1 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:05,880 Speaker 1: Here's what sometimes happens in Hollywood. It's a cautionary tale 2 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 1: that we've all heard in a million books and movies 3 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:11,920 Speaker 1: and pop songs. A young, sometimes talented actor filmmaker goes 4 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: out to LA to pursue their dream, gets seduced by 5 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:17,760 Speaker 1: the flash and glamour of the industry before they've done 6 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:20,280 Speaker 1: the hard work of mastering their craft. And what does 7 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: it always lead to? They get chewed up and spit out. 8 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: There's a reason the cliche exists. Roll Doll is twenty six. 9 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:31,920 Speaker 1: He has one published story to his name, one he's 10 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,479 Speaker 1: never read a screenplay before, let alone written one. But 11 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: the most successful producer in Hollywood history, more than him 12 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 1: in a sec has just flown Doll all the way 13 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: from DC to Beverly Hills, where he throws a lavish 14 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: welcome party in Doll's honor. The guest list is like 15 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: the front row at the Oscars. Giant movie stars, beautiful actresses, 16 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,480 Speaker 1: all looking ridiculous because they're dressed up as tiny green creatures. 17 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: Why you ask, because those are the main characters in 18 00:00:56,040 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: dull short story, The Gremlins. Imagine the head trip for 19 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:04,320 Speaker 1: Dahl seeing all this, just strolling through the party, champagne 20 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: in hand, looking at his boyhood heroes and his greatest 21 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:10,400 Speaker 1: fantasies in these ridiculous costumes based on creatures he thought 22 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: up sitting in his underpants in his tiny walk up 23 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: apartment in DC. He doesn't know whether to laugh hysterically 24 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: or cry at the absurd sight. A powerful producer throws 25 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: his beefy arm around Doll's shoulders. The producer ushers Doll 26 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 1: through the party and guides him over to a little 27 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: man who's currently delighting a whole circle of giggling women 28 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: by the bar. The producer wants to introduce Dall. The 29 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: little man turns around, sees that the producer is giving 30 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: him the eye, looks Doll up and down, then winks 31 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: at him, followed by an exaggerated theatrical bow, as if 32 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: welcoming the young writer into a secret society like everybody else. 33 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:47,559 Speaker 1: The little man is dressed up as a green monster, 34 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 1: but despite the costume, Doll recognizes him. Of course he does. 35 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: He's the most beloved man in the country. What the 36 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: hell is happening? When we talk in future episodes about Dolls, 37 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: sometimes bomatic Ego try to remember that he's twenty six 38 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: years old with zero produced credits to his name. When 39 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: a starry Hollywood party is thrown in his honor and 40 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: Charlie Chaplin bows at his feet, what chance did the 41 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: poor guy have? As we discussed in previous episodes, Dahl 42 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:20,639 Speaker 1: packed a lot into his twenties and thirties. He was 43 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,120 Speaker 1: starting to figure out where his passions lie. He suspected 44 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: they were somewhere in the dark, twisty short stories he 45 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: was writing, which leads to the next completely crazy and 46 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: intoxicating chapter that he wills into the story of his life. 47 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:43,639 Speaker 1: Welcome to Hollywood for my hard podcast, Imagine entertainment and Parallax. 48 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:47,200 Speaker 1: I'm married, Tracer, and this is the secret world of 49 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: Roald Dahl. Episode three. Imagine for a second that you're 50 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 1: a young, ambitious short story writer being praised for the 51 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:01,240 Speaker 1: originality of your voice and your clever to steddings. And 52 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: imagine that you've just spent years as a spy learning 53 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,639 Speaker 1: how to seduce and manipulate and lie your way into 54 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: the highest echelons of power. If you were such a person, 55 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: where would you go when the war ends? Of course, 56 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:14,360 Speaker 1: you would pack up and take your talents to the movies. 57 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 1: The dream is intoxicating, especially back in that era. Oh y, look, 58 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: Hollywood's out there. Like countless writers before him, Doll is 59 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: blinded by the promise of celebrity, money and mingling with 60 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: the tan and beautiful, and honestly, after years in spycraft, 61 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: where he lived in a world of smoke and mirrors, 62 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: transitioning to another world of illusions does make some sense. 63 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 1: Succeeding in Hollywood and succeeding in espionage require many of 64 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: the same skills, like manipulation and seduction for starters. Plus, 65 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: after all, the daily adrenaline he's become used to from 66 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: flying aerial missions then spying on the rich and powerful. 67 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: I think it would have been too difficult for Dol 68 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: to transition directly to the sedentary life of a novelist, 69 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 1: which is what he really wanted to be. Screenwriting is different, beast. 70 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 1: It's an adrenaline roller coaster. I've been doing it since 71 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: right out of school. There are crazy high highs and 72 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: awful lo those and every day is different. So Doll 73 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: tries on yet another mask as he attempts to figure 74 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: out who he is now. He'll see if this one 75 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:20,400 Speaker 1: fits better than businessman, fighter, power or spy. This one 76 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:27,159 Speaker 1: is Hollywood power Player. The short story directly responsible for 77 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,479 Speaker 1: bringing Dall to La is the one about the Gremlins, 78 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 1: those menacing little green creatures destroying RAF planes, The one 79 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:36,480 Speaker 1: Eleanor Roosevelt likes so much she invited Doll to the 80 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: White House. The hero of Doll's story, Gus, is an 81 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: RAF pilot who's playing crashes because of a Gremlin. He 82 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,279 Speaker 1: learns that the little creatures are avenging the destruction of 83 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,040 Speaker 1: forests where they live to make way for British airfields. 84 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:53,280 Speaker 1: Gus heroically convinces the gremlins to redirect their energy into 85 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:56,720 Speaker 1: helping the war effort instead of sabotaging it. The Gremlins 86 00:04:56,760 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: become allies of the Brits, using their expertise to repair 87 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:03,159 Speaker 1: planes and even make them faster. Dall thought of the 88 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:07,119 Speaker 1: story as just a silly fairy tale about quote little 89 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: creatures with horns and long tails who walk about on 90 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: the wings of your aircraft urinating in your fuse box, 91 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: So all this hoopla around the story is kind of 92 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: hard for him to believe. At the time Dahl writes 93 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:21,599 Speaker 1: the story, all the big Hollywood movie studios are on 94 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:24,920 Speaker 1: the lookout for patriotic films. Unlike the First World War, 95 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:27,200 Speaker 1: when the industry was still in its infancy and there 96 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: was more ambiguity about the conflict, this war offers the 97 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: opportunity for big, noisy, nationalistic movies to feed an existentially 98 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: terrified audience. This war is tailor made for the movies. 