Paul Schrader's Cat People

VOL 12 N0 4

MAY-J UNE, 1982

For anyone who likes horror, fantasy and science fiction fi lms , last summer was like be.ing a kid in a candy store , because there were so many films to c hoose from. This summer it's the same , only better (or worse , depending how you look at it).

Better because it's fun to have two or three major genre fi lm s open every week ; worse because it's bad for the genre when worthy films flop due to t he intense competit ion . That's what happened to DRAGONSLA YER last summer.

Despite the fact that there are actually fewer films in release than last summer , there are more horror, fantasy and science fiction films this year than ever before. The lin e-up for June looks li ke sure suic ide for a number of film s: opening June 4, POLTERG EI ST, Steven Spielberg 's answer to THE EXORCIST , and STAR TREK II ; June 11 , Spielberg 's THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL ; June 18, FIREFO X, a Clint Eastwood thriller about a superjet with motion c ont rol effects by John Dykstra ; and June 25, MEGAFORCE, THE TH IN G and BLADE RUNNER. Th ese eight film s co mpete not o nl y with each other, but w ith such eag erl y anti c ipated general release s as ANNIE , ROCKY III and GREASE II .

VAL LEWTON'S CAT PEOPLE (1942) T his low -budget film used sound effects, precise edi ting a nd evoca tive shadows to crea te its h orro r. A hu ge success, it revolutionized th e m oribund horror genre.

R etrospect by George Turner

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PAUL SCHRADER'S CAT PEOPLE (1982)

H e had never directed a h o rror film . H e is allerg ic to cats. H e doesn ' t like to use sp ecia l effects. Yet, despite th ese draw bac ks - or perh a ps because of th em-Pa ul Schrader has cra fted o n e of the m ost p oeti c a nd styli sh horror film s in years.

Article by Steve R ebello

14

Profile by Kay Anderson

18

TRON

Co m p uter g ra phics have co me o f age in thi s video-ga me fa ntasy .

And if th e techno logists a re ri g ht, thi s may ma rk th e beg inning o f th e end for th e mos t ba sic o f all m ov ie eq uip ment: fil m itself.

Article by David j. H ogan

The reason for th e genre film logjam is t hat statisticall y, the Ju ly 4th wee kend is the peak filmg o ing period of the year, when more peopl e pa y more money to see more film s than at an y other time.

T his fact , plu s simp le greed , makes most distributors and film producers rush for June openings like lemmings headed towa rd the sea .

52

THETHING

J o hn Ca rpenter plu gs up th e p lo t h o les a nd beefs u p th e security aro und R o b BOllin 's (s up posedl y) in cred ibl e ma keup effects, as he readi es thi s $ 15 mi lli on rema ke fo r summer relea se.

No producer was ever forced to tak e a June date from a distributor. Most producers fight to get favored June openings , and they 're all egotistical enough to believe that their fi lm is big enough and good enough to weather the competition. Some of t hese same producers are never heard of again . Wha t, for instance , has DRAGONSLA YER 's Hal Barwood produced latel y?

So , genre fans , pass the popcorn , whi le all those produc ers out there reach for the va lium .

Frederick S. Clarke

NICHOLAS MEYER

Stra ig ht ta lk fro m th e directo r o f Pa ramo unt's Star Trek seq uel, T he Vengeance of Kahn . Meyer's bi ggest pro bl ems: wo rkin g with ILM 's spec ia l effects and gellin g bagels for breakfas t.

Article by Jordan R . Fox

REVIEWS

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48 48 49 50 50

SWAMP THING lDavid j. H ogan VISITING HOU RS IJordan R. Fox CON AN THE BARBARIAN I Paul M. Sammon ELECTRIC G RAN DMOTHER I David Bartholomew GREATWHITE / Christopher Mart in

Cover photograph of Paul Schrader by Bob Villard P U BLISH ER AN D EDIT OR: Frederick S. C la rk e. MANAGING EDIT OR: M ichae l Ka p la n.

BU R EA US: New Yo rk Dav id Ba nho lo me w, Da n Scapp cro n i; Los Ang eles/ J o rd a n R. Fox, Kyle COUIllS; London/ M ike C hil ds, Ala n J o nes; Pa ris/ Frederi c AI ben Levy.

CONT RIB UTO RS : Ka y Anderso n , J udilh 1'. 11 ,IITis, David J. I-loga n , K. Geo rge God w in , Bill Kelley, La rr y La ll kfo rd , Ra nda ll La rso n . Tim Lucas, 'Ch r is to pher Ma nin , Mike Mayo , T ed Newso m , S lep hen Re bell o, Pa ul M. Sa mmo n , C eorgeTu rn er, Bob Vill ard. Associa,e E<li,or: Cor)' C la hcrso n . O ffi ce S' aff: Roben C a rcia, Li t. Woodru ff.

P H OTO C R EDIT S: :\II pho lm frollllh t, It'm :lkt' of CAT PEOPLE r: I!JH2 l !llin'r:'l al S IIH lio.'), Tramforl lla t ioll ~k t'l c h (p; lg(' ~Y) by lbri ]) n 'ih: lll d , i\bk e up ( OI1 Cepl :'I kt'rdH':'I (p:lge 35. ·11) hy Tom BUI rn :ltl. P ho lo of I ,t,~ lbXlt'\ (pa gt' K) CO lII" lt''')' 01 f);I\,id Kl afr. Apt' ill l1'otrat io ll (p:tg t' :>:» by i\ li lt I' riggt't', AC KNO WL EDGE\1 ENTS: Torn l ~urlll : Ul . Bari D rl'iba ll d, i\ l i(k C; an' i ~, Ik ll lli" .J () llII ~O Il , A II li t' J () ll l'~' Pe tl'r Kll r: tIl . T om Ph ill ip.'). 1'1.: 1(:1" \\, (' i ~..,. :\ 1 Whi tl o ck.

C I N EFAi\TAST IQ U E M AG AZ I NI:: (ISS:'\' 01 ,1:)·6032 ) i.') plIbli ~ h l'd hi -mollthl y:u P .O. Box 270, O ak 1-':11 k. I ll illoi .') 60303. SI.'(on li (h.,> pm ta gt' p:lid al Oak Pa l"k. I ll illoi~ 60303. POS' r i\ l:\S' , 'ER: Sen d add rt'.').') ch a ll gn 10 (: I:"X E F :\~ TA S T I Q l ' E.. P ,0 , Bo x 270, O :lk I':trk I llill o i.') GO:S03, S u bscr ipt io lls: FoUl b'>lH'.') S H. Eighl b .., u t,~ S2Li, T Wl'h-l' f:.,.') lIl'.') S36. ( F O " l'I.~fI ."lb,H rtjJ!lOl1 S: Fou r i.\ ,Hit'.Ii 517, Ei,l/,"t l s.\ues SJI, T w f'llll' I S.\1I " ,~ S-n, 1}(I\'flule III LISA Jlllld.\ ulIi},. j Sillgi(· « )pi t,,,, whell pun h:\.')l'd frotll t ht' pllbti ~ ht'r : S6. Reta il Dis t ributi o n : In Ih t' L' n iln\ Sla lt'.') b~ 1::;1.') 1('111 .'\'( ' \\'~ Di ,> 1J iblllOJ".') , Ill( . II I I:: igh lh AW lI Ul', Nt·\\' Yo rk. N .V. 1001 1. (2 12) 2:>:) - ~> 620. I II CIl':tI Br itaill h y T il a n Di:, trihltl o l .... PO Box 2:) 0. I,ondoll !,:j ·IR "!" Pho li l': (01 ) moW-GIG7, Odll'r ("Ou lw it::> p lca .')(' app ly for lihl'ral di,)((} lII H il n d tlTlB:, of.')alc.

A(h 'crtisin g ra les a n d :,pe( ifit ;tlio ll .') alt' ;t\,: \ilahlt· 011 J"l'(]ut':,1. C lass ifi ed ad rill es art· <t\'ail:t hk Oil p a~l'!) I. Su bm iss io ns of , ti l. :11 lid t,.'), rl'\' il'\\':' a m J :, Ior)' S ll g:gC~ 1 i()Jl ~ art' l'llI ouragt·tl. bu t fl O (,OITt'~pO ll d( ' Il ( t("a n lx' ;rll s \\Trl.,d lIn ll':,:, ,I('(omp;mi('d hy;t .') 1:lI lIped , .')e ]f-addl l.':'.')l.'d t'm ·d o p e. P rin ll'd in LISA , Co n tt'lI t:> ('o p yr i ~ h l c 19H2 h) Frt'dl.'l i( k S. C la rk<.-. C I NE FANTAST IQ U E It i ~: 1 Rt'g; isll'l"t'd U ,~. T radt'lnark.

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T

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PAUL SCHRADER REMAKES A GENRE CLASSIC, TRANSFORMING A 40-YEAR-OLD PLOTLINE INTO AN'EROTIC HORROR FILM HE CAN CALL HIS OWN. ARTICLE BY STEPHEN REBELLO

aul Schrader's costly, ambitious CAT nothing if not an oddity-a perversely off-cemer original, despite its beginnings as a low-budget retread. Schrader has done a bit more than simply remake the small Jacques Tourneur classic of 1942. Through his chilly, fiLm noirish sensibliti(~s, CAT PEOPLE emerges as a high-ticket amalgam of Krafft-Ebbing sexual kinks and mythologylaced with a SOUPC01l of French avam-g"drde cinema a Ltl Jean Cocteau.

"It's not a remake in any fashion at this point," Schrader observed. "I think you'd be preuy hard pressed to compare the two films, except indirectly. A remake implies that you're redoing what has already been done.

This CAT PEOPLE is an update, which means I'm puuing the story into a new comexl."

Malcolm lIc:Dciweilelda Nastassla Kinskl to a gnarled tree in whichJIMIhen roost.~. the 111m's stylized dream sequence. The saturalecfOtdilN!l1ue was the brainstorm 01 visual consultant Ferdlnando Scarflotti. who 路color-controlled" the entire film. Insets: Kinskl and McDowell begin to transform, a complex makeup effect that included special contact lenses. McDowell clutches a mechanical arm sprouts claws, a effect designed by Ellis Burman.

Setting the film's tone with a fantasy milieu Al Whitlock s visual tricks avold the look of "a high school play. "

Top: The sacrifice of a village girl to an amorous panther features a swift transformation from day to night (inset). Above: Filming the sequence against a large blue screen. Below: Shooting the live action element (left) for a Whitlock matte painting (right) that shows the valley in beller times.

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"Paul Schrader wanted the prologue to be very theatrical, to set the fantasy mood right at the beginning, " explained visual effects supervisor AI Whitlock , who helped create the prologue's surreal look through matte paintings and other optical tricks.

One of the most impressive shots in the sequence (above, left) involves the rapid transition from day to night as an old woman awaits the arrival of the amorous panther her daughter is to be sacrificed to. Shot against a blue screen , Whitlock added painted skies- one for day, one for night- and dissolved between the two. To make the transition seamless , cinematographer John Bailey manipulated the lighting,

requiring a dimmer change so massive that the power from several stages was needed.

The use of color, light and painted skies made the set look more like a real landscape than the interior of a soundstage.

"There isn 't any way you can try for a direct sunlight look without it being a terrible giveaway," explained Whitlock. "So we put the sunlight in the background and kept the foreground in shadow, very low key. " Doing fantasy is fun ," Whitlock continued , " but you can't cheat it. I argued with John Boorman on THE HERETIC because he did it a/l on the stage.

He kept saying , 'Well, it's only fantasy, it won 't matter.' But if it

looks like cutouts 路and a backdrop, it's psychologically bad for the audience-it looks like a high school play."

The prologue required several !ldditional mattes, including the final appearance of the landscape as a lush, verdant valley (below right) following the sacrifice. For this long shot, the blue screen backing didn't cover the entire set (below left), so Whitlock had to paint much of the landscape in. To give the scene movement- including moving shadows- Whitlock used eel overlays and optical splits. ';We put in a moving sun shadowing the mountains. Audiences may not register that consciously, but they know when it isn 't there."

SCREENWRITER Sc hrader is n ot d isse m b ling; desp ite Ih e film 's 13mov ie bl ood lill es, CAT PEOP LE is cl ear ly h is own. By tu r ns bew ilderin g. gut wren c hin g, c lom sy, dar kl y fu nn y a nd - by its fina lc-In o ving. a lmosl in sp il e o f itsd f, Ih e film is a slra n ge h y br id. As S la ll k y Ku br ick d id in Ti l E SH I N I NG , Sch rader is a tl e l11p li n g " r is ky h ig h -wire "ei in bend in g Ihe trappings a n d e xpecta lions o f Ih e h o r ror gcnre to e xplore in te l lectll a l " n el lIlel a p h ys ica l co n ce rn s . HUl w h ere Kubrick los l h is be" rin gs d ow n Ihe e n el less corr idors of Ih (' Ove rl ook H Ole l, Sc hra de r 's mor e inh ere nll y-com me rcia l mea n dering s m ig hl p ull o ff t h e gamb il.

W hi le Ih e vinu es a n d s h o n com ings o f w h a l Sch rader h ath w rough l see lll bo und lo arouse d iv ided audi e n ce a n d crili ca l res p o n se, hi s film d ea rl y represe llls a n a ttem pl a l ge n era lin g mo re pO le nt aud ie n ce " h ooks" lh a n Ih ose o ld SI" n d bys - gore a n d specia l effeclS - a n el sides leps gen re co n venli o n s by pl ay in g upo n sexua l fa lllasy a n d la boo. Those " cqua inled w it h Sc hra d er 's p as l work w ill recognize fam ili ar ea r marks; hi s fdin es m ay slea l t h e s h ow, b UI il is dea rl y Sc h ra d er - " nd n o o n e hnl -w h o bra n el is h ed th e w hi p .

T he o ri g in a l film v<'rs io n of CAT P EO P LE was o n e o f a Sir ing o f ba rga in base m e n I s h o c ke rs prod u ced under th e aegis of Va l LewLO n for RK O's B-film unil durin g Ihe ''l Os (sec p age 23). P rod u ced o n a p a ltry $ 131 ,000 , th e pl o l is a lm os l a lh rowawa y: Oli ver R eed (s la lwa n Ke nl S milh ) fa ll s in love w ilh Irena, a bea uliful fas hi o n ill us lraLOr (l umin o u s S imo n e S imo n ), w h o m h e m eelS in a zoo. Iren a is a slra n ge, su pcrsti ti onri d d en g irl w h o fea rs s h e w ill lra n sfo rm in LO a p a lllh e r a n d ki II lh ose w h o lrigge r h er p ass io n .

Des pile som e slilled d ia logu e a nd unin spi red p erform a n ces, CAT P EOPL E Lr ium p h s over its limitali o n s w ilh i lS slro n g sen se of m ood , WillY set d es ig n a nd razor-s h a r p sound a nd edilin g lechniques . Th e fil m 's run nin g s ubtex l o f repressed- if nOl full OUl per verse - sexua l il l' was ri pe fo r fu nherex pl o r a li o n in lhi seraofrd ali vel y re laxed cen sors hi p.

A llh o u g h Sc hr ade r is cl ea rl y a llracled LO th e d a rk er m Oli ves a nd obsess ive n a l ure o f sexua li Iy, the id ea for th e CAT P EO P LE re m a ke d id n Ol o r ig in a le w ilh hi m. R a lh er, il was lh e brainsLO rm o f p anners M il LO n Su bOls ky a n d Max Rose nberg, w h o p ro d uced a seri es of low bu dge l h o r ro r films du r in g lh e ir lo ng a ssocia li o n , inclu din g DR . TE RRO R 'S H O USE OF HO RR O RS (1964 ), TH E HO US E T HAT D RIPP ED BLOO D ( 1970) a nd TALES F R OM T I IE C R YPT ( 197 1). S u bo ls ky h ad or ig in a ll y s u gges led re m ak in g CAT PEO P LE ba ck in 1963, bUI lill ie m o re was do n e on lhe projeCl un l ill he m id - 1970s, w h en Su bo ls ky proposed 10 Rosenberg 10 do a 3- D rem a ke, w ilh a b u dge l of 5700, 000, based o n DeW ili Hodel'n 's o rigina l screen p lay . Afler receivi n g a go- a head from Rose n bergand C h arles Fr ies (Rose nbe rg's p a nn er o n lh e p rojeci a n d CAT PEO P LE 's credit ed p roduce r ), S ubo ls k y hired wr il ers Sl ure R ydm a n a n d Bra in Sco bi e 10

A LAN

ORMSBY

~~To

tell you the truth, the ~cats-bursting颅 through-the-skin' approach was just a crass commercial decision. But I figured, ~Well, this!! the era of ALIEN.' " prc p ;IIT (I trca lIl H.:n t, w h ich was b i er exp" n d cd in lo a f,,11 s<Tcl' np la y.

Su bolSk y lefl Ihc pro jcCl s h on ly "",rCa fll'r, as hi s p" nn ers hi p w ilh Max Rosen berg in ,\ln iclIs P roductio n s was di sso lved . Accordi n g to t h e ir ; lgTCl' IH l' IlI , S u bo tsky WdS to rece ive pM t of Ih e p ro d ucer 's fl'l'; IIl da p e rce lllage of th e fi IIIl 's p ro fits. I lowevcr, R ose'nberg, C h arles Fr ics a n d U ni versa l S w d io s n o\\' d is('oul1l lh e cl a inl. L 'Hvsu it s a ll d CO Ll ll lc rs ui ls a rc st ill p e n d in g , a n d th e film 's Bri lis h pre mi<Tc is in q u es lion , as th e ACTT (Ih e Hr ili s h film Ira d e u ni o n ) h as fi le d a co mp la int in S "ho(S k y's be h a lf. Perh a p s the fa n lh a l il loo k six a ddili o n a l years o f rew ril es a n d n egoli a li o n s 10 gc t CAT P EO P LE m ade h as pro mp ted Fri es a nd R o sc n be rg 10 P Ul th e sq u eeze o n S ubo ls k y.

II 's h a rd LO say for s ure, sin ce n e ilhe r Fries no r Rosenberg a re willin g to d iscu ss t h e m a lle r.

T h e ri g h IS 10 lh e 1942 versio n we re scclIred frolll p rodu cer W il b ur S lar k in 1975, a nd lhescripl o fR ydma n a nd Scob ie IVas s ho pped a ro und. Reacli o n was under w helmin g. Fri es a n d Ros enbe rg n ex l a ll em pl ed 10 SC I up CA T PE O PL E as a n A n g lo- Ca n adi an cop r o du c li o n . D eve lo pm e nl Ino n ey was secured , a nd w ri ter-directo r Ho b C la rk (BLAC K C HRI STM AS, M U RD E R HY D EC R EE ) was hired 10 b r in g Ihe projeLi in lO foc u s.

"C la rk 's screen p lay stayed w ilh a fa irl y con venli o n a l a p proach ," Fries sa id . " I Ie h a d loIS o f fl as hbacks LO lh e h ero in e' s ea rl y I ife, drea m s a nd lh e hi s LOry o f lhese G IL p eop le in Se rbi a.

Yo u know h ow il is- Drac ul a a lways see llls 10 w ind up in Tra n sy lvani a; Ca l Peopl e a lways see mLO co m e fro lll Serbi a. II. IV as n 'l w h a l we hoped for."

T hi s s'-TipI, 100, aro u sed lillie inleres l. Th en , in 1977 , agenl Ma n i n Bau m su ggested LO the producers lh al lh ey st rikeo ul in ;m o therdireclio n by hirin g Fren c h direcLO r R oger Vadirn ( BL O O D AN D RO SES , BA RB AR E L LA ) a n d com m issio ning I IowaI'd R . Coh e n (w ril.er-d irec lo r o f SA T U RD A Y TilE 1'1'1'1-1 ) 10 w rile lhe screen pl ay. Vadi m 's slOr y was se l in So ulh enr Ca lifo rni a; h is h ero in e was a Barba ra \"' a lters-typ e Il CWSWO lll a n (p er h a p s Vad im con s idered ex -w ife J a ll c Fo nda as a pro lo lyp e) w h ose life is s h al.lercd by h er be lief in h er a n ces tr y as a ca lwO lna n . " \Ve lri ed to make il mo re p la u sible a n d more acce p lable," Fri es sa id, " bu l nO Lhillg happell ed ." U nda u II l.ed, Fr ies p ilc h ed CAT P EO P LE 10 U n ivn sa l pres id e lll Ned T a n a ll over IUll c ir in Ih e sp rill g o f 1'J79. T h e Blac k 'r ower exectlti ve saw po tenti a l in Ih e re mak e and agreed to brin g Va di m in o n Fr ies ' deve lop m e lJl dea l.

It was a l lh is po illlth ," Ma ri a nne Ma lo ll ey, a n ew ly- a p po ill ted U ni versa l prod ll Ci io n h ead w ilh lilera ry age ll cy bac kgrou n d , began lO nurl ure CAT PEOPLE in mu ch lh e sa m e way as s h e h ad d o n e w ilh o lher " pet

pro j eclS" illciu li ill g R ,\ CGEDY MAN a ll d C II OST STO R Y. iVla lo n ey s u gges t ed sc ree n wr it e r A la ll Orms by 10 Fr ies; lI ol o lll y was he a ro nn c r e1i e ll l of her's, 11I 1I h e' d a lso h a d exper i(, lI cc ill Ih e gC ll re w il ic il predated hi s 1l1<-l in S l r C; 1I1l su ccess, Ih l' screell p la y for MY HO D YC UA RD .

Orm s by's Wi ll Y, ' !,Iirk )' ('o ll ce p lS fo r Sll Cir ba rg; lill -bas<' m e lll h orror fil m s as D EAT HDR L \ i\1 (direc led

by Bo b Cl ark ), DERA NGE D a n d C HI L DRE N S II O U L D N'T P U \ Y \V IT I I D EAD THI NGS h ad ga rn ered hi m mild ('( til Sl alll S a ll d awa rds fro m film soc ie li es in S p a in a lld Fra ll ce. Afler U ni versa l a ppro ved O rm s by's in vo lvem enl , h e a nd d ircclor Roger Va di m bega n recon ce p tu a li zill g C AT PE O PL E illlo a m o re sex u a ll y-o ri c ll ! a l ed , C0 l11 c Illpo ra r y lhrill e r. 0 11 th e lhe n m eager d eve lopmenl m o n ey, O rm sby a nd Vadim travded 10 New O r lea ns- l h e ir c h o ice o f lo ca le fo r a sl.OI'Y o f s hiflin g inde nliLi es a nd tll o ra i a lnhi gu il y.

O rm sby's trea lme lll- provocali ve ly e r ot ic a nd red o le nl o f So u l h er n GOl hi c m yster y a nd Colden BOtl,f!;hinflue n ced rilll a l a nd rnY lho logyd ep<Hl.ed r adi ca ll y fro m its fo rbea rs.

T h ough il ackn ow ledged Ih e L ewlo n / To unr eu r film hy re la illi ng sev(Ta l m e m o ra hle sce n es , Or m s by's work refurbi s h ed Ih e lyca lJlhro pi c lh e m e w ilh bl a c k hum o r a nd slyli st ic auda ci l Y. ''I' ve a lw; IYs lik ed Va l L ewlOn 's pidures, p a rti c ul a rl y CAT P E OPL E." O rrn s by sa id . " Bul w he n yo u brea k th e film d ow n sLO r ywise;tlth o u g h il h a s wo nde rful qu a liti es -il JUSl fa ll s a p a rl. I fe illhe film n eed ed a \\' h o le n ew con cepl. Yo u 'd ba rel y h ave e no u g h for a T V m ov ie, o lh er w ise. " III Orm s by's fi rs l Irea un e nl , del ivered in ea rl y 1979 , a n e uroti c yo un g CClll ra l A m eri ca n refll gee is locked in a p sychialri c h osp ital a fle r freei n g ;r

pa mhe r fro m t h e New O r lea n s !f,)o. ll erps ychia lr ist-as lig hlIy diss i pa led, m isan lh ro pi c rc c ill st' - hccOIl1CS fasc ill ated hy t h e g irl as h e lre;II S h er sexu a l p h u bi as , w hi c h r(' vo lve arou n d calS . The d od or 's SIJlug cOll1 p lan..' ll cy is s hakc n w h c ll h is you n g- pa ti c ll t lran sform s i li lOa p;r lllir craflerilr ey h ave III ;" '" lo ve fo r Ih e fi rst li nr <'. T ir e d iff icu l ty o f th e two be ing- ab le 10 Ill alc is :11 o n c{';1 so urcc of h lllllor as \\'e ll as P;lI lr oS. Or lll s b y's promi s illg llTa l lil e ll l, w hi c lr sllggeSl ed Va l L CW WII lI'i llr a T 'l' IIIl (,SS(,(, \ Vi lli ;lIl1 s draw l, c n couraged th e stud io 10 n url ure CAT P EOP LE lh ro u g h IIvo co mplele d ra fls. In hOlh , Ir owevcr, Orm s hy's m yllr o log ica l infl ue n cc a n d sym ho li c G IL tra n sfonna t io n \Vcre re p laced by rnore prosa ic "pOI ho il er " elem e n ts, in cl ud illg a n ccs tra l c u rses, voodoo in GlI lLC:Ili o n s a ll d O ld Da rk H o u ses. " Th e Fr ies p eopl e h ad o n e good id{'a - N('w O rlea n s - a n d o n <: bad id" <I -voodoo." sa id Orms b y, cxp la inin g lir e s hi ft ill ap p roa c h. " Th ey illsisledon vood ooasa n "x pl an a li o ll for Ihe hac kgro llnd a n d hi sLOry o f Ih e Ca l People. As a w ri ler fo r hire, il was In y respo n s ibili ty to try <lnd 1l1 a kc lil a l work , b UI I never lh o u g hl th e con cep l work ed , lho u g h sO lli e good stu ff e velil ud ll y ma teria lil.ed . Th e m o re you exp lain Ih ese lhill gs in a h o rror film , t h e m o re lu d icro lls it. hecolll cs." .

