Information about Spielberg’s departure from Long Beach State is from the CSULB records office. The date he began rehearsing his Night Gallery segment “Eyes” is from the author’s interview with Barry Sullivan and from Army Archerd’s column, DV, February 6, 1969, which also includes Crawford’s comment about Spielberg’s age and information about her illness. Universal’s firing of Bette Davis was reported by Julie Raymond. The story of Spielberg’s first meeting with Crawford is from the author’s interview with Chuck Silvers and from Bob Thomas, Joan Crawford: A Biography, Simon & Schuster, 1978 (which also contains an account of the filming, based on Thomas’s interview with Spielberg). Other sources on Night Gallery include the author’s interviews with William Sackheim and Edward M. Abroms; Joel Engel, Rod Serling: The Dreams and Nightmares of Life in the Twilight Zone, Contemporary Books, 1989; Gordon F. Sander, Serling: The Rise and Twilight of Television’s Last Angry Man, Dutton, 1992; Marc Scott Zicree, The Twilight Zone Companion (second edition), Silman-James Press, 1992; “U’s Night Gallery First Joan Crawford 2-Hr Vidpic,” DV, January 23, 1969; Hull’s HR interview with Spielberg on the final day of shooting; and “Lady in the Dark,” TV Guide, August 16, 1969.
Spielberg’s tour of Universal for Michael Crichton was reported by Rick Du Brow, “Beyond Blood and Yucks,” LAT, November 6, 1994. The director’s comment on Serling was quoted by Marc Wielage in “Spielberg’s Unknown Video Movies,” Video Review, December 1982. Spielberg’s memorial tribute to Crawford is from Kevin Thomas, “Academy Pays Radiant Tribute to Joan Crawford,” LAT, June 27, 1977. He commented on the editing of “Eyes” in Tay Garnett, ed. by Anthony Slide, Directing: Learn from the Masters, Scarecrow Press, 1996. Sources on the Snow White project (based on the Donald Barthelme novella published in The New Yorker, February 18, 1967) include the author’s interviews with Medavoy and David Giler; Hull; and A. H. Weiler, “Snow White Swings,” NYT, February 23, 1969.
The genesis of The Sugarland Express was related by co-screenwriter Hal Barwood in Reed’s booklet on the film. The article that first attracted Spielberg’s attention, “New Bonnie’n [sic] Clyde,” Hollywood Citizen-News, May 2, 1969, was identified by Spielberg in his interview with Helpern. Other articles on the actual Texas incident include: “Hostage Patrolman Rescued,” San Antonio Evening News, May 2, 1969; “Policeman’s Captor Slain by Officers,” San Antonio Express and News, May 3, 1969; “Policeman Abductor Dies of Gun Wounds,” LAT, May 3, 1969; “Dent First Shot by Sheriff,” San Antonio Express and News, May 4, 1969; and “Texas Lawmen Dispute Sugarland,” LAT, November 14, 1975.
Spielberg’s comment about being in a “despondent” state at Universal in 1969 and his subsequent praise of Sid Sheinberg and other executives are from Cameron. Sheinberg recalled Spielberg’s “avant-garde” reputation to Hirschberg. The executive commented on his role in Spielberg’s TV career in Aaron Latham, “MCA’s Bad Cop Shoots from the Hip,” Manhattan, Inc., July 1988, and praised “Par for the Course” to Kramer.
Spielberg’s representation by Mike Medavoy and Creative Management Associates was discussed with the author by Medavoy; other sources include Spielberg’s comments in Reed, and Claudia Eller, “A Former Agent’s Field(s) of Dreams” (on CMA partner Freddie Fields), LAT, June 16, 1995. Carl Gottlieb recalled his and Spielberg’s film projects in an interview with the author and in his book The “Jaws” Log; Spielberg’s interest in directing The Christian Licorice Store was reported by Allen Daviau. Sources on Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies include the author’s interviews with Medavoy, Richard D. Zanuck, and Daviau; “Trio Form Co. for Filming of Ace Eli Pic,” HR, and “Ace Filming Planned,” DV, January 6, 1970; “Pseudonyms Take Credit (or Blame) for Ace Eli & Rodger of the Skies?” DV, February 26, 1973; and reviews by Murf (A. D. Murphy), Variety, May 2, 1973, and Vincent Canby, NYT, March 2, 1974. Spielberg’s opinion of Ace Eli is from Reed.
