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Speaker 1: Pushkin.

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Speaker 2: Hello, hello Malcolm Glabo Here. Last week my colleague Bendadafh

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Speaker 2: Haffrey brought you the story of the contested authorship of

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Speaker 2: a Visit from Saint Nicholas, otherwise known as the Twas

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Speaker 2: the Night Before Christmas poem. Christmas episodes have become a

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Speaker 2: bit of a tradition around here, so I thought i'd

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Speaker 2: bring you an additional piece of good cheer this morning,

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Speaker 2: our epic episode from last year about Arnold Schwarzenegger directing

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Speaker 2: a made for TV Christmas movie that goes wildly.

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Speaker 1: Off the rails.

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Speaker 2: And if you're thinking to yourself, what this is what

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Speaker 2: you brought me for Christmas? A rerun?

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Speaker 1: Yes I did.

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Speaker 2: And if you keep listening, you'll find that my antipathy

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Speaker 2: to Christmas runs very deep. What am I doing right

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Speaker 2: now probably sunning myself in Boca and informing my children

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Speaker 2: the twelve Days of Christmas is eleven days too many?

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Speaker 2: What's Ben doing right now? Asked Norman Rockwell. But first

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Speaker 2: listen to this. Christmas is one week away, and how

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Speaker 2: am I celebrating with restraint and circumspection. In the Glabew family,

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Speaker 2: we do a mid century modern Christmas spare elegant, minimalist

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Speaker 2: lots of the baby Jesus in a tasteful Scandinavian leather

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Speaker 2: and rosewood manger. No Santa, no reindeer, no elves. Not

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Speaker 2: so for my colleague Ben adapfh Halfrey. The Globews impose

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Speaker 2: a dollar limit on gifts, like price controls in some

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Speaker 2: socialist state that ad half Halfreys spend months thinking of

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Speaker 2: what to get one another. The Globows buy a tree

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Speaker 2: at the last moment, and would be happier if we

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Speaker 2: could just move the whole operation outside around the Douglas Pine.

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Speaker 2: In the backyard, Ben's family has a tree, a little

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Speaker 2: model village covered in snow, and his father's vintage electric

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Speaker 2: train set, plus a little metal tree with ornaments that's

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Speaker 2: up year round. So when I told Ben that I

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Speaker 2: had never watched It's a Wonderful Life, he was stunned.

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Speaker 2: Then he reached out to me as the good smartan

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Speaker 2: did to the traveler lying beref by the side of

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Speaker 2: the road. How could this be, he asked me gently, because,

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Speaker 2: as you can imagine, within the daph Haffreys, It's a

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Speaker 2: Wonderful Life is a sacred text. Then Ben told me

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Speaker 2: another story about what, in his mind is an even

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Speaker 2: more important Christmas tale, a story that he regards as

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Speaker 2: the apotheosis of all Christmas movies, a story not in

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Speaker 2: a film, but of the making of a film. Welcome

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Speaker 2: to revisionist history. I'm Malcolm Gladwell. Today in our show,

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Speaker 2: Ben the alf Halfrey relays for the very first time

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Speaker 2: in history, the truly screwy story of the of the

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Speaker 2: oddest Christmas film of all time. Trust me, you have

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Speaker 2: never heard this story before ever, nor have you ever

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Speaker 2: seen the movie in question, unless you're a member of

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Speaker 2: the extended dedaf Hafrey Clan or were recently incarcerated in

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Speaker 2: a state that limits prisoner's streaming access to obscure television

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Speaker 2: movies in the nineteen nineties.

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Speaker 3: But when you.

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Speaker 2: Listen to what follows, you're going to ask yourself the

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Speaker 2: same question I ask myself when Ben first told me

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Speaker 2: this story?

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Speaker 1: How do I miss this? Unlike Malcolm, I am a

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Speaker 1: great lover of Christmas movies. Every year, as soon as

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Speaker 1: Thanksgiving is over, I'm firing up The Bishop's Wife, Miracle

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Speaker 1: on thirty fourth Street, or It's a Wonderful Life. And

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Speaker 1: then there's my favorite Christmas movie, A little Less Famous

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Speaker 1: the nineteen forty five romantic comedy Christmas in Connecticut. I've

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Speaker 1: watched it pretty much every year since I was little.

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Speaker 1: Barbara Stan plays a magazine columnist who's famous for entertaining

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Speaker 1: on her grand Connecticut farm. She's known as a great cook.

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Speaker 1: It's the end of World War Two and her magazine's

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Speaker 1: publisher has an idea for a great feature. Jill hosts

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Speaker 1: a returning war hero for Christmas on her farm. There's

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Speaker 1: just one problem. It's all a lie. She doesn't live

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Speaker 1: in Connecticut. She lives in a tiny apartment in New York.

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Speaker 1: And she has no clue how to cook.

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Speaker 2: My fun?

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Speaker 4: Oh yes, my fun?

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Speaker 5: Oh my fine?

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Speaker 6: And you want to see you right away to arrange it?

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Speaker 3: Arrange it?

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Speaker 6: Are you crazy? Where am I going to get a farm?

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Speaker 7: I haven't even got a window box.

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Speaker 6: That's just it. We'll have starl him off, you know what,

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Speaker 6: to stick your ears with the truth. If he ever

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Speaker 6: finds out we've been making all this up, you'll fire

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Speaker 6: the both of us.

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Speaker 1: Chaos ensues. It's a classic screwball comedy and a total delight.

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Speaker 1: But the thing I really want to tell you about

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Speaker 1: in this episode is what happened after I discovered quite

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Speaker 1: by accident, that there was a remake of this favorite

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Speaker 1: Christmas movie of mine, an action packed, star studed, joke filled,

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Speaker 1: really very different version of the original, made for TV

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Speaker 1: and directed by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger. A kind

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Speaker 1: of shocking twist if you ask me, I mean, why

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Speaker 1: would the Terminator take on Christmas in Connecticut? So I

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Speaker 1: did what any good Christmas fiend would do. I talked

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Speaker 1: to a dozen people about something that happened thirty years ago,

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Speaker 1: for way too many hours to get the real story,

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Speaker 1: and I discovered in the process what I have come

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Speaker 1: to regard as the greatest Christmas tale of all time.

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Speaker 3: I've told the story many times, I've never told it

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Speaker 3: all the record. It's a big story, So if you've

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Speaker 3: got the time, I will tell it to you.

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Speaker 1: That's Stan Brooks in the early nineteen nineties. He was

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Speaker 1: an independent made for TV movie producer.

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Speaker 3: So I'm developing movies and a friend of mine goes

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Speaker 3: and gets the job at TNC, and I make the

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Speaker 3: very first movie for him.

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Speaker 1: TNT launched in nineteen eighty eight, at the start of

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Speaker 1: the cable television revolution. Then as now cable was expensive,

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Speaker 1: but it was growing. The whole game was trying to

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Speaker 1: raise awareness to get people to sign up, and with

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Speaker 1: channels running twenty four to seven, there was a lot

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Speaker 1: of space to fill, which led to a boom and

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Speaker 1: made for TV movies. Stan's first film on TNT was

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Speaker 1: a big success. So he got another bite at the Apple.

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Speaker 3: And he calls me, He goes, what do you want

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Speaker 3: to do next? So they said, like namiears, would you

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Speaker 3: ever let me do a remake from the MGM library

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Speaker 3: because that's what Ted owned, And he said, yes, just

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Speaker 3: pick one.

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Speaker 1: Christmas movies always do well, and there was one. Stan

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Speaker 1: loved Christmas in Connecticut, and I.

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Speaker 3: Know the Barber Stanlet movie, and so I said, well,

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Speaker 3: this could be a good one. It was right as

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Speaker 3: Martha Stewart was exploding. I thought, well, what if this

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Speaker 3: is Martha Stewart. What if she's on TV and it

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Speaker 3: has an empire and it's all fake? And so they

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Speaker 3: loved that take, and so off we went into the races.

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Speaker 1: He got a right to work up the script in television.

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Speaker 8: It was It was great because you can get your

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Speaker 8: stuff made.

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Speaker 1: This is Janet Brownew one of the all time great

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Speaker 1: bards of TV movies writer on Eloise at the Plaza,

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Speaker 1: Twelve Dates of Christmas, Days of Our Lives, and the

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Speaker 1: uncredited rewrite of Tim Allens the Santa Claus all brownew

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Speaker 1: She loved the original Christmas in Connecticut. I mean it is.

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Speaker 8: It's a charming and in fairest to me, the original

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Speaker 8: draft was very close.

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Speaker 1: Janet wrote the draft of the script for Stan's remake.

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Speaker 3: And we turn it in and they go, this is good.

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Speaker 3: This is stupid in a Christmas movie. So now I

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Speaker 3: have and I'm I have a nice little Christmas programmer

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Speaker 3: and nothing more.

