Steven Spielberg

by Joseph McBride

  CALIFORNIA STATE COLLEGE AT LONG BEACH:

  Dan Baker, Ralph Burris, Robert Finney, Stephen Hubbert, Howard Martin, Hubert (Hugh) Morehead

  FILM INDUSTRY COLLABORATORS AND COLLEAGUES:

  Edward M. Abroms, Joseph Alves Jr., Margaret Avery, Stephen Bach, David Bale, Richard Belding, Peter Benchley, Tony Bill, Robert S. Birchard, Jeffrey Boam, Orin Borsten, Joseph E. Boston, Meredith Brody, Ralph Burris, Jeff Corey, Roger Corman, Joe Dante, Joan Darling, Allen Daviau, Jon Davison, George Eckstein, Sharon Farrell, Michael Finneil, Bob Gale, David Giler, William S. Gilmore Jr., Carl Gottlieb, Gary Graver, Devorah Mann Hardberger, Dean Hargrove, Donald E. Heitzer, Arthur Hill, Denis C. Hoffman, Martin Hornstein, Willard Huyck, Lawrence Kasdan, Gloria Katz, Howard Kazanjian, John Landis, Rocky Lang, William Link, Carey Loftin, Jerry McNeely, Hal Mann, James Mann, Tony Martinelli, Richard B. Matheson, Richard Christian Matheson, Mike Medavoy, Frank Morriss, George J. Nicholson, Peter Z. Orton, Jerry Pam, Michael Phillips, Carl Pingitore, John Ptak, Louis B. Race, Julie Raymond, William Sackheim, Peter Saphier, Charles A. (Chuck) Silvers, Robert Stack, Lionel Stander, Bill Stanley, Tom Stoppard, Barry Sullivan, Jeannot Szwarc, David Tomblin, Douglas Trumbull, John Veitch, Anson Williams, Richard D. Zanuck, Fred Zinnemann, Vilmos Zsigmond

  OTHERS:

  James Auer, Charles Champlin, Eva Klein David, Stephen Farber, Dr. Florabel Kinsler, Peter Mora, A. D. Murphy, Jennifer Pendleton, Bob Polunsky, Jerry Roberts, Jakob (Alex) Schneider, Bob Thomas, David Weddle, Michael Wilmington

  STEVEN SPIELBERG INTERVIEWS AND ARTICLES BY SPIELBERG

  Abbreviations used in this section and in the chapter notes include: DV, Daily Variety, Los Angeles; HR, The Hollywood Reporter; LADN, the Los Angeles Daily News; LAHE, the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner; LAT, the Los Angeles Times; and NYT, The New York Times. References to books and articles are listed fully the first time; subsequent references include only the author’s last name (and, in the case of more than one book or article by a single author, the title).

  Adler, Dick. “Hitchhiking on the Road to Success,” TV Guide, August 26, 1972.

  Alward, Jennifer. “An Interview with Steven Spielberg,” The Filmex Flash, September 1976.

  Andrews, Suzanna. “The Man Who Would Be Walt,” NYT, January 26, 1992.

  Ansen, David. “Spielberg’s Obsession,” Newsweek, December 20, 1993.

  Anthony, George. “King of Inner Space,” Marquee, July–August 1982.

  Austin, Chuck. “Director Steve Spielberg,” Filmmakers Newsletter, December 1977.

  Bagala, Jo Marie. “Director Wheels Way Through Bicycle Epic,” The Forty-Niner (California State College at Long Beach), October 4, 1967.

  Blair, Jon. “Spielberg Comes of Age,” Esquire (U.K.), March 1994.

  Bobrow, Andrew C. “Filming The Sugarland Express: An Interview with Steven Spielberg,” Filmmakers Newsletter, Summer 1974.

  Breskin, David. “The Rolling Stone Interview: Steven Spielberg,” October 24, 1985.

  Callo, Jim. “Director Steven Spielberg Takes the Wraps Off E.T., Revealing His Secrets at Last,” People, August 23, 1982.

