lucky for me, Mel was a real professional. I had McNally for two days and he was completely cooperative after that first minor incident.

I was able to do a "movie cheat" when it came to the sheriff's office. I dressed a wall in the interior of the bar and shot a tight close-up of Mel Ferrer on the phone. The audience would "see" the sheriff's office in their mind. It worked. Mel Ferrer pulled me aside.

FERRER

Greydon, I may not agree with every decision you make, but I wish all directors knew what they wanted like you do. Helps us old guys.

Thanks, Mel, I appreciated that. Ralph Meeker was one of the kindest, most cooperative actors I ever worked with. Most actors return to their dressing rooms between setups. Ralph remained on the set in a director's chair. When an actor is completely wrapped, I announce it to the cast and crew who usually respond with a round of applause.

GREYDON

Everybody... That's an official wrap for Ralph Meeker.

RALPH

Now, Greydon, I asked myself the same question that every actor asks when he's wrapped: will I ever work again?

In 1954, Ralph Meeker won the New York Critics Circle award for his performance on Broadway in Picnic. He became a star and worked consistently in film and on TV and he was wondering, "Would I ever work again?" What a crazy business. I never wrapped another film without Ralph's line running through my mind, "Will I ever work again?"

Malibu Creek State Park, just a few miles from The Paramount Ranch, had a large pool of water surrounded by towering rock walls, perfect for our heroes to hide out for a night. In addition, it was perfect for the moonlight love scene, followed by skinny-dipping. Karen Frederick and Bill Beaudine had a tasteful love scene on a natural rock cliff above the water. It was a sequence we filmed "day for night." When you film a sequence in that manner, it's just as quick as filming during the day. You simply instruct the laboratory to develop the negative as if it were nighttime.

The second and last day with Stephen McNally was at the house where Donn Greer built the picture window. We could only crash the car through the window one time; I had three cameras positioned to cover the action; one camera on the exterior and two inside. I put an aquarium underneath the window and hoped that I could get shattering glass, water, and a couple of fish flying through the air in super slow motion. Diane Peterson, an experienced stuntwoman, was looking forward to driving the car through the window. Karen Frederick, on the other hand, was an actress who was not used to doing her own stunts. I wanted to see the two actresses jump out of the car after it crashed through the window. Diane convinced Karen that it was safe and Karen agreed to do it. I rolled the cameras, cued Diane; she smashed the car through the window – a terrific ending sequence.

Vic Rivers and four stuntmen were doing one stunt after another on our final day of shooting, Friday, July 8, 1977. I had multiple cameras on all the stunts. As the day progressed, the stunts became more and more dangerous. I was thankful I hadn't needed the ambulance that was on the set for the entire day. The stunt that I thought was the most dangerous was the next to last scene we filmed. Bruce Barbour, a close friend of Vic's, was standing in the back of a speeding pickup truck firing a rifle at our heroes. Bruce fell onto the hood of the heroes' speeding car. I kept thinking that if Bruce were to fall off the hood it would be disastrous. He fell onto the hood and was flung off the bridge into Malibu Lake; just as Vic and I had planned it more than a month earlier. We set up for the last shot; a pickup truck flying through the air landing in the middle of the Malibu Lake backwater. I positioned four cameras so that I would be certain to catch the truck flying in the air and splashing into the water. Two scuba divers were under the surface waiting for the truck. Vic was the stunt driver and was supposed to stay in the cab of the pickup for a few seconds until the scuba divers got to him. Something did not seem quite right. I walked up the hill to the top of the ramp and talked to Vic.

VIC
Ready when you are, Greydon.
GREYDON

There's something I don't understand. Why are you staying in the cab of the pickup? You could get it going down the ramp and rollout. No one would ever see you behind the bushes. You don't have to be inside the cab. Just rope the steering wheel off and let it fly on its own.

VIC

Then I would miss all the fun. Let's do it the way we planned.

GREYDON
You sure about this, Vic?
VIC

Positive. Let's get this show on the road. We're losing our daylight.

The scuba divers were about to submerge themselves under the end of the ramp.

GREYDON

You guys are going to be under the water and you won't be able to see the truck coming. If it falls short you'll be squashed like a bug. Move yourself to the side.

Everything seemed ready and I called for the cameras to roll. I gave Vic the action cue over the walkie-talkie. He roared down the ramp and flew through the air toward the water. However the truck came off the ramp in a squirrely fashion and it was apparent that something was wrong. It was plunging to the ground nose first and had not flown nearly as high or far as we all anticipated. It landed about ten feet from the shore, right where one of the scuba divers had originally positioned himself. As soon as the truck hit the water I yelled for cut and Vic's stuntmen and our crew rushed into the three or four feet of water. The scuba divers were at the pickup truck in a matter of seconds, but when they got there, Vic was not inside. There was so much mud that no one could see anything under the water. Everyone searched frantically, but could not find Vic. I was on shore growing more and more worried by the second. Bruce Barbour yelled at me.

BRUCE

He might be trapped under the truck! Pull the truck out!

There was a tow truck standing by to pull the pickup truck out of the water after the scene. When the tow truck driver heard Bruce, he waded into the water and attached his winch to the underside of the pickup. The cable tightened and the winch motor began to whir. The front end of the pickup truck was buried so deep in mud that the tow truck was having difficulty pulling it from the water. I turned to the medics at the ambulance.

GREYDON
How long can somebody live underwater?
Ambulance driver

About twenty minutes and they're brain dead. Another ten and it's over.

I looked at my watch. Jesus Christ, it had already been more than half an hour. Everyone had tears in their eyes as they stared helplessly at the guys searching frantically for Vic. Jackie was shooting stills of the scene and I went to her. Suddenly, shouts from the guys in the water. They found him. We watched as they put his lifeless body into the ambulance and roared away, sirens blaring. Jackie and I jumped in my car and followed to the Westlake Hospital. When I entered the lobby, a doctor stepped forward.

DOCTOR

Who's in charge here?

GREYDON

I guess I am.

The doctor motioned for me to come inside the emergency room and closed the door.

DOCTOR

We have a very weak pulse but I'm afraid the young man is brain dead. There is no way we can revive him. We might be able to keep him alive for a couple of hours at best, but he's gone. What do you want us to do?

GREYDON

I'm just the director. I can't decide that. What would you do if he was your son?

DOCTOR

Why don't you go back outside and we'll handle it from here.

I stepped from the emergency room and headed to Bruce Barbour and the stunt guys.

GREYDON

It doesn't look good, guys. Vic is not gonna make it.

BRUCE

Greydon, we talked a lot about what to do if something like this ever happened. If the director caused it, we were going to beat the shit out of him... but this wasn't your fault. You did everything Vic asked you to do. You had every safety option there was available for all of us. It just happened.

We all embraced, choking back sobs.

GREYDON

I'm gonna leave you guys alone.

I went to Jackie, took her by the shoulder and we headed to my car. We got back to our house and within minutes, the phone rang; my PM was on the line.

O'DONNELL

Vic bought the farm.

He sobbed and hung up the phone. We can never be certain what went wrong with the stunt. Perhaps the truck, landing in the shallow water, hit with greater impact than was anticipated. Vic may have hit his head, became disoriented, opened the driver's door, tried to swim to the surface and passed out. When Vic's guys found him he was less than ten feet away from the truck. The next day The State Workers Compensation Board saw the film of the accident. They decided that I had not been negligent; it was just a tragic "industrial accident." The state of California awarded Vic's family the grand total of fifty thousand dollars. It's been more than thirty years since the tragic accident that took Vic Rivers' life and whenever I do a stunt, I think of the young man. I've had a great life, filled with more luck and opportunity than I deserve. Vic's life was snuffed out when he was twenty-nine years old. I was the director. My movie. My responsibility. My fault.

HI-RIDERS – POST-PRODUCTION

As they say, "life goes on" and I had a film to edit. We rented editing facilities at Gomillion Sound and Earl Watson was cutting the film while we were in production. A week after we finished shooting, Bruce Barbour came into the editing room and wanted to see the film of the accident. Earl put it on the Movieola and we showed it to him.

BRUCE

I really wish you would use this in the film. It would be a tribute to Vic.

GREYDON
Are you sure about that, Bruce?
BRUCE

We all talked about it and we all want to see Vic's last stunt in the picture.

We did use the sequence in the film. Each day I became more certain that Hi-Riders was working. However every picture ultimately is a disappointment and it's in the editing room where you see all of your mistakes. We locked our final cut on the film. Gerald Lee once again did the musical score. Earl supervised the sound effects editors. We mixed at Gomillion's in five days. Movielab did the answer print and I was ready for distribution.

HI-RIDERS – DISTRIBUTION

Each year in October the MIFED film market in Milan, Italy is where independent producers meet independent distributors from around the world to buy and sell product. With the action in Hi-Riders, I thought we could do solid international business. Arista Pictures represented producers for foreign sales and I screened for Louis George, the head of their company.

LOU

Greydon, this is a terrific picture. We're really gonna do some big business at MIFED. Are you going to Milan?

GREYDON
I hadn't planned on it. Would it help?
LOU

We're going to be getting lots of offers from lots of territories. If you were there you could decide if you want to accept them right away.

If I was going to go, I knew that Jackie would accompany me.

GREYDON

Jackie, we're going to Milan the end of October. We might as well see Rome, Paris and London on the way. Oh yeah, we're going to do big foreign business.

Lou George ran an advertisement in Variety announcing that Hi-Riders would be at MIFED. The next day I got a call from Larry Woolner at Dimension Pictures.

WOOLNER

Greydon, how come you haven't shown me your new picture, Hi-Riders?

GREYDON

I've been distributing Satan's Cheerleaders myself and doing quite well.

WOOLNER

You ought to at least let me see your new picture.

I told him I would talk to him when I got back from MIFED. Jackie and I took off for Europe. Lou scheduled a screening the second day of the market. The response to the picture was sensational. We had multiple offers from almost every territory in the world. When pictures like Hi-Riders sell to a foreign territory they're sold with a minimum guarantee against further proceeds when the pictures are distributed. We wrote more than a hundred thousand in minimum guarantees. The foreign sales moved us into profit. We also sold around twenty-five thousand on Satan's Cheerleaders. It was a terrific MIFED.

When we got back, I sent Larry Woolner a print of Hi-Riders. The next day, at his request, I went to see him.

WOOLNER

We want to distribute this picture, Greydon. And don't give me any of that bullshit about you distributing it yourself. This isn't a small picture where you can make a couple of dozen prints. We are ready to make a commitment of two hundred prints. That's over two hundred grand in lab cost alone. I don't think you have the kind of money to front the prints and ads. Besides, you're way too good a filmmaker to be messing around with distribution. You should be making more pictures. I'm gonna make you one offer. Take it or leave it. I'll give you two hundred grand up front for domestic distribution.

GREYDON

I assume you would take over my lab bills as well. I'll talk to my partners.

I told Jackie about Dimension Pictures' offer.

JACKIE

You know we can't keep distributing pictures out of our garage. You're a great director who should be making lots of pictures.

I think she may have been biased. I asked Mike MacFarland to stop by the house.

GREYDON

Dimension Pictures offered us two hundred grand up-front for domestic rights to Hi-Riders and they take over the lab. Should we take the Dimension deal?

MIKE

If you release it yourself it's going to take a year for my investors to get their money back... The Dimension money will make my investors whole right away. I'm producing and directing my next picture. It sure would help if my investors got their money back before I asked for more. I'll support whatever you decide.

Mike was a good friend and I understood his desire to begin production on his own film.

GREYDON

I'll take the deal and you can start your pre-production on Hanging on a Star.

Dimension took over the remaining distribution of both Satan's Cheerleaders and Nigger Lover; times had changed and we agreed to change the title to The Bad Bunch (the name it was eventually released under for home video). It was the beginning of 1978 and I was completely out of the distribution business. Now all I had to do was write, produce and direct pictures.

Changes in the independent theatrical distribution business were accelerating at a rapid pace; theaters that played the smaller pictures were the independent "mom and pop" exhibitors who owned a couple of theaters and they were disappearing at an alarming rate. Like many other businesses in the United States, large corporations soon dominated theatrical exhibition. For years the major studios had ignored the youth market and left summer playdates to independents like AIP, New World and Dimension Pictures. In 1975 with the release of Jaws, everything changed and the studios aggressively released youth oriented, exploitation pictures in the summer. It became more and more difficult for the independent distributor to get playdates. In May 1978 Hi-Riders was released. A depressed Larry Woolner sat behind his desk when I stopped in his office.

WOOLNER

We had trouble getting playdates. I could only book a little over a hundred theaters. We did okay in those theaters but the majors are muscling us out. It doesn't look good for guys like me.

After Hi-Riders, I never struggled financially. It was thirteen years since I ran away from home and joined the circus. I wasn't making the kind of money most people thought a Hollywood writer/director made, but I was living a far greater life than I ever imagined. Making movies, which was something I would've been happy to do for nothing, made it possible for Jackie and me to live very comfortably. The best part of it was that I had Jackie in my life and was able to continue making movie after movie.

Angels Brigade

ANGELS BRIGADE – SCREENPLAY

In the spring of 1978, Lou George wanted to see me.

LOU

Do you have another film you'd like to do? I could raise three hundred thousand.

GREYDON

I have a screenplay, Seven Soul Sisters, it's an action comedy; girls fight drug pushers in the ghetto.

LOU

No, I don't want a Blaxploitation picture. They're not good in foreign markets.

GREYDON

I can do a rewrite on it and move it from the ghetto to the suburbs. It would be sort of a Charlie's Angels with plenty of action and comedy.

Lou was interested. Al Fast and I wrote the original screenplay; I set up a meeting with Al.

GREYDON

Al, I've got a deal to make Seven Soul Sisters. It'll be a completely different picture with a major rewrite. But it will be based on our original script.

AL
I want to produce.
GREYDON

The distributor is producing. If you want to produce, you're going to have to raise money. I can't keep giving you producer credit if you're not raising money.

AL

If I can't produce, I'm not gonna work on rewrites. Why don't I sell you my rights in everything we've done together? Why don't you buy me out?

Al and I made a deal; we remained friends until the end of his life a dozen years later. I did an extensive rewrite on Seven Soul Sisters and changed the title to Seven from Heaven. The picture is best known as Angels Brigade. Lou George liked the script and was eager to go into production. He presold foreign territories by telling his buyers that this was a film from Greydon Clark, the director of Hi-Riders. I was not involved in the financing.

ANGELS BRIGADE – PRE-PRODUCTION

Lou promised to raise three hundred thousand dollars and I rewrote the script to be done on that budget. My original shooting schedule was four weeks – twenty days. However at the last minute Lou was unable to get the full three hundred thousand dollars and I ended up shooting for a total of seventeen days – three weeks and two days. I wrote as many scenes as possible to be filmed at The Paramount Ranch. The most difficult location to find was the palatial home of the head gangster. I remembered the home I'd use for Jackie's character in Mothers, Fathers and Lovers eight years earlier. It was high on a mountain with an electric gate and large swimming pool, perfect for the head mobster's mansion. When I told the new owners I would only be shooting exterior for three days, they agreed to let me film for a modest location fee. I was very pleased to find that both Dean Cundey and Earl Watson were available. Several people came to me after Hi-Riders and asked why I kept using Dean Cundey? It was a ridiculous question; Cundey was shooting two and three week pictures for me. Dean was a great DP, quick, inventive and good to work with. I was lucky to have him. The DP and PM go to each location during pre-production with the director where they discuss in detail how each scene will play and what equipment and/or special personnel might be needed. The more preparation and communication between these three guys, the smoother the shoot.

Lou and I decided to put as many "stars" in the picture as possible. Eddie Morse agreed to help me cast the stars, but once again did not want to get involved in the casting of the other parts. I wrote five roles that could be shot in one day and wanted name actors in each of them. Jim Backus, Pat Buttram, Arthur Godfrey, Alan Hale, Jr. and Neville Brand filled the five day player's parts; each received a thousand dollars for the day. I was able to limit the head of the syndicate to one location, his mansion, all day exterior. I was very fortunate to get Peter Lawford in the role, three days for twenty-two thousand five hundred dollars. We got Jack Palance, one week for forty grand to play Lawford's muscleman. The amount of money spent on the stars cut deeply into the rest of my production budget. I needed seven athletic, attractive young women who could deliver a few lines of dialogue. I was confident that Jackie would be great in the part of the schoolteacher, the catalyst who brings the seven girls together. I used Donn Greer's two daughters, Robin and Liza. That left me four girls; I wanted one African American, one Hispanic and one Asian. I had Donn do preliminary casting. When he narrowed his selection to three or four, he called them back to see me. Susan Kiger, Sylvia Anderson, Noela Velasco and Lieu Chinh were cast. Susan was Playboy Playmate of the Month for January, 1977. She and Sylvia had acting experience; Noela and Lieu had never been in front of the camera.

Jack Palance wanted to meet me at his hotel. The 1978 World Series was on his TV when I entered his suite. After brief introductions, he turned his attention to the game. Palance had a reputation for being a "difficult" actor and I was concerned.

PALANCE

Are you going to be able to film everything you need from me in five days? I've got another job scheduled right after you... I can't go over.

GREYDON

I always stay on schedule. Anything you want to talk about in the script?

PALANCE

This is a comedy, right? These girls could never do the things as written.

GREYDON

It's all tongue-in-cheek. A spoof. But I want everyone to play it straight.

PALANCE

I think I can handle it.

He turned his attention to the game and didn't want to talk further. After a couple of minutes watching the Yankees and Dodgers, I stood and offered my hand.

GREYDON

It's been nice working with you.

I meant to say, "It's been nice meeting you." He jerked his head toward me and growled.

PALANCE

Nice working together? I'll be the judge of that.

As I stepped from the room, I hoped I caught a slight smile cross Mister Palance's lips.

ANGELS BRIGADE – PRODUCTION

Filming began on October 3, 1978. Palance didn't work the first three days. I wanted to make certain that we were up to speed before I began spending almost ten thousand dollars a day for one actor. We shot the sequences where Jackie gathers the six girls. I filmed a scene on The Paramount Ranch Western Street with Sylvia Anderson as a stuntwoman and played her director. A call sheet lists actors, locations, props and any unusual equipment requirements as well as the location of a "cover set" to go to in case of bad weather. The second day of filming was also at The Paramount Ranch. When I got a couple of miles from the ranch the road was blocked by a policeman.

POLICEMAN

Nobody can get through here. There are wildfires jumping the road ahead.

I went to the cover set listed on the call sheet and hoped the cast and crew would follow. Darby Hinton, who had been so good in Hi-Riders, was scheduled to begin work the following day. I called him and he agreed to begin a day early. We filmed a scene with the girls torturing Darby. We were back filming at The Paramount Ranch when a car pulled to a stop behind me and Jack Palance slid from behind the wheel. He was scheduled to work the next day so I was a bit surprised to see him. He looked around and seemed confused.

PALANCE

Greydon, where's the rest of your crew and equipment?

GREYDON

This is it, Jack. It's low budget. Please help yourself to craft services.

PALANCE

You go ahead with your... work. I'll just look around a bit.

Palance worked on major films with a dozen trucks and a hundred people on the crew. Our crew was about a dozen; our equipment consisted of Cundey's Movievan and a combination prop and wardrobe truck. I knew he was a great actor and would give a wonderful performance, but I was concerned if he would be able to adapt to my guerrilla filmmaking. The next day, Palance arrived half an hour before call time and came to me.

PALANCE

Where's breakfast? Don't you supply breakfast?

GREYDON

All we have is coffee and donuts. I'll send somebody to get something for you.

PALANCE

That won't be necessary. I'll eat breakfast before I get here tomorrow.

He headed toward his motorhome, not exactly a very auspicious beginning. Ten minutes later, he strode toward me at a purposeful clip. He always had a tough manner about him, but this time he seemed to be particularly angry about something.

PALANCE

Greydon, is the crew supposed to use the crapper in my motorhome?

GREYDON
No, of course not. What happened?
PALANCE

Some crew guy came in my motorhome and used my crapper.

GREYDON

Jesus Christ, I'm sorry, Jack. It won't happen again. That trailer is yours and nobody is supposed to go in there. I'll have my AD make sure of that.

Cundey recommended Rick Wallace as my AD. Rick eventually became a multiple Emmy Award winner and a real force in television as a producer and director. He tactfully took care of Palance, who kept his cool. Darby came to me with a concerned look on his face.

DARCY

Palance won't run lines with me. I asked him to run lines and he didn't want to do it. I don't get it... I've never had an actor not want to run lines...

GREYDON

He's playing your boss, a tough guy. Maybe he's just staying in character. Relax. And we'll see what happens. You're cool with it, right?

Darby was always cool. We shot the scene, a few lines of dialogue with Palance and Darby sitting in a car. Darby came to me with a big smile on his face.

DARCY

You were right. He was just giving me a hard time. Just before you said action, Palance told me he knew my father from the old days.

Darby's father was an actor who was killed in an airplane accident when Darby was a baby. When Cundey and I scouted the location for a foot chase through an apartment complex and onto the roof of the building Cundey requested a Steadicam. I'd never worked with one before, but realized it would give me great flexibility. I started staging the scene with Palance chasing Darby while Cundey strapped the Steadicam to his chest. Palance had not seen a Steadicam before and was impressed. I was able to do the chase sequence without dolly tracks, saving a tremendous amount of time. The chase continued to the roof of a building where Darby and Palance have a confrontation. The script called for Palance to pull a pistol from his jacket to threaten Darby. Handling firearms on the set is the responsibility of the prop man. He keeps the weapons under lock and key in his truck until we are ready to film. Palance, Darby, Cundey and I were on the roof of the building staging the scene when I looked over the edge and saw the prop truck driving away; the pistol we needed for the scene was disappearing down the road.

GREYDON
Son of a bitch, there goes the goddamn gun.
PALANCE

Easy, Greydon. I'll make a move like I'm getting my pistol from my breast pocket. I'll give Darby a look. He'll feel the threat. What'd you say, Darby?

DARCY

No problem. We don't need no stinkin' pistol.

We got the scene without the gun, thanks Jack and Darby. Jackie had a fight scene with Palance. I knew from his first encounter with Darby that he enjoyed intimidating other actors. Mister Palance would not intimidate Jackie; she would just turn on her amazing charm. Palance was a former prizefighter and there's no way Jackie could've dropped him with a couple of expert karate chops. Nevertheless, the young schoolteacher took out the muscled mobster with a few expert blows – "movie magic." I've staged lots of fistfights over the years and it's all about camera position. A punch will look real if the actors can coordinate their movements like a dance number. It doesn't make any difference how close the fist comes to the jaw. In fact, if a punch actually lands it will most likely not look real to camera. Jackie had never thrown a punch in her life.

GREYDON

Jackie, you don't have to come close to Mister Palance's face. I positioned the camera so that when you swing and he reacts. It'll work.

PALANCE

Yes, Jackie, you mustn't hit my precious face. It's my fortune.

GREYDON

He's right. I can't use him the rest of the day if he's all black and blue.

There were a few lines of dialogue between Jackie and Palance when the "fight" breaks out. My two actors responded appropriately and Jackie dropped him with an expert karate chop. I had a few moments with Palance and Jackie while we repositioned the camera.

GREYDON

Jack, I really liked your performance in The Professionals. It's a great picture. Richard Brooks is a terrific director.

PALANCE

Yeah. It's a great picture if you believe four guys can defeat a Mexican army.

GREYDON

I loved your look and accent. You can play so many different characters.

PALANCE

My whole face is plastic from the war. It's completely reconstructed.

Palance was seriously injured in World War II. After the war, he went to the Actor's Studio as part of the G.I. Bill. He was a no-nonsense guy from the coal mines of Pennsylvania. The guy took no shit from anybody. Throughout his week of filming Palance was wonderful to work with; inventive, cooperative, knew his lines and hit his marks. Eddie Morse made the deal with Peter Lawford's agent and, as usual, I had not spoken to Lawford before filming. The night before he was to begin filming his agent called me.

AGENT

Mister Lawford is very private about his personal life. You're not to ask him anything about the Kennedys, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra...

GREYDON

I would never ask about anybody's personal life.

He thanked me and hung up the phone. What a strange request. The next day Peter Lawford arrived on the set on time and ready to work. We introduced ourselves; he was most congenial and pleasant. There were a couple of scenes with him and Palance in the morning and they got along well. I was going through the lunch line with Lawford when a crew member approached him.

CREW MEMBER

Did Bobby Kennedy have Marilyn Monroe killed because she fucked both him and Jack Kennedy?

Lawford ignored the question and I waved the guy away.

GREYDON

Christ, Peter, I'm sorry. What an idiot that guy is.

LAWFORD

Not a problem, Greydon. Happens all the time. Things seem to be going well. Are you on schedule? You think you can shoot all my stuff in three days?

The final day at the mansion was my last day with both Lawford and Palance. Trying to make Jackie talk, Palance pushes her into the swimming pool with a weight tied around her ankles. It was mid-October and the unheated pool was freezing; Jackie never complained. The sequence was lengthy and she had to stay in the freezing water for some time. I got my wide shots and decided I could shoot Jackie's close-ups in another heated pool at another time. I started to help her out of the pool.

JACKIE
Aren't you going to shoot my close-up?
GREYDON

I'll get it later in a warm pool. You're shaking. Come on, get out of there.

JACKIE

No. I can do it. It's okay. I'm okay.

She was literally shaking from the cold and there was no way I could get her dialogue. Palance and Lawford stood over us as I helped her out of the pool. I mumbled to Jackie.

GREYDON

The last time I put somebody in the water, I didn't bring them out alive.

Jackie and I were both thinking about a year earlier and Hi-Riders and Vic Rivers. Once I got Jackie out of the pool, she had additional scenes where it was necessary to soak her down, but we were able to use warm water and she stopped shaking. We filmed a lot at the mansion in the final day; big stunts with a motorcycle flying into the pool, gunshots, dogs and fights everywhere. I staged a scene where Lawford is shot and fell on the pool deck. My special effects guy was rigging him with a squib when he called me over.

LAWFORD

Greydon, what if after I'm shot, I stumble and fall into the pool?

GREYDON
Peter, you know that pool is freezing.
LAWFORD

If Jackie can do it, I can do it. If you could ask Dean to go back in the water you could get a shot of me floating dead in the water. What do you think?

I set up multiple cameras and filmed Lawford being shot and stumbling into the pool. It took a few moments for Cundey and his assistant, Ray Stella, who were wearing wet suits, to get back in the water. Lawford was clinging to the side of the pool, teeth chattering.

GREYDON

Peter, that was great. It'll just be a few seconds for Dean to be ready with the underwater camera. If you could come out of the pool and when I call action, you fall into the pool then we could get a shot of you actually entering the water.

LAWFORD
But my wardrobe will already be wet.
GREYDON

I could pick the shot up the instant after you hit the water and we would see you plunge toward the bottom of the pool. Be sure your face ends up toward camera. If you're going to do this stunt, we want to be sure the audience sees it's you.

He nodded and crawled out of the pool. Cundey signaled he was ready under the water, I yelled action and Peter splashed into the icy water for the second time. Palance walked toward Lawford after the shot, grinning.

PALANCE

Good job, Peter. I'm impressed. But then, Jackie could take it. Water cold?

I gave them each a picture wrap, everyone applauded. Two nice guys, two real pros.

Jim Backus played the leader of "The American Rights," an inept group of stupid right wingers. Stupid right wingers... is that redundant? He quickly approached me.

BACKUS

Greydon, do you want me to play it straight or Thurston Howell, The Third?

GREYDON

Mister Backus, give me as much Thurston Howell as you can. We've got our tongues firmly in our cheeks here. Let's take advantage of it.

BACKUS

Good. I was hoping you'd say that and it's Jim, please. Ahhh, yes.

He morphed into Thurston Howell, chuckled and headed to makeup. It was a split day – half day and half night shooting. As was always, I kept everything exterior for both the day and the night sequences. We got the daytime stuff and broke for dinner. During the meal break, the sky turned from day to night. There was insufficient electricity at the ranch to "plug in" our lights. The generator didn't show, no way to power our lights. I went to Cundey and his head electrician, Mark Walthour.

GREYDON

What the hell are we gonna do? How do we light this thing?

Cundey looked at a power pole a few feet away.

CUNDEY

Mark, do you think you could tap in to the top of the power pole?

WALTHOUR

You mean above the circuit breaker? It would be as illegal as hell... If we get caught who pays the fine?

GREYDON

Give me the power... I'll pay the fine. Just be careful and don't kill somebody.

Mark scrambled up the pole, tapped in and we had power the rest of the night. The final scene with Jim Backus was slapstick comedy right out of Gilligan's Island. Backus hears the girls stealing his weapons and runs from his house carrying a large pot of steaming spaghetti. Sylvia Anderson hits Backus with a right cross causing him to smash through the side of a wall spaghetti in hand. The wall was rigged balsa wood so Backus could fly through it with ease. He came back through the hole in the wall covered with spaghetti. As I put the finishing touches of the spaghetti hanging over his face, he chuckled.

BACKUS

I have almost fifty years honing my craft and I end up with spaghetti hanging from my face. There's no business like show business!

Jim Backus, another consummate pro and a pleasure to work with.

I had a half day to shoot two scenes with Arthur Godfrey, the one-time king of television. We filmed in a small LA nightclub, doubling for a Las Vegas venue. Susan Kiger lip synced a prerecorded Gerald Lee song and then introduced Godfrey, playing himself, in the audience. He stood and acknowledged their applause. One more simple scene, Godfrey going backstage to compliment Susan and her manager played by Alan Hale, Jr. Godfrey could not deliver his lines - Take one: he blew his line. Take two: he blew his line. Take three: he blew his line. Take four: He blew his line. Simple lines, "I want to congratulate you on your show. It was wonderful. You're going to be a big star. I'm having a party in my suite; all the stars on the Strip are coming." Arthur Godfrey simply could not deliver those lines. He was embarrassed and very apologetic to everyone. I never got pissed when an actor went "up" and blew his lines. If the actor was trying, the director getting angry certainly wouldn't help. I tried to make light of it and make the actor feel more comfortable, more at ease. We were in a very small dressing room and I didn't have the space to hold up cue cards as I did for J. Carroll Naish those many years ago.

GREYDON

It's okay, Mister Godfrey, we'll just do it again. No problem.

GODFREY

Please, call me, Arthur. I'm so sorry. Maybe I could have something to drink?

CUNDEY

Get him some Lipton tea.

Everybody, including Godfrey, chuckled. One of Godfrey's longtime sponsors on his TV program was Lipton tea. I glanced at my wristwatch realizing that I had scheduled a "company move" from the nightclub to a home a few miles away in the Hollywood Hills. Jackie had a scene there with Susan and Alan Hale, who was available for one day. Godfrey settled down after sipping his tea. I whispered in his ear.

GREYDON

Arthur, it doesn't make any difference what you say. It's not Shakespeare. No one will know that you've changed the words. Just tell her that you liked her performance and wish her well in her career. Say anything you want. You've said the same bullshit to thousands of performers on your shows. Just say whatever you're comfortable with.

Godfrey finally got it, we wrapped the equipment and headed up the hill to do Alan Hale's final scene. He, Susan and Jackie were perfect.

The girls knew Pat Buttram from his role as Mister Haney in Green Acres. To me he was Gene Autry's comedy sidekick from the cowboy movies I watched as a kid. He played a flamboyant cowboy car salesman who sells the girls a van. Pat came up with bits of comedic business and line deliveries that made my written words much, much better.

Neville Brand played a police commander who gets involved with the girls. As always, he was a complete professional.

Donn Greer built a "drug processing plant" on an open area at The Paramount Ranch. When an art director creates a building that is going to be blown up, he doesn't put nails in it – they could become lethal projectiles. Our building was constructed with glue and thin wire. Most of the walls were unreinforced celetex. I scheduled two days for the entire sequence at the compound. Dean Cundey recommended James Windburn as my stunt coordinator. Every stuntman in town knew about the tragedy with Vic Rivers. I thought about asking Bruce Barbour to be my stunt coordinator, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. Perhaps I should have. It was the first time I worked with horses and the wranglers who brought them were awesome. The final day I used four cameras and we brought in Michael Mileham to operate one of them. Jackie had to climb to the roof of the compound.

GREYDON

When you're up on the roof, remember only the third of it that you're supposed to walk on is supported. The rest is just tarpaper.

It was two days filled with stunt people, horses and explosions. Filmmaking is lots of fun.

ANGELS BRIGADE – POST-PRODUCTION

Earl Watson hired Curtis Burch as his assistant editor. Curt was a very intelligent, hardworking young man and I was impressed. One day I stopped by the editing room and Earl wasn't there. Curt was there preparing material for the next day's work.

GREYDON

Curt, let's put up the stuff that Earl cut today and take a look at it.

Curt threaded the film on the Movieola. One thing led to another and we started editing the scene that followed. Before we knew it, we'd cut several scenes. I realized that Curt was far more than an assistant editor; he could co-edit. The next day Earl agreed that Curt should began cutting scenes on his own. We finished our first cut in late December. Dean Cundey, Jackie and I went to Lou George's heated swimming pool and got her close-ups. We locked the picture and it was time for titles, sound effects and music. Sound effects are more complex than most people think. In addition to gunshots, tire squeals etc. there are subtle sounds that are added to the soundtrack. In the nineteen thirties, Jack Foley invented a process to add live sound effects to a film soundtrack in a sound studio. The film is projected and a Foley artist walks on little individual boxes filled with various elements – sand, concrete, grass etc. in synchronization to the picture while the sound is recorded. I walked my own Foley, not because I was nearly as good as a genuine Foley artist, but to save a few bucks. Gerald Lee did another great job with the music for Angels Brigade. We went to Gomillion Sound and mixed the picture in five days. Movielab did the answer print. We had a cast and crew screening on January 17, 1979; Cundey whispered to me

CUNDEY

I may be getting out of the business. I'm just not making enough money. My family keeps pressuring me to get a real job.

GREYDON

Jesus, you are terrifically talented. I'd hate to see you throw in the towel.

I knew this was a tough business, but Dean Cundey was a real talent and with his equipment truck, I was surprised to hear he was having such difficulty. Within a year, Dean had shot Halloween and was on his way to becoming one of the most highly celebrated cinematographers of his generation. Good for Dean, he deserves his success.

ANGELS BRIGADE – DISTRIBUTION

When I visited Larry Woolner at Dimension Pictures, his worry had turned to gloom. Hi-Riders continued to do good business, but he could not get the playdates necessary for successful distribution. When I first started making movies in the late nineteen sixties there were a dozen or so independent distributors on each coast. One by one, they went out of business. Dimension lasted longer than most, eventually closing their doors in 1980. French Canada opened Angels Brigade to very strong business; Roger Corman called and wanted to meet Lou and me in Lou's office. Lou had a video player and Roger watched the trailer I cut.

CORMAN

Looks pretty good. What did you spend on this, Greydon?

GREYDON

Roger, you know I am not gonna answer that kind of question.

CORMAN

Oh, right, of course... Sorry. What was your shooting schedule?

He was asking the same budgetary question in a more tactful manner. As a producer, I wanted to say three months; as a director, I wanted to say three days. I decided to tell the truth.

GREYDON

Seventeen days.

CORMAN

Very good. I'm impressed.

We made a deal with Corman's New World Pictures for distribution. Angels Brigade had less than a hundred playdates before it was shelved. Even the great Roger Corman had difficulty with theatrical distribution. It was still some time before the home video boom; it was theatrical followed by television or nothing. The foreign market was still strong and Lou did enough business to move the picture into profitability.

I'm often asked about Mystery Science Theater 3000 and their take on Angels Brigade. Some of the stuff those guys did was very funny, some not so much. The same could be said for my film itself. I didn't like it that they reedited the film and took out Neville Brand's character. Being on Mystery Science Theater allowed a lot more people to see the film than otherwise would and that's a positive thing. My biggest problem with that deal is when Lou George sold the picture to them he didn't tell me and didn't pay me my share. If your film is insulted on national television, it would've been nice to at least see a few bucks from it.

Without Warning

WITHOUT WARNING – FINANCING

I got lucky once again when a guy called and wanted to talk to me about investments. I thought he wanted to invest in a movie. He got to my house and I realized I was mistaken; he wanted me to invest in a project of his. He thought that since I was a Hollywood producer/director, I must be rolling in dough. Unfortunately he was also mistaken. He had a complicated, lengthy tax shelter proposal involving lettuce growers.

GREYDON

Would this tax shelter proposal work for producing movies?

INVESTMENT PITCH MAN

I don't see why it wouldn't. You'd have to make the picture in the United States and form a limited partnership, but I think it would be doable.

Syn-Frank had purchased Psychic Killer four years earlier using a tax shelter, but they purchased a completed film. I wondered if I could use tax shelters for production. Over the next few months, I scoured the library to learn what I could about tax shelters.

WITHOUT WARNING – SCREENPLAY

Mike MacFarland finished his two pictures and was unhappy with the compromises he had to make. I understood, but I loved making movies and was willing to compromise.

MIKE

I'm going to try bigger stuff and submit to major studios for financing. I've been working on a low budget script that you might be interested in.

I read Mike's script. The next day we discussed it further.

GREYDON

The story is good. The script needs work, but it could be a good movie.

MIKE

I've made commitments to four separate writers. If you make the picture, they'd have to be paid and get screen credit. Other than that, you'd be free to do what you want. You'd actually be doing me a favor if you take it over.

GREYDON

I'll take the project over, but I don't have any production funding right now and it'll be at least a year before I see any money on Angels Brigade.

I had no prospects for financing. Lyn Freeman, Daniel Grodnik, Ben Nett and Steve Mathis all worked on the script for Mike. I never spoke to any of them.

WITHOUT WARNING – FINANCING

My sister Cheryl was married to Gordon Smith. Gordie was a congenial fellow who had a new job working with Petro Lewis, an oil company out of Denver. Cheryl called.

CHERYL

Gordie and I are going to Vegas next week. Why don't you and Jackie meet us?

GREYDON

Sounds good. You guys going on a little vacation?

CHERYL

About a dozen guys that work at Petro Lewis with Gordie are meeting in Vegas. They look at investments and Gordie says he can get you a meeting with them to talk about movie investments. Are you interested?

It was the fall of 1979 and I'd just got very lucky once again. I stapled together an investment proposal including advertisements from my movies with a cover letter referencing motion picture investments and tax shelters. In MacFarland's script, which I retitled Without Warning, I had a story that I could make into a good movie. I did a quick budget on the picture and thought that I could make it with a hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Jackie and I jumped in the car and headed to Vegas. We arrived at Caesar's Palace around noon and found Cheryl and Gordie in the coffee shop. OPEC was driving the price of oil through the roof and Petro Lewis was along for the ride. Gordie introduced me to Mike Starita, the president of their sales division. Starita was a decade older than I, loved movies and was eager to talk about them. That evening we had a luxurious meal in a private area at the Benihana restaurant in Caesar's. Starita sat next to me and was full of questions about movies and movie stars. On my other side sat Mike Whipple, their accountant who had flown in from San Francisco. When the meal was finished, Starita turned to the wives.

STARITA

We have some business we want to talk about with Greydon. You girls don't lose too much out there.

Jackie led the ladies to the casino. She was terrific at handling people. She could meet a group of strangers, and after a few minutes, everyone felt she was their best friend. Starita turned back to me as the ladies filed from the restaurant.

STARITA

Greydon wants to talk to us about investing in movies.

I was asking for an investment of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Big mistake; later I found that most of them were making half a million dollars a year. I could have, and should have, asked for a lot more. I passed out my investment proposal.

GREYDON

All the money goes into making the picture. I'm not taking any fee for producing and directing. You'll get your money back off the top and we'll split the profits fifty/fifty. If the picture hits, we can all make a ton of money. If it doesn't, the tax shelter will make it so that most of your investment can be written off against your personal income. You'll only be risking ten percent or so of your investment.

One thing I learned from selling crap door to door is to make your pitch and then shut up. They all turned as one to Mike Whipple, their accountant.

STARITA
Is that true Mike? About the tax shelter?
WHIPPLE

I'd have to look into it... But right now I'd say it looks right to me.

STARITA

Greydon, if Mike checks it out and gives a thumbs up, you've got your money.

Starita stuck out his hand and we shook; it was just that simple. The tax laws were set up to spur investment in the United States and had nothing to do with the motion picture industry. To get the tax advantage, the picture had to be made in the United States and I would have to finish it before the end of the year. The next night Cheryl, Gordie, Jackie and I went to see Sinatra at Caesar's Palace. A great show and a great trip. I was going to be able to make another movie, Without Warning. Fooled them once again.

WITHOUT WARNING – SCREENPLAY

I was unhappy with elements of the screenplay and did an extensive rewrite. In the original script, the Alien hunted with a bow and arrow; it wasn't unworldly enough for me. What if... the Alien used a living creature to kill? He could fling little "Flying Frisbees" at his victims and they would eat into the flesh of his prey. In the original script, the heroic boy destroys the Alien. I thought it was more interesting to have the guy killed at the beginning of the third act, forcing the leading lady to fight the Alien by herself. While I was rewriting, Jack Palance's face leapt off the page as Taylor, a grizzled hunter who becomes a reluctant hero. I rewrote the role specifically for him. I did a "budget rewrite" consolidating roles and locations, getting it down to a dozen speaking parts, all day players with the exception of the four leads. There were only three interior locations. If I could make it on a fifteen-day shooting schedule, I could do it with the money from my investment group.

WITHOUT WARNING – PRE-PRODUCTION

I went to Makeup and Effects Laboratory in North Hollywood to create my "Flying Frisbees." They made the mold and tentacles for the little creatures. MacFarland worked with Rick Baker, who became the most successful special effects artist in the history of cinema. Rick was not interested in pursuing the project, but my luck was holding; he referred me to his assistant, Greg Cannom, who would later become a multiple Academy Award winner. They had partially created special effects makeup for Kevin Peter Hall as the Alien. Greg and Kevin agreed to continue working on the project. I showed Greg my "Flying Frisbees" and he put wonderful finishing touches on them; adding their chewing teeth as well as making the tentacles more flexible, even adding tiny hairs to their body. Greg was great to work with and an extraordinary talent. I designed wardrobe for the Alien to look like something that a hunter from another world might wear. The original script had him in a metallic outer space uniform that seemed to be too much like a creature from The Outer Limits.

Earl Watson was not available. Luckily, Curtis Burch was and he became my editor. I had a script delivered to Dean Cundey. Halloween was playing around the country to tremendous business and Dean was finally being recognized.

CUNDEY

I liked the script. With the success of Halloween I have an agent now and he tells me I should not do any more low budget pictures. I know I owe you, but --

GREYDON

You don't owe me anything, Dean. If the truth be known, I'm the one that owes you for all your great work and little pay.

CUNDEY

The little flying creatures; how you gonna make them fly?

GREYDON

Thin wires and an eyehook. The Alien flings them down a wire.

CUNDEY

Fish line would be better. It would be more flexible than wire. If we put reflective material around the edges of the flying creature, I think we could see them as they fly through the air at night. Let me talk to my agent and I'll see if I can do just one more picture with you. You really did help me get started.

Dean called the next day and was on board. He was a hot commodity after Halloween and certainly owed no obligation to me. In the next week our PM, Jefferson Richard, Cundey and I went to the locations where we decided on what equipment would be necessary to capture the scenes as I described them. This was long before the days of digital effects; we had to shoot everything "practical." Mike Starita and his guys sent me the hundred and fifty thousand; the rewritten script was done, the locations were selected and Cundey and his crew were ready. The only thing left was for me to cast the picture. I called my friend Eddie Morse; he was completely retired and wasn't interested in getting involved. I'd have to cast the picture myself. There was a part of a bartender in a country-western bar and I thought it would be interesting to have the role played by a woman. My first thought for any female role was Jackie.

GREYDON
What about you playing the bartender?
JACKIE

No, I don't think so. Aren't some of the investors and their wives coming out while you're shooting? I think it would be better if I entertained them.

I reluctantly agreed. There were five roles that I could shoot in one day and I wanted them to be name actors. Three of them were in one location -- an isolated country-western bar that I scheduled for one long day. I got a hold of Neville Brand and Ralph Meeker's agents and both agreed to work with me again. Sue Ane Langdon's agent submitted her for the bartender and I had my three name actors at the bar. I was able to get Cameron Mitchell and Larry Storch for the last of my day players. I was left with two major roles to cast - Taylor, who I hoped would be Jack Palance, and Sarge, a deranged ex-military sergeant. I got the script to Palance's agent, a few days later he got back to me; Jack would be happy to work with me again. I needed him for one week and offered the same forty thousand dollars that I paid him on Angels Brigade. His agent held out for fifty thousand and I agreed with the proviso that it be a six-day week. As luck would have it, I was watching a cable access interview show one evening and Martin Landau was the guest. He had wild, unkempt hair and looked a little crazed – there was my Sarge. Landau didn't have an agent, but worked through his attorney. I got the script to his attorney and got a call from Landau.

LANDAU
I read your script.
GREYDON

I'd love to have you in my movie, Mister Landau. You'd make a great Sarge.

LANDAU
Call me, Marty. Who's playing Taylor?
GREYDON

Jack Palance. Jack and I worked together on my last picture.

LANDAU

I know Jack. We worked together before. Sarge is a pretty good character, lots of meat there. How much can you pay me?

GREYDON

Well, it's a very low budget picture. I've got three weeks to make the whole thing and I need you for one week. I could squeeze twenty-five thousand dollars for you.

LANDAU

That's half my quote. Can't you do better than that?

GREYDON

I know you normally get and should get more, but that's all I have.

LANDAU

How are you going to do those little flying sucking creatures the Alien throws? When he throws it at me, might I get hit in the face?

GREYDON

It'll all be guided directly to your chest on monofilament and won't hurt.

LANDAU

Okay, I'll be happy to do your movie. Contact my attorney with the details.

I had my stars set. Half of my production budget was going to two actors. I had credit at Movielab and Gomillion Sound, but this was going to be tight.

WITHOUT WARNING – DISTRIBUTION

Satan's Cheerleaders and Hi-Riders completed their theatrical distribution and I had television rights available. I contacted Arthur "Skip" Steloff, the head of Heritage Entertainment and screened for him. He agreed to distribute both pictures to the television market and asked me if I had other pictures.

GREYDON

I'm shooting a sci-fi picture. I've got Jack Palance and Martin Landau.

I left him the script. He called the next day and I went back to see him.

STELOFF

It's a good script. I'd like world distribution rights on this film. If I could get presales from HBO and CBS for late night, would you be interested?

GREYDON

See what you can do.

In less than a week, we had an HBO deal for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and a CBS Late-Night Movie deal for another hundred grand. I was reluctant to give Steloff world distribution rights, but three hundred and fifty thousand dollars would put me into substantial profit. The CBS deal was contingent upon the picture first playing on HBO. The HBO deal was contingent upon us playing theatrically in ten major markets in the United States. I had my attorney write a contract stating that Steloff would put all money directly into my attorney's trust account and the attorney would then pay each of our shares. I got eighty-five percent and Steloff fifteen. I was into profit before one foot of film was shot. At least I thought so.

WITHOUT WARNING – PRE-PRODUCTION

We continued our pre-production and needed to cast our four young leads. I asked Curtis Burch, who also helped me with rewrites on the script, to do the preliminary casting. Darby was my first choice to play the lead, but he was out of the country and unavailable. Curt saw dozens of young actors and actresses, eventually whittling his choices down to a couple for each of the four roles. He brought Tarah Nutter in and she gave an excellent reading for Sandy, the leading actress. Christopher Nelson, son of Ed Nelson, a well-known character actor, gave an intelligent reading and had a gentleness that I thought worked well for the male lead. Lynn Theel, a very attractive blonde, came in for the part of Beth and also gave a very good reading. I was impressed; there was one more role to fill.

CURT

This next guy has a different look about him, but I think you'll like him. He's had no experience. I think he's interesting.

Curt opened the door and David Caruso stepped in from the outer office. David had fiery red hair, a baby face and a disinterested manner about him that I found appealing. During our casting sessions, Curt and I had the actor's photo and resume in front of us and we wrote down two numbers from one to ten. One number represented whether we thought the actor physically looked right for the role and the other represented whether we thought they could play the part. Caruso gave a very good reading, I thanked him and he left the room. I turned to Curt.

GREYDON

What're your numbers?

CURT

I've got a ten and ten.

I turned over Caruso's resume and showed Curt my numbers: ten and ten. David Caruso would be our fourth and final actor. I needed death masks of the actors to hang in the Alien's lair. The actors went into the makeup studio to have the masks created. Their faces were covered with material that later forms an exact mold. The makeup artist then applied eyes, teeth, hair etc. to make the mask identical to the actor. Greg Cannom made them look like the flying creatures had eaten away half their face. It was the middle of November and somehow I was going to have to screen the picture for a paying audience in a little more than six weeks to qualify for my tax deal. I examined my script and realized that the opening scenes with Cameron Mitchell and Larry Storch were not absolutely necessary for the tax screening. I could shoot them after principal photography was completed. I added an extra day to my filming and scheduled it for mid-January. I needed a stuntman and woman to leap off the same bridge I used for the stunts in Hi-Riders. It had been two years since Vic Rivers' tragic death. Bruce Barbour was Vic's closest friend. I called Bruce.

GREYDON

Bruce, it's Greydon Clark. I have a stunt back at the same bridge you jumped off of in Hi-Riders. I'm hesitant even to ask you. I thought I'd at least give you a chance to turn it down. It's two people, a guy and girl that take the leap.

BRUCE

I'd like to do it. It's a job and I'm a working stuntman. Should I choose the girl?

We met out at the ranch and went over the details - two scuba divers in the water and an ambulance standing by. He selected a stuntwoman and we were set. I rented an office a few minutes from my home and brought in editing equipment. Curtis Burch cut the picture while I was shooting. After shooting all night, I went directly home, got a few hours of sleep and then went into the editing room to check on Curt's progress. It was necessary that we have our first cut within a few days after wrapping our shoot. I planned to rent a theater and show the cut without music, titles or sound effects. If one person came to the theater, it would satisfy my requirement for the tax deal.

WITHOUT WARNING – PRODUCTION

We began principal photography on Thursday, November 29, 1979. The first sequence was the introduction of the four young people at the lake at Malibu Creek State Park. When it came time to go in the freezing water David Caruso enthusiastically led the way. Paul Kimatian, representing CBS, was on the set. He was in his late twenties and knew nothing about filmmaking. A worried Chris Nelson came to me.

CHRIS

That producer over there was talking to me about my character and how I should play the scenes. I don't understand. Am I supposed to listen to him?

GREYDON

No. You're supposed to listen to me. I'd be happy to discuss anything with you.

I stepped to Kimatian with a smile on my face.

GREYDON

I realize you're on the set representing CBS and you can talk to me about anything you want. But I don't want you talking to the actors about how they should play a scene. These inexperienced actors are worried enough. You may not speak to them about anything other than the weather. Got it? I'm the director. Let me direct.

KIMATIAN

I'm sorry. It won't happen again.

Jack Palance's introduction was the second day of filming. We found a little empty shack sitting next to a country road. We brought in a couple of gasoline pumps and dressed the interior of the shack with mounted game trophies to help establish Palance's character. Palance was not only a good actor, but took his job very seriously. While Cundey lit the set, I staged the scene; the master shot called for Jack to collect money for gasoline from the four actors. As we rehearsed the scene, David Caruso stood behind Palance making funny sounds and circling his head with his finger. Actors don't like another performer doing something on camera behind their back. Palance glanced at Caruso, turned to me and growled.

PALANCE

Greydon, is this kid going to do that behind my back during the scene?

GREYDON
David, what are you doing?
CARUSO

I don't know. I'm laughing at this crazy old coot. I'm having fun. It just seems that what he's saying is a bit nuts to me. Don't go in the woods... don't go in the woods.

PALANCE

You want to play it that way? That's good. Let's use that. I'll show you nuts.

I wanted the audience to think that Palance might be an ally of the Alien and this set it up nicely. Thanks David Caruso, I wish you were in more of the picture. There is a scene with Landau in the bathroom with Tarah Nutter that was cut by the distributor in the United States. The scene establishes the crazy Sarge and brings Landau into the story early on. Distributors often have the right to reâ€“edit a picture and they mistakenly eliminated the scene. Distributors often look at story and don't want scenes that establish character. I disagree. If an audience is interested in a character they get more involved with the story. I gave Sarge the name of Fred C. Dobbs, Bogart's crazy character in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. I liked naming my characters from characters in other movies; I did it in several pictures and amused myself.

The remaining thirteen days were all night. There were two more interiors, a cabin at The Paramount Ranch and a country-western bar. Donn Greer was not available. One of his assistants, Jack De Wolf, was elevated to production design and built a tiny shack on the ranch that served as the Alien's lair; it was so small that we lit it with one light. We used the exact same location on the ranch where we built and destroyed the processing compound in Angels Brigade. I was not able to shoot tests on the flying creatures and was concerned about whether they would show up at night, but I had confidence in Cundey's idea to use reflective material around the edges of the little creatures. The first night we shot the flying frisbees I was amazed at how well it worked; you could see the little suckers flying through the air! Lighting for moonlight is fairly quick, a scene can be lit with one or two large lights and then a great DP like Dean adds shadows with tree branches and foreground cutting pieces to give depth to the frame.

Like most inexperienced actors, Tarah Nutter and Christopher Nelson felt that if they could get the emotion right, the scene would be right. When they enter the Alien's lair and see their friends hanging from meat hooks they recoil. They stepped away with such intensity that they were completely out of frame and knocked one wall of the shack completely down. Once again, I had to explain to inexperienced actors about the edge of the frame and working for the camera. It's fine to have "real feelings," but they have to do it within the frame if anyone is going to see it. As a director, all you can do is give encouragement to the actor and do the scene again.

It was going to be a very long night in the bar with lots of actors; Neville Brand, Ralph Meeker and Sue Ane Langdon were working on one-day contracts which meant I had to film them in eight hours. Jack Palance, Martin Landau, Tarah Nutter and Christopher Nelson were on weekly contracts which allowed me to work them ten-hour days. It was Martin Landau's first day. We began his day with the simple shot of him winning a game of eight ball. I thought he was overdoing the crazy a bit and whispered in his ear.

GREYDON

Marty, do less now. Just give us a hint that you might be a bit strange. That way, later on when you really go crazy, it'll be more effective.

LANDAU

Gotcha.

It was a pleasure working with a pro like Landau. Just a few words in his ear and he knew exactly what I wanted. Palance carries Tarah into the bar, places her in a chair next to Chris and moves toward the other actors. He moved from person to person as he spoke. I liked the way Jack was doing it, but knew I would not have time to cover the scene with him moving around from place to place. Once again, I whispered to a great actor.

GREYDON

I love what you're doing with this, Jack; taking command of the whole place. But I've gotta do everything in this bar in one night. If I have to do different setups for each position you take, I'll never get the night. I want you to bring Tarah in the door, put her in her chair and cross to the bar, take a seat next to Neville and play the whole scene sitting with your ass on the barstool.

PALANCE

Got it, Greydon. No problem.

Palance knew I was shooting with minimal coverage and was very cooperative. He "worked the camera" and used it like the old pro that he was. He walked away from the lens and then turned dramatically back toward it at the appropriate time. The guy deserved his fame and fortune.

The night moved on and we were able to get the scenes that we needed. A DP first asks himself, "What is the light source for the scene?" When the lights went out in the bar and we had only candlelight, Cundey did a great job, dramatically lighting at a very low level. I concentrated on filming my day players first. I turned to my young stars.

GREYDON

You guys should go and get some rest. I've got at least a couple of hours here while I shoot these other guys. I'll send for you when we're ready for your close-ups.

Wordlessly, they headed to their motorhomes. I wrapped Brand and Meeker, the crew applauded. If Ralph Meeker had wondered, "Will I ever work again?" Turned out he didn't. Without Warning was the last film for Ralph, a good actor and one of the nicest guys you can imagine; he passed away a few years later.

We went outside to the front of the bar to film the last scene with Sue Ane Langdon and Marty Landau. As usual, Landau was dominating the scene. When I finished staging any scene with Marty, he stepped away from the other actors and rehearsed his physical actions over and over again. An actor has to match his or her action in a scene between the master and the close-up; otherwise, the editing is not going to work. Landau matched perfectly and he was a pleasure to edit. Suddenly we heard a bloodcurdling scream. We all turned to see Tarah Nutter slam her script to the pavement.

TARAH

You're not being fair to me! I want to go home!

It had been several hours since I sent her to her motorhome. She was well into overtime, but she was being paid time and a half for each hour. I hurried over to her.

GREYDON

Tarah, what happened? What's the matter? Are you okay?

TARAH

You don't respect me! You're treating these old guys better than me!

GREYDON

Tarah, they're only working one day. I've got to finish them tonight. You've been resting in your motorhome. As soon as this exterior is finished, we're going back inside the bar and shoot your close-ups.

TARAH
I don't care. I want to go home. Now.
GREYDON

I haven't shot the close-up I need of you. I wrapped everyone else in the bar.

TARAH

I'm going home. Get my driver.

She stormed to her motorhome. I had agreed to supply Tarah with a driver to and from the set each day, something not normally done for an unknown actress.

LANDAU
What the hell was wrong with her?
GREYDON
She was tired.
Langdon

We're all tired. What are you Greydon, in your twelfth or thirteenth hour?

It was actually closer to fifteen, but I didn't have time to count. We finished a very long night in the bar. I was never able to get the close-up of Tarah. Included in my deal with Landau and Palance was payment for overtime. I could work them ten or twelve hours without additional compensation. However any time after eight hours they could simply say they were too tired and I would have to stop; neither ever exercised that right.

GREYDON

Marty, it's been a long day and I really appreciate all the work and patience you've shown. I had to shoot this location out in one day. Everything else is exterior so we'll only be able to shoot maybe ten hours and we'll lose the darkness. There will not be other long days like this.

LANDAU

Don't apologize, Greydon. I understand the pressure you're under.

GREYDON

Thanks, Marty. I've got one more problem. I need you first thing tomorrow. It's not going to be much of a turnaround.