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Speaker 1: It's the middle of nineteen ninety one in Hollywood. Janet

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Speaker 1: and Stan's low budget television movie remake isn't really the

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Speaker 1: sort of thing to get people talking, but they're making progress.

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Speaker 1: He's got the old school movie star Diane Cannon cast

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Speaker 1: in the lead as the Martha Stewart character, and an

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Speaker 1: offer out to a director. And then one day his

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Speaker 1: phone rings. His assistant says, it's a big Hollywood agent

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Speaker 1: named Lou Pitt.

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Speaker 3: Now I understand, I'm in the television movie business. These

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Speaker 3: guys are never calling me, so if they do call me,

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Speaker 3: it's never good. And and he he gets on the

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Speaker 3: phone and he says, you're a director for your Christmas

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Speaker 3: in Connecticut movie. And I said, uh, well almost yeah,

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Speaker 3: we may have an offer out and he said, okay,

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Speaker 3: Well if he doesn't say yes, I want you to

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Speaker 3: consider my client. And I go okay and wait to

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Speaker 3: hear the name, and I go who, and he goes

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Speaker 3: Arnld Schwarzenegger and I burst out laughly.

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Speaker 7: Oh he was.

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Speaker 3: He was totally shocked.

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Speaker 1: Lou Pitt, legendary agent Arnald Schwarzenegger.

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Speaker 3: That's hilarious. No, seriously, is this a joke?

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Speaker 1: Is this a joke?

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Speaker 3: He goes, no, seriously, and I goes, I'm Schwartzeker's not

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Speaker 3: doing a this movie for T and T.

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Speaker 1: To be clear, Arnold had just finished shooting James Cameron's

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Speaker 1: epic Terminator two Asta La Vista Baby. Terminator two is

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Speaker 1: the one where Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a killer cyborg sent

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Speaker 1: from the future to protect young John Conner from a

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Speaker 1: different killer cyborg also sent from the future to kill him.

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Speaker 1: As you can imagine, such a plot necessitates a lot

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Speaker 1: of elaborate production work. He was movie making on a

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Speaker 1: scale that was practically unheard of, especially in Los Angeles.

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Speaker 7: The production actually changed the course of a river to

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Speaker 7: shoot high speed chases in the extensive plood control channels

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Speaker 7: of Los Angeles.

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Speaker 1: Anyways, back to Stan and Lou the agent.

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Speaker 3: I go, Lou, why on earth were Arnold Schwartz He says, well,

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Speaker 3: here's why.

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Speaker 1: Arnold Schwarzenegger was forty four years old, he had two kids.

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Speaker 1: Nobody is an action hero forever. Maybe it was time

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Speaker 1: to explore some alternatives.

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Speaker 3: And so he it was kind of tired after tea

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Speaker 3: two and he said to Blue I would like to

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Speaker 3: direct a movie. The directing thing was kind of out

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Speaker 3: of the box, at a left field, and they said, well,

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Speaker 3: can we'll put together a big feat direct He goes, no, no, no,

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Speaker 3: I want low risk. If I do a terrible job,

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Speaker 3: I don't want anyone to be upset. I don't want

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Speaker 3: a big budget, and I want it to be family

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Speaker 3: friendly because I don't want anything to be controversial nothing.

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Speaker 3: I just want something very simple. And the only one

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Speaker 3: that fit the bill was Christmas, Connecticut. So I said, okay,

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Speaker 3: I'll I'll call you if this guy passes and I

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Speaker 3: have the phone. Of course, my parts jumping out of mine.

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Speaker 3: I go what and and I said, yeah, I'm serious.

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Speaker 1: I read it.

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Speaker 3: I think he'd like it, so get me an offer.

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Speaker 1: Stan gets the green light from the executives at TNT.

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Speaker 1: There's some negotiating and they offer Schwartzenegger one hundred thousand bucks,

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Speaker 1: and then one night stands phone rings.

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Speaker 3: I pick it up and I hear Sam brooks, yes,

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Speaker 3: please hold for orongs Forcenaker and now serious. I can

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Speaker 3: see my heart beating, and he goes, hello. I go, Arnold,

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Speaker 3: you're the guy with this Christmas script. I said yes.

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Speaker 3: He says it's fantastic. I'd love to direct. I go okay.

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Speaker 3: He goes, but I have to shoot in Los Angeles

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Speaker 3: night to do it in these days. And he goes

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Speaker 3: a nice some notes of the script. I go, okay,

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Speaker 3: can you be here in an how And I go

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Speaker 3: uh no. He goes, can you be on Wednesday? I go, yes,

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Speaker 3: I could be there on Wednesday. He goes over for

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Speaker 3: a meeting at Arnold's offices in Santa Monica. So now

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Speaker 3: I'm going to see me on Wednesday. And you walk

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Speaker 3: in and there's this giant lobby and and the first

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Speaker 3: thing you see is the exoskeleton, the metal thing with

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Speaker 3: the red eyes from terminator. So there's no doubt. I mean,

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Speaker 3: the posters are up on the wall, but there's no

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Speaker 3: doubt when you walk in and you see this seven

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Speaker 3: foot thing, you go, oh, craft, I know where I am.

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Speaker 3: My heart's beating and I go in and he's in

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Speaker 3: his office, which is massive. It's like you know, signs

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Speaker 3: of a football field, and he's on one. You walk

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Speaker 3: in on this end and he's on the other ends.

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Speaker 3: You walk past all the you know, the props and stuff,

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Speaker 3: and then he's at a big, huge desk with a

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Speaker 3: big giant chair, and behind him is a bookshelf but

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Speaker 3: with all of the Mister Universe awards, not film stuff,

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Speaker 3: it's all his bodybuilding awards. And I remember we were

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Speaker 3: going through the script and I said, hey, I want

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Speaker 3: to use the restroom and he pointed to me by

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Speaker 3: putting up this bicep and pointing it like this and

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Speaker 3: his biceps cleaning. He goes, this, doc what And I go,

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Speaker 3: do was that just to show me your by step?

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Speaker 3: And he goes, I have to show them, you know,

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Speaker 3: the guns whenever I can. And I realized, okay, so

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Speaker 3: this guy definitely has a sense of heurot.

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Speaker 1: By himself they sit down. Arnold has notes on the script.

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Speaker 3: He wanted more humor and a little more jeopardy, and

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Speaker 3: so we added in like this like sort of big

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Speaker 3: action sequence at the beginning where he rescues the kid.

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Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, Janet Brownell, who wrote the

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Speaker 1: original script for the remake, is looking at a very

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Speaker 1: different movie.

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Speaker 8: The whole thing took this like one hundred and eighty

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Speaker 8: degree turn.

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Speaker 9: At that point, it was just like what is And

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Speaker 9: Stan just did not want to lose him, And I'm like, Okay,

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Speaker 9: I truly don't see this, but if it gets a.

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Speaker 8: Film green light, I don't give a shit.

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Speaker 1: Arnold wants them to get someone else to come in

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Speaker 1: and punch up the script.

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Speaker 3: He wanted more humor, and as it happened, my best

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Speaker 3: friend in the world had written Commando.

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Speaker 1: Commando, the nineteen eighty five action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger,

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Speaker 1: which is the critic from the La Times referred to

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Speaker 1: as a quote gory crowd pleaser and a glorified fireworks display.

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Speaker 3: And Arnold loved them and said, do you think you

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Speaker 3: can get him to do a comedy past.

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Speaker 1: Jeff Low, the friend who wrote Commando, gets hired to

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Speaker 1: do the rewrite with his writing partner.

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Speaker 3: We walk in.

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Speaker 10: He's sitting on a white couch maybe it's literally the

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Speaker 10: length of the biggest limousine you've ever seen in your life,

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Speaker 10: and he has his feed up on this white porcelain

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Speaker 10: marble table. He's gott a big cigar in his mouth

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Speaker 10: and scripts all around him, and he doesn't say hello,

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Speaker 10: He doesn't introduce himself, he doesn't do anything.

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Speaker 11: He just the first thing out of his mouth is, so,

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Speaker 11: what of you guys been doing since Commando?

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Speaker 3: Clearly not going to the gym.

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Speaker 1: I just have to say, everyone in this episode is

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Speaker 1: going to do their own Schwarzenegger impression, which is good

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Speaker 1: because even though we couldn't land an interview with him,

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Speaker 1: I feel like he's here with us in spirit. Anyway.

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Speaker 1: They settle in and start rewriting the film Commando style.

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Speaker 12: So that's where things kind of went off the rails

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Speaker 12: for me personally, because it's like, okay, this is becoming

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Speaker 12: a completely different thing.

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Speaker 8: It just Schwarzenegger eyed into like this thing that was

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Speaker 8: bigger than life.

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Speaker 6: I mean, she just did an amazing job. We didn't

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Speaker 6: make any real big structural changes, that's all perms, but

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Speaker 6: a dialogue pass and go through it and try to

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Speaker 6: find more Bold's vision.