O rm s by's scree ll p lay s hi es away fro m t h e con vell tio n s o f th e ela led orig in a l. T ir e m a le protagoni s t h as h CCO lll C a In o r c act io n-or ient a t.ed zoo c ura to r , th <: s lra n g<: yo ung he roin e h a d acq u ired a n even m o re sh a d owy o lder bro lh er -a mini sle r. More radi ca l, h owever, was O rmsb y's so luli o n lO the d ilemm a o f th e lra n sfo rm at.i o n s-a n iss u c clev e rl y a nd cr ea livci ys ideSi epped ill the 1942 vers io n . " The t hin g Ih a t rea ll y b ro u g ht O r m s by's wo rk LO a lI ew level was l h e e pider ma l c h a nges lh a l la ke place ill lh e Ca l P eopl e," sa id Fri es. " Whe n llr e y Ira n s for m , Ih e hum a n s kin break s away a lld th e a nim a l bursls o ul fro m th e i n s ide , leav in g lh e hum a n skin ill lill ie go bs a ll aro und.

T h ere's lh is co nlinu a l evo luli o n o f

Setting up a shot on Ferdinando Scarfiotti's zoo set In the cage (I-r): director Paul Schrader, key grip Clyde Hart. cinematographer John Bailey. assistant cameraman Richard Walden 路and production aide Peter Weiss, Foreground (I-r): assistant director Michael Grillo, Nastassia Kinski and supervising editor Bud Smith,

/ to the original version were sprinkled throughout the screenplay.

Most of them-like Nastassia Kinski playing with a caged bird (top left) as Simone Simon had done (inset left)-were left on the cutting room floor. But included was an almost exact duplication of the famous "swimming pool " scene , in which Jane Randolph (inset right) is threatened by shadows and sound . In Schrader's verSion , the only real difference is a stereo mix and a topless Annette O'Toole (top right).

the lx)d y in Ihe Cat Peo ple-I hal was rea ll y Ih e breakthrou g-h a nd , in m y opinion , that's " ,hat allracted p eop le 10 Ihe proj ectl a ll'r on."

Orm s h y e1aboral ed: " In th e firS( draft o f th(' scree npla y, yo u d o n 't aClua ll y see Ih e Ira ll s fo nn a li o ll s . . fh e re 's a scen e o n a bridg-e where I h e heroin c Icaps orr as (I p a nth er a nd . under the s nrface of th e la ke, th e slI gges ti o n of h er s hape turn s w hil e as s h e c han g-es. I g-uess I fe lt li k(, I'd c h eated. T o te ll yo u th e truth , th ecats burslin g Ih roug h Ih e s k in a pproach was jusl a c rass CQ lnlncrc ial decision.

I fi g llred , ' ''Vei l thi s is th e e ra o f ALIEN .' '' The n ew screenpla y e n couraged Un iversa l 10 be li e vc thai. the ir propen y was e rn e rg-ing into som e thin g more th a n jusl anolh er screa m er. " Alan 's screenpl ay was vcry biza rre, absolute ly terrifying," sa id Mari a nn e Ma loney. " Bllt m o re th an thai , h e' d crea ted c haracte rs w h ose situ a ti o n s a nd e moti o n s were co mpe lli n g. I know h ow fllnn y il sounds, bu t the fact thai. o n e or two o f the characters h appened to k eep turnin g into pa nthe rs beca m e li ke any probl e m w hi c h kecps pcop le who love each ot h e r apan."

With s tudi o inte res t running h OLter, m o re m o n ey was stirred in lD Ihe d evelop m e nl p Ol. S h ortl y "fter, in a terse, Holl ywood -esc press s ta le m e nl .

U niv e rsa l an n o un ced th a t R oger Vadim h a d "gon eo n lO a n o the r projecl. " The re is reason to s u spect Ih a l Vadim' s d e parture was h as le n ed hy th e poor c riti ca l a nd box -o ffi ce reacti o n to hi s recent film s, s u c h as N IG HT GAMFS. Wh il e n o t di s missing that likelihoo d , Orm s by a dded ano the r p erspect ive. " 1 li ke Vadim and I e nj oyed working w ilh him . But I think J a n e Fonda a nd some o f Va d im 's feminis t fri e nds saw CAT PEOPLE as very sex ist , and lh a l co n cern ed hiIl1, " Orm s by sa id. " It was the girl'ssex u a lity thatllnl eash ed a ll thi s violence, so yo u cou ld con ce iva bl y take th at vi ewpoint. T h at's o n e of the reason s wh y I later in ven ted th e ch a racter of the broth er, w h o is a lso o n e o f the Ca t People. It lOok the s LOry away from be ing seen as so m e kind o f hos tile

32

s('x iSI S IIlL " A n xious 10 kee p th e projecl's m o m enlum go ing , Ma lo n ey rus h ed Ormsby 's screenpl a y to agenl Michael Black o f IC M , w h ose cli e nl ros te r includcs, amon g o th(,rs, wri ter-d irec101' P a ul Sch rader. At firsl, Ma loney ami Bla ck di scu sscd p o te n li a l direclo rs frolll th e more co nvent iona l h o rror poo l: Dc Palma , Cro n c nberg a nd .J oe Danl e a ll appea red likel y ca ndi dates. gjac k , h owever, hil li pa n th e m o r e unort h od o x s u gge s lion o f Sch ra d er. Hi s timin g a nd in slinct proved acu le.

Schrader. 31, a Ca lvi ni s t-bred critic- tunl co -scn:c ll wrilc l", lurn ed wr it er-direcLO r, is one of the indu s try's 1l10 r c intri g llill g a nd idiosy n cr;-u ic fi lmmilkcrs. Bo rn in Gra nd Rap ids, Michiga n , Schrader's reli g io u s con stric ti o n s were so s tro n g ly e nfo rced th ai h e wasn't permi lled to a llend a movie 1IIIIil h e was 17 years o ld , when h e saw Walt Dis n ey's TIIE A BSE NT M I N DED PROFESSO R. O n cc h e " d iscove red" the mov ies, Sch rader fe lt in creas in g ly a li e n a ted from hi s M idw es ter n Pro l es lanl mi lie u. lI e went to fi lm sch oo l a l UC I .A a nd th e American Fi lm In s ti tUl ca nd , through h is hig h ly resp ected fil m crit ic is m for the L. A. Frr'e Press, ga in ed a loe ho ld in th e indus try. H e cdil ed a magazi n e ca ll ed Cinema a nd wro le a p e rceptive s tud y of film direcLOrs O zu , Bresson and Dreyer e llliti ed " Tra n scendenta l Sty le in F ilm. " But Schrader's n eed lO express him se lf e m o tiona ll y th rough hi s work led to hi s grow in g di sa ffect ion w ilh cr iti cism. H e o n ce observed: " I had 10 gc t rid o f m y obsess io n s a n d fanla sies throug h so m elhin g more a live th a n crili c islll , w hi ch has â&#x201A;Ź:I cadaverou s qua lil y- il 's abou t things th a i h ave a lready h a ppe n ed. " In an effort LO rev italize himsdf.

Schrader co-wrote THE YAK UZA w ith hi s brolh er L eonard , which lVas direc te d b y Sidney P o ll ac k a nd sta rred R o be rt Mitc hum, In 1975, Schra d er turn ed exclusive ly LO w ril ing, a nd scr ipts for TAX I DR I VER , O BESS ION and ROLLIN GTHUNDER fo ll owed in s h o rt o rder. No th ing if n o t pro li fi c, Schra d er's o utput for 1976 included BL UE CO LLAR ,

II A RD CO RE, AM ERI CAN G IGOLO and OLD BOYFR IENDS. A n d sO lll ew h ere dur in g this fertile period , Schrader fo un d lilll e 10 wr il e w halhl' called "a m e lap h ys ica l. u pdaled \'ersion o f the life o f Sain i Pall l" - lh e origi n a l drafl of CE3K. In 1978, Sc hra d er dircCled BL UE COLLA R fro m hi s ow n scrempla y, and fo ll owed its cri li ca l Sll ccess hy direc ti n g hi s scripl s for HARD CO R E a n d AME RI CAN G IGO I .O. Whi Ie o nl y th e laller beca m ea box-o ffice Sll cn'SS, each fi ln l revealed a growi ng- d irecLo ri a l assura n ce, d espi ll' d e fic ie nci es in th e rna lcr ia l a t h a nd .

Although Schrad er 's "go ld e n boy" image luo k a b it of a bea tin g, h e ITll la iIH.:d-in indu s Lry par la nce-a hOI p roperty.

Schrade r 's fil mi c styic and p er so n a l predilect ions arc readil y appare nt: HARD CORE, AMER I CAN G IGOLO a n d TAX I DR I VER all dea l w ith sp iritu a l ato n c m ent, a nd s hifl be l wC(' n co n demn ing a nd reve lin g in Ih e p leas ures o f Ih (' sexua l und e rwo rld. Schrader, whoon ccco n s id e r e d e nt er in g th c pr ies th ood, appears to s ubscr ibe 10 th e o ld Cec il B. De M i li e sc h oo l of Il o ll ywood mora lil y -work the a udi e n ce ovcr w i Ih eye-poppi n g titi la l io n , th en ser m o ni ze in Ih e last few rce ls, leav in g Ih em properl y ch as tized for bc ing so ('asi Iy sedu ced, Schra d er 's p c riod of a dj u s tm e lli to din.'n ing has heen sO lll cw h at un easy.

Fo llow in g Ih e release o f AME RI CAN G IGOLO a nd Ih e m edi a h yp e Ih a l surro u nd ed it, Schretclcr look Slac k o f hi s ca rec r. A fter completi ng a rewri te o n Marlin Scm'sese's R AGING BU LL, he re turn(,d 10 hi s persona l experi e n ces as rnatcria) for an o ri g in a l screenpla y, BORN I N THE lJSA. Set aga in st a M idwes lcrn blue co ll ar m ilie u , it deet lt wi lh two brolh lTS w ho p lay in a roc k a n d ro ll ba nd . A d ceply felt work, the screenpla y so m eh ow failed 10 gel accordin gtoSchrader 's sel f-imposed sta n dard s. " I was agon izin g over w h al I nced ed to wr ite," Schra d er reca ll ed of th is p eri od o f se lf-scrutin y. "Nothin g wa nted to be w rillen. " It was during these months th a t Orm s by's scrip l ca m e to Sc hra d er.

"Somethin g abo ul Ih e scr iPI jusl slru ck m e, so I d ec id cd 10 g i\'e up o n Irying to wr ile so m e t h ing m yse lf a nd do it ," Sc hrader sa id . " Kn ow in g o f m y d epressed s ta le a l th e I i me, m y age nl , M ic h aci Black , sl lgges lcd il a s a complete c h ange of pace-so m eIh in g w ith w hi c h I n orma ll y wou ld J} u l be a ssoc iated. I saw ill it SOlllCthin g I cou ld u se no t o nl y 10 ge t bet c k to work , but to do a film of poclry, m ylh a n d e ros. It is n ' t a h o rror film Ix" Sf', bU I u ses a h orro r co nl ex l lO pla y upo n o ur n o ti ons of sex u;dity, sex u a l presen ce a nd sex u a l iconograph y."

Schrader signa ll ed hi s inl eres t in directing CAT PEOPLE to U ni versa l's Black 'r ower w ithill IwO weeks.

H e e icc led to re la in Orm s h y as Ihe fil m 's prima ry writer, hUI in sisled on s tru ctll ra l as wel l as I hcIl1f.lli cch ;ln ges, objecl in g 10 th e sa m e "po tbo iler " e leme UI S w ith w hi c h Orm s by himsel f felt uncomfortable w ith .

Sc h rader m e t wilh Ormsby fo r threc eveniu gs a nd proposed a res tru ctured o utlin e, s h a rpe ning t h e 1l1 atc ri a l 's o b sess i ve :t lld s(, ll sua l aspeels. The ca ts and th e Cat Peop le beca me m Ylho log ica l, m agica l crea tures , as opposed 10 sLOck m ov ie m o nS( e rs. In s tead o f a s imp le ho rro r film , Ih e slo ry also delvcd into sex u a l fa ntasy-w ith LOuches u f in n'S( , besti a lit y , les bi anism a nd b o nd age t hrown in for good T1 l('aSurc.

A n ope nin g pro logue a nd dream sequ e n ce wert' u sed 10 ex pl a in th e or ig in a nd d es lin y of Ih e Ca l Peopl('-a n a n c ie nl race w h ose m c mbers turn in lO panl h ers w h e n t h cy nl a ke love w ith a n yo ll e" hut each o lh er, a nd w h o mus l k il l to relurn to Ihe ir hunl a n fo rm . The screenpla y h as Ire n a, a 19-year-o ld o rph a n , as its c motiona l a nd ero ti c (,pi ccnter. S h e comesLO ewO riea n sto li vew ithhcr brolh er Pa ul , a Pe nlacosta l mini s ler w h o m s h e h asn ' t secn sin ce childh ood . A virgin , s h e ha s yet to transform , a nd Pau l warns h er Ih al s h e must mate w ilh him -a n el o nl y him.

Bul aflCl' h er bro lh er is cap tured IV hil (' in ;lll ima l form , Ire n a fall s in love w ilh O li ver, th e c urator o f Ih e zoo in w hi ch P a ul is caged as a panth e r. After killing a zoo alle nd -

DIRECTOR a liI , P ;w l escapes , o nl y 10 d ie s h o ril y a fltT",ards ", h i le Iryillg 10 kill O li ,·('r. ,\ Io n e ami COil fu sed , Ire ll a d isco\'{'rs s h e Gill 1101 esca pe h e rdes t ill y,aml d ecides to l ivc ",i th her ki ll d. ye t sta y a t O l in 'r 's s id c -a s OIl C o l t h c ex h ihit s ;1\ h is w o .

Ill a d d il io lll O I IS ill gSOl ll l'o f lh t'

S ; 1I 1l( '

c h a r ; lC l t T

SCHRADER

~~The

1I ; IIIl (' S

Ord H'Slr; lI C'd Il l(' n.·sln lClli r ill g o f Ih ('

fillli. " Sc hra d e r i.s very dclihe ral t'. very <lll ; li y li c; d Cl n d hi s St ' Il S(' or S IJ"ll CIIIIT is , '(' ry Slro ll g ," Orlll s b,' said. " Bul I Ihillk "'c d iiTe red 1I 10Sl ill Ill \' CO ll n TII fo r (', 'Cr y I h illg h(' illg lo g ie d·.

Fo r ('X; II I1 P il' , 0 111' of Ih e illl p0ria lli P Oilll S o f Ih (' li llll is Ih a l l h c (:;lIl'eopi t' a re (Ill i Il C(,S III O ll S ra cc. S c hrad e r wa l1t cd to h ave Ih l' sce ll t' I'roln Ihe or ig ill a l f illl i w here Ihi s vc r I' s lee k ca dikc \\'0 111 ;( 11 sces Irc lJ a ill " ha r a n d call s he r ' M i 1,,'nll ;lIl a ' or 'iVly siSler. ' But if th e re wcre <l lI o l.il e r C(l 1 \\'O lll a l1 a rollll d, w h y didll ' l il l(' hro lh c r lIl a lC w ilh h('l'? Sc lIr"d c r c1idll ' t scc il 11I;.11 w a y. I Ie s illipl y sa id , ' \Veil. yo u ' re InOIT co n cerll ed a ho u t lil ;H Ih ~ 11I I (J Ill .

Schr"lkr 's illflu e ll cc lI po n Onll shy's 1II" le r ia l is I'v idelll : Ih l' t h c m e o f sex u<l Jil y's powe r 10 S illHdl Cl Il (,Oll s l y liiJera ( ' a ll d illlpr iso ll : th e ci C lll C IlI S o f ill (,( 'S! a lld hOlld age; a ll d OIl C llI a ll 'S o bess io ll ", ilh rea lizillg h is skc \\T d fa llla s), of a p e rf(T I \\·o m ,1I1. P er h a p s Icss ('xpeCll'd was Sc lI rad e r 's Sl ecr in g C AT PE O PLE lO \\'a rd e xp lorill ge k m c nl S o f r i IlI a l, III I' III a IIlI sy lll bo l is m , c1 c m e n lS s ll gges led ill O rlll s b y's ca rl ics tl rC"III1('II " fo r Ih e film .

Sc hradl'r a lld O rm s b y cOll coc ted a s ty li zed prol o g ll(, SC I ill a llI ylhi c d Indi a ll v ill a g e pl a g u cd h I' d ro u g hl.

O nn sby's vers io n depi c ts a g ro u p o f te rrif icd lI at i vc c hil d re n las h ed 10 ;1 sac r i fi ci" I liTe b y wa rri o rs. As I h e c hil d re n s ill g ;111 ill ca nl a lory lu ll ab y, th ey a l'l' S1 I1TO lIllCkd b y m a g ica l p a nth e rs ", illl g low in g- e yes \ \ ' 11 0 w hi s p e r 10 Ih ( ' IIl .

"Th e idea wa s Ih a tlh c qua lili es o f sac rifi c ial v ict illl w( Hil d be takc lI Oil a nd a bso rbed b y I h c a lii m ;d s w lIo had clevo llred I II e lll , " O rIlI s l1), sa id. " TII ;II see lll eLi ;1 ",a y to lil ah, IlI e ide" o f I II is racl' o f (:;11 P l'Ople ·lII a g ic,Ii .'

Sc lI rade r ('( '; lSoll ed IlI a l IlI c pro lo g u e \\'jlS \,ita l 10 sl'd u ce ; ludi c ll ("(,s in to \\' II ;II pl ayw r ig ill s OIl CC c" lled " Ih e w illill gS lI SP l'lI s io ll o fdi s h cl id."

Sa id Sc hra d e r : " T h e ide" of peop ll' t ur ll i ll g- i ItI O C ll ~ i ~ qlli t l' ludi cro u s (0 IlI C. T II I' pro lo g ll l' is rea ll y jusl a bU ll c li o f II o o ('y 10 Iry a lld g iH' IlI e a lltii (,ll ct' Ih {' f r ccd ol ll 10 II ,I\T a good

I w(l III <.'U to f ry a n d l a k e fro l11

th e ir s hou ld c rs 11I l' blll'cic n of COIl\T II li o ll a l. as w l' II a s p syc ii o log ica l rea li sll l.

"For l' xa m p le," lI e cOlltinu ed, " I think WOL F EN wa s a b r illi a lll fi llll ,

afle r la lking w ith P a ul , I beGll ne clT td in Ill' wa s n ' t g'o in g 10 go ill<' g o re \'0 111 ('." \VillI Sca r fi o lli a lit! Bai ley a bo ard . as wel l ,\S ,\ ME RI CAN C ICO L O ' s pro elll Ccr J err y Bru c k h e illl LT, C AT P EO PL. E \,'as b ~co lnill g Ill on.' ;'( ll d ll lo re a SC/".{/ dn pi ClIlI't' . a lld Ih r p roject's o ri g in a l prill H' lll o ver , C ii a ries F r i('s, becam e less ill\·o lved . " Oll ce Palll Sc iIr;"I('r ca l1l e o n , I d id ll ' l h ;I\'l' lIll1 c iI 10 d o ", iliI liI (' fil m a l a ll , <illil e fra llkl y, " Fri es ad mitted. " Bul I "'as h " ppy, h(T '"I S(' i Il wc; III1 C" Ill ajor IIl O \ · j (' in s tead u f be in g \\' h a( it "" ri l'd o u l a s -a 5 150,000 film. Fo r 111(', it W<l S (110 1T i lnpo rt Ci ll1 l o Sl'C l il e p iCl II (,(' ge l III ; UIe ;! lI d wo rk Ollt a rl'ia li OIl SiIi p ", il h L' lli ''l' rs a l 111; 11 leIS (, , '(T,'OIl (' e1 0 IlI e i r jo h. S c lIr:ld er's ( C(l 1l1 is (I \'c ry close- Kn i t O ll t," III o rel e r 10 fon ll II !; tI (' ;11 1 "ppro"c h 10 IlI e pmj('CI ill Il' n n .s 0 1 " look " a lld 1I1 0 od, Sc h rad ('r (' lIIpl o ycd iI is c u sIOIl !;II'y 1I1 ('llIo d o f SLTl'l'lIill g filill s ;lIld cI ip s [or hi II \Sl' IL llid iIi s co l LtiIo r-

prologue is really just a bunch of hooey to give the audience the freedom to have a good time. I wanted to take the burden of realism from their shoulders."

fm ln th e o ri g ill a l CA T P EOPI.E .

O rill s h y a ltd Sc h rad tT re pri sed sc" e ra l hil S of ;l(' li o n a n d c('ria ill ke)' SCqll l' II Cl'S. , \ S W illllllill g pon l SCl' I l(' , th e p"rs " it 0 1 Ire ll a 's r i, 'a l 1'01'0 1iver 's a Lll' lIti o ll s, ;!lHI " h i rdcagc" a ll d "b ird s h op " S('( 'I]( 'S , ( 1I t1 0 11 ,~ 0 11 1(')" re fe re ll ces , fOl li ld the in" ay ill tot h ('s(Tt'('Il pl ay. Il o w n c r , t h cse h Ollllllflg;es led 10 cOllfl ict s hc t wccli Sc h ra d(T a ll d Orllls b y, a ll d t h e di rcc tor (" 'Cllili a lh' del e ted 1I 10 St o f th e lll .

A ltl \(H lg h Orill s hy pe rforlll('d Ih (' a elll ,, 1 ",r il i ll g c h o rc s . S c h L ldl'l'

l i nH..·.

P A U L

bill au d ie n ccs d idll ' l co ll o ll 10 i t, ill pari , bec lI lSl' il pr('« 'lllled to he ill IlI e r(';Ii ,,·orld . Th ;1I \\'as " Ie" p il l(' a lld il' Il C(' d id 11 0 1 c:tn' 10 Ill Clkl' - il1 !'1 t iIl Cli'T h ·. TlI a l 's w h \' ", h e ll , ·ou d o a 11I{)\·il' Ii kl' CA T I'i·:o 1'1 ,E, )'(JlI dOli " d o il ", i lii reg lllar s p o l « 'd Icp o a rels.

TlI ey a ll h a n ' 10 b(' bl a ck Ill'C II"(' YOII ' r" d ca l ill g \\·i l h sy mbo ls , 11 0 1 IlI e 1'('; 11 Ihin g," "lI d e r SdIrad('r 's age is . On ll s by', !'l ei ('(' Jl p lay b l 'C IlI l(' (, \ T II 11101T S('X I I a II )' l'x pl ic il . ' 1'lI l' ca l Ira ll SrO nll ;lIi o ll s bl'e lll \l ' illl ri ll s ic; Iil y l ill ked ", ilii lo ss of \'irg illit y ;lI ul s('xl l;d ;t rO ll ~ ,-, 1: Ih l' Il l' r o i 11 (,' s d i Il ' JlII11 ; 1 b('(,; llll e (Jil l' of 1'111 fillill g lH'r ill n :s l 1Hl ll S r~ l {' i;d d es till Y hy 1l 1;ltil l g' \\,iil l IH'I' b ro th e r. or 111 ; 11 ill g ", ilh - ;lIl d p er ii a p s k ill ilig -llI e 1.0() c u r,IIOI'. S c iI r;lti{'r \\' ;l S illl r ig'llt'd \\·ilii Ih e OP P Ori lllli ly 10 IIIi1i !.(' " Ih e ill lt'riock in g of a ll s('x u al I;d )()os" \\' iil l ill Ih e CO ll \ '(' lIli o Il S o r ; 1 hOlTo r fi llli. " S('x ll a lil y a lld fears of sl'x lI ;Ii il " ar(' II Il' roc k-core o f a ll h o rror SIOri es," Sc lI r;"ICT , a i(1. " Th at' s so p a lt'lId y o lw io lls, it iSII '1 ('\,('11 d (, ba tab le ," A irho ll g ii Sc lIrade r lo o k Ih c o r ig ilI a l prl' lll isc ill di recti o ll s \' ;tll ,('\\' tOIl ;llId J (I('( jl I('S ' l'o ll l' ll e Ur wo uld Il l ' \'( T II; IV(' dr e ;1I111 o r, II I' IH' , '(' rlh (' le s s sen 'l'lI l'd IlI e or ig ill a l fiilll dllrill g prepro dll ct io ll 10 ra mili a ri !.(' lIim se lf w ith l it e 1l1i.ll er ia l. " I w;t llt ed to Ill a kl' su re ir \\'(l slI ' rlll a r brill ia lll," Sch rad er c xp la in ed . " II 's ba s ica ll v a ve ry g o od B-I1I O\·ie ", ilh o m ' o r t \\·o b r illi ;1I11 seqll c lI ('(·s. 1 (r ria illl y do ll ' l kd I "'as Iry in g to s ta ll d 0 11 to p o f (I ITl o ull t a ill , I II lt'a ll \ \'{,' IT lI o t ta lkill g " bo ll I a r('a l c la ss ic lik l' S ' L \ C E CO A C II o r SCARF,\ C F. "CO II Cl')J llI ;dl v, wc lI ad c li a ll gcLl aro lilld til e thinkill g ;111(..1 ci l<lrac tel's sl l ffi c i e l1li y, so Ihill <.I II YOI}( '

\ \ , 11 0

lo vl'd th e firSi C AT PEOPL E s ll o llid 11 0 1 fc c- I Ihr (' ;II l' lI e d b v Ih( ' V lT V t iJ o u g ilt o f <I 11 (' \\' \'e rs i (~ II , No O ll ~' w Ollld sa y, ' \Vll a l 11 <1 "1: lh ey d Oll e to il ?' " A lth o ll g ll S c hracler h ardl y a p pro a c h ed Ih e id ea o f re lll a k ill g a ClIl l cl a ss ic Oil be ll ded kll CCS , h e s till

IRENA'S MOTHER, a half-woman , half panther, was to be featured in the dream sequence explaining the history of the Cat People. The "sphinx" was dropped during editing , however, and Kinski talks to a live panther instead, Right: Bridgit Kinski, Nastassia's reallife mother, is fitted into her costume, Makeup artist Leonard Engleman works on the paws, as Janice Brandow (partly obscured) touches up the wig , Nando Scarfiotti (far left) supervises, Inset: This painting was hung in the Gallier house to tie-in with the dream. When the " sphinx" was cut, so was a shot of the painting .

sO llg ill tlte Opilli o ll s o f fri e lld s ;11 1(1 co ilc;l g ll( 's b(, fo r e ('nl h' lrkill g Oil th l'

" ff- beal p m j ('CI . TII (' "il'\\'s o f AiVl ER ICA N C IC OID 's , ·is ll a l coll s lIl l; lII1 Fe 'rd ill ;II"lo .'ic;lI·fio ll i ;\II d c ill(,lI la log r"p l\l'r .l o hll Ib i il-y lI e ld I Il l' II lOs l S \\'; I\' wi lh Sch rade r, w h o \\, ; IS so i lll l' ;11 0 11 1I 1ak i1l g th l' lIl P;lrt o j !ti s C \ T PE O Pl. E tTl' \\' , h e l"TII III ;dl y i ll ~ i !'l t l'd O il t it eir p ;trti cip;tt io ll ; tS P ; lrt o l lli ,coll ll aCi \\' i lll "lIi nTsa !. " ll o llll d III\'sd f a voi dill g ll s illg lh e filill 's l i il ('," Scllr;" il-r j o ked. "iVI ;III Y peop le i1lOlI g llI il \\'as S()l ll l' k ill d 0 1 L' xp lo i l; lIi o ll lilIlI. TlI e Olll y lliill g I cOllld d o "' ;IS lei p ('o p le jlldg e il lor \\' !t a l il is \\' h e ll it C{) I11 e ~ o ut. Bill SC;II'li o lli 's op ini o ll \\,;I S lit e O l lt' l it ;1I I1la ll l'n'd IIIOSI. I g; I\T il l(' scrip l 10 li ill l ;II HI h I' said ·l.(, I's do il.· II h i' I h o ll g itl it \\'; I S wo rth do ing. i t 1'(';111 ), d idll ' l 1I!; lIl tT \\' lI a l a ll y ho d y d se sa id .

