These Amazing Shadows
The National Film Registry has now taken on the responsibility for saving as much of our cinematic history before it quite literally goes up in flames. The potency of films such as 'Casablanca', 'Blazing Saddles', 'West Side Story' and 'The Godfather' have made them an enduring part of our modern cultural heritage. The irony is that the film itself, is anything 'but enduring.' Nitrate made a great film stock for the early days of film production, with the one serious drawback - that it was explosive!
"You wouldn't believe how many people have actually died over the years because of the film industry. Literally, archives all over the world have exploded and gone up in flames. Archives in France, New York and all over the place have had raging fires caused by nitrate infernos. Entire theatres have burnt down in the past."
"So many films are completely destroyed forever, as there's no back up of any kind. Did you know that we have lost more than eighty percent of the Silent Era, and we have only fifty percent of all the films ever made before the 1950s. Some of them were masterpieces you know, and all we have now are some still frames."
"'The Godfather' for example, I had always thought that would have been looked after, right? Who could have imagined that the neg had literally been loved to death. It had been 'one lighted' so many times that it had become horribly faded and brittle from being printed so many times over the years. Well, it took an historic restoration to be able to keep it for the future. They had to restore all of the shadows because the blacks had faded to a muddy grey. Now they have the most beautiful reference copy imaginable. So we rescued 'The Godfather' in time, but just barely. How amazing is that?"
“I was shooting a scene for my own film, 'Of Two Minds' at Psycho Donuts in the Bay Area, when Kurt and Paul invited me to a brew pub to chat about their movie. I had no preconceptions at all! By the end of the night we were just the biggest film nerds talking through all of the candidates for their movie. For inspiration, we finished the night by watching Errol Morris' ode to film fans, which we all had to watch in my car on my iPhone via the cigarette lighter, 'cause I had run out of power!"
“When we started planing the movie, Kurt and Paul originally started from the position of wanting it to be the movie fans, scholars, directors, writers and actors talking about their favourite movies. Then it all became about people, who had participated in the process; or people who were really concerned with the history of film because they really knew the story. And that's where we got to!"
"Having people who really knew what happened on the film that could give these amazing insights into how the film was made. Some of the people we interviewed are considered to be cinematic royalty… and we got all of these beautiful unguarded moments from them about their favourite film!" In developing 'These Amazing Shadows', Doug, Paul and Kurt would regularly debate the films they thought were most worthy and interesting. "We had this crazy process of credits, by which we could trade, to get our favorite films in!"
"For me, 'Blazing Saddles' was my favorite, and then the guys introduced me to 'Baby Face' from the 1930s. I took it and ran with it. Its an edgy and scintillating film that was so far ahead of its time. Barbara Stanwyck was showing women what freedom and sex appeal was all about."
Here she was sleeping her way to the top! It was one of the very last movies before Pre-Code came into the US and shut down all the sexual liberalisation going on in Hollywood. From then on, everyone slept in different beds! What a contrast, 'Baby Face' and 'Blazing Saddles'!"
