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Speaker 1: Bushkin.

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Speaker 2: Christmas is one week away, and how am I celebrating

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Speaker 2: with restraint and circumspection. In the Glabew family, we do

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Speaker 2: a mid century modern Christmas spare elegant, minimalist, lots of

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Speaker 2: the Baby Jesus in a tasteful Scandinavian leather and rosewood manger.

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Speaker 2: No Santa, no reindeer, no elves. Not so for my

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Speaker 2: colleague Ben ad Alf Halfrey. The Globows impose a dollar

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Speaker 2: limit on gifts, like price controls in some socialist state

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Speaker 2: that at a half Halfreys spend months thinking of what

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

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

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Speaker 2: 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 is fos 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 spruy story of the making of

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

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

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

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Speaker 2: of the extended no Deaf Halfway Clan or were recently

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Speaker 2: incarcerated in a state that limits prisoner's streaming access to

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Speaker 2: obscure television movies in the nineteen nineties.

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Speaker 1: But when you listen to.

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Speaker 2: What follows, you're going to ask yourself the same question

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Speaker 2: I ask myself when Ben first told me this story.

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Speaker 3: How do I miss this? Unlike Malcolm, I am a

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Speaker 3: great lover of Christmas movies. Every year as soon as

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Speaker 3: Thanksgiving is over, I'm firing up the Bishop's Wife, Miracle

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Speaker 3: on thirty fourth Street. Or It's a Wonderful Life. And

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Speaker 3: then there's my favorite Christmas movie, a little less famous,

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Speaker 3: the nineteen forty five romantic comedy Christmas in Connecticut. I've

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Speaker 3: watched it pretty much every year since I was little.

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Speaker 3: Barbara Stanwick Play is a magazine columnist who's famous for

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Speaker 3: entertaining on her grand Connecticut farm. She's known as a

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Speaker 3: great cook. It's the end of World War Two and

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Speaker 3: her magazine's publisher has an idea for a great feature.

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Speaker 3: Jill hosts a returning war hero for Christmas on her farm.

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Speaker 3: There's just one problem. It's all a lie. She doesn't

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Speaker 3: live in Connecticut. She lives in a tiny apartment in

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Speaker 3: New York. And she has no clue how to cook.

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Speaker 1: My fun? Oh yes, my fun?

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Speaker 4: Oh my fine?

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Speaker 5: And you want to see you right away to arrange it.

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Speaker 6: Arrange it?

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Speaker 2: Are you crazy?

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Speaker 4: Where am I going to get a farm?

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Speaker 5: I haven't even got a window. Boss, That's just it.

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Speaker 1: We'll have to star him off, you know what, to

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Speaker 1: stick to years for the truth. If he ever finds

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Speaker 1: out we've been making all this up.

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Speaker 5: You'll fire the both of us.

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Speaker 3: Chaos ensues. It's a classic screwball comedy and a total delight.

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Speaker 3: But the thing I really want to tell you about

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Speaker 3: in this episode is what happened after I discovered, quite

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Speaker 3: by accident, that there was a remake of this favorite

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Speaker 3: Christmas movie of mine, an action packed, star studed, joke filled,

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Speaker 3: really very different version of the original, made for TV

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Speaker 3: and directed by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger. A kind

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Speaker 3: of shocking twist if you ask me, I mean, why

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Speaker 3: would the Terminator take on Christmas in Connecticut? So I

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Speaker 3: did what any good Christmas fiend would do. I talked

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Speaker 3: to a dozen people about something that happened thirty years

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Speaker 3: ago for way too many hours to get the real story,

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Speaker 3: and I discovered in the process what I have come

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Speaker 3: to regard as the greatest Christmas tale of all time.

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Speaker 1: I've told this.

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Speaker 7: Story many times, I've never told it all the record.

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Speaker 7: It's a big story, So if you've got the time,

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Speaker 7: I will tell it to you.

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Speaker 3: That's Stan Brooks in the early nineteen nineties. He was

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Speaker 3: an independent made for TV movie producer.

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Speaker 7: So I'm developing movies and a friend of mine goes

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Speaker 7: and gets the job at TNC and I make the

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Speaker 7: very first movie for him.

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Speaker 3: TNT launched in nineteen eighty eight, at the start of

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Speaker 3: the cable television revolution. Then, as now, cable was expensive,

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Speaker 3: but it was growing. The whole game was trying to

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Speaker 3: raise awareness to get people to sign up, and with

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Speaker 3: channels running twenty four to seven, there was a lot

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Speaker 3: of space to fill, which led to a boom and

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Speaker 3: made for TV movies. Stan's first film on TNT was

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Speaker 3: a big success. So he got another bite at the

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Speaker 3: Apple and he.

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Speaker 1: Calls me, He goes, what do you want to do next?

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Speaker 7: So they said, like Nami years, would you ever let

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Speaker 7: me do a remake from the MGM library because that's

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Speaker 7: what Ted owned, And he said, yes, just pick one.

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Speaker 3: Christmas movies always do well, and there is one Stan

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Speaker 3: loved Christmas in Connecticut, and I.

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Speaker 7: Know the Barber Stanlet movie, and so I said, well,

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Speaker 7: this could be a good one. It was right as

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Speaker 7: Martha Stewart was exploding. I thought, well, what if this

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Speaker 7: is Martha Stewart. What if she's on TV and has

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Speaker 7: an empire and it's all fake? And so they love

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Speaker 7: that take, and so off we went to the races.

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Speaker 3: He got a writer 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 3: This is Janet Brownew, one of the all time great

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Speaker 3: Bards of TV movies, writer on Elouise at the Plaza,

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Speaker 3: Twelve Dates of Christmas, Days of Our Lives and the

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Speaker 3: uncredited rewrite of Tim Allens the Santa Claus all Brownew

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Speaker 3: she loved the original Christmas in Connecticut. I mean it is.

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

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Speaker 8: draft was very close.

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Speaker 3: Janet wrote the draft of the script for Stan's remake.

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Speaker 1: And we turn it in and they go, this is

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Speaker 1: this is do me in a Christmas movie.

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Speaker 7: So now I have and I'm I have a nice

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Speaker 7: little Christmas programmer and nothing more.

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Speaker 3: It's the middle of nineteen ninety one in Hollywood. Janet

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Speaker 3: and Stan's low budget television movie remake isn't really the

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Speaker 3: sort of thing to get people talking, but they're making progress.

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Speaker 3: He's got the old school movie star Diane Cannon cast

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Speaker 3: in the lead as the Martha Stewart character, and an

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Speaker 3: offer out to a director. And then one day his

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Speaker 3: phone rings. His assistant says, it's a big Hollywood agent

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Speaker 3: named Lou Pitt.

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Speaker 7: Now I understand I'm in the television movie business. These

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Speaker 7: guys are never calling me, so if they do call.

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Speaker 1: Me, it's never good.

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Speaker 7: And and he he gets on the phone and he says,

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Speaker 7: the other director for your Christmas in Connecticut movie.

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Speaker 1: And I said, uh, well.

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Speaker 7: Almost yeah, we may have an offer out And he said, okay,

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Speaker 7: Well if he doesn't say yes, I want you to consider

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Speaker 7: my client. And I go okay, and wait to hear

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Speaker 7: the name, and I go who He goes, Arl Schwarzenegger,

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Speaker 7: and I burst out laughly.

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Speaker 9: Oh he was.

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Speaker 1: He was totally shocked.

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Speaker 3: Lou Pitt, legendary agent Arnald Schwarzenegger.

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Speaker 1: That's hilarious. No, seriously, is this a joke? Is this

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Speaker 1: a joke?

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Speaker 7: He goes, no, seriously, and he goes, I'm Schwartzeker's not

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Speaker 7: going at Christmas movie for tat.

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Speaker 3: To be clear. Arnold had just finished shooting James Cameron's

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Speaker 3: epic Terminator two Asta La Vista Baby. Terminator two is

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Speaker 3: the one where Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a killer cyborg sent

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Speaker 3: from the future to protect young John Conner from a

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Speaker 3: different killer cyborg also sent from the future to kill him.

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Speaker 3: As you can imagine such a plot necessitates a lot

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Speaker 3: of elaborate production work. He was movie making on a

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Speaker 3: scale that was practically unheard of, especially in Los Angeles.

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Speaker 9: The production actually changed the course of a river to

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Speaker 9: shoot high speed chases in the extensive clood control channels

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Speaker 9: of Los Angeles.