I'c-o p lt- (m d d g o a ro llll d sa y ill g 'Se ll 0 111 ' a ll d ' COPO UI ' a ll l h ,'y ",a lli ed ."

SCtl l'f io ll i - \\'i1 o se work fo r Be rlI a rd o Ik ri o lll cc i ill LAST T A N GO I N P A RIS a lld TilE C O N FOR M IST a lld fo r I .II Cliill o V iscollti ill Db\TII I N V E N ICE h a s Ill a d l' IIi III OIl( ' o f th e illdll slr y 's In o St ad lllir('d prodll c ti o ll d es ig ll (' rs - w (l s lIlHlcl ", 1H'IIII l'd b y lIi s fir" re: ldill g-of Onll sb y'> se H'l' npi;, y. " II wa s prilli a ril v fo r l'a ,,1 a lld 11 0 1 il l(' p roject th ;1I I a g l'l't 'd W d o ii ," II l' l'x p b ill l'd . " I ",as a bl (' IO dl'ep ly ilifl Ul 'lI ce i1 H' sc ripl ", ilh v islI a l ideas , j ll Si a s P ;IIIi influ e ll ces III )' wor k . Fo r exa lllplc , I felt IlI l'IT wCI'e far 100 II!; '" ), d re;III1 S ill t h e scr ipt. I i", is iL'd t lI l'Y be c ui or s illlpli fi('d . I fO lllld a ll o f il too baroqll c, 100 cO ll l pli ca l<'d . " J o hn gaile y, w lI o al so pllOl o gr;Ij , llC'd ORDI NA R Y PU)PI ,E a lld CO N TI N F. N T ,\ I . DI V IDE, ba lked ; \1 IlI e scn'e llpl a y w h ell Sc lIrade r p reSl'II1 Cd il 10 IIilll ",ilhol.ll a ll I'x piall alory ",ord . " lfl'aul IIadll ' l bl'('lIdirl'CI ill g IIH' filI" , I lI l'vl'\'\Vou ld IIav('doll (' il. " h e sa id. " I I. l.IrI lC'd Ih l' p m j ec i L10w li a l fi rs t bcca ll se Ih c scrip i rcad lik e a rea l e x plo ila ti o n film , a llLl I h a d n o int e rest in d o ing a g o ry m ovi e. But

;lI o r s. " P;lId

S C IIl S "

10 1 of f i llll S Oil

" idl'O la p( ' ill IIi s o ffi c(', " Sca rfi o lli ('x pl " ill eel . " I Ie loo ks fo r " cerlai ll lig ill . m ood o r Ied ill g. II 's a ll'c lI niqllt' I ha l ca ll h e; 1 IIl Cl r \'c l o lis s h o rt II " m l. III " filli s h l'd fillll Ihl' illflll l' l1 ("l'~ ;IJ'C a illl o sl u ll rccog lli l.a b lt'. e x C('pl a s I ra~ I Il t' IlI S of Ill o\' i ('s we ' H .'scc ll ;lIl d li k('d . P a lll a lso (,O IIlL'S " I' w ilh vi s u a l ide;1S fro lll 1I ('WSP"Pcr a ll d Illag <l/.iI H' pi1 0 1ogr ;.q >h s.

" Bill ill C AT PE O PL E," Sca rfi o lli cOlllillued , " h e didn ' l h" vl''' sp ec ifi c loo k ill lIIilld , a nd h e w"il ed fo r nl C 10 g ivl' IIilll a Sla ri . TII (' firS! dra ",ill g s I did weI'( ' fo r 'h e zoo SC l. beC£l tl s(' we kll l'\\' ,il a t was g oin g to hcn.' lll ra l. \'Ve.: bega ll 10 sec P EOPLE a s Illo rl' " li d \\l O\'{ ' a fillll o ffa llla sy - <I s l ig lll I y s u r rc, Ii is ti c effect." \vitii Sc lIrade r 's in c rl'as ill g ly a lll bili o lls p ian s fo r Ih l' p ro j eCl , U ll ive rsa l agTl'ed 10 III' Ih e hu dg l'l a rll e illi O Ill(' S l 2 111 i lii o ll IO 5 15 lIIi II iOIl ra ll g e, IlIl ric IlI'i Y-Sl y li zl'd zoo se lS, as w c ll as sets fo r th e c ura to r 's a pa rlll1 CIlI , proIOg' u e: <-I lid <-I n';'I111 seqU l' ll ces, wo uld he cOll s tr uc le d 0 11 sludi o so unds lagl'S, Spl'c i;d dkns, IlI e u sc o r li ve ;lIli lIIal s a lld a fOllr-wl'ek Nl' w Orira lls lo cali (HI sii o ol W( Tl' a lso add r d ill lO Ihe blldg (, 1 " 11 1.1 1 ,\lrii ou g ii Sc hra d e r , Sca r fio tt i a nd Ba iley l'xp rcsscd ad lllira li o n fo r Ihe o ri g ina l CAT PEOPLE's imprl'ssive hl a c k a nd w hilecine m alOgra ph y, lh e

cxr

DIR ECT OR SLudio wasn'L likely LO fund such a hi g h -Li c keLproj ecLun less film ed ill co lor. Schra der becam e illlri g u ed w ith Lh e prospect o f res urrecting Lh e IUlnin o us iln ages a nd styli s ti c

darin g o f fi lmmakers su ch as Orson We ll es, G eo rges Fra nju a nd J ea n Cocteau.

"The Ihree film s I had in mind w hik plannin g CAT PEOPLE were Welles' THE TR IAL, Franju 's EYES vVITHO UTA FAC E a nd Cocteau's ORPHE US, " Sc hrad er explain ed . "A rchitecLure a nd drea ms were given pri o rit y over contclll, a

sLyle w hi ch gO L bumped out by Lh e New Wa vec inem ao flh e la lc'50sa nd earl y '60s. All Lhree o f Lh ose arc in black a nd whiLe-obvio us ly, th ere is somcLhi ng about Ihe qua l il l' o f black a nd I", hite w hi c h yo u ca lln ol reca p-

Lure with co lo r. " Durin g p reproduct io n in Ihe fa ll o f 1980, efforts were madc 10 in surc CAT PEOPLE's visual e loq uence. " Wc la lk ed a bo ut a vcrI' sp eci fi c lIseo f co lor in Ih e m a nn er o f C erm a n expressioni s ti c p a intin gs," sa id Ba iley, " We wcrc ca reful , Lh o ug h , to a h.v ay s keep fr o ln sa tur a tin g' th e

fram e a n d makin g it look vul ga r.

On eof thdilms ",ewa tched wasSUSPIRIA . Iii th e first fi ve minutes, yo u 're kino o f dazz led by th e use o f co lor - it 's qu ite wonderf" l. BUI by th e Li me yo u 're nca r Ill eend o f th e fir st reel, yo u wa nt LO run o ut o f th e th ea ter screa min g beca use it's LOO mu ch . We didn 'l wa nL the co lo r LO be overwh elmin g ly di strac tin g. I described it as a ' Wh a t's wron g w ith thi s pi c lure?' a pproach , w here so meth in g is just s lightly o ff-ba la n ce."

Tn Ihal cnd , CAT PEOPLE was des ig n ed in a ma nn er wh ich m ig hl be termed "co lor co nt ro lled. " Sca rfi o tti oversaw a h110Sl every as pect of th e film' s visua l dim en s ion s to ins ure Lhat se t decorat io n s, cos tum cs a nd props co n form ed LO a specifi c co lor schem e: o ra n ge, umber and p ink.

This prec ise visu a l stra tegy necess ita ted Schrader's usc o f a ske tch boa rd anist (Ma ur ice Zubara no) for the firsL

P A U L

SC HRAD E R

~~Val

Lewton's ~Cat People' isn't that brilliant. It's a very good B-movie with one or two brilliant sequences. I mean, we're not talking about a real classic." tim e. "Us ua ll y," said Sch rader, " I have a sLOryboa rd in m y head. In CAT PEOPLE , we n eeded things LO h a nd arou nd to show how I sa w th e scell e,

parti c ul a rl y beca use wc had Ih e prolog u e a nd drea m sequ e n ces th at req uircd a lo t of vis ua l e ffec ts."

Sc hra d er was wi lling to co n s id er ch a nges a t thi s stage, a nd un ckr Scarfi o tti 's influ enc<: th e p ro logue was strea ml ined to th e sacrifi ce o f a sin g le virgin to a 1l1ag ica l, a nl orO ll S pa llther.

As CAT PEOPLE g rew , il bega n to la ke 0 11 a Ill o re person a l , idi osy n -

cra ti c as pect a nd Sc hra der adm iu ed it lefl il s cin emat ic fo rbea rs behind .

"Bas ica lly, I'm dea lin g wi th myo wn drea ms a nd th e co ll ec ti vc falllasy th a i I p ;.mi cipate in ," he exp la in ed . " I bega n ,,路ith ce rtain phil osop hi ca l, c in emat ic mod e ls, 11lItthe n , m y ow n tastes loo k o\'er. I havcccri a ill

rO lll a ll -

ti c a nd sexual o bsess io n s and m y film bega n to o p era le from th ose."

Sc hra d er a n d Sca rfi o lti fl ew to New Or lea ns to see h ow that stra nge ly co mpel lin g loca li on wou ld meas ure "1'1 0 Ih e de ma nds o f th e script. The directo r so u g ht a clau s trop hob ic, confinin g a lm osp here, w hi c h wo ul d be in sy n c w ith hi s " film no ir "- influ en ced intenlio ns, especia ll y in sce nes se t a t th e zoo . " We found th e re ju s t were n ' t eno ug h interestin g a rchiteClura l cl ements at th e rea l zoo," exp lain ed Scarfi o tti, w ho des ig n ed a large, Vi ctori a n -s tyle zoo set fea turing loo ming caL sculptures g lo wering down from the tops o f the cages. The " zoo " was bui It o n th e studi o backlo t and la ter reco n stru cted indoors fo r scenes requirin g more exacting li g htin g. " We built a very stylized zoo th ai uses a few motifs th a t ex ist in th e rea l zoo. They are Below: John Heard squares off against one of the three dyed pumas used in the film, Inset: After making love with Kinski, Heard finds a second panther in bed , The paw is real, and although Heard wore a protective chest plate, his look of terror is probably genuine,

do in g away w ith cages, which is Ih e rig h t wa y to h a ndle an ilil a is , blltlh a l didn 't wo rk for thi s film . CA T PEOPLE is aboul cages a nd una tta in a bk o bj en s. Th e zoo se t we built was cLiu stropho bi c, a lm osLlike a pri son. " With a sprin g 198 1 s ta rt da te 1001Tlin g, Schrader nex i Ilirn ed 10 cas lin g, hirin g s p ec ia li s ts for th e spec ia l effeels work a n d procu rin g th e li ve a ni ma ls. On e o f th e first p erso n s co n -

nou s T ESS, Once Schrader h ad seen Kin ski , cas lin g was settled. "Sh e beca me ca legory A, pure and simpl e," h e sa id. .. No one e lse ca m e close." Th e film 's enlire production schedu le was rea rra n ged to in s ure Kill s ki 's a va ilabilit y- pa rti c-

ul a rl y cru cia l s in ce CAT PEOPLE wo uld be filmin g und er Ih e threa t o f a directo rs' strike, Sch rader cas t Malco lm McDo wel l as Kin ski 's lo rm ellled, hypersexua l bro th er h o t under th e cl eri ca l co ll a r, a n d J o hn H ea rd ( H EAD OVER HEELS, CliTrER'S WAY ) as th e rom a nl ica ll y o bscssed zoo cura tor, Oli ver. " I n ever had a n y prob lems cas lin g th e film ," Sc hrader sa id. " Three o r fo ur weeks a ft er I got in vo lved, I had

;.r

sess io n w ith Ill )'

la c te d was U ni ve rsa l 's in-h o use

age nl , Michael Bla ck, and th ese

cr fects ma s te r A l Whitl oc k , w h o would -wi lh the he lp of ass ista nl Syd DutLOn -a u g nwnl Sca rfi o tti 's SCi wilh ma li c paintin gs. Whitlock

11 ;:1 111 eS ca rne up in a nlall c r o r 10

minul es. II then beca m e a m a il er o f con v in c in g everyo ne around In c th al

th ey were ri g ht. There was tro uble

;. l1 so b CCl:Ill l l' in Slrtllll Cnl ai in ClTLl lin g"

co n v in c ill g th e s tudi o about Nas tas-

Ihe loo k o f u l/rea lil Y n eeded fo r Ih e film 's o penin g sequ ences (sec pages 30,36). " The y were co n ce rned w ilh Ihi s l'i a bo ra te fan lasy pro logue," Wh it loc k sa id . " In Ih e bac kg rcllind wc'

sia IJecallse th ey had a ll th ese prejud ices a bo llt usin g a fo reig ner. You

were

LO 1l1(lll(;'

(I

dU S (S l O rll l

aga in sllh c

p a rched la ndsca pe o f th ese bad tim es.

Later , we wou ld show th e sanl C a rC;'1

w ith the tree as a fra nl c o f refe rc ll ce.

On l y 1I 0W , a rter th e s<lc idi ce o r a

yo un g virgi ll , th e la lld is lu sh and verdant. II 's o nl y a bollt five or six sho ls n ow-a l first, th e pro logue was very e la boratc a nrl il gOi c ut down.

Fra nk ly, wh ell l rea d it , itdidn't seem to Ill e to h ave a n y CO IIII (,CL ion w ith th e bo d I' o f thc 51 o ry."

All oU lside opLi Gl1 house was hired for a sequ ell cc ill vo lvin g Kin ski 'ss llbj ec li ve v i('w p o int as s h e w(;lndc rs Ihro u g h Ih e fo res t in sea rch o f prey (sec page '12). Schrade r co ntacled Ro b Bla lack 's Pra xis Fi lm Work s, whi ch h a d prov ided s i mi la r effec Ls fo r WOU:EN. As Ih e prep ro ducti o n pa ce in crea sed , Sc hrader add ed to the crew , hirillg Ron O xley to provide Ih ea ni ma ls needed , a nd To m a n d Ell is BIIrIlla ll to c rea te a seri es o f Tn ech a ni ca l cat s, ti S we ll as lh e tra n sfo nn ,:Ilion

makeup effecLs. But Schrader hard ly over look ed Lh e film 's human cl e m e llts, alld devoted mu c h a tl cll tio ll 10 Ihe film 's .castin g. T hc p ivota l ro le was Ih a l o f Ihe heroi n e, Irena Ga ll ier. Schra der's require l1l c llI s n ec ess i ta te d a n a c tress

o f excepti o nal se n sua lil Y a nd illll ocell ce, wi llin g to pl ay severa l maj o r sequen ces in th e lIu de, Th e p crfo nner a lso lI eeded 10 possess w h a t Lh e director lermed , " lI o nreg io n a l bea uty."

"Obvious ly, she co uldn 't look lik e a ch eerleader fro m Iowa ," Schrader sa id . "S i ll ce th e c ha rac te r's v irg in i-

Iy-a nd il s eveillu a ll oss-a re cru cia l 10 the p lOI, Ih e actress' deli very o f lin es a nn o un cing h er "innocen ce" h ad to bes urri c iellll yco n vin cingsoas n o t to send Ihe a udien ce i IlLO d er iso ry hoo Ls. Whil e a n y number o f ac tresses were su gges ted a nd di smi ssed, Nastass ia Kin ski 's na m e ca m e up on the sLren g th of her work in STAY AS YOU ARE a nd as Po la n ski 's lumi -

kno ,," , so nl co n c w hose na ln e yo u

ca n 'l pronou n ce? Th e sa m e w ith Malcolm 's being un-Am erica ll a nd J o hll I Ic;1I'd no t beill g ri g ht a nd so o n. I ju sl perservered. I gave a ll their o th er s ugges ti o ns th o ug ht a nd a llenti on. I even purs u cd so m e o f Lh eir cho ices. BUI th e peop le I had first in m in d were th e o ll es I'd a lways wa llled a nd wo uld ch oose aga in ."

Orm sby a pp ea r ed p lease d by Schrader' s cas lin g' cho ices, Ih o ug h he h ad o lh er n o ti o ns fo r th e m a le ro les. 路路 For O li ver-\.vilo I saw as a sens iti ve, ro nla llti c a nd in tcll gcTll Tll a n

hi d ing behind " mac ho front-I saw som eo nc bea rded, lik e N ick No lLe," Orm s by sa id. " Pa lll was a shadowy, da ngero us presen ce, a ll d very we ird .

J[ Bruce Spr ings leen could act, I tho u g ht he' d be p erfect. In a dirrerent way, so wo u ld Dav id Bowie," W ith mos t o f th e key elem elils firml y locked in , CAT P EO PL E bega n s hoo tin g in C a lifo rni a o n Apr il 6, 198 1-\V ith outth e presence o f NasLass ia Kin ski , w ho was held up by s hoo Lin g overrun s o f Coppo la's O NE FRO lvI T H E IIE ART. U ni versa l hadn ' l been overly ent h u siasLi c a bouL Kin sk i in th e first p lace, a nd her a bsen cc bro u g ht o n press ure to rep lace her. Schra der h eld firm , as h e h a d d o n e fr om th e beg ill nin g, a lth o ug h her conlinu ed un avai la bil ity co uld have m ea nt di sas ler fo r th e p rod uCii o n.

Scen t's were resc hedu led 10 awa il th e a n'in tl o f th e 2 1-yea r-o ld aCLress.

Th e co mpa n y had bee n schedul ed for fo ur \Vee ks o f New Or lea n s s hoo ting a t Ih e start , hut sLudi o scen es were resched uled 10 take up the s lack: O "t, crc'IV a nd co rpo ra te execuLives a ll brea th ed a bit eas ier o n ce Kin ski was ab le to report 10 wor k, severa l weeks la te. O bserving Ihi s sm a ll , mercuri a l actress-w ith her di sa rmin g a ir o f innocenl sens ua lity- it was do ubtful th a t Sc hrade r co uld h ave fo und a n yo n e el se as wel l suited for th c ro le. " IL was vcry slra n ge I sho uld co me to make thi s fi lm ," sa id Kin sk i, w ho li k ed to s p e nd s p a re m ome nL S betw ee n sho ts wa tching the a nimal s caged o n the zoo set. " As a lill ie g ir l, we a lways had ca ts a nd I was fasc i-

Above: A semi-human arm springs out 01 the torso of a dead panther as the dlslntegmtion process begins. Right Tom Burman's original concept sketch.

The Autopsy of Paul Gallier Makeup artist Tom Burman rewrites anatomy to reveal the startling seCKet qlthe Cat People.

When a mysterious black panther tries to murder him, and is shot in the attempt, zoo curator John Heard decides to perform an autopsy.

Though he knows there is something odd about the animal, Heard isn't prepared for what he finds: a human arm inside the dead panther (above), an odd twist of animal anatomy that helps explain the script's human-topanther transformations.

Makeup artist Tom Burman made a number of sketches depicting stages of the autopsy (right), including a human face beneath the panther's skull and an entire " Picasso-ish" body inside the torso. Eventually, director Paul Schrader limited the sequence to the opening of the chest cavity and the subsequent diSintegration of the panther's body.

Burman associate Lance Anderson Below: Paul Schrader (left) watches as effects technician Allan Hall and makeup designer Tom Burman (right) prepare the autopsy cat for filming.

and Allan Hall, a Universal effects technician working at The Burman's Studio, sculpted the panther, while Kathy Clark worked on the fake fur body. The innards were sculpted from a large hunk of foam rubber, and coated with polyurethane. Kayo syrup blood completed the illusion.

"I have a philosophy that you should never use real animal guts," said Hall, who has previously worked on the corpses in COMA and on a fake body for Dennis Hopper's death scene in APOCALYPSE NOW (eliminated during editing) . " If you're shooting for more than one day, you have problems with rotting and deterioration. Sometimes you 're shooting for three or four days; by then , real animal guts stink!"

To create the smoke and foam that accompanies the cadaver's myste-

rious disintegration, a variety techniques were used, including bubbling air through methyl cellulose, adding water to calcium and whipping up a special soap-like substance. The disintegration itself involved a second panther built around a large air bladder. A vacuum pump was used to rapidly deflate the bladder, and the cat was pu lled down through a specially-rigged table, "sort of like pulling a sock inside

out ," according to Hall .

Although the effect was successfully shot, the sequence was largely left on the cutting room floor, part of Schrader's plan to limit the emphasis on makeup effects. All that remains is the beginning of the autopsy and the end result: puddles of "goo" on the autopsy table, and a stunned John Heard (bottom right).

Left: Allan Hall (left) checks the air tube leading to the panther, as Tom Burman and Kart Miller (right) watch.

Below: John Heard's startled reaction,

35

From Simple Cotton Swabs Do Mighty Dust Storms Grow Al Whitlock reprises one of his best illusions.

As a sig n of the bad times faced by the Cat People in the film 's prologue, AI Whitlock created a swirli ng dust storm that sweeps through the barren valley, an effect achieved with matte paintings and revolving disks of Schrader with Whitlock cotton , painted to look like dirty clouds.

By filming the cotton disks with a high speed camera, the swirling cotton took on the immense proportions called for. The dust storm itself was given an extra degree of authenticity by varying the "consistency" of the clouds: by increasing the exposure on the lower areas of the cotton disks, the "dust storm" becomes nearly opaque, in contrast to the semi-transparent look near the top of the billowing clouds.

Whitlock , who engineered a similar effect for Hal Ashby's BOUND FOR GLORY (1976), filmed the live action element for part of the sequence in eight-perf VistaVision, rigged to run vertically (the photo at right indicates the proportions of the frame). This unusual format allowed for a tilt from the actors to the crown of the dust storm to be added on the optical printer . The sequence was shot from the back of Stage 27 , one of Universal's largest (below right) . From that distance, the blue screen was too small to be of much use to Whitlock , who painted in most of the tree .

For the first view of the duster, involving a lone panther poised in front of the tree (below), Whitlock was faced with the problem of extending the set in several different areas with paintings.

Instead of that cumbersome task , he elected to paint everything- tree , rocks, sand and sky- with the exception of the panther itself, which was photographed against a blue screen. "There would have been so many little pieces," explained Whitlock, "it was simpler just to add the animal. " Top Right, Below: Albert Whitlock's dust storm thunders through the film's prologue. The natives' costumes are based on photos of African warriors from National Geographic. Far Right: Live action photography on Universal's giant Stage 27.

36

CO-STAR n ated by the ir grace, th e irm ys tery. llik ed IhataboUlthdiltl).

I a lso I ikcd the w hole aspeel of se n s u a lil Y a nd agg ress ion .

Th e n , LOO, I lo ve h o rro r sto-

ri es- so it wasa illh oscaspccls th a i illlri gued m e."

In 1973, hin ski appe;m:d in a 101l'- bud ge l horror fi l,n , TO THE DEV I L , ,\ D AliG II TlR . Th e mcnli o n of Ih e fi lm provo ked " " (' III1 J<nTassed ges ture o f d ismi ssa l, as s h e ;' ppcared 10 11;I\·c la r rnol'c kinsh ip w ith he l' ro le as t h e sex ua ll y-awakc nin g Ire ll d .. ofrelld iSd c haracter \\" h o fight s for amI with her des tiu ),," said Kinski. ·· 111 theend ,s hc gc ts bo d ,. She gelS Ihc m ,,,, s h e lon's a nd s Ill' clwoses 10 I iI"(' Ih e Ii fe of a cal, th e o n c s h e ha, 10 lead.·· Kill s ki a ll d ;vlcDo"T II "Plx'a red 10 spa rk ili leres liu g impul ses fro m eac h o lh er p lay i" g 011 1 Ih eir ro les of the ero ti ca ll y- bolllkd bro th n a nd s is ter.

Mc Do we ll , Ih e s ia l' of Kubl'ick 's ;\ CLOCKWORK ORANGLlIld Nic h olas "vleyer 's TI Ml AFT l R T I ME , co mpleted hi s role in less th a n a m Olllh . One o f hi s briefcs I, yel m OS I powcrfu l sce ll cs fcalurcd him em crgin g from Ih c corncr of j o hn H card's darke lled bedruom a n d tra n s fonllin g in LO a fu ll -s izcd pa ll ther. ·· I n a \\'e ird lI'a'Y ,'· McDowell lcJu g h cti, " 'll(lking SOlll c lhin g like th at work does dcpend upon Ih c ;'lC IO r. If yo II 'r{' doi n g it ri g h I , yo u ca n hel p the crfccts ve r y much . Ad m i 1tcdl y, yo u co uld h avc anybody off th c Slreel ill some o f these app li a n ces, but evc u th o u g h I spe lll s u c h" lu n g ti m e in m akcup, r il l aC lllall y g lad I did it.

IL was a sca ry, illl porta ll L shot a lld I wa lHcd to m akc s ure il \\'as done ri g ht. l1 nforwll a le ly, aClOrs havc beco l1l e li ke pi cces uf wood a nd Ih c s tars are n o,," Ih e spec ia l effects."