LANDAU

I've looked at the schedule and know what we're filming. I'll be there on time and ready to go to work. Forget about the turnaround.

I was constantly impressed that these seasoned actors still cared so much about the film. Martin Landau was another good guy and great pro who deserved his success. In a few years, both Landau and Palance won Academy Awards and I couldn't have been happier.

Throughout all the night shooting, we used a fog machine to help fill the frame with mystery. Tarah and Chris lead Palance to the shack where he sees the gruesomely disfigured bodies hanging on hooks. Actually, there was nothing for him to look at other than an empty shack. The bodies were removed before Palance's first day. His reaction to seeing the bodies was all Jack Palance. He took a moment to react and slowly backed out of the small shack - leaving the walls intact. He took a long, dramatic walk back to the kids who waited for him twenty yards away. I had him walk into a nice close-up, the light from his flashlight shooting up toward his magnificent face. He paused for dramatic effect and delivered his lines, well not quite...

PALANCE

I -- Forgot my line.

Everyone laughed, including myself. My laughter was more, "Shit, I have to do this again." Palance never forgot his lines. He was always letter perfect. I think he was just amusing himself and getting a laugh. In the next scene, a flying creature smashes into Palance's leg. The script called for Jack to fall hard to the ground, but I was not staging it that way.

GREYDON

After the creature hits your leg, drop to your knee and roll over in agony.

PALANCE

Wait a minute. The script says I'm supposed to fall hard to the ground.

GREYDON

I know it does. I wrote it. But it's pretty rough terrain here, Jack, and I don't want you to get hurt.

PALANCE

I'm going to fall hard to the ground. Just be damn sure you get it.

He got down on his hands and knees and cleared an area to fall in. The flying creatures were not actually thrown, but rather pulled down the monofilament so they would hit their desired target. I shot the close-up on Jack's face as he dug the tentacled creature off his leg. However I did not take the time to shoot the extreme close-up of the knife digging in and carving at the creature. I could double the actors and shoot the close inserts after principal photography was finished.

Tarah and Chris ran from the alien, stopped a cop car and hopped inside only to discover that crazy Marty Landau was behind the wheel. Shooting the interior of a moving vehicle, especially at night, can be difficult; a major studio uses an optical screen behind the actors and shoots on a sound stage. We used "poor man's process." The actors sit in a vehicle that doesn't move. By moving lights past them along the side of the car and rocking the car gently, the impression that the vehicle is moving is created. The DP and director have complete control. Marty was great in the scene, just crazy enough to be believable and frightening. It was Landau's last day and I gave him a "picture wrap." He received a well-deserved round of applause from the cast and crew.

GREYDON

Marty, it's been a real pleasure working with you. Let's do it again soon.

LANDAU

Anytime, Greydon. Anytime.

We were getting ready to film the two stunt people leaping off the bridge and plunging into Malibu Lake's cold water. The ambulance and medics were parked near the water's edge with two scuba divers standing by. While the stunt people were on the bridge making last-minute preparations, I decided I could get a shot of Tarah and Chris running through the woods. Cundey set the lights, we rehearsed it a few times and I called for action. They ran past camera, Cundey panned with them and before I could call cut, I heard Tarah scream. We rushed to her. She was sobbing and holding her ankle. The medics bent to her.

TARAH
Is it broken?
MEDIC

I don't think so. It's probably just twisted; a minor sprain.

TARAH

It hurts! It hurts! I want a doctor to look at it. Take me to the hospital.

GREYDON

I'll have your driver take you over to the hospital.

TARAH
Can't the ambulance do it?
GREYDON
No, I need them here for the stunt.
TARAH

I can't walk. I want the ambulance to take me.

GREYDON

Okay. Put her on the gurney and put her in the back of the ambulance.

Tarah was loaded in the ambulance and they pulled away.

GREYDON

That's lunch. I'll go to the hospital and we'll do the stunt when I get back.

I arrived at the same emergency room with the same doctor who handled Vic's emergency two years earlier. If he recognized me, he didn't mention it and neither did I.

DOCTOR

There's nothing broken. There's almost no swelling...We can wrap it tight and she should be able to walk with minimal discomfort.

I went into the examining room; Tarah was lying on an examining table.

TARAH

I want to see my own doctor tomorrow. Take me home.

I knew I was finished with Tarah for the evening and went back to the set just as lunch was finishing. The ambulance returned and everyone was waiting on me. Other than the jump from the bridge, there was nothing else I could shoot that evening. We set three cameras to cover the stunt. Editorially, you can intercut the three angles making the fall look even longer and more dramatic. We were ready to go. Cundey and I exchanged a silent glance; the last time we put a stuntman in this water... I called for action. The stunt people jumped off the bridge, arms flailing and hit the water exactly as planned. The scuba divers and ambulance were thankfully not needed. The next day, I waited until noon to call Tarah.

GREYDON

Tarah, this is Greydon Clark. How are you feeling?

TARAH

My doctor says it's a major sprain and I can't walk on it for at least a week. I'm not working.

GREYDON

Tarah, are you sure about this? I could schedule some very easy stuff in the cabin and you wouldn't have to walk much.

TARAH

I'm not coming back to work for at least a week.

GREYDON

I'll have to shut down shooting. You are insured. I'll have to put a claim in to the insurance company on my cast insurance.

She hung up the phone. Cast insurance covers any delay caused by an accident or illness to the main actors and the director. This insurance is necessary; imagine filming Palance and suddenly he became seriously ill and could not continue. The production would have to reshoot everything and the cost would be prohibitive. On my early low budget films I did not have cast insurance, but from Hi-Riders forward I always did. I only had Chris and Tarah left to film. The insurance company required me to do a budget to prove what it would cost for me to shut down and they reimbursed me that amount.

Tarah came back to work in one week. However with a week's delay, my tax screening requirement looked even more difficult. She arrived on the set with a slight limp. Expensive actors must be shot on consecutive days and if the director knows exactly the bits and pieces he or she needs for the film, the schedule begins to look like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Almost nothing is shot in order. The scenes inside the cabin required only Tarah and Chris and were shot after her "accident." The exterior scenes with Palance were shot during an earlier night before her twisted ankle. When Tarah and Chris take refuge inside the cabin she has a slight limp. We framed the shots so that the audience could see outside the windows. I wanted them looking for the Alien stalking the kids. Chris stood guard while Tarah slept. Chris sat in a chair, his back to camera. Tarah swung him around and the audience saw a creature digging into the side of his face. When she backs away, she hits an overhead lamp causing it to fill the room with swinging light and shadow. The swinging light gives us the first brief reveal of what the Alien actually looks like. I think it works really well. It should: I stole it directly from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Tarah ran or, should I say limped, away from the Alien and hid in a basement. The interior scenes in the cabin were shot days after Palance was wrapped. Mike Starita, the head of my investor group, had visited the set a week before when we were shooting Palance rescuing Tarah. My sister and the wife of another investor were also visiting. Jackie entertained the three of them while I concentrated on the night's work. Palance recognized Jackie from Angels Brigade and was happy to see her. Jackie introduced everyone to Palance, who was most charming. Mike loved being on the set and stayed close to me.

STARITA

This is great. You're doing a great job. What's the next film we're doing?

Starita was a wonderful guy, but he had no way of knowing if I was doing a good job or not. I guess he liked my demeanor on the set; I was in charge and knew what I wanted. Prior to Without Warning Curtis Burch gave me a script that I would end up filming as The Return. I had a copy of the script in the trunk of my car. I knew the Petro Lewis guys were making heavy money and I handed Mike the script.

GREYDON

This is the next one. I'll need at least six hundred thousand dollars.

STARITA

That would be no problem. Can I take the script with me?

I wasn't really thinking about the next picture; I had to complete Without Warning and screen it before January 1. Starita was impressed with the evening and assured me that he could come up with the money for our next film. He took the script and left for Denver.

We had two nights to film the ending sequence. Tarah, prior to her twisted ankle, and Palance are confronted by Landau, who is now completely flipped out and convinced that both of them are aliens. Palance and Landau's characters fight over Landau's gun. Palance was sixty and Landau fifty-one. Both were in excellent shape and I did not schedule doubles for the fight. When I was staging it, Palance looked around.

PALANCE

No stunt doubles, Marty. Looks like it's just you and me. You up for it?

LANDAU

I'll try and not hurt you, Jack.

These guys were having a little fun with each other. The struggle over the gun went well. It's time-consuming to set up and level a dolly track. While we were filming the scenes between the struggling actors the grips put the dolly track in place so that I could dolly in both directions; first toward the actors and then swinging the camera in the direction of the Alien and pushing the camera on the same track in that direction. When we dollied through the fog toward the Alien, the audience got its first good look at Kevin Peter Hall in full makeup and wardrobe. He was impressive. We didn't have time to get the over the shoulder shot of either Palance or Landau approaching the Alien. Later I put on their wardrobe and doubled them walking toward him. I paid particular notice to their gait; Palance ran toward the Alien with arms swinging at his side. Landau walked hesitantly, thudding one foot in front of the other. That night we filmed the explosion and destruction of the Alien. As the shack and the dummies burned I had Cundey tilt his camera toward the stars and hold for what I wanted to be the last shot of the picture.

WITHOUT WARNING – DISTRIBUTION

Production completed and I had less than a week to screen the film for a paying audience. Curt was cutting while we were shooting and had a very rough cut two days after we wrapped. Some of the scenes weren't edited; we just put in the master shot to move the story along. I rented an old theater in the Valley for one night, put the title of the picture on the marquee and hoped that at least one person would pay to get in. There was no music, sound effects or opticals, but it was a screening for a paying audience. The four or five people who found their way into the theater saw a picture like nothing they had ever seen before. The screening was in the last week in December of 1979; I fulfilled my obligation to my investors. Curt and I went back into the editing room to finish the picture after the first of the year.

WITHOUT WARNING – second production

On February 11, 1980, we shot Cameron Mitchell, Darby Hinton and Larry Storch. When I made the deal with Mitchell's agent, he had an unusual request.

AGENT

You're not to give any cash to Mr. Mitchell. No cash to Cameron. He'll just give it to his bookie and spend it on the ponies.

Payment customarily went to the agent from the bond we had to post at SAG. Cameron Mitchell showed up on time and came to me before he went into makeup.

MITCHELL

Greydon, I need my money up front, in cash now.

GREYDON
Your agent specifically said --
MITCHELL

I don't give a good god damn what my agent said. Give me a grand of it. You want me to work today or not? Just give me a grand. I'll sign a receipt.

I wasn't going to start an argument with an actor whom I needed to work. I gave him his thousand dollars. Cameron took the money and went directly to his car where a guy was waiting. The guy took the money and drove off. Cameron went to makeup.

I did not want to show the Alien at the beginning of the picture, but let the audience's imagination visualize what the hunter looked like until near the end of the film. I liked what Greg Cannom did to create the Alien, but I liked the flying creatures even more. The creatures were unique and nothing like them had ever been seen before; very visual and horrific. I decided to go ahead and show the flying suckers at the beginning of the picture. Cundey was very good at operating the heavy Steadicam strapped around his shoulders and waist, but it was exhausting and after each shot he would be completely out of breath from lugging around a hundred pounds or more. Cameron Mitchell came out of makeup and wardrobe and was ready for his first shot. I wanted Mitchell to walk up a small embankment to his motorhome with Cundey following him using the Steadicam. We walked it one time and we were ready to go.

MITCHELL

Let's get this the first time. I don't want to walk up this hill more than once.

Cundey, sweating profusely, whispered to me.

CUNDEY

He doesn't want to walk up this hill more than once.

We got the shot in one take. After a couple of scenes, Mitchell got into the spirit of things and was completely cooperative. We finished filming with Cameron Mitchell and Darby Hinton, who was playing his son, and broke for lunch. Larry Storch showed up on time and went directly into makeup and wardrobe without incident. Our makeup person had a son who was a Cub Scout. I donated a hundred dollars to his troop; they came to the set dressed in their uniforms and looked great. Storch was wonderful working with the kids - inventive, humorous and gentle. I had Larry for a half a day and paid him seven hundred fifty dollars. Larry Storch, another great pro.

Cundey, Cannom, Jackie and I gathered in my garage to shoot the inserts. Cannom made a great death mask on Cameron Mitchell and we were able to get the close shots of the creature's tentacles digging into the side of his face. When it came time to shoot the inserts of Jack Palance carving the creature off his leg, my hands doubled his. Cannom created a gooey liquid that oozed from the creature as "Palance's" knife cut it open. The camera rolled and I sliced into the creature, Cannom had the ooze in a condom... when the condom inflated with air it popped like a balloon and the ooze poured out. More inserts: the Alien's fingers smashing through the door, the critter on Landau's chest, Palance digging a creature off a wooden post, anything that I couldn't take the time to shoot during principal photography was done a month or so later in my garage.

Before Halloween, no one at a major studio had paid any attention to Dean Cundey. The independent low budget guys like me were well aware of his excellence and he worked steadily, but for low pay and it was discouraging for him. When a picture is a hit, everyone involved gets a huge boost to their careers. Suddenly, the studios think that this person has some magic in them. They know how to make a box office film; the same guy whom they wouldn't have given the time of day to is now in demand. Cundey was about to have a huge career and be voted one of the top DPs in the history of film. When we finished the inserts, I turned to Dean.

GREYDON

It's been great working with you over these last years. You're gonna become a major force in the industry and work one big studio picture after another. I wish you nothing but luck. Remember these five little films we did together.

We embraced. It would be more than thirty years before I saw Dean Cundey again.

WITHOUT WARNING – POST-PRODUCTION

Earl Watson was available to handle our sound effects and did his usual excellent job. I contacted Gerald Lee, the extremely talented young African American composer who had done such a great job on my previous films. I was shocked to discover he was completely out of the business, filling his rice bowl with a "real job." Everyone loved Gerald's music, but he was unable to make a living in this tough, tough business. There's no question he had the talent... But it takes far more than talent; shall I mention luck one more time? Cundey recommended Dan Wyman for my music. He worked with John Carpenter on the music for Halloween. Dan came into the editing room and looked at Without Warning on the Movieola. He was anxious to receive his first film composer credit and we made our deal. Mike MacFarland committed producer credit to several people who did not work on the film. I fulfilled Mike's commitment. When I made the deal with Skip Steloff, I agreed to give him screen credit as executive producer. Curtis Burch, who helped me from screenplay to answer print, deserved a producer credit and got it. I gave a well-deserved "Special appreciation to Mike MacFarland" credit.

WITHOUT WARNING – DISTRIBUTION

We got our answer print in late March of 1980. Skip Steloff was very pleased with the picture and started selling it in the foreign market with a great deal of success. We screened the picture for major studio distribution in the domestic market. Warner Bros. screened it three times, but we were finally turned down at all the majors. We screened for American International Pictures and they requested a meeting. Steloff and I went to see Joe Sugar, who was in charge of sales at AIP.

SUGAR

Well, boys, we want to distribute your film. We think it has real potential. We'll advance you a hundred thousand dollars for all rights.

GREYDON

We can't give you all rights. We've already sold HBO and CBS late-night.

STELOFF
And I'm selling foreign as we speak.
SUGAR

All we have is domestic theatrical. We'll release the picture, but with no advance.

GREYDON

Film and sound lab will have to be paid; about seventy-five grand. You'll have to fulfill our HBO deal. We've got to guarantee you'll play in the top ten markets.

SUGAR

We wouldn't take the picture if we weren't gonna play it.

We finalized the deal with AIP who also got domestic home video rights. I kept the sequel and remake rights. It looked to me like my investors would get their money back and we would all move into profit. My attorney's trust fund was set up and we were waiting for the cash to flow in from all the deals. AIP was powerful in the industry and I anticipated a wide distribution. However within a week after signing the contract Filmways Pictures purchased AIP. At the press conference announcing the sale, Filmways stated that, "We are not going to handle any more of those low budget AIP exploitation films." I couldn't believe it. Why purchase AIP and then knock the product? We enforced the minimum distribution clause in our contract, making them play in the top ten markets. In September of 1980, Without Warning opened and did very good business. We even received good critical response; The New York Post called it "an extremely well done picture." We also got favorable reviews in Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta. The week we opened in LA we were number one at the box office. However we could never get Filmways to support the picture and we only received the minimal release required by our contract. The release did solidify our HBO deal, which in turn made the CBS deal effective. Money was not due from HBO or CBS for almost a year. Steloff was doing very well in the foreign market. The picture opened in December 1980 in Paris where it won the best sci-fi film award at the French Cinema Fantastic Festival. Steloff sold every European market as well as South America and Asia.

Months passed and no money came into our attorney's trust account. Everyone was thrilled with the results, but Skip Steloff did a song and dance about foreign distribution and refused to report or pay us our share. His constant threat of bankruptcy, which would've left us with nothing, delayed us for more than a year; we finally filed a lawsuit. The two hundred and fifty thousand dollars from HBO and the hundred grand from CBS came in and Steloff took the whole thing – not a penny into my attorney's trust. My share should have been two hundred and ninety-seven thousand dollars, which would've moved us into healthy profit on the picture. It took over two years to get Steloff into court. We settled for a hundred thousand dollars and I took over what was left of distribution. I was tempted to forgo the hundred grand and force Steloff into bankruptcy just to get back at the son of a bitch. The way the trust account was set up was a major mistake on my part. I never trusted Steloff, but my attorney assured me that the way to protect our share was through the attorney's trust account. When the contracts were drawn with HBO, CBS and foreign sales, the money first flowed through Steloff and then into the trust account. My legal fees were almost seventy-five thousand dollars and I was obviously not protected I made a gigantic mistake ever crawling into bed with Skip Steloff – big, big mistake.

Without Warning has a large cult following. Fans from all over the world contact my website with questions and praise. Commenting about the original Predator. Arnold Schwarzenegger said, "Did you ever see a nice little picture called Without Warning? Predator is something like that." Francis Ford Coppola mentioned that he saw Martin Landau's performance in our picture and thought of him for Tucker: the Man and His Dream. The response the picture received was gratifying, but when I look at it all I see are my production mistakes and the way I screwed up distribution. I never received a penny for my work on Without Warning, but luck was still smiling on me; I was able to continue making movies.

The Return

THE RETURN – FINANCING

Twice a year Mike Starita and Petro Lewis had an event in Vail, Colorado where they invited more than a hundred stockbrokers from around the United States for fun in the snow. Curt put together a few scenes of Without Warning on videotape for Jackie and me and we flew to Colorado. Jackie entertained the investor's wives while I met with Mike and the guys. The scenes were a big hit and when I explained the HBO and CBS deals, they were excited about the picture moving into profit.

STARITA

We got our tax break and Greydon is completing the final editing. He's agreed to do the next picture on the same terms. We're raising six hundred thousand dollars for this one. I'm personally in for half. When the deal is funded, the deal is done.

Starita came to Los Angeles often and was pleased with the progress of Without Warning. Neither of us was aware of the impending distribution difficulties caused by Skip Steloff.

STARITA

When do you think you'd like to start shooting on the new picture?

GREYDON

Sometime late this summer. There are a lot of special effects: spaceships, tunnels to another reality. There's no way I can screen it this calendar year.

STARITA

I can work with that. I need to adjust our deal. The funds are going to come in the form of bankable letters of credit, payable in one year. Your bank will advance you the cash to make the picture.

GREYDON

That sounds all right. I didn't take a penny out of the budget of Without Warning. If I bring The Return in under budget, I'll keep the difference for my fee.

STARITA

I assumed you must've taken something out of Without Warning for yourself.

GREYDON

Not a penny. Not with a hundred and fifty thousand dollar budget... I actually spent another seventy-five grand or so of my own credit at the labs.

STARITA

You should take something from The Return budget.

My agreement with the investors made me responsible for completion. I never put an amount for producer/director in my budgets, but I had a ten percent contingency and thought that would be my fee. My real compensation was my fifty percent share of profits. Mike headed back to Denver. I wondered just what the hell a letter of credit was. City National Bank had an active entertainment department headed by Irene Romero.

ROMERO

Assuming that you have bankable letters of credit with a firm date for payout, we can advance you six hundred thousand dollars less a couple of points for our fee. You pay monthly prime interest rate plus two percent.

Prime interest was fourteen percent. Since I was using the money for about six months, my bank interest would total seven percent. She then hit me with a bombshell.

ROMERO

You do have a completion bond on the picture.

A completion bond is a guarantee from an insurance company that the picture will be completed. It costs about ten percent of your budget and is not used on low budget pictures. If I had to get a completion bond, this deal was never going to work.

GREYDON

Why? The letters of credit are guaranteeing you get your money back on a specific date, having nothing to do with completion, right?

ROMERO

True, but if you don't finish the picture your investors are going to be upset. We don't want to get in the middle between you and your investors.

GREYDON

There's no way with my budget I could pay for a completion bond. If this deal is gonna happen we have to figure another way.

ROMERO
Do you have any equity in your home?
GREYDON
Not much.
ROMERO

If you gave our bank a second trust deed on your house guaranteeing completion, I would take it to the loan committee.

I agreed and explained to Jackie that we were going to have to put a second mortgage on our house.

JACKIE

Do whatever you have to do. I'll sign whatever. Let's just make the movie.

This was the first of many times I asked Jackie to place liens against our home. She was truly a remarkable woman. Not a moment's hesitation. Even when we were putting up everything we had Jackie let me do whatever was necessary to continue making movies.

THE RETURN – PRE-PRODUCTION

It was early spring in 1980 when we began work on the screenplay for The Return. The original script, written by Ken and Jim Wheat, was about an alien force causing cattle mutilations. It was a topical subject; there were numerous news reports about cattle being mutilated by something or someone throughout the American Southwest. It was a complex script with multiple locations and a large cast. I wasn't happy with it, but thought that Curtis Burch and I could make it work. I did a preliminary shooting schedule and decided on four weeks, budgeting fifty thousand dollars for optical effects. Curt and I worked on the script for months, up to and including post-production; I just couldn't seem to get it right and was never happy with it. However I knew that I could direct the picture so that at least it would be playable, and I was committed to making the picture. Our two main characters, Wayne and Jennifer, were not going to be young unknown actors. Each was in their late twenties and I wanted to cast recognizable stars in those roles. I budgeted three hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the cast; at least I would be able to put some real stars in the leads and that should help secure distribution. I got the major agencies scripts and let them know I was looking to cast with actors who had real name value in the two leading roles. I contacted Joe Don Baker's agent. I liked Joe Don and thought he would be excellent for my leading man. The agent liked the script and sent it to Joe Don, who was somewhere in Texas. The agent got back to me.

JOE DON'S AGENT

Joe Don has a family emergency and is not reading scripts right now.

Jan-Michael Vincent's agent called. Jan was a hot commodity. He recently co-starred in major studio films: Hooper, Big Wednesday, The Mechanic and Damnation Alley.

JAN-MICHAEL'S AGENT

Jan-Michael's quote is four hundred thousand. How long would he work?

GREYDON

Four weeks. I've budgeted two hundred thousand for the part.

JAN-MICHAEL'S AGENT
Could you shoot him in three?
GREYDON

I might be able to shoot him in three weeks if I had six-day weeks, we'd shoot on Saturdays. Give me ten-hour days, sixty hour weeks. I've heard about drugs.

JAN-MICHAEL'S AGENT

Oh, come on! Half the young actors in Hollywood have had some sort of problem. That's all in the past and he never let it affect his performance. Never.

Drugs would not be a problem. Never. The agent got back to me in a couple of days.

JAN-MICHAEL'S AGENT

Jan's agreed to do it. I can deliver him for two hundred and fifty thousand.

I agreed and we had Jan-Michael Vincent. I adjusted the shooting schedule to eighteen days. I named Jan-Michael's character, Wayne, after my father's middle name and his deputy sheriff, Niles Buchanan, after the two towns where I grew up.

GREYDON

Curt, I have an idea. What about Marty Landau for the deputy?

CURT

That part is our comedy relief. He can't do comedy.

GREYDON

The best comedy should be played straight. Besides, Landau can do anything.

I got the script to Marty and he got back to me right away.

LANDAU

Cattle mutilations, that could be interesting. How long you need me?

GREYDON

One week for twenty-five grand.

We made our deal and I was happy to be working with Marty again. Cybill Shepherd was a very talented actress as well as being one of the most beautiful women in her generation. The William Morris Agency reported that Cybill was living in Tennessee and no longer interested in acting.

GREYDON

Get her a script with a firm offer of fifty grand for three six-day weeks. Jan-Michael Vincent and Martin Landau are set.

They got back to me in a few days.

CYBILL SHEPHERD'S AGENT

Cybill wants to work with Jan-Michael Vincent and will do your picture.

We had three stars and there was a good part for Neville Brand – another five grand. I hoped I could get one more star to play Cybill's father. Raymond Burr's agent called.

RAYMOND BURR'S AGENT

Raymond Burr would like to do your film. His price is thirty thousand a week. Non-negotiable. You have Jan-Michael Vincent and Cybill Shepherd set, am I right?

GREYDON

You are and I'd be happy to work with Mr. Burr. He will work one week -- five days. But I have a scheduling problem. His work will be over two weeks; a drop and pick up. Any five days over the two weeks.

RAYMOND BURR'S AGENT

Mr. Burr will require a teleprompter on the set. He has his own guy and he will want to meet with you. I'll give you a call and set something up.

SAG requires that an actor be paid for consecutive days; if they work one day and off the next and then work on the following day they are paid for three days. Raymond Burr was way over scale so consecutive day requirements did not apply. A few days later Burr and I met at The Musso & Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard. When Burr came into the famous restaurant, he was treated like royalty. He was a huge man, well over three hundred pounds and very charming; we sat in a prominent booth.

BURR

I've used a teleprompter on everything I've done since the original Perry Mason. We were making over thirty of those each year and I had pages and pages every day. I was living on the lot at Universal. It became too much and I started using the teleprompter. I've used it ever since. I have my own guy with his equipment.

Raymond Burr was a major star in television and films for decades. He spent most of the lunch talking about his personal life. He married young and had a son who tragically died from leukemia. Later, I found that the whole story was an elaborate cover-up to hide his homosexuality. What a shame that society forces people to hide who and what they are.

I spent three hundred and fifty five thousand dollars, more than half my total budget, on five actors. I hoped they'd be worth it and perhaps get me past the problems I was still having with the script. The story took place in a small town near Alamogordo, New Mexico where the first atomic blasts took place. Piru is a tiny agricultural town northwest of Hollywood; the location doubled nicely as a small New Mexico town. The Bronson Caves in the hills near the Hollywood sign and The Paramount Ranch filled in the last locations. I cast two actors from Hi-Riders: Brad Rearden and Roger Hampton. Darby Hinton also had a prominent role. Vincent Schiavelli from One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest was cast as the alien prospector. I wanted an African American to play the scientist working with Raymond Burr and decided on Ernest Anderson. I thought I could save a few bucks on my cast budget by having Jackie and me play small roles.

JACKIE

Didn't you tell me a whole bunch of the investors and their wives are coming out during production? I'll be busy enough with them. Cast somebody else.

When I am on a set, nothing takes my attention away from filming. We had more than a dozen investors visit the set and Jackie took them shopping in Beverly Hills and to and from the set. I cast Susan Kiger from Angels Brigade in the role opposite me.

Dean Cundey was making The Fog for John Carpenter and I was not looking forward to working with a new DP. The PM is a critical position on a motion picture production. He or she is responsible for coordinating crew, locations, equipment, food and supplies. For budgetary reason, I often combined the positions of PM and AD. I hired John Curran to handle both jobs. Many years later he would be instrumental in hiring me to direct a couple of Mike Hammer television episodes. He recommended that I interview Daniel Pearl and Nicholas von Sternberg, son of famed director Joseph von Sternberg, for my DP. I liked both guys' reels and thought either would do a good job. I hired Dan Pearl who was the DP on Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I fell into the Hollywood thinking that if someone shot a successful film, he or she must know what they're doing. Curran, Pearl and I did our final location scout where I went over how I saw each scene playing. I was disappointed that Donn Greer was not available for art direction and gave Chester Kaczenski his first job. He got cattle heads from a prop house and dyed carpet to make it look like bodies of dead cattle were at The Paramount Ranch. A trip to the butchers and we had grizzly guts for the close-ups. Mike Tillman, Jan-Michael's stunt double, was hired as the stunt coordinator. I was in my office late one evening working on the script with Curt. Jackie was handling the phones in the outer office. It was unusual for her to interrupt a script conference.

JACKIE

I'm sorry to interrupt but there's a guy out here I think you should meet.

I stepped into the outer office and said hello to George W. Perkins. George was new to Hollywood and looking for crew work. He was a very bright young man and I hired him as a production assistant (PA), one of the most difficult jobs on a movie set. The PA is first to arrive in the morning and the last to leave at night; a twelve hour day would be considered a luxury, they get any shit job that needs doing and they do it all for minimum wage. It is true throughout society: the people who actually work the hardest are the ones who get paid the least. George was exceptional and I quickly gave him more and more responsibility. I was fortunate that he was available on my next three films. Within a few years he was working on major productions and has had an illustrious a well-deserved career. I received a telephone call from Jan-Michael's agent.

JAN-MICHAEL'S AGENT

Jan begins in two days and you haven't contacted his driver.

GREYDON

I'm going to have a production assistant pick him up.

JAN-MICHAEL'S AGENT

Jan has a driver with his own motorhome. You won't have to rent a trailer and the driver will be sure to get him to the set. Two thousand a week.

I reluctantly agreed. A couple of days before filming started, Curt and I were still working on the script. I was not pleased. If I could have postponed shooting I would have.

GREYDON

The scenes are playing well and we have a terrific cast with lots of action, but this is not a horror film and I'm afraid that's what the audience might expect from me. This is for more of an adult audience than the stuff I've done before.

My bank interest rate at the beginning was fourteen percent annually. Each week I got notices from the bank of rate increases; eventually, it would become a daily event. Over the next six months my rate rose to an astonishing twenty three and a half percent. Any hope that I had about pulling money for myself went down the drain and into the bank's coffers.

Much to my dismay, Ronald Reagan won the presidency a week before we began shooting. I still can't believe anyone would vote for a right wing extremist like Reagan. A guy who did not believe in Social Security; who did not believe in Medicare; who did not believe in women's rights; who wanted to dismantle FDR's New Deal. Who would vote for this guy? Reagan's presidency was the beginning of a long spiral down for the middle class.

THE RETURN – PRODUCTION

We began our eighteen day shooting schedule the second week of November in 1980. We needed two kids to play young Jan-Michael and Cybill. Jan's nephew, Zachary Vincent and Farah Bunch, the daughter of our head makeup person, were excellent look-alikes. It was the first time I had worked with kid actors. Getting kids to relax and "have fun with it" is very important in getting a performance; actually, getting actors to relax is important no matter the age. Mike Starita had great fun playing the grandfather of young Jan-Michael. We needed lights shining down from a hovering spaceship above the two kids. The spaceships themselves were an optical and added in post. Dan Pearl built scaffolding and rigged a couple of lights to give us the desired effect. Dan was a very talented DP and we got along well. However his personality was completely different from Dean Cundey, who was quiet and gave directions to his crew using a controlled whisper. Dan's communication with his crew was verbal, loud and often antagonistic and I didn't like it. If someone was going to yell on my set, it was going to be me. I like the demeanor on a set to be quiet and efficient. If the crew is constantly yelling at one another it distracts the actors. I spoke to Dan about it on the first day of filming and he agreed to alter his method. However he had worked so often with his crew he quickly slipped back into his old habits. Raymond Burr worked that evening.

BURR

You don't have enough light on my face. They'll never know it's me.

GREYDON

Ray, I don't want them to know it's you. I want you in complete silhouette. The next time we see you it's supposed to be twenty-five years later.

BURR

Oh, I get it. Right, I should have known that. I'm sorry.

The alien prospector, played by Vincent Schiavelli, had an evil dog as his companion. Carl Miller, who supplied the dogs on Satan's Cheerleaders, once again brought his animal to the set. Schiavelli, a great character actor, was at the beginning of his lengthy career. We were at the Bronson Caves shooting his character's introduction. He chipped the side of the cave with a pickax in one hand for the master. When we moved in to film his close-up he was handling the pickax with both hands. An actor must match his or her action in a scene. If an actor picks up a cup of coffee with his right hand in the master, but in the close-up uses his left, the editing is not going to match. Inexperienced actors often "play the moment." However they need to be aware of what they're doing in a scene so they can match it during additional coverage. One of the responsibilities of the script supervisor is to see that things match.

GREYDON

Vincent, you're now using two hands with the pickax. In the master, the pick was in one hand. You've got to match your action so that it will cut. This is your introduction shot and I want to cut to a nice dramatic close-up of you.

SCHIAVELLI

Thanks, Greydon. Keep telling me anything that you think will help. Keep telling me. Don't hesitate. I need to work on the technical stuff.

Vincent Schiavelli had a long and successful career; another good guy who deserved his success. When he was digging in the cave, I wanted him to half sing and half hum a tune. Clearing music rights is always a problem. If someone is going to sing something, it must be owned by the production company or be in public domain. The Battle Hymn of the Republic was a song from the Civil War era and would be safe to use.

When an important character is introduced in a film, I want the audience to sense that the character is someone they should pay extra attention to so I make that introduction more important with a camera move, dramatic lighting or an unusual angle. The introductory shot for Cybill's character was a long dolly down an office corridor with dialogue between Cybill and another actor. We got the shot and I started the next setup when Cybill rushed to me.

CYBILL

Greydon, I'm so sorry. I had my wedding ring on. We'll have to do it again.

GREYDON

No problem. I should've caught that. Let's go back to first position.

I've often wondered if Cybill did that on purpose to see what her director's reaction would be. I didn't react; I just did it again. She was very cooperative throughout the show and, in addition to being stunningly attractive and intelligent, gave an excellent performance.

Raymond Burr came to me leaning heavily on a cane.

BURR

I thought I'd use this cane as a prop. What do you think?

GREYDON

Works well. It gives the character even more authority.

We shot a scene with Burr on the phone. The next day Curtis Burch called me in a panic.

CURT

The shot is no good. There's nothing on the film. It's the master when Raymond Burr talks to Cybill on the phone.

During lunch, Dan Pearl and I went to the editing room and looked at the film on the Movieola. Dan knew immediately that the film had been loaded wrong in the magazine. The same actors were still on the set from the day before. I made an announcement to everyone.

GREYDON

There was a technical screw up at the laboratory... We're going to have to reshoot the scene we did yesterday.

I didn't want to blame the camera department and have the actors question their professionalism. Everyone cursed the laboratory and we did the scene again.

Jan-Michael Vincent played a small town sheriff with a drinking problem. I was about to learn the real meaning of typecasting. Jan had a star quality that leapt off the screen. He showed up on time and knew his lines. However he was half-stoned by afternoon from a combination of booze, grass and who knows what else. He was able to deliver his lines, but as the day wore on it became more and more difficult to work with him. I would reâ€“stage scenes to have him sitting rather than walking and shoot shorter takes. His motorhome driver, who was supposed to be the guy who took care of him, was partying with Jan throughout the day. Every evening when they drove off, I wondered if I would ever see them again. I adjusted my schedule to do the more difficult things in the morning. Most afternoons Jan came to me, threw his arm around my shoulder and mumbled in my ear.

JAN-MICHAEL

Greydon, you're such a nice guy. I'll do anything you want. Just tell me what you want and I'll cooperate. I really like you. I'm a cooperative actor.

GREYDON

Jan, what I want is for you to show up and be sober the whole day.

JAN-MICHAEL
I'm sober... What do you mean?
GREYDON

Jan, you're not as sharp as you were three or four hours ago.

JAN-MICHAEL

What do you mean? I'm sharp! Oh come on, Greydon. You're such a nice guy, I'll do anything you want. Don't be mad at me.

His abuse problem was very frustrating for me and, I'm sure, for Jan as well. He had that monkey on his back and eventually it destroyed his career. I was lucky that the character he was playing was a boozing small town sheriff; looking stoned actually helped his character. A teenage girl came with Jan each morning. It was only after the production wrapped that I became aware that Jan was inviting crew into his trailer to "party" with the girl. When I am on a set, I'm very concentrated on the scene we are doing and have little or no time with what's going on offstage. John Curran was smart enough to keep offstage bullshit away from me. He realized there was nothing I could do and to directly confront Jan-Michael could've been destructive to the film.

Marty Landau was wonderful to work with and came through with his usual excellent performance. His comedic timing was perfect. The other actors knew what was going on with Jan-Michael, but they never said anything; they were professional and did their jobs.

We were filming a scene inside a local coffee shop in Piru when Raymond Burr, always dressed in slimming black, entered the tiny restaurant and saw his daughter and the local sheriff having breakfast. We rehearsed the scene without Ray's jacket on. I called for wardrobe and makeup for final touchups. The wardrobe person suddenly ran from the coffee shop, waving her arms and screaming; the wardrobe truck was driving away. It seemed I'd played this scene before with Jack Palance and Darby Hinton on the roof of an apartment building.

GREYDON

Ray, the wardrobe truck just drove off with your jacket in it.

BURR

I'm not doing the scene without my jacket. I'll look as big as a house in this white shirt. Send somebody to get it.

GREYDON

I have. I'll shoot close-ups of Cybill and Jan while we wait and then go back and shoot the master when the wardrobe gets back.

It was not the best shooting sequence, but the actors agreed and we filmed out of normal order. We didn't want Raymond Burr to look overweight... There was a sequence at The Paramount Ranch on very rough ground; we used an all-terrain vehicle to get Burr back to the set. The teleprompter guy was having difficulty getting his equipment back there; Burr waved him away and did the scene without the teleprompter. He was letter perfect with complicated dialogue. If you look carefully at all of Raymond Burr's performances on TV and film you can see him take a big sigh, look away from the person he's speaking to and then go back to the actor. When he looks away he's actually looking at the teleprompter; nevertheless, he made it work effectively for years.

I always wanted to make a real Western. I loved cowboy movies when I was a kid and this was the closest I came, a modern-day Western with horses and cattle. I played the part of a shoe salesman who wanders away from a dude ranch and is killed by the alien prospector. I called my shoe salesman Billy as a tip of my hat to Eastwood's Bronco Billy.

Rain is difficult to shoot in, but it adds a great deal to the texture of a scene, especially at night. The rain machines soaked Cybill and Darby while he chases her, takes her to the ground and begins an assault. As I'm staging the scene, I realized I had not scheduled a stuntwoman to double Cybill when she falls to the ground. I called Darby over.

GREYDON

Darby, I got a problem. I need you to catch Cybill and pull her to the ground. And I don't have stunt doubles.

DARCY

I don't need a stunt double. It's a simple fall.

GREYDON

It's not you I'm worried about, my friend. We've got to convince Cybill that you can pull her to the ground and protect her. You have to grab her from behind, do a pivot and pull her on top of you as you fall to the pavement. You take the fall, not her. If you get hurt, I'm sorry. If she gets hurt, I have a big problem.

DARCY

Say no more. Got it. Not a problem. I'll go talk to her.

He went to Cybill who strode purposefully toward me, followed closely by Darby.

CYBILL

Greydon, I don't usually do a stunt like this myself. Darby says he can protect me. Can he?

GREYDON

I've worked with Darby many times. He's a good friend. You'll be fine.

CYBILL

Okay. Let's do it. But let's not slip in the rain, okay, Darby.

We rolled three cameras and Darby took her down as planned; thank you Darby and Cybill. The last shot of that rain soaked evening required a few lines of dialogue between Jan, Cybill and Marty. I called Jan to the set; he stepped out of his trailer and fell flat on his ass in front of everyone. He stumbled to his feet, embarrassed and groggy. I couldn't take anymore.

GREYDON

That's a wrap for everybody. See you all tomorrow. Be sure to get your call sheets before you leave.

I walked away without a word to Jan-Michael; neither of us ever mentioned the event and I never was able to get the scene.

Neville Brand was killed at night during the rainstorm. To create lightning, a shutter is placed in front of the key light and an electrician quickly closes and opens the shutter. The lightning effect on Neville was eerily gruesome as the laser knife carved his face. It is a scary moment in the film; I should've had more of that.

The technical laboratory where Raymond Burr discovers that earth was about to have its first visitation from another galaxy is filled with technical dialogue for Ray and Ernest Anderson. Ernest could not get through his dialogue; Ray pulled me aside.

BURR

Do you mind if I have my teleprompter guy set up for Ernest?

GREYDON

Please, let's do it. Ernest. You see how Mister Burr uses the teleprompter for his dialogue. Your lines are also right there in front of you. We'll rehearse all you want for you to get comfortable using the teleprompter. Take your time.

ANDERSON

Mister Burr, is it okay if I use your teleprompter?

BURR

Help yourself. I couldn't get through this technical stuff without it.

Ernest had difficulty using the teleprompter, but eventually we were able to get the scene.

I scheduled a huge explosion on the main street of Piru. Many of the investors and their wives were in town to watch the filming and I used them as extras in the town. Jackie was catering to all of them. Roger George, who was handling the explosives, came to me.

ROGER

Greydon, how big do you want this fireball and explosion to be?

GREYDON

Make it as big as you can, but just make sure it's safe for everybody.

We had four cameras on it, one running super slow motion. I called for action and Roger hit his switch. A gigantic fireball, three times bigger than I had anticipated, filled the main street of the small town. The fireball was so big that it fried the power lines coming into the city and all the electricity went off. After the explosion Mike Tillman, doubling for Jan-Michael, crashed his motorcycle through a plate glass window. A big stunt day and all went well. That evening Jackie and I had dinner with the investors; they loved their day on a movie set and thought of themselves as "movie stars."

We were filming at the Bronson Caves and had a very expensive laser light at the far end of the cave that rotated and changed colors to give the effect of a portal to another dimension. We filled the cave with smoke to enhance the light effect. With the swirling and flashing light, it looked like a tunnel to another reality. It was a big day and four actors were scheduled to work: Jan-Michael, Schiavelli, Cybill and Marty Landau. Jan-Michael was late for the first time. Our PM called his home, no answer. His agent had no idea where he was. After an hour of waiting, I called Schiavelli, Cybill and Marty together.

GREYDON

Jan-Michael has not shown up. I can't lose the day. There are scenes that we scheduled to shoot tomorrow with just the three of you. We're going to have to shoot them today. Everybody okay with that?

They agreed and we began filming. Professional actors come to the set prepared for the day's shooting. To ask them to film all day on scenes that were not scheduled is something a director doesn't want to do. Jan-Michael did not show up for the entire day. The next day we were at the cave and Jan showed up on time. I was extremely upset, but needed him to work that day. Plus we were barely halfway through our complete schedule.

JAN-MICHAEL

Greydon, there was a foul up. I was not scheduled to work yesterday.

GREYDON
Didn't you get a call sheet?
JAN-MICHAEL

No. The second assistant director – what's his name, Pete? – didn't give me one when I was wrapped the night before. I assumed I was not working.

GREYDON

Jan, you're the star. You work every day. We shot around you yesterday. We're gonna have to make up your scenes today. Go ahead and get to makeup.

He headed to makeup and I huddled with Curran and the second AD, Pete Robinson.

GREYDON

Pete, did you give Jan-Michael a call sheet the night before yesterday?

Pete

Of course I did. Here's a copy of it. He's listed number one on the call sheet as always and there's his call time. I swear I gave it to him.

GREYDON

I'm sure you did. Let's forget it and just move on.

I learned that Jan was in the Pacific surfing for the entire day. The rest of the filming went according to schedule, but each day was a struggle getting through to Jan.

THE RETURN – POST-PRODUCTION

We hired Bill Cruse, a busy and respected special effects artist, to do our many special effects. Earl Watson was not available and Curt was cutting while we were shooting. It seemed to be coming together. The individual dialogue and action scenes were playing well and I started to hope that the overall picture might work. Mike Starita came into our editing room a couple times a month. We had become good friends and he had a request.

STARITA

I'm bringing in a couple hundred brokers to Vail, Colorado in about six weeks. I want to show them The Return. I'll get a theater. Could you be there and have something to show these guys?

GREYDON

No problem. I'll have something ready. You know we're having trouble collecting on Without Warning. We're into profit on paper but I'm worried.

Steloff was not paying us on Without Warning and my personal finances were very tight. I owed Bill Cruse around eight grand and he was taking his time finishing the opticals. Jackie was involved in a minor traffic accident; we got a ten thousand dollar settlement.

GREYDON

I need to take the insurance money and pay Bill Cruse to finish the opticals.

JACKIE

Take the money and pay him. We have to make that screening in Vail.

Jackie never batted an eye when I asked for our last few dollars to complete a picture. I paid Bill Cruse and pushed him to finish the last few opticals. Curt and I got together with Dan Wyman who did the music on Without Warning. It was another electronic score and Dan did an excellent job. I needed to replace dialogue in a couple of scenes with Jan-Michael. When he walked in the soundstage, he looked completely different. I barely recognized him. His eyes were clear and his gait steady. He greeted me warmly.

JAN-MICHAEL

Greydon, how are you? I owe you an apology, man. The way I acted on your movie was completely unprofessional. You were very patient with me and I appreciate it. I've taken the cure. I just got back from Mexico and I've had no booze or drugs for a month. I'm off it forever. Can you forgive me?

GREYDON

Jan, you look better than I've ever seen you. You really look good. And you look healthy. I hope you're able to stay this way the rest of your life.

Unfortunately, this was a mere respite in Jan-Michael Vincent's ongoing struggle. He continued to have abuse problems and his career spiraled downward.

We finished our sound mix and I had Movielab make the answer print in time to go to Denver and screen for Mike and his guys. Mike rented a large theater and it was filled with Petro Lewis guys and stock brokers from around the country. Their reaction to the picture was very encouraging; they laughed at Marty Landau's jokes and jumped with fright when the alien prospector was on the screen. The action scenes with Jan played well. Cybill and Raymond Burr came across as I hoped. The picture worked much better than I had dared hope. Mike was very pleased with the reaction; the next day we had another investors' meeting where Mike addressed the group.

STARITA

Last night's screening was the first time anyone saw the film. I think it was great. We're making another one. If you want to invest let me know. I'm in for most of it.

The meeting broke up and everyone was congratulatory toward the picture and me.

THE RETURN – DISTRIBUTION

The American Film Market had its premiere sales event in the spring of 1981 in Los Angeles. I made a deal with J&M Entertainment, an international distribution company out of London, to handle foreign sales on The Return. International sales were quite strong and within a month we wrote enough business to get back more than half the investor's money. J&M Entertainment not only wrote the business, but also actually paid us. Starita and his guys were very pleased to finally see a cash flow. I was unable to make a United States theatrical deal. Today major studios own all the pay television channels. At that time, there were four separate independent pay television channels: HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and The Movie Channel. A producer could sell to one or more of them and get a reasonable amount for his film. A few years later, under the Reagan administration, the antitrust rules were relaxed and HBO was able to purchase Cinemax. Showtime purchased The Movie Channel and they agreed between themselves to buy films exclusively for their own channels. With the major studios controlling the Pay-Tv market, the independent producer's income was drastically reduced. The last great Republican president, Teddy Roosevelt, the trustbuster, would never have allowed big business to consolidate film distribution and push independents to the side. Ronald Reagan, a pawn of big business, allowed consolidation not only in the entertainment industry, but far and wide. We were able to sell to two of the pay channels, broadcast television and home video. I paid the bank back and the letters of credit were not called. However the bank's interest totaled almost fifty thousand dollars and I was unable to pull any amount for myself for the year I worked on The Return.

When we were writing the script and it wasn't working, I thought: when I get the actors on the set, I can make this work. When I was on the set and it wasn't working, I thought: when I get into the editing room, I can make this work. When I was in the editing room and it wasn't working, I thought: when I add music and sound effects, I can make this work. When I was at the sound mix and it wasn't working, I thought: I have no place left to go to make this work. It all starts with the script. If it's not on the page, it's not on the stage. If it's not on the script, it's not on the screen.

I have a love/hate relationship with all my films. I would like to do them over again and make them better. I was never happy with the script on The Return. However over the years many people have expressed their fondness for the picture. Most of the scenes work well, and there are several very good performances. After the success of Without Warning, people were expecting a horror/slasher movie from me; I probably should've given it to them instead of a science fiction mystery thriller. With Jan's abuse problems and the script difficulties, The Return is the picture that I'm most disappointed in. I once heard Orson Welles say that making a movie was the greatest model train a kid could ever play with; he was right. Making movies is the greatest job I can imagine and I was lucky to be working. However the final responsibility of any picture ultimately belongs to the guy who made it. And I look at that guy every morning in the mirror.

Wacko

WACKO – FINANCING

Mike Starita often visited the editing room while we were cutting The Return.

STARITA
What are we doing next?
GREYDON

A comedy. Something really silly like Airplane. A spoof on movies.

STARITA

I loved Airplane. Could you do it for six hundred thousand like on The Return?

GREYDON

I haven't taken a penny from either of the pictures. I keep putting everything up to get the star actors. I've got to put something in the budget for myself.

STARITA

What if I gave you two hundred and fifty thousand for your fee to produce and direct. But you didn't take it out of the budget. You'd get it from first money in. No letters of credit, all cash.

GREYDON

I get the first two hundred and fifty thousand income. The investors get the next six hundred thousand. Then we split fifty/fifty.

STARITA

Right. You're still responsible to finish the picture in this calendar year, 1981.

Two hundred and fifty grand seemed like a huge amount of money to me. Mike was paying most of his guys more than twice that each year and he offered it without batting an eye. I was a very experienced filmmaker, maybe it was time I cashed in. Starita sent me a letter of commitment for the six hundred grand. I went to see my banker, Irene Romero.

ROMERO

We cannot loan against this letter. It's not a legal document.

GREYDON

I need fifty grand to begin pre-production on my next picture.

ROMERO

Would you be willing to put an additional lien on your home for the fifty?

The next day Jackie and I went to the bank and added fifty grand to our lien.

WACKO – SCREENPLAY

I contacted the biggest agencies looking for comedy/horror scripts and they flooded in. I read dozens and found The Last Horror Show by Dana Olson and Michael Spound. It had a great concept: a four-year-old girl witnessed her sister being killed by the pumpkin- headed Lawnmower Killer; thirteen years later, it's Halloween, it's the Pumpkin Prom and an obsessed cop is on the trail of The Lawnmower Killer - a funny script that I would film as Wacko. Curtis Burch thought it was great and Jackie loved it. It was years before the first Scary Movie when I purchased The Last Horror Show for twenty-three thousand six hundred dollars. I hired Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt to do a polish on the script for fifteen thousand dollars. I did a twenty-five day shooting schedule, my longest to date. A little over eleven years after Mothers, Fathers and Lovers, I was making bigger, more complex pictures with stars. I was thirty-eight years old, one lucky guy and knew it.

WACKO – PRE-PRODUCTION

Curt and Earl Watson agreed to co-edit. George Perkins, elevated from a PA on The Return, was my first AD. Daryl Kass had little experience as a PM but he was impressive and I hired him. Nick von Sternberg was my second choice as DP on The Return and I hired him for Wacko. Video assist allows a director to see and videotape exactly what the camera operator is seeing. It's an invaluable tool for a director that I used for the first time. I thought Joe Don Baker would be great as the obsessed cop on the trail of The Lawnmower Killer. I'd failed to get him on The Return, but nevertheless got his agent the script with an offer of a hundred and fifty thousand dollars for three weeks work. Joe Don and his agent requested a meeting at The Polo Lounge, in the Beverly Hills Hotel.

JOE DON

I read the script and liked it very much. It's very funny and clever. But I have a problem. How could you possibly shoot my part in three weeks? When my character is in the Pumpkin Killer costume are you going to double me?

GREYDON

Yes, of course. I'll use a double when your face is under the pumpkin head.

JOE DON

I only want to do this if I can play the full part of the cop and the pumpkin killer.

GREYDON

That would add two weeks to your work and with my budget I can't afford to have you for the full five weeks of my shooting schedule.

JOE DON

I'll do it for five weeks for the same price as three.

The agent choked on his drink. Before he could speak, I accepted Joe Don's offer.

GREYDON

We have a deal at five weeks for a hundred and fifty grand and you'll play both roles. I've been a big fan of yours for many years, Joe Don. We're gonna play it straight and you're gonna be great. If you guys will excuse me...

I wanted to get the hell out of there as quickly as possible before the agent had a chance to object. Meeting Joe Don, as Bogart said, "Was the start of a beautiful friendship." I got back to my office and Joe Don's agent was on the phone.

SHAPIRA

You really suckered me. You got him for five weeks at a three-week price.

GREYDON

I'm on a budget here. I've got a certain amount of money to make the movie.

SHAPIRA

I'm not pissed. What about Stella Stevens for the mother? Twenty-five thousand.

GREYDON

Stella Stevens would be great. I can film her in one week. A six-day week.

We had a deal and I was thrilled to be working with Stella Stevens, another of the most attractive women of her generation and a truly gifted actress. I wanted a star for Doctor Graves, Stella's husband. I got Martin Landau the script and in a few days, he called me.

LANDAU

Greydon, I can't play the part of a father who spies on his teenage daughter when she's undressing. My God, that's awful.

GREYDON

Marty, it's a comedy! Of course it's awful. It's all for laughs.

LANDAU

I don't find that funny. Good luck with the picture. But I'll have to pass. Sorry.

Lots of things in the script were offensive, but then it was a comedy and if something was funny - anything for a laugh. I still wanted someone with name value to play opposite Stella Stevens. Academy Award winner George Kennedy's agent called.

KENNEDY'S AGENT

I understand you have Joe Don Baker set. How much could you pay Mister Kennedy to co-star?

GREYDON

Fifty thousand for one week.

KENNEDY'S AGENT

That's insulting. I'll get him the script.

A few days later Kennedy's agent got back to me.

KENNEDY'S AGENT

Mister Kennedy likes it. I can deliver him for eighty-seven thousand for a week.

GREYDON

Make it for six days, ten-hour days, and we have a deal.

I never went over schedule or over budget on any of my films, but I often spent more on cast than originally planned. If there was a particular actor who would be right for a role and help sell the picture, I made the decision to spend the extra bucks and therefore exceed my budget. I exceeded my original budget with these three stars. I hired Jackie McNamara for casting. She eventually married Curt and has a huge casting career as Jackie Burch. She brought in three or four young actors for each role and I was amazed at how good all of them were. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, before her fame on Seinfeld gave a very good reading and my first inclination was to cast her. However Julia Duffy followed her with a reading that blew us away. Both Curt and I agreed that we found our Mary Graves in Julia Duffy, who was cute, clever, witty, and made the double entendres work. We were lucky to get her. Two young actors, James Spader before his fame as a film and TV star, and Scott McGinnis, gave excellent readings for Norman Bates, our young leading man. We asked Julia to come back the following day and read with both actors. Julia was very cooperative and we spent a couple of hours back and forth with her reading with one guy then the other. I felt comfortable that whichever guy we decided on would be fine. It was almost a flip of the coin, but Spader had a quality about him... an intelligence that almost made him seem intellectually superior to the other actors. An actor does not have to be smart to play smart, nor be dumb to play dumb, but Norman Bates was not supposed to be the sharpest card in the deck. I settled on Scott McGinnis. Casting two unknown leading actors, I passed on both Julia Louis Dreyfus and James Spader, who would each have long and successful careers. If I had to do it over again I think I would make the same decision; Julia and Scott were terrific in the film. A polite young actor, Andrew Clay, several years before he became "The Diceman," came in for a reading. There was a cocky, confidence about him and with his long flowing hair and leather jacket. He looked like our Tony Schlongini, a Vinny Barbarino type. The kid had star quality. He was a struggling comic with no experience in front of the camera. I thanked him for his reading and he left the room.

CURT

He sure looks good. What'd you think? Can you make him act?

GREYDON

It may be the funniest role in the picture. I think he can do it. Let's cast him.

We were lucky to get good young actors to fill all the roles. Charles Napier came on at fifteen hundred dollars a day as Joe Don's boss. We cast Jeff Altman as vice principal Harry Palms for one day for a thousand bucks. Darby Hinton worked one day as a cop. Anthony James played the creepy school janitor. Joe Don's family was African American, my tribute to The Jerk. I cast Fred D. Scott from The Bad Bunch and Black Shampoo as the father and Pete Robinson, my second A.D. on The Return, as Joe Don's brother. Jackie agreed to play the school librarian. Mike Starita played the half-blind football referee. At the Halloween Pumpkin Prom, I used a dozen investors and their wives to play teachers.

I purchased my first personal computer and typed the script into it for the final rewrite. I was not trying to rewrite the script with budget primarily in mind; I was trying to make it better. Joe Don came into the office to discuss his role. We not only went over his scenes, but we read the entire script. He was full of ideas; we discussed how his character would be played and what is wardrobe and makeup would look like. He loved the script and I was looking forward to working with this intelligent, cooperative actor. I had a terrific cast and crew, a twenty-five day schedule; I hoped I wouldn't screw it up.

WACKO – PRODUCTION

Production began on April 30, 1981 at the Veterans Administration in West LA. Darby Hinton played a young police officer with Joe Don. I staged the scene and watched the rehearsal. Joe Don was fidgeting and jerking his head and body around, as if he couldn't focus on anything. When we went over the script in my office, I had no idea that he was going to play Harbinger like this. I whispered in his ear.

GREYDON

I'm not sure what you're doing here; how you're playing him.

JOE DON

He drinks coffee all day long. He's on a caffeine high. You don't like it?

GREYDON

I see where you're coming from, but if we play every scene hyper like this it's going to get irritating to the audience. He hasn't slept for thirteen years. Why not play him totally and completely exhausted throughout the movie? The coffee is keeping him from passing out but he's had so much of it in the last thirteen years it doesn't affect him with the herky-jerky stuff.

JOE DON

Okay, yeah, I see what you mean. Let me show you and see what you think.

I went to my video monitor and watched Joe Don and Darby rehearse the scene. They were perfect. Joe Don's performance in Wacko is one of the greatest comedic performances I've ever seen on film. Yes, I know, I know it's my film... but it's also my honest opinion. Even though Wacko 's budget and shooting schedule were more than I had before, we were still a very low budget film. When you see the actor's performances, you're still seeing take one in almost all cases.

