Bad repro looks

[Fletch]

Why are the British "anoraks and wallies" because their film and tv producers know how to research and take the time to make period details look like period details?

And your country is 234 years old and was, as I recall my history, founded by the anoraks and wallies in question. How long will it take your film producers to actually use your inventions like the internet and web and bulletin board to research complex details like hairstyles and clothing patterns?

Better to be a party pooper than plain ol' lazy!

I actually agree with you. Hollywood could learn a helluva lot by visiting sites like this one. Unfortunately, they have their way of doing things, and that is mostly to consult people within the industry, then leave everything up to the executives.

I'm kind of with Theodor Adorno, the philosopher, on Hollywood. It carefully controls what it knows about on the screen - ie: what's likely to produce revenue. What doesn't produce revenue is nobody's business - out of our influence. You can't reach them in any way but thru the pocketbook.

 

[Ugarte]

To be fair, an actor in Hollywood makes his or her living based on the way they look. Back in the 50's and 60's, an actor might make 6 or 7 films a year, and doing a period hair cut could seriously effect their ability to make a living. So its not to surprising that you see contemporary styles in period films of that era. Its really only been in recent years that actors go out of their way to change their appearance for a film. But these days an actor may only do 2 films a year, and its not such a big deal.

And this can still bite the ass of established actors. I know from the DVD extras that George Cloony got a period haircut for Leatherheads, then went on to make Burn After Reading with a more conventional cut. In the middle of shooting Burn, he was called back to shoot a pick-up scene for Leatherheads. He was able to cover the scene by wearing a hat so neither film was curtailed on account of Cloony's hair, but the story makes the point.

Mark
.

 

[Atomic Age]

And this can still bite the ass of established actors. I know from the DVD extras that George Cloony got a period haircut for Leatherheads, then went on to make Burn After Reading with a more conventional cut. In the middle of shooting Burn, he was called back to shoot a pick-up scene for Leatherheads. He was able to cover the scene by wearing a hat so neither film was curtailed on account of Cloony's hair, but the story makes the point.

Mark
.

How do you get "called back" on a movie you're directing? LOL But I understand what you mean.

Doug

 

[thecardigankid]

How do you get "called back" on a movie you're directing? LOL But I understand what you mean.

Doug

Well he directed the shots might have left the editing up to somebody else and when the issue arose he called himself back.

Leatherheads was actually a pretty good movie.

 

[Ugarte]

How do you get "called back" on a movie you're directing? LOL But I understand what you mean.

Doug

In editing they decided they were unhappy with the transition of his character from small-time loser in a failing football enterprise to wily entrepreneur engaged in making a break for the big time. They elected to shoot an additional series of short scenes portraying his transformation through hocking a watch to acquire the funds, putting together a suitable wardrobe, and securing a "makeover" at the barbershop. It required that he return to the lot and shoot the scenes after he was released from the schedule. This is technically a "call back" though you are correct, he was calling himself back to shoot scenes in a movie he was directing.

I'm not sure whether this was part of a contractual arrangement he had as an actor/director or whether the Cohen brothers were just extending a professional courtesy allowing him time off from Burn After Reading. I suspect the Cohens know where their bread is buttered and saw allowing him to wrap up Leatherheads as a move in their own best interest.

Edit: Gratuitous screenshots to illustrate my point.

As the loser during regular shooting:


On callback, during the "transformation":


After the shave and haircut:


As he looked in Burn After Reading:


Mark
.

 

[Atomic Age]

Well he directed the shots might have left the editing up to somebody else and when the issue arose he called himself back.

Leatherheads was actually a pretty good movie.

Directors rarely leave the editing up to someone else, unless they have been fired from the film. The director is normally in the editing room with the Editor every day. In fact he was probably contractually obligated to the studio to deliver a first cut of the film. The only thing I was commenting on was the amusing notion that the director of a movie would have to be called back. The director doesn't leave the movie. I'm sure he was the one who decided that additional shooting was required.

I doubt there would a have been an issue with the Coen Brothers production. The re-shoots for Leatherheads likely took one or two days at most. He probably did it on a day off from the other production. The actual editing of Leatherheads was likely done when he started Burn After Reading, and the additional photography was probably a result of previews.

Doug

 

[Edward]

Leatherheads was actually a pretty good movie.

I liked it a lot. bought the DVD cheap to look at the clothes..... Unexpectedly adored the film..... and I'm the guy who hates the whole 'romcom' genre with a passion. (I mean, I watch movies to escape, just as much as anyone else, but..... well, the average romcom 'happily ever after' cack just doesn't jive with anything with which I can identify....). Completely fell in love with Rene Zellewegger's character.

 

[AmateisGal]

In Hogan's Heroes, Newkirk (Richard Dawson) is wearing a Korean War vintage USAF uniform with RAF insignia and Major (Sturmbannfuhrer) Hochstedder is decked out in the prewar black SS uniform which was replaced by a field gray version during the war.

Hogan's Heroes cracks me up for getting it completely wrong on so many levels in regards to costumes. The women hardly EVER look like they're from the 40s. Instead, their hair and dress is usually 60s style.

I still love that show, though...

 

[dr greg]

lock 'em up

Hogan's Heroes cracks me up for getting it completely wrong on so many levels in regards to costumes. The women hardly EVER look like they're from the 40s. Instead, their hair and dress is usually 60s style.

I still love that show, though...

