A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

(C) 1994 Workman Publishing Company James Dean as a boxer's corner man in a Martin-and-Lewis comedy film? Gregory Peck as a Soviet partisan fighting Nazi invaders? Sally Field as a Lolita-like teenager on a Westward bound wagon train? Kevin Costner in a soft-core "T&A" film? Michael Douglas as an antiwar activist who joins the Army? Every career has to have a beginning, and acting in films isn't any different, as readers of Damien Bona's Opening Shots: The Unusual, Unexpected, Potentially Career-Threatening First Roles That Launched the Careers of 70 Hollywood Stars will discover when they explore this witty, informative, and even a bit biting tome by the author of Starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan and Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards. Starting with Woody Allen's appearance in 1964's What's New, Pussycat? and concluding with Pia Zadora's debut in that same year's epic Santa Clau...

What makes a good movie "good" or a great movie "great"? The answer, of course, is, "many things." You have to have a good story, a well-written script (ideally with memorable lines and lots of linear logic!), a director with a fine eye for detail and organizational skills that rival Ike's before D-Day, a well-trained crew, a well-versed composer, a top-notch special-effects team, and a visionary producer with a dream in his mind and a deep pocket to match (but at the same time have better fiscal discipline than some Presidents). Have I forgotten anything? Oh, yeah. And you gotta have a good cast. Let's face it. Until the late 1960s, we did not go to see the latest Michael Curtiz or Victor Fleming picture like we go watch the new one from Spielberg or, God forbid, the latest Michael Bay offering. No, we (or our parents and grandparents) went to see the new Gable and Lombard flick at the Bijou or Rialto. If you went to a John Wayne picture -- as m...