O n I h e set, Sc hradcrappca red ope ll LO thes ugges tion sof hi scast. McDowe ll frequ c l1ll yco ntributed b itsofbus in ess I,·hich Sch rader in corporated w illin g ly ill to Ih e fi l II .. In o n e sce n c in a New Orlea n s h o t e l r oo m , M c Dowe ll s low l y regai n s co n cio u sn ess fin d in g h im se lf nak ed o n t h e bat h room fl oo r, th e lI , uti la ted bo d y o f a bl o nde wO lllan sp la u crin g th e bed a ll d r u g. McDowe ll a " d Sch rader wo rk ed OUI a li g hter LOuch tu add LO th e scen e. " This till ie, you don't sec th e Ira n s il io n to a G IL,"· M c Dowe ll exp lain ed. " You jus t see so m e bits of h air on my hod I' a n d thi s sort o f membra"ou s, j e ll y Sluff. Ridi cu lous, is n ·t it ? W e ll , I craw l up LO th e mirror a nd P UI Ihi s llIembra n ous st uff LO m y IlI OUlh , sort o f eat it - but , as Il ouk in the mirror a I In ysel f, I sort of push ba c k ni l' hair. T h at ge ts allo th e r clem e nt in . A sOr! o f va nit y, a m e ti culo u s ll ess th a i mak es il fun. " As wor k 0 11 Ih e project moved a h ead-pa rli cu l a r l y dur in g th e 1110 ll Lh s pc nt 0 11 loca ti o n in New Or lea ll s-Sch ra der seemed to brillg CA T P EO PL Ecloserto hi sow n e motio ll a l cente r. Gradua ll y, Ihe film bega n LO ass ume p h ys ica l a nd theIna lie aSIJe'Cls idi osY ll crat ic to the d ireclo r. Schrader salV some th ing o f hi s ow n p e rso n a lit ), ill Oli ver, Ihe ch a rac ter p layed by J o hn H eard-an introspective illle ll ectu a l who separa tes himself from humans a nd prefers th e compa n y o f a nim a ls, until h e fill d s a ll inIlocc lll, vinu ous WO Ill a n

MALCOLM

MCDOWELL

~~Making

ho use are balh ed in g reellli g lll , a lld M c Dowe ll 's mi ss io n is w illil y con ceived a nd li g htcd 10 s uggest hoth a ta be rn acle a nd a n a ll-ni g hl din cr.

Whc n Sh OO lill g sccn es SCl in lit e New Or lea n s h Ollsl's harl'd

by Mc Dowell a lld hi s ca re taker (pl ayed by Rub y Dee), effolls \\TIT Illad e to c nh ;1I1 ce w h at Bailey dLlbbcd th e h o u se's ··ma g ic d '1L1 a lili es." ·· W e wcre g oill g for a ll eX lre m e ly llI oody Iyp e o f low -key l ighlillg·.· ex p lai n e d Bailey, w h o referred to th e Ga lli e r H o use a s Ih e moSi d iil icu lt SC I LO li g h t ill Ih e filrn. " It W~ I S a l\\·o-stor)' S(, L, ahnosl like a rca I h ouse. Alllh e cei lin gs \\'ere 11;,rd.

W e had to n ai l " lIlh e sh oot ill g hllllps o n LO Ih e ,,·;d ls," S illce Scarf io lli ' s desigll avoided hoar y h o rror cl iches li ke cobwc bs a nd dark s ta ir ways, Sc h rader ca lled upo n the eclect ic furIl is ilill gS, express io ni sti c pa ill ting ;II,d u ll usua ll igh lill geffec ts 10 Ihro w Ih e scell c just slig/i lly uff bala n ce.

Ba i Icy ,d so pointed 10 Sc hrade r 's u seof \\' h at h e It' rnw d " Iriads" w ilhin sce ll l's: ~ l s tyl isti c nu a n ce w hi c h the d ireclO r a dapted frol11 th e j apa n ese c in eilla o f Yas ujiro O w. S i mp l y Slated , th e technique isa s uccessio n of Ihree Sh OIS , u s uall y of in a nim ate o bj ects, w ilhin the sa l11c geogra ph ica l s pace. ·· 11I CAT P lO PLl , the re is a bedroo ll1 sce n e w h ere Malco lm CO ll Ies to Nas tassia ," sa id Ba il ey. " In I he firSi s h o t, the re is a LOta ll y n Ollre,distic painted m oo n sca p e-a n d c loLids bac kdro p outs idc th e Fre ll c h w indows, w ith a ni g ht gow n b lowi n g ill th e breeze. Th e n, a s h Oi of the bu s!. of Bea trice. Th e n , a s hOl o f fam il y ph olOgra phs Oil a ni g hts tand . I ca n ' t explain h ow o r w h y it works, but it g i vcs a sce ll e a s tra n ge, h all tl ti n g qua lit y."

The fi lm 's s leek, g lossy loo k is a l tillles re mini sce nt o f th e s tudi ed, o the r-wo r ldl y ph OLOS w hi c h ap p ea r in "1',"l1 -g; lI·de phOLOgrap h y m agazill cs s u c h a s /ooll1- s h ots w hi ch cun veya sellse of impe ll ding d ou m, a lth ou g·h indi vidua l clcme ll lS sce l11 'I" iI<' be ni g n. But Baile y res is ted a 1('1""/ li ke " Il o r ror c hi c" ·10 d escrihe CAT PEOPLE 's vis u,, 1 style. " T h at s uggests so m eon e li ke p h o logr" ph c r l lelmut NeWlO n ," sa id Baile y, "SO Il)( 'O Tl ( ' w h o 1l1 i xese le nlc ntso f violen ce a nd fas hio n in a s li g htl y deca-

the transformations work does depend on the actor. But admittedly, you could have anybody off the street in some of these makeup appliances." ( I,.e n a ) \\"e mh y of h is pllrsll il ;IIHI id e; di {; lIi o n .

Th is n Ol ion s tru ck Sc hrade r as <1I1 ;. ti(),!40tIS 10 J) (-III1 C'S idcaiila li o n of

[h e d i\'jIl l' Bcatr ice as i I1lI11 o rt (l i i lCd ill Ihe POCI"s 1-'1 ('ila Nuova . To , ,,·,der scurc Ihallhel1lal iceicl11 l" nl , a l11 arhle bll~1 01 Bea tr icl' is s ilo\\"I) pn)Jni'H 'lIlh·; 01 i I·er isa lsos ho\\"n I11cl11oriling

Lll('

D alll(, PO(,11 1 jus t IIlOII1(' lIl s

before see ing Ire n a for th e firsltil11c. ··Th e Bea tri ce falltasy beca m c th e o\'l'r idill g I h cllle," Sc h rader l'XfJ/;,i II cd . ··0 1i ITr h as a lI eed to (T('<lle a \,' 0111(111 \\ -h O lll h l' G ill put 0 11 a pcdcs"d , sce ll o n ly fro l11 aL II. Inl rcn a, you h aw Ihi s r;lIh er s h y, yo u n g virg in \I' i th a fea ,. of se,,,,a l it 1', a fearof loss of l·irg iniI Y. S h l" is n ·t rea ll y Bea tri ce a l a ll. So, I I,·as il1lri gucd hy t h e idea o f rUll l lillg Ih est' 1\\'0 sl' xlI <.1i fa lll asi('~ rc"rs loge th e r. ·· In add ili o n LO Dan le, olh er ·' in " rclnl' lI ces and hOI11 mages a Iso crop up. Sch rader, . increa s illg ly fa shi o n cO ll sc ious af tcr d ea lill g wi th des ig n er Annalli Ull Ri c h ard G ere's AMER ICAN G IGOLO gar b, sa ,,· to it th a i j o hll Ilcard ·s cl Ol hin g be as c lose to h is ow n st yle o f dress as poss ibl e. And ill a brief m o m e n t when H ea rd isseen SWi lc hill g o lT a bed s id e read ing li g·ht , a hook of j apa n ese nove li s t Yuk io M ish im a res ts o n a II ights ta n d; Scl n adel' recenil y secured Ih c ri g hts 10 film i\ l is h ill, a's rem a r ka ble life.

1I l1 douhled l y , man\' of t h ese ··LOuc h es" are Sc h rader 's p la nt s; grace n u tes layered in LO keep ··aute uriSl" -lllilld ed criti cs a mused a lld UII lh e "len. Wh a tever th e motivat io n , th ey serve to Ill ake CAT PEOPLE pecu li ar ly th e wo rk o fon e thorn ya ncl s trin ge lll intel li ge ll ce. " " 's iro ni c, hl.ll as tl'it: fi lm we nt a lo ng il beca m e muc h m o re p e rso n a l th a n I'd ever e n vis ion ed it co u ld ,"' sa id Schra der. " Th a t s ur pri sed m e, because th e stor y ct'rla in iy was il ', sO lll el liill g th a t G IlIl l' frOl1l Ill y OWII exper ie nce. BUI th e fi l m actua ll y becam e as persona l as a n y o f the ot h e rs I" ve dU ll e, a lthough it is by n a ture !110rc 'coll1 Jne rcia l. ' ..

In some quaners, Sch ra de r h as a re put a ti o n for be in g e m o ti o n a ll y inaccess ihl e, but o bservers n o ted hi s rcla li ve l y rel axed be h av ior on th e se t. " I thillk Palll h a d mu ch m o re fun o n Ihi s tha n o n AMl RI CAN G ICO LO ," sa id produ cer J e rr y Bru c kh e im e r . ·· 11e was morc open to ever ythin g. I Ihink yo u ' re more myopic IV h e ll th e sctTl' lI p Jay is a ll yo ur ow n word s, yo ur OIV II con cept io n . Beca u se P aul h ad 1V0 rked so Illu c h o f the fi 1111 o ut in adva n ce lV ith Ala n Orm s by, h e fe lt freer , Ill ay be, to cxperim e l1l a nd 10 Ill a ke t h e fil m more hi s ow n ."

Prin c ipa l photogra ph y tencled to proceed re la ti ve l y s ll1oo th lyo n ce prod uct iu n lVas fu ll y underlVay, desp ite Sc hra de r 's ullil s ua l visua l requireIll e n ts. H OlVcver, Ih eo n -se l influ en ce asse rted hI' Sca rfio lli a nd Bailcy m a de SOI11C crelV members wo nd er a l firS!

,,· I/('d /(' r Schra d cr was ahdi ca lin g· hi s d irecto r ia lres po n s ih i lil Y· ·· B:, ile y alld Scar fi o lli h ad Ih e p()\\Tr 10 SlOp the sh ooling,"· Sc hra dcr admill ed. ··Th ey k,d th e r ig hl 10 jllSI ,,"a lk out a lld say ·No- thi s iSIl·1 ri g h t. Le l "s " dk aho ll l it.· Thai ca m e ;1> 'I ui ", a surpri se to" lot of I he (Te\\", \\'ho \\'('1'('11', used to a protillniull designer ClT n bei ll g Ih ere. II ('IT I' mi ll d bcing "hIe to SlUp Ih e wurks.

P roduct io n des ig ners aren·1 g<' IH 'ra l ly regard ed 100 h ig hl y hy people w ll o ti lT actually l ll<l k in g 1he rnovi c, bu t as sou n , IS th e ere\\' C< lu g hl O il , pcop le Slarted 10 wo rk as a l.mil ."

Audicilces Ili ay p Cl' cc i \'C th a t Sc hradcr 's cra ll e s h ols alld IOll g , swoo pill g ca II HT£I g lides dow n c lnply. ra i n -s l icked s treeLS a nd paS! VC ri ica I ro\\'s of zoo cages s ugges t i.I w ry dnachllle lll from Ih e aCl io n . L ikc the Lr . lck il1 g 1l10V(' nl l' llt s favored b y Ophu ls . Ili lc hcock and Be rto lucc i, Ih ey s u gges l th e h ypn o li c powe r of a g uidin g d irecLOria l h a nd. ··Soll leo ll e as ked llI e th e o th er cb y w h a t t h e IH os t ilnpona llt re la ti o ll s hip in Ih e film is. I lo ld him , ·Mi n c w ilh Ih e camera ,''' Sc hrader exp/;,i n ed. ·' Th e ca m el''' app";-Il"s 10 h ave a course, "n inte ll igell ce o f its OIV II . It·s m y lVay of re min d in g th e a u dil'lIce, ill cert a in sce ll es, th a t th ere is a sLOr ylc ll e r h ere. Of course, yo u 1/('lIn u sc Ih ;l t killd o f lTIove m e nl w h e n Ih e actio n is rea ll y cru c ia l. li S ·cyc ca ll d y' rea ll y.'· Sc h rader " li d c in e malographer Ba i ley's inl e ll ii on LO a pproxil11a tc cxp ress io lli s tic co lo r made li g htin g 1.11( ' se ts sO lll e \v h a t c Ulll b e r so lll c. ·' Th e li g ht sourccs a l Ih e lOpS a lld bOltoms o f Ih e fram e were covered w ilh gc l st rip s to acce llt ce na i n colors,' · said Baile y. · ' We used Ih el11 (l 1111 0S l l ik e 'e lli ot iona l swa tc h es' w ilhillt hcframe."

For exam p le, ni g ht viewsof d l(' C a ll ier

Lance Anderson adjusts the shoulder harness to which Ed Begley's fake arm was attached. Once in place, a tug on the string (note the ring) released the fiberglass arm into the mouth of a wild puma, making it appear as though it was savagely torn 0.1f. The hollow tubes delivered stage blood, which spurted realistically for several feet.

I

Malcolm McDowell crouches on a branch outside John Heard's window.

Originally, McDowell was to leap, alter in mid-air and crash through as a live panther, but the sequence was revised to let Heard witness the transformation.

dent se lf-con scio us a nd sophi sti ca tcd wa y. In CAT PEOPLE , while the style is sophi s ti ca ted , th e actual fee ling of the fihll comes from J o hn I-Icard a lld Na s lClss ia's c h a rac ters, whi c h a rc ra th e r c hildlik e a nd innocent. " On thi s fi lm ," co ntinued Baile y, "Schrader and I dec ided we didn 't want the style to intrude a ll tha t much. In AMER ICAN G IGOLO, style and content comme nted alltl refl ected on each o ther very self-con sciou sly. CAT PEOPLE's the mea lld story are much s impler-a lot of it is stri ctl y a success ion of ima ges to te ll the story. In fact , severa l of th e 1110st impo rtant seque nces have virtua ll y no dialog ue in the m a t all. " On (" of th e vi s ua ll y-ori c nt a ted sequences 10 which Bailey refers is a highl y-stylized drea m seqll('nel' ill which Kin ski boards a tra in to escape her broth er, fo ll owin g an attempt ed sedu c tion. Shl" fall s a s lee p and dream s tha t she is in a desert covered with cora l-colo red sand . Shee ll co LlIl tel's her half-dad bro ther, wh o lead s her to a strangel y-gna rl ed tree ill which six pallthers nes t. Throug h the dream, she di scovers the m yth of her cat a ll Cl'stors alld confront s her destin y. 'rhe dream seq uenee was one o f th (' 1l10Sl cos tl y, <lInbilio li sa nd liln c-coll SLIming sequences in the producti o n .

Th o u sand s o f pound s o f salldtinted to the e xact specifi cati o n s that Scarfiott i had dicta ted-fill ed one of Uni versal 's largest soundstages. A hu ge w ra pa ro und cyclora ma back drop ech oed th e o range hue. Wind machines kept the sand shifting a nd blowing ill to the a ir.

Filming th e sequence over a threed"y period late in prqduction was an ordea l for both cast and crew. Respirators were required , as temperatures o ut side the so u ndstage peaked at more than 100°. T empers inside the soundstage were al so running hOl, especiall y whell one crew member noticed that th e drum s of d yed sa nd carri ed a notice that warned of possible ca ncer ri sks.

38

Whil e Schrader sa t quieti y in the middl e of th e desert en sconced in hi s director's c hair, Universa l executi ves· a nd crew members arg u ed wh eth er the bl o wing sa nd would g ive th cmselves ca ncer. With heart y ass ura nces thaL lil cre wa s no ri s k, cOlnpa n y rn e m be rs- so m e quite g rud g ingl y- return ed to work. Thro ug ho ut, Schra der mainta ined th e a ppeara nccofZe n detachment from th e m elee.

Of Schrader 'S inspira tion for the probl emati c drea m sequ en ce, Ba iley sugges ted Fra nju as o ne p ro ba ble so urce. " We looked a t EYE S WITHO UT A FACE a nd THERESE DESQ U EYRO U X a nd lo ts o r Fra nju 's earl y dOC lim enta ries," Ba il ey said. " On e o f th ose, l.A PREMIERE N U IT, was a bo ut a yo un g boy w ho sp ends th e ni g ht o n a metro. We were h o pin g to usc it as a bas is fo r th e tra in and drea m sequ en ce, but tha t never worked o ut. Yo u look at th ese things a nd they so metim es g ive yo u ideas for oth er thin gs, so in a se nse, th e influ ence s ti II rem a in s."

In Ormhsy's screenpl ay, th e drea m sequen ce was prefaced by a sho t o f Irena wa tchin g a mother a nd her child pl ay ing toge ther on the tra in.

Th a t was m ea nt to connect to Irena 's discovery or her ca t-mother during the drea m itself. H o wever, in therina l vers io n of C AT PEOPLE, Kinski mere ly fa lls as leep a nd begins to dream - o ne o f the severa l stylisti c changes bro Ltg ht about durin g editin g.

Orm sby fe lt th e impact o f th e sequence was blunted by dro ppin g the sho t, a s well as oth er "conn ectives" he had construc ted-pa rti cularl y the elimina ti o n' of a sho t sh o wing a victim o f a ca t a ttack dan g lin g from th e tree, a s the panth ers feed o ff it. "fh e irnagc \vas In ca nt to lillk w ith a simi lar shot late in thcfilm in whi ch on e of th e Kinski 's vi ctims dan g les from a tree in prec ise ly the sa me rashi o n . ' 'Frankl y, I fo und the drea m sequence po intless th e wa y it was film ed ," Orm sby sa id . " It didn 't con nec t with th e events of th e film the way I'd intend ed it to. " Also dropped was a shot o f Iren a' s Inolhe r as a litera l " ca l-\voill a n " (see page 33), a ro le p layed by Kinski 's rea l-life m o ther. Th e ca t-wo ma n was to explain the hi story a nd heritage o f the Ca t Peo ple to Irena , a fuu ction now ass um ed by a Malco m McDo we ll vo ice-over.

Althoug h the drea m sequence may be less image-den se a nd mag ica l tha n a readingof th e scree npla y mig ht s ugges t, Schrader is non etheless to be comm ended fo r attemptin g a leve l of styli za ti o n rela tive ly rare in today 's " televi sio n look" big-screen features.

The existence of the sequen ce in th e film al all s tands in contrast to th e director 's knu ckling under to studio press ures to make his second fea ture, HARDCORE , more conventi o n a l. " If I had to d o HARDCORE today , I cou ld m a ke it e xtraord in ar y," Schl'ader said. ' 'I'd go back to my ' ori gin a l con cept, whi ch had a protracted, three part dream sequence. A ciJ-ea m kept co ming to the main cha racter-a dream o f he ll-whi ch kept rec urrin g without th e c h a ra c te r und e rs tanding why . It ' s finall y re vealed that th e c hara cte r isn ' t dream in g of h e ll at a ll , but hea ven.

Th e movi e was origina ll y more of a

man 's spiritual progress sct a ga inst th e backdrop o f po rn ogra ph y. We ll , th a t just didu 't fl y w ith con ve nti o na l studio w isdom , aud I was not yet ass ured eno ug h as a director uor s tro n g- ell o u g h as a CO III IlH.Tc ia i e ntit y to ma k(' th em unders ta nd ."

Wha tever the criti cal respo n se to CAT PEOPLE, th e drea m -lik e look and feelin g of th e film sugges t th e studio p ermillcd Schrader euough leve ra ge to make th e film his wa y.

And illlhi scCl sl'. hi s \\' ay Ill ca n ss h owing Ih e lra nsfo rnl ;Hi o lls rr Ourllc u r

ha d uo t. while stoppiug s ho rt o r an effects sho wcase o u th e o rd er o f AN AMER I CA N WEREWOLF I N I .O N DO N. " I' m n o t experi enced iu judg in g effect s a nd I do n ' t sec man y effects mo vi es." Schrade r ex pl a iu ed . "Th e cent erpi ece o f the rilmmi g ht besee u as th e tra nsfo rmation o f Nas tass ia int o a cal, but Ih ~ II 'S reall y not the

cl"lllerpi cce o f my iut eres t in the film.

Tht: effect s Itave to work beca use th ey al'C; 1 111('an s t o an <:'IKI , lI u l all e nd by :-tll y Inea llS . I certainl y n e ver saw C Arr PEOPLE as a n effect s ex tra vaga nza .

Tlt a t's /l O /. th e film ."

Schra der had decided earl y in preproduction to use live anim a ls fo nh e fina l sta ge o f an y tran sforlllation , and hired Ro n Oxle y, a 113-yea r-o ld ani Ill a l trainer whose credits include ESCAPE TO WITCH MO U NTA IN and .J U DGE ROY BEA N. Oxley decided 10 use cougars- a lso kn o wn as pumas- in stead o f the leopa rds cll'scribed ill tlte screenpla y becau se of their relativel y tranquilllature.

"Couga rs arc easy go ing ," Oxl ey explain ed . .. If someon e kn ocked ove r a reflector or a lig ht o n th e se t, the ca t would Iloti ce it, but jus t go on from th ere. A leo p a rd would freak out, ami on ce a leopa rd is rattled , yo u 've lost him fo r the rest of th e da y. " Oxley, who ru ns a n anima l ranch in Acton , Californi a, began th e pumas ' trainin g by keepin g them dependent o n him fo r a ll th eir needs.

"A ho use cat ca ll go a ft er a bird or mouse for food-it's som ewha t m o re self-s uffi cient ," Oxle y said. "Since our cat s ,Ire dependent on US for food , water and exerc ise, th ey deve lo p a working relation ship w ith us." ' fra inin g slarts a bo ut a ITIo llth a fter the cats a rc bOrll , usin g a leash fo r contro l aud rewa rds of meat.

"You s ta rt by rewa rdill g th e cat simpl y for comin g to you when yo u call ," O x ley said . "Th eil yo u ma ke th e comma nd s mo re so phi sti cated.

You make the cat corn e to a sp ecifi c mark , likea rock o r as tick . Yo u sha pe th e beh a vi o r, fro m 'St a lld and stay,' to 'Sta lld , stay , then la y do wn.' Yo u t("'lch the cat to snarl , for example, by h o ldin g the mea t rewa rd a few feet away , so that hes tarts ' t<llking ' to yo u, rolling hi s lips."

Three ca ts were train ed fo r the film : Ja so n , wh o we ig hed 120 pOlrnds; Shiloh , 130 pounds;and Dillon , the fdin e star o f CAT PEOPLE, all even-tel u pered puma who weighed 135 pouncls a nd meas ured 6h feet from nose to tail. "They 're virtuall y K1cnti ca l," Ox ley n o ted . " We wanted to make sure tha t if th ere wa s a nythiug required that o ne ca t mi g ht be hl'st ia lll a bo ut doing, we had the others as back up. you n ever push too far con tinued on page 43

Cast & Credits Unh:crsa l Pi<:lU rL"i rdc:as(', III'J mins. In coJor and Dolby ster('o. Dirt'cled by 1'3u l

Schrader. Scretmplay by Alan Ormsby, based on a story by neWill8odccn.

Cinnnalogra/Jh er, John Bailey. Producer, Charles fric:-;, Visual CUl1..\'ullanl, Ferdi113ndo Scar£iolli. Executiveproducer, Jerry Rruckhcimcr. Arl Director, Edward Richardson. Superoising fi lm edilor and sl?t:ond Imil dir£"Clor, Rud Smith. Film edil or, Ja cquel in e Canlbas . Music by

Giorgio Morodl'r. Thnne from CA.T J'EOPLF.: Lyric.swrittcrtDndperformedby navid Bo,vie. Special viwwi effects by Albert Whitlock. SPecia l malu:up effect'i tVsigned and tTeated 11)1 Tom Burnmn.

Animated artifacts creilled b y Ellis Rurman , Bub Williams. Allan Hall.

Calv;sion optical effects by Rolx>rt Blalack.

Animal Coordinutor, Ron Oxley. Animal Tra;'/e?·s. StC\'t: Martin. Mark Wciner.

Cin ematographer, Nt'll) Orif'atls: l.1 au l Vom Brack. Exn:ulw e f.:onsullun', Wilbul' St;trk. Casting by Mary Guldb~rg. Unil production mallagers, Tom Jacobson.

William BadalalO. Fir.'il lillisl lUiI diret:lOT, ~Iichacl F. Gril l o. Secorld assislanl director, Stt:phl'n P. J)UIlII. Set decomlor, Bruce Wl·illtraub. A .~'iisIOlII arl director. jad, Taylor. Film editQrs. Ned Humphreys.

Jere Huggins. Second unit cinematographer, Jdfrc)' Kimball. J\t'aUe photugraplry, Bill T.lylor. DennisGlouner.Matte arlis t, Syd Dulton. Makeup. Leonard Engelman. Hairj·tylisI,Janicen. Brandow.

Costumedesigller, Daniel PaH.'(les. CosiWm: .fufJcrvisors, R o hCT! Chase, Hugo Pen ~l, Sandra Berke. Stunt coordinator. Walter SCOII. Serif)t .ruf)t"TVisor, Luca Kouimdis.

Product ion as.w ciate. Nanellc Siegert.

As.o;islanls to 11aul Schrader, Reverly Davis.

Peter Wt·iss. Katherine Morris. Production a.u;staJllS, Craig Delran. CharlesNewirlh.

Susan Goldberg. <y""'GA tra.iuee, James Dillon. Publicity coordinator, Stuarl Fink.

Stills, .lad. Shannon. AtfootJ)herecasli1lg, Karl Brindle. Inciiem atmoSphere casting, SharOl1 Benion,lrene Terrcll.Su/)t.'rVisillg ~'oundeelitor, eh.nlcs L. Campbell. Sound, Jiin Webb , Chris Mf.:Laughlin, Dolby t'ligineer, David W. Gray. Sound editors.

Louis L. Edemann. Richard Franklin.

Larry Carow. Music editor. Rober( Bad~lmi. Orchestralion.. bySylvcster L('\'ai.

Synthesi2r programming by Brian Banks.

