Screenplay Games: Famous Movie Newsletter Vol. 7

This is volume 7 of what we hope will be interesting bits of motion picture trivia, legend and other useless stuff brought to you by Movie Time! the board game of memorable movie quotes. This information was compiled from numerous sources and is offered to customers and supporters of Movie Time! to make their game playing more enjoyable.

Before we launch into this volume's info, we want to remind you that Screenplay Games, Inc. donates 5% of all internet sales to the US Army Emergency Relief Fund to assist soldiers and their families. We encourage you to support this AER if you can.

We also have developed a program to assist local charities through personal appearances with a portion of proceeds from games sold going to the charity. If you have an organization that might benefit, please contact us. We will be appearing at classic films showings at Austin 's Paramount Theatre on June 7-8, June 22, July 5-6 and July 17-18. If you are in the area, come out and support the Austin Theatre Alliance and see some great films in a grand old theatre. For a complete schedule go to www.austintheatrealliance.org

What is unusual about director Alan Smithee? He directed such films as "Death of a Gunfighter" (1969), "Let's Get Harry" (1986), "Shrimp on the Barbie" (1990) and "Hellraiser: Bloodline" (1996). The answer appears below.

Movie Trivia on Harris Ford

Harrison Ford's first movie role was that of a bell hop in "Dead Heat on a Merry Go Round" (1966). This has been shown on one of those "before they were stars" shows. He received no mention in the credits. That small role was followed by playing a hippy in "Luv" (1967). During those early years, Ford appeared on TV programs like "The Virginian", "The Mod Squad" and "Gunsmoke". He became a household name in 1977 with the release of "Star Wars".

Ford's 2nd wife, Melissa Mathison, wrote the screenplay for "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial" (1982).

The scar on Harrison Ford's chin was the result of an automobile accident which he says happened when he lost control of the vehicle while trying to buckle his seat belt.

One of Harrison Ford's most memorable scenes is from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) where he unexpectedly shoots a sword wielding villain. The scene was supposed to be a rather lengthy sword vs. whip fight. Ford was extremely ill the day of shooting in Cairo . He asked director, Steven Spielberg, if the scene could be shorter. Spielberg replied that the only way he knew to shorten the scene would be if Indiana Jones just pulled out a gun and shot the guy. That's the way they did it without even informing the crew. The crew probably thought it was a joke since most burst into laughter.

Bad Movies :

In a previous mailing, I asked you to tell us about some of the worst movies you had seen. Here are some entries:

    "Plan 9 from Outer Space" (1959) is generally acknowledged as the worst film ever made. Directed by Edward Wood, Jr. this rapidly filmed thing about grave robbers from space featured model flying saucers (the kind you can buy in a hobby shop) suspended from fishing line that was clearly visible in the movie. For a different perspective, watch "Ed Wood" (1994) starring Johnny Depp. It gives an interesting insight to this kooky, cross-dressing director.

    "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas " (1998). Your humble reporter was chairman of the Kingman, AZ film commission and assisted in the filming of this one. They shot two scenes at the Kingman airport. They are the last two scenes in the movie and when it was released (or escaped) we sat through about 113 minutes of mess to see our 5 minutes. Nearly 2 hours of drug induced hallucinations was more than I can take.

     One of our readers reported that they had seen "Hudson Hawk" (1991)   on a jumbo jet headed for Tokyo . He said it was such a long flight that getting engrossed in a movie would make the flight seem to go faster. After watching "HH" he realized that this is a movie you would want to watch if you were told you only had a week to live because it makes 2 hours seem like a month.

Updates :

In a previous mailing, I said to be on the lookout for "Timeline" from a Michael Crichton book and directed by Richard Donner. The anticipated release date has been moved back for a Christmas season release. This bodes well for the film since this is the time studios their best movies.

We saw "A Mighty Wind" (2003) and it was another fun film from Christopher Guest and his cast of zany actors. If you plan to see it and have not already seen "Waiting for Guffman" (1996) and/or "Best in Show" (2000), I recommend you rent one or both of these movies. Most of the fun of these films is seeing what character each actor will play this time.

Movie Answer :

Even though Alan Smithee has directed 24 films and many more TV episodes, he does not exist. This is the name used by individuals when the movie or television show they have directed is completely changed from the way they envisioned it and they do not want their name associated with the production. The Directors Guild allows them to use the pseudonym rather than being "directorless".

Great Movie Lines :

    In what movie will you hear Frank Oz say, "A bear in his native habitat, a Studebaker".

    In what movie will you hear Tom Hanks say, " He better be worth it. He better go home and cure a disease, or invent a longer lasting light bulb".

    In what movie will you hear Richard Gere ask, "What makes you think I'm a lawyer?" and Julia Roberts responds, "Because you have that sharp useless look about you".

    In what movie will you hear Ann Margaret ask, "Your name is Handsome Stranger?" and Arnold Schwarzenegger replies, "Yes, I was named after my father".

For the answers to these click www.screenplaygames.com and play the on-line game.