James Dean : little boy lost by Joe Hyams

Author:Joe Hyams
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: James, 1931-1955, Dean, Actors
Publisher: New York : Warner Books
Published: 1992-09-14T23:00:00+00:00

Most every other^actor working at Warner, such as Bogie and William Holden, usually came to the studio dressed in a sport coat and slacks, but Jimmy always wore pretty much the same outfit: jeans, a windbreaker over a T-shirt, and the inevitable cigarette drooping from his mouth. More often than not he was unshaven and his hair was a mess.

The Hollywood press was welcome on the sets and location shootings of Rebel, probably as a way Nick Ray could deal with his limited budget: any free publicity the film received would excite interest.

One of the key sequences, filmed over a period of weeks, took place at the Griffith Planetarium, high in the hills above the Hollywood Bowl. Jimmy had had me buy for him a Minifon wire recordei similar to the one I had lent to him for his trip to Fairmount, and he showed it to Nick, who was fascinated with it, especially the watch microphone, and he had Jimmy wear it so he could later check the dialogue.

I had a choice seat on a ledge with some other press spectators on one of the days that the knife fight between Jim and Buzz at the Planetarium was filmed. Neither Jimmy nor Corey Allen had ever been in a knife fight before, and they both wore chest protectors. Jimmy had the Minifon holster snugged tight under his left arm.

Nick, who had directed two musicals on Broadway, and Leonard Rosenman had determined that every move in the knife fight be choreographed like a ballet, combining elements of a bullfight and dance. Frank Mazzola and Mushy Callahan, an ex-boxer who was

JAMES DEAN

Jimmy's stand-in, worked out the choreography in accordance with Nick's precise instructions.

Both boys were using real switchblades with the edges dulled, but the points were intact so there was the possibility of a real accident. Three CinemaScope cameras covered the action, and there was an aura of palpable tension on the set as they went at it.

The first few takes were disastrous. The boys circled each other gracefully and menacingly, but neither one wanted to close the distance enough to make the fight look real: each was fearful of hurting the other. If memory serves, it was on the eighth or ninth take before they started to get into the spirit of battle. Suddenly Nick shouted in a panicky voice, "Cut! Get a first aid man to Jimmy on the double."

A thin trickle of blood was coming down Jimmy's neck, but he was furious. "Goddamn it, Nick," he yelled. "What the fuck are you doing? Can't you see this is a real moment? Don't you ever cut a scene while I'm having a real moment. That's what I'm here for." The scene was finally filmed satisfactorily with Rod Amateau, a young stuntman, doubling for Jimmy in some of the action.

Another pivotal scene in the film was the chickie run, part of which was filmed one cold night in late April on location at the Warner Bros, ranch. Faye Nuell stood in for Natalie, who was supposed to be in the middle of the course as the cars raced around her.

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