  ——. “Steven Spielberg’s Musings on Poltergeist,” November 1, 1982.

  Cameron, Sue. “How to Succeed—Sneak Past the Studio Guard,” HR, April 13, 1971.

  Champlin, Charles. “Spielberg’s Escape from Escapism,” LAT, February 2, 1986.

  Clark, Esther. “Teenage Cecil B.,” The Arizona Republic, December 8, 1963.

  Collins, Glenn. “Spielberg Films The Color Purple,”NYT, December 15, 1985.

  Combs, Richard. “Primal Scream: An Interview with Steven Spielberg,” Sight and Sound, Spring 1977.

  Cook, Bruce. “Close Encounters with Steven Spielberg,” American Film, November 1977.

  Corliss, Richard. “Steve’s Summer Magic,” Time, May 31, 1982.

  ——. “‘I Dream for a Living,’” Time, July 15, 1985.

  Crist, Judith. Take 22: Moviemakers on Moviemaking. Viking, 1984 (includes a 1982 seminar with Spielberg).

  Davidson, Bill. “Will 1941 Make Spielberg a Billion-Dollar Baby?,” NYT, December 9, 1979.

  Elkin, Michael. “On Spielberg’s A-‘List,’” Jewish Exponent, March 18, 1994.

  Elkins, Merry, ed. “Steven Spielberg on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” American Cinematographer, July 1984.

  Forsberg, Myra. “Spielberg at 40: The Man and the Child,” NYT, January10, 1988.

  Gallagher, John. “A First Encounter with Steven Spielberg,” Grand Illusions, Winter 1977.

  Griffin, Nancy. “Spielberg’s Last Crusade,” Time Out, May 24–31, 1989.

  Gritten, David. “Grim. Black and White … Spielberg?” LAT, May 9, 1993.

  Gross, Linden. “Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounter with the Past,” Reader’s Digest, April 1996.

  Grunwald, Lisa. “Steven Spielberg Gets Real,” Life, December 1993.

  Guthmann, Edward. “Spielberg’s List,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 12, 1993.

  Haber, Joyce. “The Man Who Bit the Bullet on Jaws,” LAT, July 13, 1975.

  Harper, Suzanne. “Spielberg,” Nutshell, Spring 1984.

  Heathwood, Gail. “Steven Spielberg,” Cinema Papers, April–June 1978.

  Helpern, David. “At Sea with Steven Spielberg,” Take One, March–April 1974.

  Hirschberg, Lynn. “Will Hollywood’s Mr. Perfect Ever Grow Up?” Rolling Stone, July 19– August 2, 1984.

  Hluchy, Patricia, and Gillian MacKay. “Spielberg’s Magic Screen,” Maclean’s, June 4, 1984.

  Hodenfield, Chris. “The Sky Is Full of Questions!!: Science Fiction in Steven Spielberg’s Suburbia,” Rolling Stone, January 26, 1978.

  ——. “1941: Bombs Away!” Rolling Stone, January 24, 1980.

  Hull, Bob. “22-Year-Old Tyro Directs Joan Crawford: ‘A Pleasure,’” HR, February 17, 1969.

  Hutchison, David. “Steven Spielberg: The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark’” Starlog, September 1981.

  Jacobs, Diane. “Interview with Steven Spielberg,” Millimeter, November 1977.

  Jagger, Bianca, and Andy Warhol. “Steven Spielberg,” Interview, June 1982.

  Janos, Leo. “Steven Spielberg: L’Enfant Directeur,” Cosmopolitan, June 1980.

  Kakutani, Michiko. “The Two Faces of Spielberg—Horror vs. Hope,” NYT, May 30, 1982.

  Klemesrud, Judy. “Can He Make the Jaws of Outer Space?,” NYT, May 15, 1977.

  Kramer, Rabbi William M. “My Shtetele California: Young Steve Spielberg,” HERITAGE: Southwest Jewish Press, November 27, 1970, reprinted July 18, 1986.