99 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: It's an easy to digest good versus evil storyline, those 100 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: who love freedom versus fascists trying to conquer the world. 101 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:48,280 Speaker 1: Here's Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator. 102 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 2: The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and 103 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 2: the power they took from the people will return to 104 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 2: the people. And so long as men die, liberty will 105 00:05:57,880 --> 00:05:58,800 Speaker 2: never perish. 106 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: All working as a spy for the Regulars when he 107 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: writes The Gremlins, his employment requires him to run any 108 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:07,440 Speaker 1: story he wants to publish by the British government first, 109 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,120 Speaker 1: so they can pass judgment and be sure no national 110 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: secrets are being spilled. The government reader assigned to Doll's 111 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: story happens to be a very well connected businessman with 112 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: a passion for film, Sidney Bernstein. Bernstein is a devout 113 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:24,920 Speaker 1: anti fascist desperately trying to help Jewish actors and filmmakers 114 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:27,720 Speaker 1: get the hell out of Germany right now. He's also 115 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:33,720 Speaker 1: a producing partner of Alfred Hitchcock. When Bernstein reads The 116 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:36,960 Speaker 1: Gremlins ahead of its publication, he instantly sees the potential. 117 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:39,720 Speaker 1: It's a little diamond of a story instead of just 118 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,440 Speaker 1: straight propaganda, which can be heavy handed and boring. Doll 119 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:46,279 Speaker 1: story is full of clever, inventive details, but is still 120 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: an inspiring tale of US and British cooperation to defeat fascism. 121 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 1: Bernstein has just come off a consulting gig on Missus Miniver, 122 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: William Wiler's Best Picture winner, about how an unassuming British 123 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:00,279 Speaker 1: housewife is affected by the war of the. 124 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:02,839 Speaker 2: People, of all the people, and it must be fought 125 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,000 Speaker 2: in the home and in the heart of every man, 126 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:08,000 Speaker 2: woman and child who loves freedom. 127 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 1: Missus Miniver is also the highest Christman film of nineteen 128 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: forty two. With its huge success, Bernstein can kind of 129 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: write his own ticket and get any material he wants 130 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: into the hands of practically anybody he wants. He could 131 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: have decided to give Doll's story in Hitchcock and potentially 132 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 1: saved all decades of pushing a boulder up a hill. Instead, 133 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: he goes in a different direction, he decides the perfect 134 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: fit for Doll's Gremlins. Is a charismatic producer in his 135 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: early forties who happens to be on a hot streak. 136 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: His name is Walt Dissey. 137 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,239 Speaker 2: Animal anatomy is a thing that is not taught properly 138 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 2: in the art school. 139 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 3: So I started the special course in animal anatomy. 140 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's Walt Disney with weirdly specific insight into the 141 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:56,400 Speaker 1: kind of small details that differentiate his technique. Disney is 142 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: only a handful of years removed from his giant, industry 143 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 1: changing success with snow White. In just the past couple 144 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: of years, he's made Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi. I'm 145 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: gonna make you stop and think about that for a second. 146 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: When people debate the best run by an American filmmaker ever, 147 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 1: some argue for Hitchcock's six year period of nine absolute 148 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: bangers ending with Psycho, or Billy Wilder's decade long run 149 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 1: of eight classics starting with Cells at Boulevard and ending 150 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: with the Apartment. Personally, I advocate for Rob Reiner in 151 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: the late eighties, who had a string of five perfect 152 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: movies and six years with When Harry met Sally's Smack 153 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:34,679 Speaker 1: in the middle. Disney produces rather than directs, but he's 154 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:36,959 Speaker 1: the creative force behind his films, so you've got to 155 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: put his miraculous period just before meeting Dol up there 156 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:45,320 Speaker 1: with anyone. Like seemingly everyone who meets young Doll, Disney 157 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: takes right to him. He loves the Gremlin story, which 158 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: somehow blends fantasy and horror with patriotism and heroics without 159 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: feeling it all manipulative. Disney see's serious promise in the 160 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:58,680 Speaker 1: Young Writer, just like Ces Forster had, so he takes 161 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,120 Speaker 1: Doll under his wing to show him how movies are made, 162 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 1: which is pretty nuts. Doll is twenty six. He's trying 163 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:07,520 Speaker 1: to make a career out of writing, and specifically, at 164 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 1: this moment, screenwriting. When a typical young writer goes to 165 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:14,360 Speaker 1: Hollywood and gets really lucky, maybe a junior development exac 166 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: at a mid sized production company lets him be an intern, 167 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: offering pointers while making him carry his golf clubs at Hillcrest. 168 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:22,400 Speaker 1: But if you've learned anything about Roll Dall by this 169 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 1: point in our season, it's that normal rules just don't apply. 170 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 1: Dall's introduction to Hollywood is getting mentored by the most 171 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:32,920 Speaker 1: creative and arguably the most successful producer the town has 172 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:35,840 Speaker 1: ever known. Right at the moment of his peak creativity, 173 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:39,560 Speaker 1: Disney puts the Gremlin story right into development, and rather 174 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:42,720 Speaker 1: than hire a professional screenwriter to come adapt it an adult, 175 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,320 Speaker 1: he decides he wants to keep Doll's unique voice. Here's 176 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,040 Speaker 1: Doll talking about it on Desert Island discs. 177 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:51,600 Speaker 3: That went out to Hollywood at his expense with raf 178 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:55,840 Speaker 3: permission on the stain of the car provided by Walt. 179 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 3: This silly young man in the RIF uniform staying in 180 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:00,720 Speaker 3: the suite in the bevel Hill's Hotel. 181 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 1: It's the same swanky hotel that's about to be a 182 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:07,320 Speaker 1: favorite of Mariel Monroe, Howard Hughes, and Frank Sinatra. And 183 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: it's Disney who throws Doll that welcome party where everyone 184 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 1: dresses as a gremlin. From the top of this episode. 185 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,080 Speaker 1: According to writer Matthew Denison, a Disney illustrator who meets 186 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:18,360 Speaker 1: Doll at the time, all the girls in Hollywood went 187 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:21,600 Speaker 1: crazy for Doll, and he basically starts dating all of 188 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:24,640 Speaker 1: them and flirting with alist actresses like Ginger Rogers and 189 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:27,720 Speaker 1: Marlene Dietrich. Heard here in Angel in Paris. 