I was very pleased with Nick von Sternberg; his soft-spoken manner with his crew was exactly what I hoped for. I put as many visual gags in the background of each scene as I could. When Julia, who was obsessed with The Lawnmower Killer, slips into her boyfriend's car we had four guys with lawnmowers mowing a small patch of grass behind her. When the kids walk through their school, a sign hangs above them: Hitchcock's Birds vs. De Palma's Knives. A silhouetted figure of Alfred Hitchcock hangs in the attic window of the Graves' house. I don't know how many people noticed these visual gags. I did. We were at the high school and I was moving very quickly, setup after setup when Andrew Clay approached me. Andrew was very polite, almost shy with his request.

ANDREW

Would it be all right if I have an idea for a scene we could add?

GREYDON

Andy, I'm so rushed here, I don't see how we could add a scene.

ANDREW

What if we introduce Tony Schlongini singing and dancing in the hallway?

GREYDON

Sounds good, but I can't light the whole hallway. If you could do it on this staircase and if I can do it in one shot with no coverage I'll take a look at it. You've got about an hour and I'll be back and see what you have in mind.

I went to the vice principal's office and shot scenes with Jeff Altman and Joe Don. When I got back to the hallway, Andy was waiting at the top of the staircase. He created a fantastic introduction for his character "The Tony Schlongini Shuffle." Not only was it creative and hilarious, but he did it just as I had instructed – on the staircase in one shot. Throughout the filming, he was constantly coming up with bits of business that added immensely to his character. Wacko was Andy's first movie. It got him into SAG. Little did we know that shortly "The Diceman" would become phenomenally successful and look and act a bit like Tony Schlongini. Andrew Dice Clay, a polite young man who deserves his success.

Julia Duffy was a complete pleasure to work with, inventive, intelligent, with perfect comic timing. Stella Stevens and George Kennedy were consummate pros; on time, knew their lines and eager to help make the best picture we could. Julia's younger brother Damien was written as preteen. Working with kid actors creates a problem; the production company must have a school teacher/social worker on the set at all times and the kid can only work four hours without a break. I was lucky to find Michael Lee Gogin, who was a little person in his twenties. The fact that he looked a bit older than the character added to the wackiness of the film. We had a scene around the dining room table when I realized George Kennedy needed an additional line.

GREYDON

George, there is a line that you should have in this scene. Something everyone says to Julia: "I realize you're bound to be screwed up by the terrible images you must carry with you the rest of your life, but why does it have to affect the rest of us?" It should be rattled off like you've said it to her dozens of times.

KENNEDY

You're kidding, right? What was that line again? Have somebody give me a script with the line so I can read it a few times.

The script supervisor showed him the line. After just a few moments...

KENNEDY

I think I've got it, Greydon. It may take a couple of takes. It's a bit of a mouthful.

GREYDON

I know it is. And I'm sorry to spring it on you like this. It'll get a laugh.

Remarkably, George nailed it on the first take, a real pro. There is a sequence in the kitchen between Stella Stevens and Julia Duffy. The night before it was scheduled I announced to the crew.

GREYDON

That's a picture wrap for Stella Stevens. Thank you, Stella you were great.

STELLA

Wait a minute, Greydon. What about the scene in the kitchen with Julia and me?

GREYDON

Your week is up and I can't afford the extra day. I'll just have to cut the scene.

STELLA

That's a great scene. And Julia's so good... Could you do it tomorrow first thing?

GREYDON

We'll be here, but... I just don't have it in my budget for another day with you.

STELLA

I'll be here first thing tomorrow. I won't sign in and you won't have to pay me.

She showed up the next day. It took a couple of hours to shoot the scene and I picture wrapped her again. She gave me the scene. Stella Stevens: not only a remarkably attractive, intelligent and talented actress, but a classy lady who cared about the picture.

We did the scene in the school library with Jackie playing the librarian. It was the third picture Jackie played a schoolteacher and she was excellent in her scene with Julia. It was only one day and I wished I had more for her to do.

We shot a sequence using the school's driver education car and made it look like it came right out of Hi-Riders by jacking up the rear end and painting it like a street racer. We filmed the interior of the Halloween Pumpkin Prom at the Hollywood Boys and Girls Club gymnasium. We brought in a couple of dozen extras for the students. There was a double door side exit to the gym. We removed the doors and covered the opening with breakaway plaster. This allowed us to crash the riding lawnmower through the opening. It looked like it broke through the wall of the gym. We brought a real elephant into the gymnasium ridden by Sonny Carl Davis, playing The Weirdo. The elephant was nervous and suddenly pissed. If you've ever seen an elephant piss, it's as if a fire hydrant exploded. There were animal trainers standing by and they were prepared with sheets of plywood to contain the massive amount of liquid. The teenage extras hooted and hollered. Joe Don silenced them.

JOE DON

The poor creature's just nervous. Show a little respect for the animal.

The gentle soul of Joe Don Baker stepped forward and the extras quieted down.

We were filming for three or four days and doing some pretty outrageous stuff. Martin Landau's comment about this being "offensive" played on my mind. Making fun of killings, sex obsession, a father watching his daughter undress etc. might be too politically incorrect. I decided to add one final scene to the picture. I approached George Kennedy.

GREYDON

George, you're great in this role, just the perfect touch of reality and insanity. However I'm concerned that some of the stuff we're doing may cross the line. I want to add a scene with you talking directly to the camera as yourself.

KENNEDY
You write it and I'll say it.
GREYDON

Oh, and one more thing. I want to hit you in the face with three pies.

KENNEDY

Like in a silent movie? I love it. I've always wanted to be hit in the face with a pie.

I wrote the scene and told my AD to get six pies. I was going to hit him in the face with three of them and hoped we could get the shot in one take. I added a bit of dialogue about the idiotic claim, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." I wrote, "Lawnmowers don't kill people, people kill people." We rehearsed the scene a couple of times without throwing the pies. We were ready to film and I stood behind the camera to orchestrate the timing of the pie hits. George delivered his lines expertly. I pointed to the pie thrower on the right. He hit George perfectly in the face. I pointed to the guy on the left. He hit George perfectly in the face. I waited a beat to get the laugh and pointed once again to the guy on the right who hit George square in the middle of his kisser. George had one last silly line and the picture was finished.

WACKO – POST-PRODUCTION

It was mid-June 1981 when we finished production on our five-week shooting schedule. I thought we might have a very good picture. Earl and Curt were cutting while we were filming and we had a rough cut finished within a couple of months. Another few weeks of polish and we locked the picture. John Caper was a music supervisor with a long list of credits. We hired him to supervise the music; he was responsible for hiring the writers and composers as well as getting us music in the public domain. I wanted to use the theme song from television's The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and was pleased to find that The Funeral March of the Marionettes was in the public domain. Earl and Curt cut sound effects as we readied for our sound mix and answer print. I needed to get the picture rated and since Airplane was a PG, I decided to go for the same rating. I screened the picture for MPAA and they wanted a few minutes cut to give me the PG rating; I had no choice and made the cuts. Jackie and I decided to take a weekend in Palm Springs. We were both very pleased with the progress of Wacko and thought we might have a hit on our hands. As we neared Palm Springs, she turned to me with a life-changing statement.

JACKIE

It's time we thought about having a family. I'm thirty-four and the clock is ticking.

GREYDON

If that's what you want, it's fine by me.

I was busy and happy making movies; the thought of a family never crossed my mind. Our first son Trevor, was born a year later, healthy with parents who loved him and wanted him – another lucky kid.

WACKO – DISTRIBUTION

We got our answer print in late September. The Directors Guild rented their screening room to producers and I decided to have a screening there. The major studios did not have divisions handling low budget independent productions as they do today. Nevertheless I invited every major studio to attend the screening along with cast and crew. It was our first screening for an audience and we were all a bit apprehensive. Earl, Curt, Jackie and I were convinced it was funny and would play well. However you never know for certain until the audience laughs or throws popcorn at the screen. It was a packed house with over a hundred people in the audience. I didn't know which, if any, major studios sent a representative. From the first frame to the last it was a terrific screening with the audience laughing, hooting, hollering, stomping their feet and applauding. A twenty something girl sat behind Jackie and me; she was laughing so hard and kicking our chair in delight that I turned around to see who it was. I didn't recognize her or the man she was sitting with. The screening ended to rousing applause and cheers. We gathered in the lobby and everyone raved about the picture. Julia Duffy, Andrew Clay, Scott McGinnis and the other actors were very pleased and felt it was going to help their careers. The man who was sitting behind me with his laughing companion slipped me his card, a vice president at Universal. A guy from Fox did the same. Another guy from The Samuel Goldwyn Company approached me. Joe Don and Stella were out of town and were not at the screening. I was disappointed that I did not see George Kennedy. The next day I received a call from him.

KENNEDY

Greydon, I want to apologize for not being at the screening last night. I had another commitment, but I did send my teenage daughter and her friend. They've been raving about the picture ever since. They think it's the funniest thing they've ever seen. They just loved it. Sounds like you may have a big hit.

The distribution fiasco with Skip Steloff and Without Warning was nearing its conclusion – a conclusion that was a bitter pill to swallow for myself, Mike Starita and the other investors. I was determined to get a major studio to release Wacko. I heard nothing for a full week. Larry Jackson from The Samuel Goldwyn Company called and we had lunch.

JACKSON

I loved your picture, Greydon. It's very funny and inventive. We want to release it at midnight showings. It could easily be another Rocky Horror Picture Show.

GREYDON

I was hoping for a general release around the country. What kind of up-front money are we talking about?

JACKSON

We can't come up with a cash advance. However we are the Samuel Goldwyn Company and it would be a prestigious release. Good for your career.

GREYDON

I appreciate that. I have investors and I need a healthy advance.

He was right that Samuel Goldwyn would give me a prestigious release and probably help my career, but I had so many disasters with distributors that I was determined to get up-front cash. The guy from Universal finally called. Bob Reheme, the new head of distribution, wanted to screen the picture.

GREYDON

He really should see it with an audience. If he sees it in a cold screening room at Universal, he won't hear the laughs and get the feeling that an audience gives.

UNIVERSAL EXECUTIVE

Let me see if I can set up a sneak preview and get Mister Reheme to attend.

He set up a sneak preview in Woodland Hills, an upscale area in the San Fernando Valley, for the following Friday, November 13, 1981. Friday the thirteenth... Joe Don, who had not seen the picture, was back in town and I invited him to the sneak. Bob Reheme was previously in charge at Roger Corman's independent company and was now the new head of distribution at Universal. Moving from a low budget independent company like Corman's was a huge step up for the young executive. Moments before show time, Reheme and several other executives entered the theater and took seats. There was an audience of maybe twenty people; not as much as I had hoped, but enough to give the executives at Universal a feel for how an audience might react. The response was wonderful; they laughed, hooted and hollered at all the foolishness, even applauding at the end. Reheme said he liked the picture and would call me in a few days to discuss it. Joe Don was very serious after the screening.

JOE DON

Good job, Greydon. I want to give it some thought before I talk more to you.

He said goodbye to Jackie and me and headed to his car. We were a bit perplexed at his reaction. When I got to my office on Monday there was a five-page hand written note from Joe Don on my desk. He said he loved the picture and thought it was hilarious. He was very excited by the film's prospects and thought we might have a winner. When he went to his car after the screening a couple of teenage girls stopped him and talked for fifteen minutes about how much they liked the picture, how funny they thought it was and how much they liked him in it. A week went by and I finally got a call from Bob Reheme.

REHEME

Greydon, it's a great picture. You're gonna make a ton of money from this. It's very funny. However I cannot take it for Universal and here's why... you know I just came over from Roger Corman's company. If the first picture I pick up for Universal is a low budget teen comedy. People are going to accuse me of trying to turn Universal into a Roger Corman company. I can't allow that. If this was a year from now, I would take this picture in a second and we'd all make some money. I hope you understand. Good luck with the picture.

Son of a bitch. How could I respond to that? I did understand where he was coming from, but it didn't make it any easier to swallow. We had a turn down from Universal. A couple weeks later, I received a call from the Fox executive who was at the DGA screening. He wanted me to send a print to screen for John Davis, the son of Fox's new owner Marvin Davis a fabulously wealthy oilman from Denver. I tried to convince him to see it with an audience at a screening, but the executive insisted I send over a print. Another couple of weeks passed and I got a call from John Davis.

DAVIS

Greydon, John Davis, 20th Century Fox. I saw your picture Wacko and I loved it. I think it's fantastic. This is something 20th Century Fox should take. However I screened it for several other executives here and they just don't get it. Let me take a little more time to see what I can do.

GREYDON

Those guys really need to see the picture with a paying audience. Set up a sneak somewhere and let them see how an audience reacts.

A few weeks went by and John Davis called back.

DAVIS

We set up a sneak of Wacko with Porky's in Colorado Springs on December fourth.

GREYDON

That's fine by me. I'll go to Colorado Springs and be there for the sneak.

Colorado Springs is south of Denver, where Mike Starita lived. Jackie stayed with his wife Barbara while Mike, who had not seen the picture, and I drove to the theater. The sneak was in a multiplex and the theater was full. Every screening with an audience had been wildly successful. I felt confident that this young audience was going to respond in the same way. The film began and the laughter built, and built, and built. The kids in Colorado Springs loved the film. They shouted silly comments at the screen and laughed with and at the film, just as I'd hoped. Fox sent two young women from LA to handle the sneak. At the end of the screening one of the young women stepped in front of the audience with a handful of response cards. The kids were still laughing and having fun.

FOX EXECUTIVE

We would like you to fill out these cards and tell us what you think of the picture.

KID IN AUDIENCE

Burn it!

It was just a young guy cracking wise and getting a big laugh from the audience. Mike and I laughed along with the crowd and didn't give it a second thought. The Fox executive passed out the response cards. While the cards were being filled out, the kids were talking and laughing among themselves. We went to the theater manager's office and looked at the cards with the Fox executives. About seventy-five percent of the cards were extremely positive and recommended the picture. Most of the other cards had wiseass comments scribbled on them; burn the picture, we wanted to see more tits; it should have been sexier etc. Porky's was a great hard R-rated sex comedy and some of the kids were expecting to see a raunchier picture. The kids who filled the negative cards were trying to score points and get laughs from the guys around them. It seemed okay to me, the audience reaction had been terrific and most of the cards were positive. I queried the Fox executive.

GREYDON

This is the first screening I've had cards filled out. What does all this mean?

FOX EXECUTIVE

I take the cards back to Los Angeles. We need about eighty-five percent positive and we have three quarters. There are some very negative comments.

GREYDON

You do realize that the audience response to the picture was terrific. You were there and saw how they were laughing, responding and enjoying the picture. You did see how the kid shouted out, "burn it" as a joke and got a laugh from his buddies. That's what these negative cards are all about. They're trying to get a laugh by writing this stuff on the cards. The audience loved this picture.

FOX EXECUTIVE

I'm just here to collect the cards.

Mike and I drove back to Denver, uncertain as to what all this meant. The one thing we both knew was that the audience response was what we had hoped for.

GREYDON

Mike, I'm concerned that Fox may just look at those response cards and pass.

STARITA

How could they do that? They saw how the audience responded.

GREYDON

The "suits" in Hollywood look for a reason to say no. If they never say yes, they never risk their jobs.

My concern was justified one week later when John Davis called.

DAVIS

Greydon, I'm sorry, Fox is going to have to pass on your picture. I think it's a big mistake, but I can't get anyone to look past the response cards. I think you're going to have a hit with this picture. I wish you the best of luck with it.

Everyone liked the picture but I could not get the distribution I needed. Perhaps if I open the picture myself, played for a week and proved we could do good business, that would generate interest. I called Harry Clark, my old sub distributor in Jacksonville, Fla.

GREYDON

I have a new picture I want to test market in two or three theaters. I'll pay all the advertising myself. It's a PG teen comedy. Which town would you suggest?

HARRY

Well, Greydon, I'll call you back in a few days. I'll see what I can do.

A few days later Harry called back and we set three theaters in San Antonio, Texas for my test. I created an advertising campaign including trailer, radio, television spots and print ads. I got two additional prints from Movielab and we were ready. The picture was scheduled to open on Friday and we ran a radio promotion featuring a free sneak on the Thursday before. The trailer had been running for three weeks, television and radio spots for one week and the print ads the day we opened. I flew down to San Antonio on Thursday to attend the promotional screening. The screening was set for eight o'clock and I arrived at the theater an hour before. I walked into the lobby and noticed lines of teenage boys on one side of the theater. I wandered in their direction and saw guys standing in three lines waiting to put their quarters into video game machines. I had never seen sophisticated games like these kids were playing. My first thought, "I could make a movie about video games and teenagers." The promotional screening began; a big theater, more than three quarters full. Once again, the audience completely loved Wacko... All the jokes worked from the beginning to the very end. The end credits were about to begin and a dozen people were walking up the aisle. The music stopped and the scene with George Kennedy getting the pies in the face came on the screen. Everyone laughed and there was even applause. The last remaining question was would the advertising pull a paying audience into the theater this weekend? Friday morning I headed back to Los Angeles. On Saturday morning, Harry Clark called.

HARRY

We did darn good; over three grand in each theater. If the moviegoers recommend it, we should do more tonight and maybe about the same on Sunday. Looks like it might do close to thirty grand for the weekend. I'll call you tomorrow morning and let you know how Saturday night was. It looks good.

Great news. If the picture held up over the weekend, I could show distributors that an audience not only liked the picture, but also would pay to see it. This was long before Facebook or Twitter; communication was limited to people telling their friends. I hoped the kids in San Antonio would talk about the film. Sunday morning Harry called to let me know that Saturday's box office was a healthy improvement over Friday. Sunday almost equaled Friday and we held over in all three theaters. My confidence soared. Monday I got a call from Jensen Farley Pictures, a distribution company out of Salt Lake City.

JENSEN

This is Ray Jensen of Jensen Farley Pictures. I see you've got a picture, Wacko, that's doing some business in San Antonio. I have friends at the theater chain. They even told me the audience liked the picture. I see you don't have a national distributor. Could you send a videotape up to Salt Lake?

I was vaguely familiar with Jensen Farley Pictures. They had a picture, Private Lessons, playing around the country to very good business. I thought it couldn't hurt to send them a videotape. Three days later Ray Jensen called back.

JENSEN

Greydon, we're interested in this picture. I'm going to be down in Los Angeles day after tomorrow. I'm at the Westwood Marquis could we get together?

I met Ray Jensen over breakfast at his hotel. He pitched me on their company.

GREYDON

I'm sorry, Ray. I really want Wacko released by a major studio. This is the ninth film I've made and I've had nothing but difficulties with independent distributors.

JENSEN

I know who you are, Greydon. I know about your pictures all the way back to Black Shampoo and The Bad Bunch. We want to distribute this picture. You did some nice business in San Antonio. My partner, Clair Farley, showed Wacko to his teenage son. He laughed so hard Clair thought he was going to get sick. You know the kind of business we're doing with Private Lessons. It's going to end up well over ten million. We could do the same for you.

GREYDON

I've had other distributors tell me how much money I'm going to make...

JENSEN

We're ready to back up what we say with a substantial advance. We could get you two hundred thousand dollars advance against distribution.

GREYDON

I appreciate that, Ray, but that's nowhere near enough.

JENSEN

What if we gave you a half a million dollars?

This was getting interesting.

GREYDON

With five hundred thousand dollars up front, I'll take it to my investors.

If Jensen Farley came up with five hundred grand that would force them to get behind the picture and give it a real shot in the marketplace. I hurried home to Jackie and told her that it looked like we had a deal that would get Wacko distributed and, at the same time, we would have a very big payday. My deal with Mike Starita gave me the first two hundred and fifty grand from distribution as my deferred fee. I called Starita in Denver.

GREYDON

Mike, we have an offer from an independent distributor out of Salt Lake.

STARITA

Another damn independent! Look at all the trouble we had on Without Warning.

GREYDON

This is different. They are willing to give us a half a million dollar up-front advance against distribution. With prints and ads they'll have more than a million on the table. They're going to have some real skin in the game. It's our only offer.

STARITA

So, you would get half of that for your fee and we would get two hundred and fifty thousand back to the partners. Do you think we would eventually get more?

GREYDON

If they put more than a million dollars on the line, our picture is going to be important to them. They wouldn't offer us half a million up-front unless they thought they could do real business. They were impressed with San Antonio.

Starita okayed the deal. I had Irene Romero at my bank check the viability of Jensen Farley's financials and she reported to me that they had over ten million dollars cash in the bank and were in good shape. I flew to Salt Lake for the contract signing. The sign on their tall building read Jensen Farley Pictures. They occupied the two top floors and there were dozens of people working in large offices. We signed the contracts and I flew back to LA with a certified check for five hundred thousand dollars. Jackie met me at the airport; I showed her the check.

JACKIE
After all these years and all these films...
GREYDON

Let's just hope these guys do a good job distributing the picture.

Wacko started playing around the country to solid but not spectacular business. The picture was well received by the audience and did strong follow-up business the second and third week, but the Friday night opening was disappointing. Ray Jensen called.

JENSEN

There's no question that the audience likes our picture. We get two or three weeks with very little fall off. But the advertising campaign is not bringing them in opening night. I think the picture would do better opening business if it had an R-rating. Do you have any footage you could put in that would give us the R?

GREYDON

MPAA originally gave me an R. I could add the scenes back in that I took out.

The next day I phoned the MPAA to let them know what I was going to do.

GREYDON

I am going to put back in all the footage I took out and release Wacko as an R rated picture.

MPAA REPRESENTATIVE

You can't do that. If you make any changes, you must resubmit your picture.

The MPAA has little power with the major studios. If they're going to exercise power, they're going to do it dealing with the independents. I added the footage I had taken out to get the PG rating and delivered the picture to the MPAA. I was waiting outside their screening room when a representative of the-rating board stopped in the lobby to talk.

MPAA REPRESENTATIVE

Greydon, your film is rated PG. There have been some changes lately.

GREYDON

I don't understand... I put back in the stuff you made me take out when you first rated it R. This is bullshit. What if I add a narration at the very beginning of the picture and I say, "Every teenager who fucks must die."

MPAA REPRESENTATIVE

If you want your R, that'll do it.

The next day I went into a soundstage and recorded the narration. I filled in Ray Jensen.

JENSEN

That's great, Greydon. I've got two hundred prints out playing in theaters. Am I going to have to bring those prints back in and change them?

GREYDON

Fuck the MPAA. They won't know the difference. Any new prints we strike will have the narration. Just go ahead and change the advertising material to an R.

Wacko began playing as an R and opened to better business. Today Wacko has a large cult following and is a favorite of many people throughout the world. We were a huge hit in Australia where the audience dressed like the characters, quoted lines from the picture and sang along with Tony Schlongini. I made Wacko a decade before the Scary Movie franchise, and with proper distribution it could have been (and should have been) a major hit.

Joysticks

Joysticks - screenplay

Video arcades were booming all across the world. An LA Times article featured a quote from a parent who thought that her teenage son was spending too much time at the arcade. There was my story: a comedy about an arcade full of teenagers and parents who try to close it down. The protagonists would be the young gamers, the antagonists the parents. Eventually, the picture was released under the title, Joysticks. Al Gomez and Mickey Epps two young guys who worked on my previous pictures, stopped in to see me.

GOMEZ

When do we start the next one?

It reminded me of the same naÃ¯ve question I asked Al Adamson on the way back from Utah fourteen years earlier. Over the years I learned it was not quite that simple.

GREYDON

I'm not sure, guys. I've got this idea about doing a movie in a video arcade.

GOMEZ
Why don't you let Mickey and I write it?
GREYDON

You guys write it? Have you written anything before?

GOMEZ

No. Give us a chance. We'll do it for free. If you use it give us a couple of grand and writing credit. If you don't think it's worth using, don't pay us anything.

I played this scene before with Adamson when I volunteered to write The Last of the Comancheros. He gave me a chance; maybe I should do the same for these guys.

GREYDON

I'll tell you what... Curt is in Texas for a couple of weeks. I plan to write it with him when he gets back. You've got two weeks to show me what you can do.

I outlined the story and characters to Al and Mickey. They left promising a great script.

JOYSTICKS – FINANCING

Wacko was doing solid business and I went to see Ray Jensen at his hotel. I figured I could make Joysticks on a three hundred thousand dollar budget.

GREYDON

Ray, I got a great idea for my next picture. It's called Video Madness. It takes place in a video arcade run by teenagers and the parents want to close it down. I'll make it a comedy with an R-rating; lots of tits, ass and video games. It's going to cost me six hundred thousand dollars to make. I'm not gonna have as many stars in this one, mostly kids like those in Wacko.

JENSEN

Sounds pretty good but I'm not going to come up with six hundred grand up front for production. You have to make the picture on your own. Then we'll talk.

GREYDON

Let's talk now. I can finance production. I want two hundred thousand dollars on delivery. Ninety days after that another two hundred thousand and ninety days after that the final two hundred thousand, giving me my six hundred grand production cost. You get the first six hundred thousand dollars to get your guarantee back. Then we split the profit on the picture fifty/fifty.

JENSEN

Sounds like a fair deal. But instead of ninety days after the first payment give me six months and then another six months on the final guarantee.

We shook hands. It was just that simple. Lucky me... I fooled everybody one more time; I was going to get another chance to make a movie.

Wait a minute, there was one little problem. Where was I going to get the three hundred thousand dollars for production? Mike Starita and the guys at Petro Lewis were having problems. OPEC had unraveled and the price of oil was dropping like a stone. I called Mike looking for production funding.

STARITA

Things are going from bad to worse here. You can count on me, Greydon. Put me down for thirty thousand. But the rest of the guys, I don't think so.

I was able to get Starita's thirty and ten from my brother-in-law, Gordy. If I added our personal "case money," we were still a hundred thousand short. Jackie volunteered.

JACKIE

A movie about a video arcade seems like a great idea to me. But it's up to you. If you want to go back to the bank and mortgage the house again, let's do it.

Most new mothers would have been hesitant to invest everything they had and mortgage their home for a motion picture; not my amazing Jackie. The bank accepted the new mortgage and I got what I needed for production. Mike MacFarland stopped by and suggested I contact his new attorney, Peter Dekom. We met and I explained the Jensen Farley deal along with my distribution problems on Without Warning.

DEKOM

You should have filed a UCC1 in Sacramento. That would make you a secured creditor and you'd get preferential treatment in case of a bankruptcy. However you should keep in mind that independent distributors are always a risk.

JOYSTICKS – SCREENPLAY

Al and Mickey delivered their script: a good effort, but I used very little of it. Curtis Burch and I began writing Video Madness. Curt was not only very good in post-production, but an amazingly talented and gifted writer. I had three hundred grand for production, which meant we wrote with the budget in mind. We finished the script in a couple of months.

JOYSTICKS – PRE-PRODUCTION

More than half of the picture took place in a video arcade. Finding the location to shoot the arcade turned out to be a nightmare. I looked at dozens of arcades around the LA area, but they were not willing to close to allow filming for two weeks. My old friend Donn Greer stopped by my office. I had not seen him for several years.

GREER

I heard you're getting ready for another production. Anything in it for me?

GREYDON

It's a three-week schedule and half of it takes place in a video arcade. I'm going to have to build a set on a sound stage and dress it with video games.

Donn was the perfect guy to design and build a video arcade set on a miniscule budget. I gave him the script and asked him to find a soundstage. The script culminated with a contest between two gamers. It dawned on me that having two guys hunched over a videogame moving their joystick was not very visual. This was way before big-screen televisions. What if... I had a big screen hanging above the audience watching the gamers in their final contest? They could even stand on an elevated platform with large joysticks. I called Donn Greer back to my office.

GREYDON

Design the set on multiple levels. Give me a normal game playing area, a snack bar and another big-screen elevated area. The set where the leading guy takes his girls for their "private games" should be right off the main set so we could go in and shoot it any time we want. Make the exterior of the arcade the exterior of the soundstage so we can shoot interior and exterior in one location.

I needed legal permission to film the copyrighted video games. Midway Games in San Jose, California controlled the rights to Pac-Man. I hopped on a plane and headed to San Jose. I met with a couple company vice presidents and explained the film I was making. I requested the rights to use the Pac-Man character and to film several of their other games. I was hoping that using the character would not be a "budget buster."

GREYDON

I'm not asking you guys to pay me to include your games in my film. You would be getting a lot of free promotion from this. There are a couple of times in the story where two gamers are in a contest. For the final contest, I want to use Super Pac-Man. Do you have a new game coming out in the next few months that you would like promoted for the other contests in our film?

Midway games EXECUTIVE

We have a game, Satan's Hollow. We'd appreciate it if you used it in the picture.

I got the games for no charge. I wanted a href actor in the part of Joseph Rutter, the angry parent who tries to close the arcade down. Joe Don Baker and I were friends. I gave him a copy of the script. A few days later, he got back to me.

JOE DON

I liked it. There some good laughs. What do you have in mind?

GREYDON

I'm making it in three weeks for three hundred grand with my own money. You work two weeks. I worked out a deal with the distributor of Wacko to give me a guarantee of six hundred thousand. I think the picture can do some real business above and beyond the guarantee. I could get you fifty grand up-front. You'll get ten percent of everything I get above my three hundred thousand production cost. If the picture does the business I think it can... we might make a real score. I'm sorry to offer you only fifty grand up-front.

JOE DON

You shouldn't disparage fifty thousand dollars. I'm a poor boy from Texas. The people who raised me never made anywhere near fifty grand a year in their life.

GREYDON

Me too. My father is a barber and is happy to make ten thousand a year. We're just a couple of guys who got real lucky.

JOE DON

Man, that's the truth. I'll do the picture but one thing you should think about is, are you sure you want to put you and Jackie's money up?

GREYDON

If this picture is gonna get made... I'm the one that's gotta step to the plate.

Joe Don agreed and I had my star. Joysticks ' budget was half of Wacko 's and my shooting schedule had dropped from twenty-five days to fifteen; it was going to be tough to make the picture I wanted under those circumstances. I loved making movies and was willing to put my last dollar up and make the compromises to get the picture made. I had great support from Jackie and many others, not the least of whom was Joe Don Baker, a very classy guy.

I needed to pick a start date and get the rest of the cast and crew set. I contacted George Perkins for AD and Daryl Kass for PM, both from Wacko. Luckily they were available. Nick von Sternberg was also ready. Unfortunately, Earl Watson was committed to another project. I needed to have a completed screening by the end of the year to qualify for the tax deal and it was September. We would have to bring on an additional editor to help Curt cut the picture. Curt's friend Larry Bock came on board.

We got Scott McGinnis, the talented young lead from Wacko, for the manager of the arcade. Curt began seeing actors for the other parts. We needed two attractive girls to play opposite Scott in nude scenes. Curt brought Kym Malin, Playboy Playmate of the Month, May 1982, and Kim G. Michel, another attractive young woman, in to see me. Neither had experience, but both gave excellent readings. I had them read a scene together.

GREYDON

Very nice... both of you. Let's go over the nudity question. It will just be topless... I want a free, fun attitude to come across on film. No inhibitions.

KYM

We talked about it in your outer office while we were waiting to see you and there's no problem with either one of us. Right, Kim?

KIM

Sounds like fun.

The times they were a changing. Nudity became less of an issue in the filmmaking process. We cast both girls. Curt did his usual great job and I was very happy with the rest of the cast. I was able to convince Jackie to take a nice role as a TV reporter. David Hewitt, who gave me one of my first acting roles in The Mighty Gorga, owned Hollywood Title & Optical, a small post-production optical house. I needed to control what was happening on the video games when they were on the big screen and went to see Dave.

GREYDON

I'll need to add the games optically in post-production on the big screens.

HEWITT

That should be no problem. We have the optical printer. As long as you give me the game shots you want, I can optically put them in your big-screen.

GREYDON

We have a deal. You gave me a break fifteen years ago and I remember.

JOYSTICKS – PRODUCTION

We began filming in the first week of October 1982. We filmed the opening sequence when Leif Green meets the two girls on the street behind the soundstage. We were stealing everything and did not have permits to shoot on the street. We rented a cop car for the scene and parked it nearby hoping that the neighbors would see the car, our extra dressed in a cop uniform and think he was a real cop and we had permission. We kept the cop car while we filmed Jon Gries and his "Vidiots" on tiny pocket bikes. With a tight fifteen-day shooting schedule, being able to film the parking lot of the soundstage as the front of the arcade kept us from making a "company move." I kept the dialogue and situations moving along quickly and put as much life and vitality into each scene as possible.

There are dozens of movies that use "fart jokes" for a cheap laugh. We used the farting McDorfus to get as many laughs as possible. Cheap or not. A laugh is a laugh. The farts became a character unto themselves and we gave them a href, "The McDorfus Maneuver." The first time we filmed a scene where McDorfus farted, Jim Greenleaf, a very talented actor, who looked a bit like John Belushi, approached me.

GREENLEAP

I might be able to let one go... but I'm not sure how loud I can do it.

GREYDON

We'll add the fart sound in post-production. Just lift your leg a bit and mime it.

We were very lucky to have John Diehl and John Voldstad as Joe Don's two idiot nephews. Each was an experienced inventive actor. Corrine Bohrer played Joe Don's daughter.

BOHRER

Greydon, how much of this "Valley Speak" do you want me to do? Should I go all out and be as dumb as a brick? Will the audience understand my dialogue?

GREYDON

Corrine, I don't care if they understand a damn word you say. Just say it with enthusiasm and fun. Have a good time with it.

There's a scene early in the film where Leif Green tells Scott McGinnis and Jim Greenleaf about a "rocking van" in the parking lot. Darby Hinton purchased the van from Angels Brigade after filming and he added a hot tub to it. He gave it to me for Joysticks. It's a small scene but I think a very important one, establishing the relationship between the three guys. I wanted them to like and respect each other. It was important that the audience would want to go to the arcade themselves. Even when Jon Gries and his Vidiots disrupt the arcade, I wanted the response from my other characters to be more disappointment than anger; even King Vidiot and his playthings were welcome.

We shot the topless scenes with the two actresses playing strip video in Scott's private room. When a topless Kym was playing, I noticed her beautiful jiggling breasts and decided a close shot might work. I didn't think I was going to use it in the final film, but when we were editing the scene, it got a laugh... Anything for a laugh, it remained in the picture. Jackie was excellent in her three scenes. She and Joe Don were friends and they worked well together. Jon Gries was very good as King Vidiot. We rehearsed a scene between Joe Don and Jon.

GREYDON

Jon, let's have the King go really wacko in this scene. Go completely crazy. See that plant on the table? What if you went over to it and started eating it? Remember, your name is King Vidiot, as in idiot. Surprise me.

Jon went crazy and flopped to the floor, giving Joe Don an opportunity to adâ€“lib a line.

JOE DON

If you're dying, I'm not giving you mouth to mouth.

Working with inventive actors makes the director's job easy. An actor might adâ€“lib something while the scene is rehearsed. Camera and sound carefully watch the rehearsal to pick up ad-libs so they can be covered. Ad-libbing while actually shooting almost never works; it is often missed by camera or sound. Nick von Sternberg was a very fast DP. I set every camera position, but he read my mind and before I told him where I wanted to set the camera, he was moving it in that direction. He and his crew were very calm and relaxed on the set. All I had to do was deal with the actors. After Wacko, I never considered using another DP if Nick was available.

Logan Ramsey, an excellent character actor, played the mayor at the City Council hearing. The guy sitting next to him was my friend and investor, Mike Starita. As the sequence progressed, there are flashbacks to Joe Don's version of the arcade, followed by Scott's version. I decided to film both sequences in one continuous shot. In Scott's version the arcade is all pastoral white, filled with pleasant, friendly people drinking milk; Jim Greenleaf is talking to the Pope. Actually, farting at the Pope – it is a comedy, right? There is a baby in Scott's arms: our son Trevor. Scott was nervous holding our kid.

SCOTT

What do you want me to do with him, Greydon?

JACKIE

Just don't drop him.

In Joe Don's version of the arcade, there were nude girls everywhere, a mud-wrestling pit, and the fires of hell. A nice scene. Have I said before that moviemaking is fun?

JOYSTICKS – POST-PRODUCTION

Larry Bock was an excellent editor. He and Curt both worked long hours and we made very good progress. Jackie encouraged me to come up with a better title than Video Madness. I discussed it with Curt and Larry.

GREYDON

I've been thinking about something, guys. When I came up with the title Video Madness, it was a takeoff on the hysteria in Reefer Madness. I think I have a better title, Joystick. What do you think?

CURT

I like it. Obvious double meaning and I think the kids will get it.

Both guys chuckled. The next day, Ray Jensen came in and I showed him about ten minutes of the rough cut on the Movieola. We went into my office.

JENSEN

I can never tell anything by looking at stuff on one of those machines. You happy?

GREYDON

I'm never happy with anything I've ever done. I think an audience is going to love this picture. We should call this picture Joystick.

JENSEN

We can't call it that. Every parent in the country will refuse to let their kids see it.

GREYDON

We should get so lucky that parents protest Joystick. If they do that, we'll have a huge monster hit our hands. The kids will get the double meaning...

JENSEN

You might be right. What if we called it Joysticks, with an "s" on the end?

GREYDON

If that would make you more comfortable. Let's do it. Joysticks it is.

We locked Joysticks and moved into music, sound effects, titles and opticals. I decided to use the gobbling Pac-Man character to wipe from one scene to the next. We hired John Caper again as our music supervisor. I gave him a flat fee of twenty-five thousand dollars for delivery of all the music. He found a composer to write some terrific music, especially the opening title song. Curt and Larry cut the sound effects. I often did not take writer credit on my films, even though I always did a major rewrite. I gave Al Gomez and Mickey Epps as well as Curtis Burch writer credit. Ray Jensen and Clair Farley received Executive Producer credit. Well-deserved Associate Producer credits went to Curt, Daryl Kass and George Perkins; if it helped fill their resumes early in their careers, I was happy to do it.

In mid-December, Ray Jensen set up a screening in Las Vegas to qualify for my tax deal. I flew to Vegas for the screening. There were a dozen or so people in the theater. The response was not as sensational as Wacko, but there were some good laughs. Ray and I huddled in the lobby.

JENSEN

I like the picture. It's not as good as Wacko. But I think we'll make some money. We'll create the campaign and test one weekend in El Paso in February.

GREYDON

I've made my official delivery. You owe me two hundred grand.

JENSEN

Sorry, I didn't bring the cash with me. The money will be wired to you tomorrow.

GREYDON

I have a feeling about Joysticks. It's gonna do big business. Just wait and see.

The next day the two hundred grand from Jensen Farley hit my bank.

JOYSTICKS – DISTRIBUTION

Ray Jensen called me Monday morning with the news from the El Paso test date.

JENSEN

We did great business. Our best opening weekend ever! Twelve grand. We're both going to make a ton of money off this picture. Congratulations.

I phoned Mike Starita and Gordy to let them know that it looked like their investment was going to pay off big time.

STARITA

That's great, Greydon. I always said you were an artist... Businessman.

GREYDON

Thanks, Mike. That's why it's called Show... Business.

On the second weekend in March, 1983 we opened on three hundred and ten screens, mostly in the South. Late Friday evening Ray Jensen gave me a call.

JENSEN

Are you sitting down, Greydon? We did very, very well. We're on schedule to gross more than one and a half million dollars for the weekend. It's a huge hit. By the time we're done with this picture your share is going to be well over a million, maybe two million. We'll move quickly on the rest of the national distribution, make some more prints. Based on these numbers we'll be able to make a big home video deal. Even foreign will respond to these numbers.

When we hung up, Jackie, who was listening on an extension, bounced into my home office, bubbling with excitement.

JACKIE
You did it! You did it!
GREYDON

Wait a minute. Don't you mean, we did it? No way this picture would've even gotten off the ground if it wasn't for you. How many new mothers would've taken their case money and put a second mortgage on their house to make a movie?

The following Monday, Entertainment Tonight announce that Joysticks was the number one picture in the country. Mary Hart wondered how a little picture that no one had ever heard of could lead the nation. I could have told her; a teen sex comedy set in a video arcade was a natural. Not only had the picture opened to huge business, we held over to exceptional business the second and even third week.

It had been eighteen years since I came to Hollywood wanting to be an actor. Somehow I fell into writing, producing and directing and it looked like it was finally going to pay off big-time. Not only was I going to be financially set for the rest of my life, but I also would be able to continue making pictures. Once you have a hit, the doors you couldn't get through suddenly swing open. Not only was Joysticks doing very well at the box office, we even had some nice reviews from critics. This little three hundred thousand dollar film was even reviewed in People Magazine with a picture of Joe Don surrounded by two semi-clad girls. Joe Don was thrilled with the box office. He and I were friends and I think he was as happy for Jackie and me as he was for his cut of the action. Joysticks continued to play around the country to substantial business. We opened a month later in Los Angeles and came in second place for the week. We held over weeks in every market we played in.

It takes a long time for the filmmaker to get his money from theatrical distribution. It can easily be six or nine months, even a year before the cash flow begins. The theater chains take months to pay the distributor and the distributor takes more months before paying the producer. Ray Jensen continued to assure me that my share of the distribution of Joysticks would be well over a million dollars. The numbers swirled around in my head, like I was playing Monopoly and I owned Boardwalk and Park Place with hotels on each. The future seemed bright.

The house we were living in was high in the hills of Hollywood. There was not a yard for a kid to play in and Trevor was beginning to walk. Jackie and I decided we should move to a home with a yard. Southern California's boom and bust real estate market was in steep decline. We were able to find a big new expensive home that a builder was about to lose to his bank. Under normal circumstances there was no way I would have consider buying a home that expensive, but the builder agreed to buy my home if I would take his for what he owed at the bank. It was a complicated "trade" that would require heavy financing. My bank agreed to finance the deal. I was concerned that I was going in way over my head financially. My second two hundred thousand dollar payment from Jensen Farley was due on the next Monday and I decided to give Ray Jensen a call in Salt Lake City.

GREYDON

Ray, I'm signing papers this Friday to buy some real estate. I'm going in way over my head on this and I wanted to make certain that the two hundred grand you're paying me next Monday will be on time and all the rest of my money is secure.

JENSEN

I'll wire you your two hundred thousand on Monday. Stop worrying. By the time this is done, you'll be getting at least a million and a half your share. Maybe more.

That Friday, Jackie and I went to the bank and signed documents for the purchase of our expensive new home. Monday morning came and no money hit the bank from Salt Lake. At noon, I put a call into Ray Jensen; he was not available. Late that afternoon I saw Steve Johnston, Ray's assistant, walking up my steep driveway. When I stepped out to greet him, he raised his hands over his head as if I had drawn a gun.

JOHNSTON

Don't be pissed at me, Greydon. I'm only the messenger. It's going to take a little longer for you to get your payment. It will be a couple of weeks.

GREYDON

You guys owe me two hundred grand today and at least another million this year. I want to talk to Ray Jensen.

JOHNSTON

He's on a plane to New York City. The theater chains are being slow to pay. He wanted me to tell you in person instead of over the phone.

Son of a bitch. Here we go again with more distributor problems. Somewhere, Skip Steloff must be laughing. A week went by and I finally got to talk to Ray Jensen.

GREYDON

Jesus Christ, Ray, I called you less than a week before I was due the two hundred grand. You assured me there would be no problem.

JENSEN

I was expecting a large payment from a theater chain that week. It was delayed. We are owed the money and we're going to collect it and then you'll get yours.

GREYDON
This is bullshit, Ray.
JENSEN

Joysticks continues to do great business. Wacko is doing okay. It's just a temporary cash flow situation. Collecting from the theaters is a problem and then we've got the television and radio stations, newspapers and ad agencies all breathing down our necks. Just bear with us. You're our favorite producer. We're all in this together. Your patience is greatly appreciated and your money is secure.

Weeks went by and every time we spoke, I got the same song and dance. I thought it was only fair to inform my investors. I called Starita first.

GREYDON

I've got some bad news. Joysticks continues to do very good business. But it's another distributor problem. They were supposed to make a minimum two hundred thousand dollar payment to me a couple of weeks ago and it never arrived. They say it's a cash flow problem... difficulty collecting from theaters. We've been down this road before and it sure didn't turn out good.

STARITA

We finally struck oil with Joysticks and it's like we can't get it out of the ground. Is this going to end like Without Warning where we don't get our share of the money?

GREYDON

I sure as hell hope not. There's over a million dollars on the table, most of which is mine. I'm in constant contact with the bastards and I'll keep you informed.

The conversation with my brother-in-law was about the same. Both guys were disappointed, but were supportive. I told Joe Don about the situation and he was also disappointed, but like my two investors was personally supportive.

The "trade" with the homebuilder created large monthly payments. Payments that I thought I would be able to handle with the money from Joysticks were now a major problem. I don't want this to read as if I was really suffering; I wasn't. The house we lived in was beyond my imagination when I was growing up. I was living a terrific life with my amazing Jackie and our little boy. I was just having my own temporary cash flow problems. Months went by and Jensen Farley announced they were filing for bankruptcy. A creditors' meeting was scheduled at their attorney's office in New York City. There was a long list of creditors and the amounts owed to each. I was near the top. I decided I had to go to New York and attend the meeting. It was late 1983 when I entered their attorney's conference room. There was a long conference table in the middle of the room; at one end sat Ray Jensen and Clair Farley with their attorneys.

BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEY

Jensen Farley owes approximately twenty million dollars to creditors. Most of it to advertising agencies and film laboratories, many of whom have representatives here. There are a couple of producers here who are owed a considerable amount. We have receivables from theater chains of approximately fifteen million. It looks to us like when we collect from the theaters, you guys will get seventy-five cents on the dollar for what you are owed. The bankruptcy judge makes all final decisions.

I knew that as soon as Jensen Farley filed bankruptcy, the theater chains would not pay a bankrupted company anything; there was no way the creditors would get anywhere near seventy-five cents on the dollar. It was going to be a total loss for everyone sitting around that sad table. The creditors looked at one another in disbelief. Finally, one advertising executive asked the question that was on everybody's mind.

ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE

This is bullshit. Where's all the money? You guys haven't paid any bills to film labs, to ad agencies like myself, to producers like these guys. You haven't paid anything! Where the hell is all the money you've already collected from the theater chains? They may still owe you a lot, but you've collected a lot. Where the hell is all the money? You've got the producer of Joysticks sitting here. It's doing great business. Where the hell is all the money?

Things were getting tense when Jensen Farley's lead attorney got to his feet.

BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEY

The bankruptcy judge will answer all your questions. We have prepared documents that should help you understand what's going on.

The meeting broke up and everyone but me sulked toward the door. I approached Ray Jensen, Clair Farley and their attorney.

GREYDON

I'm not in the same position as these other creditors. I'm not a general creditor. I'm secured. I have a UCC1 filed against the proceeds of Joysticks.

BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEY

I'm sure the judge will take that into account.

GREYDON

Before you officially file for bankruptcy, let me make a proposal. I'll waive my rights as a secured creditor and become a general creditor like everyone else if you give me the rights to Joysticks and Wacko back. If the general creditors find out that Joysticks money will not be coming to them because of my secured status you're going to have even bigger problems. Just give me my pictures back and I'll let whatever money comes in from Joysticks go to the general creditor's fund.

JENSEN

He is a secured creditor only on Joysticks. Can we give him both pictures back?

BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEY

The bankruptcy judge would never allow it on Wacko. With Joysticks if the general creditors don't complain and we did it before the actual filing, I don't think the judge would go back and rescind it.

I was convinced that none of the creditors, secured or unsecured, would see a dime once Jensen Farley filed for bankruptcy. If the theaters paid any of the money due the distributor, the creditors would still not see any of it. The bankruptcy laws state that first paid from the assets of the bankrupt company is the government for back taxes and bankruptcy court expenses. The second paid are the attorneys, often for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The third paid are the banks and only God knew how much Jensen Farley owed their bank. The fourth paid are the secured creditors and, finally, the unsecured creditors. Unfortunately when this disgusting chapter was finally closed, I was correct; none of the creditors received a dime. When the theatrical distribution of Joysticks was complete, the box office was over four million dollars, not bad for a three week picture. It sure would've been nice had I been able to get my share of that box office.

It took months to finalize the contract that returned Joysticks distribution to me. The theatrical distribution was finished, but there was several hundred thousand dollars I could get from home video and perhaps the same from foreign sales. I contacted Vestron Video, the largest independent home video distributor, and reached Jon Peisinger, their second in command.

GREYDON

Jon, this is Greydon Clark, the producer of Joysticks.

PEISINGER

I know who you are Greydon, we like your pictures. How can I help you?

GREYDON

I'd like to make a deal on home video for Joysticks.

PEISINGER

That sounds great. The only thing is, we made a deal a few months ago with Jensen Farley for Joysticks. If you own the rights, send us documents proving that and we'll send you overages. I wondered why they sold it so cheap. We got Joysticks for a hundred grand. Then they announced their bankruptcy a week later. I'll see to it that you get whatever overages are due.

That son of a bitch Ray Jensen wholesaled the rights to my pictures in a fire sale a week before he filed bankruptcy. It was all legal thanks to the bankruptcy laws. To say losing more than a million dollars made a difference in my life is a bit of an understatement, but there are some things in life we cannot control. The one thing we can control is how we react to those things. No one was ever able to find what actually did happen to all the money... Good question, "Where the hell was all the money?"

Joysticks was the last film my group of investors from Denver were involved with. Including the tax benefits they received, their investment in my pictures was a break even deal for them. If we had not had the distribution problems with Steloff and Jensen Farley, they would have profited handsomely. If... a pretty big word, don't you think?

In January 1981, Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president and the country began a long slow downward spiral for everyone other than the extremely wealthy. His administration changed the tax laws by dramatically lowering the tax rate for the upper income earners and eliminating incentives for business to take place in America. The new tax laws favored multinational corporations who did business wherever labor was least expensive. For the workingman or woman, it was a race to the bottom. My deal with investors relied heavily on the tax code. The requirement to qualify for the tax benefit was that the expenditures had to be in the United States, creating U.S. jobs. I understand that no one likes tax shelters that other people take advantage of. However by eliminating the necessity to make pictures in the United States, Reagan opened the floodgates for movies to be produced elsewhere. Employment in United States film and TV production plummeted. Production in Canada, where the government was giving inducements, skyrocketed. Multinational corporations benefited greatly from the Reagan Administration and the working class continues to suffer to this day.

Final Justice

FINAL JUSTICE – FINANCING

A full year passed since we'd opened Joysticks when Lou George at Arista Films asked me to come into his office. Lou was my foreign distributor on Hi-Riders and co-producer on Angels Brigade. It had been almost six years since Angels.

LOU

There's a company in Malta that wants me to come up with a co-production.

GREYDON

The only thing I know about Malta is they must have falcons.

LOU

It's a tiny island off the coast of Italy. Mediterranean Film Studios would supply all expenses for production in Malta. Our responsibility would be the story, American cast and yourself as director. Do you have anything you want to do?

GREYDON

I assume you want action. I could write something. So they would furnish the entire below the line. What about the lab and post-production?

LOU

I guess that would be up to us. What do you think it would cost?

GREYDON

Without having a script or even a story, it's pretty hard to tell. I could write something and take over two or three American actors and do the post back here. I think we could do the whole thing for somewhere around fifty grand, excluding whatever we decide to spend on the actors.

LOU

Could you come up with half the cost? You and I split everything fifty/fifty.

GREYDON

I might be able to. Do they have crew and equipment?

LOU

They claim they do. We should go over and see.

They proposed a typical foreign co-production. We supplied the above the line and the Maltese supplied the below the line, excluding post-production. We split the gross income fifty/fifty with the Maltese and then Lou and I split our fifty percent share.

FINAL JUSTICE – PRE-PRODUCTION – MALTA

Within a week, Lou George and I were on a plane headed to the tiny island. At one time ruled by England, the majority of Malta's four hundred thousand citizens spoke English. The weather was similar to Southern California. The head of the Mediterranean Film Studios (MFS), Lino Cassar, met us at the airport. Lino was the tallest man on the island, with a pronounced stutter. He was anxious to convince me that I could make a film on his island. He showed us the largest "horizon tank" in the world; a cement water tank about two football fields in size, four feet deep built on a bluff overlooking the Mediterranean. They used platforms on wheels for sets and equipment and moved everything easily around the water tank. A director could film a scene that appeared to be out in the middle of the ocean with complete control. The grip and electrical equipment were old, but it wouldn't be the first time I used suspect equipment. Lino showed us around the MFS offices. I noticed a particularly attractive secretary in his outer office, Helena Abella, a former Miss Malta.

LINO

We can supply everything here for production and a big experienced crew, all the equipment, hotels, food, everything.

GREYDON

Your grip and electrical equipment seems fine. I didn't see any cameras.

LINO

The foreign producers who come here to film bring their own cameras and they use Technicolor in Rome for laboratory. We couldn't help you there.

Lino proudly showed us around his beautiful island. He brought us back to the hotel in the early evening and introduced us to the great director Roman Polanski in the lobby.

LINO

Mister Polanski is scouting locations for Pirates. They're going to be filming here.

POLANSKI
Are you guys using the tank?
GREYDON

I don't know. I haven't written the script yet. It's a co-production.

POLANSKI

I understand. We go where the money is. Like the whores we all are.

On the plane back to the states, Lou kept asking me if I could come up with something, I could make in Malta. He wanted an action film with an American star.

FINAL JUSTICE – SCREENPLAY

I usually begin my screenplays with characters and find an interesting story for them. I needed an American hero in Malta. Maybe I could write something and convince Joe Don to kick ass in Malta. I had him join Jackie and me at our house for lunch.

GREYDON

I've got another chance to make a movie. It's a co-production deal in Malta.

JOE DON
Where the hell is Malta? They have falcons?
GREYDON

It's a tiny little island in the Mediterranean with beautiful weather. As always, budget is my problem. I've got to come up with the American star and story. You know I took a real bath on Joysticks. I hate to ask, but--

JOE DON

Stop right there. I'll help any way I can. What's the picture about?

GREYDON

I don't know yet. But you would shoot for five weeks. I can get you fifty grand up-front plus ten percent of the profit. Let's hope this time we can collect it.

JOE DON
You're gonna put your own money up again?
GREYDON

Yeah, I'm gonna have to step up to the plate one more time.

JOE DON
Jackie, you go along with all this?
JACKIE

Greydon knows what he's doing. Whatever he wants is all right by me.

JOE DON

I hope you appreciate her, Greydon.

GREYDON

I do. Always have.

I took a couple of days and struggled to come up with a story, finally hitting on something that I thought might work. I ran it past Jackie.

GREYDON

You remember Don Siegel's movie, Coogan's Bluff?

JACKIE

With Clint Eastwood? A cowboy sheriff who goes to New York like McCloud?

GREYDON

What if I could figure out a way for Joe Don to play a sheriff who extradites a Mafioso from Texas to Malta? The guy escapes and Joe Don tracks him down.

JACKIE

That sounds good.

A month passed and I had a first draft on what I titled The Maltese Connection and released as Final Justice. A normal screenplay is somewhere around a hundred pages, mine was fifty-five. I had my characters, conflict and resolution. I logically got the sheriff and the bad guy from Texas to Malta and had Joe Don triumph in the end. However in the middle of the script I wrote, "A long action, chase scene... around the Maltese island." I planned to write that sequence during my prep in Malta when I had specific locations. I tailored the script specifically for Joe Don. There was plenty of action and I made him an old-fashioned quick draw artist. I was confident he would like the part.

FINAL JUSTICE – PRE-PRODUCTION – USA

A few days after I got the script to Joe Don he gave me a call.

JOE DON

It's pretty good, Greydon. Let's make the picture. Who's going to play my deputy?

GREYDON

I can't bring over an American actor for one scene. I thought I'd do it myself.

JOE DON

What about Wilson, the guy who sends me to Europe? Doesn't he have to be American? Bill McKinney is a friend of mine, how about him?

GREYDON

I'd love Bill McKinney. He would be there a week and I only have a grand. If he accepts, I'd love to have him.

McKinney accepted the deal. Joe Don left to shoot a miniseries in England and I began what preparation I could do in the United States. Nick von Sternberg was available and brought assistant camera operator David Boyd. Daryl Kass agreed to work as both PM and AD. I wanted to have an editor cutting while I was filming. Earl Watson was busy elsewhere and Curtis Burch had a new career as a studio executive. Larry Bock was eager to go to Europe. Lou and I split the American end of the budget, about fifty grand each.

Jackie and I went back to the bank, signed documents and put another second lien on our house. We continued to invest everything we had to get our pictures made. Jackie stood with me as I rolled the dice over and over on each film. If any one of these pictures did not return our investment, we would be in real trouble. I was away from Jackie and Trevor for three full months. It was the first time she and I were separated in sixteen years.

FINAL JUSTICE – PRE-PRODUCTION – ROME

I stopped in Rome with two objectives: make a deal with Technicolor and find actors I could bring to Malta. Lino gave me the name of a casting director who cast films shot in Malta. She worked at the Cinecitta Studios in Rome. Benito Mussolini originally built the studio in 1937 and it was as big as any studio in Hollywood. Casting in Italy was different from the United States. Rather than hiring a casting director, if she recommended someone whom I cast, the actor paid her fee directly. I guess it was literally, "When in Rome... Do as the Romans do." I was casting the smaller roles from the Maltese acting community. However there were three major roles that I wanted to cast with more experienced actors: the lead antagonist who Joe Don captures in America and escorts to Europe and his employer, a Godfather-like character who had a home on an estate in Malta. I also needed someone to play a dancer who lived at the Godfather's estate. I was relieved to find the casting director spoke very good English.

GREYDON

The lead bad guy works five weeks and the dancer two. I could pay a thousand a week for him and thousand total for her two weeks. Six-day weeks. I would be interested in a recognizable star for the Godfather. The role works one week.

The casting director showed me pictures of only one actor for each role, Venantino Venantini and Patrizia Pellegrino. She assured me both these actors were very experienced and would be excellent. It was a different way to cast to say the least... only one person per role. She seemed to know what she was doing. I sure didn't.

GREYDON

I'll need to meet these people. Unfortunately, I have to be in Malta tomorrow.