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Speaker 1: They start burning through the script. A big job for

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Speaker 1: any director is giving notes on the rewrites. Schwarzenegger was

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Speaker 1: calling in help from his director friends, including legendary comedy

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Speaker 1: director Ivan Reitman, the guy who did Ghostbusters. Everyone was

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Speaker 1: working to realize Arnold's vision.

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Speaker 11: Now you have to understand that on Commando he would

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Speaker 11: do this all the time.

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Speaker 3: He would go, I have a great idea.

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Speaker 7: Listen, this is what I want to do.

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Speaker 3: When the guy comes at me.

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Speaker 10: I want to throw a buzzsaw at him and it

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Speaker 10: chops off his arm, and then I'm going to pick

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Speaker 10: up his arm and punch me in his face with

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Speaker 10: his old arm.

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Speaker 13: And we would go, well, we like the bus off art?

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Speaker 13: Can we just do the bus off art? So like,

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Speaker 13: our job is not to go I think that's not

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Speaker 13: gonna work.

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Speaker 6: Our job is to make it work.

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Speaker 10: And it doesn't help that the next day he would say, Okay,

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Speaker 10: we're doing really well.

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Speaker 6: We're really getting there.

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Speaker 3: It's really coming to where I wanted to be.

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Speaker 6: So I gave it to Steve it and Stephen talked

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Speaker 6: to me last night and.

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Speaker 7: He says, I have to really be careful that and

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Speaker 7: this is what I want you to do.

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Speaker 6: And again I'm like, is Steven the guy at the

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Speaker 6: Jim is Stephen? Who is Steve It?

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Speaker 11: And then suddenly as you go, you know, as he

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Speaker 11: starts to sort of talk more, you go, he's talking

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Speaker 11: about Steven Spielberg.

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Speaker 1: This is beginning to look like a train nobody would

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Speaker 1: step in front of. Back at T and T, the

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Speaker 1: executives had a dim sense of what was going on.

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Speaker 5: It's not has done now.

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Speaker 1: Lori Posmantier, one of the TNT executives.

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Speaker 8: Whether you're famous or not, as a director, that doesn't happen.

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Speaker 8: To let somebody go and change things as much as

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Speaker 8: we're change.

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Speaker 1: Meanwhile, they've cast the rest of the film. Joining Diane

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Speaker 1: Cannon would be Hollywood screwball legend Tony Curtis, probably best

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Speaker 1: known for playing opposite Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot.

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Speaker 1: Along with him would be ex country music star Chris Christofferson.

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Speaker 1: Here's TNT's senior vice president of production at the time,

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Speaker 1: Nick Lombardo.

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Speaker 14: Even when they cast it, I thought, well, that is

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Speaker 14: the weirdest cast I ever heard of. I mean, the

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Speaker 14: idea that these people fit together made no sense at all.

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Speaker 14: I mean, Diane Cannon and Chriskustbinson in the same frame.

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Speaker 14: It makes the star is born when he's holding Barbara

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Speaker 14: Streissad look organic.

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Speaker 1: So armed with one of the all time weirdest, most

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Speaker 1: stacked casts in the history of film, a comparatively small

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Speaker 1: budget of three million dollars, a slot on an upstart

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Speaker 1: cable network, and a script based on a nineteen forty

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Speaker 1: screwball comedy that's been punched up by two of the

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Speaker 1: writers behind a big eighties blockbuster. An Austrian former bodybuilder,

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Speaker 1: fresh off his repeat performance as a time traveling cyborg,

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Speaker 1: prepared to direct his first Christmas film.

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Speaker 3: You don't as a TV movie producer ever get near

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Speaker 3: anything this hot. You just don't.

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Speaker 15: I mean, we're we're all a little nervous about the

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Speaker 15: whole thing, you know, because it's like you're playing with

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Speaker 15: matches and you know, oh yeah, that's that Arnold direct this.

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Speaker 5: You know.

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Speaker 15: It's like, for us three million dollars was a lot

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Speaker 15: of money.

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Speaker 8: I don't know, I don't know. Whatever it was like,

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Speaker 8: Oh yeah.

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Speaker 15: He wanted to prove that he could be a director.

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Speaker 1: And everyone was about to find out whether or not

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Speaker 1: he could Christmas and Connecticut. The remake began filming about

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Speaker 1: two months before Christmas in Los Angeles. Because Arnold Schwartzenegger

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Speaker 1: had never before directed a future film, though what the

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Speaker 1: record show he had directed an episode of the TV

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Speaker 1: show Tales from the Crypt, the production arranged for things

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Speaker 1: to film more or less in the order they happen

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Speaker 1: in the film. There's a lot less to keep track

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Speaker 1: of continuity wise that way, but this also posed a problem.

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Speaker 1: One of the anxieties of adapting a great work of

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Speaker 1: art is figuring out how to make it your own.

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Speaker 1: The nineteen ninety two made for TV remake of Christmas

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Speaker 1: in Connecticut does this immediately by introducing its male lead,

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Speaker 1: a park ranger named Jefferson Jones, mid workout routine in

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Speaker 1: his mountain cabin. If you're looking for signs that this

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Speaker 1: is not your grandmother's Christmas in Connecticut, the site of

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Speaker 1: Chris Christofferson as Jefferson Jones sweating after busting out some

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Speaker 1: chin ups on a beam in his cabin is your

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Speaker 1: first warning. A man on the television offers some brisk

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Speaker 1: exposition while he cools down.

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Speaker 5: In the last hour, experts predict this should have been

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Speaker 5: the biggest storm to hit the Rockies in the last decade.

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Speaker 6: More than four feet of snow has anticipated to blanket

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Speaker 6: the area the next forty eight hours.

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Speaker 1: The phone rings. Another ranger is calling to tell Jones

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Speaker 1: a kid has gotten lost in the blizzard. He has

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Speaker 1: to go out and find him. This is the fabled

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Speaker 1: action sequence Schwarzenegger had requested. They shot the blizzard on

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Speaker 1: a sound stage. It's the moment Jefferson Jones becomes a hero,

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Speaker 1: which is why he gets invited to be a guest

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Speaker 1: of Elizabeth Blainez for a Christmas special in Connecticut. It's

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Speaker 1: got to look epic. It's got to have that Arnold

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Speaker 1: Schwarzenegger feeling. Unfortunately terminator, this is not Here's Jim Wilberger,

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Speaker 1: director of production.

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Speaker 15: Yeah, there's a scene where Christofferson, you know, suddenly has

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Speaker 15: rescued the kid and you see him roll down this

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Speaker 15: little hill of snow which was shot on stage and

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Speaker 15: trying to make more of more of it because there

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Speaker 15: wasn't that much set for that little hill, and you know,

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Speaker 15: and then suddenly you see all the people rush in

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Speaker 15: to rescue you know, I mean, this was just not

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Speaker 15: good blocking, and that's just an experience.

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Speaker 1: Schwarzenegger wanted Jeopardy, but this kind of looks like a

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Speaker 1: snowball fight gone awry. Jones stumbles over a very small

401
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Speaker 1: hill holding a child that looks like it might be

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Speaker 1: a mannequin. He's groaning and yelling, but his lips aren't moving,

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Speaker 1: so tough start. Luckily, though, a lot of the film

404
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Speaker 1: is set inside Elizabeth Blaine's fake Connecticut house where she's

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Speaker 1: shooting a Christmas special in celebration of Jones. The bulk

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Speaker 1: production happened there, so the whole crew set up at

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Speaker 1: a house in South Pasadena for the real work. This

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Speaker 1: introduced Arnold to the second problem of directing actor ego

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Speaker 1: management in the issue of his trailer.

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Speaker 3: Arnold's trailer was like a house on wheels.

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Speaker 4: It was literally like you'd look at it from the

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Speaker 4: outside and you'd say, wow, that's got all kinds of

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Speaker 4: popouts and the roof went off and everything. But when

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Speaker 4: you got inside, it was literally like you had just

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Speaker 4: walked into like the Greystone Mansion.

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Speaker 7: You know.

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Speaker 15: It's probably almost three times as wide as a normal trailer,

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Speaker 15: and that was the length that became the issue. Diane

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Speaker 15: comes in and she says, why is Arnold's trailer bigger

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Speaker 15: than my trailer? Nobody's supposed to have a bigger trailer

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Speaker 15: than me.

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Speaker 1: Diane Cannon was the star of the film, but she

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Speaker 1: was maybe realizing that this production was all about the director. Schwarzenegger, though,

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Speaker 1: was dealing with other problems. Namely, he had chosen one

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Speaker 1: of the hardest genres for his first major directing for

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Speaker 1: a screwball comedy is like dancing on the head of

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Speaker 1: a pin. It thrives on chaos, but it has to

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Speaker 1: be a kind of controlled chaos. With his big personality cast,

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Speaker 1: low budget, short timeline, and hastily rewritten script, Schwarzenegger had

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Speaker 1: an excess of chaos and a minimum of control. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you have one somewhat disgruntled actress portraying fake Martha Stewart,

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Speaker 1: and another who's a macho park ranger, but who for

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Speaker 1: no apparent reason, relays this backstory part way through the movie.