190 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:30,679 Speaker 4: Well, we must see that you have a very amusing time, 191 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 4: So down, please have you been in Paris before? 192 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:37,440 Speaker 1: Those are Doll's evenings. During the days, he and Disney 193 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:41,240 Speaker 1: spend long hours in story conference, working with illustrators and directors. 194 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:44,320 Speaker 1: Disney is crazy about Doll, though he has a lot 195 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: of trouble pronouncing his first name, so instead, in very 196 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:54,200 Speaker 1: Disney fashion, he calls this tall protege Stocky. As Walt 197 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:57,880 Speaker 1: and Stocky continue to break story for the Gremlins, Disney 198 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:01,320 Speaker 1: does what he's learned to do best, active the publicity machine. 199 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:04,440 Speaker 1: He puts the little Green creatures into advertisements and even 200 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: creates a comic strip around them. Disney is basically willing 201 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:11,120 Speaker 1: the film into the public consciousness well before the screenplay 202 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: is finished, where Craft Services has laid out a single cracker. 203 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:18,360 Speaker 1: At first glance, Dall and Disney seem to be total opposites. 204 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:21,599 Speaker 1: Dall's work, even at the beginning, is dark and subversive, 205 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: often satirical. Disney's is bright and idealistic. Doll's stories have 206 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:29,679 Speaker 1: a creepy edge and explore greed and cruelty and the grotesque, 207 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 1: leaving the reader with moral ambiguity. Disney makes movies with 208 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:37,720 Speaker 1: clear moral lessons and usually happy endings, aiming to inspire joy. 209 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:40,719 Speaker 1: It's the difference between the dark, all skater kid in 210 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:42,880 Speaker 1: high school who listens to a lot of Billie Eilish 211 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: and Old Cure albums and the upbeat, preppy cheerleader who 212 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:49,440 Speaker 1: loves Ariana Grande. As for their take on childhood, which 213 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:51,760 Speaker 1: is a key subject for both men, Dall sees it 214 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 1: as an existential battle against cruel adults. For Disney, it's idyllic, 215 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:01,080 Speaker 1: filled with wonder and innocence, sir, and the two men 216 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: do share a bunch of things in common. For starters, 217 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:07,360 Speaker 1: both create trippy, fantastical worlds, and both champion the underdog, 218 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:12,280 Speaker 1: big time Doll's Matilda, Charlie and James overcome huge challenges. 219 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:16,200 Speaker 1: So do Disney Cinderella, snow White and Dumbo. All of 220 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,160 Speaker 1: them rise above adversity, screaming at the world that I 221 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:20,360 Speaker 1: better not overlook them. 222 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:26,439 Speaker 2: Like Disney's Pinocchio, I'm am real, I'm a real boy 223 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 2: here life, you are a real boy. 224 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:33,840 Speaker 1: The biggest difference between dal and Disney, and what's going 225 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:36,840 Speaker 1: to lead to their undoing, is they're very different approaches 226 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 1: to work. Dall is a writer's writer in the mode 227 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:44,200 Speaker 1: of great novelists. He likes to work alone, doing battle 228 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:48,320 Speaker 1: with the page, fulfilling his very personal vision. Disney is 229 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 1: the ultimate collaborator. He works with teams of writers, directors, animators, 230 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:55,720 Speaker 1: and musicians to bring ideas to life in a communal environment. 231 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:58,480 Speaker 1: So it's not a surprise that dal and Disney begin 232 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:02,560 Speaker 1: butting heads. Dall is just not capable of letting go 233 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 1: of his vision at this point in his life. He 234 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 1: doesn't understand or doesn't care, that filmmaking is collaborative. The 235 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:11,839 Speaker 1: screenplay is just a blueprint for a structure that will 236 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:14,640 Speaker 1: be built by lots and lots of people. For his 237 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 1: entire career, Dall will have a hard time with anyone 238 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,560 Speaker 1: who dares to edit or change his vision. His ego 239 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:23,199 Speaker 1: just always gets in the way, and right now, because 240 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: of his success with the Gremlin short story, he is 241 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:29,720 Speaker 1: quote more arrogant than ever, according to his buddy Antoinette Marsh, 242 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: So of course he believes there's no need to change 243 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: anything he doesn't want to, even if Walt Disney, the 244 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:41,600 Speaker 1: King himself, is the one asking. Eventually, inevitably, Disney decides 245 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:45,400 Speaker 1: the collaboration or black thereof just isn't working, and there 246 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,400 Speaker 1: are about a million other stories he could be working on. So, 247 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:51,240 Speaker 1: after all the time, money, and advanced publicity he's poured 248 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 1: into this thing, Disney pulls the plug. Doll is furious 249 00:13:56,640 --> 00:14:00,040 Speaker 1: at first, then maybe a little embarrassed. He quickly he 250 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: tries to find another producer. But the war has wound down. 251 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 1: Audience's tastes of bevan to change. Troops are coming home 252 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: completely traumatized. Two world changing nuclear bombs have been set 253 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:14,079 Speaker 1: off Audiences they don't want a story like The Gremlins anymore, 254 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 1: a story that highlights cooperation and camaraderie. People start demanding 255 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 1: more challenging, more morally ambiguous movies like film noir. Dahl 256 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:27,240 Speaker 1: is incredibly disappointed, but self aware enough to realize he's 257 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:30,040 Speaker 1: just gotten a crash course in Hollywood's inner workings from 258 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:33,800 Speaker 1: one of its all time master craftsmen. He's determined not 259 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:36,320 Speaker 1: to let that go to waste. He decides to keep 260 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:44,520 Speaker 1: at it. Dahl's decision to keep fighting that uphill battle 261 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:47,200 Speaker 1: of a Hollywood career could have been game over. There 262 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: are so many stories of gifted writers coming out to 263 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 1: La and falling on their faces. William Faulkner comes to mind, 264 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:57,760 Speaker 1: Aldois Huxley, Truman, Capodi. Maybe the most interesting and most 265 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:02,160 Speaker 1: tragic is f Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald had every reason to 266 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 1: think he'd be a success in the movies. He was 267 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 1: maybe the most gifted novelist in an era that included 268 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:09,080 Speaker 1: a hell of a lot of gifted novelists, and he 269 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 1: loved film. He didn't just come to Hollywood for the 270 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 1: paycheck like so many others. Part of what makes Fitzgerald's 271 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:16,800 Speaker 1: attempts at screenwriting so sad is that he seemed to 272 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:18,840 Speaker 1: put as much effort into it as he put into 273 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,480 Speaker 1: Tender as the Night or The Great Gatsby. One of 274 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 1: the reasons we only have four and a half novels 275 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: by Fitzgerald, each a masterpiece is because he spent some 276 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,720 Speaker 1: of his prime years trying to break into movies. He 277 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 1: blamed his failure on the studio system, which is always 278 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,720 Speaker 1: totally demeaned writers. Here's Robertson Eiro as a studio head 279 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: and Jack Nicholson as a union organizer from Fitzgerald's unfinished 280 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:42,920 Speaker 1: novel The Last Tycoon. 