Special s)",thesiud sound effects try Jack Manning. Special sound effects, Ron Naglt, Scott Mathews. Postproduction dialogue by Norman B. Schwartz. SQund ronn, ltant, Brian R cc\lt."S. I'mperl y m~ter, Vi.ctor Pelrotta. Special t:ffect.'i technicimlf. 'f1)1I\ Del Genio. I'at Domenico, Karl Miller. Gaffer. Ronald McLeish. Effect makeup artists. lance Anderson. Uari Drcihand, Eddi(' Henriqucs. Effrcts wardrobe. Kathy Clark. TWe design Iry :\rn old Goodwill. lrt:na GaJii(·r.. . .

Nastassia Kinski ))aul Gallier .. Malcolm McDO\'\.'eli ()Iivt~r Valcs . ... John Heard A lin" Perrin . ..... Annette O'Toole Female . . . . . ,. . . ... Ruby Dec Joe Crcigh .. . .. . . ... Ed Bt'git'Y Jr. Kill Searle ........ . .. . . . . . Scott l'aulin Detective Brandt ... , .. Frankie Faison DeleClive Ron Diamond .. Ron Diamond Ruthic .................. Lynn Lowry BrontcJ udson . .... . . John Larroqueue Billie , . . .. Tessa Richarde Taxi Driver .... . .. . , . . Patricia Perkins Sandra, . , ....... , , .. " Berry Berenson Otis .... , ...... . .. .. .. . Fausto Raraja"i Massage Parlor Manager . . . John Fields Yeatman Bn'wer .. . , . Emery Hollier Moonie ... . . ..... Stephen Marshal Tcd .... " ........... R()bcrt Pavlov itch Caro l ......... , ......... Julie Denney Indian Village Moillcr . Arione de \VinleT Church Woman ......... Francine St.-gal Train Sialion Agent, . .. , ... J)on Hood Man in Bar ........... David Show acre Cal-like Woman ........... Neva Gage Indian Girls ...... , ... . ... Marlsa Folse Danelle Hand Police Office, .... . .... . . John C.l,bell Pol icemen ........ .. . . , ... Roger Reid Chark,,; Joseph·Konya, Jr. Marco St. J ohn Man in Airpor( . .. David Ross McCarty Fi~t Helicopter Pilot . . Harold D, Hauss Soap Opera I\-Ia;l . . . . . . . . . . . . Ray '\lise SoapOpcra Woman . . .. Jo Ann Dearing Voice of D.J .... , . . . . The Blal·k Pope Slluumen ...• Brat! Rove('. Angie Brown.

Vince Deadrid Jr.• Bennie E. Dobbins, Madeleine Klt'in , Beth Nufft!r. RonOxlC)', Mikl·Tillman, Mark " .teiner

DIRECTOR con tinued from page 38 beca use it ca n upse tth eca t fo r th e res t o f th e picture."

Durin g preproduct io n, O xle y a nd Sc hrade r caref u l ly worked out the prec ise lIloves that wou ld be re4uired for th e cats. "Schrader h ad stor yboa rded everythin g he wa nted from Ihe ca ts," Oxl ey sa id. " II was a matter o f loo kin g at th e sk etc hes a nd lellin g him know w hat I fe lt th e cats would o r wo uld no t do. lI e had m ovements described prec isel y-turn s, s na rl s, run s- so nOlh in g carne as a su rpri se (0 ITI C o n ce \路v e staned sh oo ti ng."

No matter h ow we ll p la nn ed, working with th e ca ts a lways in volved a n e le m e nt o f ri sk. Fo r o n e sho t, Ih e pumas were required to run o ut in to th e middl e of a SLreet, sendin g two motorcycl e cops skiddin g . " We used Shil o h for th e scen e," O xley sa id. " When th es tunt m en slid 0 11 (h e ir bik es, 111 0S1. ca l S wo uld h ave fro zen . But S itil o h wanted to get o ne o f th em ! We got a littl e nervo us."

O x ley no ted that th e ex ten sive u se o f " fo ur wa ll ed " sets (se ts bui It as if it werea rea ll oca ti on), posed ex tracha lIen ges, s in ce a large number o f crew m embers h ad to work in close proxim ity 10 th e ca ts. Wo rkin g w ith th e pUina s w asn ' l mil ch fun fo r th e actors, e ith er, a nd Oxl ey prai sed th e wo rk o f Ed Begley Jr. , whop laysazoo a tt end a nt w h o ge l S hi s cHill Ch C\\T d o ff by o ne o f the caged ca ts (see page 37). " lle did w hal very few o th er aClOrs wo u ld ha ve, " Oxle y said. " W e had a w ild black ca l ill th e cage, and Beg ley wore th e a rti ficia l a rm th a t th e effects p eople had buil t. We assured hilll th ere was no way th e ca t cou ld ge t to him throug h th ose bars. \Ve il , when th a t cal weilL fo r hinl , it was pure in stin c t! Beg ley jumped so fa r backwa rds th at he fli pped over. " Anolh er haza rd faced by th e actors was th e ca ts ' dreaded " ba rk ," a n ex pl os io n of sou nd a nd sa li va pumas produce when upse t. " It 's abso lute ly Ul/fUJi I " Ox ley ex pl a in ed. " Th e ir eyes dilate a nd the sound is th e most fri g htenin g thin g in th e wor ld. I do n ' t ca re w heth er th ere are ba rs or plexig lass in frollt of yo u , yo u ca n reall y rom e un g lu ed w hen yo u 're up aga in st it. " One o f the most diffi c ult scenes to shOa l- fo r man a nd ca l a li ke-was th e desert- se t drea lll se4u ence, for w hi ch Oxle y h ad to keep six cats perched in th e twi sted tree. '路It was ICI" r i bl c," Oxl ey ad m i It cd. " The lIi g hl before wc had to s hoo t the sce l1 (" we hro u g ht lh e O ILS t o (h e se t. vVe' d pili th em in tit e Iree fo r 10 minutes , take th e tn dow n , a nd put th em bac k up fo r 20 minuLes. \V e'd wai t a n hour, a lld go th rough it aga in until Ih ey were re la ti ve ly co mforta bl e. It 's a ll effeCi 1'011 ca n 'l prc lrain for. If you did il a month or so befo re, Ihe ca ts stili mi g ht not like it. So we wa itcd IIl1lil righ l before."

Oxley was unders t,lIlda bl y con cerned a bou l the effect the wi ndblo w n sa nd mi g itt have o n hi s an ima ls. " 1 asked Schrader to ho ld Ih e sho ts down to a minimum hec~ u seo f the chemi ca ls a nd th e hea t o f the sLagc, a lld he rnade every effort," Oxley said. Schrader o bli g in g ly held rehea rsa ls before th e sa nd was in

P A U L

SCHRADER

路路The centerpiece of the film might be seen as the transformation of Nastassia into a cat, but that's really not the centerpiece of my interest in the film." pla ce a nd a ll owed three w illd machin es to be p laced be hind the tree to keep the sa nd away from I he faces o f Ihe pumas.

Alth o ug h a llerg ic 10 cats , Schr" der supervi sed m a n y o f the puma se4u ences him self. "Th e wo rk o f th e li ve a nim a ls a lways seem ed far m o re im portant than the effects," Schrader noted. " \V e were lucky in havin g the a ni m a ls perform beller th a n we had ho p ed. " As protecti o n for the a nim a ls not perform in g up to expecta tio n s, a nd fo r scenes w hell workin g w ith th eca ls was too diffi cu ll o r lOO dangerou sas wel l as sequ en ces in volving Kin ski 's a nd McDowc l1 's tra n sform a ti on into panth ers -Schrader had hi red bro th ers Tom a n d Elli s Burm a n . a p a ir o f innova ti ve a rti sts w h o set up H o ll ywood 's firsl independent mak eup sludio. Schra der chose th e Burman s a fter a long- sea rch , pe rhaps influ en ced by th eir impressive tra ck reco rd o f lra n s fo rmation mak e up effects, inclu di ng Ih e remake o f I NVASION OFTH E BODY SNATCH ERS a nd THE BEAST W IT HI N. AlthOl lg h th e ir work o n th e tra n sfo rmation s wou ld prove taxi n g a nd frtl s tratin g en oug h (see se p a ra te sto ry, page .39), g rea ter diffi culti es were en co untered w hen it ca m e to produc ing th e seri es o f full y-a rti cula led ca t heads, s las hillg p aws a nd fu ll - body li fe-siz e d cat s n eed ed.

A lth o ugh I he Burmans des ig ned and bui II a w id e assortment of m echanica l cal S, n o ne o f the m a ppea r in the film. " 1t's no refl ecti o n o n th e effects peop le," Ox ley ex pl a ined, " but I wa S again sl us in g allY ki lld o f m ec hani ca l ca ls from th e sta n . Th ere's jusl no wa y I hey can ever loo k rea l. " Schrader ultim a tel y agreed.

The Burm a ns la m ented the com muni cation s brea kd ow n th ey fe lt occurred durin g ).. , J ducti o n , and fe lt

THE ZOO, or at least the first two floors of it, was built on the studio back lot.

But for this pastoral view (right), the entire Scarliottidesigned set was actually a Syd Dutton matte paintinganimals, tourists, and allwhich was combined with location photography of a pond , benches, sidewalk and spectators (below),

fru strated by the frequenl cit all g-es in con ce pl s and schedul es . For exa mple, in th e fa ntasy pro lo g ue, th e BurrndllS weren ' t SlllT just h ow In agica l a nd m ythi ca l to make the p a ntIier tha t a ttacks the sacrifi cia l virg in . " At first th ey were go ing to ha ve a n a Clor wea r a stran ge COS lun1 e a nd we wo uld do ca l-l ike makeup," explai lled Tom Burman . " We bega n to build a m~sk , bUI ha lfway th ro u g h , lhey IO ld us thaI approach was out. ~ rh c n i n aga in . Th eil , th ere was lh c idea of havi n g a l<t lkin g ca t, a li fe-s ited m echan ica l ca t w hi ch wo uld have a lnoving IIlOLlth , eyes and ca rs . 'fh e head wou ld he full y arti c ul a ted a nd lasers wo u ld eilla na te fro m th e eyes.

We went a head a nd built the Ihin g w hil e Ih ey ke pt c han g in g th e ir rn in ds. It was a good Ihin g loo-si ncc a ll of a suddell , Ihey a nnoun ced lh ey needed it in three weeks."

To crea te th e laser effects, Schrader hired Dr. Sandor 1-1 o il y, w ho was con suited o n similar effectson WOLFEN (eventu a ll y edited o ut o f th e fi llll ).

Rumbles of d iscontent w ith th e Bu rrn a n s' In agica l ca l bega n o n ce (he broth ers deli vered Ihe ir crea ti o n 10 th e soundstage for tes ts. Tom BurIlian shuddered a t the m emory. " Dr. Holl I' informed lIS I ha t I he G il. had 10 he kept a hso lul ely still ; if nOI, th e lase r li g hl wo uld cO lll e 0 111 'lild bo unce around Ihe set [the laser was loca ted under th e stage floor , and was bea med through a seri es of m irrors].

So it came down lO usin g th e ca l fo r 0 111 1' s lig ht j aw m o vements . Yo u ca ll im ag in e how that looked ! Next , th ey to ld us that ja w m ovem en l was ou t.

They cha nged Ih eir minds on th a t, 100 . Then th ey th o ug ht it looked sill y w ith o nl y th e ja w Iflavin g-, so llie ), w ired it shul a l th e las t momellt 0 11 Ih e stage.

I was pl eased wi th th e potenti a l of w hat \ve were doing Wilh thal ca l," Burman add ed. " The problem lVas d

an ex p ectation from th e studio that they could u se these artifa cts under a n y scrutinizing li g hting or camera ang le.

They n ever seem ed to comprehend Iha t a specia l effect is d esig n ed to do a sp ecifi c thing.

We couldn't accom oda te a ll a nd every conditi o n. " A second m echa ni ca l ca t was deve loped by th e Burmans for a scen e w here a pa nth cr is tra pped on a bridgc by p o li cc. Th evaga ri eso flocali o n sh oo tin g w ilh a li ve anitna l m ade th e "pro tection " of a m echanica l beast seem a judicio us ste p . " Origin a ll y th ey told u s thc y wa nted a sluffed ca t o n w h ee ls ," ex pl a in ed El lis Burm an . " M y bro th er to ld them il wo uld look sill y, butth ey insisted a stationary Glt wO lild do. We con vin ccd th em to le i us rn"ke it stand up a nd m ove, so that they wo uldn 't h ave to cut away as fas t. Th eca t co uld ri se from a prone positi o n , lUrn its head , open its m o uth and sna rl. " Before we co uld fini sh Ih e cat, they ch anged the schedul e, a nd it was film ed two weeks earli er th a n they' d sa id . \Vhen we fin a ll y fini shed the ca t, th ey sa id 'M y God , w h y didn 't so m e bud y shu w us this? W ell, by that ti m e, there was no place lO usc it in the res t o f th e film. The sad thin g is that when Ihey moved the bridge shot, Ih ey called in desp erati o n asking if th e th in g was read y. A ll we had was thi s SlUffed pum a w hi ch we sent dow n to New Orl ea ns. They actually dragged i I. across the bridge by a rope!" [The sh ot was n ever used.]

A stuffed ca t was ha rdl y w hat the Bunn a n s had hoped to prov ide for the cru cia l scqu cn cc. " Thc who le thin g was so confu sin g," sa id E lli s Burm a n . " They never sa id to us 'We necd a n a rti culatcd ca t head that does thi s "nd th"t. ' Ami a lthough we gave th em a lo tillore a nimalion than they asked fo r, it nevcr see m ed to be as much as they want ed ! Wh en we gave lh em a full y-a rti cul a ted ca l head , they sh o l il so dose lha t Ih ey 'd lose th eir de plh o f fi eld the in s talll they Ino ved ii , so th ey co uldn 'tillove it. " T o th e human eye, th e lIl ovem ents o f th e arti cu lated ca t head were 4uiLe impress ive; on film , Sc hrader a nd his colleagues found iL lacking . " Na tura ll y, a n y use of the head had to be

DIRECTOR a qui c k c ut , like bitin g o r smas hing throug h a ,,·indow," said Elli s Burm a n . ·' It was n e ver nl('cUll as a fl a wl ess a n a to mi ca l stlld y fo r close- u ps o n a 70-foo t m ov ic scree n .'· On e m ec hani ca l effect d esig n ed by the Burma n s-th e severin g o f a zoo keep er's (Ed Begley , J r. ) arm as h e clean s Ollt a panth er cage croonin g Wh at's N"w Pussyml?-survives, a nd work s quite su ccessfull y. Schrad e r felt the scen e c ruc ia l in te rms o f a udi e n ce e XpeCll1 t iu n s.

" Th a t scen e is rea ll y the o nl y v io lence in the film ," Schrad er ex pla ined . " It's th ere to roc k th e a udie n ce for the sa m e reaso n Fri edkin m a d e s u c h clever usc o f th e spinal ta p scene in THE EXOR C IST . It 's to warn the a udie n ce 'We a re ca p a ble o f sca rin g you to death , so wa tc h o ut !' Once yo u 've d o n e th a t, you never h a ve to sh o w it again , beca use they' ll a lways kno w it 's the n:. I didn ' t wa nt thca udi en ce to eve r think the m o vi e is soft.

Wh en we sta rt g oin g in a more m e taphys ica l directio n , th e a udi en ce w ill sort o f be th a nkful that we are."

Th e Bu n na n s built a fibe rg lass a nn-du p li ca ting Begley's a rm a nd h a nd to th e sm a llest surface de ta ilconstntetc.d w ith a n over-the-sho ulde r lan yard whi c h Ihe acto r co uld p ull a nd re lease, d e tachin g the sm a ll ba ll jo int a t the a ppro pri a te m o m ent.

Blood bags a nd pl as li c luhing we re built into th e sh o ulde r a rea, a nd Ik g ley's real ann was slrapped hehind hi s hack.

"Ed was teas in g the ca t w ith th e falsea rm ," reca ll ed To III Burlll a ll . " It was o n e o f the rea ll y m ea n leo pa rds,

P A U L

SCHRADER

"The panther attacking Ed Begley is there to warn the audience, 'We're capable of scaring you to death!' I didn't want the audience to ever think the movie is soft." but so m e how, it wo uldn ' t do a thin g.

All of a sudden , th e cal lea p ed a nd g ra bhed the a rm in a split-secolld . By Ih e lim e Ih e ca l aClua ll y got a ho ld o f th e a nn , Ed -w ho cont ro ll ed th e rel ease o f Ihe a rm- was so m ew here be hin d the cam e ra. If yo u thin k a ca t is fa st , Ed is lw ;cl' as fas t!"

As fo r th e tra ll sfo rm a ti o n s Ihe m selves, effects- h a p py a udie n ces a re lik ely to e m erge fru m C AT P EOPLE so m ew h a t di sap po int ed - th e se q ue nccs are brief a lld 1I 0 t Illea lll to ser ve as Ih e film 's focli s. Clea rl y, Schrad er 's con cerns were e lsew h ere - hi s ust' o f reverse rn o tio n , fo r ; 111 e xhi lara lin g seque n ce w here M cf) owe ll springs o nto hi s si st('r's bcd , is a re millder o f h ow rela ti ve ly simpl e lec hni ca l fea ts ca n be m os t crfecti ve.

An Olhn sce n e, in w hi c h Kin s ki appea rs to lumbl e from a balco n y, o nl y to reverse he rself in mida ir and la nd o n a ll fo urs, is simil a rl y we ll -acco m p li s hed . II is in th ese s lll a ll Illo m e n ts th a t th e influe n ce o f C oc«""I is Illos t evide nt. '· 1 ca ll these ' m agica l even IS,' " Sc hrader exp la in ed . " They' re s m a ll things, but they e ncouragea udi ell ces to h ave a g o o d t.im e. I w ant ed th e audi e n ce to kn ow if they ta ke Ih e lIIov ie in th e rig ht s pirit-as a kind o f a Irip or jo urn ey -th ey 'll ha ve Ih e

g..,o d time Ih ey ca lli e to Ihe th ea te r to h ave."

Schrad er pi c kcd trIOS( o f hi s key crew Ill embers ea rl y in pre p rodu cli o ll . But supe rv is ing film edi tor Bud Smith e n -IE EXOR C IST, SOR C ER E R ) jo in ed Ihe C AT P EOPl.E c re w just two weeks before the sta rt o f filmin g. At Schrader's sll ggeSi io n , S mith a lso ass umed the roleo f second unit director. " Th ere sim p ly was n 't lim e fo r P a ul to do everything," sa id S mith , w h o is schedul ed to m a ke hi s de bul as a fea ture director la ter Ihis yea r fo r producer Willi a m Fri edkin . " Sc hrader was racin g ag a in sl a d ead lin e: we had t.he threate ned directors' strike, th e usc o f so m a n y unpredi cta -· ble a nim a ls, as we ll as the need to s h oo t a ro und N as lass ia fo r th ose wee ks before she was a ble to lea ve O N E FROM THE H EA RT. " Slnith 'ssecond unil ch ores in ci uded Inue h o f Ih e footage o f R ox O x ley 's li ve ca ls; the " cal vision " sequ ence, w he rein Kin ski kills a bunn y; po rli o ns o f Kin s ki 's t.ra n sfo rm a tioll ; and A nn e tte O 'T oole's joggin g scen es, w hi c h took nearl y three wee ks to conlpl e te heca use th e aClrcss s pra in ed her ankle twice durin g the prod uct ion .

Slnith a lso direct.ed th e film 's fin a l shot: J o hn H ea rd feedin g a nd stro kin g th e h ead of t.he ca t Kin ski h as

Below: Animal trainer Ron Oxley (squatting, wearing cap) and assistant Steve Martin (leaning on cage) watch as several wolves scamper outside their cage during a rehearsal for the fantasy prologue, Camera operator Steve Yaconelli (pointing) and cinematographer John Bailey ride the camera crane, planning out the camera movements for the down-angle shot.

Inset: In addition to the three pumas trained by Oxley, several additional cats were utilized in the filming, including this green-eyed cougar, being coaxed down from the prop rocks by her trainer, The cat, called Sasha, was featured in the dream sequence as Kinski's " mother," In addition , Sasha was the bright-eyed cat (the transformed Nastassia Kinski) that John Heard affectionately pets at the film's conclusion ,

tra nsfo rmed illto. " \<\le wa nted to have the ca t c1 0se h iseyesasa lea d - in to a fad e to black," S milh e xplain ed . " It n ever work ed . We did get a very ni ce, u sa ble loo k fromlh eca t w hic h we did as a freezc-fra m e, The n we ' unfroze' it a n d h ad th e cat let o ut a g row l. No t th e sa m e as we o ri g ill a ll y p la nned , but

w h c ll yO ll ' re w ork ill g Wilh <Illilllt:t is,

sOlll elhin g like Ih a l co uld la ke a d ay .

We gO I il in a couple o f h o urs , w hic h was shee r lu c k."

O f hi s m a n y ass ig n m e n IS, Smith fclt th e tran sfo rmatio n seque n ces was hi s higges t h eadach e. " The effects need ed fo r Ihe scen e wc re n 't complel ed w he n Pa ul was ava il a ble to s hOa l Ihe m th e firs t. tim e a ro und," Smilh said . " While he was away o n vaca ti o n , I sh o l Ih e scen e a n d com p lel ed th e first assembla ge," Wh e n it ca m e tim e to edit togethe r se qll e ll ces feat urin g ca t att ac k s , Smith fo ulld hilllself h a lllpered by th e sam e problems h e f"n'd w hile directin g th e scen es : I he ca ts wo uldn 't a lways do w h a t yO Li w;'lIli ed th e lll l U. Fo r the panth er 's a tt ack a ll the m assagc pa rl o r h uo ke r a lth e fi 1m 's hcg in lIillg, fo r exa lll p le, S mith h ad wo rked w ith Sc hrad e r, ROil O x Icy , J o hn Ba iley a nd a ske tc h a rti st to pl a n a "precdit ed " a ttack sequ e n ce. Bu t th e pl a lln ed sequ e nce of s h o ts d idn 't \\"ork o ul .

·'Sch rader never wa nt ed to show Ih eG II ill the room," Smilh ex plained . " H e just wa nted th c tailllllde rth e bed ;lIld th e pa w . We ll , it didn 't work . It sel'lll ed th a t once th e pros titut e's allk Ie was gored , sh e ra il 10 the d oo r a nd cra w led o ut. Wh y didn ' t t.h e ca t fo ll ow h e r' Three ca m eras were II se d-o ne Ihrou g h th e bars , o n e shoo tin g d O\\"I1 fro m the ce iling a nd o ne low, covered w ith ple xiglass.

Th cy'd go ttclI a s h o t w ilh Ihe low C< llll ('ra o f a ca l rUllnin g, a lld h e blo tled o ut th e scene a t a il e p o int. So I II sed tha t pi ecc o f film to s ugges t the ca t ' blurrillg' after Ih e g irl. Th e n I h ad the so und o f I hc d oo r sla mmin g, su i I s u gges ts th e C(l t sillas il cd into the door. " Th o l< g h he wa s a ble 10 rCC lI1 th a t seq lie n ee to m a k( ' il work , SlIlilh sa id I h a l a t lea s t L\VO In ore SCl'Il t'S we r e

sho rt ell ed beca ll sc s uila bl e cal foo tage s imp ly was n 't ava il a b le. In a il e sce ne, J o hn I Icard was 10 1)(' attacked b y a pa nth er ( Ih l' Ira n sfo r me d Mc Dowc lI ), d efend in g himself w ith a n upra ised Illa lt ress. ·' It jlls t d idn 't loo k grcc ll ," ~l llilll ;.t1 tra ill c r Ro n ()xl ,'\' a dmill ed. ·'As a SUbs li l ul e, wc hait c;1 Ih e l1IallrC55 ills id e a nd h ad o ne of the p"lllas tear a l it to ge t th e Ill l''-I I. '' The rev ised sh o t was a lso dcc m ed un acce pta ble, a nd Slllith had to pi ecc toge th e r Ih e sequ e n ce w ilh a va ilable foo ta ge, o fte ll ll s ing c UlS o f o lll y eig hl or tell fralll es.

J Ohll H eard a lld a live pa llth er were ill vo h -cd ill Ih e olh er a bbrevia ted seqll en ce. T his pa lllh cr (th e tra nsfo rmed Kin sk i) was 10 leap o n I Ica rd w hile ill bcd, tOy ill g ,,· ilh him ill a ha lf-ero tic. ha lf-h o llli c ida l d isplay. II wO lll d ha vc bcc n a to/l.r dp jura' if ca plured Oil fi lnl. II w;" n 't. " Ori g inall y, "T Wa lll l'd Ih l' sce n e w ith th e G il 01'("(" hilll ill hed to las t a bilioll ger,"cxpl a ill ed lill ccd it o rJ acquelill c Ca mbas. '· Bul we cO llldll 't

What are little cats made of?

Air tubes and springs, and stainless steel control rings.

Though the Burmans' puppet panthers were engineering marvels, they were nonetheless dropped from the film.

Since working with anima ls is unpred ictab le-not to mention dangerous- Paul Sch rader requested that a number o f articulated catp ro ps be built, inc luding an articulated panther head an d an enti re radio-controlled mechanical cat.

The puppets were built under th e supervision of Ell is Burman at his effects house, Cos mokinetics.

Th ough f ilmed extensively, Schrader and editor Bud Sm ith eventually decided the fake cats did not intercut well enough with the live pumas, and scrapped nearly all of the footage.

"A puppet is never going to be as good as nature," admitted Al lan Hall, a Universal effects technician who operated and helped desig n the mechanical cats. "B ut it can be good enoug h to get the ac tor or actress close, or have it in an acti on shot. " The artic ulated panther head (shown top righ t and bottom left) required three operators. The head and neck were co ntrolled by twisting handles simi lar to a motorcycle throttle. Facial movements were controll ed via a series of V," Dacron cables attached to pOints on the skul l. T he cables were connected to a hand grip, and manipulated by ind ividual "expression rings, " one for each fin ger (see photo below left).