The order in which Spielberg directed his episodic TV shows is from Tuchman, in which Spielberg identifies “Par for the Course” and “Murder by the Book” as his two best TV episodes. The airdates are from sources including Gianakos, Television Drama Series Programming, and reviews in DV and HR. Wielage reported the partial reshooting of “Make Me Laugh” by Jeannot Szwarc. Information on Whispering Death is from the author’s interview with Jeff Corey and from Donna Witzleben, ed., Television Programming Source Books, Vol. 2: Films M–Z, 1994–95, North American Publishing Co., 1994. DV reviews of Spielberg’s TV shows include: Daku. (Dave Kaufman), Night Gallery (“Eyes”), November 10, 1969; Helm. (Jack Hellman), The Name of the Game (“LA 2017”), January 18, 1971; and Tone. (Tony Scott), Columbo (“Murder by the Book”) and The Psychiatrist (“Par for the Course”), September 16, 1971. John Mahoney reviewed Night Gallery in HR on November 11, 1969. NBC promoted “LA 2017” with a full-page advertisement in DV, January 15, 1971. The trade ad for “Par for the Course” was printed in DV and HR on March 10, 1971; Cecil Smith wrote about that program in “A Career Switch for Joan Darling,” LAT, January 3, 1973. Joseph E. Boston recalled working with Spielberg on Marcus Welby in an interview with the author and in a September 15, 1994, letter to the author.
Sources on Richard Levinson, William Link, and Columbo include the author’s interview with Link; Levinson and Link, Stay Tuned: An Inside Look at the Making of Prime-Time Television, St. Martin’s Press, 1981; Levinson and Link, Off Camera: Conversations with the Makers of Prime-Time Television, New American Library, 1986; Mark Dawidziak, The Columbo Phile: A Casebook, The Mysterious Press, 1989; and David Marc and Robert J. Thompson, Prime Time, Prime Movers, Little, Brown, 1992. Peter Falk’s comment on Spielberg is from Michael Leahy, “Raincoat Man,” TV Guide, December 14, 1991.
Spielberg recalled “some bad experiences with TV stars” in Paul Rosenfield, The Club Rules, Warner Books, 1992. His 1995 summation of his period as a TV contract director is from “The Film School Generation” segment of American Cinema (PBS). The February 9, 1971, southern California earthquake was reported in various LAT articles, February 10–11. Information on Spielberg’s house in Laurel Canyon is from Klemesrud and the author’s interviews with Ralph Burns and Joan Darling.
9. “THE STEVEN SPIELBERG BUSINESS’’ (PP. 199–225)
The comments on Spielberg by Billy Wilder and Barry Diller are from Haber.
Sources on Duel include the author’s interviews with Richard Matheson, George Eckstein, Frank Morriss, Carey Loftin, and Joan Darling; “Richard Burton Matheson,” Contemporary Authors, Gale Research Co., 1981; Cecil Smith, “The Making of a 4–Wheel Monster,” LAT, November 8, 1971; “French Prize to Duel,” DV, February 22, 1973; “New Award to Duel,” DV, July 27, 1973; “Spielberg Ducks Politics,” Variety, September 12, 1973; “Universal Sets Duel Release, 1st Spielberg Pic,” DV, February 14, 1983; Jack Searles, “Can 12-Year-Old TV Film Make It in Theaters?” LAHE, February 15, 1983; Deborah Caulfield, “Spielberg’s TV Duel Revived for Theaters,” LAT, February 16, 1983; and “No Sale,” LAHE, July 21, 1983. Matheson’s short story was published in Playboy, April 1971; his teleplay is dated September 1, 1971. Shooting dates and information about the filming of the climactic scene are from notes in Morriss’s cutting script. Critical commentary includes Stephen King, Danse Macabre, Everest House, 1981, and reviews by Tone. (Tony Scott), DV, November 15, 1971, and Dilys Powell, Sunday Times of London, October 1972, reprinted in Christopher Cook, ed., The Dilys Powell Film Reader, Oxford University Press, 1992. Full-page advertisements promoting Duel appeared in DV and HR on November 12, 1971. David Lean’s comment is from Corliss, “‘I Dream for a Living.’”