281 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:47,160 Speaker 2: I'll tell you three things. All riders are children. Fifty 282 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:49,800 Speaker 2: percent of drunks, and up till very recently, writers in 283 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:50,920 Speaker 2: Hollywood were gag men. 284 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 4: Most of them still are a gagman, but we call 285 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 4: them writers. 286 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 3: Uh huh. 287 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:59,320 Speaker 1: But there's still the farmers in this business. 288 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:03,400 Speaker 3: They grow the grain, but they're not in at the feast. 289 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:07,240 Speaker 1: Fitzgerald's pal, Billy Wilder, compares him to a great sculptor 290 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 1: who's hired to do a plumbing job. Fitzgerald simply didn't 291 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:12,920 Speaker 1: know how to connect the pipes so the water could flow. 292 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: In his entire Hollywood career, Fitzgerald only got a single 293 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 1: screenwriting credit, and even on that one, he was totally 294 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 1: rewritten by the producer Lake Dahl with his gremlins. Many 295 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:27,400 Speaker 1: of Fitzgerald's projects were scrapped or he got fired off them. 296 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:31,200 Speaker 1: By the time Hollywood kicked him out, Fitzgerald was broke alone, 297 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: his body ravaged by alcohol, and years of his talent 298 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:40,120 Speaker 1: completely wasted. That's the potential future that awaits Doll. Whenever 299 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 1: there's a forking path and the universe splits in two directions, 300 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:46,320 Speaker 1: the path Doll goes down as always, always the more 301 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: interesting one. I want to jump forward to several years 302 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: after the Disney debacle, Dall is still trying without success 303 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:57,480 Speaker 1: to get a movie made. His agent brings him an 304 00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:00,560 Speaker 1: offer from United Artists to write a screenplay called wait 305 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:03,880 Speaker 1: for It, Oh Death, Where is thy Sting? A Lingling? 306 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 1: The reason Doll is interested in it, aside from the 307 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,159 Speaker 1: hefty check, is that it's based on a story by 308 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:13,200 Speaker 1: a very talented, very eccentric, young director, Robert Alman. Here's 309 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: Alman on The Dick Cavit Show from nineteen seventy one 310 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:17,200 Speaker 1: on starting new projects. 311 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 4: No matter how easy it seems, is always impossible, and 312 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 4: there's a thousand things to get in the way, and 313 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:23,919 Speaker 4: then you go into making the picture, and then finishing 314 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:25,960 Speaker 4: the thing, and then going through this business of getting 315 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 4: it opening and seeing properly, and luckily the cycle. About 316 00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:32,840 Speaker 4: the time you really get bored and tired with one thing, 317 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:35,240 Speaker 4: the next one comes up and you get a kind 318 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:36,960 Speaker 4: of a whole new shot of enthusiasm. 319 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:40,320 Speaker 1: Alman will bring that enthusiasm to some of the defining 320 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:44,000 Speaker 1: films of the nineteen seventies that he directs, like Mash mckayban, 321 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:49,479 Speaker 1: Missus Miller, and Nashville. The idea for single Lingling centers 322 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:51,440 Speaker 1: on a raid by World War One fighter pilots on 323 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:54,520 Speaker 1: the German Swiss border. Doll, of course, has first hand 324 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:56,560 Speaker 1: experience as a pilot in a world war, and he 325 00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:59,800 Speaker 1: sees promising Alman seems like a fet he takes the gig. 326 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: United Artists loves the script all rights, but they do 327 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 1: not want Altman to direct it. Almond's too stubborn to 328 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,440 Speaker 1: avant garde for the studio system, which he freely admits 329 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: here on the Charlie Rose Show. 330 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:16,360 Speaker 4: I think that had I had to always make successful films, 331 00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:18,000 Speaker 4: I would have failed. 332 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:20,480 Speaker 1: But Almond is so angry at getting booted that he 333 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 1: tries to get the entire project scrapped, which really angers Dahl, 334 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:27,120 Speaker 1: who's desperately trying to get his first movie made. Dall 335 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:30,119 Speaker 1: hires a famous pit bull of a Hollywood agent, Swifty Lazaar, 336 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:33,680 Speaker 1: to fight for him, and eventually all Men gives him. 337 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 1: A new director is brought on, and filming in the 338 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:38,960 Speaker 1: movie actually begins with Gregory Peck, the legendary Starve to 339 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 1: Kill a Mockingbird and Roman Holiday in the lead. Dahl 340 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: seems to have finally done it after several failed attempts. 341 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:47,440 Speaker 1: He's finally going to have one of his screenplays produced. 342 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: The Curse of f Scott Fitzgerald be damned. But then 343 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:55,119 Speaker 1: during the shoot, the head of United Artists watches the 344 00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: footage and doesn't like what he's seeing. He pulls the 345 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:00,920 Speaker 1: plug in the middle of production, just shuts the whole 346 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:04,160 Speaker 1: thing down. According to Doll, two million dollars had already 347 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:07,159 Speaker 1: been spent, Just like with the Gremlins, Doll's left with 348 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 1: yet another abandoned project and more of his heart fought 349 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,120 Speaker 1: writing that will never see the light of day. It's 350 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 1: devastating for Doll. He was so close he could taste it. 351 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,119 Speaker 1: Cameras were rolling, a movie star was saying his words, 352 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 1: and then nothing. He's ready to give up, to abandon 353 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:30,160 Speaker 1: this insane business that just keeps delivering heartbreak. But after 354 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:32,960 Speaker 1: some sleepless nights with that awful three am wake up 355 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:35,680 Speaker 1: where you feel trapped wondering if you're wasting your life 356 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:38,359 Speaker 1: on something that will never ever happen, Doll does an 357 00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:41,919 Speaker 1: amazing thing. He walks it off. He puts the rejection 358 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:44,639 Speaker 1: behind him, chalking it up to an industry that is 359 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:47,960 Speaker 1: very much not a meritocracy, and decides to keep trying. 360 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:51,400 Speaker 1: Producers and agents, after all, keep telling him how talented 361 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:53,920 Speaker 1: he is and cs Forrester asked him if he knew 362 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:56,720 Speaker 1: he was a writer, he'll crack the code eventually, he 363 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,520 Speaker 1: has to, too many people are telling him he will. 364 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:03,920 Speaker 1: Dall becomes the living embodiment of my favorite quote about 365 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:06,719 Speaker 1: the industry from our greatest film critic Paulin and Kale. 366 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:10,200 Speaker 1: Hollywood is the only place where you can die of encouragement. 