CASTING DIRECTOR

Patrizia is working on a film in Milan and will not be able to see you. But trust me, she will be excellent. I could have Venantino come to your hotel for a meeting this afternoon.

GREYDON

That'll be fine. What about the role of the Godfather-like character? Is there any recognizable star that I might be able to get for that part?

CASTING DIRECTOR
What about Rossano Brazzi. Do you know him?
GREYDON

Yes, of course. What would he cost for the six-day week?

CASTING DIRECTOR

Ten thousand. Everyone will get round trip to Malta, hotel and per diem, no?

GREYDON

Of course I'll pay ten thousand for Rossano Brazzi. Have the other actor come to my hotel to see me this afternoon.

I took Patrizia's and Venantino's photos and headed back to my hotel. What if I didn't like these actors? I was really flying blind. I was very happy with the prospect of Rossano Brazzi; he would be perfect for the head Mafioso. I got back to the hotel and when I was getting my key from the front desk, an impeccably dressed man in his early fifties mentioned my name to the desk clerk. I turned and introduced myself to Venantino Venantini. He looked great for the part... I hoped he was a professional actor.

GREYDON

Mister Venantini, I'm Greydon Clark. Very nice to meet you.

We moved to a sitting area in the lobby and exchanged a few pleasantries. He spoke perfect English and told me about the many films he'd worked on over a long and distinguished career. I was lucky; Venantino would make a great villain.

GREYDON

Venantino, I'd like to offer you the role of Joseph Palermo in my movie. You would work five weeks, six days each, for a thousand per week.

VENANTINO

Don't you have to ask someone else for their approval?

GREYDON

No. It's my movie and my decision. You're the actor I want.

VENANTINO
Wonderful. When do I go to Malta?
GREYDON

I have a month in prep to do. Do you know the actress Patrizia Pellegrino?

VENANTINO

I do, yes. I've worked with her many times. She's very pretty and a good actress.

Venantino was very impressive and I decided to trust him regarding Patrizia; I didn't have much choice. The casting director called and confirmed Rossano Brazzi. I cast three main roles without anyone reading the script and made my deal at Technicolor Laboratory. I took the hour flight from Rome to Malta.

FINAL JUSTICE – PRE-PRODUCTION – MALTA

I had five and a half weeks of pre-production. I needed to write a thirty-minute chase sequence, which would be my entire second act. Malta is one of the smallest, most densely populated countries in the world. It's a major tourist destination for much of Europe. Gigantic luxury cruise ships pull into their docks almost every day with eager tourists pouring through their picturesque cities. Huge dry docks make ship repair one of their main industries; lots of great locations for my chase. Lino met me at the airport.

GREYDON

Lino, I'd like to meet the heads of all the departments; wardrobe, prop, sets, locations, grip and electrical, tomorrow morning in your office. They should have their breakdown sheets done for the first twenty pages of the script.

The next day the department heads gathered in Lino's office, scripts in hand. They all seemed nervous about something.

GREYDON

Let's look at props first. Were you able to finish your breakdown sheets?

PROPS

I'm sorry, Mister Clark. We don't know what you want us to do.

GREYDON

First thing, everyone please call me Greydon. I want to see your breakdowns.

WARDROBE

None of us knows what you mean. What is a breakdown sheet?

GREYDON

Don't you write down for each scene what props and wardrobe you'll need?

LINO

The way we do it here is the foreign prop and wardrobe people give us a list of what they need and then we go buy it. We find what you tell us you want.

GREYDON

I see, okay. What happens when you're on the set?

LINO

We help the foreign bosses and do what they tell us.

PROPS

That E, X, T at the beginning of the scene. Is that extension from the last scene?

GREYDON

No. That means exterior, a scene that is shot outside rather than inside.

The Maltese crew, while being very eager to please, was entirely made up of assistants rather than department heads. When foreign productions came to Malta they brought their department heads and used the Maltese to "shop." The Maltese crew had no idea how to set things up. I had some blank breakdown sheets with me.

GREYDON

Here's what we're going to do: you guys are all going to become department heads. This is a co-production. Don't look at this as a foreign production. This is our production, yours and mine. We are in this together.

I spent an hour going over in detail how prop, wardrobe, location, grip and electrical breakdown sheets are done. I emphasized that they could not over list what material might be needed for each scene. Joe Don may have a badge and gun and holster... Are they props or wardrobe? I wanted each listed on both breakdown sheets. The crew felt good about having new responsibility; they were no longer just "shoppers," but rather actual department heads. I had not made breakdown sheets myself since Mothers, Fathers and Lovers fourteen years earlier. In a few hours, we'd finished less than half the script.

GREYDON

Let's stop now and you guys work on your own. We'll have another meeting tomorrow morning and see what progress you've made. Be sure to list everything that you think we might need for each scene. Let's meet tomorrow individually and we'll go over your breakdown sheets. Thanks for working with me on this.

The meeting broke up and the crew filed out. Lino brought an attractive woman to me.

LINO

This is Maryana. She has worked with script supervisors from Rome and London.

GREYDON

Great. Do you know how to do scene numbers during coverage? Do you know what I mean when I say "matching action?"

MARYANA

I'm sorry, I don't know what either of those are. I will do whatever you tell me.

I was going to have to make this picture without a script supervisor. I would have to make sure the slate had the proper scene numbers on it; otherwise, Larry Bock would never be able to find anything in the cutting room. I had to watch the action and make sure it matched. All this and direct the movie... This was going to be fun.

I spent my evenings on my laptop computer writing the second act chase. I didn't have the resources to do an automobile chase, so most of it was going to have to be on foot. There were rubber speedboats that tourists rented; I could use them as part of the chase through the magnificent harbor.

We scheduled our first casting session. There were two very important roles to cast with Maltese actors: the female police officer who accompanies Joe Don and the police superintendent. I thought that Lino's secretary, Helena, could play the lady cop. She had not acted before, but she was an attractive, intelligent young woman and I thought she could handle it. It wouldn't be the first time I'd directed an inexperienced performer. I needed to cast twenty speaking parts with local actors.

GREYDON

Helena, when the actors read for me, I want you to read the other parts. Don't act it... Just read the words.

Over the next few days I saw several dozen actors and was pleased with the local talent. A postal worker, Lino Grech, gave an excellent reading for the superintendent of police.

GREYDON

Mister Grech, if I cast you in the part of the superintendent – it's an important role and works five or six days – can you get the time off from your post office job?

GRECH

The government wants to encourage filmmaking in Malta. They have approved.

I had my superintendent. Helena, while reading opposite the other actors, was also impressive. We were pretty well cast when she turned to me.

HELENA

We didn't have anyone read for the part of Maria.

GREYDON

You've been reading it for the last few days, you just didn't know it. I'd like to cast you in the role. Do you think you could do it?

HELENA

I know I can.

If she had not been able to do the role, I would have been in real trouble. I finished my rewrites on the script, the department heads were ready, locations selected and casting complete.

Daryl Kass arrived two weeks before we began filming. I could rely on Daryl to do whatever was necessary to make our shoot go as smoothly as possible.

GREYDON

Daryl, you're going to have to think of yourself more as a PM than as an AD. I'm going to need you in the office preparing for the next day: locations, props, wardrobe, actors. I can't show up on the set and not be ready to begin shooting.

DARYL

Got it. So if I'm not on the set all the time, that's okay?

GREYDON

Just make sure tomorrow is ready. That's your primary job.

Nick von Sternberg, David Boyd and Larry Bock arrived the following week. I took the guys around to each location and we were ready to begin filming. Joe Don came in from London and we went poolside at the hotel. He was very pleased with his London miniseries, Martin Campbell's The Edge of Darkness. He was also happy with the reviews that had just come out on Barry Levinson's The Natural ; the critics had been especially kind to him in a Babe Ruth type role. He was on a roll and ready to go to work.

GREYDON

I was able to cast Rossano Brazzi as the Godfather character. And a great Italian actor by the name of Venantino Venantini for Palermo. You're gonna like him.

Two attractive young ladies joined us poolside and immediately removed their tops.

GREYDON

Joe Don, something tells me we're not in Kansas anymore.

After a half an hour, the young women headed toward the hotel. Joe Don, a Texas gentleman, got to his feet as the ladies left.

JOE DON
Thank you, ma'am. Very nice indeed.
FINAL JUSTICE – PRODUCTION

All the shooting on Final Justice took place in Malta on a five week schedule. When you're on a distant location, it is normal to work a six day week, which gave us thirty days for filming. It was unusual to be working without a script supervisor or an AD, but I soon became accustomed to it. Nick and David worked extremely well with the Maltese crew and things moved along smoothly. Daryl was excellent with his preparations and was able to be on the set for more than half of each day. Larry Bock got the "daily" prints from Rome Technicolor two days after we shot them. I stopped at the editing room at the end of each day; things seemed to be working.

The opening scene was a small sheriff's station near the Texas/Mexico border. I had not acted in a few years, but playing Joe Don's deputy sheriff felt very comfortable. Joe Don and Venantino hit it off immediately. After a couple weeks, Bill McKinney arrived from LA. I set up a tracking shot for the first scene with Bill and Joe Don. They had a conversation as they walked down a long corridor.

Bill kept blowing his dialogue. We tried again with the same result. Again and again, same result. I could only get part of the scene. I repositioned the camera behind the actors and had them walk away from the lens. I asked the guys to read their lines from the script directly into a microphone as if they were walking the corridor. I could use what little I was able to get on Bill's face and put the rest of his dialogue over the back of his head. Bill was excellent in all of his other scenes; maybe it was jet lag.

Helena took direction very well. The postal worker was equally well prepared and an excellent actor. Three weeks passed and we were ready for our first day with Rossano Brazzi. He flew in the night before and I left a welcoming fruit basket in his room. Rossano was a half hour late when I began to worry. Daryl was on the set and I called him over.

GREYDON

Brazzi has a driver waiting at the hotel, right? Call him. See what the problem is.

Daryl went to telephone and in a few minutes returned, a worried expression on his face.

DARYL

He says he's not going to leave the hotel until he gets his payment for the day.

GREYDON

Take him his two grand. Wait for him and you come with him to the set.

An hour later they showed up. I approached Rossano; it was the first time we'd met.

ROSSANO

No disrespect to you, Mister Clark, that's just the way things are done. I'll need my money in cash every day before I leave my hotel. Please call me Rossano.

GREYDON

And I'm Greydon. I'll see to it you have your cash. Daryl will take you to makeup.

We were filming a poolside sequence when Rossano returned; he greeted Venantino warmly. I explained how we were going to do the scene; first the master, then over the shoulders, followed by close-ups and inserts.

ROSSANO

Yes, yes, that's all good. But this scene will take all day. How are you going to do the rest of the day you have scheduled?

GREYDON

We move pretty quickly. Let's just see how it goes.

We got the scene in a few hours as well as everything else scheduled for the day. Rossano was an excellent, very experienced actor. I could whisper a few words in his ear and he knew immediately what I wanted. Days later we filmed one of my favorite scenes, a Western-style shootout. I shot it in the style of Sergio Leone; a number of extreme close and wide shots with a long, slow buildup followed by a fast action shootout.

There was a permanent waterfront set on the dock of the water tank and I took advantage of it to begin our extensive chase sequence. Venantino sets up a hit on Joe Don, who spots it and kills a couple of Venantino's men. I staged the scene and wanted Joe Don to grab a spear out of the bad guy's hand, knock him into the water and then whirl and throw the spear at another guy all in one motion. He was having difficulty.

JOE DON

You want me to grab the spear and knock this guy in the water and then turn and throw the spear to kill the other guy all in one movement? I don't get it. Show me.

I do not like to show an actor how a scene might play. I would rather they show me and I comment on how they're doing it. I want to see their performance, not mine. However Joe Don asked me to show him, so I stepped into his shoes. When I went through the steps necessary to make the scene work, I realized that Joe Don had to grab the spear, get ready to throw it, hit the first guy with a backhand motion and then throw the spear in the opposite direction all in one movement. I demonstrated a couple times for Joe Don.

JOE DON

Jesus, Greydon, you should be doing this.

GREYDON

But I'm not Joe Don Baker.

We chuckled; Joe Don got it and the scene worked. The extensive foot chase began; I used as many interesting locations as possible, including the interior of a large, luxurious church. The Maltese crew was generally very professional and kept their opinions to themselves, however once we were inside the church with its gold-laced ceiling and walls they couldn't contain themselves.

CREW MEMBER

Look at this gold. We struggle to support our families. It's not right. It's not fair.

Lino immediately pulled them aside. I couldn't hear what he was saying but they quietly returned to work. It wasn't my place to say anything, but I agreed with their sentiments. We had two days left of filming with Brazzi when Lino approached, shaking his head.

LINO

I have some bad news. The crew is not going to work tomorrow.

GREYDON

What are you talking about? Of course, we're working tomorrow.

LINO

There's a football game between Italy and England they want to watch.

GREYDON

You want me to cancel shooting so the crew can watch a soccer game?

LINO

I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do. They want to watch that game and they are not going to show up. Venantino and Rossano both asked me about it.

Son of a bitch. Was I going to lose the day? No way that was going to happen.

GREYDON

I'll tell you what: you get two or three televisions and we'll put them around the set so the crew can watch the game while they work.

The next day I had three televisions positioned around the set. Everyone, including my Italian actors, paid more attention to the football game than my movie. I was able to use the magnificent water tank for only one scene. Joe Don escaped from Venantino and his men in a speedboat and was blown out of the water; the control we had in the tank was remarkable. On Rossano Brazzi's last day, he was blasted in the chest by a shotgun and fell violently through a glass door. I had a stunt double for the scene and all went well. I was able to get his blood splattered close-up while he lay on the floor. He was wearing a robe for the scene and it was covered in blood. I helped him to his feet.

GREYDON

You were great, Rossano. That's a picture wrap for Mister Brazzi.

Everyone applauded. The wardrobe person handed him the bloody robe and Rossano exploded.

ROSSANO

Now that you're finished with me! You give me this bloody robe to wear!

GREYDON

Of course not. Daryl, get Mister Brazzi a jacket and accompany him to make up.

ROSSANO

That's better. Thank you, Greydon. It's been a pleasure to work with you.

A person's ego must be respected, especially an actor's. Rossano Brazzi was very good in Final Justice. I liked working with him.

The final sequence involved a fight between Joe Don and a huge bad guy. Joe Don kills the guy and we continued filming additional dialogue, another fight and the final quick draw against Venantino. We were about finished for the evening when Joe Don suddenly turned to me with a fury that I had never seen before.

JOE DON

Jesus Christ. We've done this whole sequence and I didn't have my badge on. Greydon, we're gonna have to reshoot this whole goddamn thing!

There was no way I could do that, but I first had to calm my friend. I thought if I went crazy at the crew, Joe Don would come to their defense. I yelled at the stunned crew.

GREYDON

Look what you've all done! We shot the last four hours without Joe Don wearing his badge! I'm ashamed of all of you! If Joe Don wasn't the kind of man he is, he'd just head back to the hotel right now and I couldn't blame him! Do I have to do everything myself! Goddammit! Daryl why didn't you catch that!

Joe Don stepped to me and put a gentle hand on my shoulder.

JOE DON

Calm down. Don't blame them. I should've caught it. Are we gonna reshoot?

GREYDON

Let me think a second. What if we say that your badge was ripped off in the fight with the bad guy? We could add a line at the very end of the picture where you ask Helena to go over and pick up your badge. That might make a nice ending.

Joe Don agreed and we added the line. The production was finished and the next day the studio had a nice wrap party for us. My experience in Malta was very positive.

FINAL JUSTICE – POST-PRODUCTION

It was July 1984 when I return to Jackie and Trevor who just had his second birthday. In a few days the film arrived from Rome. Larry Bock and I finished the editing. Larry cut the sound effects and I hired John Caper once again to supply the music. David Hewitt did my titles and opticals and I had my answer print.

FINAL JUSTICE – DISTRIBUTION

We needed advertising material and a trailer to sell the picture to foreign markets. Rick Albert, a small thin man about my age, ran an advertising agency, Design Projects. He created the print ads and I cut the trailer. Lou took Final Justice to Milan where we did respectable business in the foreign markets. A low budget picture simply could not get a theatrical release in the United States. Production budgets for low budget pictures from a major studio were five to ten million dollars and would have young, recognizable stars in them. Lou George tried to get a home video deal and screened for Vestron Video who passed on the picture. I called Jon Peisinger, head of their company.

GREYDON

Jon, I appreciate that you've been paying me a bit of overages on Joysticks, but you know I was screwed on the home video on the picture. It wasn't your fault, but now you've turned down Final Justice. I thought you said you like my pictures?

PEISINGER

We do like you and your pictures. Lou George asked for a five hundred thousand dollar advance. No way it's worth that.

GREYDON

You're right. Could you come up with two hundred? You made a lot of money on Joysticks. You don't owe me, but...

PEISINGER

A hundred and fifty. Have Lou George send us the paperwork.

It took almost a year, but with the Vestron deal along with Lou's foreign sales, we were able to pay the bank and get the lien released on our house. Jackie and I decided it was time to have another child. On October 7, 1985 Travis, our second son, was born. Another lucky kid, healthy with parents who loved him and wanted him.

The guys at Mystery Science Theater 3000 did their take on Final Justice. I didn't like it when they reedited the film and removed scenes that were critical to the story, and they were needlessly insulting to my friend Joe Don; he didn't deserve that. My biggest problem with MST3K is the same as on Angels Brigade ; when Lou George sold the picture, he didn't tell me and didn't pay me my share. Many years later, I did an interview for the MST3K guys. They told me that Final Justice was their favorite film and they were effusively apologetic for how they treated it.

I learned long ago not to pay attention to critics... unless they were positive. In that case, those guys knew what they were writing about. On October 10, 1985, Variety published a review of Final Justice, calling it "An enjoyable action picture well directed by Greydon Clark. Joe Don Baker is perfectly cast. Baker is excellent, bringing a tongue-in-cheek approach to the role [and] Clark stages some vigorous chases and explosions." For once, the critics in Variety got it right. They were very smart fellows.

Uninvited

UNINVITED – FINANCING

With Reagan's changes in the tax laws, there were little prospects of raising independent financing. If I was going to continue making pictures, they would have to be "direct to video" with extremely low budgets and Jackie and I would have to self-finance. It was approaching two years since I made Final Justice when I got a call from Doug Witkins. I knew Doug from the time he worked in Skip Steloff's foreign sales department. He now had his own foreign distribution company, Amazing Movies, on Melrose Boulevard. It was a modest, functional four-room office.

WITKINS

I hope you're not pissed at me about what Steloff did to you on Without Warning.

GREYDON

I know you were just working there. You wanted to see me about something.

WITKINS

I was in Cannes in May and saw that Lou George is still selling Final Justice. I wonder if you have any new projects coming up.

GREYDON

I have some ideas. Nothing I'm ready to talk about. Why do you ask?

WITKINS

I have a buyer in Scandinavia who distributed Without Warning and made lots of money. He told me if I could get Greydon Clark to do another horror film, he would give me a hundred thousand dollar up-front advance for Scandinavia. There would easily be another three or four hundred from the rest of foreign.

Doug was right; he was just filling his rice bowl with Skip Steloff. If I could get a hundred grand up-front, then another couple hundred from the rest of foreign, add a hundred for U.S. video and another hundred for U.S. TV, there might be five hundred thousand dollars I would eventually see from a low budget horror film. It took a few weeks to come up with the story idea for Uninvited and I was ready to run it past Jackie.

GREYDON

It looks to me like we're in the low budget direct to video business.

JACKIE

You should be making big budget films for major studios. You do more with nothing than most of those guys do with ten million dollars.

GREYDON

I think you might be a bit biased. I'm not gonna get a major studio picture. Remember when Mike MacFarland was tired of making low budget pictures and said he was only going to do major pictures at the studios? That was almost seven years ago and now he's building houses in Hawaii. He's doing well and is happy. I don't want to build houses. I want to keep making movies.

JACKIE

Me too. Can we make a living doing movies for home video?

GREYDON

I think we can. There's a minimum of three hundred thousand, maybe as much as five hundred thousand we could bring in. We spent three hundred thousand on Joysticks. I'll just have to figure out a way to make something for less. We still have to put some stars in it, but if I can keep our budget at maybe two or two fifty, we could net a couple of hundred grand in profit on each movie. If we do one a year, that's not a bad business to be in. It's not making major studio money but it does keep us making movies.

JACKIE

You just make sure all the numbers work. Do you have something in mind?

GREYDON

I'm thinking about going back to Malta and shoot in their tank. We won't get a co-production, but we'll own the entire picture ourselves. It would mean we would have to put a new second mortgage on the house again. What do you think? Once more into the battle and put everything we have on the line?

JACKIE

Here we go again. We're gonna have to put up our house and borrow from the bank to finance a picture. I guess it's what we do. It's all right by me. Just keep making your movies. Any ideas for the story?

GREYDON

There is a distributor in Scandinavia who is willing to come up with a hundred grand up-front for another horror film with a monster. I'm gonna use Malta's tank and set the whole picture on a luxury yacht where a poisonous rat gets on board and terrorizes the passengers.

JACKIE

I like the idea of people on a yacht being terrorized, but come up with a better monster. What made Without Warning work were those little flying creatures. Something different. Rats are disgusting.

She was right; I needed an unusual monster. I went back to see Doug Witkins.

GREYDON

I can count on the hundred grand up-front from Scandinavia and I'll have the money before I start shooting. Am I right?

WITKINS

Absolutely. All I want is to secure foreign distribution rights on the picture.

GREYDON

I'm going to make a monster movie on board a yacht and film it in Malta.

WITKINS

That's terrific. Put some stars in it and make it as good as Without Warning.

That was easy for him to say. I once heard Jack Lemmon quote Billy Wilder, "You're as good as the best thing you've ever done." I hoped I could make another Without Warning.

UNINVITED – SCREENPLAY

I faced the blinking cursor and started writing a screenplay, Uninvited. As usual, I started with my characters. Who is the good guy and who's the bad guy? I visualized a luxurious Onassis type yacht and needed someone wealthy to own it. What if... my antagonist was a corrupt Wall Street trader escaping with stolen funds, sailing out of South Florida to the Cayman Islands? My protagonists could be young college students on spring break. I had my protagonists and antagonists. What in hell could my monster be? If the entire movie took place on a yacht, the creature would have to be small in size. What about a rabid dog? That's been done a thousand times.

What about a cat? How could I make a sweet little cat become a unique monster? What if... my cat was a laboratory animal that escaped and somehow turned vicious? A sweet cat that turns into a vicious, unusual looking killing creature. Not bad. Might work. It was near the end of the year in 1986 when I finish the first draft of my screenplay for Uninvited.

UNINVITED – PRE-PRODUCTION – MALTA & JAMAICA

Eighty percent of the picture takes place on board the luxury yacht. The Malta tank would be critical. I headed for the little island with the big tank. Lino Cassar met me at the airport like an old friend. I needed a large, luxurious yacht that I could film in the Mediterranean and then build portions of it in the tank for most of the shooting.

GREYDON

Have you been able to find me a yacht we can use?

Over the next few days, Lino showed me a dozen different boats. None of them were near what I envisioned. They were fishing boats with one or two cabins below deck like The Orca from Jaws. I needed a big, luxurious yacht with staterooms, large decks and a large engine room. Lino was unable to find anything that came close to working. I had the name of a production company in Jamaica and thought I'd stop and see them on my way back to LA. In Jamaica it was the same story; they showed me dozens of nice fishing boats, but nothing that would work for my production.

UNINVITED – PRE-PRODUCTION – USA

I returned to Jackie with the discouraging news.

GREYDON

I'm afraid I've really done it this time. I wrote a script that we both like and think works. And now it looks like I can't find a ship to shoot it on.

JACKIE

Why don't you go down to Marina Del Rey and see if there's something there?

GREYDON

Those are all fishing boats. We need something like Aristotle Onassis would have. This is crazy. We've got a hundred grand from Scandinavia and we can get another couple hundred by putting another lien on the house. We've got an unusual monster and a script that works. We should make this movie.

JACKIE

You shouldn't give up on this. Go down to the marina and look around.

Marina Del Ray had scores of fishing boats, many of them worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but nothing that approached the size or luxury of an Onassis ship. I explained to the owner of a boat shop what I was looking for.

BOAT SHOP OWNER

You'll never find anything that large here. You've got to go down to San Pedro.

The San Pedro docks are where the huge tanker ships come in from Asia filled with goods for the American market. I was there just a few minutes when a security guard stopped me.

GREYDON

I'm with a motion picture company and we're looking for a luxury yacht for filming. It needs to be really big, luxurious, something like Onassis had.

SECURITY GUARD

We have big shipping tankers here. There's nothing luxurious – wait a second. I do know about a big ship that's been moored here for damn near a year.

The guard led me through a maze of gigantic ships, we turned a corner and I saw the ship I was looking for. It was perfect, more than half a football field in length. I thought I saw the ghost of Aristotle Onassis on deck. A few days later I met the owner, a guy in his mid-thirties who inherited the ship from his recently deceased father. He showed me around the ship and it was great: multiple decks, a large stateroom, a captain's deck, a huge engine room on the third level, even a spa on one of the upper decks. I tried not to act too pleased with it as I made my pitch to the owner. If I could use the ship, I could make my movie.

GREYDON

It's a low budget production. I would need the ship for three weeks. Could we swing it for a location fee of ten thousand dollars for the fifteen days?

YACHT OWNER

This ship needs a captain and at least one crew member when you take it out to sea. The captain gets two hundred a day and the crew guy a hundred.

GREYDON

You pay the captain and crew and I'll make it fifteen thousand for the shoot. We'll go out to sea for maybe ten days. The rest we'll shoot while it's docked.

YACHT OWNER

Fifteen grand to me plus you give me an additional three hundred a day whenever we leave port and we have a deal. Be aware that the ship is sold and in two months it leaves for Seattle. I can't change that. I have to make my delivery date.

I offered my hand, the guy took it and we had a deal. I was lucky to find the ship I needed, but I still had a major problem. At the end of the picture, there is a violent storm causing the ship to sink. There were dozens of places in town where I could have a miniature model made of the ship. However there were scenes in the bad guy's stateroom before and after it was filled with water. I needed to have the stateroom built in a tank. The major Studios wanted more than fifty grand a day to shoot in their tank. None of the independent soundstages had a water tank. Maybe I couldn't make this picture after all. How could I film the interior of the sinking ship without using a tank? I had to solve this problem very quickly; my ship was sailing to Seattle in less than two months. In Angels Brigade, I filmed Jackie's close shots in a different swimming pool from her wide shots. I was sitting by my own swimming pool visualizing the scenes... I realized I was staring at about three feet of water in the shallow end of my pool. Could my swimming pool be the tank I needed for filming? What if... I had the bad guy's stateroom built in my garage where I could film the scenes before it flooded with water, then move the set and put it in the shallow end of my pool? The scenes with the ship sinking took place at night so the camera would only see what was lit. I could have the actors wade through the shallow end of the pool with the stateroom set around them. It would look as if the bad guy's stateroom was half filled with water. I could use my swimming pool as a tank for filming. Problem solved.

There's an expression, "You make your money from the buy or from the sell." There was a cap on the money I could bring in for a direct to video movie. I would have to make my money from the buy and not the sell. The lab costs were climbing; I was spending twenty grand just for my daily prints. I looked into a process known as "video dailies," found I could save the daily print cost by getting my dailies on video tape, and cut the film on video. I purchased an inexpensive video editing system and put it in my house. I edited the picture myself and saved many thousands of dollars on post.

I did a rewrite where I made changes to take advantage of the ship. I filled my script with action sequences - explosions, bullet hits, fights, stunts etc. That was the easy part; a bit more complicated was special effects makeup. When the mutant creature bit someone, it poisoned their blood and they died a gruesome death. I needed special effects makeup to create the creature and to show the effects of the blood circulating through the body. Allan Apone of Makeup and Effects Lab helped on Without Warning. I went to him for my creature and the blood bursting from the bodies. The final piece of the puzzle was how to change the sweet cat into a hideous, lethal monster. The cat was a victim of military laboratory experiments and when he became agitated, the monster inside him emerged. This was long before digital effects and I had to come up with a way to change the cat into the creature. I thought of using a series of dissolves, like in the old Dracula movies, but rejected it as too dated. If the monster was actually inside the cat, perhaps the cat could give birth to the creature by forcing it through its mouth. It would be good visually. Jim and Jean Boulden made a puppet of the cat about ten times its actual size and we pushed Allan Apone's creature through its mouth. It was disgustingly interesting. I had my unusual monster. I wanted a normal looking cat and selected a tabby from my animal trainer, Carl Miller.

I scheduled fifteen days for filming and contacted Daryl Kass and George Perkins to see if they were available. Both were working steadily on major films and were unavailable for my little picture. George recommended Whitney Hunter, who'd worked on several low budget films as a second AD. Whitney was somewhere in his early thirties and very bright. I offered him the job of PM/AD and he eagerly accepted. Nick von Sternberg was available to shoot and we began to fill in the rest of the crew. Word spreads quickly in Hollywood when crewing a low budget picture. Paul Martin was in the United States military for a decade and was trying to break into show business. I thought he might work as a PA.

GREYDON

Paul, in the Army did you have any experience with being in the water?

PAUL

As a matter fact I am a certified rescue driver.

GREYDON

Most of this movie takes place aboard a ship and I have to put actors and stunt people in the water. Would you be willing to act as safety? You would be a PA most of the time. It's a shit job – minimum pay, long hard hours – but it's a start in the business. Can I count on you to jump in the water without hesitation if it became necessary?

PAUL

Without question.

I felt secure having Paul Martin by my side and used him in my next three pictures.

UNINVITED – FINANCING

The picture was on. Jackie and I went to the bank, signed papers and placed a two hundred thousand dollar second mortgage on our house. With a hundred grand from the Scandinavians, I would only have to draw an additional hundred from my bank line to complete my two hundred thousand dollar budget. Doug called and asked me to stop and see him at his office on Melrose Boulevard.

WITKINS

I've got good news and bad news. The Scandinavians still want the picture. But I'm not going to be able to get up-front money without a completion bond.

GREYDON

You spring this on me now! I can't get a completion bond on a low budget picture.

WITKINS

They don't know you like I do. I know you're going to complete the picture.

GREYDON

You're jerking me around here. I've already gone to my bank and arranged for the additional money. I can't make this picture without that hundred grand.

WITKINS

Wait, wait, that was the bad news. Don't you want to hear the good? I can get you a hundred grand cash up front in the next week without a bond. Skip Steloff at Heritage Pictures is taking his company public. Some sort of penny stock deal and I've convinced him that being able to show he's working with Greydon Clark on another horror film will help him with his stock offering. He will give you a hundred grand for the U.S. rights. You can get your money in less than a week.

GREYDON

Are you shitting me? I wouldn't let Skip Steloff anywhere near the negative of my film. He would just sell it all over the world and I wouldn't see a dime.

WITKINS

I don't blame you for how you feel about Steloff. But the hundred thousand dollars is just sitting there. Figure out a way to take it and go make your movie.

I needed the hundred grand, but I wasn't going to crawl in bed again with Skip Steloff. How could I get his money and keep him away from my negative? He didn't care about the picture; he just wanted to be able to put in his offering that he had U.S. rights.

GREYDON

What if Steloff had no access to the negative for one year and if I paid him back his hundred grand plus ten percent within a year... he was out. I would control the negative for the first year. I get my hundred grand for my movie and he gets help with his stock offering. If I don't pay him back within a year, he gets the U.S. rights.

WITKINS

A year might be tight. You would have to finish the picture in time for me to start selling at Milan in October. I can easily get more than a hundred grand in sales. The Scandinavians alone will cover that. You know it takes a long time to collect the money, but a hundred grand within a year is doable. That's pretty smart. It's like Steloff is loaning you a hundred thousand to make your picture.

GREYDON

Understand that it's my decision within that year. Steloff won't have a choice in the matter. If I pay his money back within one year, he's history and he never gets negative access. If you can make that deal, I'll take it. Let me know.

Doug called me in twenty-four hours; Steloff agreed to the deal with one exception. He was only willing to give me nine months to pay him back. The son of a bitch was still trying to jerk me around. It would be tight, but I wanted to make the movie. In a week, I was in Steloff's expansive new offices. The worst part of the deal was I had to be in the same room as the son of a bitch to get the contract signed and accept the hundred thousand dollar check. Fortunately, I never had to shake Steloff's hand. I was taking a big gamble. If Steloff got his hands on my negative, he would steal everything. However I was willing to take the risk to get the picture made. The clock was ticking; I had nine months to get my hands on a hundred and ten thousand dollars to get rid of Steloff. I was confident I could finish the picture by mid-October. Doug would take it to MIFED in October and begin foreign sales. Collecting a hundred and ten thousand of it by the end of February was open for debate.

UNINVITED – PRE-PRODUCTION

Over two years passed since Joe Don and I made Final Justice. We remained friends, but as usual in this crazy business, we drifted apart and I had not spoken to him in more than a year. He was making major films around the world. I gave him a call.

GREYDON

I've finally got another picture ready to go. Unfortunately, it's another low budget masterpiece. I'm shooting it all here in Los Angeles on board a yacht.

JOE DON

I'm pretty busy right now. Get me a script. I don't think I'll be able to do it on short money this time. My agent has been getting me major stuff to do.

I sent Joe Don the script and in a couple of days, he got back to me.

JOE DON

I'm sorry, I just can't do it. The script is pretty good, but I shouldn't do another low budget movie. It's just not the right time. No hard feelings?

GREYDON

Of course not, Joe Don. I appreciate the three pictures we did together and if I ever get a decent budget on a picture you're my first choice to work with.

JOE DON

Good luck with your film, Greydon.

Show business is a strange business, when you're working on a film, you become very close to the cast and crew. We all work together to accomplish a common goal and there is a natural bond created. When the picture is finished, we're like a band of Gypsies going our separate ways. I never had a chance to work with Joe Don again. I have nothing but the fondest memories of our time together.

I hired Wendy Kurtzman and she began casting the non-star roles. Every actor she brought in to see me was an experienced working actor; I was very impressed. We had six principal parts for young actors, Rachel, the ship's captain, and five college students. Toni Hudson gave an excellent reading for the young captain. She was attractive and had a commanding presence about her that worked well for the part. When I was writing the role of the lead college student, I was thinking of the character that Richard Dreyfuss played in Jaws. When a bearded Eric Larson gave an intelligent reading, I was very happy to cast him. Wendy brought in an extremely good-looking young actor, Rob Estes, to play the business student who admired the swindling stock manipulator. Rob gave an excellent, slimy reading. I didn't want all my actors to have the same color hair.

GREYDON

If we cast you in this, would you be willing to lighten your hair? Go almost blond?

ESTES

I've always wanted to be a blond. They have more fun, don't they?

I liked this young guy and we cast him. Clare Carey had a sweetness about her that contrasted well with Tony Hudson's toughness. Sheri Shattuck, a stunningly attractive actress, gave an excellent reading. SAG rules required that if nudity was necessary for a role, the actor must be informed before going on any audition.

GREYDON

You are aware that nudity will be required for a love scene in the picture.

SHATTUCK

If it will be a closed set and no pubic hair, there will be no problem.

We cast her. Beau Dremann was the last of the college students. Beau played the somewhat less than smart role of Lance to perfection. Having a star in your picture gives the entire production a stamp of approval and I needed to replace Joe Don. I wanted to cast name actors in the roles of the Wall Street manipulators.

WENDY

What's our budget for the part of the Ivan Boesky character and his pals?

GREYDON

Seventy-five grand total. Graham works two weeks, Mike and Albert one each.

WENDY

I think I can get Tony Franciosa for twenty-five thousand. Do you like Franciosa?

GREYDON

He would be great. What does he look like these days?

A few days later Tony Franciosa came into our tiny casting office on Hollywood Boulevard. He looked great and wanted to do the role. I told him we would contact his agent. That afternoon I stopped into Alexander's Stationery, the best place in town to pick up motion picture office supplies. Maurice Smith, a Canadian producer, was also in the store.

SMITH

Greydon, how are you? Picking up supplies for your next picture?

GREYDON

Yeah. I'm starting in a few weeks. I just met with Tony Franciosa andâ€“

SMITH

Oh my God! I just finished a picture with him. He's impossible to work with. We shot in Germany and I seriously considered pushing him off his hotel balcony. He'll blow a hole in your schedule and you'll go way over.

Maurice and I were casual acquaintances and yet he felt compelled as one filmmaker to another to go off on Tony Franciosa. I heard enough. I couldn't risk using an actor that might be "difficult." I hurried back to the office.

GREYDON

Cancel Tony Franciosa. He's impossible to work with. With a three-week shooting schedule I can't risk that. Who else can we get?

WENDY

Alex Cord is available for twenty thousand. You know him?

GREYDON

He would be good. That would leave us with fifty-five grand for the other two parts. I wonder if George Kennedy would work with me again? He only works a week. Let's call his agent and offer him fifty grand for the week. He might do it.

A few days later Kennedy's agent wanted to talk to me.

KENNEDY'S AGENT

George said he had a good time working with you before and would be happy to do it again. We'll take the fifty thousand for one week. George is recovering from knee surgery and walks with a bit of a limp. He doesn't see anything in the script that should be a problem. Other than that... we can make the deal.

Cord and Kennedy, not bad for a low budget horror film. It was about to get better.

WENDY

Clu Gulager's agent called. One week, three thousand. Do you like Gulager?

Clu would be great; our cast was complete, locations found, start date set. Nick, Whitney and I went on our pre-production scout. We had our pre-production meeting with all the department heads including their completed breakdown sheets.

UNINVITED – PRODUCTION

We began filming the first week in June 1987. I had not made a picture in the United States since Joysticks almost four full years earlier. Whitney selected most of the crew. The picture begins with a cat escaping from a high-tech military laboratory. I played the part of a laboratory doctor and Paul Martin was my assistant. Our college students meet Alex Cord, George Kennedy and Clu Gulager in the lobby of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, doubling for South Florida. Mike Starita came in from Denver to appear as one of the extras. The picture moved quickly to scenes on the ship; we filmed everything, with the exception of Alex Cord's stateroom on board. I did my final "budget rewrite" and took advantage of the spa on the deck of the ship and established the antagonists with a grizzly drowning of one of their Wall Street cohorts. We headed out to sea.

CAPTAIN
How far out do you want me to go?
GREYDON

Just go far enough so that I can shoot without seeing any land in the background.

Keeping my budget foremost in mind, I was very careful to obey all SAG rules regarding meal breaks and overtime. Whitney let me know when we were a half an hour away from overtime and we needed to head back to port. I went to see the captain.

GREYDON

Take us back. How long do you think it will take?

CAPTAIN
I'm not sure, at least a couple of hours.
GREYDON

What? Was it necessary to go this far out to not see land?

CAPTAIN

No, I could've gone fifteen or twenty minutes out and steamed in a circle.

GREYDON

Tomorrow when we go out just go far enough so that we can't see land.

I went back to my cast and crew.

GREYDON

It's gonna be another couple of hours before we get back to land. I'm sorry. This won't happen again. It's my fault I didn't communicate properly with the captain.

LARSON
Can't we keep shooting?
GREYDON

My budget won't allow it. You guys all go into overtime in about a half an hour.

LARSON

Can't we rehearse tomorrow's work ourselves? If you just happen to be here...

Everybody got into the spirit and we worked on the next day's schedule; no one charged for the wait time to get back to port. Lucky me; I had chosen actors who were putting the picture foremost in their mind.

Ten years passed since I lost Vic Rivers on Hi-Riders. Once again I was putting stuntmen in water. Paul Martin was in full scuba gear just beneath the surface. Luckily he was not needed. Clu Gulager was creative and full of ideas for his character. George Kennedy gave his usual solid performance. Alex Cord was professional and never balked at anything I asked of him, including wading through my swimming pool and being attacked by a hideous creature in the cold night. There was a dialogue scene on the upper deck of the ship between Cord and Kennedy that was supposed to be a bit heated. George pushed a bit much. I whispered in his ear.

GREYDON

Do less, George. You've been with this guy for years and you know he likes to be the boss. If you argue too much with him it's not gonna get you any place.

KENNEDY

You want me just to throw it away.

I nodded and we did the scene with George underplaying as I requested. I was about to move onto the next scene when Kennedy stopped me.

KENNEDY

Greydon, you're unlike any director I've ever worked with. You do so much on the set yourself, and you have to move so quickly. I don't know how you make these pictures on this kind of shooting schedule. But you know what you want and get it. Whatever it is you do, you do it really well.

Cord

And your crew is way less than half the size of even a TV crew.

GREYDON

Thank you, guys. That means a lot to me. I'd love to stay here and listen to you tell me how good I am, but I've got to move on to the next scene.

We all laughed as I stepped away to set the next shot.

Using my garage to film the interior of Alex Cord's stateroom and then moving that set to my swimming pool worked really well. I wanted to get a shot of a bloodied Alex floating dead in my pool. I purchased a small waterproof camera bag with an opening for the lens and we got the shot from under the water. My young actors were all prepared and excellent to work with. My special thanks goes to Eric Larson, Toni Hudson and Alex Cord for their work while the ship was sinking. We shot it with the ship tethered to its dock and brought in wind machines and high-powered hoses to create the storm. They never complained and embraced the cold blowing wind and water, especially Eric, who took the brunt of it. Shari Shattuck's nude scene went well; she was relaxed and made it easy for everyone else. A short time after we completed filming, both Rob Estes and Clare Carey got network series.

UNINVITED – POST-PRODUCTION

We finished production on schedule and on budget. I was able to save tens of thousands in post-production by eliminating daily prints and being my own editor, using my videotape editing system that eliminated the need for a Movieola, sync block, film splicer, benches, film racks etc. I edited the picture myself in a spare bedroom. Eleven years earlier on Satan's Cheerleaders, I was my own editor; perhaps I was regressing. I had slightly over ninety days before I had to have a finished picture for Doug Witkins to take to Milan. We needed to shoot inserts of the monster coming out of the cat's mouth, close shots on throbbing blood vessels and the final shot of the picture, my five-year-old son Trevor, who picks up the sweet little cat on the beach.

I locked the picture and was ready for post-production sound. I cut the sound effects myself on my video editor. I had been spending twenty-five thousand dollars on music. I needed to cut that way down. Doug Witkins introduced me to Dan Slider. Dan scored a couple of low budget pictures on his home computer. I showed him the picture. We talked about where music would go and the type of music was needed. I was very impressed.

GREYDON

I would like you to score the picture for me, Dan. I have almost no money left.

SLIDER

I need the credit as composer. How about five grand?

GREYDON

How about twenty-five hundred? Make it sound like John Williams.

He agreed. His ability to do the entire score without having to go into a studio or hire musicians made it possible for him to come up with a great score at an amazingly low price. The video post made it possible for me to replaced more than a dozen guys who were necessary on my previous films. As technology increases, fewer and fewer people are necessary to accomplish a task. This is what we call progress. We mixed at a low budget sound studio in two days. As luck would have it, Dimitri Villard, the head of New Star Home Video, stopped by the studio and watched us mix for a few minutes.

VILLARD

A cat as a monster on a yacht, that's a good idea. I own New Star Home Video. Do you have a video deal on your picture yet?

GREYDON

Not yet. Right now I'm rushing to finish in time for Milan.

VILLARD

When you get back from Italy, give me a call. I'm very interested in the picture.

He handed me his business card and we returned to our mix. David Hewitt did my titles and I got my 35mm answer print in mid-October 1987.

UNINVITED – DISTRIBUTION

I hired Rick Albert at Design Projects to create my print ads and cut the trailer myself. Monday, October 19, 1987, "Black Monday," was the largest one-day percentage drop in the history of the world stock markets. I was going to Milan to sell Uninvited to the foreign markets in the teeth of a worldwide financial disaster. A very concerned Doug Witkins called me.

WITKINS

My God, I'm getting calls from all over the world. People are panicking. This could be a disaster for Milan. I don't know what choice we have. We still have to go and just hope we can do enough business in time to get Steloff off your back.

I needed to get my hands on a hundred and ten thousand dollars in a little over four months. I decided to go to Milan. Jackie stayed home with the boys. I purchased the cheapest hotel and airline ticket I could and boarded the plane. When I walked through first class, I saw Irene Romero, my banker.

ROMERO

Greydon, I'm glad to see you. I've never been to Milan before. Could you help me at the airport and get me to the city? Is this market collapse going to hurt sales?

GREYDON

My sales guy is very concerned. I've got to get back to my seat in steerage.

Irene and I shared a taxi into the city. Doug had a small office in the huge Milan convention center. He was selling half a dozen films, but Uninvited was his most important and I was the only producer there. Most of the conversation between buyers and sellers started with the state of the world economy. When you sell a film country by country in the foreign market, you usually get an advance against further proceeds from distribution. I needed to get a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in advance at Milan. After advertising, promotion and Doug's cut it would leave me with the hundred and ten thousand to get rid of Steloff. We screened the picture in one of the small screening rooms and the response was positive. It wasn't like Hi-Riders where the buyers rushed into our office, but there was a slow steady stream of buyers who made acceptable offers. The Scandinavian buyer who promised the hundred grand was not even at the market and we sold Scandinavia country by country. Irene Romero stopped by and seemed impressed with the advertising and promotion we were doing. I ran into Jon Peisinger of Vestron Video and showed him my trailer on Uninvited.

PEISINGER

It looks good, Greydon. But we're only interested in bigger budgeted films. With the huge success of Dirty Dancing we know how to produce and that's what we're going to do. Good luck with your picture, but for Vestron it's a pass.

That was not what I hoped to hear. Vestron decided they wanted bigger budget pictures and I had just decided to make littler budget ones. What's that expression about timing being everything? We wrote over two hundred thousand dollars in business. It takes about three months to finish the distribution contracts and collect the minimum guarantees. Steloff's money was due in four months. It was going to be tight.

WITKINS

If the world financial markets settle down, there will be at least another hundred thousand that I can sell next spring in Cannes.

GREYDON

I've got to get rid of Steloff. Push these buyers to move quickly.

I picked up a copy of European Time Magazine ; the cover story was about angry skinheads terrorizing much of Europe. This sounded like a good idea for my next movie. I assumed I would turn a profit with Uninvited ; I always assumed that good things were going to happen. I sent Dimitri Villard a video of Uninvited. He called and asked if I would come to his office in Beverly Hills. Dimitri was a very polished Beverly Hills executive. He had a half dozen people working for him and seemed prosperous.

VILLARD

We like your picture. We are confident we can move at least ten thousand units at fifty dollars each. You get a sixty percent royalty on each unit. That's easily three hundred thousand. It could go to six hundred thousand your end.

GREYDON

I owe my bank and investors. I need a minimum two hundred grand advance.

VILLARD

We really want your picture. Would a hundred thousand advance do it?

GREYDON

Perhaps. I have a concept that I call easy money/hard money Rather than working on a sixty percent royalty, let's just split the gross fifty/fifty. You recoup my hundred thousand dollar advance from my fifty percent before you pay me more. It's a ten percent better deal for you. However I want ninety percent of the first money until I get two hundred grand. After that, you get ninety percent until you get your two hundred thousand. When we've each received two hundred grand, we split fifty/fifty. It takes less than five thousand units for me to get my two hundred thousand: the next five thousand units, you get yours. The first five thousand units are the easy money. You get your two hundred grand from the hard money. It's a great deal for you if you sell ten thousand units, a fifty/fifty split. If you do more you can really make a score.

VILLARD

We get only ten percent on the first five thousand units. That's a tough deal.

GREYDON

You're the one who told me you would easily sell ten thousand units. Five thousand units is the easy money. If that's all you move you are no good. Move ten thousand units and we're both happy. Easy money/hard money.

Dimitri swallowed hard and we made the deal. My hundred thousand dollar advance was split fifty thousand on signing our contract and fifty thousand in ninety days. I would just be able to make my deadline to get rid of Skip Steloff. As I was leaving his office, I had one more thing I wanted to speak to him about.

GREYDON

Dimitri, now that we're in business together... I'm getting ready for my next picture and want to know what you think about it: Skinheads.

VILLARD

Whoa, that's a great idea. Can we tie up the rights for that?

GREYDON

Right now it's just an idea, really, only a title. But I'll make the picture and if things work out well on Uninvited, I'll give you first crack at it.

Uninvited was released direct to video in the summer of 1988 and we did do around ten thousand units. My home video deal along with foreign sales eventually moved our picture into profit. More importantly I got the hundred grand advance from New Star before the end of February and was able to get rid of Steloff. How lucky that Dimitri Villard happened to stop at the sound studio and see me mixing my film. I called Steloff one week before the deadline.

GREYDON

Hey Skip, guess what? I have a check for you for a hundred and ten thousand dollars. I'm buying you out of Uninvited.

STELOFF

You can't do that. I've made public announcements that we have the U.S. rights. I don't want a hundred and ten grand. I want the picture.

GREYDON

My attorney is sending you a release along with the check. You're out. You have no access to my negative and never will. Goodbye, Skip.

I hung up the phone. It felt great, but nothing could make up for what Skip Steloff did with the distribution of Without Warning. Luckily, I never saw or spoke to Skip Steloff again. He took his company public and it was out of business within a few years.

Uninvited is a little horror film with some good laughs, some good performances and a great ship. I brought it in for little less than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and it brought in around five hundred thousand from foreign, direct to video and world television. My first direct to video production was quite profitable.

Skinheads

SKINHEADS – SCREENPLAY

It was time to talk to Jackie about our next film, Skinheads.

JACKIE

Those racist Nazi guys? Why would you want to make a picture about Nazis?

GREYDON

They would be the bad guys like the motorcycle gang in Satan's Sadists. My God, I haven't thought about that picture in twenty years.

JACKIE

Have we been together that long? I've been putting up with you for twenty years?

GREYDON

Lucky me. I could use the same story I used for Satan's Sadists, only make the bad guys skinheads. Shall I write a good part for you?

JACKIE

No. I'm too busy with the boys. Just write as good a script as you can and don't worry about me having a part in it. When do you want to shoot?

GREYDON

We'll be able to pay the bank back probably in May or June. If I can shoot this summer, we can go back to Milan in late October.

JACKIE

Here we go again. We just pay the bank back for Uninvited and get the lien released from our home just to put another lien right back on it. Let's do it.

I talked to Rick Albert at Design Projects about Skinheads.

RICK

That's a terrific idea. You should run an ad in Variety announcing you're going to make a picture called Skinheads. You can't copyright a title, but at least you'll have something with a date on it called Skinheads.

We ran the ad. I was still uncertain how I could update and convert Satan's Sadists into Skinheads when I got a call from Whitney Hunter, my PM/AD on Uninvited. Whitney was very talented, very detail oriented, intelligent and great to work with. He was working steadily on low-budget pictures and saw our advertisement in Variety.

WHITNEY

When are you planning to start Skinheads? I hope we can work together again.

GREYDON

Absolutely. It's just an idea now, I haven't started the screenplay.

WHITNEY

I have a friend, David Reskin, he's a very good writer and he would work cheap.

Whitney set up a meeting the next day. David was in his mid-thirties, extremely intelligent and eager to get a break.

GREYDON

Whitney speaks very highly of you. We might be able to co-write a screenplay. I'll give you two hundred and fifty bucks for a week's work. If I decide to move forward, I'll give you another seven hundred and fifty dollars when we finish the first draft. If I want to do a second and third draft you'll get another thousand. By then you'll have gotten two thousand dollars. If I go into production, I'll pay you another thirty-five hundred dollars. All total you'll get fifty-five hundred. I can cancel our deal at any time and I won't owe you any additional money. If I do not go into production, I won't owe you the final payment.

David agreed and we began our screenplay the next day. He sat at the keyboard while I paced back and forth. We bounced story ideas, characters, dialogue and situations off each other. We followed the general storyline of Satan's Sadists with different characters and situations. I never mentioned to David that I was remaking a picture that I wrote twenty years earlier. He was terrific, very talented. When I wrote Satan's Sadists, I told Al Adamson I would write something that we could film in two weeks for fifty thousand dollars. In twenty years, inflation had more than tripled everything. I decided on a two-week shooting schedule, a hundred and fifty thousand dollar budget. We decided to have the skinheads rob a small grocery store and flee the inner city. They stop at a mountain restaurant, killings ensue, our good guy and girl get away and the chase is on. Jackie's mother Rose had been Chuck Connors' secretary for twenty-two years; we wrote a part specifically for him. We finished the first draft of the screenplay in about a month.

SKINHEADS – PRE-PRODUCTION

Whitney and I scouted locations in the San Gabriel Mountains and found a small, closed restaurant. When I peered through the window, the restaurant seemed perfect. Lynn Newcombe, a distinguished elderly gentleman pulled his pickup truck next to us.

GREYDON

Hi, we're with a low-budget film company and would like to shoot in your restaurant and in the mountains around here. Could we take a look around?

He took us inside and up to a vacant two bedroom apartment on the second floor.

NEWCOMBE

I have a cabin that might be of interest to you across the road.

Not only were the rustic restaurant and apartment perfect, but the land and small cabin worked wonderfully. It was within the SAG zone and would be local filming. I could make skinheads on "The Newcombe Ranch." All I needed was permission.

GREYDON

It's a small cast and crew and we're a very low-budget production.

NEWCOMBE

I've had other people shoot here. "Low budget," that's what they all say, then they bring in a dozen trucks and a hundred people.

GREYDON

No, really. We have one equipment truck and that's it. We might bring in a couple of motor homes for people to sleep in. Maybe a couple of guys will want to sleep in the apartments upstairs so they can stay here for security. I can pay a location fee of two thousand bucks for two weeks of filming.

NEWCOMBE

Make it five thousand for the two weeks and the property is yours.

I offered my hand and he took it. Whitney and I headed back down the mountain.

GREYDON

This is great. That little cabin is perfect and it has electricity. We can shoot this whole thing day exterior and plug in at the restaurant and cabin. We won't even need to bring a generator up. We go with just reflectors for the exteriors. Absolutely perfect. We'll dress the apartment as the skinheads' headquarters.

In one location we were able to find the restaurant, the skinheads' apartment, the cabin for Chuck's character, and all the remote mountain area I could possibly want. I got Rose the script and asked her to give it to Chuck. A few days later, he called.

CONNORS

Not bad. An interesting role. Talk to my agent; business is business.

I gave Chuck's agent a call.

GREYDON

I need him for a week. The best I can do is ten grand for a six day week.

CONNORS' AGENT

You guys have a family relationship. I think Chuck will accept the deal.

We got Chuck Connors. Wendy Kurtzman was not available for casting. I hired Joe Reich a veteran casting director, to begin seeing actors.

GREYDON

Joe, I'd like to get a star for the part of the woman who runs the cafÃ©. It's scheduled for two days. If we could get a href, we can spend five grand.

Whitney and I worked on pre-production; Nick von Sternberg and Paul Martin were available and we quickly filled in the crew. Joe Reich whittled his prospects down to a couple actors for each role and brought them in to see me. Jason Culp, Robert Culp's son, and Liz Sagal gave very good readings for the young heroes. We cast them and turned our attention to the skinheads. Joe brought in actors for gang members who were acceptable. However I had not seen anyone for the lead skinhead, Damon.

REICH

I have not interviewed this next kid but I thought you'd like to see him anyway.

Griffin O'Neal, the troubled son of Ryan O'Neal, came into the room. He was in his mid-twenties and immediately recognizable from all his adverse publicity.

REICH
We'd like you to read for us, Griffin.
O'NEAL

I have a bit of dyslexia. Could you let me take the sides? I'll come back and read for you after lunch. I just can't sight read because of my dyslexia.

We gave Griffin the sides, he took them and left the office.

GREYDON

He's had a ton of publicity as a troubled kid and would fit the role of Damon.

Griffin O'Neal came back into our office after lunch. I should say staggered back in; he was stinking from booze and slurring his words.

O'NEAL
I'm ready to read for you now.
GREYDON

No, you're not. You're in no shape to do anything. You need help. Get some help. I can't cast you in this. I'm sorry.

He stumbled out of the office. Joe and I could only shake our heads. Next up, Brian Brophy. Brian moved with supreme confidence, as if he owned the room. He had a great commanding voice and a thin athletic body. Like any director casting a movie when he sees someone he likes, I hoped this kid could act. He gave an outstanding reading.

GREYDON

Your agent told you that you would have to buzz cut your hair...

BROPHY

I almost cut it just for this interview.

I thanked him for coming in and he left the room.

GREYDON
Did you think he was as good as I did?
REICH

Loved him. That fills the cast except for the girl. Asking a girl to buzz cut her hair... I only had one who gave a decent reading. She's outside.

Lynna Hopwood, an attractive actress with a sad quality, gave a very competent reading.

GREYDON

Very nice. How do you feel about having all that lovely hair of yours cut off?

HOPWOOD

Well, it's a good role. It would get me into SAG and I need that.

I told her we would be in touch with her agent. I turned to Joe; we were cast.

GREYDON

Once these actors are signed, we should bring them in a week before we begin filming and cut their hair. If one backs out, we'll have time to recast.

REICH

Good idea. Oh, Barbara Bain has been offered for five grand for any three days within one week.

GREYDON

Barbara Bain to play Chuck Connors' love interest; she'd be great. Cast her.

A week before filming began we had all of the skinheads into the office and my makeup person gave them a buzz cut. Brophy became the leader of the guys and volunteered to be first. Everyone loved it, with the exception of Lynna Hopwood who shed a few tears.

SKINHEADS – PRODUCTION

Filming began on July 9, 1988 at a small grocery store in North Hollywood. Bunny Summers and Michael Fox, both very experienced character actors, played two elderly bickering Jewish proprietors. We established the skinheads as Nazi bastards who terrorize the storekeepers and a young African American kid. They steal a gun, there's a shootout and the skinheads flee to the mountains. Our first day went well and I was very pleased with all of the skinheads' performances, especially Brian Brophy as the leader of the gang. He was very inventive with physical action and dialogue. With his charismatic personality he became the natural leader of the actors on and off camera.

