Adventures in the Screen Trade Read Online Free PDF Page A

realizes he's not alone in his apartment, so he grabs a flashlight from his bed table and points it around the room, trying to catch the intruder. As he does this, he has a line of dialog:
    HOFFMAN (very James Cagney) I got a gun, you make a move, I'll blow your ass to Shanghai.
    Okay, rehearsal. A mock set is prepared. Hoffman lies down, closes his eyes, Scheider mimes opening a door, bangs his fool down to indicate the closing of the door, and Hoffman springs awake, mimes getting the flashlight, and says his Shanghai tine. Then rehearsals stop.
    Hoffman says to hold it and he turns to the director, John Schlesinger, and tells him that he thinks it wrong for his character to have a flashlight in his bed table.
    Schlesinger tells him we'll get to it later, let's continue rehearsing the scene, please.
    Hoffman shakes his head. The character that he is playing, he feels, would not have a flashlight by his bed.
    Now, if this had not been a star complaining, Schlesinger or any director would have told him that they were wasting rehearsal time, which was gold, since most movies don't bother with rehearsal. (The studios don't like it, they can't see rushes the next day, they consider it a waste of money. I think they're wrong-rehearsals save money, because you can work out problems without the. intense pressure of a crew standing around doing nothing. Studios are, in this case, like the late Sam Goldwyn, who used to creep to the writer's building on the lot and was unhappy if he didn't hear typewriters clicking.)
    But Dustin Hoffman is very much a star, and he has to be dealt with. Scheider stands quietly in the imaginary doorway, waiting.
    A lot of people have flashlights by their bed tables, Schlesinger tries.
    Hoffman isn't playing a lot of people, he is playing Babe and Babe wouldn't have a flashlight by his bed table.
    Schlesinger makes another attempt: You've just been mugged, you're upset, you're taking precautions. No sale.
    Now a practical assault from the director: We need the effect of the flashlight beam bouncing off the walls to add interest to the scene.
    Hoffman replies there won't be any scene worth anything if he can't play it, and he can't justify the goddam flashlight. Through all this, silent and waiting, stands Scheider. And that is probably my strongest memory of the situationit took an hour, by the way-Scheider, waiting quietly, a perfect gentleman through it all.
    Now, as stated, rehearsals are meant to deal with problems. And Hoffman is not only one of the best actors we have, he is also known to be a perfectionist. And maybe in his preparations he really couldn't figure out why his character would have a flashlight in his bed table.
    But that sure wasn't my feeling in the rehearsal hall at the end of the day. Rather it was this: Hoffman was perfectly able to Justify anything, he is that skilled; in my opinion, he didn't want the flashlight because he was afraid his fans would think him chicken.
    I believed that then and still do. But that is the kind of thing one dares not mention to a star.
    Three: A movie is shooting on a Hollywood sound stage and the female star is number one in the world. By half past nine, the setup is ready. The star is in her trailer and the second assistant director goes about one of his functions: delivering the talent from the trailer to the set. He knocks on the trailer door and says "Ready." Pause.
    Then the star's hairdresser appears in the doorway and says the star is not ready. (Rule of thumb: Female stars are closer to their hairdressers and makeup people than to anyone else on the set. Male stars tend to buddy around with their makeup and wardrobe personnel.)
    Anyway, the second assistant returns to the set with his message: The Lady is not coming. The director is sitting in his chair, waiting. They decide to give her a few minutes.
    A few minutes pass. Now the first assistant director knocks on the trailer door. Again the hairdresser appears and says the same thing. The