367 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: So he soldiers on. He doesn't know it yet, but 368 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,840 Speaker 1: his script for that abandoned film will eventually do more 369 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 1: for his career and for his finances than any other 370 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:27,640 Speaker 1: script he'll ever write. We'll come back to that. Over 371 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 1: the next few years, Doll has a number of other 372 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:33,080 Speaker 1: projects fall apart. Revered director Howard Hawks wants to work 373 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: with him, but it comes to nothing. Dall supposedly wins 374 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:39,000 Speaker 1: an incredible assignment to adapt the classic dystopian novel A 375 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:42,280 Speaker 1: Brave New World, but again it doesn't work out. He 376 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 1: also apparently tries his hand at adapting Moby Dick No Dice. Then, 377 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:49,240 Speaker 1: in the late fifties, Dall finally hooks up with the 378 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 1: person who feels like the platonic ideal of a collaborator 379 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:55,800 Speaker 1: for him, very much as long lost spiritual brother and 380 00:20:55,920 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 1: sometimes that's all it takes. Hitchcock started making movies in 381 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: America in nineteen forty. Fifteen years later, near the beginning 382 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:07,919 Speaker 1: of that wild six year run of Classics, he somehow 383 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:11,000 Speaker 1: finds the time to host, produce, and occasionally direct an 384 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:15,720 Speaker 1: anthology TV series on CBS. The show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents 385 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 1: is made up of thrillers, mysteries, and creepy stories of 386 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:23,000 Speaker 1: all kinds. Here's the man himself. Do you Believe in? 387 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:26,680 Speaker 3: Ghost of I Knew? 388 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:31,440 Speaker 1: The show is hugely successful and becoming a major influence 389 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,920 Speaker 1: on series like The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror. Now. 390 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:37,840 Speaker 1: While most of Hitch's films are written by great playwrights 391 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,680 Speaker 1: like Thornton Wilder or novelists like John Steinbeck, or established 392 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:44,520 Speaker 1: Hollywood heavy rats like Ben Hecht, John Michael Hayes and 393 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,120 Speaker 1: Ernest Lehman, hitch needs way more writers and way more 394 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:53,000 Speaker 1: material for a weekly show. Skimming through Collier's Magazine one 395 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:55,560 Speaker 1: week on the lookout for new blood, hitch comes upon 396 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,000 Speaker 1: a story called The Smoker, by a writer with a 397 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:01,840 Speaker 1: very unique name, dlor Is, about a man who gambles 398 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:05,360 Speaker 1: with strangers the stakes of the bet they're pinky fingers. 399 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:08,240 Speaker 1: If they lose, they have the chop theirs off and 400 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:11,800 Speaker 1: hands it over Dolls sadistic hero a mass is a 401 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 1: disgusting collection. Hitch reads the story in one sitting and 402 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:21,240 Speaker 1: is completely tickled. It's just his blend of dark and 403 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: funny and sadistic. Hitch buys the rights to the story 404 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:29,240 Speaker 1: immediately and asks what other tales mister Doll has. 405 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 2: Now? 406 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:32,159 Speaker 1: You have to remember that TV in the late fifties 407 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:35,359 Speaker 1: and early sixties is not what it is now. Prestige 408 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:39,639 Speaker 1: TV was an oxymoron. The year Alfred Hitchcock presents First Heirs. 409 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:43,359 Speaker 1: The top rated series are all inane variety in talk shows. 410 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: Number one in the nation The sixty four thousand Dollars 411 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: Question before the massive scandal that revealed it was totally rigged. 412 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:52,960 Speaker 1: Others in the top ten the Ed Sullivan show, You 413 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,280 Speaker 1: Bet Your Life and I've Got a Secret. Hitchcock looks 414 00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:59,800 Speaker 1: at the TV landscape and sees an opportunity for sophisticated 415 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:03,560 Speaker 1: scripted drama. He adapts Dolls stories into episodes for three 416 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:07,800 Speaker 1: different seasons of his show, Watching Them Now. It's obvious 417 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:11,159 Speaker 1: the filmmaker and writer are a perfect match. Both delve 418 00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 1: into dark, unsettling themes. Both love twist endings that throw 419 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:19,160 Speaker 1: their audience for a loop. They both create morally corrupt protagonists. 420 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,960 Speaker 1: Today we call them anti heroes. Decades before, The Sopranos 421 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:25,200 Speaker 1: and Breaking Bad did the same thing, and people called 422 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:28,280 Speaker 1: it the Great American art form. Hitch is the collaborator 423 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:31,320 Speaker 1: Doll has been waiting for. He made no sense with Disney. 424 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:35,200 Speaker 1: Hitch is his destiny. It says a lot about Doll's 425 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:37,119 Speaker 1: range by the way that he could write movies for 426 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:39,919 Speaker 1: both of those men. He's the only person on history 427 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:43,600 Speaker 1: to do it. One of Doll's stories option by Hitch 428 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 1: is called Lamb to the Slaughter, which centers on a 429 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:48,680 Speaker 1: wife who kills her husband with a frozen leg of 430 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,439 Speaker 1: lamb and then serves the murder weapon his dinner to 431 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:54,960 Speaker 1: the investigators searching for the killer. The story shares a 432 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:57,359 Speaker 1: lot in common with hitches, dial and for Murder, and 433 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,480 Speaker 1: even more blatantly rope, where chilling murders are committed by 434 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:04,119 Speaker 1: killers arrogant enough to keep the evidence right beneath the 435 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,159 Speaker 1: nose of the lead investigator. We've always said you and 436 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:11,800 Speaker 1: I that moral concepts of good and evil and right 437 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:16,480 Speaker 1: and wrong don't hold for the intellectually superior. Remember Rupert, Yes, 438 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 1: I remember. Hitch and Dahl also shared an interest in 439 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: the psychological depths of their very flawed heroes. Jimmy Stewart 440 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:26,320 Speaker 1: in Hitch's Vertigo, is obsessed with transforming a new woman 441 00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:29,720 Speaker 1: in his life into his deack girlfriend. In Doll's The 442 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 1: Way Up to Heaven, he creates a hero who's just 443 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: as manipulative a Stuart's character, taking pleasure and tormenting the 444 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:40,120 Speaker 1: woman in his life. Dall has such a good experience 445 00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 1: with Hitch's show that he's inspired to create his own 446 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:45,560 Speaker 1: anthology series near the end of his life called Tales 447 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:48,399 Speaker 1: of the Unexpected. Dahl takes a page r Hitch and 448 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:51,639 Speaker 1: introduces the stories on screen himself, though in his case 449 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:54,280 Speaker 1: he sits in a cozy armchair by a crackling fire, 450 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:56,719 Speaker 1: with his writing board on his lap and a pencil 451 00:24:56,720 --> 00:25:00,960 Speaker 1: in his hand. The image screams kindly, grandfather and I, which, 452 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,240 Speaker 1: of course is smartly undermined by the utter creepiness of 453 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,280 Speaker 1: his plots. Here's a typical clip from dolls opening. 454 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,200 Speaker 3: If a bucket of paint falls on a man's head, 455 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:15,199 Speaker 3: that's funny. If the bucket fractures his skull at the 456 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:18,160 Speaker 3: same time and kills him. That's not funny, it's tragic. 