Duri ng actual photography, Hall worked c losely with Schrader and cinema tographer John Bailey. "We

Allan Hall operates the seven-channel radio transmitter that sends a mechanical panther through its paces (foreground), as director Paul Schrader (center, hand to mouth) watches intently during a demonstration held on the backlot zoo set. The large panther head seemingly staring down Schrader is an articulated puppet, operated by motorcycle-type throttles and cable controls (see inset). Other crew members in attendance included cinematographer John Bailey (far right), makeup artist Leonard Engleman (second from right) and unit publicist Stuart Fink (standing behind Hall). wou ld set it up and show Sch rader all the possibilities of movement ," Hall recalled. " He wou ld usually disappear for a couple of hou rs, and then come back and tell us, 'I want it set up in this corner, and I want it to do t his , this and this .. .' John [Bailey] would then te ll us if he thought a shot WOUldn 't make it, and we'd have to move it or add more shadows."

In all, several days were spent photograph ing the head. Why, then, wasn't any footage used? Because Schrader wanted to shoot c lose-ups of the head, which caused problems with resolution and depth of field .

"They we re shooting so close, " Ellis

Below: Leonard Engleman (left) paints the mouth of the puppet panther as Pat Domenico and Allan Hall (right) keep the cal's jaws open. RighI: Two views of the mechanical panther: its appearance in the fantasy prologue with glowing eyes, a scene dropped from the film; and a detailed view of the steel mechanics.

,

\

Burman sighed, "that even somebody walking on the soundstage would make the mechanics vibrate."

More successful, at least in Schrader's eyes, was a completely self-contained mechanical panther (shown bottom right) which could rise up from a prone position and flick its tail. Due to scheduling difficulties, the scene the panther was built for was shot before the cat was ready. But Schrader was so enthralled when the panther was finally demonstrated to him, he used it in the film's fantasy prologue.

The stainless steel armature was modeled after the skeleton of a real

cat, and powered by a smal l tank of compressed air. A radio transmitter regulated valves leading to seven air-rams, which controlled the movement of the legs, tail, neck and mout h. "The live cats would react to it, " Hall said . "They'd go bese rk , especially if it moved. They thought it was a real cat."

Although he would ult imately abandon the mechanical cats , Schrader was seemingly delighted with the m at first. "Schrader got very excited about most of the animation ," Hall said . "We would let him operate some of the stuff, and he really got a kick out of it. "

F I L M get a n ything m o re th a n a little wrestlin g m a tc h . Yo u ju s t can ' t direc t a nim a ls the way yo u 'd like."

Wh y, the n , d idn ' t S mi t h and Ca m bas u se foo tage o f lh e m echan ica l cats a n d slas hin g p aws built b y th e Hurma n s?

Beca u se n ea rl y every frame h a d bee n scrapped a l th e very s ta rt o f I h e editin g process . '"f\ n y I i m e we tr ied c u tting 1.0 a n ythin g in vo h " ing cats Ih a t wa s n 't a bso lute ly rca l, il looked aw ful ," Smilh e xp lai n ed. " On ce yu u 've sho\\, 11 t h e rea l g icclll1 of a ca l'S eye, th e s lee kn ess of t h e coa l a nd Ih e dri p ping sa li va, so m elhin g a rtifi c ia l is un accepta hl e."

W h ile Iwrki n g o n th e rough cuI. S mi th dropped a n um ber of seq u en ccs fo r reaso n s o f le ng t h a n d pa c in g , inclu d in g a sce n c o f Kinsk i loy in g w ith a b ird u llli l th e caged p Ct fl aps itse lf 10 deat h . an h Ollllllage 10 I he o ri g in a l CA T P EOPLE. 'Th e scen e wo rk cd well en o ll g h 0 1. itsow .I ," sa id S mith , " but when liT asscmblrdt h e film , it jus t ll'as n ' t n eeded-II' h ic h is a lways t rw bOllom li n e. lI'e also Jroppcd a sn 'n l' I ha l co m es car l ier wh e re Kin s ki is s ke lc h in g a facc w ith ca l's eyes. A ll of Ih ese were pre-Ira n sfo r mal io n ex posi lory sce n es, a n d liT fe lt l h al lh e seq u e n ce lI' h e n 'l'\aslass ia ki li s a ra bbil [fe' llu r i n g Ro b Bhl ack 's "ca l-v isio n " op li ca ls, see pa ge -12] W,IS Ih e Slron geSl wc had. IL d id Ih e jo b o f Ih e o th ers."

A n o lh er scque n ce II' h ich prUlTd diffinrll 10 a ss im il a le in lO th e rcs t of th e fi l m wa s, iro ni ca ll y, on (' o f th e m os t di ff ic ull 10 fi lm . " W e gal'l' a 10 1 o f Ih o u g ht w comple te l), cI im inatin g the d rea m sequ e n cc," S mi t h sa id. " II Ilt'ver pl a yed for m e, but Pa u l fe ll th e sequ ell cl' W(lS n ecessa ry. Firs t, it kee p s Ih e fi lm a l the le ve l o f t h e lalllaS lic.

Al so , iI 'S a lurnin g po inl for Kin s k i sin ce, u p 10 th a t po i Ill , s h e's rejected h er G il n a ture."

D es p il e th e sce n e 's ap pare nl " n ecess il y," it s p l an.' 1I1 l'11t ill the n arra li\'(' ra ises a few k ll OI lYqu es tio n s of log ic. Th e drea m seq u c n ce leads d irecll y 10 sce n l'S in w hi c h Ann e lle O 'T oo le is m e ll aced by a ca l-lik e

E DITOR

B U D

S MIT H

路路Once you've shown the real gteam of a cat's eye, the sleekness of the coat and the dripping saliva, something artificial is unacceptable. It looks awful." "so m e thin g" w hil e j ogg in g a nd sw immin g . S in ce Kin sk i's lra n sfor m a ti o n is p redi ca ted o n h er loss o f I'irg inity- ", h ic h has yet to occu r i n th e n arra l ivc-\\' h o or w h a t is 1l1en aCin g O' T oole ? T h e ~ h os t o f \' al L e \\'w n ? " Th a t 's j USI so rt of a I ic e nsc . rea ll y," Schrader e xpla in ed, s h nr gg in g off th e qu es tion o f logi c. " L ook , t h is is a fa ntasy film . If yo u rea l Iy n eed a ll exp la n a li o n , it' s Kin ski ma kin g cat so u n ds to sca re th e bejes ns o ut of Annelle's c h a racter. !t 's t r ue you do n 'I acw a ll )' see a ca t or a s h ado", o f o n e, bUlw h o n eed s il?"

S mi lh frequ en tl y referred LO th e 19 ,12 I'ers io n o f CAT PEOPLE d u rin g I h e ed il in g process for bo th in sp iio n a n d g ui d a n ce. "En:,r)' lim e lI'e compared seq ll e n ces w ith th e o ri g ina l fi lm , ",cfe ill h e re \\'as no com pa ri son; we Ihin k ours is m u c h be ller. For t'xa 111pic, in th e origin a l sw inllll in g p oo l seq u c n ce, th ey h ad tll'O or threc a ng les w hi ch liTre repea led. In o urs, I tr ied never LO re p ea t a n a ll g le. -[h e ir sce n e \\'o rked, but if vou loo k a l ours o n Ih e blac k a n d ", hite dupe \\'e u se for ed i tin g , it's cl-e n more fr ig hten ing. In fac t, i I'seve n m o re fr ig htenin g tha ll uurs in co lo r fo r sonl C reason ."

O n e o f the trade marks o f th eori g in a l film \\'as il s effccli veuseo f so un d, a nd Ih e la le d ec isio n 10 p rovid e a Slereo " mi x " fo r th e re m a ke en h a n ces Ih e s ll' immin g p oo l a n d jogg in g seq u e n ces " by a l leas I te n n o tch es," a ccord in g w Srnith. " The sO llnd o f Ih e G il bo un d in g o ff th e wa ll s in th e poo l, a nd co min g fro m bc hind w hile th c g irl is r unnin g -lh ose rea ll y pun ch th e scen es up con s id e ra bl y."

S mith a lso lifted the mos t fa m o u s so und c ue o f th e ori g in a l film: th e w h oos h of a bus' a ir b ra kes w h en th e

1" "

Below: Nastassia Kinski waits for a sign of her metamorphosis alter losing her virginity. Though she filmed such nude scenes without complaint, Kinski later requested that her role be toned down considerably. Schrader refused, Inset: Schrader wraps a towel around Kinski 's shoulders, following a scene in which the actress wore only a wet negligee.

a udie n ce is keyed-up fo r a ca t a u ack, a SlUnnin g jo illh a t L e w lo n reprised in severa l o f hi s la ler film s a nd n oll' a virtua l s tap le o f h orror fil m s. Sm i th u sed th e lec h niq u e at th e c lose of t h e joggin g sequ en ce: O 'T oo ic secs a stree l ca r a rrive, a n d th e s udde n cry o f its brakes illl'aria bl y bro n g hl p rel' iell' aud ie n ces o u t of t h e ir sea ls. " \\I e ca m e u p lI' ilh th at id ea i n th e ro u g h CUI ," S mith exp la i ned . " .I u Sl lir e so un d o f th e door ope nin g d id n ' l d o a n yt h in g , so I jus t fl opped the so un dtra ck over IInt il t h e tra in is i n [ ralll e . t h en jusl m a rri ed it w ith th e image.

Ev eryone j u mps a tth a l po int !"

S in ce th e ro u g h CUI h ad been assem bl ed w hil e Schrader lI'as o n vacatio n , Sm ilh p repared a secon d c utrepos iti o nin g sce n es a n d s ue n g llr e n in g Kin sk i's s p irilli a l bo nd ", il h McDOlI'e1l -1O re fl ect c ha n ges reqll cs ted by the di rector. "Schrad e r \\路ili le t yo u do so m e th ing t h e lI'ay yo u fed is bes t," S milh sa id. " But th e n h c' ll m a ke refin e m e nts; h e kn ows e xaCl ly h ow muc h or how lillie hc ",a IIlS. H e ' ll run th e fillll o n e fra lil eat a lim e a nd te ll you exactl y w h ere h e ",a nts t h e sce n e CU I. " After fu rth er tink er in g a nd rl'fill elII e nt , S c h ra d e r a nd Ih e s tu d io decided LO test th e wa lers by s n ea kin g l h e film ill Ka n sas C ity (w ilh S H A R KE Y'S M AC HI N E ) a nd Sea lll e( w ith RAGT IME ) in lat e j a nua ry. " I weill w ilh Pa u l to Ka n sas C it y a n d I Ih o u g hllh e reaclion was ve ry good ," S lIl ilh sa id . " In Ka n sas C ity, the re were th e sa m e reacti o n s I reca ll ed durin g a prev icw o f lh c EXOR C IST w h e n so m e thin g v io le nt wo u ld h a ppe n , peo ple wo ul d screa m a nd hide th e ir eyes, a nd th c bu zz in g wo uld sp ill o ver into thc n ext sce n es!

I felt tha t Pa u l poss ibl y h a d a bi g hil o n h is h a n ds. " S mith n oted simil a r reacti o n s durin g th e Sea ttl e prev iew . " W e h a d a lI1uc h m o re sophi sli ca ted audi e n ce, a nd th ey res ponded w i lh th e fi Irn e ver y s le p o f Ih e way . I was n ' t s urp ri sed by th e react io n , but I Ihink pe rh aps cxec uti ve p rodu ce r j e rr y Bru c kh e i m er, U ni versa l vice-pres ide m Sid She inberg a nd S c hrade r were: S h e inbe rg co mpa red th e reactio n to wha t h e' d seen w h en t h ey p rev iewed JAWS ."

For Sc hra der, th e pr('v icw rcspo nses va lida led hi s imenli o n o fmakin g the film hi s m os t co mm erc ia l a nd " access ibl e" to d a te. " Sn ea k s h owings are ver y wo rth w hil e," h e sa id .

"Som e ti m es w he n yo u s h ow a fi Ir n 10 a sm a ller g roup, yo u ge t a n o dd reactio n toso ill et hillg-b ut w he n yo u ge t lh e ide nti ca l reacti o n fro m two la rge g ro u ps , YO LI hnow yo u h ave to J11 a kc a ch a nge. Wh e n we s h owed th e fi lm in Sea ul e a nd Ka n sas C it y, wc g Ol a !Jig, un toward la u gh . I I was thcsccn c n ear the en d of t h e fi 1111 w h erc Il ea rd has a g un o n Kin s ki a nd sh e sa ys ' Il ove )'o u ' a nd h e says ' I love yo u , loa .' It was j u st bi za rre, so I sni pped it o ul a n d

the laug h is gon e."

L a ter in tha t sa m e scen e, a s H ea rd ti es Kin ski up p r ior w m a ki n g love w i th her o n e fin a l tim e, aud ie n ces a lso bro k e inw n e r vo u s la u g ht e r , but Schra d e r e lec ted n Ol lo c h a n ge l h e " bo ndage" scen e. " Th e laugh s we re e xpec led , a nd t h ey' re th e rape uti c," h e e xplain ed. " In the fi lm , wc've s p e m a lon g lim e leas in g Ih e a ud ie n celh rea le nill g th e m w ith silu a ti o n sa nd p ay-o ffs a n d n ever de li vering lh em.

T h c n , in t h e bo ndage scen e, the re isa deli very, but in slea d o f the v io lent, a p oca lypti c e ndin g th a t a ud ie n ces a llli c i)):lI c as a ge n re co n venli o n , I ga \'c the lll (I vcry ca irn , s u"angc sex sce n e. E vcrv I i 111 (' we've sh oW Jl i l , th ere's been ' la ughl er, p eopl e n udgin g a nd la lkin g 10 eac h o lh er a nd to t h e screen . " H owel'e r, th e laugh te r does n 't eX le n d inl o th e love m ak in g," Sc hra d er n Oled . " If il di d , J wo ul d k n ow th a t I'd lIl a d e a mi sca lcul a li o n o f a prelly serious proporti o n . O n e o f Ih e reaso n s I made I h escen ea li llie lo n g is beca u se I k n c \\' I h ad to le t the a ud ie n cc se lli e dow n. " Based o n th e p re viell's, Sm ith a nd Sc hradcr perforlll ed a dditi o n a l m inor surger y o n Ihe film . " I s h o rte n ed the fil m b y a lIlinute a n d a h a ll ," Sch ra d er n Oled . "N o scc n es a re go n e, JU St lri lll s. I c ut a few I ill ie s ho ts in Ih e g ifl s h op of the zoo , a few h e li cop ler s h o ls, a b il o f Ih e pro logu e, a n d I s h o rten ed up th e Dav id Bow ie so n g by :r lill ie bit ."

Schra d e r was clea r ly c nlhus ias ti c abOl Il Ih e M orod e r-Bow ie lIl u sica l co ll a bol'<lli o n . T h e th e m c so ng (lJullin g 0 u.l Fire ) was ITcci vin gco n side rab le a irpl ay by th e tim e o f th e fi lm 's ope n i n g. " R e len t le ss c r oss- p l u g g in g- th at'S th e key, " sa id Sc h ra d er, sini lin g. " Th e so n g is very C U llllll e rc ia l-a llll os l li ke Bow ie imitating Jim Morri so n 10 M o rorcler 's Bri a n Eno. Bow ie h ad reser va ti o n s a bo ut its be in g sO ' nla in slrc31n COlllm c rc ia l,' so I w id him , 'If yo u gel a n y fl a k a bo ulh av in g 'so ld OUl,' j USl tell I.h e m Schra d er pUl yo u up 1.0 it.'''

Sh o rrl y before Ih e t wo pub l ics n ca k prev iews werc hc ld , Sc hra de r sCTl'('n cd the fil m for hi s caS l a nd crew. R eacti o n was ge ll e ra ll y fa vora ble, a ltho u g h Nas lass ia Kin s ki was re p o rted ly s lUII.n ed a l jus t h ow racy h er p e rfo rm a n ce wa s . In w h at wa s term ed by a S c hra d e r a ide as " pIT -release jitle rs," Kin s ki r e pon e d l y de m a nd ed lh a t a t leas t o n c s h o t o f h er fea turin g fu ll -fro m a l nudil.Y bel o w t h e wa isl-pa rr o f th e seque n ce in w hi c h s h e sen s uo u sly re m oves h er c1 0 lh es a t j o hn I Jea rd 's je lly h o u sebc e limin a ted fro m re lease p r ints.

O t h er rep o n s-w h ic h co u ld n Ol be confirm ed a t press tim e- illlli ca tcd tha t th e 2 1-ye;H-o ld actress, w ho has made a ca reer o ul o f p lay in g Ihl' sens u o u s ill genu e, ac tua ll y in s isll'li tha t 1/1/ o f h er nlldc sce n es be ciinl ill aled fro m Ih e film . H er de m a n ds 10 th a t effect re po rted Iy reac hed 1.0 the to p level s o r U ni vcrs. .d 's Ill d ll i-lgC tnC Ill. U ltim a te ly, Sc hra d er e lec tccl l/Ol lO trin l a ll )' of Kin s k i's ll u d eSCcll l'S. Al a press co n fere n ce fo ll o\\' in g Ih e fi lm 's de b u l a l F i Im cx ( th e Los An geles film feSl il':d ), Schra d er addressed th e matter o f nudi lY, w itho ut m enti o ning

Lhe aClress by n a m e. " IL's reall y qu ite sim p le," h e sa id LO the fes Lival allen dees. " You send the aCLorS the scri pt six o r eig hL m o nLh s before you ma路e th e mov ie. The scen e is in the script.

You o ffer Lhem a sa lary. You meet w iLh Lhem. You discu ss il. The nude scenes are di scussed. They agree LO do il. And you ShOOLth e movie. " We' re a ll pro fess ion a ls," ' chra der colllinu ed. " There 's no dup licit, in vo lved. Everyone is bein g paid a nd everyo n e knows whaL Lhey are doing.

IL's a n exp li ciL COlllracL be n,路een the aCLo r, th e direClor a nd the \\Titer. It 路 nOL some dirty thing we do LO them. iL 's som e Lhin g we agree to do logelher."

Whi le fighLin g WiLh hi s lead ing lad y over the CUL o f Lhcf il m, S chrader was also waging a sm all batLl e wiLh Lhe s Ludio's advertising and marketing division s. On the basis of th e ea rl y a udien ce response, Uni versa l prodded Schrader to se ll th e film as J AWS with fur , the very n o ti o n the direc LOr had res isted from th e begi nnin g. " Paul 's fi g hts with the studio o n thi s issue were very o pini o na ted a nd I ca n 't say that I blam e him ," sa id Bud Smith.

When th e flurr y se ttl ed down , Schrader had o nce again perservered.

"There rea ll y wasn 't very much con troversy," Schrader said. " I was prompt, diligelll a nd forceful in m y commitm entLO se ll the film in a certa in way. It he lped a grea t d ea l th a t th e stud io beli eved in the film.

"U niversal fin a ll y understood thai the way to se ll the film was as so methin g new. In a m a nn er very simila r LO what was do ne o n THE EXORCIST, we let the adverti sin g ca mp a ig n take the hi g h lin e a nd let word of mouth take th e low lin e. I wanted the genre el ements-th e sex, th e sp ecia l effects, th e vio lence-LO trave l by word of mo uth . Let that stu[[ be ta lked a bo ut over dinn er or in th e locker room. U ni versa l undersLOod that th e h orror genre, as a genre, was d yin g, if n o t d ea d -so we Look a no th er approach ."

But th a t may h ave been o n e fighl Sch rader was b e tte r 0[[ losing.

A dyed puma is trapped on a Louisiana bridge in a night-for-night sequence.

Inset: the film's final image, a greeneyed puma named Sash a, given voice

by David Bowie's hit theme song .

Altho u g h th e th e fina l ad ca mpai g n sLressed th e sensu a l and m ys teriou s asp ec ts of the film , it fail ed in its prime respo n s ibilit y: p ac kin g th e theaters w hen the film opened. Outside of the m ajo r cities, CAT PEOPLE bombed a t the box o[[ice its first week. Accordin g LO figures publish ed in Variel y, th e film grossed just $ 1.6 million durin g th e first three days of release in 600 thea ters across the cou nLry , a n a verage o f$2, 696 per screen. By compari son , Ri cha rd Pryor's SOME KI D OF HERO, whi ch opened Lhe sa me day a L975 th ea ters, grossed $5.6 million, averaging $5,776 per screen.

Universal execs were reponedl y stunned by the sagging rece ipLs, but loo ked hopefull y to la rge m a rkets such as ew York , Los Ange les and C hi cago, where the film was p erfo rm ing muc h cl oser LO expectatio n s.

Oll e ca use for the slu ggish box offi ce response, may h ave been th e genera ll y downbea t critica l reacli o n th e film ga rn ered. In New Yo rk , fo r exa mpl e, th e fi lm o p en ed to fo ur favora bl e rev iews, six unfavo ra ble rev iews a nd severa l Inixed nOlices.

Na ti ona ll y, T ime's Ri cha rd Schi cke l slammed th e film , sayin g : " It has lo ts o f nudit y, p lenty o f gross-o il I gore, lWO o r lhree sca res-and illn a kcs n o se nse wh 'Hsoe ver. An yone grow nu p e n o u g h to ga in lega l adm iss io n ... w ill probab ly find him se lf e ith er reduced to g uffaws o r w ishin g he had stayed ho m e loo kin g at hi s pos ter o f Nastassi a Kin ski wea rillg a sn a ke."

On the o ther h a nd , several promi-

nent film critics ga ve the film hi g h m a rks, including bo th G ene Sis kel a nd Roger Ebert of PBS ' SNEA K PRE VI EWS, a nd Newsweek's J ack Kro ll , who referred to the fi 1m as a "c lass ic" and as " Schrader 's best work as a direcLor. " The hig hl y divergent critica l reaction- e ith e r s trongly in favor o r opposed, with seemingl y no middleground-was so mething that Schrader had a nti cipa ted. " I kn ew that thi s wou ld happen , based o n what the movi e is about and how the s ubj ect m a tter was ha ndled ," Schrader sa id. " I go t a rev iew in th e L os Angeles T im es from Sh eila Ben so n a nd one from R ex Reed ill th eNew Yo rk Daily News th a t are fairl y indicative. Benson 's apprO<lCh was , ' Heca use I don 't lik e thi s m ov ie, th'H mea ns I' m sane.'

Rex Reed took the stance that, ' I mu st be crazy, but I love thi s m o vi e.' We ll, Lha t's rea ll y th e sa m e base o f respo nse.

The m ov ie forces yo u in to co nfronting th e decision of whe ther yo u a re go in g to a ll ow yo urse lf LO go w ith it or no lo " There a rc so m e p eopl e, lik e S heil a Benso n , who will throw the w h ole film o ut beca use o f bein g un a bl eor un w illing to ta ke thew holc thin g seri ous ly. For o th er people, the film seems to work very stron g ly. The picture ).;en era tes talk . We' ll just h ave to see. If yo u try to pl ease everybody, yo u m ake rea l borin g mov ies."

Some rev iewers-a nd apparentl y audiences as we ll -had a to ug h time ge ttin g a ha ndl e on CAT PEOPLE.

As a horro r film , it' s somew ha t ta me; ye t T ime a nd other ,riti cs have complain ed o f excess ive gore. "'The COIIve ll ii o n o f thi s part icul a r ge nre is th at tlt e beas t, t h e na s ty, s ubco n c io us fo rce th a t li ves IV iLhill LI S, isso meh ow des u:oyed in so m e a poca lyp ti c o rgy," Schrader sa id. " You kIlOW, tlt e old ho use burns down , the g hou l is kill ed a nd the beast is des troyed. There's a sembl a n ce of normalcy resto red , a nd th en th e movie end s w ith a qu es tion ma rk o f wh ell will th e beas t rea ppea r.

Tha t 's th e ge n eri c, co nve ntional endin g. " BuL Olle of the thin gs tha t interes ted me in do in g thi s film ," Schrader co ntinu ed , "was to go aga inst Lhat endin g- to ha ve the man embrace th e beas t, make love to her, a ndlive in a tenu o us, a mbigu o us h a rmony with the beas t iLse lf. " With a lm os t a yea r o f work behind him , th e post-CAT P EO PL E Schrader loo ked ex tre mely fit a nd enthusias ti c as he reflected o n th e proj ect. ''I'm reall y very sati sfi ed with CAT PEOPLE. I wou ldn 't be a t a ll disappo inted if peopl e wa lk out of it a nd their o nl y resp o nse is 'Tha t was illleres tin g' o r ' I h a d a good tim e.'

Obvi o usly, though , I think they' ll ha ve a mu ch mo re un se ttlin g ra ngeof reacti o n s-that's ill evitable. " If Lhi s film is n ' t ullim a te ly embraced by the publi c," Schrader co ntinu ed, " it w ill be a fa ilure on a substa nti a l leve l beca use it was made to be a mass a udi ence enterta inment.

I mea n , [ certa inl y think CAT PEO PLE is mo re like BEA UT Y AND T Il E BEAST tha n TIlE BEAST WITHIN . Ma ybe we sho uld ca ll it BEA UTY AN DTHE BEAST WITH IN. But the film is conce ivpd and execul ed as pop u lar enterta inm ent, so w halcv(T I say o r 00 in lernl S o f inte ll ect u a li zin g il a re seco ndary p leas ures. Th e pr im a ry p leasure sho uld be that p eop le enj oy wa tching it ."

0

47

"And the flesh from herforehead splits-a crack like a run in tautly-stTetched rubberand more and more cracks appear as the flesh pops, splits, tears, and we see the dark form struggling to free itself from the human cocoon, shaking its head wildly back and forth, ripping away the membrane that once was Irena, pushing its head -black, wet as a newborn childthrough the webby covering, tearing with its jaws, pulling the fleshy bag away and chewing it as if it were a placenta until there are only tatters left-and a pinkish, thick pool where Irena once lay. " That's how Alan Ormsby's sneenplay describes Irena's transform,lIion into a panther, an ex tremely graphic concept that seemingly demanded state-of-the-art makeup effects. "Personally," Ormsby said, "I wouldn 't wam to S~'e this movie if it didn 't surpass what had already been done in something like TJ-IEHOWLING." That view wasn't totally shared by C..AT PEOPLE's director P aul Schrader, however, who saw the film's transformations as simpl y a means to an end -n ot as something that would, by themselves, be worth the price of adm ission_ That was a lso the feelin g of Tom Burman, who, a long with brother Ellis, was tagged IOhandie CAT PEOPLE's makeup effects. " I read the first Ormsby screenplay and felt it had enormous potential," said Burman, whose previous credits include Phil Kaufman 's INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and THE BEAST WITHIN. " 'thought if it were to be filmed psychologically, somewhat like the original CAT PEOPLE-except in those areas you co uld no longer cheat-it cou ld be a very successful picture.