  Kroll, Jack. “Close Encounter with Spielberg,” Newsweek, November 21, 1977.

  Lane, Randall. “‘I Want Gross,’” Forbes, September 26, 1994.

  Lightman, Herb A. “The New Panaflex Camera Makes Its Production Debut,” American Cinematographer, May 1973.

  ——. “Spielberg Speaks About Close Encounters,”American Cinematographer, January 1978.

  McCarthy, Todd. “Sand Castles,” Film Comment, May–June 1982.

  Margolis, Herbert, and Craig Modderno, “Penthouse Interview: Steven Spielberg,” Penthouse, January 1978.

  Maslin, Janet. “Spielberg’s Journey from Sharks to the Stars,” NYT, November 13, 1977.

  Olmsted, Dan. “‘Ex–Boy Scout Makes Movies,’” USA Weekend, July 30, 1989.

  Pancol, Katherine. “Steven Spielberg,” Hello!, 1990.

  Perlez, Jane. “Spielberg Grapples with the Horror of the Holocaust,” NYT, June 13, 1993.

  Perry, George. “Purple Raider,” London Sunday Times, June 15, 1986.

  Pile, Susan, and Tere Tereba. “Steven Spielberg: From Jaws to Paws,” Interview, May 1977.

  Pollock, Dale. “Spielberg Philosophical Over E.T. Oscar Defeat,” LAT, April 13, 1983.

  ——. “Spielberg Gets Place to Settle Down,” LAT, May 21, 1984.

  Poster, Steve. “The Mind Behind Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” American Cinematographer, February 1978.

  Rader,
Dotson. “‘We Can’t Just Sit Back and Hope,’” Parade, March 27, 1994.

  Rehlin, Gunnar. “Even Steven,” Scanorama, May 1990.

  Reilly, Sue. “By Raiding Hollywood Lore and His Childhood Fantasies, Steven Spielberg Rediscovers an Ark That’s Pure Gold,” People, July 20, 1981.

  Richardson, John H. “Steven’s Choice,” Premiere, January 1994.

  Rosenfield, Paul. “The Inside Man,” LAT, December 3, 1989.

  Royal, Susan. “Steven Spielberg in His Adventures on Earth,” American Premiere, July 1982.

  ——. “Always: An Interview with Steven Spielberg,” American Premiere, December 1989.

  ——. “An Interview with Steven Spielberg,” American Premiere, Winter 1993–94.

  Salamon, Julie. “Maker of Hit After Hit, Steven Spielberg Is Also a Conglomerate,” Wall Street Journal, February 9, 1987.

  ——. “The Long Voyage Home,” Harper’s Bazaar, February 1994.

  Savoy, Maggie. “Pennies for Perry: Young Movie Producer Aids School for Retarded,” The Arizona Republic, July 19, 1962.

  Schiff, Stephen. “Seriously Spielberg,” The New Yorker, March 21, 1994.

  Seligson, Marcia. “Steven Spielberg: The Man Behind Columbia Pictures’ $19-Million Gamble,” New West, November 7, 1977.

  Shah, Diane K. “Steven Spielberg, Seriously,” LAT, December 19, 1993.

  Shay, Don. “Steven Spielberg on Close Encounters,” Cinefantastique, Vol. 7, Nos. 3–4, Fall 1978.

  Siskel, Gene. “With Purple, Spielberg Finally Grows Up and Gets Serious,” Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1985.

  Spielberg, Steven. “The Unsung Heroes or Credit Where Credit Is Due” (on Close Encounters of the Third Kind), American Cinematographer, January 1978.

  ——. “Dialogue on Film: Steven Spielberg,” American Film, September 1978.

  ——. “Directing 1941,”American Cinematographer, December 1979.

  ——. “Of Narrow Misses and Close Calls” (on Raiders of the Lost Ark), American Cinematographer, November 1981.

  ——. “He Was the Movies” (on François Truffaut), Film Comment, February 1985.