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Speaker 5: Actually, before I moved to Colorado, I lived in Chicago.

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Speaker 5: I grew up there, taught comparative literature at the University

436
00:23:17,116 --> 00:23:20,036
Speaker 5: of Container. Really, I got offered tenure and head of

437
00:23:20,076 --> 00:23:23,996
Speaker 5: the department, and it's what I thought I wanted that's

438
00:23:24,036 --> 00:23:27,476
Speaker 5: being caged in by concrete and crowds for the rest

439
00:23:27,516 --> 00:23:27,996
Speaker 5: of my life.

440
00:23:28,876 --> 00:23:30,876
Speaker 1: This is I'm pretty sure the only time in the

441
00:23:31,116 --> 00:23:33,876
Speaker 1: entire film Jefferson jones Is past as chair of the

442
00:23:33,956 --> 00:23:37,916
Speaker 1: University of Chicago's Comparative Literature Department is mentioned. And I

443
00:23:38,116 --> 00:23:41,236
Speaker 1: love Chris Kristofferson, but most of the rest of his

444
00:23:41,316 --> 00:23:45,476
Speaker 1: performance veers between stiff and oddly sexually charged.

445
00:23:46,076 --> 00:23:49,476
Speaker 15: When he starts smearing the pine staff on her neck.

446
00:23:50,116 --> 00:23:55,156
Speaker 1: Yeah that it's it's it's just kind of transcendently weird.

447
00:23:55,716 --> 00:23:58,636
Speaker 15: Yeah, well, not to mention his two times he's like

448
00:23:58,756 --> 00:23:59,756
Speaker 15: staring at her butt.

449
00:23:59,916 --> 00:24:02,836
Speaker 1: You know, there's an extensive shot of that.

450
00:24:04,676 --> 00:24:06,236
Speaker 6: But you can't buy that at Blmingdon.

451
00:24:07,116 --> 00:24:11,036
Speaker 1: You're right, You've got two characters who really just barely

452
00:24:11,116 --> 00:24:13,676
Speaker 1: hang together, and then you have to direct them in

453
00:24:13,796 --> 00:24:17,316
Speaker 1: tightly choreographed zany sequences that have got to feel plausible

454
00:24:17,556 --> 00:24:21,556
Speaker 1: yet also hilarious. For instance, the scene with the baby.

455
00:24:22,436 --> 00:24:25,596
Speaker 1: Remember in Christmas in Connecticut, Elizabeth is a total fraud.

456
00:24:25,996 --> 00:24:27,836
Speaker 1: She doesn't know how to cook. It's not even her

457
00:24:27,916 --> 00:24:30,756
Speaker 1: house in Connecticut, and she's got this fake, staged family

458
00:24:30,796 --> 00:24:33,956
Speaker 1: with her, including a fake baby. She had to keep

459
00:24:34,036 --> 00:24:36,476
Speaker 1: up appearances for the sake of her column. In the

460
00:24:36,516 --> 00:24:39,676
Speaker 1: original film, there's a lovely scene where she and Jefferson

461
00:24:39,756 --> 00:24:43,236
Speaker 1: Jones give her fake baby a bath. She a supposed

462
00:24:43,236 --> 00:24:46,316
Speaker 1: domestic goddess, is meant to bathe her child, which she

463
00:24:46,436 --> 00:24:49,476
Speaker 1: suspiciously has no clue how to do. He steps in

464
00:24:49,956 --> 00:24:52,716
Speaker 1: and does it for her like a total pro. It's

465
00:24:52,756 --> 00:24:54,796
Speaker 1: part of why she falls in love with him, and

466
00:24:55,076 --> 00:24:57,796
Speaker 1: because it's so well executed in the original film, we

467
00:24:57,996 --> 00:25:01,396
Speaker 1: believe they're following in love in this totally implausible moment.

468
00:25:02,556 --> 00:25:07,316
Speaker 6: So there, I'll refer.

469
00:25:07,156 --> 00:25:09,756
Speaker 8: Though she's eating the sil would like do now what her?

470
00:25:09,956 --> 00:25:10,556
Speaker 5: They all do it?

471
00:25:11,316 --> 00:25:11,436
Speaker 16: Oh?

472
00:25:11,516 --> 00:25:15,276
Speaker 5: Really, you'd make a wonderful father.

473
00:25:15,396 --> 00:25:19,516
Speaker 7: Mister Jehan, You're you're not married yourself by any chance,

474
00:25:19,596 --> 00:25:19,796
Speaker 7: are you?

475
00:25:20,756 --> 00:25:22,596
Speaker 6: No cards are stacked against me.

476
00:25:22,676 --> 00:25:24,436
Speaker 2: I guess every time I meet a girl I like,

477
00:25:24,516 --> 00:25:25,916
Speaker 2: it turns out she's already married.

478
00:25:26,276 --> 00:25:27,276
Speaker 5: Oh that's too bad.

479
00:25:28,356 --> 00:25:31,556
Speaker 1: Now. This also happens in the Arnold Schwarzenegger version.

480
00:25:32,556 --> 00:25:34,676
Speaker 3: Maybe we should finish up for finish up.

481
00:25:36,476 --> 00:25:39,636
Speaker 17: You know what, I just had the most wonderful idea,

482
00:25:40,036 --> 00:25:41,116
Speaker 17: How would you like to bathere?

483
00:25:41,476 --> 00:25:41,516
Speaker 7: Me?

484
00:25:42,236 --> 00:25:42,516
Speaker 6: Sure?

485
00:25:42,716 --> 00:25:45,836
Speaker 1: I think it'd be fun for you here What happens

486
00:25:45,916 --> 00:25:48,876
Speaker 1: next is the greatest travesty in the history of bath time.

487
00:25:49,436 --> 00:25:51,636
Speaker 1: It's as if you gave two aliens a baby and said,

488
00:25:51,676 --> 00:25:54,356
Speaker 1: give this a bath, not realizing that on the planet

489
00:25:54,396 --> 00:25:57,076
Speaker 1: therefrom not only are there no babies or baths, but

490
00:25:57,596 --> 00:26:02,796
Speaker 1: actually there's not even water. What do you remember about that, Well,

491
00:26:02,996 --> 00:26:06,316
Speaker 1: some of that was improvised. What happens is they just

492
00:26:06,436 --> 00:26:09,516
Speaker 1: drenched the baby in shampoo and then they barely any

493
00:26:09,556 --> 00:26:11,676
Speaker 1: of it out. On the bad scale, it's two rubber

494
00:26:11,756 --> 00:26:14,116
Speaker 1: duckies out of ten. But the premise of the scene

495
00:26:14,276 --> 00:26:15,876
Speaker 1: is that Jefferson Jones is crushing it.

496
00:26:16,556 --> 00:26:19,996
Speaker 15: It was pretty hilarious, I thought, and also very clumsy,

497
00:26:21,956 --> 00:26:24,196
Speaker 15: and they really grouped up with the kid's hair.

498
00:26:24,636 --> 00:26:27,636
Speaker 3: My god, I don't know a shift.

499
00:26:28,396 --> 00:26:29,636
Speaker 18: Here's some soap, sweetie.

500
00:26:33,116 --> 00:26:35,076
Speaker 8: That's a director thing. I mean, that is a flat

501
00:26:35,156 --> 00:26:36,516
Speaker 8: out director fail.

502
00:26:36,756 --> 00:26:37,596
Speaker 6: I mean that right.

503
00:26:37,676 --> 00:26:41,036
Speaker 1: But retake the scene and there probably were three or

504
00:26:41,076 --> 00:26:41,916
Speaker 1: four versions of that.

505
00:26:41,996 --> 00:26:43,836
Speaker 8: That's the one he chose, you know, it's not like

506
00:26:43,996 --> 00:26:45,316
Speaker 8: that was the only one.

507
00:26:46,636 --> 00:26:47,236
Speaker 19: That you're off with.

508
00:26:47,316 --> 00:26:48,596
Speaker 18: Shit that for a bachelor.

509
00:26:48,676 --> 00:26:50,076
Speaker 7: You know, you're sure you don't have a wholestel of

510
00:26:50,156 --> 00:26:50,956
Speaker 7: kids hidden.

511
00:26:50,716 --> 00:26:57,916
Speaker 5: Somewhere I nursed a couple of bear clubs to their muddy.

512
00:26:58,716 --> 00:27:00,956
Speaker 1: It's like on SNL when the actors break and laugh

513
00:27:01,396 --> 00:27:03,516
Speaker 1: when Elizabeth's like, I'm not sure if we got all

514
00:27:03,596 --> 00:27:06,996
Speaker 1: the soap out, and Jefferson's like, well we didn't. That's

515
00:27:07,076 --> 00:27:09,596
Speaker 1: the true reaction and it must be improvised. But then

516
00:27:09,596 --> 00:27:11,756
Speaker 1: they go back to the scripted version where Jones is

517
00:27:11,836 --> 00:27:14,396
Speaker 1: doing a great job. Most of the people on set

518
00:27:14,596 --> 00:27:15,996
Speaker 1: have some kind of moment.