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Speaker 3: Anyways, back to Stan and Lou the agent.

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Speaker 1: I go, Lou, why on earth were Arnold Swartz there?

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Speaker 1: He says, Well, here's why.

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Speaker 3: Arnold Schwarzenegger was forty four years old, he had two kids.

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Speaker 3: Nobody is an action hero forever. Maybe it was time

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Speaker 3: to explore some alternatives.

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Speaker 1: And so he was tired after tea two and he

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Speaker 1: said to Blue I would like to direct a movie.

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Speaker 9: The directing thing was kind of out of the box,

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Speaker 9: at a left field, and.

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Speaker 7: They said, well, okay, we'll put together a big feature act.

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Speaker 7: He goes, no, no, no, I want low risk. If I

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Speaker 7: do a terrible job, I don't want anyone to be upset.

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Speaker 7: I don't want a big budget, and I want it

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Speaker 7: to be family friendly because I don't want anything to

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Speaker 7: be controversial nothing.

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Speaker 1: I just want something very simple. And the only one that.

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Speaker 7: Fit the bill was Christmas, Connecticut. So I said okay,

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Speaker 7: I'll I'll call you if this guy passes. And I

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Speaker 7: ham the phone.

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Speaker 1: Of course, my parts.

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Speaker 9: Jumping out of min I go what and and I said, yeah,

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Speaker 9: I'm serious.

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Speaker 1: I read it.

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Speaker 9: I think he'd like it, so get me an offer.

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Speaker 3: Stan gets the green light from the executives at TNT.

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Speaker 3: There's some negotiating and they offer Schwartzenegger one hundred thousand bucks.

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Speaker 3: And then one night stands phone rings.

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Speaker 7: I pick it up and I hear Sam brooks, yes,

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Speaker 7: please hold for Armschzenegger and now serious.

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Speaker 1: I can see my heart beating, and he goes hello.

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Speaker 1: I go Arnold, are you're the guy with this Christmas script?

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Speaker 1: I said yes. He says it's fantastic. I'd love to direct.

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Speaker 1: I go okay.

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Speaker 7: He goes, but I have to shoot in Los Angeles,

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Speaker 7: knight to do it in these days, and he goes

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Speaker 7: a nice some notes of the script.

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Speaker 1: I go, okay, can you be here in an hour?

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Speaker 3: And I go, uh no.

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Speaker 7: He goes, can you be on Wednesday? I go, yes,

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Speaker 7: I could be there on Wednesday.

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Speaker 3: He goes over for a meeting at Arnold's offices in

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Speaker 3: Santa Monica.

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Speaker 1: So now I'm going to see me on Wednesday, and

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Speaker 1: you walk in and there's this giant lobby and and

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Speaker 1: the first thing you see is the exoskeleton, the metal

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Speaker 1: thing with the red eyes from Terminator. So there's no doubt.

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Speaker 7: I mean, the posters are up on the wall, but

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Speaker 7: there's no doubt. When you walk in and you see

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Speaker 7: this seven foot thing, you go, oh, craft, I know

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Speaker 7: where I am. My heart's beating and I go in

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Speaker 7: and he's in his office, which is massive. It's like

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Speaker 7: you know, signs.

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Speaker 1: Of a football field, and he's on one. You walk

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Speaker 1: in on this end and he's on the other ends.

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Speaker 7: You go walk past all the you know, the props

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Speaker 7: and stuff, and then he's at a big, huge desk

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Speaker 7: with a big giant chair, and behind him is a

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Speaker 7: bookshelf but with all of the Mister Universe awards, not

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Speaker 7: film stuff.

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Speaker 1: It's all his bodybuilding awards.

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Speaker 7: And I remember we were going through the script and

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Speaker 7: I said, hey, I want to use the restroom and

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Speaker 7: he pointed to me by putting up this bicep and

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Speaker 7: pointing it like this, and his bicep comes cleaning.

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Speaker 1: He goes this, dot what And I go, was that

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Speaker 1: just to show me your boy step? And he goes

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Speaker 1: I have to show the you know, the guns whenever

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Speaker 1: I can.

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Speaker 7: And I realized, okay, so this guy definitely has a

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Speaker 7: sense of heart by himself.

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Speaker 3: They sit down, Arnold has notes on the script he

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Speaker 3: will he wanted a.

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Speaker 7: More humor and a little more jeopardy, and so we

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Speaker 7: added in like this like sort of big action sequence

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Speaker 7: at the beginning where he rescues.

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Speaker 3: The kid, and all of a sudden, Janet Brownell, who

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Speaker 3: wrote the original script for the remake, is looking at

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Speaker 3: a very 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 1: At that point, it was just like what is and

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Speaker 1: Stan just did not want.

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Speaker 8: To lose him, And I'm like, okay, I truly don't

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Speaker 8: see this.

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Speaker 1: But if it gets a film green light, I don't

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Speaker 1: give a shit.

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Speaker 3: Arnold wants them to get someone else to come in

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Speaker 3: and punch up the script.

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Speaker 7: He wanted more humor, and as it happened, my best

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Speaker 7: friend in the world had written.

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Speaker 3: Commando Commando, the nineteen eighty five action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger,

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Speaker 3: which the critic from the La Times referred to as

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Speaker 3: a quote gory crowd pleaser and a glorified fireworks display.

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Speaker 7: And Arnold love them and said, if you think you

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Speaker 7: get him to do a comedy.

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Speaker 3: Past, Jeff Low, the friend who wrote Commando, gets hired

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Speaker 3: to do the rewrite with his writing partner.

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Speaker 1: We walk in.

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Speaker 5: He's sitting on a white couch maybe it's literally the

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Speaker 5: length of the biggest limousine you've ever seen in your life,

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Speaker 5: and he has his feed up on this white porcelain

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Speaker 5: marble table. He's got a big cigar in his mouth

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Speaker 5: and scripts all around him, and he doesn't say hello,

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Speaker 5: He doesn't introduce himself, he doesn't do anything. He just

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Speaker 5: the first thing out of his mouth is, so, what

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Speaker 5: of you guys been doing since Commando?

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Speaker 1: Clearly not going to the gym.

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Speaker 3: I just have to say, everyone in this episode is

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Speaker 3: going to do their own Schwartzenegger impression, which is good

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Speaker 3: because even though we couldn't land an interview with him,

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Speaker 3: I feel like he's here with us in spirit. Anyway.

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Speaker 3: They settle in and start rewriting the film Commando style.

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Speaker 8: So that's where things kind of went off the rails

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Speaker 8: for me personally, because it's like, Okay, this is becoming

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Speaker 8: a completely different thing. It just Schwarzenegger eyed into like

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Speaker 8: this thing that was bigger than life.

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Speaker 5: I mean, she just did an amazing job. We didn't

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Speaker 5: make any real big structural changes.

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Speaker 6: That's all hers, but a dialogue pass and goes through

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Speaker 6: it and try to find more Old's vision.

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Speaker 3: They start burning through the script. A big job for

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Speaker 3: any director is giving notes on the rewrites. Schwarzenegger was

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Speaker 3: calling in help from his director friends, including legendary comedy

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Speaker 3: director Ivan Reitman, the guy who did Ghostbusters. Everyone was

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Speaker 3: working to realize Arnold's vision.

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Speaker 5: Now you have to understand that on Commando he would

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Speaker 5: do this all the time. He would go, I have

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Speaker 5: a great idea. Listen, this is what I want to do.

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Speaker 5: 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 5: His old arm.

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Speaker 10: And we would go, well, we like the bus off part.

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Speaker 10: Can we just do the bus off art? So like,

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Speaker 10: our job is not to go I maybe that's not

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Speaker 10: gonna work. Our job is to make it work. And

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

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Speaker 5: We're doing really well, We're really getting there.

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Speaker 1: It's really coming to where I wanted to be. So

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Speaker 1: I gave it to Steve It.

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Speaker 10: And Stephen talked to me last night and he says,

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Speaker 10: I have to really be careful that and this is

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Speaker 10: what I want you to do. And again I'm like,

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Speaker 10: is Stephen the guy at the jim is Stephen?

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Speaker 5: Who is Steve It?

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Speaker 10: And then suddenly as you go, you know, as he

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Speaker 10: starts to sort of talk more, you go, he's talking

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Speaker 10: about Steven Spielberg.

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Speaker 3: This is beginning to look like a train nobody would

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Speaker 3: step in front of. Back at T and T, the

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Speaker 3: executives had a dim sense of what was going on.