Directorial assignments on McKlusky (released as White Lightning) were reported in “Steve Spielberg Directs UA Film,” HR, March 1, 1972, and “Sargent to Direct Reynolds’ McKlusky,” DV, April 28, 1972. Sources on Something Evil include the author’s interviews with Jeff Corey, Margaret Avery, and Darling, and an interview with Bill Butler in Dennis Schaefer and Larry Salvato, Masters of Light: Conversations with Contemporary Cinematogra
phers, University of California Press, 1984; the review by Daku. (Dave Kaufman) appeared in DV, January 25, 1972. Sources on Savage include the author’s interviews with William Link and Barry Sullivan; Martin Landau’s comments in Lee Goldberg, Unsold Television Pilots: 1955 through 1988, McFarland, 1990; and the DV review by Tone. (Tony Scott), April 2,1973.
Spielberg’s relationship with Jennings Lang was recalled by the executive’s son Jennings Rockwell (Rocky) Lang as well as by his assistant, Peter Saphier, and Orin Borsten. Other sources include Rosenfield, The Club Rules; “Meet the Executives: Jennings Lang,” Universal City Studios News, December 1965; Wayne Warga, “He Keeps His Assets Moving,” LAT, December 22, 1974; Mel Gussow, “Jennings Lang, 81, Executive on High-Gross Disaster Films,” NYT, and Myrna Oliver, “Jennings Lang: Produced Earthquake, Airport Movies,” LAT, May 31, 1996 (obituaries). Clearwater was announced by Universal as a Spielberg project in an LAT item, November 5, 1973.
See notes for the previous chapter on the genesis of The Sugarland Express (working title: Carte Blanche). The second-draft screenplay of The Sugarland Express by Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins, from a story by Spielberg, Barwood, and Robbins, is dated October 18, 1972. A novelization by Henry Clement was published by Popular Library in 1974. Information on the film’s development by Universal is from the author’s interviews with Saphier, Rocky Lang, Richard D. Zanuck, and William S. Gilmore Jr.; Reed’s booklet on the film; and Wayne Warga, “Spielberg Keeps His Touch in Transition,” LAT, April 3, 1974.
Sources on Zanuck and David Brown, in addition to the author’s interview with Zanuck, include John Gregory Dunne, The Studio, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1969; Zanuck and Brown, American Film Institute seminar (April 17, 1975), in Joseph McBride, ed., Filmmakers on Filmmaking, Vol. 1, J. P. Tarcher, 1983; Stephen Farber and Marc Green, Hollywood Dynasties, Delilah, 1984; Marlys J. Harris, The Zanucks of Hollywood: The Dark Legacy of an American Dynasty, Crown, 1989; Brown, Let Me Entertain You, Morrow, 1990; Anthony Haden-Guest, “The Rise, Fall and Rise of Zanuck-Brown,” New York, December 1, 1975; and “Son of Darryl F., He Made His Own Name with Hollywood’s Most Toothsome Grosser Ever,” People, December 29, 1975. Spielberg’s comment on Zanuck and Brown is from Alan R. Howard, “Sugarland Tough Sell,” HR, April 29, 1974. The film was announced on October 17, 1972, in “Carte Blanche at U for Zanuck, Brown,” DV, and “Zanuck, Brown Set Carte Blanche for Filming in January,” HR; the title The Sugarland Express was announced in “Carte Blanche Retitled,” Box-office, November 13, 1972.
