Class and Film

Discussion in 'Movies, TV and Music' started by champmanager, Nov 12, 2003.

  1. champmanager

    champmanager Member

    Dec 13, 2001
    Alexandria, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Kazakhstan
    The other night I picked up the "Encycopedia of Film" (Katz et al, 1998). First of all, its fascinating to flip through the pages. I was shocked at the amount of things I learned. Anne bancroft is married to mel brooks? Carrol O'Conner attended the University of Dublin? David Carridine had a baby by Barbara Hershey? Woody Allen's real last name was Konigsberg? Bruce Lee appeared in several episodes of Batman? Jackie Chan had directed films? The mind boggles.
    But really shocked me was how many succesful film people in the good old days had waited tables (that seems to have been a good job for most struggling actors), driven trucks, fixed toilets, and most commonly, been orderlies in mental hospitals, before they made the big time. Some even rode rails, or worked as laborers while they acted in local theatre, and so on.
    We've all heard about how that nasty film of the pre-Golden Age was infested with dirty, filthy commies, before we blacklisted the sunsabitches and made room for wonderful films like Pillow Talk and My Friend Flicka.
    My question is: how important was the communist influence in letting these people get shots in the film industry. I'm not exaggerating when I say some very prominent people wrote screenplayers and got directing gigs straight off the assembly line. I doubt Tom Cruise ever drove an ice cream truck, though I could be mistaken.
    How does it work?
     
  2. GringoTex

    GringoTex Member

    Aug 22, 2001
    1301 miles de Texas
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Bolivia
    Not at all. Joining the communist party in the 1930s was a favorite pastime of intellectuals across the globe. In fact, the film industry probably had less to do with the communist party than just about any other industry. Now if you want to know about the Great Jewish Conspiracy in Hollywood, go ask Dan Loney.

    Tom Cruise came from a lower middle class, single parent home.
     
  3. Smiley321

    Smiley321 Member

    Apr 21, 2002
    Concord, Ca
    Re: Re: Class and Film

    In the '30s and 40s, you joined the communist party. In the '70s and '80s you became a scientologist.

    It's a toss up which fad was flakier. But L Ron Hubbard never brandished nukes at us.
     

Share This Page