519
00:27:15,876 --> 00:27:19,476
Speaker 15: Like this, you know, the forest with the snow and

520
00:27:19,676 --> 00:27:23,196
Speaker 15: the sleigh that comes along, and there's even one shot

521
00:27:23,236 --> 00:27:26,876
Speaker 15: I noticed where you can see the wheels under the sleigh.

522
00:27:27,556 --> 00:27:30,036
Speaker 12: I remember the day I was there, they were filming

523
00:27:30,116 --> 00:27:33,276
Speaker 12: that scene where chaos RUPs, you know, and the tree

524
00:27:33,356 --> 00:27:34,356
Speaker 12: falls down and all that.

525
00:27:34,796 --> 00:27:36,996
Speaker 8: We had to do that scene quite a number of time.

526
00:27:38,476 --> 00:27:41,516
Speaker 8: It was as chaotic as the scene is, but behind

527
00:27:41,556 --> 00:27:43,476
Speaker 8: the scenes it was even more so.

528
00:27:44,756 --> 00:27:48,156
Speaker 14: It's a little like like opening a bolode factory for

529
00:27:48,276 --> 00:27:50,636
Speaker 14: cultural you know, it's sort of like, what's going on

530
00:27:50,796 --> 00:27:54,076
Speaker 14: in there? Nothing good, nothing good, don't ask anything.

531
00:27:57,356 --> 00:27:59,996
Speaker 1: So it was kind of hectic on set, and yet

532
00:28:00,476 --> 00:28:02,756
Speaker 1: I think you can hear in people's voices how much

533
00:28:02,836 --> 00:28:06,276
Speaker 1: they love telling this story. Pretty much across the board.

534
00:28:06,476 --> 00:28:08,436
Speaker 1: This was a happy memory for the people I spoke to,

535
00:28:09,356 --> 00:28:11,876
Speaker 1: not least of all, because they never lost sight of

536
00:28:12,076 --> 00:28:13,556
Speaker 1: just how improbable it all was.

537
00:28:14,676 --> 00:28:16,396
Speaker 7: And then in the middle of all this is Arnold

538
00:28:16,476 --> 00:28:20,356
Speaker 7: running around going, you know, move the top or overhead.

539
00:28:20,436 --> 00:28:22,636
Speaker 1: I do this over here, let's go do this.

540
00:28:22,916 --> 00:28:24,596
Speaker 3: No, I think it could be ten times funny.

541
00:28:24,596 --> 00:28:24,996
Speaker 1: I'll come on.

542
00:28:25,436 --> 00:28:31,876
Speaker 7: So there's Arnold's voice, you know, just bellowing out. And

543
00:28:31,996 --> 00:28:35,476
Speaker 7: that was the other thing that I really remember was that.

544
00:28:37,076 --> 00:28:41,636
Speaker 11: While this is happening, while we're making this little trainy movie,

545
00:28:42,956 --> 00:28:50,396
Speaker 11: he is in theaters with Terminator two and it's doing

546
00:28:50,596 --> 00:28:53,516
Speaker 11: numbers that no one has ever seen before.

547
00:28:53,676 --> 00:28:57,676
Speaker 7: And we were on set when it.

548
00:28:57,916 --> 00:29:01,316
Speaker 6: Crossed five hundred million dollars. But when you're standing next

549
00:29:01,356 --> 00:29:04,996
Speaker 6: to the guy who's the star of that movie, and

550
00:29:05,836 --> 00:29:07,796
Speaker 6: his major concern is whether or not.

551
00:29:09,356 --> 00:29:11,396
Speaker 3: Is they did focus forehead.

552
00:29:11,516 --> 00:29:15,076
Speaker 1: Let's go the forehead thing. You're not the first person

553
00:29:15,196 --> 00:29:18,996
Speaker 1: to bring that up. Several people mentioned to me that

554
00:29:19,196 --> 00:29:22,596
Speaker 1: Arnold Schwartzenegger's favorite put down was to call someone a forehead.

555
00:29:23,116 --> 00:29:25,836
Speaker 1: This actually made it into the movie. When Elizabeth Blaine

556
00:29:25,876 --> 00:29:28,196
Speaker 1: and Jefferson Jones get pulled over by the cops mid

557
00:29:28,316 --> 00:29:30,716
Speaker 1: sleigh ride, the one where you can see the wheels

558
00:29:31,276 --> 00:29:31,876
Speaker 1: this happens.

559
00:29:32,276 --> 00:29:34,236
Speaker 6: What's your hands? Where I can say, I'm you're both

560
00:29:34,316 --> 00:29:34,916
Speaker 6: under arrest.

561
00:29:35,196 --> 00:29:37,836
Speaker 3: Oh, come on, come on, you foreheads, get him up?

562
00:29:38,396 --> 00:29:38,636
Speaker 7: You what?

563
00:29:40,276 --> 00:29:42,156
Speaker 1: This is actually a big part of why I love

564
00:29:42,236 --> 00:29:45,396
Speaker 1: this movie. It has a kind of free jazz improvisitory

565
00:29:45,516 --> 00:29:49,596
Speaker 1: quality to it. It's oddly self referential and also very sweet.

566
00:29:50,116 --> 00:29:51,996
Speaker 1: It's like how you can hear in someone's voice when

567
00:29:52,036 --> 00:29:56,276
Speaker 1: they're smiling. That's how this movie feels. Because, even at

568
00:29:56,276 --> 00:29:58,916
Speaker 1: the risk of himself being labeled a forehead who couldn't

569
00:29:58,956 --> 00:30:02,676
Speaker 1: direct the movie, Arnold Schwarzenegger was showing up every day

570
00:30:02,836 --> 00:30:05,396
Speaker 1: and putting in his all for the film. Buffs and

571
00:30:05,436 --> 00:30:07,476
Speaker 1: the crew. It was a dream come true just to

572
00:30:07,556 --> 00:30:10,196
Speaker 1: work with him or with a legend like Tony Curtis.

573
00:30:11,716 --> 00:30:14,356
Speaker 3: You know, it was a trip to oz that I

574
00:30:14,476 --> 00:30:17,316
Speaker 3: knew it was short lived, but it was something I

575
00:30:17,436 --> 00:30:20,436
Speaker 3: was going to take in and enjoy them as much

576
00:30:20,476 --> 00:30:21,076
Speaker 3: as possible.

577
00:30:22,276 --> 00:30:25,316
Speaker 1: After twenty days of shooting the film wrapped, they had

578
00:30:25,316 --> 00:30:28,676
Speaker 1: a party at Arnold Swartzeninger's restaurant. It was around Christmas

579
00:30:28,756 --> 00:30:30,716
Speaker 1: time and they all got sweatshirts with the name of

580
00:30:30,756 --> 00:30:31,756
Speaker 1: the film on the front.

581
00:30:32,916 --> 00:30:37,596
Speaker 15: And on the back was a picture of Arnold with

582
00:30:37,796 --> 00:30:46,156
Speaker 15: a Santa hat on, wearing sunglasses and saying something about

583
00:30:47,676 --> 00:30:50,396
Speaker 15: I can't remember the full of anybody used for you forehead.

584
00:30:51,796 --> 00:30:53,836
Speaker 1: Later, Jim was kind enough to send me a photo

585
00:30:53,876 --> 00:30:57,356
Speaker 1: of the sweatshirt. It said on the back more snow

586
00:30:57,476 --> 00:31:02,756
Speaker 1: u forehead. There's my Schwartzenegger impression with the film in

587
00:31:02,796 --> 00:31:06,676
Speaker 1: the can post production and premieres loomed. That's after the break,

588
00:31:17,876 --> 00:31:20,756
Speaker 1: before we get to the premiere of Arnold Schwarzenegger's nineteen

589
00:31:20,876 --> 00:31:23,716
Speaker 1: ninety two Christmas and Connecticut remake, I want to tell

590
00:31:23,716 --> 00:31:25,796
Speaker 1: you about something that happened earlier this year.

591
00:31:26,476 --> 00:31:29,716
Speaker 2: Thank you all for coming, Thank you Mitch for coming

592
00:31:29,796 --> 00:31:30,716
Speaker 2: down from Try.

593
00:31:30,956 --> 00:31:32,236
Speaker 17: Yeah, thanks for having me here.

594
00:31:33,036 --> 00:31:35,836
Speaker 1: Malcolm interviewed Mitch Album live on stage at the ninety

595
00:31:35,876 --> 00:31:38,996
Speaker 1: second Street Y Album is the best selling author of

596
00:31:39,076 --> 00:31:42,556
Speaker 1: some ungodly number of books, but he's probably most famous

597
00:31:42,716 --> 00:31:46,156
Speaker 1: for Tuesdays with Maury. He and Malcolm were there to

598
00:31:46,236 --> 00:31:49,716
Speaker 1: talk about his new novel about the Holocaust, The Little Liar.