The author interviewed the following people who worked on the film: Zanuck, Gilmore, Joseph Alves Jr., Vilmos Zsigmond, Carey Loftin, and Edward S. Abroms; and also Bob Polunsky. Other sources on the filming include (1973): Lightman, “The New Panaflex Camera Makes Its Production Debut”; Bobrow; “Filming of Sugarland Express Begins in S.A. Monday,” San Antonio Express and News, January 27; Ron White, “Filming Site of Movie Resembles Lawmen’s Meeting,” Express and News, January 31; White, “Crash, Wham, Crunch—Carey Loftin at Work,” Express and News, February 15; Jerry Deal, “Goldie Grabs Hot One,” Express and News, February 26; Jeff Millar, “Sugarland Role a Departure for Sweet Goldie Hawn,” LAT, March 4; “‘Thanks, S.A.,’ says producer of movie,” Express and News, April 4; and Paul Vangelisti, “Almost 5,000 Extras Carried Aboard Sugarland Express,” HR, April 18. Spielberg’s comment on Goldie Hawn is from Mary Murphy, “All That Giggles Is Not Goldie Hawn,” LAT, September 26, 1974; Hawn on Spielberg is from Millar; other information is from Tom Burke, “All That Glitter Is Goldie’s,” NYT, January 28, 1973, and Universal’s pressbook for the film (1974). Rocky Lang remembered the mementos Spielberg brought back from location. Colonel Wilson Speir’s criticism of the film was reported in “Texas Lawmen Dispute Sugarland.”
Reviews (1974) include Pauline Kael, “Sugarland and Badlands,” The New Yorker, March 18; Vincent Canby, “Fascinated with Young Couples on the Lam,” NYT, April 7; Zimmerman, “Hard Riders”; Stephen Farber, “Something Sour,” NYT, April 28; and Dilys Powell, “Westerns on Wheels,” The Times (London), June 16. Henry Sheehan’s essay “A Father Runs from It” was published in DV, December 7, 1993. Box-office figures for Sugarland (and subsequent Spielberg films through Hook) are from “Filmography: Films Directed by Steven Spielberg,” DV, December 7, 1993, and Paula Parisi, “Spielberg’s list,” HR, March 10, 1994. Sugarland postmortems included Spielberg’s 1974 comments to Murphy and to Howard, who also reported on the industry preview screenings.
10. “A PRIMAL SCREAM MOVIE” (PP. 226–60)
Spielberg’s comment on his agent’s dealmaking is from Reed. His rejection on The Taking of Pelham One Two Three was reported to the author by Steven Bach, former head of creative affairs for Palomar Pictures, which made the film with Palladium Productions. Richard D. Zanuck discussed Spielberg’s rejection of MacArthur with the author; David Brown’s report about Spielberg passing on another project is from his memoir, Let Me Entertain You. Information on Spielberg’s 1973 development deal with Columbia for Watch the Skies is from the author’s interview with Michael Phillips; David McClintick, Indecent Exposure: A True Story of Hollywood and Wall Street, Morrow, 1982; and a February 22, 1974, IFA document outlining the terms of Michael and Julia Phillips’ deal to produce what was then titled The Close Encounter of the Third Kind. Paul Schrader discussed his work on Spielberg’s UFO project in Jackson, Schrader on Schrader & Other Writings; other sources include Phillips; and a December 12, 1973, IFA document giving the terms of Schrader’s writing deal with Columbia for his version of the script, Kingdom Come. Information on David Begelman is from McClintick’s book and his article “Final Exposure,” Vanity Fair, November 1995; and from Corie Brown, “Final Exposure,” Premiere, November 1995. Additional sources on Spielberg’s relationships with Phillips, his wife Julia, and their coterie include the author’s interviews with Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck; Julia Phillips, You’ll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again, Random House, 1991; Jackson; and Cook (which includes Michael Phillips’s 1977 comment on Spielberg). Wallace Reyburn’s Flushed with Pride: The Story of Thomas Crapper was published in 1969 by Macdonald and Company (London).