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Speaker 11: It's not it's not has done.

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Speaker 3: Now Lori Posmantier, one of the TNT executives.

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Speaker 9: Whether you're famous or not, as a director, that doesn't happen.

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Speaker 1: To let somebody go and change things as much as

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Speaker 1: we're change.

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Speaker 3: Meanwhile, they've cast the rest of the film. Joining Diane

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Speaker 3: Cannon would be Hollywood screwball legend Tony Curtis, probably best

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Speaker 3: known for playing opposite Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot.

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Speaker 3: Along with him would be ex country music star Chris Christofferson.

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Speaker 3: Here's TNT's senior vice president of production at the time,

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Speaker 3: Nick Lombardo.

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Speaker 12: Even when they cast it, I thought, well, that is

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Speaker 12: the weirdest cast I ever heard of. I mean, the

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Speaker 12: idea that these people fit together made no sense at all.

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Speaker 12: I mean, Diane Cannon and Chriscus Dobinson in the same frame.

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Speaker 12: It makes the star is Born when he's holding Barbara

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Speaker 12: streissad look organic.

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Speaker 3: So armed with one of the all time weirdest, most

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Speaker 3: stacked casts in the history of film, a comparatively small

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Speaker 3: budget of three million dollars, a slot on an upstart

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Speaker 3: cable network, and a script based on nineteen forty screwball

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Speaker 3: comedy that's been punched up by two of the writers

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Speaker 3: behind a big eighties blockbuster, An Austrian former bodybuilder, fresh

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Speaker 3: off his repeat performance as a time traveling cyborg, prepared

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Speaker 3: to direct his first Christmas film.

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Speaker 7: You don't, as a TV movie producer ever get near

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Speaker 7: anything this hot, y, You just don't.

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Speaker 9: I mean, we're we're all a little nervous about the

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Speaker 9: whole thing, you know, because it's like you're playing with

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Speaker 9: matches and you know, oh yeah, that's that Arnold direct this.

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Speaker 9: You know, it's like for US three million dollars was

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Speaker 9: a lot of money.

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Speaker 8: I don't know, I don't know whatever.

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Speaker 1: It was like, Oh yeah.

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Speaker 9: He wanted to prove that he could be a director.

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Speaker 3: And everyone was about to find out whether or not

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Speaker 3: he could. Christmas in Connecticut the remake began filming about

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Speaker 3: two months before Christmas in Los Angeles. Because Arnold Schwarzenegger

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Speaker 3: had never before directed a future film, though let the

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Speaker 3: record show he had directed an episode of the TV

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Speaker 3: show Tales from the Crypt, the production arranged for things

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Speaker 3: to film more or less in the order they happen

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Speaker 3: in the film. There's a lot less to keep track

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Speaker 3: of continuity wise that way, but this also posed a problem.

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Speaker 3: One of the anxieties of adapting a great work of

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Speaker 3: art is figuring out how to make it your own.

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Speaker 3: The nineteen ninety two made for TV remake of Christmas

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Speaker 3: in Connecticut does this immediately by introducing its male lead,

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Speaker 3: a park ranger named Jefferson Jones, mid workout routine in

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Speaker 3: his mountain cabin. If you're looking for signs that this

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Speaker 3: is not your grandmother's Christmas in Connecticut, the site of

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Speaker 3: Chris Christofferson as Jefferson Jones, sweating after busting out some

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Speaker 3: chin ups on a beam in his cabin is your

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Speaker 3: first warning. A man on the television offers some brisk

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Speaker 3: exposition while he cools down.

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Speaker 4: In the last hour, experts predict this shouldn't be the

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Speaker 4: biggest storm to hit the Rockies in the last decade.

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Speaker 4: More than four feet of snow has anticipated to blanket

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Speaker 4: the area in the next twenty eight hours.

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Speaker 3: The phone rings. Another ranger is calling to tell Jones

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Speaker 3: a kid has gotten lost in the blizzard. He has

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Speaker 3: to go out and find him. This is the fabled

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Speaker 3: action sequence Schwarzenegger had requested. They shot the blizzard on

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Speaker 3: a sound stage. It's the moment Jefferson Jones becomes a hero,

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Speaker 3: which is why he gets invited to be a guest

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Speaker 3: of Elizabeth Blaine's for a Christmas special in Connecticut. It's

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Speaker 3: gotta look epic. It's got to have that Arnold Schwarzenegger

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Speaker 3: feeling unfortunately terminator. This is not Here's Jim Wilberger, director

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Speaker 3: of production.

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Speaker 9: Yeah, there's a scene where Christofferson, you know, suddenly has

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Speaker 9: rescued the kid and you see him roll down this

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Speaker 9: little hill of snow which was shot on stage and

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Speaker 9: trying to make more of more of it because there

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Speaker 9: wasn't that much set for that little hill, and you know,

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Speaker 9: and then suddenly you see all the people rush in

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Speaker 9: to rescue you know. I mean, this was just not

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Speaker 9: good blocking, okay, and that's just an experience.

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Speaker 3: Schwarzenegger wanted Jeopardy, but this kind of looks like a

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Speaker 3: snowball fight gone awry. Jones stumbles over a very small

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Speaker 3: hill holding a child that looks like it might be

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Speaker 3: a mannequin. He's groaning and yelling, but his lips aren't moving,

395
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Speaker 3: so tough start. Luckily, though, a lot of the film

396
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Speaker 3: is set inside Elizabeth Blaine's fake Connecticut house where she's

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Speaker 3: shooting a Christmas special in celebration of Jones. The bulk

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Speaker 3: production happened there, so the whole crew set up at

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Speaker 3: a house in South Pasadena for the real work. This

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Speaker 3: introduced Arnold to the second problem of directing actor ego

401
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Speaker 3: management in the issue of his trailer.

402
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Speaker 1: Arnold's trailer was like a house on wheels.

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Speaker 13: It was literally like you'd look at it from the

404
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Speaker 13: outside and you'd say, wow, that's got all kinds of

405
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Speaker 13: pop outs and the roof went off and everything.

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Speaker 1: But when you got inside, it was literally like you

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Speaker 1: had just walked into like the Greystone mansion.

408
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Speaker 9: You know, it's probably almost three times as wide as

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Speaker 9: a normal trailer, and that it was the length that

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Speaker 9: became the issue. Diane comes in and she says, why

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Speaker 9: is Arnold's trailer bigger than my trailer? Nobody's supposed to

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Speaker 9: have a bigger trailer than me.

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Speaker 3: Diane Cannon was the star of the film, but she

414
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Speaker 3: was maybe realizing that this production was all about the director. Schwarzenegger, though,

415
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Speaker 3: was dealing with other problems. Namely, he had chosen one

416
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Speaker 3: of the hardest genres for his first major directing for

417
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Speaker 3: a screwball comedy is like dancing on the head of

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Speaker 3: a pin. It thrives on chaos, but it has to

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Speaker 3: be a kind of controlled chaos. With his big personality cast,

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Speaker 3: low budget, short timeline, and hastily rewritten script, Schwarzenegger had

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Speaker 3: an excess of chaos and a minimum of control. I mean,

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Speaker 3: you have one somewhat disgruntled actress portraying fake Martha Stewart,

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Speaker 3: and another who's a macho park ranger, but who, for

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Speaker 3: no apparent reason, relays this backstory part way through the movie.

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Speaker 14: Actually, where I moved to Colorado, I lived in Chicago.

426
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Speaker 14: I grew up there, taught comparative literature at the University

427
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Speaker 14: of Container Really, I got offered tenure and head of

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Speaker 14: the department. And it's what I thought I wanted. That's

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Speaker 14: being caged in by concrete and crowds for the rest.

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Speaker 4: Of my life.

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Speaker 3: This is I'm pretty sure the only time in the

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Speaker 3: entire film Jefferson Jones is past as chair of the

433
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Speaker 3: University of Chicago's comparative literature department is mentioned. And I

434
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Speaker 3: love Chris Kristofferson, but most of the rest of his

435
00:22:41,036 --> 00:22:45,196
Speaker 3: performance veers between stiff and oddly sexually charged.

436
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Speaker 9: When he starts smearing the pine staff on her neck.

437
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Speaker 3: Yeah that it's it's it's just kind of transcendently weird.

438
00:22:55,396 --> 00:22:55,596
Speaker 6: Yeah.

439
00:22:55,716 --> 00:22:58,836
Speaker 9: Well, not to mention his two times he's like staring

440
00:22:58,916 --> 00:22:59,516
Speaker 9: at her butt.