599
00:31:50,556 --> 00:31:52,916
Speaker 1: They were warming up with some Mitch backstory about his

600
00:31:53,036 --> 00:31:54,636
Speaker 1: time as a musician in New York.

601
00:31:55,276 --> 00:31:58,716
Speaker 17: I tried the whole starving musician thing, and I played

602
00:31:58,756 --> 00:32:01,076
Speaker 17: in all the clubs around here on Monday nights.

603
00:32:01,516 --> 00:32:04,716
Speaker 1: I was backstage at this event peering out. I hadn't

604
00:32:04,756 --> 00:32:07,676
Speaker 1: read Mitch's book. I was up to something else.

605
00:32:09,676 --> 00:32:11,236
Speaker 2: We should probably do this, befall, we get too far

606
00:32:11,276 --> 00:32:14,916
Speaker 2: afield on the music thing. If you've been talking so much,

607
00:32:15,436 --> 00:32:18,236
Speaker 2: you will note that behind you. Yeah, there's a corg.

608
00:32:19,796 --> 00:32:21,716
Speaker 1: At this point, the audience of people who had come

609
00:32:21,796 --> 00:32:23,756
Speaker 1: that night to hear the author of Tuesdays with Maury

610
00:32:23,796 --> 00:32:27,196
Speaker 1: discussed the Holocaust noticed the electric piano behind him.

611
00:32:28,116 --> 00:32:33,076
Speaker 2: And we have a request that you play one of

612
00:32:33,236 --> 00:32:39,356
Speaker 2: your most famous compositions, which you know what I'm talking about.

613
00:32:39,356 --> 00:32:43,796
Speaker 2: I'm talking about Cooking for two from the legendary Arnold

614
00:32:43,836 --> 00:32:48,396
Speaker 2: Schwarzenegger nineteen ninety two, made for TV movie Christmas in Connecticut.

615
00:32:48,876 --> 00:32:50,956
Speaker 17: Yeah, can you keep the recognition?

616
00:32:52,036 --> 00:32:55,156
Speaker 1: Yes it was my keyboard, and yes I had planted

617
00:32:55,236 --> 00:32:55,556
Speaker 1: it there.

618
00:32:56,156 --> 00:32:57,556
Speaker 2: Mitch, No, no, this.

619
00:32:58,076 --> 00:32:59,316
Speaker 7: For some reason, I have no idea.

620
00:32:59,436 --> 00:33:03,116
Speaker 2: My colleague Ben is obsessed with this and really wanted

621
00:33:03,156 --> 00:33:04,836
Speaker 2: us to do this, And I thought, how great would

622
00:33:04,836 --> 00:33:06,196
Speaker 2: it be for you to sing one of our songs?

623
00:33:06,796 --> 00:33:08,796
Speaker 2: Just like, just give us a little taste.

624
00:33:09,116 --> 00:33:10,236
Speaker 19: I have to tell you this story.

625
00:33:10,436 --> 00:33:12,276
Speaker 1: Tell tell Okay.

626
00:33:12,596 --> 00:33:16,876
Speaker 17: So after I got out of the music business, I

627
00:33:16,916 --> 00:33:19,156
Speaker 17: had a college roommate who went into the movie business.

628
00:33:19,636 --> 00:33:23,076
Speaker 1: That would be Stanley M. Brooks, executive producer of Christmas

629
00:33:23,116 --> 00:33:28,676
Speaker 1: in Connecticut. Stan and Mitch were roommates at Brandeis and he.

630
00:33:28,956 --> 00:33:31,276
Speaker 17: Knew that I was a musician, and he was making

631
00:33:31,316 --> 00:33:33,916
Speaker 17: a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger as a producer, and Schwarzenegger

632
00:33:33,996 --> 00:33:36,076
Speaker 17: was the director of Christmas in Connecticut.

633
00:33:36,356 --> 00:33:37,396
Speaker 1: The remake.

634
00:33:40,556 --> 00:33:43,236
Speaker 17: Sounds about as good as it was, I think, and

635
00:33:44,356 --> 00:33:48,396
Speaker 17: they needed as a song because she played Diane Cannon

636
00:33:48,836 --> 00:33:52,516
Speaker 17: played the lead and she was a cook on TV

637
00:33:52,676 --> 00:33:52,956
Speaker 17: or whatever.

638
00:33:53,236 --> 00:33:54,796
Speaker 19: So the song had to be about food.

639
00:33:55,476 --> 00:34:00,116
Speaker 17: And they wanted to use Harry Connick's Recipe for Love

640
00:34:00,236 --> 00:34:02,556
Speaker 17: or something like that, but they couldn't afford it. So

641
00:34:02,956 --> 00:34:05,356
Speaker 17: stan calls me and says, we need a song that's

642
00:34:05,436 --> 00:34:08,676
Speaker 17: kind of upbeat about food for Ronald Swartzenegger's movie.

643
00:34:08,716 --> 00:34:09,316
Speaker 1: Can you do it?

644
00:34:09,476 --> 00:34:09,636
Speaker 18: You know?

645
00:34:09,836 --> 00:34:10,916
Speaker 17: I said, well, what do you need it?

646
00:34:10,956 --> 00:34:15,276
Speaker 1: By Thursday? You know, it was Tuesday, you know, So

647
00:34:15,596 --> 00:34:17,916
Speaker 1: I just went and wrote a little song.

648
00:34:18,036 --> 00:34:20,996
Speaker 17: And my wife is a singer a fantastic singer, and

649
00:34:22,716 --> 00:34:26,076
Speaker 17: I said, honey, can you sing this song because we

650
00:34:26,156 --> 00:34:28,756
Speaker 17: don't have time to go find anybody else. And he

651
00:34:28,916 --> 00:34:30,836
Speaker 17: listened to it and he said, I liked a bun

652
00:34:30,916 --> 00:34:35,476
Speaker 17: but the girl. And that's how the song was chosen. Yeah, yeah,

653
00:34:35,556 --> 00:34:37,556
Speaker 17: I want you to play it. I really think you should.

654
00:34:38,996 --> 00:34:39,556
Speaker 5: So it went.

655
00:34:40,796 --> 00:34:43,916
Speaker 18: Now, remember it had to be about food, food, So

656
00:34:44,116 --> 00:34:54,436
Speaker 18: it went, let's go to the kitchen. I got something

657
00:34:54,516 --> 00:34:56,436
Speaker 18: fixing advertising and dowd.

658
00:34:57,156 --> 00:35:05,236
Speaker 19: Here we're cooking for two. They're inside the oven something

659
00:35:05,516 --> 00:35:06,196
Speaker 19: warm and loving.

660
00:35:06,276 --> 00:35:09,436
Speaker 18: Friends would laugh. They knew that it's true.

661
00:35:10,876 --> 00:35:12,036
Speaker 3: We're cooking for two.

662
00:35:13,196 --> 00:35:15,036
Speaker 1: Here's the bridge.

663
00:35:15,796 --> 00:35:18,156
Speaker 3: I was a souper WONDERL.

664
00:35:18,436 --> 00:35:23,076
Speaker 18: Left numbers every night all but once I tasted your kisses.

665
00:35:23,436 --> 00:35:28,516
Speaker 19: I was dining my candlelight. Here's a recipe for all

666
00:35:28,636 --> 00:35:29,436
Speaker 19: the world to see.

667
00:35:29,516 --> 00:35:34,596
Speaker 1: We take some me and some you. Then it's too We're.

668
00:35:34,476 --> 00:35:35,236
Speaker 7: Cooking for two.

669
00:35:36,996 --> 00:35:37,716
Speaker 14: I love you.

670
00:35:39,276 --> 00:35:40,396
Speaker 19: We're cooking for two.

671
00:35:56,116 --> 00:35:58,796
Speaker 1: That definitely ranks amongst one of the most embarrassing.

672
00:35:58,356 --> 00:35:59,236
Speaker 20: Things I've ever heard.

673
00:36:01,516 --> 00:36:04,196
Speaker 1: They planned to play it over the credits with a

674
00:36:04,276 --> 00:36:07,556
Speaker 1: Mitch album closing track in hand. Christmas in Connecticut was

675
00:36:07,596 --> 00:36:10,836
Speaker 1: almost ready to debut most made for TV movies you

676
00:36:10,996 --> 00:36:13,636
Speaker 1: just put out on television, but not this one.