AI though' earll my living at making these things physical, I really believe that showing less is more.

"They told me they were definitely

KINSKI'S TRANSFORMATION was designed by Bari Drelband, whom Tom Burman felt would provide the proper "feminine" touch. Right: Drelband's early concept sketch for a woman/panther, completed before Nastassia Klnski was signed for the film. Below: Drelband works on one 01 the clay heads she sculpted to depict possible transformation stages. Much of her work-particularly concerning the final stages of the transformationwas lost when much of the sequence was reshot during postproduction.

KEUP TRANSFORMATIONS FROM TOM & ELLIS BURMAN

The climax of Kinski's transformation as It appears In the film: a mechanical panther head bursts through the gelatinous skin. Ellis Burman had designed moving, retractable eyes, but the effect was scrapped and the eyes glued shut when Universal technicians destroyed the complex mechanism on the first take.

going for psychological hOlTor, " he added, "and that was exactly what I wallled 10 do. " Working with designer Ferdinando Scarfiolli, Burman was given wide latitude in planning the transformation effects, and he felt he was able to estab li sh good lines of COIllmunication with Schrader during preproduction. When it came to the ac tual filming, how ever, sparks began to fly. Approved makeup concepts were suddenly rejected by Schrader, and those that were used were often lit and staged in ways that , accord ing to the Burmans, made them look aw ful. There was also talk

of dumping the Burmans allOgether, and hiring a nother makeup artist. " I used to wonder why veteran makeup people always seemed so bittel'," said Tom Burman, shonly after the conclusion of his II-month stint on CAT PEOPLE. " But as I progress, I'm bcginniilg to sound more and more like them ."

That was several months ago .

Today, Burman has mellowed considerably; the anger, bitterness and hostility replaced by adm iration for what Schrader was able to do. " I had my doubts, bUl CAT PEOPLE ended up being just what I'd hopcditwould

be," said Burman, following a screening held for the crcw. " It 's the first time I've been totally satisfied with a picture I've worked on. It's just what a makeup picture should be!"

Burman has become one of the film 's biggest boosters although only a small fraction of his work wasevt'r used. Originally, four distinct transformation stages were planned for Nastassia Kinski's character, twO for Malcolm McDowell's. "You are to suppose that the Cat People's feline natures burst out from inside the human skin." Burman explained. "A cat forms within the human body under the skin, and thecolllours of the hody fall away and collapse. It was a contrived, metaphysical way of doing it, but it got away from the time-lapse Lon Chaney stuff, with hair growing on the face."

For Kinski 's climatic transformation, Burman strove 10 create an effect which would be sensual as well as fright(,ning-without becominggrotesque. " I assigned a women artist, Bari Dreiband, to design all of Kinski 's transformations to give it a feminine touch. We wanted it. to be delicate. Being a pretty girl to begin with, we wanted to match hedeatures with those of a sleek, rega l cat. We wanted to show rippling muscles, not balloon ing or stretching skin."

Tht' plan was to do the transforma tion with cUl-a ways to actor John Heard 's reaction 10 his lover's postcoital changes. First, there would be a subtle shift in the fealllres of the girl.

Second, would he facial and body contractions and distortions-with the huma n features aClllally falling away. Third, would b.e a truly hum an-cat hybrid, followed by foot age of a living panther-or, in this case, puma. Although the idea was to avoid a gruesome metamorphosis, the rubber body suit and matching

Top left: Makeup artist Leonard Engleman applies latex appliances to Kinski for the early stages of the transformation. Top center: Working with Barl Drelband (r), Engleman paints the appliances and blends them together.

Top Right: Janice Brandow (I) and Tom Burman complete the makeup, adding a wig thai makes Kinski look almost normal-but not quite. Right: The makeup as II appears in the film.

facia l applia nces adhered to Orms· by's " sk in burstin g" conccpt.

Wa tching the rushes of the tra ns· formatio n sequ en ce, Burman was " horrifi ed" by the harsh lightin g and close camera angles Schrader had chosen . " They sho t it exactly the way it wasn ' t meant to be do ne." Burman sa id. " We had des igned the su it fo r Ang ie Brown to wear in an upri ght position, wi th the head rai sed a lmost maj esti ca ll y. When they shot it, they had her h unchi ng down in this body sui t on a il fo urs. It made the entire thi ng wrinkle a nd it look ed abso· lutelya wfu l. " After eig ht ho urs of makeup, I loo ked a t wh a t was go ing 0 11 and th o ug ht, ' My G od, this is not work· ing!' Well , Schrader had his ow n ideas. H e to ld me the effect wasn 't going to work [o r his purposes un less she was hunched down o n th e bed. H e went a head and shot it his way. It looked bad and he kn ew it. "

Burman was right; Schrader w as un happy, and he reportedl y bega n sho ppi ng around [or somcon c to rep lace th e Burmans, perhaps the mos t upselling in cident [or the Burma ns in a fi lm fi lled with upselling incidents. " Rather than have an yone come and say, 'L ook, this isn ' t wo rk· ing. [s there an y way we ca n do it bctter?', they called Dick Smith and as ked h im if he could come in a nd save the thing. It's onl y beca use Dick is a fri end o f min e that he let me know."

Burman comp la ined of Sch rader's cava lierdisregard [o r what he felt was a sin cere effon at g iving the director wha t he was a fter. ''I'd sit there in rushes a nd he wo uldn ' t say an y· thing, good or bad," Burman sa id. " H e'd just fi le o ut with· o ut a word. T hat isn ' t hel pfu l in w hat's supposed to be a co ll aborative enterprise.

" Nobody had the g uts to speak u p," Burman added. " I had pretty voca l arg uments with J ohn Fra nk· enheimer on PROPHECY, and wit h Mi chae l Cimino o n HEAV E N 'S GATE, but a t least thin gs go t d is· cussed. T he kind of thin g th a t hap· pened on CAT PEOPLE is a sha me beca use it 's unn ecessa ry. It was hard to swa ll ow . R eal hard. " Schrader la ter said he reca ll ed "so meth in g abo ut contactin g some· one else" for the ma keup effects. Bu t he made it d ear he believed the iss uC' to be a prover bia l t('aro t tempest. " We' re ta lkin g abo ut 45 seconds of fil m ," h e no ted, and added that even if Bu rman 's foo tage had been eye-p o p' pin g, it wo u ld sti ll have played a rela tive ly min or ro le in the overa ll des ign of the fil m.

Th e Burma ns were evenlU a lly call ed bark to rethink the sequence.

U n like the first ro und of shooting,

Lell: Makeup depicting advanced stages of the transformation was applied to Kinski's stunt-double, Angie Brown, but shots involving this concept were dropped from the film. Below: Tom Burman (I), Ellis Burman and hair stylist Janice Brandow apply Brown's facial appliances and diaphanous body suit, an eight-hour procedure.

where Kinski' s fl esh appeared to break away in gobs, the new effects were more.stylizcd, and thus, far less grap hi c." O w yo u wo n' t see things like pi eces of the g irl 's It'g bursLing o p en ," Burma n sa id. " Yo u a lso wo n't see her sha king away a p lacenta-l i ke part o[ hcr shedding skin . T he who le concep t of sp li ttin g flesh is now do wnpla yed. Fran kly, I do n' t think it ever shou ld have been don e that way . As I'd kept sayin g. itseemed 10 me that th e audience wo uld relate 10 Nastass ia's ch araCler as sympathetic and pretty. To p lay upon her transforma tion too lo ng o r too gro· tesquely- with skin rippin g opellwo uld be destru cti ve to the film ."

I n th e res hoo t, s up ervi se d by seco nd un it d irector Bud Smith whi le Schrader was o n vaca tion , Kinski wore th e ma keup o ri g inall y des igned for her double. An insert was a lso filmed, in w hich her spin e ri ses and fails and breas ts shri n k, rep lacillg previoLis shots of bursti ng and crack· ing skin.

Th o u g h Sc hrad er ills is ted th e actress sti ll p lay the scene hund led over, the focus is now upo n Kinski 's [ace, which subtl y ex pands, pulls a p a rt a nd th en sp lit s o pen as a pan rher emerges from within . "She begins to change shape, th en th e sk in sp l it s and fa lls away 10 be rep laced by th is <lni cu\;lI ed pal1lh er heacl that s n a r ls a n d g r i ma ces, " Burman exp lained. "T he expa nsioll of the head was do ne by usin g exp,rnda ble p neuma Li es that we had made actua ll y part o f th e applia ll ce."

The Burma nssculpted acm 's head, made a pl as ter copy and sculpt ed a huma n face to fit over it. A difficult), arose when attempting to match the eye, and mo u th o[ the two faces.

"E llis dev ised a way of pUllin g thc eyes o u lon g tubes," exp la ined Bu rman . " Whcn we pu lled th e human [ace away, rheC'yes reu'acted back into th e leopa rd 's head. H e a lso dev ised a mechan ism for pu lli ng th e lips back and mak ing th e teeth grow."

Tho ugh it worked fin e in th eir workshop , m aking it work on the set was a major fru stration . "We wa nted the eyes to be constantl y in motion , even whi le t hey were retracting," exp la ined E llis Burman . "The eyes were on rods tha t pivoted in the mi d· di e and were articul ated in three p laces . U n fo rtun a te l y, aud iences never got 10 see any of it. " Du e to jurisdi ctiona l iss ues between un ions, the Burma ns are no t a l lowed to o pera te th eir app l iancl's on the sct.

Effecrs tech ni cians from Un iversa l were required to mas ter th e mechanism litera lly on the spo t. " Withou t

any preparatio n, five g uys were supposed to be a ble to choreograph this apparatus," Burman reca lled. "The whol e thing was chaos. They tangled the eye mechani sms with the lines that pull ed th e face back. They yanked theeyes ri g ht o utoftheirsockets-just destroyed it. " Burman had to glue the eyes shut.

By co mparison, work on Malcolm McDo weW s bri ef transformation scene weill re latively smoothly. For th e se qu e n ce, which ca ll ed for McDowell to slither along the floor in shado w with only hiseye.v isibleat first, th e Burma ns fas hioned a G II like mask with g lowing eyes, recruitillg the services of sd erallens specialist, Dr. Monon Greenspoon. " We lOok macropholOgraphs of bot h Nastassia 's a nd Malcolm 's eyes, " ex pl a ined Tom Burman. " I started experimenting with distorting the eyes: shifting the color and size of th e cornea and the iris. We tri ed a irbrush, a<:ry lics, water colors and, finally , ell a lll e ls, which had njce depth and color to th em. Everybody seemed to Iike the effect.路 ' Another mechani ca l effect that was well received invo lved McDowell's hand, which beg ins to split and become cat-like in a n ea rl y seq uence (see photo page 29). Ellis Bu rman sculpted an app li ance over a cas t of the anor's ha nd. Wrist movemellls and th e ex tensio n of the claws were accomp li sh ed mec hani ca ll y. "The who le thin g was made of sta inless stee l, which is how aircraft fillings and bea rin gs are don e," sa id Elli s Burman. "Th ey wert' crafted the way a studio never wou ld."

Burman 's dig a t studio work ha bits isn ' t S UI prising-makeup artists are frequt'ntly dissatisfied a t tht: treatment they and th eir work receive.

"There was a lways tOO litlle time o n

CAT PEOPLE," said Tom Burman, shortly a fter filming wrapped. "And we had little or no rapport. wi th Paul Schrader, who always seemed to be surrounded by hi s liu.l e coterie."

Time, however, apparently does hea l a ll wou nds-even Burman 路s. H e personal l y congra tulated Schrader and execu tive produ cer J erry Bruckheimer fo ll ow ing a n advance screening. ' 'I'm kind o f embarrassed [01 being so dou btful ," Burman said. 0

MALCOLM McDOWELL'S TRANSFORMATION meant hours spent in makeup for the actor, though only a seconds 01 the transformation were used. Above left: The completed cat-mask leatured lurry cracks that could spread open on camera. Above right, top: McDowell's face covered with latex appliances. Above right, center: Tom Burman makes a minor adjustment. Right: Burman's clay sculpture served as a guide lor the makeup appliances, aller having lirst sketched the final stage 01 the makeup using colored pencils (bottom lell).

Below: Although this puppet head looks remarkably similar to the sketch 01 McDowell's transformation, II's actually the cable-controlled breakaway head used for the climax 01 Nastassia Kinski's metamorphosis (see photo page 39). Bud Ewing (Iell, obscured), Allan Hall, Tom Del Genio and Karl Miller operate the controls.

41

Top center: Original photography of an owl, with early tests of optical enhancement shown left and right.

Left: The owl as it appears In the film, a brief cut featuring a dark "night" sky and glowing foliage,

Giving Kinski ~cat-vision' for the ~bunny-kill' Asfor WOLFEN, Rob Blalack Praxis Film Works provides a unique, subjective view of the world.

s

Alan Ormsby's final screenplay described a sequence in which the audience wou Id experience Nastassia Kinski's subjective point of view as she hunted for prey and killed a small rabbit . To handle the unusu al assignment, Paul Schrader contacted Robbie Blalack's Praxis Film Works, which had produced somewhat sim ilar optical effects for Michael Wadleig h's WOLFEN

[10:3:38].

While WOLFEN required an entirely alien perpective-and as a result, extremely styl ized optical work-the CAT PEOPLE visuals were supposed to represent heightened human senses, and a more subtle approach was called for.

Using WOLFEN 's "alien -vision" as a starting point, Blalack did a series of tests involvi ng color distortion and substitution. "The tests were sort of derivative of WOLFEN ," Blalack explained. " For what Schrader wanted , they were too extreme. So slowly we got closer and closer to

the 'look ' he was after."

Blalack experimented with different colors to see how they would look under various types of optical enhancemen t. Plaster animals were painted for test footage, and later, live rabbits were variously tinted red , white and blue to see which hu e gave the best separation from the ru stic backgrounds. Blue worked best.

The day-for-night sequencewhich utilized the floating movements of a Steadicam-was filmed in an arboretum in Glendale, California, under the su pervision of second unit director Bud Smith. "It took us a single day to film ," Blalack noted . " It was all fai rl y simple to shoot, except for the owl , who was interested in devouring the rabbits. If a rabbit was anywhere near, the owl would swoop down and flyaway with it. " After viewing the rough footage as

assembled by Smith and Blalack , Schrader suggested a series of refinements. In all, Praxis' work on CAT PEOPLE was a six month stint.

"I f you look at the sequence carefully ," said Blalack " there is an overall color change that occurs on eac h cut. Then, a briefer color alteration happens over that. Th e changes were done through a manipulation of the contrast and color separations we make from the negative. We shot with a fully ex posed negative during the day, which gave us a full tone range .

Then, we printed it down to mak e it look dark. From there, the changes in color in various parts of the scene we re done by manipu lating the co lor separations ."

Bla lack was somewhat concerned that the subjective shots mig ht be a bit stylisticly extreme, and he

Below: The sequence's climax. a rapid zoom-in to a bunny that Kinski has hunted, Left: Original test shot (top). and enhanced footage of the arboretum grounds, a shot which does not appear In the film, Right: To test how optical enhancement would affect the color of the animals, plaster busts were painted different shades, Ori ginal photography is on top, test footage, below,

42

commended Sc hrade r's decision to keep t he "cat vision" seq uence short and d irect. " I think it's very effective because, for a moment, it takes you into her subjective world as she undergoes this metamorphosis.

When something like that goes on for too long, or is too extreme, people tend to see it as a mechanical effect.

They don 't experience it as something that is part of the story, and they disengage from it. In retrospect, I think there was too much of our work in WOLFEN ."

In addition to their work on the " bunny kill " sequence, Praxis' also supplied a brief animated insert for Nastassia Kinski 's transformation.

Over the facial appliances created by the Burmans Studio , Praxis added eye glOWS through cel an imati on, co ntributing to the mystical qualities Sc hrader sought throughout the film. " I had the clear sense that the film 's style was a modern-day spinoff of film-noir," said Blalack, who viewed dailies of principal photography to help match Schrader's style.

"The most interesting aspect of working with Schrader was trying to find his aesthetic without superimposing what we wanted on top of it.

However, he's very willing to let you bring to the situation your history and your thinking and I found him very collaborative."

John Heard and a night visitor: fo r Paul Schrader, below, th e people-inlo-pal1lh ers idea was "l udicrous," but it was a means to do a fi lm of my th and magic.

sio n o f o th e rwo rldlin ess . A ro und th e twe nti e th ta ke, he ag rees to lay hi s obsess ions to res t until th e nex t day's s hooting . " We lco m e to Kubri c kl a nd ," Schra de r g ru m bl es as he leaves th e so und stage an d hea ds fo r hi s J ag ua r with t he " O ZU" li ce nse tagsa n ho m age o f ~o rt s to th e J apa nes-: fil mm a ker, who m he in clud ed in Tran scendenwi S ty le in Film, writte n in hi s fi lm c riti c days .

At firs t g la nce, th e c urre nt foc us o f Pa ul Sc hra d e r's we ll- publi c ize d m o no m an ia see m s a n unlike ly o ne. Cal People, sc hedul ed fo r re lease thi s mo nth , is, in hi s wo rd s, a n "eroti c hor ro r fa ntasy." Bes id es Kins ki a nd M c Do wel l, th e $ 14 milli on film sta rs J o hn H ea rd , Ann e tte OToo le, Ruby Dee, a nd Ed Beg le y, J r. The mu sic is by Gi org io M o rode r. Ca t People pro mi ses a udi e nces a d eto ur orf th e ga ri sh, neo n-li g hted s tree t Sc hrade r has fo ll owed in th e past. Bu t for a ll its s tyli za ti o n, th e mov ie- th e fir st S c hra de r has direc ted fr om so meo ne else's sc ript- ma y prove as pe rso na l a nd idi osy nc ra ti c as a nythin g th e writ e r-direc to r o f Blue Collar, Hardcore, a nd A merican Gigolo has ye t a tt e mpt ed .

Seve ra l wee ks a ft e r th e in-studi o dese rt s to rm , Sc hrade r sits in hi s U ni ve rsa l office, fill ed with boo ks a nd pos te rs. An intense, diffid e nt ma n dressed in plea ted lin e n tro use rs a nd a pas tel s hirt , he ex pl a ins how he ca me to be in vo lved with s uc h a n offb ea t proj ec t. " I saw it as a mea ns of fi nding my

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way out of th e filmi c dil e mm a t ha t I'd boxed m yse lf in to, " he says, ex ha lin g s m oke fro m a c iga re tt e. " The bas ic id ea o f t he fi lm- yo u kn ow, peop le turning into ca ts, pa nth e rs- is s till quite ludi c ro us to m e. But I saw in it so m e thin g I co uld use to do a fil m o f poetry, E ros, myth , a nd m ag ic as o pposed to rea lis m. I n o th e r wo rd s, a lo ta l c ha nge o f pace, so me thing wi t h whi c h I no rm a ll y wo uldn 't be assoc iated a t a ll. It is n't a ho rro r fi lm , per se, th oug h it uses th e ho r ro r con tex t to pl ay upon our no ti o ns of sex ua li ty, sex ua l prese nce, a nd sex ua l iconog ra ph y. I wa nt ed to do a ve ry vi sua ll y o ri e nted fi lm , a lm os t a s uccess io n of images . This prov id ed th a t o pportunity."

The fi i"m , from a sc ree npl ay by A la n Orm sby ( My Bodyguard ), invo lves th e sex ua l awa ke nin g of a s tra nge o rph a n na med I re na ( Kin s ki ), wh o co mes to New

Orl ea ns to li ve wi th he r eve n stra nge r broth e r, Pa ul ( M c Dowe ll ), a mini ste r. Inc it ed by hi s sis te r's des ira bilit y a nd he r eme rg in g pass io n fo r a loca l zoo log is t (H ea rd ), he a tte mpt s to sedu ce he r. H e fa il s, b ut Ire na co m es to rea li ze t he ir s ha red fa mil y des tin y: tra nsform a ti o n into murd e ro us bl ac k pa nth e rs whe n th e libid o is t rigge red.

Th e fi lm co nt a ins a spec tac ul a rl y s urrea li sti c pro log ue- ha lf-cl ad wa rri o rs, a sacrifi c ia l virg in , a n a mo ro us pa nth e r with glow in g eyes- th a t S c hra de r c hee rfull y dubs "a bu nc h o f hooey." But eve n in th e more rea lis ti c mo men ts, Schra de r keeps th e proceedings s uit a bl y o rr-k ey. " I wa nted to have ce rt a in mag ica l eve nts occ ur ea rl y in th e film so th a t th e a udi e nce knows th ey' re no t to ta ke us too lite ra ll y he re," he sa ys. " By mag ica l I m ea n the use of reve rse moti o n, ca me ra t ricks, no nrea lis ti c color.

On e of th e ma in reaso ns I think a udi e nces di d n't co tt o n to a n ex tre m ely we ll ma de fi lm lik e Wolfen was beca use it tri ed to prese nt its eve nts as happe nin g in too rea l a wor ld . Th a t was a lea p a udi e nces didn 't ca re to m a ke- instin c ti ve ly. Tha t's wh y, when yo u m a ke a film lik e Car People, whi c h dea ls in myth s a nd sy mbo ls, yo u do n' t use a nything but bl ac k leo pa rd s.

Yo u're de libe ra tel y not dea ling with th e rea l t hin g ."

C

at People, of co urse, is based o n th e 1942 RKO mov ie of th e sa m e titl e, direc ted by J ac qu es T o urn e ur.

But Sc hrad e r pre fe rs to see his film as a n " upd a te" ra th e r th a n a re ma ke o f th e ea rli e r film . " Ac tu a ll y," he says, "you'd be ha rd pressed to directl y co mpa re th e t wo fi lm s. Th e who le re m a ke tre nd is a n indi cati on o f cowa rdice , o bviously. Rem a kes, seq ue ls, pa rodi es a re wh at I ca ll 'bac k-born ' m ov ies. Th ey co m e off so m e thing e lse.

Wi t h t he cost of mov ies being s uc h, eve ry-

Will Overexposure Spoil N astassia Kinski?

J

ust turncd twenty-one, German-born Nastassia Kinski is on the edge of major stardom. After a two-year d ry spcll following the Amcrican rclease of Tess, she has completed two movies back to back, One From the H eart and Cal People , and has j ust finished shooting a third, James Toback's Exposed. For Kin sk i, the qucstion is not will she or won't she but, rather, can she avoid th e traps of celebrity, when fame a nd fortune come too suddenly, too soon, too fast. As Pa ul Schrader puts it, "S he's a star at twenty-o ne, but will she be a sta r a t twenty-five?"

Onc pitfall of which she is acutely conscious is th c media's inclination to

trcat hcr as a Humbert Humbert delicacy, Europe 's answer to America 's jeans queens. Despite the obvious talent she di splayed in Tess, her precocious sex ua lity has encouraged lines like "Europe's newly crowned sex princess" (Newsweek) and references to her " Roman holidays" (Daily News), a n a llusion to her romance with Rom a n Pola nski when she was fifteen . Add a nud e scene she did in Alberto Lattuada's Slay As You A re, which found its way into Playboy; a pencha nt for playing sed uctive ingenu es; and her casual a ttitude toward her girlhood peccadilloes ("I was like a young animal running wild everywhere, tasting all the honeys"), a nd we have a recipe for sensati ona lism th at would make Rupert Murdoch 's mouth water. Then there was Richard Avedon's striking shot of Kinski recumbent, clad on ly in a leng th y pyt hon, that has appeared in Vogue, Life, Time, a nd Newsweek, a nd is now selling briskly as a poster. " I was greatly upset with the Avedon

42

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photograph," says Pa ul Schrader, who has taken an interest in her career. " It's li ke Bo Derek .with an orangutan or Brooke Shields with a horse. Everything Kinski wants out of this busin ess is hers for t he asking. She's got the Ingrid Bergman face, Bardot li ps, an d Hepb urn pcrsonality, a vicious co mbination. But thcrc's going to be a desperate a ttempt to cxploit her." Tronically, the concept ion for the photograph emergcd frqm a conve rsa ti on between Avedon and Kinski abo ut the role of a nim als in Cal People. " It is flattering to think that one of my photographs co uld changc the perception of thc actrcss who pl ayed Ha rd y's Tcss," says Avedon , but " I don' t believe it for a minute."

Schrader fecls that Kinski "needs to keep a low profile, or else s he's going to be c hcwed up a nd spit out. She should take a year off from films to pick up some morc theatrical training. She needs a ven ue where she can have the oppo rtunity

will happcn; if I do that, this will happen- I don 't want to think that way. r do what 1 fee l is right ," she says fiercely, in a li ghtl y acce nted voice.

So fa r, Kinski has shown a n uncan ny knack for picking good directors. She broke into fi lms wit h Wim Wenders, a nd in a few short years, she has worked with Polanski , Coppo la, Schrader, and Toback. I n fact, it was on ly because she refuscd to give up on Exposed th a t Toback finally obta ined backing. Ex- ' posed is a thriller in whi ch Kin ski plays a n eightccn-year-old girl who is discovercd by a fashion photographer and transformed into a top model; she falls in love with a concert violinist (Rudolf Nureyev) a nd is plu nged into a wo rld of intrigue.

Elemen ts of Kinski 's role bear a resemblance to her own life. She was discovered by Pola nski while he was trying out models for a sp read in Vogue.

"The script was writte n with her in mind ," says Toback, "and she remained

to learn, grow, a nd fail if she has to, wherc it wo n't cost someone $20 million.

She has to build a found a tion for her stardo m now, so th a t she' ll be ab le to become a long-distance performer, rather than this year's model."

cager and willing, despite discouragement from everyone around her, except her moth e r. Nastassia has good instincts.

S he's committed to good work, a nd she's not sedu ceab le by money, which is a distinct adva ntage in this business. You wo uldn't find her in Towering Inferno.

Ri g ht now [DusanJ Makavejev wants to use her. I f she were listening to professiona l adv ice, they would be telling her to stay away from him. H e's not commercia l. Listcning to people other than her mother can't help." Toback is not enormously e)l.ercised over the Avedon photogra ph. "A yea r from now, people will be going to movies because she's in them. As long as she keeps doing good films, it doesn't matter what she does on the side.

She cou ld become a homicidal maniac or a spy for Ru ssia a nd it wouldn't matter."