The remaining nine days shooting was at the Newcombe Ranch, a good hour drive from the heart of Hollywood up a steep, winding mountain road. Whitney, Nick and many of the crew decided to "camp out" and brought tents and sleeping bags. We brought mattresses and threw them on the floor of the apartments above the little restaurant. Most of the cast slept on the mattresses rather than drive back and forth each day. I had a small motor home for myself and was comfortable staying on top of the mountain. I was determined to make the picture on my ten-day shooting schedule with a hundred and fifty thousand dollar total budget. Once again, I was rolling the dice with our case money. I did not have a chance to speak to Barbara Bain before her first day on the set. She was in her mid-fifties, a very attractive woman and a wonderful actress.

Bain

I like that you've written a part showing that people the age of Chuck and me can still be romantic... That's nice.

She smiled and headed to make up. Barbara was a professional and we were able to film her scenes in the two days scheduled. Liz Segal and Cynthia Cheston are biking in the mountains and stop at Barbara's restaurant when the skinheads barge through the door demanding food. Later Jason Culp and two buddies Clark Corkum and Duane Davis, stop at the restaurant. Duane is African American and the skinheads began to hassle him. The situation escalates; the skinheads brutally kill everyone with the exception of Jason and Liz who escape in Jason's beat up Volkswagen. The skinheads realize Jason and Liz are witnesses and the chase is on. We filmed the night scenes day for night using only reflectors. Jason Culp decided he did not want to deliver a line as written, "He was the nicest, kindest guy I ever knew and they killed him just because he was black."

CULP

I don't want to say that. It sounds condescending.

GREYDON

It does? It's certainly not meant to be. That line is one of the main reasons I wanted to do this picture. I have a good friend, Earl Watson, who is one of the nicest, kindest guys anybody will ever meet. He's black and there are people who don't like him just because of that... and that's so stupid. I was paying tribute to him... I guess it depends on how you deliver the line. Let's see if you can make it work. The idiot skinheads did kill your friend just because he was black...

Jason reluctantly delivered the line. It was important to me; I think it helps establish the situation.

In the first draft of the script, our two young heroes came across Chuck Connors in the woods. When we found the Newcombe Ranch and the cabin, our second draft included extensive scenes inside Chuck's tiny home. Major films find locations to fit the script; my low-budget films adjusted the scripts to fit the locations. When we plugged our lights in at Chuck's cabin, we constantly blew the fuse box. There was not enough power in the little cabin to enable us to light it. Nick set up reflectors to bounce light through the windows, but it wasn't working. I remembered how on Angels Brigade, when the generator did not show up, Dean Cundey tapped directly into the power line at the top of a power pole. I motioned for Nick to follow me around the side of the cabin and pointed up to the power line leading into the fuse box.

GREYDON

Nick, one time years ago with Dean Cundey, he tapped directly into the power line. Could you tap in above the fuse box so we could light the cabin?

NICK

We could do that. It would be illegal, but we could do that.

GREYDON

Dean did it. I think you should. Just make certain you don't kill anybody.

Nick got us the power. Chuck had a well-deserved reputation for being difficult; Jackie's mother was on the set making certain he was on his best behavior. Chuck delivered a line.

CONNORS
If they hurt my Rosie...
GREYDON
Cut!
CONNORS
What'd I do?
GREYDON

You said hurt my Rosie instead of Martha. Barbara Bain's character is Martha.

We took the shot again. Chuck was always letter perfect with his dialogue and I wondered whether, with Rose on the set, he said "Rosie" on purpose. We had a minor stunt where Chuck drives his pickup truck into a skinhead barricade. When I was setting up the shot Chuck came to me, looking around for his stunt double. I had done it again. Like Cybill Shepherd on The Return, I didn't have a stunt double for Chuck.

CONNORS

You want me to drive the truck into those trees across the road? I'll do it if you want me to but my eyesight isn't what it used to be.

GREYDON

No problem. I'm going to double you myself.

I grayed my hair, put on his wardrobe and climbed behind the wheel of the pickup truck. Paul Martin doubled Jason and Dana Kinonen, our script supervisor, doubled Liz.

GREYDON

Paul, you and I are going to have to take off our glasses in case the camera sees us. Without my glasses, I can't see a damn thing. You're gonna give me a three, two, one countdown before we hit the barricade. Understand?

MARTIN

I can't do that, Greydon. I can't see anything either.

GREYDON

Dana, it's up to you.

Whitney called action, I floored it and the truck rammed successfully into the barricade.

CONNORS

Good job, Greydon. First time I ever had a director double me for a stunt.

The skinheads attack the cabin and Chuck is wounded. I was getting ready to shoot a tight close-up of Chuck firing his shotgun out the window.

CONNORS

These baby blues are going to burn a hole right through the film.

GREYDON

Don't do that, Chuck. This is low budget, I can't afford to waste film.

Everyone laughed and Chuck delivered his line with his usual leading man toughness.

CONNORS

I'll show the Nazi bastards there's still some fight in this old vet.

GREYDON

Cut. Chuck, remember you're supposed to be wounded. Fight to get the words out. You're growing weaker. Not so forcefully, not so strong.

CONNORS

You're right. Sorry. I've been the tough guy hero so many times.

GREYDON

You're still the tough guy hero. You've just been leaking blood all night.

We put take two on the slate and got the scene. Chuck had one shotgun shell left when Brian Brophy and his thugs entered the cabin. The dialogue between Chuck and Brian was terrific, two excellent actors bouncing off one another. A bear trap squashes one of the skinheads' feet, Chuck's final shot causes an explosion allowing Jason and Liz to escape.

A bear viciously attacks one of the skinheads, who is nailed to the porch of the cabin by his fellow nut jobs like a perverse Jesus Christ on the cross. Animal Actors of Hollywood brought a trained bear to the set. There were three animal trainers; two had large rifles with them at all times. I wanted the bear to walk up the wooden stairs to the cabin and attack the skinhead. The animal trainers put a thin electrical wire on each side of where the bear was supposed to walk. If the bear touched the wire, he would get a small shock. The trainer doubled the skinhead on the porch and the bear lumbered up the stairs toward him, rose to his back feet and "attacked," giving us a terrific mauling of the skinhead. During filming the bear is docile with his trainer.

The bad guys in a film are more interesting than the good guys. All of the skinheads gave wonderful performances, but Brian Brophy had the flashiest part and was astonishing.

SKINHEADS – POST-PRODUCTION

We finished production on our ten-day schedule and I began to edit with my video editing system. I cut seven days a week, ten or twelve hours a day, with Jackie reviewing my editing; we were both pleased with the film. Uninvited had been profitable for Dmitri Villard of New Star Home Video and he called every few weeks to check on the progress of Skinheads. When the home video boom hit, approximately twenty thousand home video stores opened in little more than a year - mom and pop, strip mall stores. When they opened they had to stock their shelves with hundreds of different titles. However once the stores opened they purchased only a dozen or so new titles a month. Blockbuster Video quickly became the giant in the industry with more than five thousand stores across the country, driving many mom and pops out of business. Blockbuster decided to shy away from low budget independent product and began filling their shelves with videogames; home video business was shrinking for my type of product. Dmitri and I made the same deal on Skinheads as we had on Uninvited.

VILLARD

Great news, Greydon, the presales on Skinheads are the biggest in our company's history. It's going to be a giant hit. We'll do even better than we did on Uninvited.

That was encouraging, but I was still concerned; half a dozen mom-and-pop video stores had just closed near my house. I brought Dan Slider in to do the music. Dan and I made our deal and he delivered an excellent score filled with anarchical skinhead music. I cut the sound effects, walked the Foley and we mixed the picture in two days. David Hewitt did our titles. We had our answer print the first week of October.

SKINHEADS – DISTRIBUTION

Rick Albert of Design Projects made some great print ads for Skinheads and I went to Milan with Doug Witkins. There were half as many buyers walking the halls that year as the year before when we were selling Uninvited. Five or six buyers came in for each major territory on Uninvited ; this year it was one or two and the money they were offering was about half as much. The world economy was still suffering and video stores were closing in each territory. We were able to sell most of the major markets, but for considerably less than I anticipated. I bumped into Roger Corman in the hallway. We knew each other from his distribution of Angels Brigade back in 1978, ten years earlier.

CORMAN

Greydon, good to see you. Glad you're still making movies... Can you believe how empty these halls are? Where are all the buyers? I've been coming to Milan for decades and have never seen anything like this. Are you writing any business?

GREYDON

We are selling territories, but for half the amount we did just last year.

CORMAN

Take what you can get. I don't think it's going to get better anytime soon.

We ended the market with a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in guarantees, half what we did on Uninvited. When I got home, I checked in with Dmitri Villard at New Star.

VILLARD

Presales are being canceled. Stores are closing down. With you getting 90% of the first sales you should do okay, but we're taking a beating.

My income on Skinheads was going to be considerably less than on Uninvited. We received about fifty thousand dollars from Skinheads before New Star filed bankruptcy. I had a UCC1 filed and got the rights to our pictures back. We were able to get a few thousand dollars more from another U.S. home video distributor. We received another hundred and fifty grand from Doug Witkins on foreign sales. Skinheads showed a profit of close to a hundred grand. Not bad, but considerably less than I had anticipated. The year before we did three hundred thousand foreign and two hundred from Dmitri's home video on Uninvited. I was hoping Skinheads would do the same five hundred grand. However the market had changed and I wondered if low budget direct to video pictures had a future.

Sight Unseen

SIGHT UNSEEN – FINANCING

After more than three decades of making low budget pictures, I knew how to make them... However I was far from certain that I should continue to risk everything Jackie and I had on another direct to video picture. The marketplace had change so dramatically and I thought my days making low budget films might be over. I was about to get lucky once again... Rick Albert from Design Projects wanted to see me.

RICK

I'm producing a picture. Would you be interested in making it with me? I have an investor in England who is giving me a letter of credit for five hundred thousand dollars. I spoke to my bank and they need a completion bond. I can't get a bond for a five hundred thousand dollar movie.

GREYDON

I can handle that. Do you have a script?

Rick got me a copy of the script. John Platt and Roy Langston wrote it and it was pretty good. The film was released under two titles: Sight Unseen and Out of Sight, Out of Mind. If Rick got a bankable letter of credit for half a million, I could handle the completion guarantee with another lien on our house and we could make the picture. Rick had produced one previous picture, Demonwarp, and was experienced with distributors.

GREYDON

The bank is gonna take ten percent off the top. We'll have four hundred and fifty thousand left to make the picture. We'll never get a dime more from distribution. What do you think we should take for ourselves out of the budget?

RICK

Why don't you do a budget and whatever is left we'll split fifty/fifty. What do you think it would cost to make?

GREYDON

Any picture can be made for any amount. It's just the compromises we're willing to make. The script is good but we'll have to do rewrites to keep our budget down. We won't need a bond. I'll put up my house to guarantee completion.

RICK
You would be willing to put up your house?
GREYDON

It wouldn't be the first time. Get your letter of credit and we'll show it to the bank.

Rick produced a five hundred thousand dollar letter of credit from a bank in Sweden. If I could get my bank to guarantee five hundred grand the day I finished production, Rick and I could pull our fees from the budget and I would not be gambling on distribution. We took the LC to Irene Romero. She looked it over and nodded her head.

ROMERO

If you do a new lien to guarantee completion, we will loan you the money.

I was only gambling on my ability to complete the picture. I had Jackie read the script.

JACKIE

It's almost like a TV movie. Not much exploitation and the leads are not kids. Almost like a Hitchcock movie. Can we do business with this type of picture?

GREYDON

Whether it does any business or not really doesn't matter. As long as I complete the movie, we'll get a fee. We get it directly from the bank guarantee. We do need to go to the bank and put another lien on the house to guarantee completion.

Jackie and I went to the bank to sign the papers. Irene seemed uncomfortable.

ROMERO

The loan committee is not too pleased with this deal. We've been loaning you a couple of hundred thousand dollars with a second lien on your house to secure the loan. Now it's a second lien of five hundred thousand and your house is not even worth that much. If you don't complete, the bank has no way to collect its money.

GREYDON

Completion will not be a problem. You have my personal assurance.

ROMERO

I'm promising them you will. Don't make me look foolish.

At the last moment, Rick's executive producer demanded a fifty thousand dollar fee for himself to finalize the deal. That left us with four hundred grand to make the picture. Everybody was getting their cut... the guy in England, banks, cast, crew, equipment, locations, labs etc. Everybody got their money up front. All I had to do was make the picture for a budget low enough so that Rick and I would also be paid.

SIGHT UNSEEN – SCREENPLAY

The story was reminiscent of Gaslight, George Cukor's 1944 film with Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer and Joseph Cotton. The leads in the picture were a thirty-something woman who was being driven insane by her husband and a cop who was investigating a series of grisly killings. The English producer demanded we cast three stars.

SIGHT UNSEEN – PRE-PRODUCTION

Much of the story takes place in an office building and at a mental institution. Rick's office was in a high-rise in Encino. There was an entire vacant floor and I realized we could use the space for multiple locations. Every penny we spent on production meant less money for Rick and me. I rewrote the story to incorporate the available office space, consolidated locations and characters. We filmed thirteen of the fifteen-day shooting schedule in one location; two floors above Rick's office. We needed one day in a nice home and one additional day in a hotel and our locations were set. Depending on cast, the budget should come in around three hundred thousand, leaving a hundred grand for us to split.

RICK

Three weeks doesn't seem enough time to make a good picture.

GREYDON

If we shoot more than three weeks there's going to be nothing left for you and me. I shot most of my pictures on a two or three week shooting schedule; two weeks on Skinheads, three weeks on Uninvited. I'm confident we can make a good film in fifteen days. The question is how much are we spending to get three stars?

Rick reluctantly went along with the schedule and we began casting. We used the same casting directors Rick used on Demonwarp, Ted Warren and Jeanette O'Connor. Nick von Sternberg was available for camera. Whitney Hunter was working on another show. I elevated Paul Martin to PM/AD. Earl Watson was not available for editing. Rick wanted to use Robert Edwards as the editor. Rob was a bright young guy with no experience. I finalized every cut myself, so I agreed with Rick and we hired him. Ted Warren called.

WARREN

Susan Blakely has been offered. Thirty thousand firm for three weeks.

Susan Blakely, another of the most beautiful women in her generation, was a respected actress who had substantial name value.

GREYDON

Why don't we offer her twenty thousand for the three weeks?

Rick agreed and we made the offer. A few days later we got a call from Steve Jaffe, Susan's husband. He wanted to have a meeting and came into Rick's office.

JAFFE

Susan likes the script very much and is looking forward to working with you guys. But she can't do the picture for twenty thousand. Her quote is fifty thousand.

GREYDON

Our budget just can't come anywhere near that. We'd love to have her.

JAFFE

We're in a bit of a cash flow problem right now and if we could get an advance, I could convince her to do the picture for twenty-five grand.

GREYDON

I've never paid an actor in advance. It's highly unusual.

JAFFE

For her to agree to do the picture for twenty-five grand we need money up front.

GREYDON

I'll tell you what. We'll give you ten thousand when we sign the contract and the other fifteen grand as the shooting progresses.

JAFFE

Okay. We have a deal as long as we can sign the contract in a few days.

Jaffe left and Rick and I huddled.

GREYDON

What do you think? Should we give him the money tomorrow or recast?

RICK

You think we're at risk if we give him the money up front?

GREYDON

It's a risk, but you'd think they'd do the work for the next fifteen grand. If we get Susan Blakely it'll give the picture a stamp of approval and it will be easier to cast the other stars.

We agreed to roll the dice. The next day Jaffe and Susan signed the contract and collected their ten grand check. Edward Albert (no relation to Rick) was offered for fifteen thousand dollars for two weeks. He had real name value and was perfect for the role. We had two very good names cast when Rick got a call from London. His guy wanted Wings Hauser in the role of Susan's husband. I knew Wings and thought he was a fine actor, but was surprised to discover his name value in the foreign market. We contacted his agent and he was available for ten grand for one week. Our stars were cast; everyone else worked for scale. Rick had a friend who knew Lynn-Holly Johnson, who agreed to do the role of Susan's sister; we were happy to have her. Jaffe called a week before we began.

JAFFE

Richard Masur would like to play the doctor.

Richard Masur was a well-known character actor and would be excellent in the role.

GREYDON

He would be great Steve, but our budget only allows scale for that part.

JAFFE

He's a friend of ours and wants to learn how a low budget picture is made.

We got Richard Masur. Our casting directors brought in finalists for the other roles. Rick and I listened to them read and made mutual decision on whom to cast. Brian Brophy from Skinheads played a small role. We had our locations, cast and crew. The money was available from the bank. We were committed to having a completed picture for Milan in October. Nick, Paul and I did our final location scout. I never had the budget to hire someone to do storyboards. In prep I went to the locations, staged the scenes in my mind, decided on the coverage that I needed and made elaborate notes on how it all might work.

SIGHT UNSEEN – PRODUCTION

Production began in July 1989. I always wanted my actors to be in a comfortable environment on a relaxed, casual set. Even though I pre-staged each scene, I allowed the actors as much leeway as possible and let them show me the scene before I showed them. The more experienced and inventive the actor, the more he or she showed me. I never gave line readings to an actor. As an actor myself, I didn't want to hear anyone else deliver my line. I wanted the actors to run the scene and see what they could do with it. I did not want the actors to be my puppets. Ultimately, how an actor gets to their performance doesn't matter; it's the performance that counts. Susan Blakely was very professional, prepared and a talented actress. The star sets the tone for the rest of the actors. With Susan on my side I was confident the shooting would go well.

I had seen an African American actress in a film a few weeks before casting began and thought she would be perfect for the prominent role of the office manager. She was out of town and not available to come in for reading. I cast her anyway. On the first day of production she showed up completely unprepared. It was simple dialog between her and Susan. Take after take she simply could not remember the easiest line. I realized I had made a horrible mistake in casting and I had to replace an actor for the first and only time in my career. I whispered to Susan.

GREYDON

I'm sorry about this, Susan. This actress just isn't going to work. I'm going to send her home for the day and we'll shoot other scenes.

SUSAN

I think that's a good idea. She'll never be able to do it.

I was grateful for Susan's understanding and stepped to the other actress.

GREYDON

This isn't working. You're not prepared for the day. I'm sending you home. You have a choice: you can come in tomorrow morning before we start filming and show me that you know your lines or I'll just recast.

ACTRESS

Why do I have to come in and prove to you I am ready? I have a SAG contract!

GREYDON

According to SAG, all I have to do is pay you. It's just a question of whether you want to be in the picture are not. If you don't come in tomorrow and first show me that you have these lines down, I'll recast the part.

Wordlessly she turned and walked away. A few hours later, I got a call from her agent.

AGENT

You have insulted my client by sending her home. You can't do that.

GREYDON

Yes I can. Is she coming in tomorrow morning and show me she can do this?

AGENT

If you give her a call time, she'll show up. But she's not going to audition.

GREYDON

Tell her not to bother. She'll get her paycheck at the end of the week. I'll recast.

I put an emergency call into my casting directors and told them I needed to see someone early the next morning for the role of the office manager and I wanted it to be an African American woman. The next morning Edwina Moore came on the set and read for me. She was excellent and I cast her in the role. I was pleased to have an African American woman playing the part of someone in charge of a large office. It's tough for anyone to succeed as an actor and especially tough for minorities.

GREYDON

I'm sure your agent told you that you are replacing another actress and you'll be working starting this morning. So please go to make up and we'll begin shortly.

EDWINA

Would it be okay if Ms. Blakely and I ran lines while we're in makeup?

She headed toward makeup and I breathed a big sigh of relief. Susan was very pleased and their scenes went well.

Later I had scenes with a kid actor; it is especially important with youngsters that they be relaxed on the set. If they make a mistake, I blame someone else and ask the young actor if they would mind doing me a favor with another take. Jessica Player was excellent playing Susan's daughter. Her mother was on the set and I made a special effort to ingratiate myself. I was shooting close-ups on Richard Masur and ran out of film several times. Masur smiled.

Masur

Are you shooting short ends on me, Greydon?

GREYDON

Would I do that?

Major studios purchase film in thousand foot rolls. They will often have two or three hundred feet of film left over per roll. They sell these "short ends" to a film supply house who in turn sells the film at a discount to low budget guys like me. Using short ends forces you to stop shooting and reload the camera more often. Masur knew that I was cutting and picking up his shots more than normal He questioned it, but never complained.

Over all the years working with tight budgets, I got very good at creating shooting schedules. I knew what I wanted and sometimes I scheduled an actor for a close-up on a scene when the other actors in the scene were not even on the set. In a number of scenes Susan Blakely was institutionalized by her estranged husband and was confined to her bed. The other actors interacted with her there. The normal way to shoot these sequences would be to film the masters with Susan and the other actor followed by close shot coverage. I designed my shooting schedule so that I would shoot all of Susan's close-ups in all of her scenes one after another without having the other actors on the set. The script supervisor read the "off camera" lines to Susan. Actors hate doing their scenes like this and I agree with them; it's not the best way to make a movie. However that's the way I had to do it to stay on schedule. I explained what I was going to do to Susan.

SUSAN
Oh, Greydon, do we have to do it that way?
GREYDON

I'm afraid we do. To stay on schedule and budget, it's a necessity. Trust me.

She reluctantly went along with my plan, and in a few hours we were able to shoot all of Susan's close-ups for multiple scenes. When I brought in the other actors, I explained that I had already filmed Susan's close-ups for the various scenes and I was going to shoot their multiple scenes the same way. I was able to cover all the scenes with multiple actors in the hospital room in a couple of days.

There's a scene with the three main guys that takes place in a psychiatrist's office. I staged the scene with Edward, Wings and Richard.

GREYDON

Okay, guys, everybody comfortable with the staging? I am leaving you guys while I begin lighting another location. Is that cool? Just rehearse your dialogue and I'll be back and we'll shoot it.

They all nodded and I left them in the psychiatrist's office. When I got back to their set there was a bit of tension in the room.

Albert

You do realize you left three actors here and we all want to direct.

GREYDON

Every actor wants to direct. I hope you didn't change the way we staged the scene.

HAUSER

No. We just played around a bit with the dialogue.

GREYDON

Let's take a look at it and see what damage you guys have done.

A couple of words changed here and there, which never bothered me. We got the scene.

Periodically, Rick left his office and came up two floors to our set while I was staging the scenes, and then would go back to his office to work on his advertising commitments. When we were ready to film he returned to the set and observed.

RICK

Greydon, I don't understand why we need all these guys on the crew... All they do is stand around and watch you work. Do we need this many?

GREYDON

They are supposed to watch when I'm staging the scene. And that's when you are also here watching. When you leave, they go to work and get ready for the shot and that's when you come back. You're not seeing them do their work. This is a short crew doing an excellent job.

Rick accepted my explanation and never complained again. For twenty years, I'd made films completely on my own without having to discuss or explain my decisions. I made a conscious effort to involve Rick as much as I could.

Jackie brought the two boys to the set when we were shooting in the lobby of the office building. I wanted to have them in the picture. When the elevator doors open, Jackie and the two boys walk past Susan. They stayed on the set for an hour or so and Susan got down on the floor of the lobby to play with the two kids between shots. Trevor, seven at the time, was next to me watching the video assist while I was rehearsing a scene with Susan. I whispered in his ear.

GREYDON

When I tap you on the shoulder, you yell "cut" at the top of your lungs.

The camera rolled and I gave Susan action. It was a simple scene where she crosses from the elevator and enters the stairwell. I tapped Trevor on the shoulder and he yelled...

TREVOR

Cut!

Everyone laughed. There was natural tension on all my sets, everyone trying their best while working at breakneck speed. Whenever I could lighten the mood on a set, I was happy to do it. I would tell a joke or try to find some humor somewhere. If people thought the director was having fun it would be a more relaxed set. A relaxed actor a better actor.

Susan's character is given hallucinogenic drugs and thinks she sees the ghost of her dead child. I wanted to show her disorientation as she reached out toward the ghostlike figure of her daughter. There was a long hallway on the set and I had Susan sit on one of the camera dolly seats, turned the camera toward her and filmed her in a distorted close-up as we dollied down the corridor. We saw her moving down the hallway, but it was as if she was floating in her own confused mind. I stole it from Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets where a drunk David Carradine floats through a bar; I don't know who he stole it from. It was quite effective.

Near the end of the picture, Wings Hauser's character falls to his death from the thirteenth floor of the office building. It was a night sequence and I had to figure out a way to shoot Wings dangling off the edge of the building. It would be easy on a sound stage with a projected background, but my budget simply would not allow the easy way. I had to figure out how to shoot the scene showing Wings about to fall from the building and still keep him safe. If we could get Wings high enough on the middle of the roof, we could position the camera so that the cars and street in the background would be visible and it would look like Wings was about to fall to the street. The actor would only be a few feet off the center of the roof, completely safe; if he fell, he would fall into airbags. The scaffolding was pre-erected and I took Wings up to the roof for the sequence. He looked it over and was comfortable doing the scene as I planned. We finished the scene on the roof, Wings fights for his life, slips off the building and plummets to his death; it worked beautifully. We went back inside to film one last sequence with Wings. It was a very dramatic scene where Susan Blakely confronts her estranged husband. We shot the master and Wings' angles and wrapped for the night. Susan's angles were scheduled for the next evening. The cast and crew applauded as I gave Wings a final picture wrap.

GREYDON

That's a picture wrap for Wings Hauser. Wings, you've been great.

HAUSER

What about Susan's close-ups? Can't you do them tonight? I won't charge you for the overtime.

GREYDON

I appreciate that, Wings, but we have to wrap tonight. We'll get her tomorrow.

HAUSER

If that's the way you want to do it, she won't have me to react to.

GREYDON

It's not the way I want to do it, it's the way I have to do it.

We wrapped the night and he left without comment. The next evening when we were shooting Susan's close-ups Wings suddenly appeared standing next to the camera giving his offstage lines. Susan was able to react to him, a very classy thing for one actor to do for another. Wings came in unpaid, a consummate professional who cared deeply about his fellow performers. Wings Hauser: a great actor and a very classy guy. Nick von Sternberg did his usual excellent job. Paul Martin filled in admirably for Whitney and the production completed on schedule and on budget. Nick pulled me aside.

NICK

I have some good news. Peter Bogdanovich hired me to shoot the sequel to The Last Picture Show with Jeff Bridges and Cybill Shepherd.

GREYDON

That's great, Nick. All you ever needed was to get a break on a major film. That's really terrific. Just like Cundey, you're going to be a star DP.

A few months later Nick was the DP on Texasville for Peter Bogdanovich.

SIGHT UNSEEN – POST-PRODUCTION

Rob Edwards was an intelligent young man with no editorial experience other than film classes at a university in Michigan. I could've argued with Rick and demanded that I cut the picture, but I was trying to give him as much latitude as possible. Rob put together a first rough cut in a couple of months. I went into the editing room every day to check his work while Rick was busy doing advertising work for many of the independent producers and foreign distributors in Hollywood. The picture began with a sequence where Susan and her seven-year-old daughter are attacked. The daughter is incinerated in an industrial furnace and Susan wakes up in a mental institution. I thought it worked well but the set up establishing Susan and her daughter before the attack was too slow. It's the constant conflict between the balance of character and narrative. An audience needs to know who the characters are, but it's important that you bring your audience into the narrative as quickly as possible. I had extreme close shots of Susan's eyes and mouth as she struggled to speak to her doctor about the vicious attack on her child. I decided to open the picture with those close shots and do the attack as a flashback in bits and pieces as Susan agonizingly recalled the death of her child. Rather than taking three or four minutes of back story, the audience was pulled into Susan's character and dilemma with the first few frames.

We locked the picture and cut the sound effects. I got David Hewitt to do the titles and opticals. Rick wanted to use Peter Rogers Melnick to do the music. I would have preferred Dan Slider, but Rick was the producer and if he felt strongly about something, I went along with him. Peter did a fine job and the music helps the picture immensely. We got our answer print the first week in October. There was a little over a hundred thousand dollars left on our LC when we made official delivery to the London producer. We fulfilled our completion obligation, my bank got the money from the Swedish bank and my lien was released. Rick and I were able to pull about fifty grand each.

Sight Unseen did not receive much distribution in the United States. On July 3, 1990, Variety reviewed Sight Unseen, "Susan Blakely gives an earnest performance [...] Director Clark develops some good red herrings."

THE FORBIDDEN DANCE

THE FORBIDDEN DANCE – FINANCING

I had been lucky so many times to be at the right place and the right time and to be able to take advantage of that. I was about to be very lucky once again. Rick Albert called.

RICK

I am doing print ads for Menahem Golan. I told him how we made Sight Unseen in three weeks. He wants to have a meeting.

It was December 18, 1989 when we entered Menahem's Beverly Hills office. Menahem Golan, brusque, no-nonsense, sixty years old, graying and slightly overweight, was the legendary producer/director of more than a hundred films. He and his cousin Yoram Globus had a serious falling out at Cannon Films and they were now bitter enemies. After perfunctory introductions, Rick and I took seats.

MENAHEM

Lambada is the fastest selling song in the history of Europe. I paid two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the motion picture rights to the song. I'm gonna make a movie about it. That bastard Yoram thinks he can beat me to the theaters. Never happen. I have the story all worked out. A girl comes from Brazil to America and does the Lambada.

GREYDON
That's not a story... That's a thought.
MENAHEM

Greydon, can you make this picture quickly? I've got to beat Yoram.

GREYDON

I can make this picture faster than anyone. I've been doing it all my life.

Menahem had never seen a foot of film that I'd directed. I have no idea why he thought I could make his Lambada film; maybe I looked like I could direct, maybe it was my questioning his "story." We were in his office less than ten minutes when he suddenly turned to me.

MENAHEM

I want you to make Lambada. I'll pay you a hundred thousand dollars to make the picture. How you guys split it is up to you.

GREYDON

That would be fifty grand each. Let Rick and me I talk about it and--

MENAHEM

I don't want you to talk about it. I'll make it a hundred and fifty thousand total. You want to make the picture for me or not?

GREYDON

Of course I want to make the picture. Why don't we come back here in four days and we'll have some script ideas.

MENAHEM

Make it three days. We've got to beat that bastard Yoram.

The whole meeting took half an hour; I was being paid to make another movie. Fooled them once again... and we wouldn't even have to put another lien on our house.

THE FORBIDDEN DANCE – SCREENPLAY

Rick and I headed back over the hill to his office in the Valley. He was very excited.

GREYDON

I'd like to get David Reskin who wrote Skinheads to help me write the script.

RICK

No. I want Langston and Platt, the guys who wrote Sight Unseen.

GREYDON

Look, I've worked with Reskin and I know we can do something good and quick. Langston and Platt are good, but we don't know how fast they write.

RICK

I want these guys to write it.

I could have thrown down the gauntlet right there in the car. Maybe I should have.

GREYDON

I'll tell you what, you contact those guys and fill them in on what Menahem wants. We'll meet in your office in three days and they can pitch me their story idea in the car when we drive over the hill to meet with Menahem.

Jackie was very pleased, but our experience with distributors made her skeptical.

JACKIE

It's great that we don't have to put up another lien, but how do we know when it comes time to get our money...

GREYDON

I'll get a salary each week until we get our seventy-five grand. The only thing is, I have to make certain Menahem keeps wanting me to make the picture for him and doesn't fire me. As long as I'm shooting, we'll get paid.

JACKIE

Once he gets to know you and sees how you work, he'll be happy.

Three days later I was driving to Menahem's with Rick in the passenger seat, Roy Langston and John Platt in the seat behind us.

GREYDON

So tell me the story guys. What happens to our Lambada dancer?

LANGSTON

She's a Lambada dancer in Brazil who gets kidnapped and is brought to the U.S.

GREYDON

Hold it. Kidnapping is something that governments all over the world censor. Kidnapping won't work. Do you have anything else?

LANGSTON

We only had two days and we worked out the story about kidnapping the girl.

GREYDON

Okay, this is the way it's going to be: when we meet Menahem, I don't want either of you two guys to say anything. Not a word. Just smile and take a seat. I'll do all the talking. In a meeting like this there should only be one person talking for the production and that one person is going to be me. Agreed?

I introduced the writers and we took seats around Menahem's desk. I got to my feet and began pacing the room as thoughts raced through my mind. What if... Lambada dancer, Brazil, the rain forest... The destruction of the Amazon rain forest... That might work. I was a political animal and had strong feelings on most everything. I could bring a political statement into an exploitation dance movie. I liked that and hoped Menahem would too. I began ad-libbing a story...

GREYDON

What if... the dancer from Brazil was actually a princess in the rain forest and a big American company was destroying her homeland. Burning the Amazon rain forest. She comes to America to appeal to the American corporation to save her homeland. She gets nowhere with the company and has to figure out a way to get her message across to the American people, to the world. To speak to America you have to get on television. And to do that she has to dance the Lambada. There is a televised dance contest being run by Dick Clark. She gets on it, does the Lambada, wins and saves the rain forest.

MENAHEM

Is she rich or is she poor? She is a princess, so she must be wealthy.

GREYDON

Oh, no. I think she should be poor, from a poor Indian tribe in the rain forest. Maybe even when she first comes here she's an illegal.

Menahem got to his feet and began pacing with me. I was completely making this stuff up as I went along. I was doing my own song and dance. He was getting into it with me.

MENAHEM
That's not bad. Does she speak English?
GREYDON

She's got to speak English. We don't want subtitles. Missionaries taught her to speak English. She's the only one in her tribe who speaks English.

MENAHEM

And when she first gets here, what does she do?

GREYDON

I don't know. What do you think she should do?

MENAHEM

Ahhh! If she's illegal, she becomes a maid in Beverly Hills!

GREYDON

Menahem, that's great. We can take this poor Amazon princess struggling on the street to save her rain forest. She's forced to take a job cleaning houses in Beverly Hills. She meets the good-looking young son of the Beverly Hills family. They have a thing and she teaches him the Lambada for the TV show. We can show the difference between an illegal struggling on the street and a Beverly Hills rich kid. Lovers from two different societies. It's Romeo and Juliet. It's West Side Story. Only this time the kids get together to save the rain forest!

I had no idea if Menahem was political or cared one way or another about the rain forest, illegals or anything else. We were both pacing faster and faster. As he joined my dance around his office we bounced ideas off one another.

MENAHEM

I want the script on my desk in two weeks. Greydon, you should start pre-production right now. When can you start shooting?

GREYDON

Say we have a script the first week in January. We need a month pre-production. We start shooting in February. We better figure a four-week shooting schedule.

MENAHEM

Rick told me you did your last one in three weeks. Shoot this one in three weeks. And I want an answer print by the middle of March.

GREYDON

That's ninety days from today. I'll shoot it in three six-day weeks – eighteen days – it's gonna cost extra money in post. We'll need a bunch of editors and we'll have to get everything cut while I'm shooting. Are you familiar with video editing? Where we don't make daily prints--

MENAHEM

How do you not make dailies? You realize we are making a movie for theaters.

GREYDON

We make video dailies and cut on videotape. The negative is matched later. I did it on my last three pictures. It's cheaper by almost fifty thousand dollars and more importantly for us it's much quicker. If we cut on videotape, we can have the picture locked within a week after I stop shooting. It's not gonna be easy.

MENAHEM

I'm not hiring you to make it easy. We have to finish first and beat Yoram.

He agreed to cut on video; I said the two magic words, "cheaper and quicker." It was December 21 and the race had officially begun. Back in the car, I spoke to the writers.

GREYDON

You guys are gonna have to write at least ten pages a day and I want to see them each day. If we can get Menahem a script he accepts in ten days... the picture will get made and we'll all get paid.

The writers turned in ten pages each day; these guys were pretty good.

THE FORBIDDEN DANCE – PRE-PRODUCTION

Menahem hired Marc S. Fischer, an experienced producer, to be his eyes and ears during production. We got offices in Rick's building and had our first pre-production meeting with Rick, Marc and me. Menahem had a reputation for being "difficult" with directors and sometimes being slow to pay his bills. I wanted to be sure I was getting paid.

GREYDON

Rick and I are each getting seventy-five grand. I think it should be ten grand a week until we're paid in full starting this week, you agree?

FISCHER

Agreed. I'm here to help you guys any way I can. It's crazy that Menahem thinks we can have an answer print in ninety days. We don't even have a script.

GREYDON

It's coming along. We'll start hiring people tomorrow for the crew.

I called Whitney Hunter and Paul Martin, who were available. Nick von Sternberg was my DP on my last six films. I gave him a call.

GREYDON

Menahem Golan hired me to do a dance movie. It's another quickie, eighteen days. We'll start shooting in about three weeks. How did things go on Texasville?

NICK

Great, I just finished for Bogdanovich. I shot for three months. It's my big break. I don't think I should do another low budget three-week movie right now. Texasville looks like it is going to get a lot of publicity and I want to do bigger and better stuff. I hope you understand. I feel bad saying no to you.

GREYDON

Don't give it a second thought, Nick. I can't say I disagree with you. You know I wish you nothing but the best. What about David Boyd?

NICK

David would be great. He's been working a lot.

I was disappointed that Nick couldn't shoot for me, but I understood. David Boyd was Nick's assistant on three of our earlier films. He was doing assistant camera work for almost a decade and I felt he was ready to be my DP. I involved Rick as much as I could.

GREYDON

Whitney and Paul are both available and they'll be in this afternoon. Nick can't do it. I want to hire David Boyd, Nick's assistant.

RICK

If Nick can't do it, I want to use Michael Stringer. He shot Demonwarp for me.

GREYDON

I have nothing against Michael Stringer. I don't even know him. I think he worked on an Al Adamson film I did way back in the sixties. David Boyd is a young man with a great future. As the director, I should have the DP I want.

RICK

And as the producer I want Michael Stringer to shoot this picture.

GREYDON

You really want to force a DP on your director?

Rick was insistent and I reluctantly went along with him.

GREYDON

With all the dances we're going to be filming I'll be using a lot of multiple camera stuff. Let me bring on David Boyd to be a second unit camera operator.

A Second unit is a term that comes from major studios. On a major picture while you're filming with the first unit, a second unit is simultaneously filming, usually drive-bys, establishing shots, stuff that does not require an actor. On this film I meant it to mean that David Boyd would be shooting simultaneously with our first unit, headed by Michael Stringer. Rick agreed, but I wasn't sure he understood what he was agreeing to. My next call was to Earl Watson. I hoped he was available to cut the picture.

GREYDON

Earl, I really need you on this one. I'm doing a dance movie about Lambada. It's for Menahem Golan and we start shooting in three weeks. We need an answer print in less than ninety days. I want you to be the head editor and hire as many other guys as you need to get the job done. We're cutting on video. He's in a huge rush to finish. I have eighteen days to shoot and each day you're gonna be cutting all day. I'll come into the editing room at night and we'll lock what's been cut that day, then you'll give it to the sound effects and music guys.

EARL

Sounds like it could be interesting. I'd like to do it.

I was very lucky to get Earl Watson. I knew that I could count on him to handle the entire post-production. I went into Rick's office to tell him the good news.

GREYDON

I've got the great Earl Watson to cut the picture.

RICK

I want Rob Edwards to be the editor. He did a fine job on Sight Unseen.

GREYDON

This is a much more complicated picture. Lots of music and dance. Earl Watson is going to be our head editor. He's hiring three or four other guys and Rob can be one of them. Don't push me on this, Rick. I've worked with Earl for more than twenty years. I gave in to you on the DP. Earl is cutting. I'm not negotiating.

Rick went along with me on this one. I wondered if he and I were going to constantly butt heads. I knew once production actually started, it's the director who makes the movie and I could ignore him if I had to. Rick and I got along fine on Sight Unseen. Why would this be any different? We were both trying to make the best picture we could.

The writers were turning in pages every day and I was impressed with their work. We needed to start finding locations. LA has dozens of luxury homes available for filming. I scouted dance clubs, but couldn't find one I could close down for a week. We would have to build our dance club on a sound stage. Menahem had not read a page of the script, but to his credit we got approval to book a soundstage and start building the set. Whitney suggested Don Day as the art director who would design and build the sets.

GREYDON

Don, I want the dance club to have multiple levels. I want to position my camera high above the dance floor and look down on crowds of dancing extras with lots of flashing lights. Give me a sitting area for booze and a booth for the DJ.

He got back to me in a few days with some great designs. I did a final script rewrite pulling as many locations as possible into the dance club and added a subplot of racial animus between the privileged Beverly Hills white kids and the Brazilian Lambada dancer. It was January 4, 1990 and we had our first draft screenplay. Rick sent copies to Menahem's office and we waited to hear. Later that same day, Marc called with the news that Menahem approved and we got an official go-ahead. Remarkably, Menahem was willing to spend around a million dollars on a project with a director he'd met less than a month earlier. What a crazy business. Menahem directed Mack the Knife and worked with Miranda Garrison as his choreographer. I'd never worked with a choreographer before.

GREYDON

Look, Miranda, you're going to have to choreograph these dances and show them to me. I'll figure out how to film them, but don't ask me to figure out how to dance them. That will be totally up to you. I will not finalize any actor until I send them to see you and you assure me they can do the dancing. You'll have less than two weeks to get them ready to do the dance numbers.

GARRISON

Two weeks to rehearse all the dance numbers! You are kidding, right? I would like to play a part in the picture - Mickey, the Madame in the dance hall.

I had the problem of having to replace the actress in Sight Unseen and wanted everyone to read for me. Mickey was a very important part and I wasn't about to take any chances.

GREYDON

I think you'd be great as Mickey. Would you mind just reading a few lines?

Miranda read for me and was excellent. We hired Ted Warren as our casting director and he began to see people. Most of the roles should have been easy to cast, with one major exception; our female lead, or as Menahem said, "A girl from Brazil who comes to America and does the Lambada." Other than the lead, Ted whittled the potential actors down to the customary two or three and we were able to fill the cast in with solid performers. Rick was not involved with casting the smaller roles but was very involved with the casting of our Brazilian princess. He saw Laura Harring dancing the Lambada at a dance club. The next day he came in the office raving about her. Ted contacted her agent and set up an appointment for her to come in for an interview. Rick attended her casting session. Laura came into the casting room and I was immediately impressed. She was the first Latina to win the Miss USA crown. She had a sweet innocence about her that would be perfect for the role. She was inexperienced with only small parts in a couple of films. Her slight accent was also a help. She gave a wonderful reading and we cast her, with the proviso that she had to audition for the choreographer. A few days later Miranda gave her stamp of approval. We were lucky to have Laura Harring as our Brazilian princess. A young actor, Jeff James, gave a very good reading for the male lead and was cast. Sid Haig came in to read for the part of the tribe's Shaman.

GREYDON

Sid Haig does not have to read for me. We would be lucky to have him.

HAIG
Thank you. That's always nice to hear.
GREYDON

Incidentally, Sid, you couldn't read for me. Your character has no lines. He's throughout the picture and is very important. It will all be mime. I want you to meet our choreographer to let her see you dance, just as a courtesy to her.

We were very lucky to get Sid Haig who is one of the finest character actors in Hollywood. I was able to cast one of the skinheads, Gene Mitchell, in a small role as a security guard. I had not spoken to Menahem during pre-production when he called.

MENAHEM
Do you know an actor, Richard Lynch?
GREYDON
I do. Doesn't he have kind of a scarred face?
MENAHEM

That's the guy. I want him for the guy who burns down the trees.

That was the extent of Menahem's involvement in pre-production. I was not involved with the budgeting of the picture; I just had to make it in three weeks. I had a larger crew and better equipment than ever before. It was time to visit locations with Whitney, Paul and Michael Stringer. When we got to the locations, Michael seemed a bit confused.

STRINGER
Are you open to suggestions on things?
GREYDON

Absolutely, that's the idea of doing this. Say anything that pops in your mind. Don't censor yourself. We are all trying to make as good a picture as possible.

He nodded and occasionally made a suggestion or asked a question that was quite valuable. The Ambassador Hotel was closed to the public, but was available to production companies for filming. We used the hotel for the exterior of the dance club and used an interior in the Coconut Grove nightclub. When we were scouting the location the facility manager walked us through the kitchen area. I stopped and looked around; a cold shiver ran up my spine...

GREYDON

Is this the place where Bobby Kennedy was assassinated?

FACILITY MANAGER

Right here on this spot. June 5, 1968.

Our country and the world would be different and far better if the great leaders of the sixties were able to avoid the assassin's bullet. I did my final rewrites to encompass the locations and was able to consolidate several scenes into the same location. The eighteen-day shooting schedule was still my biggest problem. We had a big cast, a number of scenes with lots of extras, many different locations. This was going to be tough. I was beginning to have nightmares about having just eighteen days.

Menahem requested a meeting at his office. Menahem, Miranda Garrison, Marc Fischer and Ami Artzi, Menahem's top associate, gathered in their conference room with Rick and me. There were half a dozen other people sitting around the table.

MENAHEM

Miranda tells me there's not enough dancing in this movie. Damn it, Greydon, this is a movie about Lambada! There's got to be a lot of dancing.

I was shocked. Had Menahem not read the script? It was filled with dance numbers. None of this made any sense. I got to my feet and addressed the group, pacing a bit.

GREYDON

I'm surprised to hear that, Menahem. Let me go over the script for you. Please have your secretary keep count of exactly how many dance numbers there are.

I had the script down cold. Not only had I typed it into my computer, but I'd also created the shooting schedule. I started at the beginning with the first scene. It took fifteen or twenty minutes of monologue during which I went over the entire script scene by scene without referring to the screenplay lying on the table in front of me.

GREYDON

There are eighteen separate identifiable dance numbers. That's one about every five minutes. Doesn't leave us much time for our story, does it?

MENAHEM

You seem to be on top of things, Greydon. Just keep it up. I want an answer print in sixty days and you are going to shoot this in eighteen days, right?

Miranda Garrison approached Menahem and me.

GARRISON

You're going to need at least one day for each dance number.

GREYDON

You just heard me count eighteen separate identifiable dances. I've got eighteen days to make the entire movie. You do the math.

MENAHEM

You told me you were a quick director, so be quick. You start shooting next week and I don't want any excuses. Eighteen days. That's it.

A week before we started shooting we had our production meeting with each department head and their assistants. The shooting schedule and what and when and how we were going to shoot each scene were discussed in detail. There were about thirty people gathered in the vacant office space where we'd filmed Sight Unseen a few months earlier.

GREYDON

If you have any questions at all, no matter how small, bring them up now. We have eighteen days to make this movie. I made movies in eighteen days before. This is a complicated movie with lots of locations, a big cast, and eighteen separate identifiable dance numbers. So ask your questions as I go through the shooting schedule. Let me first say one thing. I have a sensitive throat. So do not smoke around me. No smoking anywhere near me. I don't want to lose my voice. Don't smoke on the set at all. In fact, you can't even smoke in your own home.

Everyone laughed and we proceeded with the production meeting. I was pleased with the crew that Whitney put together; every crew I ever worked with was eager to make the best picture we could possibly make. They worked long hours for short pay, always keeping the picture first in mind. When you read a critique of a film that says it looks like the filmmakers were phoning it in, you can be certain that the critic has no idea how films are really made... phoning it in? No way. I owe a huge debt to all the men and women, in front of and behind the camera. David Boyd met Michael Stringer for the first time. I pulled David aside.

GREYDON

I want you to shoot a second camera on every single setup. Lots of Steadicam. Michael has a bad leg from polio as a kid. He won't be able to do any of the Steadicam stuff. I won't have time to give you specific setups. You figure out a good shot and show it to me. I'll have a video assist for Michael's camera and one for yours. Make your shots unusual and interesting. I'll have Michael cover the masters. I want two cameras shooting everything. Not only the dances, but also the dialogue. Let him set the lights. You work within that structure. Remember, you are not his assistant cameraman. He has his own assistant. Michael's camera will be the "A" camera and yours the "B" and you answer to me. I'll set every shot up for Michael's camera. You're on your own. Make your shots interesting. We've got eighteen days, so let's make it good

I had nothing against Michael Stringer and respected the fact that he had survived in the industry as long as he had. I just thought David Boyd could be special. Michael turned out to be fine and has had a long distinguished career working in various capacities. He has not continued as a DP. David Boyd has had a very successful career as a DP on major films and countless television programs.

THE FORBIDDEN DANCE – PRODUCTION

We began shooting on January 25, 1990, five weeks after I first met Menahem. Menahem came to the set for an hour or so during the first few mornings. He watched me direct but made no comment one way or the other. Marc Fischer was on the set for several hours each day. They both grew to trust me. After the first day of shooting I realized how lucky I was to have Laura Harring as our lead. She looked wonderful, was an excellent actor and dancer and took direction well. Sid Haig and Richard Lynch were both very professional. I had two video assist monitors sitting on a table in front of me. It was the first time I had color monitors and the images were quite good. During the dance numbers I wanted to be close to the dancers and not at my video table. At the end of the day, I called Whitney over.

GREYDON

Whitney, I need you to get me two small handheld remote monitors in addition to the ones on the table. I want to be physically closer to the actors.

The next day I had my handheld color monitors and it helped a lot during the staging of scenes. It was nice not to have to worry about spending a few extra dollars on equipment. Shooting two cameras at the same time for every scene can be tricky. The DP has difficulty lighting for both cameras at the same time. Michael Stringer was not happy.

GREYDON

Michael, I know you don't like shooting with two cameras for this dialogue stuff. But I don't see how else we can stay on schedule. We're going to do every scene, dance or dialogue with two cameras. We don't have a choice.

Earl Watson had three editors helping him cut each day's footage. After we wrapped a long day's shooting I went to the editing room for a couple of hours, where Earl showed me what he had cut that day. He quickly made changes I requested before Menahem, accompanied by Rick, came to look at the sequences and make his comments for the final cut. Menahem liked what he was seeing and his suggestions were minor. After Menahem left I went home to get a few hours' sleep, got up the next morning and went back into the editing room an hour before call time to check the final changes and lock the picture. You need a locked picture to begin the sound effects and music. If we'd waited to begin sound effects and music until we finished the entire picture, it would have been at least a month after shooting wrapped before we could have gotten our answer print. Earl hired additional guys to do post-production sound. Menahem hired Vladimir Horunzhy to do the music. We were shooting six days a week, twelve to fourteen hour days. With twelve hours on the set, three hours in the editing room, traveling to and from my house, I was getting four to five hours sleep a night.

About halfway through filming, Earl hired a young woman to cut picture. On her first day, she edited a simple dialog scene; two people sitting in a car. It was well cut. The next day Earl had her cut a dance sequence. Neither Earl nor I had a chance to look at it before Menahem and Rick gathered in front of the television monitor to watch it with the editor, Earl and me. It was awful, made no sense and was completely miscut. It looked as if I had no idea how to direct the scene. Menahem turned to me, his eyes blazing.

MENAHEM

What is this, Greydon? What the hell is wrong with you? This is awful! Christ, have you gone crazy? This isn't like what you've been doing. This doesn't even make sense! What the fuck did you do? Were you drunk or what?

GREYDON

I covered this scene just like I cover everything else. All the shots are there.

EARL

Wait a minute, Menahem, it's my fault. I didn't have a chance to look at it before I showed it to you or Greydon. Nobody saw it before. Not even me.

MENAHEM

Didn't you cut it? I thought you were cutting this picture.

GREYDON

Menahem, you know we have five or six people cutting. Earl cuts some scenes--

EARL

I'm responsible for all the editing. This is my fault. It won't happen again.

MENAHEM

It better not! This is terrible. It's cut fucking awful. Greydon, can you fix this piece of shit?

EARL

I can fix the sequence by tomorrow night. I promise.

Menahem stormed from the editing room, followed closely by Rick. The editor left the editing room without a word. Earl started to say something.

GREYDON

Don't worry about it, Earl. Who is this editor? Why did you hire her?

EARL

I don't want to cause problems or get between you and Rick. He hired her.

GREYDON

What do you mean Rick hired your editor? Earl, you're responsible for the editors. You hire who you want. I am exhausted. I've got to go home and get some sleep. Just fix it tonight and I'll look at it tomorrow morning before set. You hire as many people you want. We've got the tiger by the tail. Let's hang on.

I left the editing room and went to a small office to gather my things and get the hell out of there. The editor followed me into the office. She was pissed.

EDITOR

Who is that guy? He can't talk to me like that!

GREYDON

Yes, he can. He's Menahem Golan and it's his money that's making this movie. That's just the way he talks. He talks to me that way. Don't take it personally.

EDITOR
Well, he's going to apologize to me.
GREYDON

Nobody is going to apologize to anybody. I'll tell you what... This isn't working out. I'm going to let you go. You'll be paid for the two days you've been here.

EDITOR

You can't fire me. Rick Albert hired me and he's the producer.

GREYDON

And I'm the director and you're not gonna cut my stuff.

She stormed from the room. It was a long day and it wasn't over yet. Rick rushed in.

RICK

You don't have the right to fire anybody! Who do you think you are?

GREYDON

I'll tell you who I am: I'm the director of this goddamn movie and she's not going to cut my stuff. I'm exhausted and I've got to be on the set in six hours.

RICK

You are not going to fire her. I'm the producer and I hired her.

GREYDON

I can't believe you're not going to support me. If you want a showdown, I'll be on the set tomorrow.

RICK

We'll just see who has the final say on this. You just might get fired yourself.

I thought about punching the guy out, but I was six inches taller and outweighed him by fifty pounds. I hadn't had a fight since the second grade - he probably could've taken me. I went home to get some sleep. The next morning when I got to the editing room, Earl had completely re-cut the scene and it played well. I took off for the set; when I got there Marc Fischer was waiting for me.

FISCHER

I know all about your confrontation with Rick and so does Menahem. We're both on your side. Just forget about it and keep doing what you're doing. I want to let you know that I've never worked with a director with more confidence than you have. You set up the shot., get it and move the camera to the next setup fast and without hesitation. You don't second-guess yourself, just move on. You are going to make this picture in eighteen days; I didn't believe it was possible.

GREYDON

It's all the low-budget shit I've done over the years. I've always had to move quickly or the picture did not get made. I don't second-guess myself on the set. I do that when I'm home at night and trying to get to sleep. I appreciate your support and Menahem's. Just keep Rick off my back and I'll finish this picture on time.

Menahem stopped by during lunch. Rick was not with him.

MENAHEM

Did Rick Albert tell you I was going to fire you? I don't fire directors. And I'm sure as hell not going to fire you. You are on schedule and I like what you're getting. I looked at the fixed scene and it works. That guy's a very good editor.

I don't know what Menahem said to Rick, but he kept his distance and we never had another confrontation. We were shooting a dance number with Michael behind the "A" camera and David with the Steadicam strapped to his torso moving around the dancers. I had small remote video assist monitors in each hand. There were a couple of dozen extras lots of things going on. Between setups Whitney approached me with a worried look on his face.

WHITNEY

Greydon, you look tired. These dance numbers are tough. And with all these extras you're under a lot of pressure trying to stay on schedule.

GREYDON

Whitney, this isn't pressure. I'll tell you what pressure is: it's picking strawberries in the field when it's a hundred degrees and it starts to rain and you only get paid by the amount of berries you pick and the farmer is coming out to tell everyone to stop because of the rain and you're not gonna get paid and you have a wife and a handful of kids that you have to support. That's what pressure is. This is fun and I'm very lucky to be able to do it.

I meant it. I might be exhausted and half-sleepwalking, but I loved every minute of it. How many people can say that about their jobs? It was almost a quarter of a century to the day when I left Michigan and ran away from home to join the circus. How lucky I was; first of all to have had the years with Jackie and the boys and then to be able to make a nice living doing something that I truly loved – one lucky guy.

It was 1990 and AIDS was a worldwide plague. There was a love scene between my two young leads; the picture was going to be rated PG-13 so nudity was not an issue. However I wanted to make a statement about using condoms. I tried to do it with a sense of humor. I had a friend of the two young lovers slip a condom under the door for them to use. It got a laugh and made a point worth making.

When we were filming in the lobby of an office building Jackie brought the boys to the set. Menahem stopped by and I introduced him to my family. Sixteen years earlier Menahem had directed Jackie in a small role in Lepke she thought it was too small a part and asked that I not mention it. Laura Harring, much like Susan Blakely, made a fuss over the boys and they loved it. Must be something about the director's kids on the set...

A few days later Menahem's car skidded to a stop in the parking lot of the soundstage. He and Marc Fischer jumped out and ran toward Whitney and me. Something important was up.

MENAHEM

Great news, great news. We have major distribution on this film. Columbia Pictures is going to distribute as long as we are able to finish before Yoram.

GREYDON

That's terrific. We're on schedule and will stay that way. Earl is keeping up with us in the editing room. Whitney knows the PM on Yoram's picture.

WHITNEY

They started shooting a week before we did, but they're on a four-week schedule; we're three. We'll both finish production at the same time.

GREYDON

They're doing a conventional post with thirty-five millimeter dailies. There's no way they could get to answer print as quickly as we will.

MENAHEM

Just keep it up. We've got to beat that goddamn Yoram.

I just hoped I could make a picture good enough for Columbia. The other guys were shooting on a four-week schedule; we had three weeks... those eighteen days. Time on the set is everything. The more time you have, the more and better setups, the more takes, the better the picture. Columbia Pictures wasn't going to care what our shooting schedule was. They were just going to look at the picture. I might have a picture with major distribution... exciting stuff.

The next day at lunch Menahem and Rick came to the set. Menahem was very pissed. The Motion Picture Association must approve a picture's title. Once a studio registers a title they have exclusive rights to that title. Yoram registered the title " Lambada " before Menahem and we could not use it. Menahem was livid. If someone was an independent, not a member of the MPAA, they someone could exploit a title – take for example, Shampoo. Legally anyone could make a movie using the title Black Shampoo...

MENAHEM

Columbia won't let us use the title "Lambada." That goddamn Yoram registered it before we did. I thought Rick was going to take care of that but he didn't.

GREYDON

Could you title the picture The Forbidden Dance? I just shot a scene last night where the girl uses that term to describe Lambada.

MENAHEM

Lambada is the Forbidden Dance. That might work. That's pretty good.

I didn't think it was Rick's responsibility to register the title; Menahem should've done that when he first bought the rights to the song. I was able to get the title and optical job for my friend David Hewitt at Hollywood Optical. Menahem took story credit under Joseph Goldman, his pseudonym. I guess he thought it was his story, "A girl comes from Brazil to America and does the Lambada." He who pays the fiddler calls the tune.

