Blowing the Bloody Doors Off : And Other Lessons in Life (9780316451178) by Caine Michael

Author:Caine, Michael [Caine, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hachette Book Group USA
Published: 2018-10-23T00:00:00+00:00

The bad and the ugly

Bad directors are bad for all the same reasons other bosses are bad. They are not good enough at their jobs, they don’t work hard enough, or they are bullies.

Of course it’s more fun to learn from good directors. But even the bad ones have things to teach you. Like self-protection and self-reliance, which are part of being a true professional. And in the very worst cases they might force you to learn how to direct yourself. There was one movie I worked on where it quickly became clear to the entire cast that the director was off with the fairies, probably tapping them up for the fairy dust he seemed to have developed a taste for. We realised we’d have to deliver the picture ourselves. (We did, and the director in question was deemed to have done a fabulous job. The boss takes credit for other people’s work in all walks of life.)

On another occasion, a movie with a stellar cast working at the top of their game was ruined by an illustrious veteran director, who one day openly admitted to me that he was only still directing to fund his very expensive hobby of deep-sea fishing off the coast of California. As soon as the filming was done and he had been paid, off he went. He was at sea and, sadly, so were editing and post-production without him.

The hardest directors to work with—and unfortunately you find them in every workplace, every family, every community of people—are the bullies. My approach with bullies has always been to make it clear from the start that I won’t be their victim. When I worked with Otto Preminger on Hurry Sundown in 1966, I knew his reputation as a monstrous tyrant who was happiest when everyone else was miserable. I had heard that he liked to scream at actors and crew alike. So the first day I met him, I told him, “You need to know, Otto, that I’m very sensitive. You mustn’t shout at me. If anyone shouts at me when I’m working I burst into tears and I can’t work for the rest of the day.” Otto stared back at me. He seemed genuinely puzzled. Or perhaps, I thought, he was getting ready for a particularly big scream.

“But why do you think I would do that?” he finally asked.

“Well,” I said—I stayed calm, “I have friends who worked with you on Saint Joan and they said you shouted.”

“You shouldn’t make such friends,” said Otto. “I only shout at bad actors. And I would never shout at Alfie.”

Whether because he considered me a good actor, because he loved Alfie, or, more likely, because I had made things clear at the start, Otto never shouted at me. He did, though, give everyone else a terrible time, especially my young co-star Faye Dunaway. My little talk hadn’t managed to change his personality, only to protect me personally from it. Otto tormented the inexperienced and sweet Faye, who ended up in tears most days.

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