677
00:36:14,436 --> 00:36:16,876
Speaker 3: First of all, TV movies don't have screenings. If we

678
00:36:16,916 --> 00:36:20,356
Speaker 3: have a screening, it's like ten people and you know,

679
00:36:20,436 --> 00:36:23,156
Speaker 3: you were in a screening room somewhere like this was

680
00:36:23,476 --> 00:36:25,916
Speaker 3: the big theater at the DGA, which holds I don't know,

681
00:36:25,996 --> 00:36:29,676
Speaker 3: a thousand people, massive screen and there's a huge red

682
00:36:29,796 --> 00:36:32,436
Speaker 3: carpet and a press line.

683
00:36:33,716 --> 00:36:37,716
Speaker 8: We had two theaters going and there were phil When

684
00:36:37,716 --> 00:36:38,796
Speaker 8: I tell you that there's.

685
00:36:38,676 --> 00:36:41,196
Speaker 3: Never been a television movie before since, they had a

686
00:36:41,396 --> 00:36:43,796
Speaker 3: press line. And he's walking down working the press, and

687
00:36:43,996 --> 00:36:47,116
Speaker 3: like you know and I know that this see person.

688
00:36:47,276 --> 00:36:48,676
Speaker 3: This is the Ambros Executi.

689
00:36:48,316 --> 00:36:53,196
Speaker 1: Producer h l According to san Ivan Wrightman and James

690
00:36:53,276 --> 00:36:56,116
Speaker 1: Cameron were there, along with the whole slew of Hollywood Royalty.

691
00:36:56,876 --> 00:36:59,716
Speaker 1: The screening was in LA. It was a media sensation.

692
00:37:00,356 --> 00:37:01,356
Speaker 8: Watch out Hollywood.

693
00:37:01,436 --> 00:37:03,636
Speaker 12: There's a new director in town, and he's used to

694
00:37:03,716 --> 00:37:06,396
Speaker 12: making a big impact that is in front of the camera.

695
00:37:06,636 --> 00:37:11,236
Speaker 11: When you act and you see such talent that directs

696
00:37:11,276 --> 00:37:14,236
Speaker 11: as I've worked with, it inspires you.

697
00:37:15,636 --> 00:37:18,956
Speaker 1: Janet Brownell, the screenwriter, was not having such a good night.

698
00:37:19,916 --> 00:37:22,836
Speaker 8: I remember sitting at the screening with my agent and

699
00:37:22,956 --> 00:37:24,036
Speaker 8: I was like crying.

700
00:37:24,396 --> 00:37:26,956
Speaker 1: I mean, I was like, oh my god, why were

701
00:37:26,996 --> 00:37:27,476
Speaker 1: you crying?

702
00:37:28,116 --> 00:37:30,356
Speaker 8: This is like it's so bad, and my name is

703
00:37:30,516 --> 00:37:30,836
Speaker 8: on this.

704
00:37:31,596 --> 00:37:33,476
Speaker 12: My agent was very fast to get me a drink

705
00:37:33,516 --> 00:37:35,956
Speaker 12: at that point. I just remember outside there was kind

706
00:37:35,956 --> 00:37:37,876
Speaker 12: of a Christmas theme sort of party.

707
00:37:37,676 --> 00:37:39,636
Speaker 1: And just like I need to get out of here.

708
00:37:42,476 --> 00:37:44,516
Speaker 1: But there was no putting the genie back in the bottle.

709
00:37:44,996 --> 00:37:47,436
Speaker 1: TNT was running promo's NonStop.

710
00:37:49,476 --> 00:37:53,396
Speaker 5: I love romantic comedies, so I made one myself, Christmas

711
00:37:53,516 --> 00:37:54,116
Speaker 5: in Connecticut.

712
00:37:54,276 --> 00:37:57,996
Speaker 3: It's a romantic comedy with all the trimmings.

713
00:37:58,476 --> 00:38:00,476
Speaker 11: What in the world could possibly go wrong?

714
00:38:01,876 --> 00:38:04,956
Speaker 3: Christmas in Connectic directed by Arnold Schwartznick, you have a

715
00:38:05,036 --> 00:38:09,116
Speaker 3: problem with that? A TNT exclusive premiere Monday, April thirteen.

716
00:38:10,916 --> 00:38:12,956
Speaker 1: I don't know if you caught that, but the film

717
00:38:13,076 --> 00:38:16,476
Speaker 1: came out in April, one week before Easter. As one

718
00:38:16,516 --> 00:38:19,356
Speaker 1: review put it, quote, don't ask me why a Christmas

719
00:38:19,396 --> 00:38:22,276
Speaker 1: movie is premiering in April. As his then wife Maria

720
00:38:22,356 --> 00:38:25,756
Speaker 1: Shreiver reflected, he just does. He's a big one on

721
00:38:26,116 --> 00:38:28,836
Speaker 1: don't think about it or talk about it, do it.

722
00:38:29,956 --> 00:38:32,636
Speaker 3: And then he goes, I think we want to scud

723
00:38:32,716 --> 00:38:34,956
Speaker 3: into it again. That was too much fun. I go, okay,

724
00:38:35,396 --> 00:38:37,116
Speaker 3: I go see if I can organ. I goes no,

725
00:38:37,356 --> 00:38:39,756
Speaker 3: I want to ski in Washington. And by friend Jack Lent,

726
00:38:40,676 --> 00:38:44,556
Speaker 3: so now we all fight Washington and uh. And it

727
00:38:44,676 --> 00:38:47,716
Speaker 3: was a it was a who's who of of Washington,

728
00:38:48,036 --> 00:38:50,836
Speaker 3: and it was senators and members of cabinet. It was

729
00:38:50,876 --> 00:38:54,196
Speaker 3: a seated dinner and I remember my wife and I

730
00:38:54,316 --> 00:38:56,316
Speaker 3: sit down. We weren't work in the room, so we

731
00:38:56,436 --> 00:38:59,236
Speaker 3: sit last at our table. And the guy next to

732
00:38:59,276 --> 00:39:02,476
Speaker 3: me has got like a dressed uniform on, and I say, hey,

733
00:39:02,996 --> 00:39:05,996
Speaker 3: Stam Brooks, I'm the producer, and he goes, hey, Oliver North.

734
00:39:06,196 --> 00:39:09,436
Speaker 1: Oliver North of Iran contra fame. The film a big

735
00:39:09,516 --> 00:39:11,756
Speaker 1: hit in the belt Way. Suff I sit to say,

736
00:39:11,836 --> 00:39:15,196
Speaker 1: this made for television Christmas movie had an unusually big reception,

737
00:39:15,756 --> 00:39:18,596
Speaker 1: but it also didn't really do much to establish Arnold

738
00:39:18,596 --> 00:39:22,276
Speaker 1: Schwarzenegger as a director. The reviews were mixed.

739
00:39:23,436 --> 00:39:25,876
Speaker 15: Well, I'm looking on IMDb right now, it's like the

740
00:39:26,036 --> 00:39:29,076
Speaker 15: rating is four point eight out of ten, and they're

741
00:39:29,116 --> 00:39:29,836
Speaker 15: not far off.

742
00:39:30,716 --> 00:39:33,236
Speaker 3: We nobody had any Oh my god, we're making It's

743
00:39:33,276 --> 00:39:33,956
Speaker 3: a wonderful life.

744
00:39:35,556 --> 00:39:37,196
Speaker 1: I realize I've had a lot of fun with this

745
00:39:37,316 --> 00:39:39,756
Speaker 1: movie and gun to my head. Do I think it's good?

746
00:39:40,356 --> 00:39:40,396
Speaker 13: No?

747
00:39:41,476 --> 00:39:45,116
Speaker 1: But do I love it? Obviously yes, because it's so

748
00:39:45,396 --> 00:39:47,996
Speaker 1: totally weird and over committed to its bit that it

749
00:39:48,076 --> 00:39:50,396
Speaker 1: has a kind of joyfulness to it that honestly gets

750
00:39:50,436 --> 00:39:53,276
Speaker 1: me in the Christmas spirit and at its core, like

751
00:39:53,356 --> 00:39:57,316
Speaker 1: the best Christmas films, The story behind the movie is

752
00:39:57,356 --> 00:40:01,396
Speaker 1: a story of love and friendship between Arnold Schwartzenegger and

753
00:40:01,516 --> 00:40:04,916
Speaker 1: San Brooks, two men brought together by a love of

754
00:40:05,036 --> 00:40:09,516
Speaker 1: making movies. After the film, Stan and Arnold stayed touch.

755
00:40:10,156 --> 00:40:13,676
Speaker 1: Stan even moved into Arnold Schwarzenegger's office building. The kids

756
00:40:13,716 --> 00:40:17,556
Speaker 1: played football together, and even though they never made another

757
00:40:17,636 --> 00:40:23,636
Speaker 1: movie together, their collaboration had one more act. Almost ten

758
00:40:23,756 --> 00:40:26,716
Speaker 1: years to the day from when Christmas in Connecticut began shooting,

759
00:40:27,156 --> 00:40:31,316
Speaker 1: Arnold Schwarzenegger became the governor of California. At the time,

760
00:40:31,436 --> 00:40:33,436
Speaker 1: there was a lot of hand ringing over an issue

761
00:40:33,476 --> 00:40:37,316
Speaker 1: called runaway production. Lots of states had started offering tax

762
00:40:37,356 --> 00:40:40,436
Speaker 1: breaks to lure films into shooting somewhere other than California.