THE FORBIDDEN DANCE – POST-PRODUCTION

We finished shooting on Wednesday, February 28 and began our sound mix the next day. We were going to have our answer print on Monday, five days after we finished production. Unbelievable. We had the first four reels ready for the sound mix and were simultaneously cutting picture and sound on the remaining six while we mixed. If it wasn't for the great Earl Watson, we simply couldn't have done it. He not only was responsible for cutting the picture but supervised the entire post-production sound as well. We were at the mixing stage Thursday through Sunday. Menahem's deal for the rights to the Lambada song allowed him to use it three times during the film for a total of seven minutes. We were mixing the first reel when a dance number came on the screen with music other than Lambada. Menahem stopped the mix.

MENAHEM
Why isn't that the Lambada song?
GREYDON

The Lambada song is in the movie three times for over six minutes. That's what you told me we were allowed under your contract.

MENAHEM

I don't care what I said. Just do it the fucking way I want and let me worry about my rights. Put the Lambada song over that dance. You worry too much, Greydon.Three or four times during the mix he insisted we add additional places for the song.

THE FORBIDDEN DANCE – DISTRIBUTION

We got the answer print early Monday. Menahem called me at my home that morning.

MENAHEM

I'm screening this afternoon at Columbia. Want to join me?

I met Menahem at his office and we rode in a limo over the hill to Columbia Pictures on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank. On the way over I noticed that Menahem looked ill. He never looked particularly healthy but today his face had a pasty white appearance.

GREYDON

Menahem, are you okay? You don't look so good.

MENAHEM

It's just that the last two times I screened for Columbia they turned the picture down. Everything is subject to them liking the picture.

GREYDON

You don't have a distribution deal. You have a first look deal.

We pulled through the Columbia Pictures gate and headed to the screening room carrying an eighteen-day picture that Columbia was supposed to think worthy of national distribution. Menahem introduced me as the director to three or four Columbia executives and we began. There was complete silence throughout the screening. We were missing the end titles and I got to my feet to address the executives.

GREYDON

We're going to pick a nice freeze frame of the two kids and have a title that reads, "This film is dedicated to the preservation of the rain forest."

The executives whispered a few words between themselves. Finally, one spoke.

COLOMBIA EXECUTIVE

Columbia would be happy to release this picture. Do we know what the status of the other picture Warner's is releasing?

GREYDON

They are mixing their picture this week and should have an answer print sometime next week. We beat them by a week.

MENAHEM

Can you release the picture nationally this Friday?

COLOMBIA EXECUTIVE

We could, but we won't have any trailers out. We should wait a week and release it the following Friday. We can put it on a thousand screens.

GREYDON

Excuse me, guys. The song Lambada is everything. Only Menahem secured the rights to the original song. The song and dance already have tons of publicity on national television. We don't need trailers. If you can get television spots out there just telling them that the picture exists, we'll get all the Lambada business. We need to get the picture out. If we wait a week the other Lambada will release the same day. Day and date. We could beat them if we get it out this Friday. Otherwise we'll just split the box office. Our whole intent was to be first in the market and Menahem accomplished that. Don't let us lose that advantage.

COLOMBIA EXECUTIVE

All we will agree to now is to release the picture nationally on a thousand screens.

Back in the limo we headed to Menahem's office. The color came back to his face.

GREYDON

Menahem, you've got to make them release the picture this Friday. That's the big advantage we have. That's what this has all been about. My God, we have an answer print in less than ninety days from when we first met. You have a commitment for a thousand screens. You've got to make this happen this Friday.

MENAHEM

I agree with you, Greydon. But they're going to do what they want to do. The important thing to me is they've accepted my distribution deal and I beat Yoram.

That was the extent of my involvement in the distribution of The Forbidden Dance. Menahem was a happy man. Columbia made a huge mistake and delayed the distribution by one week. The picture opened March 16, 1990, day and date with Yoram's Lambada and we split the box office. We did a few hundred dollars more per theater, but we could've opened the Friday before and taken all the Lambada business. Menahem bragged to everyone that The Forbidden Dance did more business and cost far less than Yoram's Lambada. He got three million dollars from Columbia and presold Portugal and South Korea for another five hundred grand. The picture cost Menahem less than a million to make, excluding whatever he paid for the music rights to the Lambada song: a nice two and a half million-dollar profit for an eighteen-day picture.

The LA Times review was very kind to me, "An exploitation film with socially redeeming values [...] The Forbidden Dance has a truly delirious storyline... A journey so overtly implausible it would ruin the fun to reveal it. And The Forbidden Dance is fun [...] resourceful director Greydon Clark knows exactly what he's doing, confidently zipping past every absurdity without apology."

The Forbidden Dance has been seen by more people that any of my pictures. Columbia released it throughout the world; it constantly plays on television and was a successful picture for all involved. For most it's a fun picture with pretty girls, dancing and a good guy, bad guy story. It's the only exploitation picture ever made that had a "tree hugging, let's save the planet" subplot. I like to think that somewhere, someone watches the picture and gives a second thought to what we're doing to our planet's environment.

DANCE MACARBE

DANCE MACABRE – SCREENPLAY

The Forbidden Dance was the fifteenth picture I directed. Ten of those films were from my original scripts; the other five I rewrote extensively, but took no writer credit. I wrote a dozen more scripts that were unproduced and acted in ten films. I was extremely lucky in my career. Like everyone on a cast and crew I was constantly working toward unemployment. When a picture was finished, I was unemployed. However I wasn't like everyone else; when the crew, and most of the cast, finished a picture they had to worry about rent, car payments etc. and needed to find work quickly. When my work finished, I had enough money that I could go a year or even longer without worrying where the next job would come from. My job was to create my next picture. I hadn't spoken to Menahem in several months and I stopped in his office.

GREYDON
What's next, Menahem?
MENAHEM

I did a picture in Budapest, Phantom of the Opera with Robert Englund. I lost a couple of million dollars on it. I have a pay or play contract with Englund to do a sequel. His agent is pushing me for a start date. I've got to pay him half a million dollars for a sequel that I don't want to do.

GREYDON

Shit... if you have a pay or play, you are going to have to pay Robert Englund his five hundred grand. You have no choice. Is there a script for the sequel?

MENAHEM

No. Just a sequel starring Robert Englund in a picture I don't want to make, Phantom of the Opera part two. Good money after bad.

GREYDON

Why don't I write something that he would want to do? That way you'll have a completely new picture with Englund. You're going to have to pay him anyhow.

MENAHEM

Not a bad idea. I have a script we own about a horseback riding academy.

I took a copy of Menahem's horseback riding academy script home and read it that evening. The next day I was back in Menahem's office.

GREYDON

I don't like the script at all. Besides, there's nothing in it for Robert Englund. I suppose I could do a complete rewrite and figure out a way to fit Englund in.

MENAHEM

Greydon, you do that and we'll make the picture. I'm going to Cannes and be gone about a month. When I get back, have the rewrite done.

Menahem left for Cannes and I went home to see what I could do with the script.

GREYDON

Jackie, I'm rewriting a script for Menahem. It just might be our next picture.

JACKIE

Is he paying you for the rewrite?

Good question. Menahem and I had not discussed my fee, but I was willing to come up with a story idea and even write a script on spec. His script was a haunted house story at a girl's horseback riding academy. A few days later, I received an overseas call from Menahem.

MENAHEM

Greydon, we're going to make the picture in Budapest. Write it so we can shoot it in Hungary. How's the script coming?

GREYDON

Good, I'm beginning to work it out.

I was less than candid. I was getting nowhere with the rewrite of the script, and now Budapest. A week later, Menahem called again, still overseas.

MENAHEM

Leningrad, Russia. We're going to make the picture in Leningrad. Would you go to Russia to make a movie?

GREYDON

Have passport, will direct.

He told me he'd be back in town in a few weeks and hung up. Leningrad, Russia? It was the summer of 1990; The Cold War was beginning to thaw, but America and the Soviet Union were still sworn enemies. I liked the idea of going to Russia, but a horseback riding academy in Leningrad? I decided to throw out Menahem's entire script and start from scratch. Ballet has historical and cultural importance in Russia; there must be a ballet school, right? A ballet school would give me a chance to have pretty young girls in cute wardrobe. What if... a Russian ballet school was accepting girls from the West for the first time? I could bring young ballerinas from the United States and Western Europe. Menahem was back in town and wanted to meet.

MENAHEM

ENGLUND'S people want a start date and their half a million dollars. They are coming here in two days. I want you at that meeting. Let's meet an hour before they come in and you can tell me about the script.

I left his office and headed back home; I had forty-eight hours to come up with something. Two days later, I was back in Menahem's office.

MENAHEM
Make me love this story. What do you have?
GREYDON

Well, I completely threw out the other script. This will be completely new. It's about a ballet school in Leningrad. For the first time they are accepting students from the West. Somebody is killing the ballerinas one by one.

MENAHEM

Ballet, that's good. What does Robert Englund do?

GREYDON

There's a famous Russian Madame who runs the school. Englund plays the part of the school caretaker, groundskeeper, who may or may not be the killer. It's a closed end murder mystery and we don't know who's killing the girls or why.

Menahem, who had been listening carefully, suddenly erupted.

MENAHEM

Robert Englund plays both parts! The Russian Madame and the groundskeeper!

GREYDON

I don't get it. You mean he plays the groundskeeper as Robert Englund and then the Russian Madame, a female ballet instructor?

MENAHEM

Yes. He plays both parts the man and the woman.

GREYDON

You mean like in Tootsie a comedy. I love comedy.

MENAHEM

Don't be stupid. This is Robert Englund... a horror movie.

I was dumbfounded. His secretary buzzed; Englund and his agent were in the outer office. My mind was whirling. How could Robert Englund play a Russian woman?

GREYDON

Menahem, let's keep it simple and generic. I don't know how the hell I can have Robert Englund play a Russian ballerina. I'm going to have to figure out how I could possibly do that, so let's not commit ourselves now, okay?

Menahem nodded. Englund and his agent took seats across from Menahem and me. We exchanged introductions and pleasantries: "Robert, you're a great actor... I look forward to working with you... yadda... yadda... yadda..." Menahem got down to business.

MENAHEM

We are shooting this in Leningrad, Russia; the first Russian/American coproduction. It will be a great adventure for everybody. Greydon directed Lambada, The Forbidden Dance for me and he has a great idea for the script. There is a famous ballet school in Leningrad... Ballerinas are being killed. The school is run by a Russian Madame and there is a groundskeeper. Robert, you play both parts; The Madame and the groundskeeper! Greydon, tell Robert all about it.

Menahem Golan was an interesting character; hot tempered, opinionated, used to getting things his own way, a bit of a bull in a china shop, but I liked the guy. I turned to Menahem smiled, and shook my head. Robert leaned forward in his seat, his eyes drilling into mine.

GREYDON

Look, I'm just beginning to formulate the story here. You have to give me some time to write the script and figure out how I can work all this out. It's a famous ballet school in Leningrad, The Kirov. It's the new Russia. They open the school to ballerinas from the West for the first time and someone doesn't like it and is killing the young girls. There's a groundskeeper who is the prime suspect.

ROBERT

Yeah, I can play the groundskeeper as a Cockney.

He suddenly went into a very good Cockney accent, pushing his head toward one shoulder and squinting one eye. I thought he was going to get up and limp around the room as if he had one leg and was playing Long John Silver.

ROBERT

Maybe with a patch on one eye and make him very evil. That would work. I don't know how I could play the Russian Madame, the woman who runs the school. I could do a Russian accent, but the woman's voice and the dance could be tough to pull off.

GREYDON

I don't know if that's exactly how it's going to work out. Right now, it's just a thought. I don't know if it's going to be a woman and a caretaker or what.

MENAHEM

We'll shoot next spring and Robert will play both parts, agreed?

ENGLUND'S AGENT

This is all assuming that Robert approves the script.

The meeting broke up. Menahem and I were alone in his office.

GREYDON

Didn't I ask you not to tell them about Robert playing a Russian woman? How the hell am I going to have Robert Englund play a Russian Madame?

MENAHEM

That's your problem. I'm going to announce this picture in Milan. Robert Englund directed by Greydon Clark, the director of Lambada, the Forbidden Dance.

GREYDON

Menahem, it's time we talked about what I'm going to get paid for this.

MENAHEM

You got seventy-five thousand for the last one. It'll be the same on this.

GREYDON

But I'm also writing this one. It'll be my story and screenplay as well as directing. I should get more.

MENAHEM

Don't be greedy. I'll give you one hundred thousand dollars. Now go write a screenplay that Robert Englund will agree to do. If he doesn't want to do the picture then nobody gets nothing. I'm going to Milan and then to Israel. We'll meet in Leningrad the first of the year. You bring the script.

As I left his office, I was very happy to be getting another chance to direct and the hundred grand wouldn't hurt either, but I was far from certain that I could write a screenplay that Englund would agree to do. I told Jackie the newest development.

JACKIE

Robert Englund, isn't he that Freddy Krueger guy?

GREYDON

Yeah, the picture is a go if I can write something that Englund agrees to make.

JACKIE

You've been doing that for more than twenty years... It should be easy for you.

GREYDON

Menahem wants Englund to play a Russian Madame who teaches ballet.

JACKIE

You mean a woman... like in Tootsie, a comedy.

GREYDON

No way. Menahem wants it to be a serious horror film.

JACKIE

How could Robert Englund possibly be a Russian ballet dancer? I've seen you do a lot of things that I thought were impossible. But I don't see how you can make this work. A ballet dancer? And a woman? Good luck! You better get to work.

And that's what I did. I sat in front of my blinking cursor for at least two weeks without a thought on how I could convincingly play Englund as a Russian Madame. Makeup and wardrobe could make him look like a woman, but the voice and the ballet dancing... How the hell could I get around that? Was I going to have him speaking in a falsetto voice? That would be comical. What if... she was mute? Have an entire movie with one of the main characters being mute... Forget that. Wait a minute, what if... The Madame lost her vocal cords and used one of those microphone devices that create the sound when someone has lost their vocal cords? Those devices have an electronic sound and that would camouflage Robert's voice. All he would have to do is speak with a Russian accent; voice problem solved. The ballet dancing... it wouldn't be believable to have Robert get on his toes and look like a world-famous ballerina. What if... The Madame not only needed the voice box, but also was confined to a wheelchair? She could wheel around the dancers and use a cane as a weapon while instructing the young ballerinas. We would not have to see her dance; dancing problem solved. I could begin writing the screenplay.

The Berlin Wall fell the prior year and Gorbachev was brilliantly handling the difficult job of dismantling the Soviet Union. The new openness in Russia would be a major part of the screenplay, which I eventually filmed as Dance Macabre. I wanted Robert to have more interaction with the ballerinas than a groundskeeper would. What if... we began the picture with a twenty-year flashback to America where a young American choreographer, played by Robert, falls in love with a young Russian ballerina? There is a motorcycle accident causing the young ballerina to be wheelchair-bound and creating the necessity for the electronic voice box. Robert takes the young ballerina back to Leningrad where twenty years later she has become the famous Madame of the Kirov Dance Academy. Robert is not a groundskeeper, but the American impresario of the Academy who opens it to western students. He encounters a young American student, who bears a striking resemblance to the young Madame and becomes obsessed with her. Why was Robert playing both roles? What if... the young ballerina actually lost her life in the motorcycle accident twenty years earlier? Robert psychotically develops a split personality and brings her back to life by taking his "Madame" back to Leningrad. Not bad... Might work. I had no contact with Menahem while I wrote the script. On January 17, 1991, the day that the first Gulf War began, Jackie drove me to LAX. America was bombing Baghdad; I was flying to Leningrad, Russia.

DANCE MACABRE – PRE-PRODUCTION – RUSSIA

I met Menahem at the hotel and we agreed to meet the next morning after he read the screenplay. The next morning Menahem was eating breakfast when I joined him.

MENAHEM

Robert Englund will kiss your ass to do this movie. We are only bringing the cast that speaks English. The Russians are supplying all the crew and equipment. You will have a six-week shooting schedule: twice what you had on Lambada.

GREYDON

I want to bring my PM/AD. I need somebody that I know I can count on.

MENAHEM

Okay, one guy. Otherwise, it's a Russian crew. Have what's his name, the big black guy, cut it in my office.

As Menahem and I were driven to the studio we passed row after row of drab apartment buildings and I muttered out loud.

GREYDON

This reminds me of New York in the nineteen thirties.

Anatoly Kulbitsky, a very experienced, middle-aged producer, showed us around the Lenfilm studio. Our interpreter did an excellent job translating. However with each sentence having to be interpreted, it took twice as long to have a simple conversation. I realized if I were on a set telling a Russian crew what I wanted, it would take twice as long for the communication back and forth. Lenfilm was gigantic with large soundstages, equipment and personnel. Ours was the first coproduction between an American and Russian studio. Stella was interpreting everything said, even when Menahem and I spoke between ourselves. Menahem was eager for me to commit to making the picture.

MENAHEM

So, what do you think, Greydon? Pretty impressive studio, don't you think?

GREYDON

Very nice. I'd like to see a ballet dance school.

The only English I heard a Russian say was always the same...

ANATOLY

No problem.

We jumped in a studio van and headed to a ballet school in the heart of Leningrad. There were mirrors on the wall and ballet barres positioned around one large room.

GREYDON

This won't work. It looks like it could be on Hollywood Boulevard. We need something that looks like what we think would be in Russia. Not necessarily the way it is; something like old Russia, something with big chandeliers; opulent, wealthy, decadent. A Czars' Palace that is now used to teach ballet.

Anatoly took us to the Yusupov Palace, a magnificent structure built in 1770 for Russian nobility with a large marble staircase in the foyer, giant chandeliers, painted ceilings and opulence everywhere. They led us to a large ballroom with a giant chandelier hanging in the center; it even had mirrored walls. Menahem went over to one of the mirrors, stood on one leg and did a ballet movement with the other. This guy had a nice sense of humor.

MENAHEM

Hey, Greydon, you won't find this on Hollywood Boulevard.

I agreed on the location; Menahem left the next morning. The Russians translated my script overnight and we had our first real production meeting, scripts in front of us.

GREYDON
Are you guys familiar with breakdown sheets?
ANATOLY

Yes, of course. We will have those in next few days. No problem.

Once again, the only English I ever heard was, "No problem." I met the department heads who were very experienced and eager to work. They set up a screening to show me their award-winning DP, Nikolai Pokoptsev's work. I watched about twenty minutes and the lighting was impressive. I set up each camera position myself, so I felt confident that I could work with most any DP. However I was concerned with how quickly the crew might move.

GREYDON

Very nice, Nikolai. What was your shooting schedule?

NIKOLAI

Six months of actual shooting then another month or so of second unit.

GREYDON

Are you aware we have six weeks to make our picture?

He looked around the screening room to half a dozen of his Russian comrades who had heard Stella's translation. The look on their faces was all the answer I needed. None of them had any idea of the shooting schedule. I met with their art director and we talked about the sets that would need constructing; the girl's rooms, Madame and Robert's rooms... "No problem". They introduced me to a choreographer who specialized in ballet... "No problem".

In the evening, they dropped me back at the hotel and the next morning we would begin the process at the studio all over again. I stepped into the elevator one morning and did a double take as I saw Michael Moore standing in the corner.

GREYDON

Mister Moore, I loved your picture, Roger and Me. What are you doing in Russia?

MICHAEL

I'm here to screen my picture for Russian film students. What are you doing here?

GREYDON

I'm doing pre-production on a film I'm writing and directing in Leningrad.

MICHAEL

Oh, we're in the same business. I have a screening tonight for the Russian film students. If you're not doing anything, you're more than welcome to join me.

GREYDON

That would be great. I'd love to. I'll be back from the studio at around six o'clock.

Folding chairs were arranged in a large open room; a screen and projector brought in for Michael's screening. A 16mm print was projected for fifty or so film students who watched with great intensity. Michael was kind enough to introduce me to the students and the screening began. A Russian interpreter stood next to the screen and translated in real time. The film is a tough look at the poverty created when General Motors closed their plant in Flint, Michigan, Michael's hometown. The screening finished, Michael got to his feet and faced the film students for a Q&A. A young guy shyly raised his hand.

FIRST RUSSIAN FILM STUDENT
Are you a communist?
MICHAEL

No. I'm a capitalist. I just think that business has a responsibility to its employees.

SECOND RUSSIAN FILM STUDENT

The furniture and TV that were moved to the street when the people had to get out, what happened to that stuff? Did the people go to jail?

MICHAEL

The stuff belonged to the people. They kept it and they did not go to jail.

The Q&A went on for some time and the differences in our societies were apparent. One student asked about the war currently raging in Baghdad.

MICHAEL

America gave millions and millions of dollars in weaponry to Saddam Hussein to fight Iran. Now he's using those weapons against the United States.

THIRD RUSSIAN STUDENT

And the Soviet Union gave millions of rubles to Iran to fight Iraq.

GREYDON

Seems like a major waste of money for both of us.

The Russian students applauded. Since the end of World War II, the Russian people were told that America was their enemy and we were going to drop nuclear weapons on their motherland. In America, we were told that Russia was our enemy and they were going to send nuclear weapons to destroy us. The expense of the Cold War arms race was extremely costly to both societies; people died and the standard of living was far less than it could have been. Michael was a pleasant, intelligent fellow. I like and admire his films and political positions. The world needs more people like Michael Moore.

DANCE MACABRE – PRE-PRODUCTION – USA

When I got back to LA, I spent a couple weeks rewriting the script to make it fit the Leningrad locations. Menahem was flying around the world making deals and we had no contact. It was the beginning of March when I hired Whitney Hunter to begin pre-production. Earl Watson was available to cut the picture. Menahem's office got the script to Englund's agent. Ami Artzi, Menahem's right-hand man, wanted to see me.

AMI

Robert Englund likes the script and has agreed to do it. Menahem wants you to start shooting in April or May. Galina Tuchinsky is a Russian producer living in Los Angeles. She will coordinate between Lenfilm and us.

GREYDON

What are we doing about Robert Englund's special effects makeup?

AMI

Englund has his own makeup guy. He's going to Russia with you.

GREYDON

Great. I need to see makeup tests before we go.

We needed four English-speaking actresses who could get on their toes and be believable ballet dancers. The lead actress needed to be a superb dancer and be able to carry the show along with Robert. We released a casting call to the agents and waited to hear. However by emphasizing that the girls must be proficient in ballet and that the picture would be shot in Russia and be non-SAG, we received only a few submissions. Whitney set up appointments to interview the actresses. The girls were attractive, even some with acting experience, but none were real ballet dancers. An especially attractive young actress, Marianna Moen gave a very nice reading.

GREYDON

Marianna, very nice. Have you any ballet experience at all?

MARIANNA

Not really. But I do dance and move very well.

Marianna was from a Scandinavian country and had a charming accent; maybe I could fake her dancing. Where the hell was I going to find real ballet dancers who could act and would come with me to Russia to make a low-budget picture? This was Hollywood... there must be ballet schools. There were a dozen dancers warming up when I entered a ballet school in West LA. It looked like the first place I was taken to in Russia; a big empty room with mirrors and ballet barres along the walls. I watched them work out for a few minutes and was impressed; these kids could dance and looked very professional. I found the teacher and explained my purpose for being there. He addressed his students.

CHOREOGRAPHER

If I could have everyone's attention! Our visitor is making a ballet movie in Leningrad, Russia. He wants to take four girls with him. Taking American ballet dancers to Russia seems a bit strange to me. Mister Clark the stage is yours.

GREYDON

Thank you. I made The Forbidden Dance last year here in LA I'm shooting this summer in Leningrad. It's a story about a ballet dance Academy in Russia who opens to girls from the West. We would be there for about six weeks. The picture stars Robert Englund. I need girls who can dance as well as act.

They suddenly descended on me like eager puppies coming for dinner. Each swearing they were great actresses and the best ballerina's in the world. They had photos and resumes handy in their bags, I wasn't surprised. After all, like I said, this was Hollywood. Whitney contacted the dancers and set up appointments. There were two, Michelle Zeitlin and Nina Goldman, who had credits as both dancers and actors. I have been on both sides of the desk when a movie is cast. What the actor doesn't realize is that the director is hoping as much as anyone that the person on the other side of the desk is right for the role. Whitney gave the girls "sides" to look over while they waited in the outer office. Nina Goldman came in first and gave a very good reading.

GREYDON

Very nice, Nina. Could you read that with a slight French accent? Take your time.

She took a few moments and reread the scene with a very charming French accent. I was pleased and asked her to wait in the outer office. She left and I turned to Whitney.

GREYDON
What do you think?
WHITNEY

She seemed fine to me. How do you know she can do the necessary ballet?

Good question. Michelle Zeitlin had an extensive dancing background on Broadway. I hoped she could act. She gave an excellent reading and was full of confidence. I thought she might be my leading lady. I had Nina come back inside our office.

GREYDON
You guys are friends?
MICHELLE
Good friends.
GREYDON

I'm going to give you ladies each a copy of the full script. Take it home. Read it and let me know what you think. Nina, I am thinking of you for Claudine. Michelle, Jessica, I think you can both handle it from an acting perspective. I don't know if you can really do the ballet that I need.

MICHELLE

We've been taking ballet since we were in kindergarten. Why don't you come back to class and we can show you? I can set that up.

GREYDON

Good idea. There is some nudity required for both roles. Read the script.

The girls left, Whitney and I were encouraged. There were a couple of other actresses waiting to see us. Julene Renee-Preciado, a thin cute, wide-eyed blonde, was next up.

GREYDON

Julene, let me ask you before we begin reading scenes. I really need ballet dancers.

JULENE

I won't lie to you. I'm not a ballet dancer. But I am a dancer, a gymnast and I do yoga every day. Watch.

She got to her feet and moved smoothly around the room, twisting her body like a pretzel into elegant gymnastic and yoga positions. I really only needed two exceptional ballet dancers from America. Could I surround all my American actresses with exceptional Russian ballet talent and perhaps make it work?

GREYDON

Do you suppose you could read the scene with an English accent?

JULENE

No problem.

"No problem." Could she be Russian? She read with a very good English accent. She left and we had four girls that we could take with us to Russia. It was much easier than I thought it would be. However I needed to make certain at least two of them could really perform as ballet dancers. Michelle Zeitlin made arrangements at her studio to audition. I asked Marianna and Julene to meet me at the dance studio. I arrived at the studio and the choreographer stopped me.

CHOREOGRAPHER

I can tell you right now. Michelle is amazing and if you are able to get her, you're very lucky. The same is true with Nina. The other two are not ballet dancers at all. The blonde girl is some sort of gymnast and moves well, but she's not a ballet dancer. The other girl, Marianna? She can't dance at all.

I watched the girls move around the room. Michelle and Nina were astonishingly good. Julene moved with such grace and flexibility that I thought I could make her work. Marianna couldn't dance, but her character was always high on pills, not being able to dance might fit. I pulled my four actresses aside.

GREYDON

I'd like to cast you four ladies. We only have a thousand a week and you would work six weeks. Everyone gets the same. A couple of things before you make your final decision. I don't know the first thing about ballet. There will be a Russian choreographer, but we should not rely on him. You're going to have to do most of this yourself and it's not going to be easy. Michelle and Nina, you've read the script and are aware of the nudity required for your roles. Any problems?

Both girls assured me that the nude scenes would not be a problem. I needed two remaining roles cast in America, Robert's assistant, a Russian woman, and a young Russian magazine reporter. It was critical that we cast these two roles in America with English/Russian speaking actors. I didn't want to wait until I got to Leningrad to see if I could cast those two roles with actors who spoke English. I asked Galina Tuchinsky, the Russian producer whom Menahem hired to coordinate the coproduction, if she knew any Russian actors in LA. She brought Irina Davidoff and Alexander Sergeyev in to see me. Both spoke good English, gave excellent readings and I was happy to cast them. Making a motion picture involves a myriad of things. The script is probably the most important, followed closely by the actors. If a picture is well cast the director's job is infinitely easier; we were exceptionally well cast. I went in to see Ami.

GREYDON

I need to see Robert Englund's special effects makeup.

AMI

Oh, didn't I give you this? Here's a phone number for the makeup guy.

Louis Lazzar, Robert England's personal makeup person, had a studio in North Hollywood. When I arrived, Robert was sitting in a makeup chair with his back to me. We had not spoken since that first meeting last fall when he thought he was going to play a cockney groundskeeper and a Russian woman. I was anxious to see how the makeup worked and also wanted to get Robert's thoughts about the script. I introduced myself to Louis. Robert turned his chair and extended his hand as the Madame. I kissed his hand and smiled.

GREYDON

Madame, you look lovely this afternoon. Great job, guys. This is terrific

Prosthetic pieces covered most of his face; the makeup and wig worked beautifully. Robert Englund was a believable woman.

LOU

He's going to be wearing a beard and have a scar from the motorcycle accident when he plays the impresario.

ROBERT

It's not finalized yet. We have to make certain that wardrobe covers the Adam's apple and we're doing a bit more with the eyes. But I think it looks pretty good.

GREYDON

I'm very impressed. Lou, you've done a great job. Robert, let's talk about the script. Anything you'd like to get into? Problems? Character?

ROBERT

Not really. When we get over there, I'll have some thoughts we can discuss then. But it's pretty much on the page. I like it. I think it's going to work.

GREYDON

I'm heading to Leningrad for pre-production next week. You're going to have to make all the wardrobe choices yourself. Just contact Menahem's office and they'll work it out with you. I want you to know that I'm always eager to listen to anything you have to say. You too, Lou. I'm always open to suggestions.

It was the first week in March 1991 when Whitney left for Leningrad. I was scheduled to follow the next week when Menahem suddenly appeared in his office. We had not spoken since the day and a half we had together in Leningrad and I was eager to see him. I'd written the script and been working more than six months on the film and had yet to receive a dime. I went directly to his office.

GREYDON

We were lucky that I found a great leading lady who is an actual ballerina and can act. I've seen Englund's makeup as the Madame and it's very good. We're all set. I'm gonna have six weeks of pre-production and then shoot for six weeks.

MENAHEM

My daughter, Yael, is going to be there the whole time. She's experienced in production and will be there to help you.

GREYDON

Menahem, I haven't gotten a dime out of your office. We agreed on a hundred grand. I want ten grand a week for the next ten weeks starting now. Just send my check each week to my house. I'll pick up the first one today.

Menahem kept his word and paid me each week as agreed.

DANCE MACABRE – PRE-PRODUCTION – RUSSIA

The weather was surprisingly mild in Leningrad when Whitney met me at the airport with Anatoly, who took us to a large tourist hotel on the Gulf of Finland. When I entered the lobby I noticed large television screens hanging prominently over the entrance; MTV videos were on a constant loop from Michael Jackson to Dolly Parton. The young people working at the hotel stared, transfixed at the images above them. For seventy years, the communist government controlled all media. The citizens of the Soviet Union knew nothing of life in the West. Suddenly, the young people were exposed to western values and lifestyles through satellite television. "How you gonna keep them down on the gulag once they've seen MTV?"

The next morning, we arrived at the studio and were greeted by Anatoly and Sergei Nikasin, my new interpreter. Sergei was about my age, tall and thin. He was a brilliant linguist who spoke half a dozen languages, a former lieutenant colonel in the Russian military, and an interpreter in Afghanistan. He objected to that war and resigned from the Communist Party in protest. He was given a dishonorable discharge and lost his ability to work. However his linguistic skills allowed him to get an occasional job at Lenfilm. Russian television played the Rodney King beating by the Los Angeles police over and over again. America didn't look like a pleasant place to live.

Everyone smoked in Russia; everyone. Whitney, who had been there a week, introduced me to their AD, Yuri. No one spoke English and Sergei translated everything. I learned a few basic Russian expressions: Good morning, thank you etc.

GREYDON

The first thing I want to say to everyone is that I have a sensitive throat. I'm going to have to ask you not to smoke around me. Sorry, that's just the way it has to be.

They immediately put out their cigarettes and the meeting went forward. The sets were under construction for the girls' dormitories, Madame's bedroom and the impresario's living quarters. They were identical to the drawings that I approved months before.

ANATOLY

Can you tell me where any actor might want to lean against a wall? Other than the walls that have a door or window, we put wallpaper up with nothing behind it for support. If you need an actor to push against it, we would need to put up a wall. Otherwise, they would break through the wallpaper.

GREYDON

I won't stage anything that will require an actor to push through the wallpaper. The sets are fine. We start shooting in six weeks. Are they going to be ready?

"No problem." The Soviet Union set the value of their ruble at such a low figure that "hard currency" from the West was highly sought after. It took one dollar to buy approximately thirty rubles that could buy a fine dinner in a luxurious restaurant. Whitney and I ate each evening at the hotel and it was an unusual dining experience. An impeccably uniformed waiter presented a large menu. We ordered directly from it and the waiter would smile and shake his head.

Waiter

Sorry, we don't have.

We ordered something else followed by the same result, "Sorry... Sorry... Sorry"... Finally, we hit on something that was available; the waiter nodded and after an hour would bring our dinner. After several nights, we simply asked the waiter to indicate what was available and we pointed to our watches with a smile. The Russians were very pleasant, hard-working people who were going through great difficulties as their country changed from a completely controlled system to a hybrid communist/capitalist economy. One day a crowd gathered around a vendor on a street corner. They were selling bananas out of the back of a huge truck. Sergei, as always, was with us.

SERGEI

Bananas from Cuba; it's a big deal in this troubled country.

Yael Golan and her boyfriend arrived from Israel. They were a pleasant young couple in their twenties. Both had experience working on production, mostly in the Middle East. Yael was in contact with her father on a daily basis. I never heard from Menahem, so I assumed that her reports were positive.

The city of Leningrad was designed for Czar, Peter the Great, in the early 1700s as the Imperial capital of Russia. It is filled with palaces, monuments and an elaborate canal system, attracting tourists from all over the world. I wanted to take advantage of the city and let everyone know we were actually filming in Russia. I rewrote extensively once locations were locked. Each morning I had rewritten pages translated and distributed to the appropriate department heads. A week before we started filming, Robert Englund and his wife, Nancy, along with Lou Lazzar arrived in Leningrad. My four actresses arrived a few days later. Michelle Zeitlin met with a Russian choreographer and they got on famously. We were days away from filming when a worried Anatoly approached me.

ANATOLY

The set for the impresario's home will not be ready. We cannot get electrical wire.

He took me to the set. It looked great to me, a fireplace, desk, tables, kitchen area.

ANATOLY

The script says that Mister Englund switches on the light. We have the light switch on the wall, but can't get the wire that connects it to the light.

GREYDON

Wait a minute; you think that the actor himself has to switch the light on? That's not necessary. I'll just have Robert's hand on the switch and your electrician turns on the light from offstage.

ANATOLY

We thought you wanted Mister Englund to actually turn on the light.

I assured him that we could make this work as long as the electrician could coordinate turning on the light from offstage. If they had trouble finding common electrical wire, it must have been very difficult for them to gather all the material necessary for the production. Nevertheless, the Russians did a wonderful job in prep. I wondered if I could get them to move fast enough to stay on schedule and complete filming in our six weeks. Another unexpected problem popped up. When I wrote the script, the city was Leningrad. However there was going to be a vote to change the name of the city from Leningrad back to its original name, St. Petersburg. Throughout my screenplay, I referred to the city as Leningrad. Our shooting began two weeks prior to the name change election and I needed to decide what to call the city in my film. I asked crew members what they thought the result of the election would be. To a person they all responded with St. Petersburg. Sergei was the guy I trusted most of all.

SERGEI

I'm certain that the city will vote to change the name to St. Petersburg. But it was Stalin who said, "It doesn't matter what the vote is, it matters who counts the votes." They'll count the votes and they'll decide what the city will be called.

I decided to refer to the city as St. Petersburg. The citizens of Russia were more and more disenchanted with the communist government as they became aware of how people were living in the West. My luck held and the world now refers to the great city of St. Petersburg, Russia. Menahem arrived for one day during pre-production.

MENAHEM

I'm putting together a production in Moscow. Remember when you said that Russia reminded you of New York in the nineteen thirties? I'm gonna do two prohibition gangster pictures back to back. Mark Slater is going to produce them for me. I'm sending him here to take a look around and see what you're doing.

DANCE MACABRE – PRODUCTION

We began production the first week in May 1991. The film opens with Robert Englund as the Madame, alone in a rehearsal hall, struggling to get up from her wheelchair and trying unsuccessfully to raise one leg to assume a ballet position. She collapses in her wheelchair and we flashback to twenty years earlier; New York City, Broadway, a young American choreographer played by Robert and a young Russian ballerina played by Michelle have fallen in love. Robert tries to convince Michelle to stay with him in America. She refuses to defect; a drunk Robert climbs on his motorcycle and is about to roar away when Michelle settles in behind him. There is a horrific accident scarring Robert and crippling Michelle, a nice sequence. In pre-production I explained to my Russian crew how we were going to film Robert and Michelle on the moving motorcycle.

GREYDON

We need a low flatbed trailer and a truck to pull it. We'll tie the motorcycle down on the bed of the trailer along with the camera. Robert and Michelle will get on the motorcycle and we'll pull the trailer and position the camera in such a way that it looks like the motorcycle is moving. We just have to make damn sure that Robert and Michelle can't fall off. We'll play it as if it's Central Park. There'll be a horse and carriage that causes Robert to swerve and the motorcycle overturns and explodes, causing a fire. We'll need stunt people. But I want to be able to get the close shots of Robert and Michelle and their dialogue on the bike while it's tied down on the back of the flatbed trailer while it's moving.

I did crude drawings of what I needed and explained repeatedly how it should work. Even though Sergei was an excellent interpreter, I could never be certain that what I was saying was fully understood. When it came time to shoot the scene, I needn't have worried. It went exactly as planned and was a dynamic opening for the picture. I moved quickly from setup to setup, hoping the crew would pick up their rhythm from me. I learned one important Russian word, "suda," which meant "here." I would say "suda," meaning put the camera here and would point with my fingers in the direction I wanted the camera to point. If I wanted a dolly or a pan, I pantomimed the camera movement. If I felt the crew was taking too long to set the lights, I would get my DP's attention by tapping my wristwatch and smiling. Soon, the crew was moving as fast as the American crews. It did take more time to translate everything, but the crew was excellent and kept up with me.

A week into the shooting schedule we filmed the scene where her father brings Michelle's character to the ballet academy. We needed an English-speaking actor to play her father and I did the role. It was a simple dialog sequence between Robert and me. I hadn't acted since Final Justice seven years earlier, but the scene went well; it took us three or four hours to complete. The next day, Anatoly came to the set with a concerned look on his face.

ANATOLY

The laboratory ruined one roll of film. It's the scene with you and Mister Englund.

I was pissed, but I didn't want to lose my temper and shake the confidence of my new Russian friends. I stayed calm; Robert and I were still available.

GREYDON

We'll just shoot it again. Whitney, put it on the schedule for tomorrow.

Communication between America and the Soviet Union was very limited, no Internet or cell phone. You had to book a telephone call at least a week in advance and I only had a chance to speak to Jackie a couple of times during my three month stay. Yael and Menahem were telegraphing back and forth each day. Mark Slater, the guy who was producing Menahem's films in Moscow, showed up for a few days to look around. He was a pleasant fellow and stayed out of the way, observing the Russian crew and me working together. He spent most of his time with Whitney in the office.

When Robert was made up as the Madame, I found myself treating the "actress" differently; gentler, the way a director would treat an older actress. He was very good with his Russian accent and was cooperative with his fellow actors. Lou Lazzar was a fantastic makeup artist. Not only did he make Robert believable as the Madame, but he also added facial hair and a scar when Robert played the impresario. Irena Davidoff and Alexander Sergeyev, the two Russians I brought from LA, were excellent. Michelle and the Russian choreographer worked well together with Michelle taking the lead. We were working twelve to fourteen hour days and the crew was moving well. After the first week, Sergei came to me with an important question.

SERGEI

Do your legs tighten at night?

GREYDON

You mean cramps, like a twisting?

I was on my feet all day long. I would often wake in the middle of the night with leg cramps. It happened on all my films. Sergei caught the low budget film director's disease, leg cramps. My advice to young directors... wear comfortable shoes and sit as often as possible. A few days later, Sergei had another problem.

SERGEI

I'm working twice as hard as the interpreter in makeup. During the day, she reads a book while I'm on my feet working with you. I asked Anatoly for more money and he refused. So today, I'm going to interpret for the makeup department and someone else will be on the set with you. Our system has a fixed amount for an interpreter. If you work harder or are better, you get the same pay as any other interpreter. I'm sorry, Greydon.

GREYDON

Work with me today and I'll straighten this out with Anatoly. I'll see to it you get more money than any other interpreter. You deserve it.

I spoke to Anatoly at lunch and he agreed to list Sergei as his assistant, which paid more than an interpreter. The communist system left no room for initiative and talent. If you were an interpreter working a couple hours a day, you made the same as a great interpreter who was working twelve to fourteen hours. Is there any wonder that eventually the country had to change? The wonder is how the system lasted seventy years. We were filming a sequence in a disco when Anatoly, Yael and Menahem approached.

MENAHEM

I'm only staying one day. Your editor likes what he's seeing. You are on schedule.

A young Russian female crew member shyly approached us.

YOUNG GIRL

I want to thank you, Mister Clark, for giving me a chance to work on your film. I am assistant wardrobe. I am leaving for Germany and have a job in a hotel.

Menahem suddenly went off on the young girl.

MENAHEM

You can't do that! You can't leave a production. It's not right. It's goddamn unprofessional! What kind of crew is this? People leaving in the middle of a show!

The girl was about to burst into tears. The entire crew was watching as Menahem's tirade went on. I should've stopped Menahem sooner.

GREYDON

Menahem, enough. She's just a second wardrobe assistant and this is a big break for her to leave Russia and go to Germany. It's not a big deal for us.

MENAHEM

It is a big goddamn deal! People cannot leave a production in the middle of it!

GREYDON

The crew is watching us and I have to work with these people. If someone needs to be yelled at, let me do the yelling. Young lady, good luck in Germany.

MENAHEM

All right, Greydon. You handle it the way you want, but it's not professional.

The girl walked away and I turned to the crew to continue the day's work. Menahem was enthusiastically supportive the rest of the day. That evening Menahem and I were in the production office. Nikolai and Yuri, my DP and AD, asked to see us. Sergei was with them.

NIKOLAI

Mister Golan, we haven't been paid anything. None of the crew has been paid. We've worked over two weeks. Shouldn't we be paid?

MENAHEM

My deal is with Lenfilm. They are supposed to pay you. Take it up with them.

GREYDON

Mister Golan is correct. It's Lenfilm's responsibility to pay the crew.

I motioned for the guys to follow me outside the office and we met in the hallway. I pulled three twenty dollar bills from my pocket and handed one to each of the guys. They all shook their heads and refused to take the money.

GREYDON

Look, guys, take the goddamn money. I can't make this picture without you. I'll make certain that Lenfilm pays you. Take this for now.

They took the cash. These guys were busting their ass and twenty dollars in hard currency would make a difference. I went back to Menahem.

GREYDON

I gave them a few bucks from my own kick. That's all right. They deserve it. But you've got to talk to the guys at Lenfilm and make sure they're paid or the crew is not going to show up. I can do a lot, Menahem, but if I don't have crew...

MENAHEM

You worry too much. Are you going to be able to stay on schedule?

GREYDON

If I have a crew, will you talk to the people at Lenfilm?

MENAHEM

I'm leaving early tomorrow morning. I'll have Yael speak to them.

Menahem left the next day. Yael was a nice young woman, but I didn't think she would have a chance talking to the tough production people at Lenfilm. First thing the next morning I asked Sergei and Anatoly to accompany me into the studio president's office.

GREYDON

It has come to my attention that Lenfilm is not paying the crew. This is completely unacceptable. Write them a check and see to it that they're paid each week.

SERGEI

I'm sorry, Greydon, there is no such thing as checks in the Soviet Union. We get an envelope full of rubles for the week. At least we are supposed to.

GREYDON

Okay, fine. Then I want you to get these guys their envelopes full of rubles for the weeks they've already worked and then see to it that they get paid each week. If they're not paid their back pay by the end of today, I'll be on the next plane back to America. If I leave, this whole production falls apart and nobody in the American film industry will be willing to come to Russia to make a picture. Sergei, you make goddamn certain this guy knows that I will do exactly as I say and the crew better be paid by the time we wrap this evening.

I turned and strode from the room, not waiting for a response from the studio executive. Back on the set, I told Yael that she needn't speak to Lenfilm about the crew being paid. She had no idea what I was talking about; Menahem had not said a word to her. That evening, Anatoly had a briefcase full of envelopes stuffed with rubles for each crew member. I assume the word got around that I went to bat for my guys who continued to show up and work as hard as ever. Whitney was very good to work with and he was invaluable to the production. Like in Malta, I didn't need an assistant director on the set, what I needed was for him to be in the office working with Anatoly to prepare the next day and, supplies being what they were in Russia, that was far from an easy task.

The girls were very cooperative as we killed them off one by one. I wrote unique ways for the unknown killer to do his dastardly deeds; Nina Goldman was drowned violently in a swimming pool, Marianna Moen thrown out of a fifth story window, and Julene Renee hung from the rafters backstage at a ballet theater. We needed a stunt double for Marianna when she was thrown out of the window. When I looked at what the stuntwoman was falling into, I couldn't believe my eyes. They piled up five feet of cardboard boxes with a couple of thin mattresses on top. It was a fifty-foot fall and I was very concerned.

GREYDON

This doesn't look safe to me. Don't you have an airbag or something safer?

ANATOLY

I don't know what that is. She's very experienced and we know what we're doing.

When in Russia, do as the Russians do. I set up three cameras and the stunt went well

Julene Renee had a rope tied around her neck and was jerked to the rafters backstage at the ballet theater. I filmed her close-up and called the stuntwoman in.

JULENE

I can do this, Greydon. Let me do it. Let me do it. Remember, I'm a gymnast. I'm used to being high in the air. Let me do it.

GREYDON

I have more to film with you and if the rope should break or even if you just twisted your ankle, I'd have to shut down. That's why we have stunt people. Don't you want to give this Russian woman a chance to earn a few rubles?

She agreed. When it came time to do Nina's killing no stuntwoman was necessary. She disrobed and got into a swimming pool, without comment. I used Sergei's hands and arms to hold her under the water as she struggled. The scene went well with Nikolai and his assistants in the waist deep water for the coverage. The next day Sergei showed me his black and blue arms were Nina had flailed against them; not a word of complaint, just a prideful smile from my Russian interpreter/assistant.

Robert's impresario character falls in love with Michelle Zeitlin. As he watches her run off with her young Russian lover, I wanted his eyes to tear up. Lou was always on the set whenever Robert was shooting.

ROBERT

How close are you going to be on me for this shot?

GREYDON

Very tight.

Robert nodded to Lou who pulled a small battery-operated fan from his makeup bag of tricks, stood just off camera and blew something into Robert's eyes causing them to fill with tears; The magic of filmmaking... Michelle Zeitlin was wonderful to work with. She and the Russian choreographer created a scene from Swan Lake and she was sensational. Not only was she a fantastic actress and creative dancer, but when it came time to do the love scene between her and Alex, she was completely cooperative. As I had in The Forbidden Dance, I indicated the lovers used a condom.

The filming wrapped on schedule on June 21, 1991. When we finished shooting the studio asked us to a celebratory luncheon. Anatoly raised his glass.

ANATOLY

I would like to thank Mister Clark for teaching us the biggest lesson; the value of time. When he said he would shoot this picture in six weeks, I thought he was crazy. I have been working in this business for almost fifty years and never thought it was possible. If we are going to make pictures that make money in the future, we have to learn from the West. He showed us the value of time.

The value of time? What else do we have in life except the value of the time between when we are born and when we die? Everything else is an illusion, like a movie.

DANCE MACABRE – POST-PRODUCTION

I was happy with the film and happy to be home. The next day, I headed into the editing room and was pleased with what I saw. Earl had about an hour cut and it seemed to play well. Earl took a telephone call; from his expression, I knew it was something important.

EARL

That was Reginald Hudlin. I cut House Party for him. He wants me to cut his next picture with Eddie Murphy. It's going to get me in the Editors Guild. I'll be able to get health insurance. They can't keep me out any longer.

GREYDON

That's great, Earl. I couldn't be happier for you; it's a big break.

Earl tried to join the Editors Guild for years, but he was so severely overweight that they kept refusing him for health reasons. Boomerang was a major studio picture with a major star; the Guild could not turn him down. The great Earl Watson got in his Guild and went on to cut many major films. He deserved his success. In a bit over a month, we had our first cut and were ready to show it to Menahem. He watched in complete silence on the television monitor in his office. The film finished and Menahem turned to us.

MENAHEM

The picture is good. Don't change anything. I want you to cut my next picture.

GREYDON

Earl is going to be cutting the next Eddie Murphy picture.

MENAHEM

I want you to cut my picture. Eddie Murphy is nothing.

GREYDON

Menahem, it's a major studio film, a huge break for him and Earl is going to cut it. Now let's talk about something important. I have a guy I would like to do the music. He is very good and very cheap. I think I can get him to do all the music for ten grand. I used him twice before. I guarantee he'll do a great job.

Menahem agreed and I hired Dan Slider to do the music. Menahem never mentioned Earl cutting for him again. In fact, I am not sure Menahem ever knew Earl's name. I got the title and optical job for Dave Hewitt at Hollywood Optical and Earl began cutting sound effects. Ami Artzi's office called and asked that I come see him immediately. Ami sat behind his desk with a worried expression on his face. Menahem was in North Carolina directing a picture. Ami got him on the speakerphone.

MENAHEM

The production in Moscow is way behind schedule. They are blaming the Russian crew. I am firing the director. I want you to go over there and direct.

GREYDON

Menahem, I don't want to replace another director.

MENAHEM

You are not replacing the director. I am. He's done. He's fired. It's two films. You should leave tomorrow. You owe me.

I wasn't certain how he figured that I owed him. I thought that I fulfilled every promise that I made and he had profited handsomely from our association.

GREYDON

I can't possibly leave tomorrow. I haven't even read a script.

MENAHEM

Ami will get you the scripts. Ami, get Greydon on a plane to Moscow.

Menahem hung up and Ami shoved two scripts across his desk toward me.

Mad Dog Coll

MAD DOG COLL – PRE-PRODUCTION

It was early evening before I was able to begin reading the first script, Mad Dog Coll. The script was almost incoherent, extremely difficult to follow. The dialogue was written with a "Bowery Boys" dialect for all the characters, "dees...dems... and dohs." I couldn't imagine how it would work on screen, unless it was played for laughs with Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall starring. It was a true story following the short lives of the Coll brothers and their violent history working with the Dutch Schultz gang in New York City during the nineteen twenties and thirties. Vincent accidentally gunned down a five-year-old child in a gang shootout. The newspapers dubbed him, "Mad Dog." He was the hero of the story so somehow I would have to make him sympathetic. The script needed a lot of work, but the basic story and characters were there. I finished the Mad Dog Coll script, placed it aside and picked up the second script, Hit the Dutchman. I got through about thirty pages of the second script and the pages seemed identical to what I just read in the first script. I compared both scripts. The last eighty or so pages of the second script were actually Xeroxed copies of pages from the first script. I was completely confused. Ami was sitting behind Menahem's desk when I came in the office the next day.

GREYDON

Ami, are you aware that these two scripts are the same?

AMI

That's the idea. The first one is about Mad Dog Coll and the second one Dutch Schultz. They worked together and then went to war with each other.

GREYDON

Ami, I'm telling you, the second script is just Xeroxed pages of the first.

I showed him the two scripts side-by-side. He shook his head in shocked disbelief.

AMI
How the hell could this happen?
GREYDON

You're asking me? I had nothing to do with it. Did anybody read these scripts?

AMI
I haven't. I don't know about Menahem.
GREYDON

I don't know how I can go to Moscow and shoot two movies from one script. If you want to film those scripts, find another director. Get Menahem on the phone.

Ami placed a call to Menahem. They spoke in Hebrew for a few moments; I saw the color drain from Ami's face. He put Menahem on the speakerphone.

MENAHEM

I need you to go to Moscow, straighten this out and make both pictures.

GREYDON

I don't see how it's possible to do two pictures back to back without a couple of weeks shut down to write a new script for Dutch Schultz.

MENAHEM

I can't shut down. I've got a dozen actors and a full American crew over there. I've got to keep filming. I'm shooting here in North Carolina. I can't leave. You've got to go to Moscow and do this. You've written things before; do a rewrite.

GREYDON

Menahem, I won't be able to write a new script and rewrite the old one at the same time I'm directing. I'll take a writer with me. I have a guy who is very good and will work cheap. What was your original shooting schedule for both films?

MENAHEM

Nine weeks total. They're on their fifth week and haven't even finished their first week of schedule. I need you to do this. My wrists are cut and I'm bleeding...

GREYDON

Maybe my writer and I could do a rewrite on Mad Dog in the evening. Then when I'm shooting he could write a new script for Dutch Schultz during the day.

MENAHEM

I've got camera, grip, electrical, wardrobe; all the department heads over there from America. They'll move quicker than the Russian crew you had in St. Petersburg. The DP is committed for nine weeks and then he's out of there.

GREYDON

I'll take a replacement DP from here. And I'll take Whitney.

MENAHEM
Why the hell do you need Whitney?
GREYDON

You want me to fly over there... Step off the plane and start directing. I need somebody I know I can trust to cover my back.

MENAHEM

All right. A writer, a new DP, and your friend, Whitney. That's it.

GREYDON

What can you pay me for these two pictures, Menahem?

MENAHEM

Come on, Greydon. Don't take advantage of me. It's not two pictures. It's really one picture. You're only going to be over there for a couple of month's total.

GREYDON

I understand you're taking a bath on this and I won't take advantage. Let's say I'll do both pictures for a hundred and fifty grand.

MENAHEM

That's taking advantage. Do both of them for a hundred. You owe me, Greydon.

GREYDON

I don't see how you figure I owe you. I'll do both of them for a hundred and twenty-five thousand.

MENAHEM

Ami, get him on a plane as soon as you can.

I had to contact the three guys that were coming with me.

GREYDON

Whitney, it's back to Russia. We are going to Moscow to take over that picture Mark Slater is doing. Actually, it's two pictures. We leave in a couple of days.

He agreed to go back to Russia with me. If anyone could do a rewrite and write a new script simultaneously, it was David Reskin. I filled him in on the whole concept.

GREYDON

I can get you a grand a week and we should be gone eight to ten weeks.

DAVID

I'll pick up some books on Dutch Schultz and Vince Coll to take with us.

Nick von Sternberg was always my first choice as DP. Texasville was a success and Bogdanovich hired Nick for his next film, Hear No Evil, See No Evil. However Bogdanovich was replaced and the new director, Arthur Hiller, wanted his own DP. Nick was also replaced. To the industry it unfairly looked like Nick was fired from the film. Bad luck for Nick, who deserved better.

NICK

I'd love to go to Moscow and I need the job. I appreciate you thinking of me.

GREYDON

You're always my first choice. I can get you a couple of grand a week.

Ami wanted to see me. He seemed a bit nervous as I entered the office. He slid a zippered leather pouch stuffed with hundred dollar bills across his desk toward me.

AMI

There's fifty thousand dollars. Russia has no banking system. You take the cash to Mark Slater in Moscow. Count it and sign for it. Get a receipt from Slater.

I stopped in the editing room to see Earl Watson who was finishing the sound mix on Dance Macabre. He knew I was about to go to Moscow.

GREYDON

Good luck on the Eddie Murphy thing, I'm sure you'll be great.

Whitney, David, Nick and I met at LAX.

GREYDON

I want each of you guys to go to the bathroom.

WHITNEY
No thanks, dad. I've already gone.
GREYDON

Not with this you haven't. Stuff it down your pants.

I handed each of them an envelope filled with twelve grand cash.

GREYDON

We are taking fifty grand and I want to split it up in case one of us gets hit on the head. Declare it. We're not doing anything illegal.

It was October 9, 1991 and we got on a plane and headed back to Russia.

MAD DOG COLL – PRODUCTION

I never met the director I replaced. Why Menahem would send an inexperienced director to Russia and expect an easy shoot is beyond me. Perhaps Menahem saw how well things went on Dance Macabre and thought it was easy filming in Russia. He should've known better. I did. Moscow was going to be an interesting adventure; directing actors I had never met, with no prep and no script. I loved the excitement of making movies and this was going to be a special challenge. We had been traveling for sixteen hours when we got to the Moscow hotel. Mark Slater led Whitney, Nick, David and me directly onto a small bus where the cast and crew were waiting. I stood in the aisle as we headed toward the location.

GREYDON

Hello, everybody. I am Greydon Clark and I guess you know I am your new director. I want you to know this is not a job that I solicited. I did a couple of pictures for Menahem and he asked me to come here and take over. This is David Reskin, he and I are going to be doing rewrites each day on the script. Whitney Hunter and Nick von Sternberg are here to help. This is a very difficult situation for all of us. I don't know any of you actors. I don't even know who plays what role. If I give you a piece of direction that doesn't sound right to you, please just tell me. I want all of your input both cast and crew. I really need your help.

The cast and crew burst into applause. I took a seat next to Slater.

GREYDON

Is the cameraman here? Ask him to join us.

Janusz Kaminski was in his early thirties, born in Poland and spoke English with a slight accent. He settled in the seat next to me. I introduced him to Nick who was sitting nearby.

GREYDON

I understand you're leaving us in three weeks. Any chance you could stay on?

JANUSZ

I'm sorry. I'm shooting for Steven Spielberg in Poland.

Shooting for Steven Spielberg? Of course you are. I figured since he was born in Poland, he was going to be shooting some sort of second unit for Spielberg. How wrong I was.

GREYDON

That sounds great. Steven Spielberg, good for you. I don't blame you for leaving. Nick is going to take over camera when you leave. As long as you're here, you are my DP. Nick will help you in any way you want. We are going to have to move much quicker, Janusz. We're going to finish this picture in three weeks.