457 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:21,200 Speaker 3: And yet if a man falls into a sausage machine 458 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:23,359 Speaker 3: and is sold in the shops at so much a pound, 459 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,400 Speaker 3: that's funny. It is also tragic. 460 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,040 Speaker 1: The show becomes a rare Hollywood success for Doll, one 461 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,160 Speaker 1: that took him decades to achieve. Doll's show runs almost 462 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:36,280 Speaker 1: as long as Hitchcock's Dead, nine full seasons, and Doll 463 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:40,720 Speaker 1: becomes famous as his host. The years before he conceives 464 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:43,160 Speaker 1: of that show, Doll's still chasing his dreams of getting 465 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:45,639 Speaker 1: a movie made. You've got to admire his persistence and 466 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:48,439 Speaker 1: his hutzpah. Dolls on the lookout for a project with 467 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:51,720 Speaker 1: even greater auspices than Disney or All Men or Peck, 468 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:55,480 Speaker 1: something even less likely to fall apart. What's most amazing 469 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,159 Speaker 1: is he actually finds it in an assignment that he 470 00:25:58,200 --> 00:25:59,600 Speaker 1: feels downright destined for. 471 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 2: Now. 472 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:05,240 Speaker 1: Whenever I pitch a TV show or future I spend 473 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:07,320 Speaker 1: at least a minute at the very limited time you're 474 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:09,880 Speaker 1: given trying to explain why I'm the guy to write 475 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:13,240 Speaker 1: this particular project. Writers joke about this. It's kind of 476 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:15,360 Speaker 1: a silly thing. Buyers want to know that if they're 477 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:17,680 Speaker 1: giving you all this money to write a script, it's 478 00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:19,720 Speaker 1: got to be something you are the perfect fit for. 479 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:22,720 Speaker 1: What goes unsaid, of course, is that you're a working 480 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:24,880 Speaker 1: writer who needs to pitch a new idea at least 481 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,199 Speaker 1: a couple times a year, and they can't all be 482 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:30,560 Speaker 1: perfect fits for his next project, though Dall didn't need 483 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:39,320 Speaker 1: to do much convincing. In nineteen sixty six, Albert Broccoley 484 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,639 Speaker 1: and Harry Saltzman, producers and owners of the James Bond franchise, 485 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:45,480 Speaker 1: approached All with an offer. They want him to write 486 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,639 Speaker 1: the fifth Bond movie, You Only Live Twice. The producers 487 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,520 Speaker 1: had read and loved Doll's script for O Death Where 488 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:54,720 Speaker 1: Is Thy Stingling a Ling Sorry, and they had heard 489 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:57,880 Speaker 1: about Doll's life as a British spy, possibly from Bond 490 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:01,400 Speaker 1: creator himself, Ian Fleming. Fleming passed away in his mid 491 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 1: fifties from a heart attack, two years before Dahl joined 492 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:07,280 Speaker 1: the franchise he created. Dahl and Fleming, you may remember, 493 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:10,640 Speaker 1: were buddies in DC in their twenties, both writers, both 494 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:14,440 Speaker 1: working in espionage, both uncommonly handsome and charming, though Dall 495 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 1: never felt comfortable around Fleming. Fleming was always too cool, 496 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,040 Speaker 1: too cosmopolitan, two above it all. Dall always felt like 497 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,359 Speaker 1: his raggedy younger brother. But now Fleming is gone and 498 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:27,320 Speaker 1: Dall has seemingly been tapped to succeed him. While Dall 499 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,200 Speaker 1: is privately thrilled about the opportunity to rate Bond, he's 500 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:32,080 Speaker 1: a little embarrassed at how far away it is from 501 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:36,400 Speaker 1: his ambition to write great novels. As writer Matthew Denison 502 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 1: points out, while in public, Dall maintains a snobby detachment 503 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:42,040 Speaker 1: toward Bond, like in a letter to a friend where 504 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:44,920 Speaker 1: he refers to the movie as quote my silly James 505 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:47,240 Speaker 1: Bond film, or when he tells his book publisher that 506 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 1: he finds the whole enterprise exceptionally distasteful. This is a 507 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,760 Speaker 1: theme that will recur throughout Dahl's professional life. He becomes 508 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:57,520 Speaker 1: successful in something, but it's not the right thing, like 509 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:00,600 Speaker 1: later killing it in children's literature, and he'd rather be 510 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:05,840 Speaker 1: writing for adults. But Doll's drawn to the glitz and 511 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,800 Speaker 1: glamour of Hollywood, and there is no glitzier franchise than 512 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:11,639 Speaker 1: James Bott. It clearly feeds his ego to have a 513 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:14,199 Speaker 1: rolls Royce and to his writing studio to ferry new 514 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:17,159 Speaker 1: drafts of his script to London. And remember, Doll is 515 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:21,360 Speaker 1: still desperate to finally actually get a movie made now 516 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,320 Speaker 1: with any script, even with the greatest auspices attached or 517 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:27,199 Speaker 1: based on a popular piece of intellectual property, there is 518 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:29,639 Speaker 1: no such thing as a sure thing. A friend and 519 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:31,879 Speaker 1: I were once assigned to write the TV adaptation of 520 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:35,200 Speaker 1: the board game Risk, a beloved game with international name 521 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:39,000 Speaker 1: recognition but no human characters. We still came up with 522 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:41,600 Speaker 1: a pretty good idea, but the project fell apart. There 523 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 1: are no guarantees in this business. But for Dall being 524 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 1: presented with the fourth sequel to a cultural touchstone and 525 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:51,440 Speaker 1: money printing franchise starring the same A list actor in 526 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:54,200 Speaker 1: what appeared to be his final time as the title character, 527 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,200 Speaker 1: that is as close to a sure thing as Hollywood 528 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:01,240 Speaker 1: ever has to offer. And even though Dall despises being 529 00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 1: rewritten himself, he doesn't seem to have any qualms about 530 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:08,040 Speaker 1: totally rewriting his old pal Ian Fleming. Honestly, it feels 531 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:10,280 Speaker 1: as if Dahl didn't even bother to read the book 532 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:13,920 Speaker 1: he's adapted on the film's release, New York Times critic 533 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,400 Speaker 1: Bosley Crowther says it is notable that only Bond, the 534 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:20,320 Speaker 1: title and the location of an Ian Fleming book have 535 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:23,360 Speaker 1: been used by mister Dahl in writing his screenplay, which 536 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:26,520 Speaker 1: is maybe for the best. Fleming's novel is kind of dreadful, 537 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 1: which Doll takes his license to create his own, completely 538 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:34,640 Speaker 1: Banana's story. In the film, we follow Bond as he 539 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:37,080 Speaker 1: fakes his own death and goes under cover to Japan, 540 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 1: who investigate the disappearance of American and Soviet spaceships which 541 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:43,760 Speaker 1: are threatening to ignite World War three. Along the way, 542 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:47,480 Speaker 1: Bond trains with Ninja's infiltrates a secret layer that's housed 543 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:51,320 Speaker 1: inside a working volcano seriously and encounters one of Bond's 544 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:55,000 Speaker 1: greatest villains, Blofeld, who makes his first full appearance. And 545 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:58,600 Speaker 1: you only live twice. Here's Blowfeld himself, complete with his 546 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:00,000 Speaker 1: blue eyed Persian life. 547 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,920 Speaker 2: You will see that my piranha fish get very hungry. 