441
00:22:59,636 --> 00:23:02,996
Speaker 3: You know, there's an extensive shot of that.

442
00:23:04,396 --> 00:23:05,956
Speaker 1: But you can't buy that at Limingdon.

443
00:23:06,836 --> 00:23:07,356
Speaker 15: You're right.

444
00:23:08,596 --> 00:23:11,356
Speaker 3: So you've got two characters who really just barely hang together,

445
00:23:11,956 --> 00:23:14,516
Speaker 3: and then you have to direct them in tightly choreographed

446
00:23:14,596 --> 00:23:18,476
Speaker 3: zany sequences that have got to feel plausible yet also hilarious.

447
00:23:19,196 --> 00:23:23,236
Speaker 3: For instance, the scene with the baby remember in Christmas

448
00:23:23,276 --> 00:23:26,196
Speaker 3: in Connecticut. Elizabeth is a total fraud. She doesn't know

449
00:23:26,236 --> 00:23:28,516
Speaker 3: how to cook, it's not even her house in Connecticut,

450
00:23:28,636 --> 00:23:31,796
Speaker 3: and she's got this fake, staged family with her, including

451
00:23:31,996 --> 00:23:34,556
Speaker 3: a fake baby. She had to keep up appearances for

452
00:23:34,556 --> 00:23:37,436
Speaker 3: the sake of her column. In the original film, there's

453
00:23:37,476 --> 00:23:40,356
Speaker 3: a lovely scene where she and Jefferson Jones give her

454
00:23:40,396 --> 00:23:44,116
Speaker 3: fake baby a bath. She a supposed domestic goddess, is

455
00:23:44,156 --> 00:23:47,236
Speaker 3: meant to bathe her child, which she suspiciously has no

456
00:23:47,316 --> 00:23:50,076
Speaker 3: clue how to do. He steps in and does it

457
00:23:50,116 --> 00:23:52,916
Speaker 3: for her like a total pro. It's part of why

458
00:23:52,956 --> 00:23:55,516
Speaker 3: she falls in love with him, and because it's so

459
00:23:55,636 --> 00:23:58,796
Speaker 3: well executed in the original film, we believe they're following

460
00:23:58,796 --> 00:24:01,156
Speaker 3: in love in this totally implausible moment.

461
00:24:02,236 --> 00:24:08,316
Speaker 7: So oh, refer though she's eating the sil would like

462
00:24:08,396 --> 00:24:09,316
Speaker 7: do what.

463
00:24:09,356 --> 00:24:10,236
Speaker 9: He her they are doing.

464
00:24:10,996 --> 00:24:14,996
Speaker 14: Oh really, you'd make a wonderful father.

465
00:24:15,116 --> 00:24:19,276
Speaker 5: Mister Jehan, You're you're not married yourself by any chance?

466
00:24:19,316 --> 00:24:20,436
Speaker 1: Are you?

467
00:24:20,476 --> 00:24:22,356
Speaker 5: No cards are stacked against me.

468
00:24:22,396 --> 00:24:24,196
Speaker 4: I guess every time I meet a girl I like,

469
00:24:24,236 --> 00:24:25,636
Speaker 4: it turns out she's already married.

470
00:24:25,996 --> 00:24:28,236
Speaker 6: Oh that's too bad now.

471
00:24:28,276 --> 00:24:31,316
Speaker 3: This also happens in the Arnold Schwarzenegger version.

472
00:24:32,236 --> 00:24:34,196
Speaker 1: Maybe we should finish up for finish.

473
00:24:36,156 --> 00:24:39,396
Speaker 4: You know what, I just had the most wonderful idea,

474
00:24:39,716 --> 00:24:40,796
Speaker 4: How would you like to bathere?

475
00:24:41,196 --> 00:24:41,236
Speaker 16: Me?

476
00:24:41,956 --> 00:24:42,276
Speaker 5: Sure?

477
00:24:42,436 --> 00:24:44,036
Speaker 17: I think it'd be fun for you here.

478
00:24:44,996 --> 00:24:47,916
Speaker 3: What happens next is the greatest travesty in the history

479
00:24:47,956 --> 00:24:50,636
Speaker 3: of bath time. It's as if you gave two aliens

480
00:24:50,636 --> 00:24:53,116
Speaker 3: a baby and said, give this a bath, not realizing

481
00:24:53,236 --> 00:24:55,476
Speaker 3: that on the planet there from not only are there

482
00:24:55,476 --> 00:24:58,836
Speaker 3: no babies or baths, but actually there's not even water.

483
00:25:00,196 --> 00:25:01,796
Speaker 3: What do you remember about that?

484
00:25:02,276 --> 00:25:04,236
Speaker 9: Well, some of that was improvised.

485
00:25:05,036 --> 00:25:07,596
Speaker 3: What happens is they just drenched the baby in shampoo

486
00:25:07,836 --> 00:25:10,116
Speaker 3: and then they barely wash in of it out. On

487
00:25:10,156 --> 00:25:12,196
Speaker 3: the bad scale, it's two rubber duckies out of ten.

488
00:25:12,756 --> 00:25:14,956
Speaker 3: But the premise of the scene is that Jefferson Jones

489
00:25:15,036 --> 00:25:16,276
Speaker 3: is crushing it.

490
00:25:16,276 --> 00:25:19,756
Speaker 9: It was pretty hilarious, I thought, and also very clumsy,

491
00:25:21,676 --> 00:25:23,956
Speaker 9: and they really grouped up with the kid's hair.

492
00:25:24,316 --> 00:25:25,436
Speaker 6: My god, I.

493
00:25:25,356 --> 00:25:32,356
Speaker 7: Don't know, I'm brought to a chap here's some soap, sweetie.

494
00:25:32,796 --> 00:25:34,796
Speaker 1: That's a director thing. I mean, that is a flat

495
00:25:34,836 --> 00:25:36,236
Speaker 1: out director fail.

496
00:25:36,476 --> 00:25:37,356
Speaker 5: I mean that right.

497
00:25:37,396 --> 00:25:39,716
Speaker 3: But retake the scene and.

498
00:25:39,756 --> 00:25:41,716
Speaker 8: There probably were three or four versions of that.

499
00:25:41,716 --> 00:25:42,676
Speaker 1: That's the one he chose.

500
00:25:42,836 --> 00:25:45,356
Speaker 8: You know, it's not like that was the only one.

501
00:25:46,356 --> 00:25:48,356
Speaker 4: That you're off the shit of that for a bachelor,

502
00:25:48,396 --> 00:25:49,716
Speaker 4: you know, you're sure you didn't have a whole stel

503
00:25:49,756 --> 00:25:51,476
Speaker 4: of kids hidden somewhere.

504
00:25:52,276 --> 00:25:54,876
Speaker 14: Nursed a couple of bear clubs to their mother came back.

505
00:25:58,396 --> 00:26:00,676
Speaker 3: It's like on SNL when the actors break and laugh

506
00:26:01,076 --> 00:26:03,276
Speaker 3: when Elizabeth's like, I'm not sure if we got all

507
00:26:03,276 --> 00:26:06,676
Speaker 3: the soap out, and Jefferson's like, well we didn't. That's

508
00:26:06,756 --> 00:26:09,316
Speaker 3: the true reaction and it must be improvised. But then

509
00:26:09,356 --> 00:26:11,516
Speaker 3: they go back to the scripted version where Jones is

510
00:26:11,516 --> 00:26:14,156
Speaker 3: doing a great job. Most of the people on set

511
00:26:14,276 --> 00:26:15,796
Speaker 3: have some kind of moment.

512
00:26:15,556 --> 00:26:19,236
Speaker 9: Like this, you know, the forest with the snow and

513
00:26:19,356 --> 00:26:22,916
Speaker 9: the sleigh that comes along, and there's even one shot

514
00:26:22,956 --> 00:26:26,596
Speaker 9: I noticed where you can see the wheels under the sleigh.

515
00:26:27,276 --> 00:26:29,796
Speaker 18: I remember the day I was there, they were filming

516
00:26:29,796 --> 00:26:33,036
Speaker 18: that scene where chaos RUPs, you know, and the tree

517
00:26:33,076 --> 00:26:35,236
Speaker 18: falls down and all that. We had to do that

518
00:26:35,236 --> 00:26:39,156
Speaker 18: scene quite a number of times. It was as chaotic

519
00:26:39,196 --> 00:26:42,036
Speaker 18: as the scene is, but behind the scenes it was

520
00:26:42,436 --> 00:26:43,236
Speaker 18: even more so.

