Well, dear readers, and then there was Laverne and Shirley. I ask you, where else on all the Internet can you read such an opening salvo? Nowhere, that’s where? I remember my manager calling me and telling me that I’d been offered a role on the show, playing alongside Stephen Nathan, who, of course, had starred with Cindy and I in Nudie Musical. We played two guys who came over to go on a date, two guys who’d been led to believe that they were loose girls – it was one very funny scene and I said yes, as did Stephen. I don’t remember much about filming that episode, other than being Cindy’s confidante and shoulder and watching the unnecessary rivalry between her and Penny. Because the Marshalls were the producers of the show, Cindy had always felt she had to fight for every joke and every line. In fact, in her contract was a clause that there had to be an equal number of jokes for each character, and I remember sessions where our manager would actually count the jokes. Cindy would call me often during those days to rant and I would always talk through it with her. During those early years, Cindy and I also guest-starred together on four Donny and Marie shows. Everyone knew how close we were. One day Cindy called me at about two o’clock in the afternoon. Apparently, the producers had hired an extra to play an organist in a roller skating rink and the guy, well, was an extra, and was bringing nothing to the scene – and why would he be? Cindy wasn’t happy, Penny wasn’t happy, the producers and writers weren’t happy. Cindy asked if I could come down at four and just do the part. I’d be blocked into the scene, do whatever I felt like, and then later, after the show had been shot, the audience would stay and I would do my close-ups and adlib and do takes. Of course I said I’d be right down. I got on the set, was put in costume, placed behind an organ and we rehearsed the scene once, so I could see it, and then the audience was brought in for the taping. I just played around during the filming and actually got a few laughs – doing what I don’t really remember, since I haven’t seen the episode since it originally aired. After the filming, they brought a single camera over to the organ and just started filming and I did reaction shots and takes, and improvised a few lines, I think. The audience was there and laughing and it was quite fun. A few weeks later the show aired and I had no credit at the end. I’d done a favor and they’d completely neglected to put my name in the credits. My manager wasn’t thrilled and I certainly was rather annoyed. I asked her what we should do, and about fifteen minutes later she called and asked if they could make it right by giving me another guest shot in the next show. Of course that made it right – and the following week I did my third episode of the show, this time playing a director of army hygiene films, with the gals playing hookers. I had a blast, but the thing I remember most was playing scenes with the girls and having Penny say to me several times, “There’s another person in the scene.” And she was right – because Cindy and I were so used to playing scenes together, my eyes naturally went to her and never to Penny. I made the adjustment, and the peace was kept. The other thing that was memorable on these shows were the notes sessions, where all the writers, producers, and the director would all sit around the table and give notes. The reason it was both memorable and hilarious is that everyone, every single writer, producer, and whichever director it happened to be, all sounded like Garry and Penny – you know, that speech cadence they have. After Cindy and I did The Creature Wasn’t Nice, things got worse on Laverne and Shirley, and she ultimately left the show. They thought they could continue with just Penny, but they soon found out that that could never work – the show just wasn’t the show without BOTH of them – it was just a case of perfect on-camera chemistry, a once-in-a-lifetime thing.
Why in tarnation did I go on a Laverne and Shirley binge? I have no idea, actually – it just popped into my head for no reason whatsoever. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because it’s Saturday and I have to address a LOT of packages today and therefore must get my beauty sleep.
Yesterday was quite an okay day. I did the long jog, did some writing, picked up a couple of packages, had some lunch, and did some errands and whatnot. And I managed to watch two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Bye Bye Braverman, a film of Sidney Lumet, a critical and box-office flop. I first saw the film in 1976 or 1977 when I bought an IB Technicolor print of it, on the recommendation of a friend who really liked it. I was quite taken with the film, somewhat because the Tech print was so vibrant, and because it had a really arch, verbose, and quirky sense of humor. And the cast was fantastic – George Segal doing his George Segal thing, which he did better than anyone, Jack Warden, Joseph Wiseman (in a wonderful and not hammy performance), Zohra Lampert, Jessica Walters, and a wonderful one-scene comic turn by Godfrey Cambridge, along with a one-scene long monologue by Alan King. However, the best performance in the film is by Sorrell Booke, who is absolutely hilarious every step of the way. He should have received an Oscar nomination. The Warners Archive transfer is one of their better ones – yes, a bit brown, but not bad really. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Soldier In The Rain, a Blake Edwards production of a Ralph Nelson film (I’ve always wondered why Blake didn’t direct it), from the novel by William Goldman, starring Steve McQueen, Jackie Gleason, Tuesday Weld, Tony Bill, and lots of other good actors. I’ve always liked the film, but there’s something about it, it’s middle section, that just prevents it from being a great movie – not even sure what it is, but I feel that way every time I see it. That said, McQueen is his usual terrific self, one of the finest screen actors ever, and Gleason is really good here – very real, funny, moving, and endearing. There’s never really been anyone like Tuesday Weld, and I have never not fallen in love with her in a movie. There is a very sparse score by Henry Mancini, mainly just two themes, probably not more than about fourteen minutes in all. However, for my money, his melancholy Soldier In The Rain theme is one of the most beautiful things he ever wrote. The transfer is okay.
Today, I shall try to do the long jog, I shall address a LOT of packages, and then my wiring guy is coming over to rewire everything into the new TV and Blu-Ray player. Other than that, I’m not doing much of anything else. I could go see Wolverine at the DGA – we shall see.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, maybe do the long jog, address packages, and have things re-wired, not to mention eating something amusing. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Steve McQueen films – he really was one of my all-time screen favorites. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I close with my favorite line from Soldier In The Rain – pure William Goldman – “Until that time – until that time.”