August 7, 2014

August 7, 2014

There’s no doubt in my mind that cinema is Nicholas Ray. There is not a day in my life where I haven’t thought of the two words together: Nicholas.  Ray.   Like million others, I was totally devastated by “A Rebel Without A Cause, ” mostly due to the relationship between Jim Stark and John “Plato” Crawford.  As a side-line narrative, I was also deeply affected by Stark’s relationship with his dad as well.  To this day, I refuse to wear an apron while doing the dishes.  I also hunted down Robert M. Lindner's “1944 book “Rebel Without A Cause: The Hypnoanalysis Of A Criminal Psychopath, ” which was the basis for the Ray film.  I just recently purchased the film rights to this book, so I can produce a re-make of the film.  I’m proud to announce that we just signed Justin Bieber to play Jim Stark, Christopher Walken as Jim’s Dad, and Billy Unger will play Plato.  Judy will be played by Selena Gomez, who used to date Bieber, so that will be an interesting sub-text for the film.  We also hired Leos Carax to direct the film.  We felt that a European approach or point-of-view, will be relevant for this film.

It took me six or seven months, but I located Dean’s original outfit for Jim, and we’re going to have Justin wear it for the film.  He’s the exact same size and weight as James Dean, at the time he filmed “Rebel,” so this works out perfectly.   We’re also using Irving Shulman and Stewart Stern’s original shooting script for our version as well.  There was a scene cut out of the original film, and we’re going to re-shoot it - Jim is dead drunk and he screams at a car in the parking lot, “It’s a little jeep jeep!  Little jeep, jeep!” We did a test of this scene with Justin, and it is terrifying with the intensity that he puts in his role.  We are also borrowing the 1949 Mercury Coupe that James Dean drove in the film.  Luckily the car is in great shape, and is part of the collection at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada.

We chose to use Leonard Rosenman’s original score as well.  We were thinking of doing something modern, but decided not to do that.  At one point, we were considering to utilize Jack Nitzsche’s great album “Chopin ’66” but couldn’t obtain the rights.   But this is a blessing, because Rosenman’s score is perfect, and there is no reason why we can’t re-use it again.  We will also use the Santa Monica High School and the Griffith Observatory as a location for our version of the film.  The only thing is we are going to have to remove the bust of James Dean that is located at the Observatory's west side of the grounds.  Shooting will start this October and we’re planning a release on Christmas day 2015.

February 8, 2014

February 8, 2014


James Dean and Dennis Hopper came to visit my father’s studio that he shared with Bob Alexander on Sawtelle Boulevard.  Dennis and Jim were shooting “Rebel Without a Cause” and became tight buddies at the time.  Mostly due to their mutual love for the writings by English aesthetic John Ruskin.  Their director Nick Ray, suggested that to get into their ‘roles’ in the film they should read Ruskin’s “Selected Writings, ” which is sort of the Sees Candy Sampler of his numerous essays regarding poetry, architecture and of course painting.  Nicholas Ray had a deep interest in architecture as well as painting. Some have commented that the famous outfit James Dean wore in “Rebel,” was the colors of the American flag.

Bob had some connection with Dennis, which led his introduction to Wallace, my dad.   At the time, Hopper was a great deal into the arts and was just starting to get his collection together.  He didn’t have that much money at the time, but he would buy art from the artist, and pay them a weekly payment.   Dennis and Wallace had an immediate understanding of each other.  It got to the point that if Wallace started a sentence, then Dennis would finish it.  James Dean caught the flow of their conversation, and it has been stated that he brought this to the film set, specially his scenes with Sal Mineo.  Articulation in language is important, but Dean and Ray also know that what is not being said is equally significant as well.

At this meeting, Dean was quiet, but was totally soaking the experience in.   Wallace’s first words to him were “Do you want a beer?” Dean said “yeah’ and Wallace went over to his work table and took a can that was attached to a six-pack, which was not cold and threw it over to Dean.  He caught it in his right hand.  The moment brought to bear in mind my dad and Dean’s love for baseball.   As a kid, Jimmy was a fine player, and before the acting bug got to him, he was daydreaming of being in a professional team.  Wallace, on the other hand, even though good at playing baseball, never ever thought of being a professional athlete.   The thought of working under someone was unbearable to him.  On the other hand, he did admire the sport of playing pool or cards.  Here one can master their own destiny of sorts.


Jimmy and Dennis came to the studio by driving their matching Triumph motorcycles.  Wallace and Bob were both impressed with the machines.  Never trained as an engineer, or the skills of being a mechanic, but nevertheless Wallace had a profound appreciation for machinery and what it can add to one’s life.   Jimmy asked Wallace if he was willing to take a ride with him.   He said “sure. ”
Wallace got on the back of the bike, with Jimmy in the front.  He held Jimmy’s waist, and off they went.  Dean drove up to Sunset Boulevard and was going pretty fast around the sharp curves.  What surprised Dean was Wallace yelling in the air, like it was an amusement ride on Coney Island.  This made Jimmy happy, because he always wanted to be in a position or with someone who appreciates the moment.   Not its past or future, but now.

They eventually wound up at the Griffith Observatory.  Jimmy and Wallace looked over the distance and both were quiet.  Dean mentioned to my dad that tomorrow they will be filming up here, and Dennis will be in the scene as well.   Jimmy never told anybody this, but before shooting a scene at a location, he liked to visit that specific place before work starts.  A day or two days before the shoot is ideal for him.  It is not only the script and the other actors or director that’s vital to him, but also place.  He took into account the fact that a location can change, or have its meaning changed when sharing it with other people.

Some months ago, he invited a photographer friend of his to go with him back home.   In Dean’s mind, they would do a photo shoot of all his hang-out places when he was a kid or student at high school.  What surprised him was the fact that just bringing a photographer with him, regardless of the fact that he was a great friend, it somehow changes the place into something new.  Dean can look like he’s in the past, but the fact is he’s very much into the ‘now. ' Going back to the past, was just an illusion.  Film can make the big lie that one is going back to a specific time, but the fact is the audience is watching the film ‘now. ’

Dean didn’t have to explain any of this to my father.  In fact, they said basically nothing up there at the Observation and looked at the vast landscape in front of them in total silence.