521
00:26:44,476 --> 00:26:48,476
Speaker 12: It's a little like opening a bolode factory for cultural

522
00:26:48,556 --> 00:26:49,516
Speaker 12: you know, it's sort.

523
00:26:49,276 --> 00:26:51,076
Speaker 3: Of like, what's going on in there?

524
00:26:51,116 --> 00:26:57,516
Speaker 15: Nothing good? Nothing good, don't ask anything. So it was

525
00:26:57,596 --> 00:27:00,556
Speaker 15: kind of hectic on set. And yet I think you

526
00:27:00,596 --> 00:27:03,396
Speaker 15: can hear in people's voices how much they love telling

527
00:27:03,436 --> 00:27:06,556
Speaker 15: this story. Pretty much across the board, this was a

528
00:27:06,556 --> 00:27:09,556
Speaker 15: happy memory for the people I spoke to, not least

529
00:27:09,556 --> 00:27:12,116
Speaker 15: of all because they never lost sight of just how

530
00:27:12,116 --> 00:27:13,316
Speaker 15: improbable it all was.

531
00:27:14,396 --> 00:27:16,116
Speaker 5: And then in the middle of all this is Arnold

532
00:27:16,156 --> 00:27:20,036
Speaker 5: running around going, you know, move the top or overhead,

533
00:27:20,156 --> 00:27:22,716
Speaker 5: I do this over here, let's go do this. No,

534
00:27:22,836 --> 00:27:24,276
Speaker 5: I think it could be ten times funny.

535
00:27:24,316 --> 00:27:24,876
Speaker 1: I'll come on.

536
00:27:25,156 --> 00:27:31,636
Speaker 5: So there's Arnold's voice, you know, just bellowing out. And

537
00:27:31,716 --> 00:27:34,996
Speaker 5: that was the other thing that I really remember was

538
00:27:35,116 --> 00:27:39,396
Speaker 5: that while this is happening, while.

539
00:27:39,116 --> 00:27:45,356
Speaker 19: We're making this little trainy movie, he is in theaters

540
00:27:45,756 --> 00:27:52,036
Speaker 19: with Terminator two and it's doing numbers that no one

541
00:27:52,116 --> 00:27:53,276
Speaker 19: has ever seen before.

542
00:27:53,396 --> 00:27:58,756
Speaker 5: And we were on set when it crossed five hundred

543
00:27:58,836 --> 00:28:01,556
Speaker 5: million dollars. But when you're standing next to the guy

544
00:28:02,156 --> 00:28:06,676
Speaker 5: who's the star of that movie and his major concern

545
00:28:06,836 --> 00:28:07,756
Speaker 5: is whether or not.

546
00:28:09,276 --> 00:28:11,116
Speaker 1: It didn't focus forehead.

547
00:28:11,236 --> 00:28:14,876
Speaker 3: Let's go the forehead thing. You're not the first person

548
00:28:14,916 --> 00:28:18,756
Speaker 3: to bring that up several people mentioned to me that

549
00:28:18,876 --> 00:28:22,356
Speaker 3: Arnold Schwartzenegger's favorite put down was to call someone a forehead.

550
00:28:22,836 --> 00:28:25,556
Speaker 3: This actually made it into the movie. When Elizabeth Blaine

551
00:28:25,556 --> 00:28:27,996
Speaker 3: and Jefferson Jones get pulled over by the cops mid

552
00:28:28,036 --> 00:28:30,476
Speaker 3: sleigh ride, the one where you can see the wheels,

553
00:28:30,996 --> 00:28:31,676
Speaker 3: this happens.

554
00:28:31,996 --> 00:28:34,636
Speaker 5: What's your hands? Where I can say, you're both under arrest?

555
00:28:34,876 --> 00:28:37,636
Speaker 1: Oh, come on, come on, you foreheads, get him up?

556
00:28:38,116 --> 00:28:38,396
Speaker 4: You what?

557
00:28:39,996 --> 00:28:41,876
Speaker 3: This is actually a big part of why I love

558
00:28:41,956 --> 00:28:45,116
Speaker 3: this movie. It has a kind of free jazz improvisitory

559
00:28:45,236 --> 00:28:49,356
Speaker 3: quality to it. It's oddly self referential and also very sweet.

560
00:28:49,836 --> 00:28:51,716
Speaker 3: It's like how you can hear in someone's voice when

561
00:28:51,716 --> 00:28:55,996
Speaker 3: they're smiling. That's how this movie feels. Because, even at

562
00:28:55,996 --> 00:28:58,636
Speaker 3: the risk of himself being labeled a forehead who couldn't

563
00:28:58,636 --> 00:29:02,436
Speaker 3: direct the movie, Arnold Schwarzenegger was showing up every day

564
00:29:02,556 --> 00:29:05,116
Speaker 3: and putting in his all for the film, Buffs and

565
00:29:05,156 --> 00:29:07,196
Speaker 3: the crew. It was a dream come true just to

566
00:29:07,276 --> 00:29:10,756
Speaker 3: work with him or with a legend like Tony Curtis.

567
00:29:11,436 --> 00:29:14,116
Speaker 1: You know, it was a trip to oz that I

568
00:29:14,196 --> 00:29:16,716
Speaker 1: knew was short lived, but it was.

569
00:29:16,676 --> 00:29:19,556
Speaker 7: Something I was going to take in and enjoy them

570
00:29:19,676 --> 00:29:20,836
Speaker 7: as much as possible.

571
00:29:21,996 --> 00:29:24,996
Speaker 3: After twenty days of shooting the film wrapped, they had

572
00:29:25,036 --> 00:29:28,676
Speaker 3: a party at Arnold Schwartzeninger's restaurant. It was around Christmas time,

573
00:29:28,796 --> 00:29:30,556
Speaker 3: and they all got sweatshirts with the name of the

574
00:29:30,556 --> 00:29:31,556
Speaker 3: film on the front.

575
00:29:32,636 --> 00:29:37,436
Speaker 9: And on the back was a picture of Arnold with

576
00:29:37,476 --> 00:29:45,876
Speaker 9: a Santa hat on, wearing sunglasses and saying something about

577
00:29:47,396 --> 00:29:50,156
Speaker 9: I can't remember the full thing anybody used for you forehead.

578
00:29:51,476 --> 00:29:53,516
Speaker 3: Later, Jim was kind enough to send me a photo

579
00:29:53,596 --> 00:29:57,116
Speaker 3: of the sweatshirt. It said on the back more snow

580
00:29:57,196 --> 00:30:02,436
Speaker 3: u forehead. There's my Schwartzeneger impression with the film in

581
00:30:02,476 --> 00:30:06,436
Speaker 3: the can. Post production and premieres loomed. That's after the break.

582
00:30:17,556 --> 00:30:20,476
Speaker 3: Before we get to the premiere of Arnold Schwarzenegger's nineteen

583
00:30:20,556 --> 00:30:23,396
Speaker 3: ninety two Christmas and Connecticut remake, I want to tell

584
00:30:23,436 --> 00:30:25,596
Speaker 3: you about something that happened earlier this year.

585
00:30:26,156 --> 00:30:29,436
Speaker 2: Thank you all for coming, Thank you Mitch for coming

586
00:30:29,476 --> 00:30:31,956
Speaker 2: down from Try Yeah, thanks for having me here.

587
00:30:32,716 --> 00:30:35,556
Speaker 3: Malcolm interviewed Mitch Album live on stage at the ninety

588
00:30:35,556 --> 00:30:38,756
Speaker 3: second Street Y Album is the best selling author of

589
00:30:38,756 --> 00:30:42,316
Speaker 3: some ungodly number of books, but he's probably most famous

590
00:30:42,436 --> 00:30:45,916
Speaker 3: for Tuesdays with Maury. He and Malcolm were there to

591
00:30:45,956 --> 00:30:49,476
Speaker 3: talk about his new novel about the Holocaust, The Little Liar.

592
00:30:50,276 --> 00:30:52,676
Speaker 3: They were warming up with some Mitch backstory about his

593
00:30:52,756 --> 00:30:54,356
Speaker 3: time as a musician in New York.

594
00:30:54,956 --> 00:30:58,436
Speaker 11: I tried the whole starving musician thing, and I played

595
00:30:58,436 --> 00:31:00,836
Speaker 11: in all the clubs around here on Monday nights.