The author interviewed the following participants in the making of Jaws: Peter Benchley, Richard D. Zanuck, William S. Gilmore Jr., Carl Gottlieb, and Joseph Alves Jr., as well as observers including Katz, Huyck, Michael Phillips, Peter Saphier, William Link, Rocky Lang, Joan Darling, Allen Daviau, Vilmos Zsigmond, Orin Borsten, and Bob Gale (the author also attended the April 24, 1975, preview of Jaws at Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome). Benchley’s novel Jaws was published by Doubleday, 1974; his final screenplay draft is undated. The making of Jaws has been the subject of two books, Gottlieb’s The “Jaws” Log and Edith Blake’s On Location on Martha’s Vineyard (The Making of the Movie “Jaws”). Oral histories were compiled in the MCA Home Video laserdisc The Making of Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws,” produced by Laurent Bouzereau, 1995 (which also includes Spielberg’s home movies of the filming); and Nancy Griffin, “In the Grip of Jaws‚” Premiere, October 1995.
Spielberg’s most extensive location interview about the film was with Helpern. Brown wrote about Jaws in Let Me Entertain You; he and Zanuck discussed the film in McBride, Filmmakers on Filmmaking, Vol. 1; Zanuck also recalled the production in Susan Royal, “Interview with Cocoon Producers Richard and Lili Fini Zanuck of Zanuck/ Brown Productions,” American Premiere, June 1985. Other accounts by participants in Jaws include “Dialogue on Film: Verna Fields,” American Film, June 1978; Fields’s American Film Institute seminar (December 3,1975) in Filmmakers on Filmmaking, Vol. 1; Valerie Taylor, “The Filming for Jaws,” in Ron and Valerie Taylor, with Peter Goadby, Great Shark Stories, Harper & Row, 1978; and cinematographer Bill Butler’s interview in Schaefer and Salvato, Masters of Light. Richard Dreyfuss recalled his reluctance about appearing in Jaws to Michael Rogers, “Jawing with Richard Dreyfuss,” Rolling Stone, July 31, 1975; Dreyfuss’s comment on Spielberg’s direction of actors is from Cook. Got
tlieb’s comments on Dreyfuss are from his essay “Richard Dreyfuss: Forceful Intellect,” in Danny Peary, ed., Close-Ups: The Movie Star Book, Workman, 1978. Gottlieb also recalled the filming in Ray Loynd, “In the Teeth of the Storm,” LAHE, August 3, 1975.
Articles published about Jaws during production include (1974): “Hunting the Shark,” Newsweek, June 24; Robert Riger, “On Location with Jaws—‘Tell the Shark We’ll Do It One More Time!’” Action, July–August; Gregg Kilday, “Books, Lines and Clinkers on Martha’s Vineyard,” LAT, July 7; and “Introducing Bruce,” Time, September 2; also, Mik Cribben, “On Location with Jaws,” American Cinematographer, March 1975.
The genesis of Benchley’s novel was discussed in Richard Ellis and John E. McCosker, Great White Shark, Stanford University Press, 1991. Information on Universal’s purchase of the film rights (1973) includes: Peter Saphier’s memo to Lew R. Wasserman recommending the purchase of the novel, April 16; a synopsis of the novel by Universal story department reader Dennis McCarthy, April 17; the MCA deal memo regarding the film rights, Paul Miller to Joe DiMuro, May 1; and a May 8 IFA document outlining the terms of Benchley’s deal with Universal and Zanuck–Brown. Spielberg’s hiring was announced in “Spielberg Signed for Zanuck–Brown Jaws Production,” HR, June 21, 1973. Robert Shaw’s comment on Benchley’s novel is from the Time cover story on the film, “Summer of the Shark,” June 23, 1975, which also includes comments by Dreyfuss and Brian De Palma. Additional information on Shaw is from Karen Carmean and Georg Gaston, Robert Shaw: More Than a Life, Madison Books, 1994.
Spielberg commented on Benchley’s novel in “Hunting the Shark” and in Stettin; Benchley’s criticisms of Spielberg appeared in Kilday. Benchley’s letter to Spielberg is quoted in The “Jaws” Log. Spielberg’s worry that Jaws could be a “turkey” was related to Desmond Ryan, “Jaws Director Raises His Sights—to UFOs,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 10, 1977. His phrase “a primal scream movie” is from Combs; his comments on fear are from Ryan and “Spielberg Spanks Sequels as ‘Cheap, Carnival Trick,’” Variety, October 29, 1975, in which he also remarked that Jaws could have been a “laugh riot.”
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