Kin ski ' s favorite act ress is Rom y Schneider. She loved John Hea rd in Cutter's Way and hopes he will get an Oscar. She would ve ry much like to work with Andrzej Zulawski beca use " he

K

inski rushes into the Cafe des Artistes on New York's Central Par k West. She's wearing red pants, running shoes, a nd a fluffy blue a ngo ra sweater covered with pendant wool ba lls the size of walnuts. She is indeed beautiful, but doesn't look exotic a nd European so much as wholesome and American. It's a frigid winter day, and her c heeks a re flushed from the cold.

Kinski is both concerned a nd unconce rned a bout the trajectory of her career.

She did so me television commercials in J apan , but won't do them here (no Ca lvins ads), because she thinks th ey' re bad for her image. On the other ha nd , she doesn't like th e idea of hav ing to make good "career" moves. " I f I do this, that

knows how to direc t women." She read Goethe' s Th e Suffe rings of Young Werrh er three tim es to prepare for Exposed. " It's abo ut a n obsession," she expla ins. " I read the books my mother had.

There a re on ly a ha ndful of stories- love, deat h, purity defi led- Francis ta ug ht me that."

S

he has mixed feelings a bout femi nism, which she 's thoug ht a bout so me, since Tess was a st ubborn ly independcnt woman. " [t's good it's coming up , wome n trying to get th e ir ri g hts instea d of ta lkin g a bout it. Everybody should have the freedom to do wha t they wa nt. But women a re losin g their femininit y; they can't become men, a nd th ey shouldn ' t be aga inst me n. " The fami ly is eve rything in life. There is nothin g else. Abortion? Abso lu te ly. But once yo u choose to have a ch ild , you should devote yourself to it enti rely. A film actress should ta ke time off from her career. " She pauses . " Most people don 't have money. They want chi ldre n, but they ca n't take time off. They have to work ... " Shc strugg les with th e co ntradict ion, pa uses aga in, shrugs, tosses her hea d , a nd fl as hes a di sa rmin g smi le. " [ rea ll y don ' t know a nything a bout it," she says, ha lf-serious, ha lf-play ful.

Acting is not easy work for Kin ski.

Alt houg h she is the d a ug hter of actor Kl a us Kinski , she was not pushed into the mov ies, a nd her career didn ' t begin UnLil she was thirteen, when she was noticed a t a meeting of rock fans in Munich a nd encouragcd to tryo ut for Wenders's Th e Wrong M ove. According to Toback, she's a " rea l perfectionist. It 's hard for her to believc she's got it as good as it could be.

S hc's eate n up with the sense th a t th e re's so mething else, so me thing more. I n contras t to so me ac tors, who think each take is te rrifi c ."

"A film is like a lover," Kinski says dra ma ti call y. " You love so much yo u can' t breathe. " She g rin s aga in : thi s time a rchl y. " I work best when I don't co nstipa te the flow. ;' She a dmired Amy Irving in Amadeus , a nd she wants to try theater herself. " ot beca use it's fa shi onable. In a mov ie you fee l like chopped meat. You g ive your a ll , a nd sudde nly, the sun goes in- cut! But yo u' re not a machine. You can' t just push a button. [ go home crying every ni ght. [ should have done this; [ should have done th at. J go home emp ty and I wake up e m pty. [ wonder how I get through the d ay. Especiall y in th e middle of the shoot.

I have a black wa ll in front of me. It passes, but in th e theater it's diffe rent.

You get it a ll back. I've never done t hea te r. It scares t he hell out of me."

- Peter Bi skind

bod y's trying to protect their jobs. Fo r a n executi ve to redo Animal House or Jaws is c lear ly a much safe r decision. Cal People, thoug h, has had its story a nd sensibility tota ll y rethought. " " I scree ned the ori ginal film j ust to make sure of wh a t I was gett ing into," he conti nu es. " Bas ica ll y, th e film was a very good B-movie with one or two brilliant seq uences a nd the wonderful presence of Simone S imon . I'd never ha ve gotten invo lved with the foll y of rem a kin g something like S carface, wh ich some people are now do ing. That 's insa nity! Al so, a fter seeing th e fi rst Cat People, I didn ' t feel like [ was trying to sta nd a top a mounta in. A little hillock , perha ps."

Schrader's Cal People repri ses one of th e first film 's memora ble seq uences (A nnette O 'Toole is me naced by one o f the cat peo ple in a d eserted , shadow -strea ked swimming pool mu c h the way J a ne Ra ndolph was sta lked by Simone S imon). Othe rwise, the new fi lm goes its ow n way. " Th e who le noti on of Cat People," says the director, " is one of a n incestuous peopl e who become a nimals if they have sex ou tsid e their own fa m il y. The fi lm interhooks incest with fea r of loss of virgin ity, with besti a lity, with lycant hropy, wit h bondage.

In other words, we' ve interl ocked a ll the thin gs one ma y fe a r a nd desire into this symbology."

Sch rader points to the movie 's "wonderfully ci ne mat ic a udience ' rocks' "- suc h as a gri sly panther atta ck on a New Orlea ns massage-par lor prostitute, t he severing of a youn g zoo worker's arm, an d the s pl as hy, Alien-influenced people-to-ca t tra nsformation s devi sed by th e specia l e ffects wiza rd s of the rece nt Invasion of the Body Snatchers. "Those sce nes a re more fun th a n intellectu a l, certa inl y," says Schrader, " but they' re necessa ry techn ica ll y. The scene with the a rm is rea ll y the only violence in the fi lm , a nd it's th ere to jolt th e a udi e nce for th e same reason Friedkin used th at ve ry clever, sca ry spina l-tap scene in The Exorcist. You wa nt to wa rn the a udi ence yo u' re ca pab le of scari ng th em to death. You never wa nt th em to think the movie is soft. The n you ca n go bac k a nd work th e ot her way- less violentl y- beca use yo u've a lread y opened one sid e of your sui t."

T

rafficking in myt h surprised Schrader himself as mu c h as it did hi s assoc ia t es . H e had planned to follow Gigolo with a small, fa mily dra ma a bout two midwestern brothers, set in the milieu of blue-coll ar rock 'n' roll. That project, called " Born in

th e U .S.A .," proved e lu sive when he turn ed to wr ite th e sc reenplay- th oug h he ha d writt en Ta x i Driver in less th a n two weeks. " Fra nkly, I think I was ge tti ng to be a bit o f a bore in being so self-righteous," S chra de r observes . " I a lways fe lt I had to wri te m y ow n stuff. I had to do it a ll. After directing t hree film s I' d writt en, plus wr iting two olher sc rce npl ays during th e same pe ri od , I found I was prett y we ll dc pleted .

N othin g wa nted to be written. Tha t ca me as qui te a shock to mc, beca use up until then , I' d been prett y prolific. See, I'd qu it writ ing in order to direct. When I quit d irect ing, I a lways assumed I'd natura ll y sta rt writi ng a ga in. Well , I agon ized over th e wholc thing, poss ibly beca use I'd a lrea dy been paid ha nd so mely by Pa ra mount for ' Born in the U.S.A .' pre-Gigolo. Nothin g camc- I'd sim p ly los t track of my own mecha ni sms."

Hoping to wa it out hi s c reati ve block, S c hrad er in the spring of 19 80 went to New York for a n extended period of ba ttery rech a rg ing. (One by- produ ct was a mu c h-pra ised re write of Raging Bull for his fri e nd Martin Scorsese .) For six mont hs he ta ught screenwriting a t Colu mb ia Unive rsity, a nd it was tea chi ng, Schrade r sa ys, that forced him to co nfront th e fa ct t hat his wr iti ng problems we re " much deeper" th a n he had im ag ined . " I was n't sure how to wri te movies or wh a t movies were a bout a ny more. Halfway through the course, I had to a dmit th a t a lthough / was going to con tinue to teac h the ' class what [ had ta ug ht othe rs, I no longe r believed wh a t I was say ing. " Wh e n Sch ra de r re turn ed to th e West Coas t, he was still witho ut a work a ble scree npl ay for " Born in th e U.S.A." Reca lling th at period evokes some leng th y sile nces eve n today. "After I ca me ba ck from Columbia ," he says, " / was here in town still thinkin g a bout what I needed to write. Knowing of my depressed sta te, my age nt, Michael Bl ack, suggested Cal People to me. Not a realistic fi lm at a ll , nothin g like a nythi ng I'd eve r done before, nothi ng I'd writte n. I read it a nd it just stru c k me. r saw in it the idea of doing a fi lm whe re drea ms a nd a rch itect ure take priority ove r co nt en t. I had thrce specific fi lms in mind as a ntecedents- Welles's Th e Trial, Franju 's Les Yeux sans visage, a nd Coc tea u's Orpheus. I wa nted to a ttemp t a fi lm in a style that wa s sort of bumped out by th e Frenc h New Wave in th e fifties. More immediately, thoug h, I sa w the film as one th a t oo uld ge t me off m y hi g h horse a bout a lways having to wri te my own stuff a nd simp ly get me back to wo rk ."

APR I L 1982

43

Michael Bl ack, who knows Schrader as a Scra bble-pl ay in g friend as well as a n IC M client, says he sent him the Orms by sc reenpl ay "trepidatiously." H e reca lls, " First, I' m se nding one of the town 's fiercest hyphena tes so meone else 's sc ript , ca ll ed, o f a ll thin gs, Ca t People. Seco nd , not o nl y is it a rem a ke , but it's a lso somet hin g a not her dire cto r ha d previo usly been involved with.

Third, it was a t th at tim e esse nti a ll y a horror movie. On top of th a t, if Schrader ag reed to do it , he'd have to s pend th e next e ig ht mo nth s of hi s life on I\lIe rest. He's a llergic to cats."

The pros pect of rem a kin g Cat People has bee n kickin g aro und Holl ywood since 1978. After exhaustin g th e so urces o f fina nci a l bac king a nd the reso urces of severa l sc reenwriters, Charles Fries a nd Max J. Rosenberg ma naged to in te rest Un ive rsa l execut ive ed Ta nen in a development dea l, to whi c h director Roger Vadim came a tt ac hed . A new writer, Al a n Orms by, turned in a wry, o rr-center sc reenpl ay th a t impressed the producers a nd th e studi o with its un ex pectedl y erotic ap proac h. " Wh a t a lways worked best for m e," obser ves Orms by, "was seeing the film as a love sto ry, a lthough a mo rbidl y rom a nti c o ne . It's so mewhat li ke Beauty and th e Beast in reverse. Instead of a beas t tran sfo rmin g into a hand so m e man throug h a woma n's love, a beaut iful g irl becomes a pa nth er whe n a man m akes love to her. " When Vadim departed and S c hra der's na me beca me a tt ached to Cat People, a fo rmerl y less-than-sizzling propert y became sudd e nl y a ttractive to ta len t who hadn ' t previously given produce r C ha rl es Fries th e courtesy of a ca ll back. "Even if so meo ne didn ' t think the project wa s that g reat ," Frie s says , "they figured if Schrader think s it is, may be it is. Alan 's script wa s a lways good, but Ra quel Welch was someone who didn't even wa nt to read it o rigin a ll y. She thought it wa s ju st a lowclass exploita ti o n movie. ow, N as tass ia Kinski 's play ing th e same part a few yea rs la ter. " Schra der suggested Orms by tone down so me o f th e sc reenplay's bloodletting a nd hype up the in ces tuo us a nd erotic elements, but severa l of the d irecto r's col labora tors viewed the revised sc ript as still being lo ng o n horror a nd short on the " poe try" for which Schrader cla imed to be a imin g. Vi s ua l co ns ult ant Ferdin a ndo Scarfi olti, whose meticulous Gigolo desig ns came as no surpri se to a dmirers of his s umptu o u s work for Visconti a nd Bertolu cc i, says, " It was prim a rily for Pa ul and not th e project itse lf th a t I decided to do it. Fro m the sta rt , though, I liked the

44

AMER ICAN F ILM

L Heard: Schrader 's selj-portrail?

c ha ll enge of doing the film as a fanta sy where styli zation was being encouraged.

As we worked on it , th e fi lm real ly became one abou t cages, impriso nm ent , a nd un attainable objects." (Sch rade r says, " la ndo's opinion was the one th a t ma ttered, primaril y. I f I th o ug ht it was wort h doin g a nd so did ' he, peo pl e co uld go a ro und say in g 'sello ut ' a nd 'cop-o ut ' a ll they wa nted. It rea ll y didn ' t m a tter wh a t a nyo ne e lse sa id ." ) Once Scarfiotti a nd c ine ma togra pher J o hn Ba il ey were in tow- Schrader insisted on both of them being written into hi s dea l with U niv e rsa l- the director stea mro lled over the studi o's objec tio ns to what it perceived as the low-voltage boxoffice dra w of Kin ski , H eard, a nd McDowe ll. " Pa rticul a rl y fo r the g irl , there were ce rt a in qu a liti es I needed ," S c hrader decl a res, explai nin g hi s choice o f Nas tassia Kin ski. " She ha d to be bea utiful in a no n regional , non specific way. She ha d to be e therea l. She had to be tot a ll y credib le as a virgin , because it is crucia l to the piece, not just a plo t point. She had to be twe nty o r a b le to play girlish. She ha d to be wil ling to do nudit y, a nd she ha d to be ab le to ac t. Now that was a rea l fistful of q ua lifica ti o ns. We looked a t a lot o f peo ple, but there was never a nyo ne e lse who hit six fo r six."

Buoyed by the une xpected fin a nci a l success of Tess, in whi ch Kinski stars, Universa l le t Schrader revamp Cat People's entire shoot in g schedule until she fini shed Francis Coppola 's One Frorn th e Hearl.

Two weeks into filmin g, the cast a nd crew we re still a waitin g th eir ca t girl; she eventuall y a rrivcd, eager if exha usted. " I definitel y would havc held up the picture as lo ng as as tass ia was willi ng to do it," Schrader says . "She wa s category A for the role- pure a nd simple. I f she had died or c ha nged he r mind , I don 't know what I wo uld have done."

ong tim e Schrader assoc ia tes like to po int o ut th a t the hard-driving directo r neve r see med more relaxed than durin g th e filming of Cat People. Not being prima ry writ er o n th e fdm , says executive produ ce r Jerry Bru c kh e imer, encou raged Schrader to be " less myo pi c a nd more ope n to eve rythin g." In fac t, he m ade th e mov ie less sc ript bou nd , redu c in g th e di a log ue to a ba re minimum . eve rth e less, o n the se t Schrader was his usual wary se lf; a t times, he see m ed a lm ost a n outs ider look ing in . He co mmu ni ca ted prima ril y wit h a ha lf-d oze n key pe rso nnel; wi th ot hers, he m a in ta ined a rese rve th a t so m e ca ll ed a loofness. (" If yo u s ho u ld be lu c ky eno ug h to penetra te th at inne r c irc le," car ps a Cal People ve te ra n, " yo u' re go ld e n. Otherwise, yo u mi g ht as wel l be in the deep freeze.") But Kin sk i an d M e Dowe l1 fo und Sc hrader 's reserve ba la nced by hi s tru st in th e peo pl e he hires. " H e is ve ry shy," Kin ski says. " He's ca utio us with people a nd doesn ' t ope n up or say ve ry much. But wha t he does say is very prec ise. With Sc hrader, it's wonderful beca use yo u insp ire each o ther. It's like a ladd e r. Yo u a nd he hold each o ther's la dde r. Tha t le ts th e other cl imb higher a nd hi g her. That's wh a t tru st does. Yo u can take th ose ri sks. " The seaso ned McDowell , who polis hed o rr hi s showy role in a tid y nin etee n days, enjoyed s imil a rl y goo d r a pp o rt with Schrader. H e likens so me of Schrader's m eth ods to th ose of Sta nley Kubri ck, who direc ted him in A Clock work Orange . M cDowe ll says, "Neith er will te ll yo u what is ri ght, beca use nobody knows th a t until th e ac tor does it. Both of them a re ve ry spec ific a bout what they don'[ want. That's extremel y helpful for an acto r. " McD owell reca ll s a n ea rl y meeting with Schrader in New York prio r to shoo ting th a t ma de him wo nder whe ther they would have the sort of co mmuni ca tio n he prefers with hi s directors. Ho ping to penetra te Schrader's impass ive ve nee r, McDowell tri ed to draw him o ut durin g a walk throu g h Ce ntra l Pa rk Zoo. But Schrader's silences we re so pro trac ted a nd painful th a t McDowell fina ll y had to ass ure him , "Look , I' m not emba rrassed by yo ur silence. I' m perfectl y ha ppy not ta lking. " Th a t comment, McDowe ll rem e mbers, seemed to brea k the icc.

For a ll th e heat hi s scenes with Kin ski ge nera te in Ca t People, McDowe ll says he is unpe rturbed by the film 's fra nk a pproac h. " I suppose I' ve become ra th er ha rd-bo iled to a ll thi s. I mea n, S c hrad er think s it 's ero ti c, but it's hi s erotic ism a nd

not mine. When I first read the sc ript , I liked it enormo usly but I th o ugh t , Oh , Lord, no t more nudity' I wa nted to work with the d irecto r, th o ugh, a nd he was assemb lin g a ve ry good cast. So I thought, H ere goes a nothe r for th e new porn kingl I think we've do ne so me ve ry good , ve ry styli s h work toge th e r. " Schrader him self, loo king bac k, cla ims t hat durin g four wee ks of loca ti o n s hoo tin g in New Orl ea ns, he at last " di scovered who I was in the pi c ture." H e exp la ins, " I bega n to see J o hn H eard's charac ter, Oli ve r, as this reclu sive man who has surrou nd ed him sel f with a nim a ls. H e is a person who has never fo und someo ne worthy of hi s adul a t ion. He finds Irena-this crea ture who is wo rth y of be ing wo rs hiped in a Da nt esque fas hi o n, like Bea trice. O live r need s to c rea te a wo m a n who can o nly be see n trul y fro m afa r and the possessio n of whom makes him , then, divine- as hig h as the pedestal he's put he r on. The g irl is not herselfa Bea tri ce at a ll , but a yo un g, rather s hy virg in . So yo u run th ese two sex ua l fanta sies- fea rs into eac h other. The irony of th e fi lm is th a t th ey both come true , both fantas ies arc rea li zed a t th e sa me mo ment: H er fears about sex a re fu ll y rea li zed a nd s he does beco me a beas t when s he loses he r virg init y; he ac hi eves hi s fantasy of a woman who is immo rt a l, di vine, a nd be tte r t ha n thi s wo rld . He has hi s Bea tr ice a nd she lives in a pre hum a n sta te- without fear. In the e nd , he creates a so rt of s hrine for her. Oliver is the s hy, somew ha t asoc ia l int ell ect ua l, a nd he 's th e o ne in th e piece I began to g rav it a te towa rd s. It's one of the ironies of m y doing th e fi lm that it's turn ed o ut as pe rsona l as any of th e o th e rs. Tha t rea ll y s urpri sed me."

O ne Sc hra de r assoc iate went further. If American Gigolo 's hi gh -rent stud Ju lia n Kay was Schrader's fantasy projectio n, it is Oli ver Ya tes in Ca l People who mo re accura tely mirrors the director's pe rso na: Durin g th e s hoo tin g in New Orlea ns, th e film 's emphasis underwent a tra ns fo rm at ion, with H ea rd 's role resha ped as th e e motiona l ce nte r. Cost um e r Da ni e l Pa redes o utfitted H ea rd in pleated pan ts a nd paste l s hirt s th a t mi g ht eas ily have bee n s na tc hed from Schrader's close t. In o ne seq uence of the film, Hea rd is see n memori zing La vita nuova ( Da nte is o ne of Schrader's to uchs to nes) whil e ladlin g o ut the a nim a ls' mo rning rat io n. " Basica ll y," Schrader o bse rves, "wha t yo u' re dea ling with a re yo ur ow n dream s a nd th e co ll ec ti ve fa nt asy in whic h yo u participate. I have ce rt a in rom a nti c-sexual o bsessio ns, N a nd o has a ce rta in look a nd feel to hi s work, an d yo u begin to opera te

from those. I began the fi lm with ce rta in phi losop hi cal an d c inemat ic model s, a nd I co uld drop names from Jung to J osep h Campbell to We lles, but th e mo ment yo u try to make a doctrin a ire fi lm is the momen t yo u a re in trou b le. Once yo u begin fi lming, yo u rea lize what yo ur ac tors a re best a t, where yo ur ow n sk ill s a rc s tro nges t.

At th a t po int , th e movie ta kes o n its ow n life an d yo u stop thinking a bo ut t he role models yo u may have s tudied before th e fi lm began. T he mos t difficult pa rt is to ma inta in enough int elli gence to know wha t yo u're doing a nd s till ma ke it fun- not get too heady a bout. it. " Schrader co nt inu es, "The problems that yo u have in rea l life ge t bro ug ht over to th e film s yo u ma ke. No m a tte r wh a t th e mater ia l. A directo r may te ll a n exec uti ve in a n office th at he ca n c ha nge hi s spots, but t ha t is a ve ry difficu lt thin g to do . M y backg ro und , my perso na lit y, being a n int e ll ec-

For his next film, says Schrader, "I'm p lanning to go the Cassavetes route16mm, hand ~ held, improv, all loca tions." t ua l a nd no t that gregar ious- th ose qua lit ies fi nd th e ir way into yo ur work. And yo u ca n o nl y fix th a t to a ce rta in deg ree.

We ll es, Coc tea u, a nd Franju a ren 't the most emot io na ll y access ibl e directo rs, e ith er. Cal People m ay stri ke people as havin g a coo l, detached feeling- lik e a dream o r myth. I mean, these a re charac ters who turn into ca ts, so yo u' re no t goi ng to sit there thinkin g, Oh , I' ve been there a nd this is jus t wha t it's lik e l I ca n te ll yo u, th o ug h, I will be very di sappoint ed if no bod y goes to see t hi s ju st beca use it is no t a fi lm of pure se lf-ex press ion , a perso na l s ta teme nt , as much as it m ig ht have bee n ha d I wri tte n it e nt irely m yse lf. " Although Universa l is reportedly optimistic, t he s tudi o fo r a tim e consid e red trotti ng o ut its ba ll yhoo g immi c k Sensurro und (used in Rollercoasler in 1977 a nd las t yea r in ZOOI Suil) . Schrader, who poi nt s o ut t ha t H o ll ywood has no roo m for E mil y Di c kinso ns , g rins a nd says, " We

we re pl a n nin g on bouncing those g row ls a ro und the theater so th a t it scared the li ving hell ou t of yo u l Sixteen or seventeen mi lli o n peop le will have to pay to see thi s movie for it to break eve n. That's a fact I und ers ta nd as we ll as the st udi o heads do. I fee l I can be tru s ted wi th m y knowledge of why people go to the movies an d my ow n integ rit y no t to need so meone tapp in g me o n the s ho uld e r, remi ndin g m e thi s is a n in vestmen t. I don't need comme rcia ll y oriented feedb ack to tell m e no t to drift into too esoteric a reas in films. " Whatever the respo nse to Cal People, th e fi lm has appa rentl y helped unblock Sc hrader's crea ti ve flow. "O nce I got sta rt ed wit h thi s picture," he says, " 'Born in th e U.S.A.' s udden ly bega n to materialize. I wa tc hed American Gigo lo th e o t he r ni g ht fo r the firs t tim e in over a yea r. I was s ur prised by two things. First, by how we ll directed it was. It was rea ll y in ge ni ous, origi na l, an d c leve r in that rega rd. I was a lso surprised a t how poorl y written it was, in term s of s t ruc ture, expos it ion. I f I hadn ' t written that sc ript , I' m s ure people wou ld have sa id , ' H e saved the m ate ri a l. ' Writing m akes se nse to me now, beca use wha t had happened was I g rew as a di recto r but no t as a writ er. IJlu e Collar is be tt e r wri tt e n than direc ted, but by the tim e I got to Gigolo, that was much better directed th a n writt e n. Ta kin g Ca l People wa s a very fortu ito us life decision because it let me wo rk primarily as a d irecto r in c reat in g the final movie of style th a t I had been moving toward. ow I ca n go back a nd work in a ve ry, very pe rsona l ve in usin g the blueco ll ar mili e u with people fro m m y ow n fami ly background. I've finally been ab le to work aga in as a good writer."

Sc h ra d e r is rew r itin g "Born in the U.S.A. " a nd hopes to go into prod uc ti o n so met im e thi s yea r. But it will not be done in the sty lis h mode of eith e r American Gigolo or Ca l People. " I'm planning to go the Cassave tes ro ute- 16mm, hand- he ld , imp rov, a ll loca ti o ns. I' m hoping to do it as a rea l st reet pict ure ." Following hi s re turn to th e g ritt y urban te rrai n on wh ich he first made his mark, Sc hra der inte nd s to la un c h ano ther lo ng-p ro m ised film: a "s ui c id a l glo ry" scree n biography o f nove list Y u ki o Mi s him a, fo r whi c h Schrader's brother Leona rd has co mp le ted a treat m e nt. " I feel reall y anx io us to wo rk now," Schrader says. " I' ll be go ing as fast as I ca n fo r another three or four years. A reg ul ar sprint. Then , who k nows? Maybe it' ll be time to stop a nd teac h aga in ." II Stephen Rebell o w rit es on fi lm from Los Angeles.

A PRIL 1982

45

NASTASSIA KINSKI . MALCOLM McDOWELL· JOHN HEARD· ANNETIE O'TOOLE UNE PRODUCTION CHARLES FRIES / UN FILM DE PAUL SCHRADER

"LA FE LI NE"

(CAT PEOPLE)

SCENARIO DE ALAN ORMSBY D'APRES UN SUJET DE DEWITI BODEEN . EFFETS VISUELS SPECIAUX DE ALBERT WHITLOCK MUSIQUE DE GIORGIO MORODER . DIRECTEUR DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE JOHN BAILEY · PRODUCTEUR EXECUTIF JERRY BRUCKHEIMER r.

PRODUIT PAR CHARLES FRIES · REALISE PAR PAUL SCHRADER

I!iI THEME INTERPRETE PAR OAVID BOWIE · PAROLES DE DAVID BOWIE · BANDE ORIGINALE SUR DlsaUES ET CASSETIES MCA DISTRIBUTION ARABELLA :::;w:: UN FILM RKO-UNIVERSAL DISTRIBUE PAR CINEMA INTERNATIONAL CORP,oRATION

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