596
00:31:01,236 --> 00:31:04,436
Speaker 3: I was backstage at this event peering out. I hadn't

597
00:31:04,436 --> 00:31:07,396
Speaker 3: read Mitch's book. I was up to something else.

598
00:31:09,396 --> 00:31:10,956
Speaker 2: We should probably do this before we get too far

599
00:31:10,996 --> 00:31:14,636
Speaker 2: afield on the music thing. If you're talking so much,

600
00:31:15,116 --> 00:31:17,916
Speaker 2: you will note that behind you. Yeah, there's a corg.

601
00:31:19,476 --> 00:31:21,476
Speaker 3: At this point, the audience of people who had come

602
00:31:21,476 --> 00:31:23,476
Speaker 3: that night to hear the author of Tuesdays with Maury

603
00:31:23,516 --> 00:31:27,676
Speaker 3: discussed the Holocaust noticed the electric piano behind him.

604
00:31:27,836 --> 00:31:32,876
Speaker 2: And we have a request that you play one of

605
00:31:32,916 --> 00:31:39,036
Speaker 2: your most famous compositions, which you know what I'm talking about.

606
00:31:39,076 --> 00:31:43,516
Speaker 2: I'm talking about Cooking for Two from the legendary Arnold

607
00:31:43,516 --> 00:31:48,196
Speaker 2: Schwarzenegger nineteen ninety two, made for TV movie Christmas in Connecticut.

608
00:31:48,556 --> 00:31:50,716
Speaker 11: Yeah, can you see the recognition?

609
00:31:51,756 --> 00:31:54,916
Speaker 3: Yes it was my keyboard, and yes I had planted

610
00:31:54,956 --> 00:31:55,276
Speaker 3: it there.

611
00:31:55,876 --> 00:31:58,996
Speaker 2: Mitch, No, no, this For some reason, I have no idea.

612
00:31:59,116 --> 00:32:02,796
Speaker 2: My colleague Ben is obsessed with this and really wanted

613
00:32:02,876 --> 00:32:04,516
Speaker 2: us to do this, and I thought, how great would

614
00:32:04,516 --> 00:32:05,956
Speaker 2: it be for you to sing one of our songs,

615
00:32:06,516 --> 00:32:08,516
Speaker 2: just like just give us a little taste.

616
00:32:08,556 --> 00:32:12,116
Speaker 11: Well, I have to tell you this story. Tell tell Okay.

617
00:32:12,276 --> 00:32:16,636
Speaker 11: So after I got out of the music business, I

618
00:32:16,636 --> 00:32:19,036
Speaker 11: had a college roommate who went into the movie business.

619
00:32:19,316 --> 00:32:22,836
Speaker 3: That would be Stanley m Brooks, executive producer of Christmas

620
00:32:22,836 --> 00:32:28,156
Speaker 3: in Connecticut. Stan and Mitch were roommates at Brandeis.

621
00:32:26,996 --> 00:32:30,516
Speaker 11: And he knew that I was a musician, and he

622
00:32:30,636 --> 00:32:32,796
Speaker 11: was making a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger as a producer,

623
00:32:32,836 --> 00:32:36,156
Speaker 11: and Schwartzenegger was the director of Christmas in Connecticut. The

624
00:32:36,236 --> 00:32:42,276
Speaker 11: remake sounds about as good as it was, I think,

625
00:32:42,916 --> 00:32:46,876
Speaker 11: And they needed as a song because she played Diane

626
00:32:47,716 --> 00:32:51,916
Speaker 11: Cannon played the lead and she was a cook on

627
00:32:51,996 --> 00:32:54,516
Speaker 11: TV or whatever, so the song had to be about food.

628
00:32:55,156 --> 00:32:59,836
Speaker 11: And they wanted to use Harry Connick's Recipe for Love

629
00:32:59,916 --> 00:33:02,436
Speaker 11: or something like that, but they couldn't afford it. So

630
00:33:02,676 --> 00:33:05,076
Speaker 11: stan calls me and says, we need a song that's

631
00:33:05,156 --> 00:33:08,596
Speaker 11: kind of upbeat about food for Arnold Schwartzenegger's movie. Can

632
00:33:08,636 --> 00:33:10,276
Speaker 11: you do it? You know, I said, well, what do

633
00:33:10,316 --> 00:33:11,516
Speaker 11: you need it by Thursday?

634
00:33:11,716 --> 00:33:11,916
Speaker 15: You know?

635
00:33:13,036 --> 00:33:16,676
Speaker 11: It was Tuesday, you know. So I just went and

636
00:33:16,716 --> 00:33:18,916
Speaker 11: wrote a little song. And my wife is a singer,

637
00:33:18,996 --> 00:33:24,396
Speaker 11: a fantastic singer, and I said, honey, can you sing

638
00:33:24,436 --> 00:33:27,076
Speaker 11: this song because we don't have time to go find

639
00:33:27,076 --> 00:33:29,516
Speaker 11: anybody else. And he listened to it and he said,

640
00:33:29,916 --> 00:33:33,396
Speaker 11: I liked a bun but the girl. And that's how

641
00:33:33,676 --> 00:33:35,756
Speaker 11: the song was chosen. Yeah, yeah, I want you to

642
00:33:35,756 --> 00:33:37,236
Speaker 11: play it. I really think you should.

643
00:33:38,716 --> 00:33:39,316
Speaker 18: So it went.

644
00:33:40,476 --> 00:33:43,716
Speaker 16: Now, remember it had to be about food. Food, So

645
00:33:43,796 --> 00:33:55,596
Speaker 16: it went, let's go to the kitchen. I got something fixing, admanizing,

646
00:33:55,716 --> 00:34:03,396
Speaker 16: and do here's a flood. We're cooking for two. They're

647
00:34:03,516 --> 00:34:06,996
Speaker 16: inside the oven, something warm and loving. Friends would laugh

648
00:34:07,036 --> 00:34:07,956
Speaker 16: and they knew.

649
00:34:08,396 --> 00:34:14,956
Speaker 11: That it's true. We're cooking for two. Here's the corn bridge.

650
00:34:15,516 --> 00:34:19,756
Speaker 11: I was a souper wid girl, left nombers every night.

651
00:34:20,396 --> 00:34:24,036
Speaker 16: Ah, but once I tasted your kisses, I was dining

652
00:34:24,156 --> 00:34:25,236
Speaker 16: my candlelight.

653
00:34:26,636 --> 00:34:29,156
Speaker 11: Here's a recipe for all the world to see.

654
00:34:29,196 --> 00:34:31,796
Speaker 1: We take some me and some you that.

655
00:34:31,956 --> 00:34:36,596
Speaker 16: It's too we're cooking for two.

656
00:34:36,716 --> 00:34:56,676
Speaker 11: I love you. We're cooking for two. That definitely ranks

657
00:34:56,676 --> 00:34:58,996
Speaker 11: amongst one of the most embarrassing things I've ever DoD.

658
00:35:01,236 --> 00:35:03,916
Speaker 3: They planned to play it over the credits with a

659
00:35:03,996 --> 00:35:07,276
Speaker 3: Mitch Album closing track in hand. Christmas in Connecticut was

660
00:35:07,316 --> 00:35:10,596
Speaker 3: almost ready to debut. Most made for TV movies you

661
00:35:10,676 --> 00:35:13,436
Speaker 3: just put out on television, but not this one.

662
00:35:14,156 --> 00:35:16,036
Speaker 1: First of all, TV movies don't have screenings.

663
00:35:16,356 --> 00:35:19,676
Speaker 7: If we have a screening, it's like ten people and

664
00:35:19,916 --> 00:35:21,636
Speaker 7: you know, you were in a screening room somewhere like

665
00:35:22,476 --> 00:35:25,156
Speaker 7: this was the big theater at the DGA, which holds

666
00:35:25,276 --> 00:35:28,276
Speaker 7: I don't know, a thousand people, massive screen and there's

667
00:35:28,316 --> 00:35:32,156
Speaker 7: a huge red carpet and a press line.

668
00:35:33,436 --> 00:35:37,596
Speaker 18: We had two theaters going and there were phil When I.

669
00:35:37,596 --> 00:35:40,476
Speaker 7: Tell you that there's never been a television movie before since,

670
00:35:40,516 --> 00:35:42,996
Speaker 7: they had a press line. And he's walking down working

671
00:35:43,076 --> 00:35:45,436
Speaker 7: the press and like, you know, and I you know,

672
00:35:45,556 --> 00:35:46,876
Speaker 7: thet Blee person.