548 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:07,480 Speaker 3: Zay can't strip a man to the bow, I mean 549 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:08,480 Speaker 3: thirty seconds. 550 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:13,200 Speaker 1: And if that all sounds incredibly silly, it is ten 551 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:15,320 Speaker 1: times sillier when you watch actors try to pull it 552 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 1: off with a straight face. There are lines in the 553 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:21,480 Speaker 1: movie like bad News from Matter Space and Welcome to 554 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 1: My Ninja Training School, which I transcribed I kid you 555 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:27,720 Speaker 1: not from the same scene. But that's the contract the 556 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 1: audience signs with the Bond movie when they buy a ticket. 557 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:30,080 Speaker 4: Right. 558 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:33,840 Speaker 1: The zaniness isn't a defect, it's built in. Dol knows 559 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:36,479 Speaker 1: that and he delivers. You can just tell how much 560 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:38,920 Speaker 1: fun Doll is having while writing. He revels in the 561 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:41,680 Speaker 1: playfulness of Bond, even more than the screenwriter of the 562 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:45,600 Speaker 1: earlier four films. Of course, there are some problematic elements 563 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 1: in the film too, which is partly due to it 564 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:50,520 Speaker 1: being nineteen sixty seven, partly due to it being James Bond, 565 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:52,640 Speaker 1: and at least partly because it's from the mind of 566 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:55,920 Speaker 1: Roll Doll. For instance, Bond's opening line in the film, 567 00:30:56,280 --> 00:30:59,400 Speaker 1: why do Chinese girls taste different from all other girls? 568 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:02,720 Speaker 1: Or the long section when Bond disguises himself as a 569 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:06,280 Speaker 1: Japanese fisherman yellow face and all. Though it should also 570 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:09,280 Speaker 1: be mentioned how many Asian characters and therefore Asian actors 571 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:12,040 Speaker 1: have major roles in the film, which is very unusual 572 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:14,560 Speaker 1: for a major Hollywood movie. At the time, and as 573 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:18,240 Speaker 1: for the typical Bond womanizing, there's a lot, which of 574 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:21,120 Speaker 1: course is baked into the franchise, though Doll has to 575 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,160 Speaker 1: take some of the blame for not even bothering to 576 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:26,040 Speaker 1: give Bond's love interest and name much less a personality. 577 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,120 Speaker 1: Watching the movie now knowing its screenwriter was very much 578 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:34,640 Speaker 1: a real life James Bond, makes the espionage plot a 579 00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:38,040 Speaker 1: lot of fun. Dall was clearly drawing on his own experiences. 580 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:39,880 Speaker 1: Much of the film is set in a foreign country 581 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:41,840 Speaker 1: for the hero, where he has to immerse himself in 582 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:44,200 Speaker 1: the culture in order to stop a world war, and 583 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,320 Speaker 1: he seduces influential women as he goes, just like Dahl 584 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:49,720 Speaker 1: had to navigate the elite social circles of DC in 585 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:53,040 Speaker 1: New York to extract information, build alliances, and do a 586 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 1: hell of a lot of seducing during his World war. 587 00:31:57,280 --> 00:31:59,960 Speaker 1: The producers took a big gamble bringing Doll into the franchise. 588 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:03,080 Speaker 1: The first four Bond films had all been hugely successful. 589 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:06,720 Speaker 1: Doctor No introduced the series from Russia with Love outperformed 590 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:09,400 Speaker 1: it at the box office, which is super rare. Goldfinger 591 00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:12,720 Speaker 1: came next and became a cultural phenomenon. Then Thunderball, the 592 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:15,600 Speaker 1: fourth in the series, which is still the biggest box 593 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:19,120 Speaker 1: office hit of any Bond ever adjusted for inflation, so 594 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,760 Speaker 1: expectations are sky high for the next one. What's more, 595 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:26,080 Speaker 1: each of the first four are co written by Richard Maybom. 596 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:28,920 Speaker 1: Maybom is the one who established the formula of Bond, 597 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:32,120 Speaker 1: and when franchises are working, you do not change writers 598 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:35,120 Speaker 1: mid stream. Just look at the Harry Potter films, where 599 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 1: seven of the eight movies were adapted by a single writer, 600 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:41,160 Speaker 1: Steve Cloves. But while Maybom will stay with the franchise 601 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:43,520 Speaker 1: until his death, you got to wonder if the producers 602 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:45,920 Speaker 1: are growing tired of him or not sure he's up 603 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:48,200 Speaker 1: to the challenge of the fifth film, which is especially 604 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:51,200 Speaker 1: difficult because of how terrible the source material is and 605 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:56,760 Speaker 1: because there's now tons of competition from Bond knockoffs. The 606 00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:58,960 Speaker 1: real test for Doll and all of this is whether 607 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:01,600 Speaker 1: or not he's learned to collapse. His inability to do 608 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:04,760 Speaker 1: so destroyed his film with Disney and contributed to his 609 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:08,520 Speaker 1: failures with Altman. But by this point Dahl has learned 610 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:13,160 Speaker 1: his lesson and become a great generous collaborator. Just kidding, 611 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:18,080 Speaker 1: collaboration is antithetical to Doll's nature, so he takes another 612 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:20,760 Speaker 1: path when the producers of Bond bring in a second screenwriter, 613 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:24,560 Speaker 1: Harold Jack Bloom. Bloom is a veteran TV writer who 614 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:27,800 Speaker 1: comes in and basically rewrites all of the action scenes 615 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:31,280 Speaker 1: in the movie. Dahl is furious about this. He tries 616 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:34,760 Speaker 1: to completely rewrite Bloom until all Bloom's action scenes are gone, 617 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:37,840 Speaker 1: and through sheer force of will, Bloom's credit drops from 618 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:41,600 Speaker 1: the prestigious screenplay by to the sort of embarrassing additional 619 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:44,560 Speaker 1: story material by. It'll be the first time on any 620 00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:47,920 Speaker 1: Bond movie that a writer has received solo written by credit, 621 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:50,760 Speaker 1: and in the end, whether or not, Bloom deserves more 622 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:53,960 Speaker 1: credit than he got, the film does feel very dollian like, 623 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:56,920 Speaker 1: with a villain Earns Blofeld who becomes iconic in Doll's 624 00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:59,520 Speaker 1: hands and calls to mind Doll villains like Miss trench 625 00:33:59,560 --> 00:34:01,440 Speaker 1: Bowl and mat Hilda and the Grand High Witch and 626 00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:04,320 Speaker 1: the Witches. The whole vibe of the movie reminds you 627 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:07,320 Speaker 1: of Doll's children's books, with a playful tone mixed with 628 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:14,840 Speaker 1: existential cruelty and danger. Dahl calls Bond the best experience 629 00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:18,560 Speaker 1: of his Hollywood career. After many failed or aborted attempts, 630 00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:22,000 Speaker 1: Dahl has finally achieved his goal. He's the writer of 631 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:25,720 Speaker 1: a major Hollywood hit. Here he is again on Desert 632 00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:27,840 Speaker 1: Island Discs, discussing the experience. 633 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:30,560 Speaker 3: That was fun. That's the only only one I've had 634 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:33,480 Speaker 3: any real fun doing. And it was Connray Sean Connery's 635 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:35,960 Speaker 3: last one. Yeah, he did. And we went to Japan. 