763
00:40:40,996 --> 00:40:42,956
Speaker 1: It had become a real problem for Hollywood as an

764
00:40:42,996 --> 00:40:46,556
Speaker 1: industry town. This was one of the crises Schwarzenegger would

765
00:40:46,556 --> 00:40:49,796
Speaker 1: have to face in his new role as governor. Now,

766
00:40:49,956 --> 00:40:52,436
Speaker 1: the way people talked about his becoming governor was the

767
00:40:52,476 --> 00:40:55,356
Speaker 1: same way they talked about his becoming a director. So

768
00:40:55,476 --> 00:40:58,596
Speaker 1: it only makes sense that he wanted stan Brooks in

769
00:40:58,676 --> 00:40:59,476
Speaker 1: his administration.

770
00:41:00,796 --> 00:41:03,836
Speaker 16: So when he became governor, he was in about a

771
00:41:03,956 --> 00:41:07,196
Speaker 16: year and he called me and he said, how would

772
00:41:07,196 --> 00:41:10,316
Speaker 16: you like to be on the film Commission? And I said, well,

773
00:41:10,396 --> 00:41:11,236
Speaker 16: that's a dumb idea.

774
00:41:11,676 --> 00:41:12,196
Speaker 7: He goes why.

775
00:41:12,276 --> 00:41:14,636
Speaker 16: I said, well, because I don't shoot movies in California.

776
00:41:14,876 --> 00:41:16,916
Speaker 16: I said, I'm like the worst person you could put

777
00:41:16,916 --> 00:41:19,196
Speaker 16: on the film commission because I take my movies out

778
00:41:19,236 --> 00:41:21,276
Speaker 16: of state. And he goes, oh, that's why we want

779
00:41:21,396 --> 00:41:24,316
Speaker 16: to because we want to try and pass the taxpayer.

780
00:41:24,796 --> 00:41:27,716
Speaker 1: Stan joined the California Film Commission, and over the next

781
00:41:27,756 --> 00:41:30,236
Speaker 1: few years he was a key part of the lobbying

782
00:41:30,236 --> 00:41:32,476
Speaker 1: efforts to pass the tax credits that would make it

783
00:41:32,556 --> 00:41:34,116
Speaker 1: easier to film in California.

784
00:41:34,796 --> 00:41:38,116
Speaker 16: It was a hard fight, and so I ended up

785
00:41:38,676 --> 00:41:41,036
Speaker 16: making a short film, a short documentary film where we

786
00:41:41,156 --> 00:41:44,156
Speaker 16: interviewed some of the families that left on why and

787
00:41:44,276 --> 00:41:46,956
Speaker 16: that ended up being more powerful than any speech we

788
00:41:47,036 --> 00:41:48,356
Speaker 16: could make in their office.

789
00:41:49,396 --> 00:41:51,596
Speaker 1: The first tax credits passed in two thousand and nine.

790
00:41:52,236 --> 00:41:56,356
Speaker 1: They've been renewed ever since. So back to our original question,

791
00:41:57,156 --> 00:41:59,996
Speaker 1: why did Arnold Schwarzenegger direct to this bizarre one off

792
00:42:00,076 --> 00:42:03,196
Speaker 1: Christmas film? I found my answer in a story Stan

793
00:42:03,276 --> 00:42:03,556
Speaker 1: told me.

794
00:42:04,476 --> 00:42:06,476
Speaker 3: He says to me one night we finished around seven

795
00:42:06,556 --> 00:42:08,596
Speaker 3: or eight, and he goes, well, you're doing And I said,

796
00:42:08,716 --> 00:42:11,556
Speaker 3: I'm on holme. He goes, hees, Maria's making you know

797
00:42:11,636 --> 00:42:15,196
Speaker 3: you want to come to the house. So oh yeah, yeah.

798
00:42:15,996 --> 00:42:18,036
Speaker 3: So we both jump in our cars and we drive

799
00:42:18,236 --> 00:42:22,196
Speaker 3: to Pacific Kyli State. And at that dinner, I remember

800
00:42:22,276 --> 00:42:24,036
Speaker 3: Arnold turned to me. He says, you have a good talent.

801
00:42:24,116 --> 00:42:26,156
Speaker 3: I own the stat why don't be big feet chifs?

802
00:42:26,636 --> 00:42:28,836
Speaker 3: And I said, to be honest, I didn't get in

803
00:42:28,916 --> 00:42:31,996
Speaker 3: the business to make big famous movies and got in

804
00:42:32,036 --> 00:42:33,796
Speaker 3: the business to make movies. And I get to make

805
00:42:34,796 --> 00:42:37,236
Speaker 3: two or three a year. If I'm in the future business,

806
00:42:37,236 --> 00:42:39,036
Speaker 3: I'm lucky. If I make one every other year every

807
00:42:39,156 --> 00:42:42,236
Speaker 3: three years, I go, I'm happy with my life. He goes, well,

808
00:42:42,956 --> 00:42:43,796
Speaker 3: that's fantastic.

809
00:42:46,876 --> 00:42:49,396
Speaker 1: The story really had honed for me because I get

810
00:42:49,436 --> 00:42:52,636
Speaker 1: what that's like to just love making something, even a

811
00:42:52,716 --> 00:42:55,236
Speaker 1: kind of improbably dense story about the making of the

812
00:42:55,276 --> 00:42:58,956
Speaker 1: remake of a Christmas movie. It's like Stan said, if

813
00:42:58,996 --> 00:43:02,396
Speaker 1: you love making movies or anything, it's just a gift

814
00:43:02,476 --> 00:43:05,276
Speaker 1: to get to make more, even if they're maybe not

815
00:43:05,436 --> 00:43:08,516
Speaker 1: the best, especially if it's clear how much fun you

816
00:43:08,636 --> 00:43:12,036
Speaker 1: had make whatever it is you're making. So to close,

817
00:43:13,276 --> 00:43:15,756
Speaker 1: let me just share one quote from the very last

818
00:43:15,796 --> 00:43:19,716
Speaker 1: page of Charles Dickens as a Christmas Carol, a passage

819
00:43:19,876 --> 00:43:25,396
Speaker 1: about Scrooge after he's seen the light. Quote. Some people

820
00:43:25,636 --> 00:43:28,276
Speaker 1: laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let

821
00:43:28,356 --> 00:43:31,596
Speaker 1: them laugh, and little heeded them, for he was wise

822
00:43:31,716 --> 00:43:34,156
Speaker 1: enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe

823
00:43:34,196 --> 00:43:36,316
Speaker 1: for good, at which some people did not have their

824
00:43:36,356 --> 00:43:39,676
Speaker 1: fill of laughter. In the outset, his own heart laughed,

825
00:43:40,796 --> 00:43:44,876
Speaker 1: and that was quite enough for him. Maybe Stan and

826
00:43:44,996 --> 00:43:48,316
Speaker 1: Arnold didn't make It's a Wonderful Life, but it seems

827
00:43:48,316 --> 00:43:51,836
Speaker 1: to me like their own hearts were laughing. So from

828
00:43:51,836 --> 00:43:55,836
Speaker 1: all of us here at Revision's History, Happy holidays, you foreheads.

829
00:43:57,316 --> 00:44:06,036
Speaker 1: See you in the New year. Revisionist History is produced

830
00:44:06,076 --> 00:44:09,596
Speaker 1: by me Bennatt of Haffrey and Lucy Sullivan with Nina

831
00:44:09,676 --> 00:44:13,876
Speaker 1: Bird Lawrence. Our editor is Karen Chakerji. Fact checking on

832
00:44:13,956 --> 00:44:18,356
Speaker 1: this episode by Sam Russick, a resident Schwarzenegger fan. Original

833
00:44:18,436 --> 00:44:23,076
Speaker 1: scoring by Luis Gara, mastering by Jake Krsky. Our executive

834
00:44:23,076 --> 00:44:28,276
Speaker 1: producer is Jacob Smith. Special thanks to Sarah Nix, David Arnott,

835
00:44:28,636 --> 00:44:34,596
Speaker 1: Linda Berman, Iris Grossman, and Scott Sassa. I'm Ben Mattapaffery.

836
00:44:59,716 --> 00:45:08,396
Speaker 20: Three two one. We wish Royal Berry Christmas. We wish

837
00:45:08,556 --> 00:45:10,436
Speaker 20: you Merry Christmas.

838
00:45:10,876 --> 00:45:11,116
Speaker 5: Queen.

839
00:45:11,476 --> 00:45:14,476
Speaker 1: Wait, you are Merry Christmas?

840
00:45:15,236 --> 00:45:24,836
Speaker 20: New with you, guys,