673
00:35:46,956 --> 00:35:49,436
Speaker 1: This is d Ambrose executive producer h Arnold.

674
00:35:50,716 --> 00:35:53,676
Speaker 3: According to san Ivan, Reitman and James Cameron were there,

675
00:35:53,716 --> 00:35:57,156
Speaker 3: along with the whole slew of Hollywood Royalty. The screening

676
00:35:57,276 --> 00:35:59,436
Speaker 3: was in LA. It was a media sensation.

677
00:36:00,036 --> 00:36:01,116
Speaker 8: Watch out Hollywood.

678
00:36:01,156 --> 00:36:03,556
Speaker 5: There's a new director in town and he's used.

679
00:36:03,316 --> 00:36:05,676
Speaker 8: To making a big impact that is in front of

680
00:36:05,716 --> 00:36:06,476
Speaker 8: the camera.

681
00:36:06,316 --> 00:36:12,316
Speaker 4: When you act, sees such talent that directs as I've

682
00:36:12,356 --> 00:36:13,956
Speaker 4: worked with, it inspires you.

683
00:36:15,316 --> 00:36:18,236
Speaker 3: Janet Brown, Now the screenwriter was not having sent for

684
00:36:18,276 --> 00:36:18,636
Speaker 3: you to night.

685
00:36:19,636 --> 00:36:22,596
Speaker 8: I remember sitting at the screening with my agent and

686
00:36:22,636 --> 00:36:23,756
Speaker 8: I was like crying.

687
00:36:24,116 --> 00:36:26,676
Speaker 3: I mean, I was like, oh my god, why were

688
00:36:26,716 --> 00:36:27,236
Speaker 3: you crying?

689
00:36:28,196 --> 00:36:30,796
Speaker 9: I get so bad and my name is on this.

690
00:36:31,316 --> 00:36:33,196
Speaker 8: My agent was very fast to get me a drink

691
00:36:33,236 --> 00:36:35,636
Speaker 8: at that point. I just remember outside there was kind

692
00:36:35,676 --> 00:36:37,956
Speaker 8: of a Christmas theme sort of party, and just like

693
00:36:38,156 --> 00:36:39,196
Speaker 8: I need to get out of.

694
00:36:39,156 --> 00:36:43,796
Speaker 3: Here, but there was no putting the genie back in

695
00:36:43,796 --> 00:36:47,156
Speaker 3: the bottle. TNT was running promo's NonStop.

696
00:36:49,196 --> 00:36:53,196
Speaker 4: I love romantic comedies, so I made one myself, Christmas

697
00:36:53,196 --> 00:36:57,676
Speaker 4: in Connecticut. It's a romantic comedy with all the trimmings.

698
00:36:58,156 --> 00:37:00,196
Speaker 1: What in the world could comfortably go wrong?

699
00:37:01,556 --> 00:37:04,676
Speaker 4: Christmas in Connectic directed by Arnold schwartzening you have a

700
00:37:04,756 --> 00:37:08,956
Speaker 4: problem with that? TNT exclusive premiere Monday, April thirteen.

701
00:37:10,636 --> 00:37:12,716
Speaker 3: I don't know if you caught that, but the film

702
00:37:12,756 --> 00:37:16,196
Speaker 3: came out in April, one week before Easter. As one

703
00:37:16,236 --> 00:37:19,036
Speaker 3: review put it, quote, don't ask me why a Christmas

704
00:37:19,116 --> 00:37:21,996
Speaker 3: movie is premiering in April. As his then wife Maria

705
00:37:22,036 --> 00:37:25,556
Speaker 3: Shreiver reflected, he just does. He's a big one on.

706
00:37:25,836 --> 00:37:27,556
Speaker 3: Don't think about it or talk about it.

707
00:37:28,276 --> 00:37:28,676
Speaker 6: Do it.

708
00:37:29,676 --> 00:37:32,356
Speaker 1: And then he goes, I think we want to scud

709
00:37:32,396 --> 00:37:34,116
Speaker 1: into it again. That was too much fun.

710
00:37:34,196 --> 00:37:36,436
Speaker 7: I go, okay, I go see if I can organ

711
00:37:36,516 --> 00:37:38,596
Speaker 7: I go no, I want to ski in Washington with

712
00:37:38,596 --> 00:37:39,476
Speaker 7: my friend Jack Lent.

713
00:37:40,396 --> 00:37:42,516
Speaker 1: So now we all fight Washington.

714
00:37:42,676 --> 00:37:45,596
Speaker 7: And uh and it was it was a who's who

715
00:37:45,796 --> 00:37:49,916
Speaker 7: of Washington, and it was senators and members of tabinet.

716
00:37:50,276 --> 00:37:53,716
Speaker 1: It was a seated dinner and I remember my wife

717
00:37:53,716 --> 00:37:55,836
Speaker 1: and I sit down. We've been working the rooms.

718
00:37:55,876 --> 00:37:58,596
Speaker 7: So we sit last at our table and the guy

719
00:37:58,716 --> 00:38:00,716
Speaker 7: next to me has got like a dress can of

720
00:38:00,716 --> 00:38:03,836
Speaker 7: form on and I say, hey, Stan Brooks, I'm the producer,

721
00:38:03,876 --> 00:38:05,716
Speaker 7: and he goes, hey, Oliver North.

722
00:38:05,916 --> 00:38:08,916
Speaker 3: Oliver North of Iran contra fame. The film was a

723
00:38:08,916 --> 00:38:11,236
Speaker 3: big hit in the belt Way. Suff I sit to

724
00:38:11,276 --> 00:38:14,276
Speaker 3: say this made for television Christmas movie had an unusually

725
00:38:14,276 --> 00:38:17,436
Speaker 3: big reception, but it also didn't really do much to

726
00:38:17,556 --> 00:38:22,036
Speaker 3: establish Arnold Schwartzenegger as a director. The reviews were mixed.

727
00:38:23,116 --> 00:38:25,556
Speaker 9: Well, I'm looking at IMDb right now it's like the

728
00:38:25,756 --> 00:38:28,796
Speaker 9: rating is four point eight out of ten and they're

729
00:38:28,836 --> 00:38:29,636
Speaker 9: not far off.

730
00:38:30,396 --> 00:38:32,956
Speaker 1: We nobody had any Oh my god, we're making it's

731
00:38:32,956 --> 00:38:33,796
Speaker 1: a wonderful life.

732
00:38:35,276 --> 00:38:36,956
Speaker 3: I realize I've had a lot of fun with this

733
00:38:37,036 --> 00:38:40,196
Speaker 3: movie and gun to my head. Do I think it's good? No?

734
00:38:41,196 --> 00:38:44,876
Speaker 3: But do I love it? Obviously yes, because it's so

735
00:38:45,116 --> 00:38:47,916
Speaker 3: totally weird and overcommitted to its bit that it has

736
00:38:47,956 --> 00:38:50,196
Speaker 3: a kind of joyfulness to it that honestly gets me

737
00:38:50,236 --> 00:38:53,156
Speaker 3: in the Christmas spirit and at its core, like the

738
00:38:53,156 --> 00:38:57,196
Speaker 3: best Christmas films, The story behind the movie is a

739
00:38:57,236 --> 00:39:01,916
Speaker 3: story of love and friendship between Arnold Schwartzenegger and San Brooks,

740
00:39:02,596 --> 00:39:05,476
Speaker 3: two men brought together by a love of making movies.

741
00:39:06,676 --> 00:39:10,116
Speaker 3: After the film, Stan and Arnold stayed in touch. Stan

742
00:39:10,196 --> 00:39:13,716
Speaker 3: even moved into Arnold Schwartzenegger's office building. The kids played

743
00:39:13,716 --> 00:39:17,956
Speaker 3: football together, and even though they never made another movie together,

744
00:39:18,436 --> 00:39:23,876
Speaker 3: their collaboration had one more act. Almost ten years to

745
00:39:23,956 --> 00:39:27,116
Speaker 3: the day from when Christmas and Connecticut began shooting, Arnold

746
00:39:27,116 --> 00:39:31,276
Speaker 3: Schwarzenegger became the governor of California. At the time, there

747
00:39:31,356 --> 00:39:34,276
Speaker 3: was a lot of handwringing over an issue called runaway production.