636 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:38,440 Speaker 3: And you you live in such luxury when you do 637 00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:42,080 Speaker 3: a book and you're going helicopters everywhere, tops of mountains 638 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:44,319 Speaker 3: and everything. It's en almost fun. 639 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:48,640 Speaker 1: The film does not receive raves, but Bond movies aren't 640 00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:51,560 Speaker 1: made for critics, and some reviewers do actually love it. 641 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:54,800 Speaker 1: Bosley Crowther, again in The New York Times, writes, this 642 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:57,800 Speaker 1: way out adventure picture should be the joy and delight 643 00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:00,800 Speaker 1: of the youngsters and give pleasure to the reasonable adults 644 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:04,160 Speaker 1: who can find release in the majestically absurd, which kind 645 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:06,160 Speaker 1: of doubles is a pretty good summation for all of 646 00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:09,600 Speaker 1: Doll's children's books. Actually. Pauline Kale enjoys the film too, 647 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:13,680 Speaker 1: comparing it favorably to Stanley Kubrick. Kale writes, there was 648 00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:15,920 Speaker 1: a little pre title sequence and You Only Live Twice 649 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:19,120 Speaker 1: with an astronaut out in space, a daring little moment 650 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:21,960 Speaker 1: that I think was more fun than all of Kubrick's 651 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:24,719 Speaker 1: two thousand and one. It had an element of the unexpected, 652 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:29,239 Speaker 1: of the shock of finding death in space lyrical. Even 653 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:31,880 Speaker 1: more important than critical reception for Doll is the film's 654 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:35,600 Speaker 1: box office, which is huge to this day. Twenty seven 655 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:38,600 Speaker 1: movies in You Only Live Twice is the fourth highest 656 00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:41,920 Speaker 1: grossing Bond film ever adjusted for inflation, and in no 657 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:44,080 Speaker 1: small part because of that. It's a turning point in 658 00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:47,120 Speaker 1: Doll's career. After Bond, he never has to worry about 659 00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:50,279 Speaker 1: money again. But of course it's a bit of a 660 00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:53,000 Speaker 1: double edged sword. He's gotten the film made, but it's 661 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:56,560 Speaker 1: not the serious literature he still aspires to. Dolls massively 662 00:35:56,600 --> 00:36:00,440 Speaker 1: conflicted and doesn't quite know where to turn next. Producers 663 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:02,960 Speaker 1: have an idea. As soon as Bond is completed, they 664 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:06,200 Speaker 1: bring Doll on to write another Ian Fleming adaptation. But 665 00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:09,600 Speaker 1: rather than another Bond, which plays into Doll's real life experiences, 666 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:13,080 Speaker 1: this new project takes advantage of Doll's recent success with 667 00:36:13,239 --> 00:36:16,760 Speaker 1: children's stories. The film is Chitty Chitty Bang, Bang starring 668 00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:22,880 Speaker 1: Dick Van Deng. What an Unusual Cop That's a curious 669 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:29,440 Speaker 1: name for amoto car. The movie centers on an eccentric 670 00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:32,640 Speaker 1: inventor who transforms a broken down car into something that 671 00:36:32,719 --> 00:36:35,560 Speaker 1: can fly. And while people still adore the film today, 672 00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:39,239 Speaker 1: Dall found it a terrible experience. It permanently soured him 673 00:36:39,239 --> 00:36:41,960 Speaker 1: on filmmaking. He had a very difficult relationship with the 674 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:45,719 Speaker 1: film's director, Ken Hughes, who dared rewrite Doll's script, which 675 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:49,840 Speaker 1: again veered far from Fleming's novel. Doll is still struggling 676 00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:52,120 Speaker 1: with what kind of writer he wants to be. He'll 677 00:36:52,160 --> 00:36:54,920 Speaker 1: soon find that Hollywood actually kind of gives him a roadmap. 678 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:58,480 Speaker 1: Doll's experiences in La directly lead to the success he'll 679 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:01,040 Speaker 1: find writing for children. You could call it a necessary 680 00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:04,120 Speaker 1: step in his evolution. His work with Disney two Light 681 00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:08,759 Speaker 1: Chitty Chitty two, Saccharine Hitchcock Perfectly Dark help him find 682 00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:12,320 Speaker 1: the sweet spot that will define his children's books, dark themes, 683 00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:16,480 Speaker 1: packaged and accessible, entertaining ways. It also helps him realize 684 00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:19,200 Speaker 1: where his strengths and interest really lie. For one thing, 685 00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:22,759 Speaker 1: in creating original worlds rather than adapting other people's work, 686 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:26,480 Speaker 1: and it teaches him the importance of creative control and autonomy. 687 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:33,279 Speaker 1: During all of Dall's adventures in the screen trade, he 688 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:38,200 Speaker 1: becomes notorious for dating beautiful actresses. Doll is thirty six 689 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:40,279 Speaker 1: when he's invited to a dinner party one night at 690 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:43,360 Speaker 1: Lillian Hellman's house. Hellman is one of the most respected 691 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:46,840 Speaker 1: playwrights and screenwriters in the country. Also invited to the 692 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:51,040 Speaker 1: party is twenty six year old Patricia Neil, a confident, beautiful, 693 00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:54,280 Speaker 1: redheaded movie star currently cast in one of Hellman's plays. 694 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:57,759 Speaker 1: Here she is years later in her most famous film, 695 00:37:58,080 --> 00:37:59,120 Speaker 1: Breakfast Aatifanies. 696 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:02,799 Speaker 2: I am a very stylish girls. What are you doing 697 00:38:03,520 --> 00:38:05,880 Speaker 2: writing a check? Don't look so bewildered. 698 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:08,160 Speaker 4: Surely you've noticed me writing checks before. 699 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:12,759 Speaker 1: Dahl will marry Neil. I'll have five children together. Their 700 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:16,920 Speaker 1: experiences during the marriage, writing bestsellers, winning oscars, and enduring 701 00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:20,560 Speaker 1: some of the most devastating traumas and tragedies imaginable, will 702 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:23,759 Speaker 1: make all of Doll's exploits so far look like child's play. 703 00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:28,919 Speaker 1: Doll's life with Neil is eventful, emotional, and shocking enough 704 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:32,160 Speaker 1: to fill several books and movies, which it does, But 705 00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:36,040 Speaker 1: this is not your typical love story. As Neil reveals 706 00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:38,800 Speaker 1: in her memoir written thirty five years later, even on 707 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:41,600 Speaker 1: the day of their marriage, she knew she didn't love him. 708 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:44,879 Speaker 1: The reason for this She's in love with someone else, 709 00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:48,840 Speaker 1: and this other man, this rival for Doll, happens to 710 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:56,240 Speaker 1: be the most famous man in the world. The Secret 711 00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:59,400 Speaker 1: World of Role Dahl is produced by Imagine Audio and 712 00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:03,600 Speaker 1: Parallax Studios for iHeart Podcasts. Created and written by me 713 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:08,879 Speaker 1: Aaron Tracy, produced by Matt Schrader, post production by wind 714 00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:12,799 Speaker 1: Hill Studios, with editing, scoring, and sound design by Mark 715 00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:18,920 Speaker 1: Henry Phillips. Editing by Ryan Seton, music by APM Executive 716 00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:24,680 Speaker 1: producers Nathan Cloke, Karl Welker, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, and 717 00:39:24,840 --> 00:39:29,200 Speaker 1: Aaron Tracy. Additional voice performances and recreation by Mark Henry 718 00:39:29,200 --> 00:39:32,800 Speaker 1: Phillips and Eleven Laps. If you enjoyed this episode, be 719 00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:35,480 Speaker 1: sure to rate and review The Secret World of Roll 720 00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:38,720 Speaker 1: Doll on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. 721 00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:44,480 Speaker 1: Copyright twenty twenty six Imagine Entertainment, iHeartMedia and Parallax