JANUSZ

You're the director, I'll do what you want.

Five or six actors joined us and introduce themselves.

GREYDON

Let me emphasize once again how much I need your help. Don't hesitate to correct me if I'm doing something wrong with your character. David and I are going to be doing major rewrites every evening so you won't be getting the dialogue with much time for prep. We're gonna be moving much quicker when we're on the set. There won't be multiple takes... Take one is what you're going to be getting. We are not doing the Bowery Boys; those "dees, dems and dohs" are out. Janusz, how many setups did you do last night?

JANUSZ

Three. The director fell asleep in his chair and nobody wanted to wake him up.

The bus arrived at the main location. A Moscow side street was dressed to look like New York in the nineteen thirties. There were several period automobiles, news racks and everything in English; I was impressed. A drive-by shootout between the Dutch Schultz gang and the Coll brothers was scheduled. I was going to move very quickly and establish a rhythm, a standard that we would meet each day. Janusz moved quickly and his lighting was exceptional. This guy had real talent. Everyone on a motion picture set has one job and that is to please the director. However if the director allows a DP to take all the time he wants to light a scene, then the DP shouldn't be blamed for taking too long; work expands for the time allowed for it. I admit I often frustrated my DP. I staged the first shot and turned to Janusz.

GREYDON

Janusz, I'll give you twenty minutes to light the scene. Nick's here to help you.

Janusz and Nick worked well together and in slightly more than fifteen minutes, we were ready. The actors were experienced and easy to work with. They soon realized I meant it when I said that take one was going to be it. At the end of the night, I turned to Janusz.

GREYDON
How many setups did we do tonight?
JANUSZ
Thirty-one, I can't believe it.
GREYDON

Good job. We'll do better tomorrow. You really have a dramatic way of lighting and I like it very much. I'm sorry we have to move so quickly.

JANUSZ

I understand the situation. You have my complete support.

We would not be able to finish Mad Dog Coll in the two and a half weeks that Janusz was going to be with us, but he ended up shooting most of the first film. We had a very good multilingual assistant director, Sasha Yurchikov.

After a couple of night's exteriors, we moved to the soundstage where sets were ready. We were moving in our usual pace and I was setting every camera angle. Janusz didn't seem to mind and we were working well together. The setups had to be relatively simple to finish the day's work. I finished working with the actors on one scene and returned to Janusz who was rehearsing a complicated dolly move. It was not the camera setup that we discussed.

GREYDON

What are you doing, Janusz? I thought we decided we would shoot the master from here and then move into coverage.

JANUSZ

Yes, but look at this... We could dolly through this room... around this corner and then push in from the other side of the set. It's a great shot.

GREYDON

You're right. I wish we had the time... have you seen all we have to shoot today?

It was a great shot, however not for a movie we had to finish in four weeks. I only worked with Janusz for a bit less than three weeks. He did go to Poland and shot Schindler's List for Spielberg, winning the Academy Award. I think I'm the only director to have worked with both of Spielberg's favorite DPs, Janusz Kaminski and Dean Cundey.

During the day, David Reskin wrote a completely new script for Dutch Schultz while I was on the set filming. In the evening, we rewrote the next day's filming for Mad Dog Coll. We had to use the same sets, actors and locations for both films. I brought my laptop computer and David made the changes on it, printed the pages and slipped them under the doors of the actors late at night. Rachel York, an extremely talented and beautiful actress, played the part of Vincent Coll's girl, a singer in a speakeasy.

RACHEL

Greydon, I like the rewrites that you've been doing and you know what you're doing as the director. I don't want to complain, but you've scheduled my song plus all these other scenes for today. I thought I would have a full day for my song.

GREYDON

I understand, Rachel. I'm setting up three cameras so we can cover your lip-synching. I've heard the song and you're wonderful. We'll go through the whole song then I'll change camera angles and we'll do it again. That'll give us six different angles. I wish I had more time. I really do appreciate your cooperation on this. Thanks, again. I'll get the cameras set up.

I have deep appreciation for actors who step in front of a camera and lay themselves on the line. However for this picture, I give the actors an especially deep bow. They would roll out of bed in the morning and completely rewritten scenes would be under their door. With all the difficulties they faced, it was amazing how well the actors performed. We were nearing completion on Mad Dog Coll when David finished his first draft of Hit the Dutchman. It was our day off and I asked the cast if they wanted to do a "table read" of the new script. They eagerly agreed and we met in a large office at the studio. We passed copies of the script to each actor. Whitney, Nick and Mark Slater joined us.

GREYDON

The idea here is we just want to read the script. No acting, just the words. I'll read the descriptions and when it comes time for your dialogue, just jump in.

We began with Dutch Schultz being shot and taken to a hospital where he lingered for days halfway between life and death. Delusional in his hospital bed, he is terrorized by visions of people he killed. Through a series of flashbacks, David told the accurate story of his violent life. The Dutchman eventually died from peritonitis caused by the rusty bullets that ripped through his body. It took a bit over an hour to read through the script and when we were finished, the cast burst into spontaneous applause. The script was inventive, fast-paced and entertaining. It was one of the better scripts I ever read. I was looking forward to making the second picture in Moscow. I had a good cast, crew and an excellent script. Mark Slater sent the script to Menahem in Los Angeles. We had a couple of days left on Mad Dog Coll when Mark came to the set.

MARK

Menahem read the script for Dutch Schultz. He doesn't like it. Says you've gone crazy and are trying to make an art-house movie. He's flying over.

I wasn't too concerned, I figured he wanted some rewrites and David and I would do them. Menahem arrived at the hotel and wanted a meeting the next morning in his hotel room with me and the American department heads. We gathered around a large table in Menahem's room. Menahem and I had not had a chance to meet privately. I was unaware that the night before Menahem gave David Reskin a handwritten script written on the airplane. David turned Menahem's handwritten script into sixty or seventy pages of typed material. We settled around the table with Menahem at the head.

MENAHEM

I appreciate what Greydon did finishing the first movie. But I don't like that Dutch Schultz script. All those flashbacks are stupid. It's awful. Amateurish. I wrote a new script and that's what we're doing. The old script is out.

He opened his new script and began reading it line for line. English was not Menahem's native tongue. He had been speaking it for decades, but when it came to dialogue and sentence structure there was a lot lacking. When there was dialogue, between two or more characters, Menahem read each part and it was extremely confusing.

GREYDON

Menahem, why don't you let David and me read the script out loud for you?

I took the script from Menahem and began to read. When there was dialogue between two people I had David read one character and me the other. The script was not making a lot of sense and those gathered around the table chuckled derisively. We finished the read.

MENAHEM

I want action adventure with a hero: Dutch Schultz is James Bond!

GREYDON

Menahem, maybe you and I could have some time alone.

The rest of the guys around the table gathered their belongings and filed from the room. Menahem's script was something I wasn't interested in directing.

GREYDON

Let's talk about this new script. The one that David wrote is--

MENAHEM

A piece of shit. All those flashbacks, what were you thinking?

GREYDON

I think David's script is brilliant. If there are parts of it that you don't like, we could do a rewrite. All of us together.

MENAHEM

That script is out. My script is the one we're going to shoot.

GREYDON

It's your money and I respect that. I'll need to do a rewrite on your version.

MENAHEM

Nothing gets rewritten. You film the script exactly the way I've written it.

GREYDON

You realize that Dutch Schultz was a notorious killer and you're making him into a hero. At least we should make him multi-dimensional and show his evil side.

MENAHEM

Who cares about Dutch Schultz? Why do you have all this entourage with you?

GREYDON

Entourage? I brought three guys to Russia to bail you out of a situation you were in. You told me I had to replace a DP who was leaving, so I brought Nick. You had two scripts that were identical and unfilmable. I couldn't direct all day, rewrite at night and also do a completely original script, so I brought David who did a great job on the rewrites and came up with a good script for Dutch Schultz.

MENAHEM

I told you that script was awful. Why do you need this guy Whitney? Yael told me that in St. Petersburg he wasn't doing anything. He wasn't even on the set.

GREYDON

Wait a minute, Menahem, that's just not fair or accurate. Whitney is very good. I need somebody I can trust to cover my back. I don't need anybody on the set. What I need is somebody in the office preparing the next day's work so that I can direct knowing that what I need will be there when I need it. When we got to Moscow, there had not even been a call sheet for weeks. They were doing three setups a day. The first day we did thirty-one and have averaged that many since. Whitney works in the office to make certain I don't have to worry about the next day. I finished Mad Dog Coll in less than four weeks.

MENAHEM

Yeah, well if I was directing, I wouldn't have needed any of those guys. I do not want you rewriting my script. I want it filmed exactly the way I wrote it.

GREYDON

It sounds to me like there's only one guy that should direct your script of Dutch Schultz as James Bond and that's you. You should stay, take over and direct your own script. I'll get out of here tomorrow and you can make the film you want.

MENAHEM

Are you telling me you will not direct my script?

GREYDON

Look, Menahem, I don't really understand your script and I do not want to direct a picture that has a killer like Dutch Schultz as a super hero. If you want to help me with rewrites on David's script, I'll be happy to work with you, stay and direct the picture. But if you insist on not letting me make any changes to your script, then I just don't want to do it.

MENAHEM

You're spitting in your own soup, Greydon. If you don't do this script, you won't work for me again.

GREYDON

I'm sorry that you feel that way, Menahem.

I stood up, we shook hands and I left the room. I went to David Reskin's room.

GREYDON

I'm leaving Moscow tomorrow. Menahem's staying and is going to direct his version of Dutch Schultz. Let's meet Nick and Whitney for lunch in an hour.

I left David's room and Mark Slater stopped me in the hallway.

MARK

Menahem just told me you are leaving. Is there anything I can do to get you to change your mind? You came here and saved our ass. You're the one who should direct Dutch Schultz. You can't leave me here with Menahem.

GREYDON

Thanks Mark. Menahem is a very experienced director... you'll be fine.

Whitney, Nick, David and I met for lunch.

NICK

Are you sure you want to do this, Greydon? I can't leave. I need the work and--

GREYDON

Don't be ridiculous. All of you should stay. Just because I'm leaving and walking away from a big payday there's no reason you should. Menahem can be a difficult guy, but he's a serious filmmaker. We just don't see eye to eye on this script.

The next morning I was on a plane to LA Menahem stayed and directed Hit the Dutchman. All my guys stayed and got paid. Even David Reskin was able to stay for a week or so; Menahem used him as a typist/stenographer. A couple years later Menahem went back to Moscow to direct Crime and Punishment. He took Nick von Sternberg as his DP.

MAD DOG COLL – POST-PRODUCTION

I returned from Moscow in November of 1991. While I was gone, Earl supervised the answer print on Dance Macabre. I got video copies from Menahem's office and saw the completed picture for the first time. Robert Englund and Michelle Zeitlin gave excellent performances. Dan Slider's music helped immensely as did Earl's editing. A month or so later there was an answer print on Mad Dog Coll, renamed Killer Instinct. I got my video copies. Janusz Kaminski's photography was excellent and a couple of the performances were outstanding. Menahem paid me half of what we agreed, but then I only did half the work. I saw Menahem Golan one more time. Several years later, I was at the American Film Market in Santa Monica and we bumped into each other. He warmly embraced me.

MENAHEM

Greydon! How've you been? I see you're still making movies.

GREYDON

Yeah, I keep fooling just enough people. Still getting lucky.

We chatted for a few more seconds and went our separate ways. I've often thought about that time in Moscow and walking away from all that money. If Menahem agreed to let me do a rewrite on his script, who knows? His company went out of business a few years later and the two films I made for him in Russia are almost impossible to find. Menahem Golan was very good to me; I directed three pictures for him and could've done a fourth. He could be a difficult guy to work with, but I liked him; still do.

Russian Roulette

RUSSIAN ROULETTE – SCREENPLAY

Columbia Pictures released The Forbidden Dance and I had a good review from the Los Angeles Times. Perhaps it was time I looked into getting an agent to see if I could get work at a major studio. Two decades earlier, I tried unsuccessfully to get an agent when I finish my picture, The Bad Bunch. After that fiasco, I happily jumped on the treadmill of doing one low budget picture after another, but could read the handwriting on the wall and I had to change. I thought a small independent agency might be my best hope and contacted The Shapiro Lichtman Agency. Mark Lichtman wanted to see some of my stuff and I got him VHS copies. A few days later, he called and we set up a meeting in his office. Mark was about my age and was a respected agent for writers and directors.

LICHTMAN

I looked at a few minutes of each of your tapes. Some of them were not very impressive... some of them were. You've done so many low budget, exploitation pictures... I'm not certain we can do anything for you at a studio. If you have something you'd like to do... I'll take a look and maybe we can do something.

I left his office wondering whether four decades of low budget filmmaking had put me in a category that I could not get out of; a category that had very little viability left in it. I was approaching my forty-ninth birthday and hoped I wasn't finished making pictures. There was a growing market for television movies with a woman in jeopardy. My experience in Russia had been positive. Perhaps I could make a TV movie in St. Petersburg for three hundred thousand below the line. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, St. Petersburg experienced a tourism boom. What if... I had a movie set in St. Petersburg about a woman in jeopardy? If I was going to make another picture, I would have to roll the dice from my personal finances once again. I ran it past Jackie.

GREYDON

With the money we got from Menahem over the last year or so, I figure we could put a hundred and fifty thousand of our own up and borrow the rest from the bank. It would be risky but if we want to keep making pictures...

JACKIE

Isn't that what we do? Do you think the bank will loan us the money?

GREYDON

I think so. The bank gets their money back first so they'll feel protected. It would mean putting another second mortgage on the house.

We were both willing to put all the cash we had up and put a second mortgage on our house to get the production funded. David Reskin was back from Moscow for a month when I asked him to come to my house for lunch.

GREYDON

I want to make another movie in St. Petersburg; something with a woman tourist who gets involved with the Russian mafia. A thriller, kind of Hitchcockian. Menahem's not involved. I've burned that bridge behind me. If the picture goes into production, I'll give you ten grand... If the picture never gets made we'll both get nothing. Want to write a screenplay on spec with me?

David agreed. It took us three months to write the screenplay. Jackie read the pages as we completed them. She never suggested what direction a screenplay might go, but had an uncanny sense when it was off track; when something was confusing or illogical she picked up on it right away. We used the political intrigue going on in Russia at the time. I had a very good experience working with Susan Blakely on Sight Unseen and we modeled our heroine for Susan; her costar would be a mysterious American businessman operating in St. Petersburg. We wanted to keep the audience guessing about his character. Was he the villain or the hero? There needed to be a "MacGuffin." Hitchcock often talked about the MacGuffin in his films. It's the thing that everybody is after, but it really makes no difference to the audience what it is. It is the pursuit of the MacGuffin that makes the film interesting. We wanted the audience to be on a thrill ride and one minute think that Susan's costar, who we called Grant in honor of Cary Grant, was our hero and the next minute the villain. We filled the script with red herrings and, in an additional homage to Mister Hitchcock, decided to completely change the MacGuffin at the beginning of the third act. David and I did additional rewrites. Finally, I felt Russian Roulette was ready for someone else to read.

RUSSIAN ROULETTE – FINANCING

It had been more than three years since Steve Jaffe, Susan Blakely's husband and I spoke.

GREYDON

I have a script written specifically for Susan. I did a couple of pictures over in Russia and I want to go back to St. Petersburg with Susan as my star.

STEVE

Sounds great. Get me the script.

I sent him a copy of the script and in twenty-four hours, he got back to me.

STEVE

Susan loves the script. She wants to make this picture. When do we leave?

GREYDON

I may have jumped the gun by sending you the script this early. I'm still setting up my financing. It will be late summer before we are ready to go.

STEVE

If there's any way I can help you get this made...

GREYDON

Well if you've got a couple hundred thousand dollars lying around...

STEVE

I might be able to help. I'll get back to you on that.

I went to see Irene Romero at the bank and I filled her in on what I was planning.

ROMERO
How much do you need?
GREYDON

I'm putting up a hundred and fifty thousand of my own cash and need an additional three hundred thousand from the bank.

ROMERO

That's a bit more than we have given you before. Still own your house?

GREYDON
Me and the bank that holds the first.
ROMERO

I think I might be able to help you. Three hundred thousand is going to be a stretch. Especially shooting overseas. The bank's going to be very concerned about completion. So much can go wrong in Russia.

I figured I would need at least four hundred, maybe five hundred thousand to make the picture. We couldn't come up with more than a hundred and fifty thousand from our personal case money. I really needed three hundred thousand from the bank. I went to see Mark Lichtman and gave him a copy of the script.

GREYDON

I would shoot it as a TV movie. A woman in jeopardy in St. Petersburg, Russia. A thriller. Intrigue. Think Alfred Hitchcock. Susan Blakely wants to do the lead. Is she a big enough star to sell this as a TV movie?

LICHTMAN

She's okay, but you would need another star for a network sale. I'll read it.

A couple of days past and Mark got back to me.

LICHTMAN

It's a good script and would make a good TV movie. If you can put together a decent cast, I can sell this movie for you. If a network buys it, you're looking at two million dollars. No one's going to come up front with the money for production. Not with you directing and shooting in Russia.

A couple of days later I got lucky once again; Steve Jaffe called.

STEVE

I've raised a hundred thousand dollars from an investor Susan and I know. I want to be a producer and I want a twenty-five thousand dollar producer's fee.

GREYDON

Then raise a hundred and twenty-five thousand. Do that and I'll come up with another four hundred grand. We have to cast a star to play opposite Susan. Tell your investor our budget is six hundred grand and they can have twenty percent.

A few days later Steve got back to me.

STEVE

I've got the hundred and twenty-five thousand. The investor wants to meet you. She'll be in town in a couple of days.

Steve set up a lunch meeting in Santa Monica. When I arrived, he and Susan were there with Pat Lynch and her husband. They were a charming, intelligent couple. He seemed disinterested and barely spoke at all. She was thrilled to be sitting at the sidewalk CafÃ©, next to Susan Blakely who was greeted by fans passing by.

Pat

I'm going to be joining you over in St. Petersburg while you're shooting.

GREYDON

That'll be fine. It really is a lovely city.

I left the lunch far from certain that any of this was real. They didn't ask any financial questions. I figured she wanted to invest, but he would kill the deal. On the other hand, maybe a hundred and twenty-five grand was petty cash to them and the deal would work out. Irene Romero telephoned.

ROMERO

The best I can do is two hundred thousand. If you want to go ahead with that amount you and Jackie should come over tomorrow and sign the papers.

Jackie and I went to the bank and we put a new second lien on our house to get the two hundred grand. The bank took a couple of points off the top and we paid prime plus two each month in interest. They filed a UCC1 in Sacramento guaranteeing them first claim on the picture's income. With my hundred and fifty and the bank's two hundred, I had three hundred and fifty thousand dollars total budget. It was going to be tight and I was very concerned about who we could cast. If Steve Jaffe came through with a hundred thousand, we might have enough to put together a good cast and make the picture. I called Steve.

GREYDON

I've got my three hundred and fifty grand set. I can make the picture with that excluding Susan and her costar's fee. Will your investor come through?

STEVE

Absolutely. They love Susan. Have your attorney draw up a simple agreement. They'll sign it and you'll have your money in twenty-four hours.

GREYDON

In the meantime, be thinking about who could costar with Susan...

STEVE

You'll be getting a hundred grand net from my investor. I think Susan and her costar should split it, fifty grand each.

GREYDON

I'll go along with that. Remember, we will need another major star for television.

I went to see my attorney, Peter Dekom, and explained the deal.

DEKOM

We don't know what promises Jaffe's made. You're getting two hundred grand from the bank, I'm sure they'll put a UCC1 on the first proceeds. We'd better make clear in the investor's agreement that the bank gets paid back first.

GREYDON

Do what you have to do to protect me. I need this investment to make the movie.

In a couple of days I had my agreement from the attorney, got it to Steve Jaffe and, to my amazement, a few days later got a signed copy and a check for a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. I got Steve his twenty-five grand; this picture was going to happen.

RUSSIAN ROULETTE – PRE-PRODUCTION – USA

It was June 1992 and we needed to shoot in the summer or early fall in St. Petersburg. I called Nick von Sternberg and filled him in about my plans to shoot Russian Roulette.

NICK

I'm sorry, Greydon. But I just can't go. My wife is pregnant with our first child and she's due the month you want me in St. Petersburg. I know I owe you--

GREYDON

You don't owe me anything. I understand. I wish you all the luck in the world with the baby. You're going to be a great father.

Whitney Hunter was happy to come on board. I told him Nick couldn't join us.

WHITNEY

I worked with a guy on Beastmaster. He's quick and he's good.

I called David Boyd to check his availability. He was shooting picture after picture and was out of the country and not available. Whitney's guy, Ronn Schmidt, was the DP on more than a half dozen pictures. I looked at his tape and liked what I saw. Whitney set up a meeting and he was hired. There was very little pre-production we could do in LA We needed to get the picture cast and get over to St. Petersburg as quickly as possible. Susan's mysterious American costar was a good part and we needed a handsome, charismatic actor with name value. Steve Jaffe was a publicist and media consultant. He and Susan were part of the Hollywood scene for decades and had contacts with actors and agents. Steve and I kicked around casting ideas, but with fifty grand for four weeks shooting, there was not a lot available. Someone suggested Tom Selleck who would have been great in the role – completely unrealistic. Selleck's asking price was a million dollars. I had four hundred and fifty grand budgeted for the entire picture. Steve knew an agent who said he could deliver Barry Bostwick for the fifty grand. Barry starred in dozens of made-for-TV movies and I thought that might work. I called Mark Lichtman and asked what he thought about Barry Bostwick in the male lead.

LICHTMAN

He's a good actor. But with Bostwick and Blakely as your stars, it's a crapshoot to sell to the networks.

GREYDON

Anybody we could get for fifty grand that would be better for the networks?

LICHTMAN

Doubtful. You should add some other star value in some of the character roles.

I got back to Steve.

GREYDON

Let's make the offer to Barry Bostwick's agent. Four six-day weeks shooting in St. Petersburg, fifty grand total. The same for Susan, only it'll be for six weeks

Barry Bostwick wanted to meet us and we set up a lunch. I told him how much I admired his career and wanted to work with him... yadda... yadda... yadda.

BARRY

I'm going to South America next week. I've worked a lot of these things overseas recently. What are the conditions in Russia? You shot there before?

GREYDON

Two pictures. One in Moscow and one in St. Petersburg. We'll be shooting in the same hotel where we're staying. It'll be a nice tourist hotel. Anything you want to discuss about the script? Your character?

BARRY

I like the script. It reminds me of Charade. You guys aren't paying very much.

GREYDON

I know it's low dollars, but it's the best we can do. Our budget is very limited.

STEVE

Susan is looking forward to working with you, Barry. Greydon directed her a couple years ago. She enjoyed it. They worked well together.

By the end of the lunch, I felt good about Barry Bostwick. The next day, we had a deal. There were a couple of nice character roles of Susan's fellow tourists. We cast E.G. Marshall for one week at five thousand dollars and I brought on Jeff Altman from Wacko for comic relief; he worked two weeks for ten grand. I also brought on Bunny Summers from Skinheads to play E.G. Marshall's wife. She worked a week for a thousand dollars. The actors required two first-class tickets and it would take a big chunk out of our budget. Steve had a friend in New York working in public relations who had a contact with Finnair. If we would include a shot of a Finnair plane landing in St. Petersburg, the airline agreed to give us twenty first-class round-trip tickets for a grand each. There was one caveat; Steve's friend wanted his wife, Joyce Phillips, to play Jeff Altman's wife. The Finnair deal saved us more than fifty grand. I was assured Joyce was an experienced actress and reluctantly agreed to cast her, sight unseen. Two Russian characters needed to speak English and I thought I'd better cast them from the United States; a Russian woman who needed to resemble Susan and a Russian mobster. Victoria Barrett, a blonde American actress who looked a bit like Susan, lived in LA and St. Petersburg. Her husband was an American businessman involved with Russian television. We set a meeting.

GREYDON

Victoria, you have the look that I need to play the Russian tour guide. She needs to speak English with a Russian accent and a few words in Russian.

Victoria

I can do a good Russian accent. I also speak Russian.

I had her read a couple of scenes and she was quite good. I decided to cast her and we were completely cast, except for one critical role, the Russian mobster. I was worried about casting the main Russian villain who needed to speak fluent Russian and English. While David and I were writing the script, I kept wondering if Sergei, my brilliant interpreter in St. Petersburg, could do the role. He was not an actor, but knew his way around a set. He was tall, thin, and angular. Could I get a performance out of him? I spoke to Whitney about it.

WHITNEY

I thought you might be thinking of Sergei when you guys wrote it. He has a great look. I think he could do it. You know he would do anything you ask of him.

I was still concerned that the star names were not be big enough to make a network sale.

JACKIE

What about Chuck Connors playing the Russian mafia guy? He could probably do an accent and his name might help for television.

GREYDON

That's a great idea. Tell your mother to get him a script.

I had not used Chuck since Skinheads. Rose got him a script; in a few days, he called.

CHUCK

Good script. Good part. I can handle the accent. What can you pay?

GREYDON

I have E.G. Marshall at five grand a week. The best I can do is the same for you. You've got to get down to see the insurance doctor so that I can get you covered on my cast insurance. I'm leaving in less than a week so get your ass down there.

CHUCK

The money's okay. But I honestly don't think I could pass an insurance exam.

GREYDON

You know I can't take you to Russia without cast insurance. What's wrong?

CHUCK

I don't know, I'm just not feeling well; having a bit of trouble breathing.

GREYDON

Jesus Christ, Chuck, forget the goddamn movie and get yourself to a doctor right now and find out what the hell is wrong.

That's the last I ever spoke to Chuck. Within a few months, he was dead from lung cancer, another guy who smoked himself to death. Sergei played my main Russian villain. I realized we had a half a dozen Finnair tickets left over.

GREYDON

Jackie, you should come over to St. Petersburg and visit me while I'm shooting. You could have your sister come down from Massachusetts, meet you in New York and the two of you could come over together. Your mother could stay with the boys. We've got the extra tickets, might as well use them.

JACKIE

That would be fun. If you've got extra tickets why don't you offer some to Irene?

GREYDON

That's a great idea. I'll call Irene and see if she's interested.

I gave Irene Romero a call at the bank.

GREYDON

I have some tickets left over and you're welcome to use whatever you'd like.

ROMERO

I can't take anything free from you. It would be against bank policy. What is your cost on the tickets?

GREYDON

First-class round-trip from LA to St. Petersburg for a thousand dollars. Irene, you don't have to pay me.

ROMERO

You trying to get me in trouble with the bank? I do have to pay and a thousand dollars is a great deal. Could I bring a friend with me?

Jackie, Bobby, Irene and her friend joined me for a week while I was filming in St. Petersburg. I made the same offer to Mark Lichtman and his wife who came over for a couple of days. Whitney, who had been in St. Petersburg almost a week, called.

WHITNEY

Good news and bad news. The good news: Lenfilm is very happy to have us back. The bad news: inflation is out of control. The crew and equipment are going to be almost twice what we figured.

I already deposited a hundred grand into Barry Bostwick and Susan Blakely's agencies' trust accounts, along with another fifteen thousand into Jeff Altman's and E.G. Marshall's agencies. Steve Jaffe had his twenty-five thousand. I was committed to making the picture. If it was going to cost a bit more, it was going to cost a bit more. My only nagging thought: would my cast have the name value I needed? There was still no banking system in Russia and I took a hundred and fifty thousand dollars stuffed in a money belt. Jackie was bringing another fifty when she came. It was early September in 1992 and I settled into my first class seat on Finnair and headed to St. Petersburg.

RUSSIAN ROULETTE – PRE-PRODUCTION – RUSSIA

I arrived at Russian customs in the St. Petersburg airport and filled out the appropriate entry form. I listed that I was carrying a hundred and fifty thousand United States dollars. The customs agent motioned for me to follow him into a small room. Sitting behind the desk was his supervisor who spoke broken English.

RUSSIAN SUPERVISOR

You make mistake on form. How many dollars you have?

GREYDON

One hundred and fifty thousand.

He tapped his finger on his desk. I unstrapped my money belt, wondering if I was ever going to get out of this room alive. A hundred and fifty grand was more money than these guys could even imagine. The average salary they received was a few thousand dollars a year. I pulled the cash from the belt, laid it on the table and he began to count it. He kept glancing at the other guy in the room. He finished, slid the money across the table and waved me out of the room. There were no banks and I didn't want to give it to Lenfilm and have them hold all that cash for me – I doubted I would ever get it back. I kept the money belt strapped around my waist for the entire time I was in Russia.

It had only been a bit over a year since I made Dance Macabre in St. Petersburg, but things had changed dramatically. The ruble was in free fall and prices everywhere had doubled and continued to rise on a daily basis. Yeltsin's government auctioned publicly owned assets to private individuals. Somehow, these "auctions" ended with the same people who ran the companies for the Communist Party running those companies as the new "owners." From the Czars to the Communists and now to the privatization of the assets of the Russian people it was just a new form of the continuing rape of the citizens. We were able to make our deal with the new Lenfilm. Anatoly Kulbitsky was still there making things happen. The workers were now independent contractors who had to find their own jobs. Sergei was eager to talk to me.

SERGEI

Greydon, are you sure you want me to act? I don't want to ruin your movie.

GREYDON

Sergei, you are going to be great. I want you to find the thickest pair of glasses in all of St. Petersburg. Make the lenses look like Coke bottles.

The tall, thin Sergei stood out in a crowd and giving him the Coke bottle glasses would give him even a more sinister look. The studio was available with all of its equipment and soundstages. We met with Lenfilm's equipment manager and he proudly showed us a price book from an equipment house in LA Whitney and I were familiar with Hollywood pricing and pushed it back across his desk with disdain. Sergei translated.

WHITNEY

That doesn't mean anything. First of all, the daily rates listed here are completely negotiable. Secondly, the weekly rates mean nothing. Nobody pays a weekly rate. Once a daily rate is agreed on... you get the equipment for a one and a half or two-day week.

The equipment manager was unfamiliar with negotiating prices and was confused.

GREYDON

If you think I'm going to come all the way to St. Petersburg, pay huge airfares and stay in expensive hotels and pay you anywhere near what I would pay for equipment in Los Angeles, you're sadly mistaken, my friend.

EQUIPMENT MANAGER

We are very glad you are here to make your movie. I can give you very good deal for grip and electrical. But the cameras come from Germany and I have to pay for them in hard currency. They cost me the same as everyone else in the world.

We worked out a fair deal and moved forward. The grip and electrical equipment was the same old lousy stuff, but the camera equipment was first-class with a good video assist. When I informed Anatoly that I would be paying the crew directly, he was relieved and assured me that the very best people would be eager to work. We hired the same crew we used on Dance Macabre. I arranged with the laboratory to develop our negative and decided to print only a few scenes during the first couple of days shooting as a test to make certain the camera and lab were functioning well.

We had to convert our dollars into rubles to pay the crew. To exchange dollars into rubles we were supposed to go to a government agency and receive the official rate; nobody did that. The official rate was far lower than what you could get by exchanging dollars on the black market. Whitney took hundred dollar bills and went with Anatoly and a bodyguard to an open-air market in the heart of the city where money was illegally exchanged. The Russians were hard working, well-educated, intelligent people who were shit on by their government for more than seventy years.

Sergei took us to a western tourist hotel where we would stay as well as use for filming. It had a large lobby, a fully functioning nightclub and restaurant. The hotel charged "Western tourist rates" and it was more expensive than I hoped, but they allowed us to film anywhere in their facility at no additional charge. We scheduled six weeks for filming, more than three weeks in the hotel itself. As we began to fill in our other locations, I did my usual location rewrites. Our story was set in St. Petersburg and I wanted to use its many spectacular tourist attractions for background. Ronn Schmidt arrived with his assistant cameraperson, gaffer and grip. In total, we brought half a dozen crew people, far less than Menahem had in Moscow, but more than I had on Dance Macabre. Steve and Susan arrived a week before we were set to begin filming.

RUSSIAN ROULETTE – PRODUCTION

We shot a few days with Susan before Jeff Altman arrived. The first scene we shot with Jeff required quite a bit of dialogue between him and Susan. Suffering from a bad case of jet lag, he just couldn't deliver his lines. Take after take he would go up.

JEFF

I'm sorry, Greydon. I know the lines in my mind. I just can't concentrate. I didn't think I would have to do this scene my first day. I guess I'm jet lagged. Sorry.

GREYDON

Let me make you some cue cards.

Sergei held cue cards beside the camera. Jeff shook his head.

JEFF

I'm sorry. Without my glasses, I can't see a damn thing. There's no way I can read those cards. Let me try it again. I can get it. Susan, I'm so sorry.

SUSAN

It's okay, Jeff. Greydon will take all the time you need.

JEFF

This is the most important scene I have in the whole damn picture.

Line by line we got the scene. Jeff was fine the rest of the picture and brought the goofiness to his part that I wanted. A couple of days later E.G. Marshall and his wife arrived along with Bunny Summers. Barry Bostwick joined us a few days before he was scheduled to begin shooting. He wanted to talk and I met him in his hotel room.

GREYDON

Everything okay? The room is nice. If you need anything just ask Whitney.

BARRY

I looked at your shooting schedule. I don't see how you can keep to it.

GREYDON

We've been shooting for almost a week and so far, we are on schedule. I will admit that we will not have time for a lot of different takes, but I'll get the coverage that we need. You're going to be terrific in the picture.

BARRY

How close do you want me to stay to the dialogue as written?

GREYDON

It's not Shakespeare. If you make changes, nobody is going to know. Just get comfortable with the lines and when we're setting up the scenes show me what you want to do and we'll discuss it. I want your input. Don't hesitate.

BARRY

It's just that some of the lines felt a bit awkward to me.

I'm sure he wondered if I knew what the hell I was doing. I couldn't blame him; however, after the first couple of days, he got into the spirit and rhythm of our production. Barry knew his lines, hit his marks and didn't bump into the furniture. Spencer Tracy would have approved. He made very few changes in his dialogue, so small that most of the time I was not even aware of it. I wanted the audience to suspect that Barry was more than he originally appeared. I set my camera angles slightly lower than normal and kept him in the shadows. He gave a wonderful, nuanced performance.

We were shooting in a room that was all gold from the walls to the ceilings. Jeff Altman had a bathroom joke. We got the scene and moved to the next, which was in a large room where the Czar greeted visitors. There was another bathroom joke.

JEFF

Greydon, didn't we just do a bathroom joke? Don't you think one is enough? Or, at least they should be spaced out?

GREYDON

I agree Jeff. But just because we're filming the scenes back to back doesn't mean in the movie they are back to back. In the picture, we cut away to E.G. being followed by Susan through the palace and then back to you here.

The crew works as hard as they can on each setup; the actors have to be in the moment with each scene. Of all the people working on a set, the director is the only one who has the overall film in mind. We had a sequence in an historical library where E.G. Marshall examines an ancient book and rips out a page. The librarian was very concerned.

LIBRARIAN

This book dates back to the coronation of Peter the Great himself. It's historical.

GREYDON

We put our own page in the book and that's the one that our actor rips out.

We placed our fake page in the book. We rehearsed the scene several times and I explained to E.G. about the value of the ancient book and which exact page he should rip out. We were ready to shoot and I called for action. E.G. was in the moment and accidentally not only grabbed our fake page but two additional pages and ripped them from the book. Everyone gasped. The librarian, who had been watching us with concern, almost fainted. She grabbed the book and scurried away. Sergei and I followed.

GREYDON

I'm so sorry. It was completely an accident. What would it cost to repair it?

LIBRARIAN
I don't know. It would be expensive.
GREYDON

Why don't I give you a hundred dollars and you take care of this matter for me.

A slight smile crossed her lips and I gave her a hundred dollar bill. She had a good day; the Russians were learning the ways of capitalism.

It was September and the days were growing short. We were filming day exterior in front of a large museum with giant columns. I needed one more shot of E.G., Bunny and Sergei. The sun was going down and my DP was concerned.

RONN

I can't get the shot. All we have are the reflectors and the sun is so low, the actors are going to be nothing but silhouette. It won't match what we've shot.

GREYDON

I'll tell you what; move the frame rate down from twenty-four to eighteen. That will give each frame more exposure, right? There is no dialogue so we don't have to worry about sync: all we need is the actors walking away from the columns.

RONN

Yeah, but, they're going to walk like fast robots in a silent movie.

I stepped over to the three actors.

GREYDON

Here's the deal, guys. We've lost our light and can't come back here tomorrow. I'm going to shoot this at a slower film rate to give us more exposure. You have to walk in slow motion. Just walk a little slower than you normally would.

E.G.

I've been in this business fifty years and never heard of anything like this.

Jackie, her sister Bobby, Irene Romero and her friend joined us after a couple of weeks. Jackie carried fifty thousand dollars cash and had a similar experience with Russian customs. Sergei arranged for a tour guide to show the four women around the city. It was great having Jackie with me for a week. It didn't hurt that our banker got to know Jackie and me on a personal basis. There was a sequence where Susan and Barry are in a moving vehicle at night. Ronn set up the "poor man's process."

BARRY

So all you can do is shoot us straight on. No side angles, am I right?

GREYDON

Right, I'll get a two shot and then move in for singles on you and Susan.

Ronn Schmidt was a fine DP and willing worker. It was September and the leaves were full of color adding to the beauty of the city. Susan and Barry had a scene where they have an argument, ending with Barry embracing her. It took place in a park near one of the many canals. We were filming for several weeks and Ronn was familiar with me setting the camera angles. He started to set up where he assumed I wanted the camera placed. I wanted to emphasize the foliage in the background and turned to him.

GREYDON

Move your camera about fifty feet away from the actors. But I still want a tight two shot and we'll cover close with the camera far away. It'll make the leaves go soft in the background and the actors will pop out. It'll give the audience a feeling that they are spying on Susan and Barry from some distance. Just set the camera up there while I stage the scene... Use the longest lens we have.

I went to Barry and Susan and explained that I would be shooting tight on them, but with the camera far away with a long lens so the background would be beautifully out of focus. They were a bit confused at first, but we did the scene; it worked well.

There was a sequence where Susan is in a runaway horse carriage and Barry jumps in front of the horses to save her. I went over the scene carefully with both actors.

GREYDON

Barry, I have a stuntman here to double you. All I want you to do is step toward the runaway horse, but don't try and stop them yourself. Let the stunt guy do it.

I rolled my three cameras; Barry stepped in front of the horses, grabbed their reins and stopped them.

BARRY

I knew I could do it. Did you get me in the shot?

GREYDON

I did. I knew you could do it, but I asked you not to.

BARRY
I got carried away with the scene.
GREYDON

I understand that, but what if you had broken a finger? Would you want me to take you to a Russian hospital? Think about it: we're not in Kansas anymore.

BARRY

I see what you mean. You're right. Sorry, Greydon. It won't happen again.

There was about a week to go when Mark Lichtman and his wife arrived in town. He was impressed with the filming and was confident that a network sale was a real possibility. The ending of the picture is a final confrontation between Susan and Barry. A movie audience knows that the good guy, or in this case the good girl, is going to be victorious over the villain at the end. What holds their interest is exactly how the final moments are going to play out. Susan uses an ancient Russian weapon to save herself and we end the picture with her securing the MacGuffin. I even used the swinging lamp I used in Without Warning; I doubly thank you, Mister Hitchcock.

I was very fortunate that all the cast and crew were cooperative, professional and excellent to work with. Even Joyce Phillips, who was cast sight unseen, was very good playing Jeff Altman's wife. Sergei, who had never acted before, not only was our interpreter but also played the part of the key Russian mafia hitman to perfection. Barry and Susan had excellent chemistry and worked well together. Susan was the consummate professional and the wonderful actress I knew she would be. Barry was a pleasant fellow, inventive and full of ideas. We finished on schedule, the first week in October; snow flurries began on our final day of shooting. Our production cost in St. Petersburg was more expensive than I planned by around fifty grand, the primary culprit being rampant inflation due to the collapse of the ruble.

RUSSIAN ROULETTE – POST-PRODUCTION

I brought the film negative back with me to LA and took it to a video transfer house in Burbank. I put a call in to Earl Watson who had finished editing Boomerang and was busy cutting picture after picture. With my additional cost in St. Petersburg, I needed to do my post-production as inexpensively as possible and with Earl not available I decided to edit the picture myself. I sold my video editing equipment to Menahem when we were editing The Forbidden Dance. I purchased a new non-linear digital editing system, which consisted of a twenty-five thousand dollar computer and software allowing me to edit even more efficiently. Today, a person can have the same editing capabilities on a laptop for under a grand. I moved my editing equipment into a spare bedroom and began cutting Russian Roulette. In six weeks, I had my cut. I contacted Dan Slider for the music.

DAN

This is your best film yet. I think it needs a real orchestral score.

GREYDON

I can only give you ten grand. You're going to have to do it electronically.

DAN

Get me the ten thousand. I'll pay for whatever it costs to go to St. Petersburg and use their symphonic orchestra.

GREYDON

Let me get my guys in Russia on the phone. You're responsible for the score and if you want to do it like this, it's fine by me. Just make it like John Williams.

Dan was a composer for America's Funniest Home Videos. He was willing to spend his own money to fulfill his conducting dream. He went to St. Petersburg and delivered a great score. We were able to mix the film at Dan's sound studio in a week. Dave Hewitt did my title and optical work. I gave David Reskin sole writing credit. He was so talented and worked so hard for short money, he deserved it. Whitney Hunter and Steve Jaffe were listed as producers. I gave editing credit to Jack Clark, my way of saying a special thank you to Jackie. We got our answer print in early spring of 1993. This was an important picture for me. It was not an exploitation film, it was designed for an adult audience and I thought if I could be successful with Russian Roulette, I might be able to make bigger and better films.

RUSSIAN ROULETTE – DISTRIBUTION

I got a videotape to Mark Lichtman and went to see him the following day.

MARK

I liked the picture. I'll get it to the networks and we'll see what they say. You should realize it's going to take some time to hear back.

Mark continued screening Russian Roulette, waiting for an offer. The Cannes Film Festival was scheduled in less than a month. Doug Witkins at Amazing Movies was still successfully distributing Uninvited and Skinheads. I got him a video of Russian Roulette.

DOUG

I liked Russian Roulette. It's your best since Without Warning. Foreign TV markets might accept it. It's a crapshoot. Your cast is good, but these TV guys want bigger stars. I'd be happy to take it to Cannes and we'll see what happens.

I had never been to Cannes and decided I should go. Dan Slider asked if he could join me and the two of us headed to Cannes in mid-May. Cannes is a small seaside resort town in the south of France. Since World War II, their film festival has been an important international event for the film community. There are prestigious awards and screenings of major films. During the two weeks of the festival, independent buyers and sellers from around the world meet in a marketplace not unlike MIFED in Milan. Doug had small offices in a nice hotel and a steady stream of buyers. We took out ads in the daily magazines and even had several large one sheets strategically placed around various hotel lobbies. Everything was very expensive and my total expenditure for Cannes was over twenty-five thousand dollars. We got a good response from our one screening. However sales were disappointing. I think that Doug's buyers expected a Greydon Clark film to have more sex and violence. Irene Romero stopped by the office.

ROMERO

I finally got a chance to look at Russian Roulette. Liked it a lot. How are sales?

GREYDON

Disappointing. People like the picture, but we're not writing much business. I think it's going to come down to whether we can make a U.S. network TV deal.

ROMERO

The bank stands in first position on all money and they're going to insist on that. Good luck with the rest of the festival. Let's get some of that principal paid down.

I considered Irene a friend, but business was business and the bank was going to get theirs. I'd spent about four hundred and fifty thousand dollars making the picture. It looked like I might get a disappointing hundred and fifty thousand from foreign. An American TV deal was essential. I went to see Mark Lichtman.

LICHTMAN

We are still alive at CBS and ABC. Everybody likes the picture, but they're concerned that Susan and Barry don't have the star value to get ratings.

GREYDON

You're asking two million? Ask less. I'll be lucky to get two back from foreign. Unless we can make a network deal I'm gonna take a real bath.

LICHTMAN

The guys who make the decisions only care about ratings and protecting their ass.

GREYDON

Tell them to buy it and run it against the Super Bowl. They're not going to get any ratings on that Sunday anyhow. Sell it to them so cheap they can't resist.

LICHTMAN

They don't care what the picture costs their network. It's not their money. It's the ratings. They think they need bigger stars.

Not exactly an encouraging meeting. On my other films, I was content to hit a single or maybe a double. On this one, it looked more and more like we were either going to hit a home run or strike out. Weeks went by and CBS was our last hope. Mark called.

LICHTMAN

CBS passed. The guy's a friend and I offered him the picture for five hundred thousand dollars. They would easily make a couple of million dollars profit on one broadcast. He agreed that it was a good deal for CBS. But he doesn't own CBS and he wasn't going to get a cut of that profit. He's responsible for the ratings in his division. He would get heat from his boss if the ratings were low. I don't know what to tell you, Greydon, there's no place else I can go with it.

So, that was that. We were dead at the networks. Three years later Barry Bostwick costarred with Michael J. Fox in Spin City and with his new star value, we could've made a U.S. network sale. However by then the picture was on home video and it was too late.

I'm not blaming the actors for my financial failure; they were all very good in the picture and the picture worked. It was a simple miscalculation on my part that I could make a network television picture and only spend a hundred thousand on stars. Eventually we got around a hundred grand from foreign, another fifty from U.S. home video and another fifty from U.S. TV syndication. The bank took everything. Not only had I worked on the film for more than a year without any compensation, but I also lost most of the hundred and fifty thousand dollars Jackie and I put in the picture. Pat Lynch never got a penny back from her investment; I'm certain that Steve Jaffe took some heat for that. I consider Russian Roulette one of my better pictures, almost all audiences respond well. Ironically, it was the only picture in my career where I lost money. My picture, my mistake.

Dark Future

DARK FUTURE – FINANCING

When Dan Slider and I were at Cannes, Doug Witkins did well with a couple sci-fi pictures.

DAN

If we make a sci-fi thriller in Russia that costs a hundred thousand, we could double our money. I'll supply all the post-production sound plus fifty grand. You come up with the same and we'll split everything right down the middle.

I agreed with Dan that we could probably bring in a couple hundred foreign and maybe fifty grand from U.S. home video. The numbers were adding up. I ran it past Jackie.

JACKIE

Do you think the bank will loan us another fifty thousand?

GREYDON

We've paid them back more than half the two hundred and there's more coming in from foreign each month. We would just extend the second lien on the house.

JACKIE

If you think it makes sense, let's do it.

To make it on a hundred grand budget meant that I would have to limit myself to a couple of American actors, a couple of guys on the crew and film it in four weeks.

DARK FUTURE – SCREENPLAY

I asked the brilliant David Reskin to join me at my house for lunch.

GREYDON

I'm thinking about diving into the deep end of the pool one more time. Dan Slider and I are going back to St. Petersburg and do another picture. It's going to be a very low budget sci-fi, sex and violence thing. I have a hundred grand cash to shoot the picture plus some deferments for lab and opticals. I've got to keep the cast down to two or three people. Somehow, our good guy and bad guy will have to be the only ones who speak. I can't even offer you a penny up front to write it with me. I can give you ten percent of everything that comes in over a hundred and fifty grand. It's a crapshoot. The market keeps changing. I can't guarantee anything.

DAVID

I'm willing to roll the dice. But how do we write a sci-fi script with two or three English speaking parts? And what about special effects, spaceships, opticals?

GREYDON

I'm thinking it's sci-fi in the sense of The Twilight Zone. What if... we set the story in an apocalyptic future and some sort of virus has killed all human beings except for a handful that are confined to a small area. Humans trapped in a world controlled by... some sort of evil force. The humans try to escape to freedom. We could take the good guy and the bad guy for our actors and nobody else.

DAVID

It might work. It's going to be tough to have just two people speak. Why don't I write the first draft screenplay myself?

We worked on the story and decided that the surviving humans were controlled by cyborgs with robotic bodies, but with human brains and desires. If there were different robot models, we could destroy one cyborg and use the same actor as an identical model for additional scenes. We could bring one American actor to play multiple, evil, identical cyborgs. The good guy rallies the humans to fight for a freedom they only vaguely remember. We had our antagonists and protagonists and it sounded like a pretty good story to me. David went to work on the script in July 1993.

DAVID

Our hero needs a girl. Could you take over one American actress?

GREYDON

Okay. If you need a few others to speak, keep the dialogue short and simple.

He turned in a first draft screenplay. I did a four-week shooting schedule and budget. It looked like I could make the picture with the hundred grand.

DARK FUTURE – FINANCING

Dan deposited fifty thousand dollars into my account. Jackie and I went to the bank.

ROMERO

Greydon, are you sure you can make a picture with just fifty thousand dollars?

GREYDON

I have an outside investor coming up with the rest.

Jackie and I signed the papers, increasing the second on our house by another fifty.

DARK FUTURE – PRE-PRODUCTION – USA

Whitney was available and eager to return to Russia. I called Nick von Sternberg.

NICK

I'm glad we're going to get another chance to work together. There's a guy I worked with on Texasville, J.C. Cole, he could be the key grip and electrical and help me with camera. He would do it for a grand a week. It would be money well spent.

I agreed. That would mean three guys on the crew, three actors and me. Seven total airfares and seven hotel rooms. We needed to cast three American actors, the cyborg, our hero and his leading lady. I gave Ted Warren five hundred bucks to help cast the three roles. David, Dan and I started seeing people. Jackie had a brilliant idea.

JACKIE

What about Darby Hinton for the part of Kendall, the hero?

GREYDON

That's a terrific idea! Darby would be great. I hope he's available.

I had not seen Darby in almost ten years. When he arrived at Ted's he looked older and he probably thought the same about me. He wasn't the cute, curly-haired blonde teenager I used in all my early films, but he looked good and was right for the role of our leading man. I pulled him aside before he met Dan and David and we had a brief reunion.

GREYDON

Darby, your reading for the other guys is just a formality. I want you to come to Russia with me and do this picture. It's the romantic lead and you'd be perfect for it. It's overseas so it won't be SAG and I can only pay a grand a week. I'm shooting four weeks and you work all of them.

Darby read the sides for Dan, David and Ted. I thanked him and he left the reading.

GREYDON

I've known this guy almost twenty years and worked with him on half a dozen pictures. He will give a solid performance and be great to work with. Having Darby in the lead, we'll have no problem with any actor in Russia.

DAN

Couldn't we get somebody with a href? Somebody recognizable?

GREYDON

You must be kidding. We are not even paying SAG minimum. We're going to pay a grand a week and not even pay travel time. We'll be lucky if he agrees to do it.

They agreed and we cast Darby.

DAVID

There's a guy who came to Moscow after you left and worked on Hit the Dutchman for Menahem. He might be very good for the cyborg.

Len Donato was tall and muscular with a terrific voice. He was perfect for the part of the lead cyborg. He read a few scenes and was great. We cast Len and that left us with our leading lady to complete the American actors. A dozen girls read for the part. Only one, Andria Mann, gave a good reading and had a look that I liked.

GREYDON

Andria, we're shooting in St. Petersburg, Russia. You'll be the only American woman over there. You'll be treated well, but it's not like shooting in--

ANDRIA

Mister Clark, if I can interrupt you: Andrew Dice Clay is a close friend of mine. Andy speaks very highly of you. He says you gave him his first big break in Wacko.

GREYDON

That's nice to hear. Give Andrew my best. There is some nudity required.

ANDRIA

That will not be a problem.

Casting was complete. I headed to St. Petersburg to begin pre-production.

DARK FUTURE – PRE-PRODUCTION – RUSSIA

I had eighty thousand dollars in my money belt when Anatoly and Sasha Yurchikov, my multilingual AD from Moscow, met me at the airport. Sergei was in charge of security for Ford Motor Company in Russia and was not available.>As they drove me to the hotel, we passed a Credit Lyonnais bank office.

GREYDON

Anatoly, could you stop here for a second? I want to go inside that bank.

Credit Lyonnais, the largest bank in France, had a new branch office in St. Petersburg. I got a safe deposit box and put most of my money in it. Anatoly dropped me at a nice tourist hotel in the heart of the city.

GREYDON

This hotel will be fine for tonight. Tomorrow I need a cheaper Russian hotel.

The next day we found a cheap hotel and began scouting locations. It was November and daylight was limited to five or six hours. We would have plenty of dark for Dark Future. The area where the humans are confined was an underground, half-destroyed city. By filming at night, I didn't have to worry about seeing anything that wasn't lit. I needed two Russian actors who could speak English, one to play a cyborg and one as a human. I remembered Gabriel Vaughn, Whitney's assistant on Russian Roulette. Gabriel spoke English with a slight British accent and had acting aspirations. I had him read for me and cast him as Darby's friend. Anatoly brought Julian Jurin in for the cyborg. He was tall and muscular and would be good. His English was limited, but he only had a couple of lines. Whitney arrived a week before filming. Darby, Len, Nick and J. C. arrived a few days later. We shot for a week before Andria arrived.

DARK FUTURE – PRODUCTION

Twenty of our twenty-four day shooting schedule was at the Lenfilm studio. We had an eleven A.M. call time, worked interior at the studio and broke for lunch. By four o'clock in the afternoon, it was pitch black and we went outside and shot on the studio grounds. The weather was so cold that the oil in the camera froze every half hour and had to be heated. The Russian crew sipped on vodka the entire night. The cyborgs had electronic and metal bodies, with human brains and human desires and used the humans for their sexual entertainment. The city had various pleasure palaces for the cyborg: a nineteen thirties Chicago speakeasy, a nineteen eighties disco, a seventeen hundreds palatial palace, all run by the humans for the cyborgs' amusement. There had not been a newborn for more than twenty years and everyone thought that the plague had left humans sterile. A baby is born and the humans, led by Darby, unite to protect it from the cyborgs. I thought Darby's character might have a raspy, half-whispered voice.

GREYDON

Darby, think about something for me. You're playing a rugged leading man who inspires these humans to fight back against impossible odds. At the same time you have scenes with the cyborgs were you must act subservient to them. What if... when you rally the humans, we hear a bit of a Clint Eastwood raspy whisper? When you talk to the cyborgs, it's more of a pleasant, condescending voice. The real you is the leader of the rebellion and the timbre of your voice could be stronger. The humans have been slaves to the cyborgs their whole lives. Now it's their chance and you're going to lead them.

DARCY

Yeah, that could work. I like it. Don't let me do the wrong voice for a scene.

GREYDON

I'm sure you won't. I'll tell you what: when I call for action and I want the Eastwood voice, I'll say action in his raspy voice. That work for you?

Twenty-six years earlier in 1967, I had met Darby when he was a ten-year-old and his mother got Robert Taylor to agree to do Last of the Comancheros. He was always great to work with and gave his usual excellent performance. I would do battle with Darby against the cyborgs anytime. We were filming a fight sequence where the humans first strike back against the cyborgs with lots of stunts, explosions, special effects and action. To show the superhuman strength of the cyborgs, I wanted Len Donato to pick up a Russian stuntman and throw him across the room like a rag doll. We wired the stuntman to the brick wall of a warehouse. Len was strong enough to lift the stuntman over his head and make a throwing motion, a special effects man pulled on the wire and the guy was supposed to fly through the air crashing into cardboard boxes. Three cameras rolled, Len lifted the guy over his head and tossed him in the air, the special effects man jerked on the wire and it pulled the bricks from the wall, the guy fell next to Len's feet; apologies all around.

LEN

Greydon, I think I could toss this guy on my own. If you could get a shot of me lifting him and then cut to another angle, I could gather myself and throw him onto those boxes. I don't need the wires.

The stuntman agreed and Len threw him across the room where he landed hard against the cardboard boxes. Darby was skilled in Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee's fighting method. We were able to use his martial art abilities in the fight with the cyborgs. Twelve years earlier in Wacko, I filmed a sequence where a baby lawnmower bursts out of the chest of Norman Bates. I used the same technique to show the electronics inside a cyborg's chest. I had a headless dummy dressed in the cyborg uniform and positioned the actor's head so that the dummy looked like the actor's body. When the uniform was pulled open, we see the electronics beeping in what appears to be the actor's chest. I was very lucky to have both Darby and Len as my leading men; they got along famously and worked well together. Darby came to me after the stunt day was complete.

DARCY

Greydon, I've got to tell you that it's amazing how you somehow manage to get past or ignore stuff that happens that would drive most directors crazy. You just plow ahead on your ridiculous shooting schedule, no matter what, a typical Jeet Kune Do approach. You go along with the hostile action and use it to your advantage instead of opposing it head-on. Amazing.

GREYDON

Thanks, Darby. I guess I'll take that as a compliment.

Andria arrived and her first shot was in the brutally cold night exterior. Her wardrobe consisted of a form-fitting sweater and a short skirt. I was concerned that her teeth might chatter when she delivered her lines. When I staged her scenes, she had a heavy coat wrapped around her and the wardrobe person would stand just off camera to remove it before the actual shot and rush to her immediately after. Andria was very professional and never complained. Dark Future was her first experience on film; she was prepared with her dialogue, gave a solid performance and looked great. My good friend, Whitney Hunter, played an important part as the disco manager and pulled it off like he came directly from the Actors Studio.

In addition to superhuman strength, the cyborgs used a laser gun to control the humans. Darby captures a gun and shoots the cyborg played by Julian. I told Julian to stumble backwards and fall to the ground when he was hit. The special effects guys rigged him so that an explosion would burst on his stomach. The cameras rolled, the special effects guy hit the switch and Julian's stomach exploded. A blood-curdling scream came from his lips... nice touch. He rolled in agony... nice touch. I called cut. The crew hurried to him, ripping open his wardrobe; his skin was severely burned. The special effects guys forgot to put the protective metal piece between his flesh and the explosion.

JULIAN

I am okay. Let's keep filming. Do you want a close shot of my face on the ground?