748
00:39:34,796 --> 00:39:37,756
Speaker 3: Lots of states had started offering tax breaks to lure

749
00:39:37,796 --> 00:39:41,076
Speaker 3: films into shooting somewhere other than California. It had become

750
00:39:41,116 --> 00:39:44,236
Speaker 3: a real problem for Hollywood as an industry town. This

751
00:39:44,396 --> 00:39:46,756
Speaker 3: was one of the crises Schwarzenegger would have to face

752
00:39:46,796 --> 00:39:50,276
Speaker 3: in his new role as governor. Now, the way people

753
00:39:50,316 --> 00:39:52,716
Speaker 3: talked about his becoming governor was the same way they

754
00:39:52,716 --> 00:39:55,756
Speaker 3: talked about his becoming a director, So it only makes

755
00:39:55,796 --> 00:39:59,196
Speaker 3: sense that he wanted stan Brooks in his administration.

756
00:40:00,476 --> 00:40:03,556
Speaker 13: So when he became governor, he was in about a

757
00:40:03,636 --> 00:40:06,916
Speaker 13: year and he called me and he said, how would

758
00:40:06,916 --> 00:40:10,076
Speaker 13: you like to be on the Film Commission? And I say, well,

759
00:40:10,076 --> 00:40:12,476
Speaker 13: that's a dumb idea. He goes why, I said, well,

760
00:40:12,476 --> 00:40:15,116
Speaker 13: because I don't shoot movies in California. I said, I'm

761
00:40:15,156 --> 00:40:16,956
Speaker 13: like the worst person you could put on the film

762
00:40:16,956 --> 00:40:19,756
Speaker 13: Commission because I take my movies out of state. And

763
00:40:19,836 --> 00:40:22,076
Speaker 13: he goes, oh, that's why we want to because we

764
00:40:22,116 --> 00:40:24,156
Speaker 13: want to try and pass the taxpayer.

765
00:40:24,476 --> 00:40:27,396
Speaker 3: Stan joined the California Film Commission, and over the next

766
00:40:27,476 --> 00:40:29,956
Speaker 3: few years he was a key part of the lobbying

767
00:40:29,956 --> 00:40:32,236
Speaker 3: efforts to pass the tax credits that would make it

768
00:40:32,276 --> 00:40:33,876
Speaker 3: easier to film in California.

769
00:40:34,516 --> 00:40:37,876
Speaker 1: It was a hard fight, and so I ended up

770
00:40:38,396 --> 00:40:40,796
Speaker 1: making a short film, a short documentary film where we

771
00:40:40,836 --> 00:40:43,916
Speaker 1: interviewed some of the families that left on why, and

772
00:40:43,996 --> 00:40:46,716
Speaker 1: that ended up being more powerful than any speech we

773
00:40:46,756 --> 00:40:48,116
Speaker 1: could make in their office.

774
00:40:49,116 --> 00:40:51,356
Speaker 3: The first tax credits passed in two thousand and nine.

775
00:40:51,956 --> 00:40:56,116
Speaker 3: They've been renewed ever since. So back to our original question,

776
00:40:56,876 --> 00:40:59,716
Speaker 3: why did Arnold Schwarzenegger direct to this bizarre one off

777
00:40:59,796 --> 00:41:02,916
Speaker 3: Christmas film? I found my answer in a story Stan

778
00:41:02,996 --> 00:41:03,316
Speaker 3: told me.

779
00:41:04,196 --> 00:41:06,156
Speaker 1: He says to me one night we finished around seven

780
00:41:06,236 --> 00:41:08,316
Speaker 1: or eight, and he goes, well you're doing and I said,

781
00:41:08,436 --> 00:41:11,316
Speaker 1: I'm going home. He goes, he goes, Maria's making dinner.

782
00:41:11,356 --> 00:41:15,556
Speaker 1: You want to come to the house. So oh yeah, yeah.

783
00:41:15,676 --> 00:41:17,756
Speaker 1: So we both jump in our cars and we drive

784
00:41:17,956 --> 00:41:21,876
Speaker 1: to Pacific Palis eate and at that dinner, I remember

785
00:41:21,996 --> 00:41:23,716
Speaker 1: Arnold turn to me. He says, you have a good town.

786
00:41:23,836 --> 00:41:25,756
Speaker 1: I own the stat Why don't get big speeches?

787
00:41:26,316 --> 00:41:28,516
Speaker 7: And I said, to be honest, I didn't get in

788
00:41:28,596 --> 00:41:31,716
Speaker 7: the business to make big, famous movies. I got in

789
00:41:31,716 --> 00:41:33,516
Speaker 7: the business to make movies, and I get to make

790
00:41:34,476 --> 00:41:36,916
Speaker 7: two or three a year if I mean the future business,

791
00:41:36,956 --> 00:41:38,676
Speaker 7: I'm lucky if I make one every other year.

792
00:41:38,556 --> 00:41:41,476
Speaker 1: Every three years. I go, I'm happy with my life.

793
00:41:41,476 --> 00:41:43,556
Speaker 1: He goes, well, that's fantastic.

794
00:41:46,556 --> 00:41:49,076
Speaker 3: The story really had honed for me because I get

795
00:41:49,116 --> 00:41:52,356
Speaker 3: what that's like to just love making something, even a

796
00:41:52,436 --> 00:41:54,996
Speaker 3: kind of improbably dense story about the making of the

797
00:41:54,996 --> 00:41:58,716
Speaker 3: remake of a Christmas movie. It's like Stan said, if

798
00:41:58,716 --> 00:42:02,156
Speaker 3: you love making movies or anything, it's just a gift

799
00:42:02,196 --> 00:42:04,996
Speaker 3: to get to make more, even if they're maybe not

800
00:42:05,116 --> 00:42:08,316
Speaker 3: the best, especially if it's clear how much fun you

801
00:42:08,356 --> 00:42:11,756
Speaker 3: had making when it is you're making. So to close,

802
00:42:12,996 --> 00:42:15,516
Speaker 3: let me just share one quote from the very last

803
00:42:15,516 --> 00:42:19,476
Speaker 3: page of Charles Dickens as a Christmas Carol, a passage

804
00:42:19,556 --> 00:42:25,156
Speaker 3: about Scrooge after he's seen the light quote. Some people

805
00:42:25,316 --> 00:42:27,996
Speaker 3: laughed to see the alteration in him, But he let

806
00:42:28,076 --> 00:42:31,316
Speaker 3: them laugh, and little heeded them, for he was wise

807
00:42:31,436 --> 00:42:33,876
Speaker 3: enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe

808
00:42:33,916 --> 00:42:36,036
Speaker 3: for good, at which some people did not have their

809
00:42:36,076 --> 00:42:39,396
Speaker 3: fill of laughter. In the outset, his own heart laughed,

810
00:42:40,516 --> 00:42:44,596
Speaker 3: and that was quite enough for him. Maybe Stan and

811
00:42:44,716 --> 00:42:48,036
Speaker 3: Arnold didn't make It's a Wonderful Life, but it seems

812
00:42:48,036 --> 00:42:51,516
Speaker 3: to me like their own hearts were laughing. So from

813
00:42:51,556 --> 00:42:56,436
Speaker 3: all of us here at Revision's History. Happy Holidays, you foreheads,

814
00:42:57,036 --> 00:43:05,756
Speaker 3: See you in the New Year. Revisionist History is produced

815
00:43:05,756 --> 00:43:10,036
Speaker 3: by me Bennatt of Haffrey and Lucy Sullivan with Bird Lawrence.

816
00:43:10,676 --> 00:43:14,276
Speaker 3: Our editor is Karen Chakerji. Fact checking on this episode

817
00:43:14,316 --> 00:43:18,876
Speaker 3: by Sam Russick, a resident Schwarzenegger fan. Original scoring by

818
00:43:18,916 --> 00:43:23,676
Speaker 3: Luis Gara, mastering by Jake Krsky. Our executive producer is

819
00:43:23,756 --> 00:43:28,996
Speaker 3: Jacob Smith. Special thanks to Sarah Nis, David Arnott, Linda Berman,

820
00:43:29,396 --> 00:44:03,436
Speaker 3: Iris Grossman, and Scott Sassa. I'm Ben Mattahaffery.

821
00:43:59,436 --> 00:44:02,036
Speaker 2: Three two one.

822
00:44:02,596 --> 00:44:08,996
Speaker 17: We wish Eyal Berry Christmas. We wish you are mayor

823
00:44:09,196 --> 00:44:18,116
Speaker 17: me Christmas. We will you are Merry Christmas New

824
00:44:23,716 --> 00:44:25,076
Speaker 3: What we do, guys,