Interesting isn't it, even as a kid I utterly loathed that show, and could never understand its appeal. I always thought it was an insult to Stalag 17 which it so blatantly ripped off, and yes I was watching movies like that at the time. And I actually can't think of a WW2 'comedy' that appealed to me in any way.
Loved Auto Focus though, and it confirmed all my original prejudices about HH as well.

 

[John in Covina]

While I found Hogan's Heros to be either funny or as often really stupid, my father, hated the show! It drove him nuts to see the war portayed as such and said that the Germans were so much smarter in war, that the show was a travesty to the truth of the conflict. (Dad was a WWII Army veteran of the European theater, his group the 99th Infantry Battalion came thru the Normandy beaches about 5-6 weeks after D-Day. Mostly Norwegians or Norwegian descent, they trained at Camp Hale Colorado as Mountain / Ski troops they had a Ranger styled emblem and a Viking Ship on the other patch.)

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

In one episode of Hogan's Heroes I distinctly remember a scene where Colonel Klink (Werner Klemperer) is carrying a gift-wrapped package. I recognized the gift wrapping as being from May Co., an L.A. department store. Back then May Co.'s gift wrapping had little vignettes of contemporary '60s era L.A. landmarks such as the Music Center and the USC tower.

 

[AmateisGal]

Interesting isn't it, even as a kid I utterly loathed that show, and could never understand its appeal. I always thought it was an insult to Stalag 17 which it so blatantly ripped off, and yes I was watching movies like that at the time. And I actually can't think of a WW2 'comedy' that appealed to me in any way.
Loved Auto Focus though, and it confirmed all my original prejudices about HH as well.

Stalag 17 is one of my favorite movies, too.

I think Hogan's pokes a lot of fun at the Germans and it's completely unrealistic, but therein lies part of its appeal.

I like what John Banner (Schultz), who was a Jewish refugee from Hitler's Germany, had to say. John Banner enjoyed the role but demurred when accused of portraying a "cuddly" Nazi. He told TV Guide, "I see Schultz as the representative of some kind of goodness in every generation."

Werner Klemperer (Klink), also a Jewish refugee (who also served in the U.S. Army during the war) only agreed to play the part of Klink as long as Klink never succeeded in any of his schemes.

 

[Ugarte]

Werner Klemperer (Klink), also a Jewish refugee....

And while we're on the subject, Robert Clary (Corporal Louis LeBeau) was the only member of his family of 13 who survived Buchenwald.

I get the impression that Hogan's Heroes was a program by and for college-aged kids who were born during or just after WWII. And the inspiration from Stalag 17 (a terrific movie) is notable. I can easily see where someone interested in parody and the human tendency to want to laugh at horrors past could arrive at something like Hogan's Heroes.

I grew up watching the show in production and subsequently in syndication. I actually learned a few things and developed an interest in the history of WWII thanks to the series. Granted, it was a television situation comedy which in and of itself means it had great potential to stink. But it wasn't like anything else at the time (alternatives were probably Mission Impossible and The Wild Wild West) and it was actually pretty good considering its nature. It ran something like 168 episodes over almost seven years -- for TV, that's considered successful.

In retrospect, as ridiculous as it was, and even as a kid I recognized that it was ridiculous, it was a gutsy take on a dramatic period in history. It was both surreal and accessible. I always liked the pre-Cold War espionage angle myself.

Just wanted to mention it.


Mark
.

 

[Doctor Strange]

My parents were both WWII vets - and Jewish - and they didn't, and wouldn't let us kids, watch Hogan's Heroes. They found it offensively stupid and in really bad taste... And honestly, I can't say that I ever really enjoyed it when I did get to watch it in reruns later.

The funny thing is, they very much liked Stalag 17. But then that was a Billy Wilder picture - not a drecky sitcom - and it balanced its broad comedy with serious drama...

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Werner Klemperer (Klink), also a Jewish refugee (who also served in the U.S. Army during the war) only agreed to play the part of Klink as long as Klink never succeeded in any of his schemes.

Werner Klemperer was also the son of the famed conductor Otto Klemperer.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Most of the 60s horror movies play in the victorian era or earlier...well the haircuts are the worst. But still I enjoy Vincent Price, PeterCushing flics very much.

Vintage sixties flair meets mock victorian look....great mish mash of styles I would never wear lol

 

[carebear]

My dad didn't like Hogan's Heroes either. We're American (Irish) and didn't lose anyone in the war so that isn't it. He's a very mild man but that show irritated him quite a bit.

As a kid I liked the hijinks and the clever hiding places.

 

[p51]

How about the 60's looks and dresses on women in so many WW2 movies made in the 60s? Did they think the 40s look wasn't good enough for a 40s movie? Watch especially, "Where Eeagles Dare," "The Dirty Dozen," and "Kelly's Heroes," and they don't even try to get the 40s look right on any women in those and many other films from that era... :eusa_doh:

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Most of the 60s horror movies play in the victorian era or earlier...well the haircuts are the worst. But still I enjoy Vincent Price, PeterCushing flics very much.

Vintage sixties flair meets mock victorian look....great mish mash of styles I would never wear lol

What comes to mind are the Teddy Boys, or Teds, of 1950s Britain whose style was inspired by that of the Victorian era.

 

[Lokar]

(Great big hint: The internet, the web, and the electronic bulletin board were not invented by the kind of civilization that values the past.)

I hate to be picky, but the world wide web was invented by a Brit and Belgian working in Switzerland. Hypertext is from the US, but the first web server, editor and browser (and page) were all from Europe by Europeans.