  ——, as told to Denise Worrell, “The Autobiography of Peter Pan,” Time, July 15, 1985.

  ——. “Dialogue on Film,” American Film, June 1988.

  ——. “Sometimes We Take the Abuse in Silence” (letter), San Jose Mercury News, January 11, 1994.

  Spillman, Susan. “Schindler’s List a work for history,” USA Today, December 10, 1993.

  Sragow, Michael. “Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Ultimate Saturday Matinee,” Rolling Stone, June 25, 1981.

  ——. “A Conversation with Steven Spielberg,” Rolling Stone, July 22, 1982.

  Stettin, Monte. “From Television to Features … Steven Spielberg,” Millimeter, March 1975.

  Thronson, Ron. “Student to Direct 12th Film,” The Forty-Niner, April 12, 1967.

  Tuchman, Mitch. “Close Encounter with Steven Spielberg,” Film Comment, January– February 1978.

  Tugend, Tom. “Spielberg’s Remembrance of Things Past,” The Jerusalem Post, December 10–16, 1993.

  Turner, George E. “Steven Spielberg and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,”American Cinema tographer, January 1983.

  ——. “Spielberg Makes ‘All Too Human’ Story,” American Cinematographer, February 1986.

  Ventura, Michael. “Spielberg on Spielberg,” L.A. Weekly, June 11–17, 1982.

  Warga, Wayne. “The Short Subjects—Much in Little,” LAT, December 22, 1968.

  ——. “Spielberg Keeps His Touch in Transition,” LAT, April 3, 1974.

  Weinraub, Bernard. “Steven Spielberg Faces the Holocaust,” NYT, December 12, 1993.

  Wuntch, Philip. “Spielberg Frames a New Image,” Dallas Morning News, December 12, 1993.

  Zimmerman, Paul D. “Hard Riders,” Newsweek, April 8, 1974.

  BOOKS ON STEVEN SPIELBERG

  Baxter, John. The Unauthorised Biography: Steven Spielberg. London: HarperCollins, 1996.

  Brode, Douglas. The Films of Steven Spielberg. Citadel Press, 1995.

  Collins, Tom. Steven Spielberg, Creator of E.T. Dillon Press, 1983 (children’s biography).

  Conklin, Thomas. Meet Steven Spielberg. Random House, 1994 (children’s biography).

  Crawley, Tony. The Steven Spielberg Story: The Man Behind the Movies. London: Zomba Books, and New York: Quill Press, 1983.

  Ebert, Roger, and Gene Siskel. The Future of the Movies: Interviews with Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas. Andrews and McMeel, 1991.

  Ferber, Elizabeth. Steven Spielberge. Chelsea House, 1997 (childern’s biography).

  Fernández, Marcial Cantero. Steven Spielberg. Madrid: Ediciones Cátedra, 1993.

  Godard, Jean-Pierre. Spielberg. Paris: 1987.

  Goldau, Antje, and Hans Helmut Prizler. Spielberg: Film als Spielzeug. Berlin: 1985.

  Hargrove, Jim. Steven Spielberg: Amazing Filmmaker. Children’s Press, 1988 (children’s biography).

  Johnson, Barbara Pearce, Sam L. Grogg Jr., and Annette Bagley. Steven Spielberg Study Guide. American Film Institute, 1979.

  Kolker, Robert Philip. A Cinema of Loneliness: Penn, Kubrick, Scorsese, Spielberg, Alt man. Oxford University Press, 1980 (revised edition, 1988).

  Lara, Antonio. Spielberg: maestro del cine de hoy. Madrid: Hargrove, 1990.

  Leather, Michael C. The Picture Life of Steven Spielberg. Franklin Watts, 1988 (children’s biography).

  Mabery, D. L. Steven Spielberg. Lerner Publications Co., 1986.

  McAllister, Mareia L. Steven Spielberg: He Makes Great Movies. Rourke Enterprises, 1989 (children’s biography).