That's exactly what I wanted and we quickly set the camera up. Nick got it and I wrapped Julian for the evening. The next day he showed up ready to work. Julian Jurin, one tough Ruskie. Gabriel Vaughn was surprisingly good as Darby's friend. We did have one day of day exterior filming. Darby leads the rebellious humans up a long escalator and out of their confined environment. For the first time in their lives, they see the sun shining. We finished on schedule and I headed back to LA

DARK FUTURE – POST-PRODUCTION

David Hewitt at Hollywood Optical did some very nice optical effects for the laser gun and the cyborgs' POV. In a couple of months, I finished my editing and we locked the picture. Dan did the music and we mixed the sound at his facility. I listed my twelve year-old son, Trevor, as the editor and my nine year-old, Travis, as his assistant.

DARK FUTURE – DISTRIBUTION

It was the spring of 1994 when we placed Dark Future into distribution. We were able to find a home video distributor, Dead Alive Productions. They released the picture for us and our end was around twenty-five thousand dollars. Doug Witkins sold Dark Future to the foreign markets and we got about seventy-five grand. In some foreign markets, he retitled the picture Cyborg Rage. Dan and I didn't lose money on the picture, but I worked more than a year on it without making a profit. It had only been five years since I made Uninvited and got back over five hundred thousand dollars. If I made that same picture, shot for shot, frame for frame and released it in 1994, I would've been lucky to get back a couple of hundred grand. I knew that I could continue to make films on the cheap, but I was far from certain that it was a viable business model. The independent distribution of low budget films was no longer disappearing; for practical purposes, it had disappeared. In some ways, I was looking at my own personal dark future...

STAR GAMES

STAR GAMES – FINANCING

Dark Future was barely going to break even. I was able to pay the bank back and, for the first time in years, we did not have a second lien on our house. I was fifty-one years old and had been making low budget pictures all of my adult life. I still had a great passion for making movies. I needed to figure out some way to continue to make a living doing it. I made a lot of money making pictures on the cheap and was living a far greater lifestyle than I ever imagined. I wasn't ready to throw in the towel quite yet. There was still a VHS home video market aimed at kids and big sci-fi pictures were doing well. What if... I came up with a very cheap kid's sci-fi movie, spend maybe fifty grand; there might be a way to continue making movies. My sons turned thirteen and ten that year and I began to play around with the idea of doing a sci-fi, low budget movie for the kids market that they could star in. What if... I could combine Star Wars and E.T.? The special effects for the Star Wars stuff would be prohibitively expensive. I went to see David Hewitt.

GREYDON

I haven't written the script yet, but I know it's gonna need spaceships and battles plus lots of other special effect opticals. I'm calling it Star Games.

HEWITT

We can do spaceships and battles and we can keep the budget down for you.

GREYDON

Keeping the budget down is not gonna be enough, Dave. There's no way I can pay you anything for the opticals. Let's co-produce. I'll spend the production money to shoot and edit the picture. The special effect opticals are going to make or break the movie. That will be your responsibility. I'll give you twenty-five percent of all the money that comes in from the very first dollar.

HEWITT

How much you gonna spend on shooting the picture?

GREYDON

I spent a hundred grand on Dark Future and I'm barely going to break even. There does seem to be a VHS kid sci-fi market. If the special-effects work we could get at least a hundred grand back... which would get you twenty-five thousand your end, seventy-five mine. If the picture works, it could be huge on the upside.

Hollywood Optical was a two-man operation with an optical printer and not much else. Computer opticals were just beginning to dominate the industry. David Hewitt and I had known each other for almost thirty years. He saw me begin as an actor in his Mighty Gorga and followed my directing career on nineteen pictures.

HEWITT

We have a deal. I'm in.

I had my special effects opticals... all I had to do was shoot a good picture for fifty grand.

STAR GAMES – SCREENPLAY

Jackie listened patiently to my Star Games pitch, but had some reservations.

JACKIE

The boys have never acted... do you really think you can make this work?

GREYDON

They'll be playing themselves... thirteen and ten. With you and me on the set, we can make them believable. I've got Dave Hewitt to do the special effects opticals on a back end deal with us. We'll max out all of our credit cards and if I keep the budget low enough, we won't have to put another lien on the house.

JACKIE

I guess you and David should start writing.

I spoke to David Reskin.

GREYDON

None of us are going to be getting any money for the work we did on Dark Future.

DAVID

I took the gamble along with you. I have no regrets. What's next?

GREYDON

I've decided to do a very, very low budget movie back in Russia. It's kid sci-fi, combining Star Wars and E.T. I made a deal with my optical guy to do all the spaceships. I'm hesitant to ask you to spec another screenplay with me...

DAVID

We're friends and I'll always work with you.

We started working on the screenplay. Once again, I was working backwards, starting with the budget and writing to fit. I made a mistake with Dark Future by not having a recognizable name in the cast. Somehow, we needed to write a part that I could cast with a star. What if... there was a young prince from another world who escapes the bad guys on his planet, comes to our world, meets an American kid and they unite to save the universe? His grandfather, the King, follows him to earth. If we limited the King's locations, I could cast a star in the role and shoot him back in LA after principal photography in Russia. We had our protagonists, the two boys and the King. Travis, who would soon turn ten, would play the King's grandson and Trevor, just thirteen, would play the earth boy. We needed to isolate the boys, keep them in a confined area. I wanted the picture to look like it was filmed entirely in the United States. What if... I went back to Skinheads and kept them in the woods. No extras to contend with, just the principals.

We decided to go ahead and write the screenplay using an enemy of the King as our main antagonist who pursues the young boy to our world. He and his soldiers would have to speak English. Just how I could shoot English with Russian actors was a major concern. A couple of months later we had a first draft screenplay on Star Games. We were able to limit the American cast to the King, his grandson who we called Kirk (after Captain Kirk from Star Trek ), the American boy, his parents and a forest ranger. The whole concept would fall apart if I couldn't resolve the problem of needing a dozen Russian actors who could speak English without an accent. Darth Vader had a mask that covered his face and the great James Earl Jones dubbed his dialogue. What if... our evil creature, who we called Lugos, as a tribute to Martin Landau who just won his Academy Award playing Bella Lugosi, was under some sort of special effect makeup where you could not see his lips move? That way I could dub his English dialogue during post-production back in the United States. When Lugos sends his soldiers to capture the young grandson... what if they had some sort of helmet covering their faces like the soldiers in Star Wars? I could also dub their dialogue in post. My problem with shooting the English dialogue in Russia was resolved. If the boys are going to be isolated, the earth boy would have to be alone when he meets his counterpart from the other world. We came up with the idea that the earth family was on a cook-out in the mountains and when a bear wanders into their campsite the son and parents are separated. The bear chases the boy and the parents scramble to find him. It's good to put a ticking time element in an adventure story... something must occur by a specific time or catastrophe will strike. We decided to give the kid childhood diabetes. The parents frantically needed to find him to give him his insulin.

STAR GAMES – PRE-PRODUCTION – USA

I figured Whitney Hunter would go back to Russia with me and could also do the part of the forest ranger. Nick von Sternberg would be the sole crew member we took from the United States. Five people would be joining me in Russia and we would film eighty percent of the movie over there. I called Whitney and filled him in on the project.

WHITNEY

I won't be able to join you. I'm the PM on The Night of the Running Man and am tied up for months. A friend just got back from shooting in Russia. It has become very expensive there. I have the contact information for a studio in Sofia, Bulgaria.

I was happy that Whitney was working, but disappointed that he would be unable to join us on Star Games. Internet email was now available in Russia and I contacted Anatoly Kulbitsky at Lenfilm about prices. He got back to me and I was shocked at the numbers he quoted. The crew cost had grown to where it was almost as expensive to shoot there as in LA I got the information on the studio in Bulgaria from Whitney and opened an email conversation about filming at Boyana Film Studios in Sofia. I sent a copy of the screenplay to Nikolay Tsvetkov, their PM. Boyana Film Studios was one of the largest film production facilities in Eastern Europe and their equipment and crew cost was considerably lower than St. Petersburg. We could film in Bulgaria and stay within our budget. I was lucky that Nick von Sternberg was available and agreed to be the only American crew member. I needed to cast the forest ranger and thought immediately of Darby Hinton. I sent him a script and he got back to me right away.

DARCY

You're doing a kid movie. That's great. My kids are always complaining there's nothing for them to watch. Going back to Russia with Whitney and Nick?

GREYDON

No, looks like we'll be filming in Bulgaria. Nick's available, but Whitney is not.

DARCY

Why don't you let me do Whitney's job and we'll work together over there?

GREYDON

Good idea. I'm figuring we'll film for three weeks in Bulgaria and shoot all the stuff with the King back here in LA You will be a big help to me over there. Come two weeks in advance and we'll do prep together.

The screenplay was finished and I did a final budget. I was determined to make the entire movie for fifty thousand dollars, which was the amount I spent on Black Shampoo twenty years earlier. I held twenty thousand dollars for filming the King back in Los Angeles and was ready to go to Bulgaria with thirty grand. Bulgaria had a banking system where I could set up a local account and wire money in and out from America as needed. I was able to communicate with the United States once I got to Sofia through email. Trevor, like many thirteen year olds, was proficient in using the internet. I had him teach his grandmother, Rose, how to email. I put ten grand in my money belt and headed to Sofia.

STAR GAMES – PRE-PRODUCTION – BULGARIA

I arrived in Sofia in early July, 1995. With the breakup of the Soviet Union a few years earlier, Bulgaria was operating under a quasi-capitalistic system. Nikolay, the PM I had been communicating with, met me at the airport. He spoke excellent English and took me to a nice hotel in the heart of Sofia, but it was once again more expensive than I had budgeted. The next morning we met at Boyana Film Studio. Nikolay proudly showed me around the facility. The studio was about half the size of Lenfilm, but much newer and in better shape. There was a film laboratory attached to the studio; I was impressed. Nikolay introduced me to the head of the studio who spoke some English.

BOYANA STUDIO HEAD

There has been a twenty percent increase for crew and equipment cost.

I got to my feet and headed toward the door.

NIKOLAY

No, Mister Clark, wait. I'm very sorry this happened.

GREYDON

No hard feelings. I'm going to Bucharest to see about making my picture there. You sent me a price list when I was in Los Angeles and I expect you to abide by it.

BOYANA STUDIO HEAD

Our currency is devalued and we've had to increase what we pay everybody.

GREYDON

The cost of your people may have gone up, but your equipment and facilities cost hasn't raised. I'll add a ten percent surcharge for the crew and if I can find a much cheaper hotel for my people, I'll stay and make my picture here.

We agreed. Nikolay took me to several hotels.

GREYDON

Nikolay, these hotels are all very nice but we've got to find something where I can spend less than four thousand dollars for the entire time I'm here. We don't need to be in town. Is there something maybe on the outskirts that would be cheaper?

We drove twenty minutes away from the heart of the city and he took me to a small, family-owned hotel/restaurant. Violeta, the owner manager, and I were able to make a satisfactory deal. We began scouting locations. The primary location was in the woods and he took me to a perfect spot near a lake. I needed some sort of place where the grandson could escape from the bad guys. It was described as the King's Castle in the script.

NIKOLAY

We do not have a castle in Sofia. There is an ancient castle on the Danube River in Vidin. It's about a two-hour ride from the studio.

The next day Nikolay took me to a castle overlooking the Danube River. Built in the tenth century with an ancient European look; it could be from another world, a world that might be both ancient and futuristic at the same time.

GREYDON

I need a special effects makeup man to create the face for the main bad guy and I need some sort of helmet that covers the face of the soldiers.

Nikolay took me to a special effects makeup artist who was able to make a terrific mask for my villain and create helmets to cover the soldiers' faces. Nikolay took me to the very large wardrobe department at Boyana Film Studio. If I was going to use the ancient castle for the King and his grandson, it seemed logical that those around them should be dressed in wardrobe from the European Middle Ages. The wardrobe department was full of costumes that worked well. There were dancing bears on Sofia's busiest street.

GREYDON

The bear that chases the boy through the woods... is that going to be a problem?

NIKOLAY

We have several trainers who control bears. You see them on the street. It should not be a problem. Trained bears are very common in Bulgaria.

I was growing more impressed with Nikolay each day. I had three weeks prep. Darby came a week after me. He was an immense help and his years of production experience paid off. If I asked Darby to handle something, I knew it would get done. Jackie and the boys came a week before shooting began. We took Travis to the wardrobe department and found a perfect outfit for him, something that a medieval European prince would wear. Nick arrived two days before filming began and we were set.

Just before we started filming, we received an email from Rose in LA. It read, "Al Adamson was murdered." Jackie and I were shocked. Al gave me my first break almost thirty years earlier, it was on his Satan's Sadists that Jackie and I first got together. If it weren't for Al Adamson, I would still be selling crap door to door. A deep debt of gratitude goes to Al, for not only my filmmaking career, but more importantly for making it possible for Jackie and me to be lifetime partners. Someone working for Al, who was retired in Palm Springs, bashed his head in. The guy got life in prison.

STAR GAMES – PRODUCTION – BULGARIA

It was August 1995 and we began production. The boys were naturally nervous on the first day of filming, especially my nine-year-old son, Travis. I always made the first shot of any production as simple as possible. Nick and I positioned the camera so that the two boys would simply walk away from camera through the woods. There were a couple of lines of dialogue between the two of them. Since their backs were to camera, I had them read their dialogue into the Nagra (a professional sound recorder), a couple of times after we shot the scene. We were in the woods the entire day filming scenes of the two boys being chased by the bad guys. I was amazed how quickly they fell into the rhythm of the shoot. After a couple of setups, they realized that I would shoot the master, followed by over the shoulders and then the tight close-ups. Travis even started telling Trevor where to stand when it was time for his close-up. I reminded him that I was still the director and he should let me position the actors.

I remember reading what Spencer Tracy said after someone was overly complimentary about his acting, "The two biggest stars in Hollywood are Shirley Temple and Rin Tinâ€“Tin. One's five years old and the other's a dog. How difficult can acting be?" The Bulgarian actors who played the soldiers were hidden under their helmets and all I had to do was position them for the shot. Darby read their lines off-camera so the boys could react. We shot in the ancient castle on the Danube for one day. The medieval fortress being attacked by a spaceship was an interesting visual and worked well. When the young prince is confronted inside the walls of the castle I wanted Travis to be defiant.

GREYDON

Travis, stand like Yul Brynner in The King and I.

TRAVIS

Stand like what?

My nine-year-old had no idea who Yul Brynner or The King and I were. I put my hands on my hips in a defiant manner and he got it right away; smart kid. The studio had a small stage where we erected a blue screen to film the boys inside his space shuttle.

The bear trainer brought his animal to the set the day before we were scheduled to film the sequences with the bear. Everyone stared at the bear that had a big nose ring and chain dangling from it. Nikolay joined us.

NIKOLAY

What do you think, Greydon? This bear is well-trained and won't harm people.

GREYDON

He looks good. I'm assuming he can be controlled without his nose ring.

NIKOLAY

The nose ring is permanent. We can't find a trainer who will remove the nose ring.

TRAVIS

If this bear was born out in the woods, it wouldn't have a ring through its nose.

NIKOLAY

We've filmed this bear before as a dancing bear in the street. The nose ring is the only way the trainer keeps control.

Nick and I filmed a trained bear in Skinheads. The sequence with the family picnic at the lake and the bear chasing Trevor into the woods was scheduled for the next day. I always stayed on schedule and would just have to figure out a way to make it work. We arrived on the set the next day and Nikolay showed us a bear costume that looked like it was something that a kid would use at a Halloween party. Trevor picked it up and pointed out that the bear's costume included a nose ring. At least Nikolay was trying.

GREYDON

I thought about this all night and I think there's a way we can make it work. We'll shoot everything here in Bulgaria before and after the bear. We'll have to shoot the bear itself back in LA. Nick, we'll shoot everything in the direction of the lake today and we'll shoot the reverse of the bear and Trevor in LA

I directed and edited my own low budget movies for a quarter of a century and my editorial experience was invaluable when it came to knowing what I needed to make a scene work. It's amazing how much of this film goes back and forth from one continent to another. We filmed about eighty percent in Bulgaria, the rest back in LA. I think that perhaps the longest toss of a set of car keys in film history began that day. The sequence begins in LA where Trevor is chased into the woods. Playing his father, I scrambled after him, leaving the Bulgarian lake, and ran into the LA woods. I turned and tossed the car keys back to Jackie at the lake. When the shots were edited together, I threw the keys from the woods in LA across the Atlantic Ocean into Jackie's hands in Bulgaria. Quite a toss. Movie magic.

The parents frantically contact Darby, playing the local forest ranger. When the parents arrive at the ranger station I was up to my old tricks; we never see the interior of the station and filmed everything on an exterior porch overlooking the lake. We brought over props we knew we would need to make Bulgaria look like America; a large American flag flew over the ranger station and the vehicles had California license plates.

A search party looks for Trevor, who is not only lost, but needs his insulin to survive – the ticking clock. Child labor laws in the United States would never have allowed us to work the boys the ten to twelve hour days we shot in Bulgaria. However they were our kids and we worked them as much as we wanted. One night sequence we worked until the sun came up; the boys loved it. The small spaceship that Travis uses was a miniature optical to be inserted into sequences by Hewitt. When we were filming in Bulgaria, we needed to show the boys getting into the spaceship. Nick and I took a grease pencil and drew on the video assist monitor exactly where the spaceship would be superimposed. We had the boys walk up to the area where the spaceship would be, react to it and step inside.

The young prince has a holographic clown helping him in his adventure; the boys reacted to Darby who read the clown's lines. We finished our three-week shooting schedule in Bulgaria, carefully packed the wardrobe and props we needed back in LA for the additional filming, picked up the film negative from the laboratory and flew back home. Everything in Bulgaria was fun for Travis. Trevor took things a bit more seriously. I guess that's the difference between a ten year-old and a thirteen year-old. I was very impressed with how well they both handled themselves. As always, Jackie was awesome playing her role as Trevor's mother.

STAR GAMES – POST-PRODUCTION

We got back to Los Angeles in September of 1995 and the boys returned to school. I decided to go ahead and edit the Bulgarian footage before I shot the stuff with the King and the bear. As soon as I cut a sequence, I took it to Dave Hewitt's facility.

GREYDON

Dave, it looks like there are going to be several hundred simple opticals for the body of the picture. That does not include the big space battle at the beginning. I can't emphasize enough how important that battle is. It'll set the whole picture up. The market is changing. If the picture were done today; we both would make some real money. Who knows what'll happen tomorrow.

HEWITT

I'll get right on it.

My nightmare was about to begin. I finished editing the picture before the holidays of 1995. Each day I drove to Hewitt and gave him new footage for optical work. They were small opticals usually three or four seconds in length. By the time I completed the first cut on the picture, Hewitt had only finished a handful of opticals.

GREYDON

You keep promising me that you'll do this stuff and we're falling further behind.

HEWITT

Things are very difficult right now with my cash flow. If somebody walks in the door with a title job, I've got to do that before I can do your stuff. If you could advance me some money for raw stock and lab, it would help a lot.

GREYDON

The reason you're getting your cut is because you're supplying the opticals.

HEWITT

I know that. But I've got to keep my doors open or there'll be no opticals. Anything you can pay you could just take from my twenty-five percent.

We had unbelievable delays; if he got busy on another job, he would set Star Games aside and do nothing for weeks at a time. I advanced him money for raw stock and laboratory. The credit card I used for was soon over fifteen thousand dollars. Things heated up between us and I often grabbed my stuff and headed out the door.

HEWITT

No wait, Greydon. You're right, I haven't been fair. I can do this. It's just my cash flow problem. It wouldn't make sense for you to try and change things now.

A week or so passed and we made some progress, but then he would get busy with some other project and I would get nothing for weeks at a time. Had I known that it would be almost a year since we shot in Bulgaria and Hewitt had not even begun the space battle, I would have found another way of doing my opticals. I had the tiger by the tail and was afraid to let go. I should have.

STAR GAMES – PRODUCTION – USA

Hewitt's delays were costly in multiple ways. The boys were growing and I was concerned that if I delayed much longer they would not match the kids I took to Bulgaria. Working Wildlife had a ranch in the mountains north of LA where they housed a large menagerie of animals for motion picture filming. When I got to their facility, I realized that their terrain could easily match the Bulgarian mountains. We could film on their property with one of their bears for one day and get all we needed. Darby was available to help, but Nick was working on another film. Eric Scott, who was filming special effects for Hewitt, was Nick's replacement. Aleksandr Gruzdev, our sound man from Russia, was now living in the United States and we brought him as our sound mixer. It was the fall of 1996 when we went to the mountains on a Saturday and filmed my now fourteen-year-old Trevor and eleven-year-old Travis being chased through the woods by a bear. Jackie was concerned that the bear was too close to her sons, she approach the animal trainer.

JACKIE
Are you sure this is safe?
ANIMAL TRAINER

Everything will be okay. Just keep the smaller boy away and out of the sight of the bear as much as possible. We train these animals by giving them food as reward and we don't want them looking at that little kid and thinking, "Lunch."

Jackie swallowed hard, dabbed a bit of makeup on the boys and we were ready to go. Trevor was the only one actually chased by the bear. We took individual shots of Trevor running and of the bear chasing him. I only used one shot where both Trevor and the bear were in the same frame. There were three trainers on the set all the time. One trainer would run, just off camera in front of the running Trevor, with a piece of meat in his hand and the bear, trailing Trevor, would run after his food. On camera, it looked like the bear was chasing Trevor. As long as Trevor didn't slip and fall, he would be okay. I did notice that the animal trainers all carried pistols and Billy clubs; one kept to the side with a high-powered rifle at the ready. If Trevor was frightened, he didn't complain. We got the day and everyone was happy that the bear sequence was behind us. We went into Hewitt's facility and filmed Daran Norris, an actor recommended by Darby, as Happy the Clown.

STAR GAMES – POST-PRODUCTION

I quickly edited the sequences with the bear and Happy while I continued to wait for Hewitt to finish the opticals. More months went by and I simply could not delay filming the King any longer. Not only had the boys grown, but Trevor's voice began to change.

STAR GAMES – PRE-PRODUCTION

I had originally budgeted fifteen thousand dollars for filming the King who appears in three locations: his planet, his spaceship and in the woods when he finds his grandson. I figured I could shoot everything in two days against a blue screen... more opticals for Hewitt. The first time I appeared in front of a camera I worked at The Hollywood Stage with Broderick Crawford. I made a deal at the stage to film one weekend in front of their blue screen. I put a casting notice out to the agents explaining the part and noted that I had ten thousand dollars total for the two days and wanted a star in the role.

VAUGHN'S AGENT

I can deliver Robert Vaughn for ten grand.

The Man from Uncle, not bad. I'd think about it.

MCCARTHY'S AGENT

I can deliver Kevin McCarthy for ten grand

Invasion of the Body Snatchers... not bad. I'd think about it.

CURTIS' AGENT

I can deliver Tony Curtis for thirty thousand.

Robert Vaughn and Kevin McCarthy were good actors and recognizable stars that people in the industry knew and respected. Tony Curtis was a star who everyone in the world knew; he would be great. I would be filming with a minimal crew: Nick and his assistant, a soundman and Darby. We would be contained on the soundstage using their grip and electrical equipment. My only outside expense would be the camera rental, film and raw stock. I spoke to Jackie.

GREYDON

Tony Curtis has been offered to us for the King.

JACKIE
Tony Curtis would be great! He's a big star.
GREYDON

We budgeted ten grand for the part. Tony wants thirty.

JACKIE

Ouch. Tony Curtis would be good. And with all the problems we're having with Dave Hewitt and his opticals he would help sell the picture.

GREYDON

We could go to the bank and put a new lien on the house, but with all their fees, we probably would have to take out a hundred thousand dollar loan for it to make any sense. We're twenty short. We could sell our car and get the cash to pay Tony.

I got the script to Tony's agent and a few days later; he got back to me with his client's approval. We sold our car to get the money to pay Tony his thirty grand. Tony agreed to meet Darby and me at Western Costume to select his wardrobe. We showed photos of the medieval wardrobe we used in Bulgaria to the guy at Western Costume and were prepared when our star arrived. He looked great and was the charming Tony Curtis from all those movies. We selected three or four outfits for the King to wear and we were ready to go into the soundstage the following weekend.

STAR GAMES – PRODUCTION – USA

It was February 1997, a year and a half after we completed the Bulgarian section of our film, when we shot Tony Curtis' entire part on a Saturday and Sunday in front of a blue screen at The Hollywood Stage. We had five people on the crew: Nick von Sternberg used Eric Scott as his assistant, Aleksandr Gruzdev did sound, his wife was on makeup and Darby was there to do anything and everything from stringing cable, adjusting lights and handling the sound boom. David Reskin, Jackie and Rose were also there to help. Tony arrived with his soon to be wife Jill, a Marilyn Monroe look-alike, on his arm. Tony had only one request.

TONY

There is a lot of dialogue here, Greydon. I'll need cue cards.

GREYDON

No problem, Tony. I'll get some done while you're in makeup.

TONY

I'd rather not have any makeup. I'm beautiful enough, don't you think? No, seriously, if you could just have someone mop me up if I start to sweat.

Jackie and David Reskin found large white poster boards, a black sharpie and began writing the cue cards. I had a flashback to me writing cue cards for J. Carrol Naish on Dracula vs.Frankenstein on the same sound stage almost thirty years earlier.

David Reskin is the character camera left on the first shot of Tony in his spaceship. Darby's wife, Shaun, is standing opposite him. Brian Fitzpatrick, another actor Darby recommended, played Tony's military attachÃ© and was excellent. There were more than a dozen scenes with Tony and multiple wardrobe changes. I covered them in my usual way; master, over the shoulder, close-ups and inserts. It was completely different from working on a normal set where you move the camera position to position for each setup. With the blue screen as the background, the camera stayed in the same position and I repositioned Tony for the coverage. It was much faster filming; all we had to do was move the key light so that the lighting would be consistent on the actor's face. Tony was very good with the cue cards. He was extremely cooperative and quickly got into this method of filmmaking. Dave Hewitt and his wife stopped by and I introduced them to Tony. Dave had a rolled up poster under his arm.

GREYDON

Tony, Dave is one of the producers on the show and also responsible for all the special effects. He's the one that's going to optically put you in the picture.

HEWITT

Mister Curtis, you're the reason I got into show business. I saw Houdini when I was a kid and loved the magic of it all. Would you mind autographing this poster?

TONY

It would be my pleasure.

Tony personally autographed Dave's poster. I pulled Dave to one side.

GREYDON

To get Tony Curtis I spent thirty thousand dollars that I really had not budgeted. You can see that the picture is all coming together... everything now depends on how we open the first five minutes of the space battle.

HEWITT

I can do it. I promise.

Dave was a nice guy and I think he meant what he said at the time he said it. I went back to directing Tony, who charmed everyone. We filmed everything with Tony on that first day except his scenes with the two boys. We got the day and I wrapped everyone.

GREYDON

That's a wrap for today. Thank you everyone you were all excellent. Especially you, Tony. Let's have crew call at nine A.M. and Tony your call will be nine thirty.

TONY

The cat's in the bag and the bag's in the river.

I knew that Tony was referencing his line from Sweet Smell of Success and I responded in a loud voice so that everyone could hear.

GREYDON

Sidney Falco, a great character and a great performance. Tony should have won an Academy Award for that film.

TONY

Thank you, Mister Clark. You are correct.

Tony bowed toward me. I was leaving the soundstage when Darby quickly approached.

DARCY

We should give a written call sheet to Tony. I'll make one up right away. And he'll have to sign out for SAG.

Darby, ever the professional, was right. It had been more than four years since I'd made a picture in the United States and had to deal with a SAG contract. I signed with SAG before we began the two days of filming with Tony and needed the paperwork on both Brian Fitzpatrick and Tony. Daran Norris, who played Happy the Clown, was also SAG. Even though we shot him months earlier, I listed Daran as working that day so he could get credit toward his SAG health insurance.

The next day we started filming with Tony and the two boys. If you look very carefully you can see that the kids were a year and a half older. They stepped out of a scene filmed in Bulgaria in August of 1995 onto a soundstage in Hollywood in February 1997. Tony was great working with the kids. I was staging a scene where Travis, playing his grandson, runs to him and they embrace. Travis ran to Tony and leaped into his arms, almost knocking him to the floor. I quickly stepped to Tony, offering my arm to steady him.

GREYDON

Travis got a little rambunctious. I'll tell him to just do the embrace.

TONY

No. That was great. I just wasn't ready for it. Travis, do it just like you did and leap into my arms and I'll catch you, okay?

TRAVIS
Is that what I should do, dad?
GREYDON

Yes, do it just like you did in the rehearsal. Let's try one.

Nick rolled the camera, I called for action, Travis ran to Tony and jumped in his arms; great shot. My twelve-year-old ran to me and whispered in my ear.

TRAVIS

When I was hugging him, I whispered in his ear, "I hate you, grandpa."

GREYDON

Why did you do that?

TRAVIS

I wanted to see how he would react.

GREYDON

Well, don't do that again, Travis.

Tony motioned for me to come over.

TONY

Do you know what Travis whispered in my ear when I was hugging him?

GREYDON
He told me.
TONY

He said, "I love you, grandpa." That was nice.

Everyone hears what he or she wants to hear. We continued filming and broke for lunch. Jackie and Rose ran to a local fast food chicken place and returned with their arms full. The day before I had a nice catered lunch brought in and I was a bit concerned that Tony might not appreciate the fast food so I quickly made a joke of it.

GREYDON

We brought Tony's favorite food today – just for Mister Curtis – El Pollo Loco!

TONY

How did you know I love this stuff!

Tony was full of stories and was approachable by everyone. Trevor mentioned to him that he especially liked the pie fight in The Great Race.

TONY

I told Blake Edwards that I did not want to get hit with a bunch of pies. He had to figure out how I could be in the scene without getting pie all over me. We worked it out so that The Great Leslie would not get hit by a pie until at the very end and then just one right in the kisser.

We shot the rest of the afternoon and finished the day.

GREYDON

That's a wrap for everyone. I want to thank Tony once again for his help and cooperation. Tony, now you can say you've been directed by Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick, Blake Edwards and...

I hammed it up, striking a pose with my palms upward toward God and everyone laughed, most of all Tony and me. Tony Curtis was at one time the highest-paid and biggest star in Hollywood. He was kind enough to give me a personally autographed copy of his autobiography where he discussed his substance abuse problem that almost ended his career. An accomplished artist, he even drew a scene from Star Games on the inside cover. Thanks again Tony and wherever you are, I am certain you're starring in the picture.

I called Nick and Darby into a side office and started writing checks for their two days.

NICK

Why so long before we shot the stuff you needed today? It's been a year and a half.

GREYDON

Nick, I had so many problems getting these opticals done. Hewitt has taken all this time and we're still not finished. And I've had to advance the son of a bitch money. It's just been one thing after another.

I handed him his paycheck and he tore it up putting the pieces down on the desk.

NICK

Forget it. Finish this one and we'll do another one.

GREYDON

I can't let you do that, Nick. You worked two full days you deserve to be paid.

NICK

Don't insult me, Greydon. Let me do this for you and Jackie.

He turned and walked out of the room.

DARCY

Me too. I'm not letting you pay me anything for this. There is one thing you could do... list me on the SAG paperwork as an actor for these two days. It'll help me keep my SAG health insurance.

GREYDON

Of course, but you don't have to waive being paid just because Nick did.

DARCY

So now you're trying to insult me. What does a producer pay for pension health and welfare at SAG, twelve and a half percent? I'll reimburse you that.

GREYDON

Now you're trying to insult me. I'll pay SAG and thanks for the weekend.

Nick and Darby, two very classy guys.

STAR GAMES – POST-PRODUCTION

Hewitt had a burst of activity for a week or so, but then we were back to the same old slow grind. One afternoon I walked into his place and began methodically gathering my stuff. No shouting, no threatening, I was just taking my stuff and getting the hell out of there.

HEWITT

The problem I'm having is that so many of my long time customers are moving to computer images. It's cheaper than I can do it and way faster. When I get a job, I have to drop all of your stuff and do it so that I can keep my doors open.

GREYDON

I appreciate all that, Dave. But it's been almost three months since we shot Tony and you haven't even started on the opening space battle.

HEWITT

If I had the right computer, I could do it all digitally and it would be quick.

GREYDON

What good would it do you to have a digital computer if you didn't have somebody that knew how to operate it? What do you know about digital effects?

HEWITT

I have a guy who is an expert. If you could come up with ten grand, we'd get the computer and within a month, we'd have a great opening space battle.

I bought the computer. Hewitt brought in a guy who was somewhat proficient in digital effects and we began to make some progress.

I was at Hewitt's one day and Mardi Rustam walked through the door. I had not seen him since he failed to come through with the financing on Black Shampoo more than twenty years earlier . At the time, his last second betrayal was devastating, but when I look back, he actually did me a favor by forcing me to arrange my own financing; a practice I repeated over and over throughout my career. They say that living well is the best revenge; Mardi was working on his sixth film, I was working on my twentieth.

It was September 1997 when Hewitt finally finished all the opticals – more than two years after we began filming in Bulgaria. It should've taken three to six months. He failed miserably on the opening space battle. A few years later, all of those opticals would've been done with guys sitting in front of a computer and they would've been done much better and faster. I always felt that I should redo the opening space battle using digital technology. Perhaps I still should.

With the money I gave Hewitt and spending an additional twenty grand to get Tony Curtis, I was over budget. I contacted Dan Slider and filled him in on my situation.

DAN

I am sorry, Greydon. Right now, I am extremely busy with America's Funniest Home Videos and I'm doing all the music for a series of CBS afterschool specials. We are in the middle of the season for both. If you could wait a month or so...

GREYDON

I can't wait, Dan. It's been two years since I started this film and I've got to sell it in Milan. Do you have anybody you might suggest for my music?

DAN

There's a guy who did a Tales from the Crypt episode I know about. I don't know him personally, but some people I know on that show spoke highly of him.

Dan went through his files and gave me the contact information on Ulrich Sinn. I met Uli at his small apartment in Hollywood. He was classically trained from Austria, spoke with a slight accent and was eager to do my music. I watched a few scenes from his Tales from the Crypt and liked what I saw.

GREYDON

I'm on a very short budget and tight schedule, Uli. The best I can give you is five grand and we'll split the publishing. You're going to have to finish all the music in about three weeks. I want a big, full, lush sound. Make it like John Williams had a child and named him Uli.

Uli went right to work and did a fabulous job with his musical score. I created the sound effects on my computer, even recording the Foley in my own backyard. I deepened my voice and spoke in a raspy whisper to dub the lines in for the Bulgarian actors. We did the sound mix in two days at Rapid Sound. Producer credit went to Hewitt and Darby; David Reskin and I took screenplay credit. We got our answer print a couple of weeks before Milan.

Darby gave an excellent performance in the film, playing dual personalities when the evil character pursuing Travis inhabits the body of the forest ranger. Trevor and Travis were very good, something I was less than certain about when we wrote the original screenplay. I knew that Jackie would be great, she always was.

My first thought was to have Doug Witkins at Amazing Movies handle my foreign sales. However Doug was moving into adult product and I thought that the buyers who might be interested in a family film like Star Games would not look to him. Artist View had a list of family films they were selling in Milan. I screened a video of Star Games for Scott Jones, the company owner and president.

SCOTT

I liked your picture and think we could do some world TV business with it in Milan. Buyers know Tony Curtis.

We made a standard foreign distribution deal. Scott was able to sell Italy, the UK, three or four smaller countries in Europe and a similar number in Asia and South America. As always, it took months to collect our share, but eventually we got a bit over a hundred grand from foreign. When I came up with the concept for a kid's sci-fi movie, I personally knew four independent home video distributors. More than two years later when we finally finished, three of them were out of business. I made a deal with MTI Home Video for U.S. video. The picture was barely released in the United States. It took more than two years to make Star Games and my total profit was less than fifty thousand dollars. Star Games was the last feature film I directed. It was more than a quarter of a century since I directed, Mothers, Fathers and Lovers, and Jackie and I were still working together. Lucky, lucky me.

MIKE HAMMER

MIKE HAMMER – TV SERIES

It had been over six months since we finished shooting Tony Curtis. I had not spoken to Nick von Sternberg in that time. He phoned and got right down to business.

NICK

I'm shooting the new Mike Hammer television series out in Ventura County. Do you still have the underwater camera bag we used in your swimming pool on Uninvited? We need it for a sequence. Would you rent it to us?

GREYDON

I do have it and you don't have to pay me, Nick. If you want it... it's yours.

NICK

No. You should rent it to the production company. They can afford it. You wouldn't believe how screwed up these shows are. We need you to come up here and direct a couple of them. You remember John Curran, he was your PM on the picture you did with Cybill Shepherd and Jan-Michael Vincent? You know, the one you didn't hire me on. He's the line producer on all the shows. Why don't you bring the camera bag and say hello.

Stacy Keach, Mike Hammer on the CBS television series made ten years earlier, reprised his role for a low budget syndicated version of the series. Nick was shooting when I arrived and I didn't want to disturb him so I sought out John Curran.

JOHN

Greydon! Good to see you after all these years. Did you bring the camera bag? We'll rent it for a day. I've been following your career and it's great to see how many films you've made. Did you ever think of directing a low budget television show? The director gets ten grand for the episode. We shoot one a week.

GREYDON

I'd like to see what it's like to do a TV show. How much prep time do I get?

JOHN

One week and it's included in your ten grand. I think I can get you one of these. Let me talk to the executives.

The production had several standing sets; Mike Hammer's office, his apartment and a watering hole he frequented. Nick was filming on the office set and we had a brief reunion. I watched for half an hour and they seem to be moving slowly. Stacy Keach was very professional and he looked exactly like he did ten years earlier on the CBS series. I left, wondering whether I would hear back. I filled Jackie in on the deal.

GREYDON

It's ten grand for the episode. One week shoot. Not much money.

JACKIE

Didn't you tell me your father worked all year for ten thousand dollars?

She was right; this crazy business had skewed my thinking. A few days later John called and said I could direct an episode.

MIKE HAMMER – SINS OF THE FATHER – TELEPLAY

I walked into John's office and he handed me the script.

JOHN

There's a couple of things you should be aware of. Stacy is very unhappy with the quality of the scripts. The director meets with Stacy and the writers in his motorhome after shooting. They rewrite the scenes for the next day. They'll make major changes for the next day's shoot. I mean major changes...

GREYDON

How do you do that; make changes the night before you're going to shoot?

JOHN

We do the best we can. Stacy expects the director to be with him in his motorhome until he calls it a night. Sometimes it goes on for hours. Still want the job?

GREYDON

I do. Sounds like it's going to be an interesting week.

I knew nothing about television production and had never seen a script for a series episode. Ventura is a West Coast beach town. The Mike Hammer television series was supposed to take place in New York City. It was a big cheat. I visited the location where there were filming. Nick introduced me to Stacy.

GREYDON

You look great, Stacy. Just like you did on the original series.

STACY

It's all makeup. Have you read the script for next week's episode? I'm sure it's a piece of shit that'll make no sense at all... just like every other god damn script. Nick says you're good. If you think you can fix the script, don't hesitate.

That evening I watched a tape of a completed episode. Nick's cinematography was excellent and Stacy Keach was the real Mike Hammer. However the story was a confusing mess. Stacy must've had three pages of dialogue at the very end where he tried to explain what happened during the show. It reminded me of Peter Sellers spoofing detective movies in A Shot in the Dark. I read the forty-page script and felt the need to apologize to every other script I ever read. It was not only amateurish, but was impossible to comprehend. The series format was a closed end mystery thriller where a crime is committed in the opening sequence and the audience follows Mike Hammer as he solves the "who done it." If the audience couldn't follow the story, they'd punch the remote and move on. I didn't know how I could direct this script and have it make any sense. I went to see Curran.

GREYDON

John, have you read this script? It makes no sense at all.

JOHN

I've given up reading them. You should run it through your computer and fix it.

GREYDON

Would that be all right? Just go ahead and do a major rewrite?

JOHN

Stacy's the star and executive producer. I know he would appreciate it.

I went home that weekend and did a major rewrite on the entire script. I probably shouldn't have; I was stepping on toes of the series hierarchy and wasn't aware of it. However I just wanted to make the best episode I could and both John and Stacy encouraged me to do a rewrite on the script. It was a convoluted story about a priest who hears something in the confessional from a serial killer and turns to Mike Hammer for help. The serial killer picks up prostitutes and butchers them; the audience is supposed to see and hear the opening killing and yet not recognize the killer when Hammer interviews him as part of his investigation. I needed to disguise who the serial killer was so I used the same voice box technique I used on Dance Macabre to disguise his voice when he picked up the prostitutes. I could shoot him in silhouette so that his identity would remain unknown to the audience. After an exhaustive weekend, I thought I had something that I could take to John Curran. I gave him a copy of my rewritten script on Monday.

JOHN
Did you change locations or cast?
GREYDON

No. Everything's the same. I just took out and added some scenes and put things into some sort of logical order. I'm not happy with it, but at least it'll play.

John gave the script directly to Stacy, bypassing the writing staff – another mistake.

MIKE HAMMER – SINS OF THE FATHER – PRE-PRODUCTION

I began my week of pre-production for the episode, Sins of the Father. I was at the studio every day. Stacy asked to see me in his trailer. The head of the writing staff and Stacy were in the middle of a heated argument when I stepped into his motorhome. Stacy had my rewritten version of the script in one hand and the original in the other.

STACY

I am sick and tired of the shit you guys have been giving me.

He threw the original script violently against the wall and turned to his head writer, almost spitting out his words.

STACY

Get the hell out of here. I want to talk to my director.

The head writer filed silently out of the motorhome.

GREYDON

I didn't want to cause trouble. You and John said that I should do a rewrite...

STACY

I'm glad you did. It's much better than it was. At least you can follow the story.

The casting director was in an office in LA and videotaped actor's' auditions. She sent the videotapes to the production office in Ventura. As the director, I had final say on casting, but was urged to agree with their casting director. I got her on the phone.

GREYDON

I agree with your choices, except for one. I have somebody I would like to play the serial killer. I worked a number of times with an actor named Darby Hinton.

CASTING DIRECTOR

I know Darby Hinton. He would be good. Let me see if he'd like to do it.

That night I called Darby and filled him in.

GREYDON

It's not the best script you'll ever read. But it is the guest starring role and you work the entire week. If you want to wait until there's a better script...

DARCY

I've had some experience in TV and let me tell you, TV executives can be very strange. You never know what they're going to do. I'd rather take the bird in the hand. Let's do this one.

The night before we began filming, I met with Stacy, a couple of producers and the head writer in the star's motorhome to go over the next day's scenes. It took over an hour and was a complete waste of time. On more than one occasion, these "producers," who seem to know nothing about production, made a suggestion that was so outlandish and impossible to create for the next day's filming it was laughable. It was midnight and somehow they expected the production to create completely new scenes and be ready to film early the next morning. I was able to steer them away from their more outlandish ideas. They complained that episodes were over budget and over schedule. No kidding; they were trying to make these episodes on the fly without any real pre-production and wondered why they were over budget. Was this the way all television was done?

MIKE HAMMER – SINS OF THE FATHER — PRODUCTION

The next day we began filming. To get the coverage I needed for the scenes, I decided to shoot two cameras at all times as I did with The Forbidden Dance. Nick was not crazy about the idea, but Stacy liked it. Nick and I worked together on so many pictures that things moved very smoothly on the set. Stacy was amazing with dialogue. He was letter perfect and his delivery was spot on. Darby gave his usual excellent performance and things went well. I did spend time each evening in Stacy's motorhome going over the next day's work. However after the first couple of days, we were spending a half an hour doing so rather than the customary two. I brought the episode in on schedule and without overtime.

JOHN

Yours was the first time that we've not gone over schedule and budget. The executive producers are thrilled. Stacy wants you to direct as many as you can. Why don't you write an original script and you could direct it.

GREYDON

I don't know. The head writer seemed pissed that I was messing in his territory.

JOHN

Stacy was happy with your script work and wants you to direct. He's the star and executive producer. Write a script. We pay ten grand for a script.

GREYDON

I'll think about it. I'd like to talk to the editor. Where's the editing department?

JOHN

The executive producers don't want the director in the editing room.

Why have the director tell the editor what he had in mind? Television was different.

MIKE HAMMER – A PENNY SAVED – SCREENPLAY

John and Stacy wanted me to write a script. I came up with a story where Mike Hammer gets involved with "Wall Street Banksters." I wrote an opening scene over the New York Stock Exchange trading floor and had Stacy's voiceover talking about Wall Street swindlers. I wrote the scene and decided to give David Reskin a call.

GREYDON

This TV stuff is the most screwed up production imaginable. They want me to write a script and will pay ten grand. If you wanna co-write it, I'll split the ten with you. We have to finish it in a bit over a week; about fifty pages.

The next day we began writing A Penny Saved. An elderly janitor becomes a fall guy for Wall Street swindlers and goes to Mike Hammer for help. We finished the script and I took it to John Curran. I got out of my car at the studio and Stacy pulled his car into a stop next to mine. I slid from behind my wheel with my script in hand.

STACY

Greydon, good to see you. What's that? A script?

GREYDON

Yeah. It's just something I want to show John Curran.

STACY

You mean an episode for the series? Let me see it. Give it to me.

GREYDON

Stacy, I don't want to step on any toes here. Maybe I should give it to John Curran he's the one who asked me to do it.

STACY

Don't be stupid. I am an executive producer and I'm Mike Hammer.

He pulled the script from my hand and walked away. I went to John Curran's office.

GREYDON

I had a script for you to look at, but Stacy grabbed it from me. I'm a bit uncomfortable with all this script stuff. It doesn't seem quite right.

JOHN

I don't see a problem with that. If Stacy likes the script you'll direct it.

Two days later, I got a call from Curran.

JOHN

Stacy loves the script and wants you to direct. How much do you want for it?

GREYDON

We did write this on spec so we could expect a bit more. But just give us the ten.

David and I wrote the script to shoot on the locations contained within the studio and I was able to shoot the entire thing without leaving the lot. The night before we began filming, I asked David to join us in the motorhome to go over the next day's filming. We went through the schedule in about fifteen minutes with only minor changes.

STACY

That was quick. You guys get out of here so I can get some rest.

There was obvious tension between the executive producers and the head writer. They were arguing about something as they walked away.

MIKE HAMMER – A PENNY SAVED – PRODUCTION

We began filming the next day and the shooting went extremely well. The show was unable to get recognizable actors to appear in any episode prior to A Penny Saved. I can only assume that the scripts were so bad that no one of note wanted to do them. Mary Crosby, the actress who shot J.R. on Dallas, and Kent McCord, star of Adam 12, both agreed to be in our episode. I was able to get Len Donato from Dark Future to play Crosby's main henchman and Brian Fitzpatrick from Star Games a day's work. After the first day's shooting, Stacy approached me with a weary smile.

STACY

We will not have to have a meeting tonight in the trailer. In fact, we won't need any more meetings for the whole week. The script works and you know what you're doing on the set. I'll finally be able to get some rest.

Stacy was very pleased. However when the head writer and the executive producers were on the set they completely ignored me, an unusual way to treat a director. The day after we wrapped, I stopped in John Curran's office.

JOHN

This is our cheapest episode we've ever done. But in spite of all that, you're not going to get another episode to direct. The head writer claims you went behind his back by writing your script and he has poisoned the well with the executives.

GREYDON

You're the one who told me to write it and Stacy demanded I give it to him. It was a spec script. I could've asked for more money, but took the normal amount.

JOHN

If it was up to me you'd direct every other episode. Stacy would be happy and it would make my job a lot easier. I just thought you should know the truth.

GREYDON

I appreciate you standing up for me. I've been making my own pictures for so long but I'm not good at office politics. I just wanted to make the best I could.

I never heard again from anyone on Mike Hammer with the exception of Nick.

NICK

The one you wrote and directed was the only one that made any sense. I don't know why you're not directing more episodes.

GREYDON

I pissed off the executives when David and I wrote that script. Something will come up and we'll work again. Thanks for getting me the two shows.

I never saw either episode until they were on television. In Sins of the Father, they had a scene completely out of sequence; a young priest tells Stacy that another prostitute was killed before the killing even takes place . A Penny Saved played very well and looked like an episode of the original CBS series. Stacy Keach is a talented actor and a decent fellow. However he might have used his power as the star and executive producer to get me a few more episodes to direct.

END CREDITS

END CREDITS

I never thought of myself as a gambler; I didn't play the tables in Vegas and I didn't play the stock market. However maybe I was a big-time gambler all along and didn't realize it. I was gambling everything Jackie and I had to make picture after picture. I was gambling that I could make the picture, get our money back and show a profit. Year after year, with each picture we put a second mortgage on the house, paid it off from distribution income and did it all over again. I was truly an independent, using financing I raised from investors or my own funds to make the picture I wanted to make.

Directing movies may be the greatest job in the world. Each day is different and each day a major challenge. I never had the box office hit that propelled me into major studio work, but I was lucky to be working at a time when independent, low budget production could be profitable. If I had to make fifteen-day pictures, I was willing to do whatever was necessary to get them made. However the low budgets I was working with created their own limitations. Once the director accepts the shooting schedule and budget, he is in the middle of the arena and fights the battle as best he can. I scheduled and planned my pictures very carefully and tried to execute that plan. A director answers hundreds of questions all day long. Everyone on a movie set is trying to please the director. They may think he's an idiot who doesn't know what he's doing, but their job is to help any way they can. It's a very heady experience to have everyone trying to please you.

Being in the entertainment business is something that one chooses and everyone knows what a difficult choice it is. There is no "normal" advancement in show business. No steady getting ahead, no matter how great it is to work on a picture, eventually the picture will end and the process of finding the next project begins again. I've said countless times to crews, "Guys we're all working toward unemployment." It's a tough business; a deep bow of respect to all the cast and crew I've worked with.

Even though we were on very low budgets with tight shooting schedules, most of the star actors I worked with were very professional – prepared, inventive and cooperative. I take pride that stars were willing to work with me more than once. Jack Palance, Martin Landau, George Kennedy, all Academy Award winners, and Susan Blakely felt comfortable enough with me to say yes the second time; the great Joe Don Baker a second and third time. I was very lucky to work with actors of their stature.

Young actors choose a very difficult path in life, maybe one in a thousand who aspire to be an actor will be able to support himself or herself in their profession. I was lucky enough to cast some young people who went on to have nice careers: David Caruso, Jon Gries, Julia Duffy, Andrew Dice Clay, Rob Estes, Clare Carey... However, only a handful of the hundreds of actors I worked with have achieved the recognition they sought and deserved. Talent is important, but I worked with many very talented people who have long struggled in this crazy business. Talent alone is not enough; it takes a break that most will never get.

In the process of writing this autobiography, I watched all of my films, most I hadn't seen in decades. All I see are low budget movies shot in two or three weeks, filled with my mistakes, which are legion. Some were more pleasant to make than others; some have achieved more recognition over the years, but each holds a special place in my heart. Each of them took about a year to complete. The actual production is probably the most enjoyable time, but I also loved pre-production and post-production as well as writing the screenplays. I was independent, using money that I raised or invested myself so that I could make the picture I wanted to make. I'm not complaining that I worked in the low budget field. I was so very lucky to make the pictures that I was able to make.

Many successful people don't examine the part that luck played in their lives. They ascribed their success strictly due to their hard work and/or brilliance. They don't want to think about the role kismet plays. Life contains a huge amount of luck – good or bad. If a person has had success, he or she also has had some good fortune along the way. With success comes obligation to others; a debt is owed to those who have not had the same good luck in their lives. During more than five decades, I was able to do picture after picture and lead a life better than I had ever dreamed. Professionally, I hung around for more than five decades making movies and traveling the world. Personally, I had Jackie... Enough said. Lucky, lucky me.

In January 2003 Jackie, who was almost never sick, began complaining of pain in her lower chest and upper abdomen. We lived an upper middle-class life and had health insurance. She went to her doctor and he gave her medication for the pain. The pain went away, but returned a few days later with greater intensity. Back to the doctor for stronger pain medication. The pain went away only to return with greater intensity. Back to the doctor again for even more pain medication. On Saturday February 1, 2003, her pain became so severe I insisted I take her to the emergency room. She reluctantly agreed. The hospital was less than five minutes away from our home and we were able to get in to see a doctor quickly. Jackie filled him in on her situation.

EMERGENCY ROOM DOCTOR
What have your blood tests shown?
JACKIE
I haven't had any blood tests.
EMERGENCY ROOM DOCTOR

You mean your primary physician didn't order a blood test?

They gave her a morphine drip for the pain, ordered a blood test and we waited.

EMERGENCY ROOM DOCTOR

We'll have a CAT scan done on her chest and abdomen.

It was Saturday evening when they wheeled Jackie into the CAT scan room.

EMERGENCY ROOM DOCTOR

We'll get the results of the CAT scan within the hour and know more then. I think Mrs. Clark should stay overnight.

GREYDON
Will she be in an intensive care unit?
EMERGENCY ROOM DOCTOR

No, that won't be necessary. This is not that kind of emergency. She'll be fine.

They wheeled Jackie into an overnight room. She was under heavy sedation and half-asleep. They suggested I go home for the evening. I kissed Jackie good night and left. I returned to the hospital the next morning.

GREYDON

How is my wife?

NURSE AT CENTRAL

She's fine. She had a restful night.

I went into Jackie's room and she was lying in bed, sleeping under heavy sedation.

ATTENDING NURSE

Good morning, Mister Clark. Your wife is sleeping now. Why don't you come back in about an hour and you can have breakfast with her?

I went home and was there less than ten minutes when the hospital called and said I should return immediately. I was back at the hospital in just a few minutes. Two nurses stopped me in front of Jackie's room and guided me to a seat in the hallway.

GREYDON
Is something wrong? Is my wife okay?
NURSE

They are working on her now. You'll have to wait here.

I don't know how long it was; it could've been minutes or hours that I sat in the hallway outside Jackie's room. I kept asking if she was all right and the nurses wouldn't respond. I had no idea how serious this had suddenly become. Finally...

GREYDON

Is my wife dead?

NURSE

Yes. I'm afraid she is.

The two nurses tried to console me; it wasn't an easy job. I was in a stunned haze when the nurses finally led me in to see Jackie. She was lying in bed, covers to her chin and seemed to be in a restful sleep. I leaned over her lifeless body, kissed her goodbye and stumbled from the room.

I had to compose myself as much as I could and go home and tell our twenty-year-old and seventeen-year-old sons that their mother was dead. You can imagine how difficult that was... let me take that back, I hope you cannot imagine how difficult it was to tell Trevor, who was in his first year in college, and Travis, a senior in high school, that they would never see their precious mother again. I'd told the boys many times before that sometimes things happen in life beyond our control. The only thing we can control is how we react to those things and that makes all the difference. This was a tough one.

Jackie died on that Sunday; five days later, on Friday, I turned sixty. She was fifty-five years old, slim, attractive, healthy and vibrant. It didn't seem possible that a pain in her side could actually cause her death. An autopsy revealed that Jackie had an ulcer in her upper abdomen. She had seen her primary physician a half a dozen times in the month prior to her death and the medication he gave her to ease her pain caused the ulcer to bleed. The doctor who read her CAT scan over the internet reported that blood was pooling in her stomach and that she should be looked at immediately for the possibility of a bleeding ulcer. It was Saturday night, the emergency room was busy and they did not read the CAT scan report until Monday, the day after she died.

Everyone who knew Jackie loved her and was in complete shock when we discovered the cause of her death. No one had ever heard of anyone dying from a bleeding ulcer while under a doctor's care. Friends urged me to contact an attorney for a lawsuit. All my life the common wisdom was that evil, powerful trial attorneys took advantage of the system. Like most "common wisdom," the truth is far more complex. Who do you think has more power: doctors, hospitals, pharmaceuticals and insurance companies combined or trial attorneys? Mark Heipler was a respected trial attorney.

HEIPLER

More people die each year in the United States from medical malpractice than automobile accidents. More than thirty years ago, the medical profession got a law passed in the state of California limiting the total amount you can sue for medical malpractice wrongful death at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. It's never been raised to keep pace with inflation. If I take the case, I will have to advance approximately a hundred thousand in expenses. That gets paid back off the top leaving a hundred and fifty. I then take fifty for my fee, leaving you and your boys with a hundred thousand dollars total. Normally, I don't take medical malpractice wrongful death suits. It's not worth me risking a hundred in expense on the chance I could profit fifty thousand. However what happened to your family is so egregious; I'll take the case and risk my money.

Jackie was dead and it was all about the money. The answer to any question is always the same, "Money." I talked it over with the boys and we decided to move forward with the lawsuit. Two years to the day Jackie died, a judge settled the case in our favor. I took the hundred grand and put it into an investment trust for the boys.

It's been more than a decade since Jackie died and I've not seriously considered making another movie. Some people say I lost my luck when Jackie died. I prefer to think how lucky I was to have her as the mother of my boys and to have her in my life for more than thirty-four years.

Today, Trevor is at a university and Travis is a television sports reporter. I live with my companion, Marlene. I run my website, GreydonClark.com, and attend conventions, screenings and speak to film students usually followed by a Q&A session. Almost immediately someone will ask for advice about becoming a filmmaker.

GREYDON

I think the future is very bright for young filmmakers. When I started, it took so much money to make a film: the raw stock, laboratory and equipment alone were many tens of thousands of dollars. Today, with digital photography, a filmmaker can shoot his entire movie with a few thousand bucks. With distribution through the internet growing at an unbelievable speed... make your picture, figure out a way to promote it and you'll get it seen. However before you decide you want to make movies, you should go into a room... turn off your cell phones, no computers, no TV, no distractions. Close the door and turn off the lights. Stay in the darkened room for twenty-four hours and think... is there anything else in the world I can do besides make movies? If at the end of those twenty-four hours you say, "There's nothing else in the world I can do besides make movies." My advice...? Go back in the room for another twenty-four hours and think again.

I take a moment for audience reaction, usually a knowing chuckle.

GREYDON

Then at the end of the second twenty-four hours, if you still think there's nothing else in the world you can do except make movies, then maybe you should run away from home and join the circus. Who knows? You might get lucky. I did.