  Mott, Donald R. and Cheryl McAllister Saunders. Steven Spielberg. Twayne Publishers, 1986.

  Pye, Michael, and Lynda Myles. The Movie Brats: How the Film Generation Took Over Hollywood. London: Faber and Faber, and New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1979.

  Sanello, Frank. Spielberg: The Man, The Movies, The Mythology. Taylor, 1996.

  Schneider, Wolf, ed. Steven Spielberg (American Film Institute Life Achievement Award program booklet). AFI, 1995.

  Sinyard, Neil. The Films of Steven Spielberg. London: Bison Books, 1987.

  Somazzi, Claudio. Steven Spielberg: Dreaming the Movies. E/K/S Group, 1994.

  Taylor, Philip M. Steven Spielberg: The Man, His Movies, and Their Meaning. London: Batsford, and New York: Continuum, 1992 (revised Continuum edition, 1994).

  Van Gunden, Kenneth. Postmodern Auteurs: Coppola, Lucas, De Palma, Spielberg and Scorsese. McFarland, 1991.

  Weiss, Ulli. Das Neue Hollywood: Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese. Munich: 1986.

  BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS ON SPIELBERG FILMS AND TV SHOWS

  Balaban, Bob. “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” Diary. Introduction by Steven Spielberg. Paradise Press, 1977.

  Blake, Edith. On Location on Martha’s Vineyard (The Making of the Movie “Jaws”). Ballantine, 1975.

  Duncan, Jody. “The Flintstones”: The Official Movie Book. Modern Publishing, 1994.

  Durwood, Thomas, ed. “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”: A Document of the Film. Introduction by Ray Bradbury. Ariel/Ballantine, 1978.

  Erickson, Glenn, and Mary Ellen Trainor. The Making of “1941.” Ballantine, 1980.

  Farber, Stephen, and Marc Green. Outrageous Conduct: Art, Ego, and the “Twilight Zone” Case. Arbor House/Morrow, 1988.

  Fensch, Thomas, ed. Oskar Schindler and His List: The Man, the Book, the Film, the Holocaust and Its Survivors. Introduction by Herbert Steinhouse. Paul S. Eriksson, 1995.

  Gottlieb, Carl. The “Jaws” Log. Dell, 1975.

  Klastorin, Michael, and Sally Hibbin. “Back to the Future”: The Official Book of the Complete Movie Trilogy. Mallard Press, 1990.

  LaBrecque, Ron. Special Effects: Disaster at “Twilight Zone”: The Tragedy and the Trial. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988.

  Millar, Al. E.T.—You’re More Than a Movie Star. Privately published, 1982 (pamphl
et).

  Pourroy, Janine. Behind the Scenes at “ER.” Ballantine, 1995.

  Reed, Rochelle, ed. “The Sugarland Express”—Spielberg, Barwood and Robbins, Zsigmond. American Film Institute, 1974.

  Shay, Don, and Jody Duncan. The Making of “Jurassic Park.” Ballantine, 1993.

  Spielberg, Steven (introduction). Letters to E.T. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1983.

  Taylor, Derek. The Making of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Ballantine, 1981.

  Walker, Alice. The Same River Twice: Honoring the Difficult (on Spielberg’s filming of her novel The Color Purple). Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1996.

  CHAPTER NOTES

  EPIGRAPH

  Michael Crichton’s comment is from his article “Across Time and Culture” in Schneider.

  PROLOGUE: “CECIL B. DESPIELBERG” (PP. 11–15)

  “Firelights Capture Earthlings in Film Premiering Tuesday” was the headline of a March 1964 article in The Arizona Republic. Spielberg’s boyhood friend Jim Sollenberger told the author that Steven’s mother called him “Cecil B. DeSpielberg”; the “Spielbug” nickname was recalled by Rick Cook, his classmate at Arcadia High School in Phoenix. Spielberg’s ambition to be “the Cecil B. DeMille of science fiction” was reported by Firelight crew member Jean Weber Brill.