Newspaper Page Text
Griffin Daily News
SHOWBEAT
Jack Lemmon a
Cloak-and-Suiter?
rn
HOLLYWOOD—(NEA»—Somehow, when you think of
Los Angeles and Holywood, you generally think in terms
of beaches and palm trees and pretty houses basking in
the sun. You hardly ever think of the garment district.
But Los Angeles has one and it is the setting for Steve
Shagan’s original story, “Save the Tiger,” and Para
mount is shooting it right there. The garment district is
tucked away in a few shabby blocks of the downtown
area.
“Save the Tiger” is the story of 36 hours in the life of
a decaying cloak-and-suiter. It’s a powerful story and
it will be published as a novel about the time the film
is released. That system worked beautifully for “Love
Story.” Paramount and Shagan hope it works again.
Jack Lemmon is playing the lead and it’s certainly his
heaviest role since “Days of Wine and Roses.” He says
he’s more excited about it at this stage than anything
he’s ever done.
They were shooting on the fifth floor of the Riley
Building, an undistinguished pile of lofts on East 11th
Street. The battered glass door had been changed from
Internationale Set, the real name of the company they
were renting from, to Capri Casuals, the name of Lem
mon’s fictitious concern.
Sam Bretzfield, the owner of Internationale Set, says
renting to the movie company, worked out perfectly. His
company designs its line of women’s sportswear here
but manufactures in Korea. The finishing touches are
done here, then they are packaged and shipped.
“The timing couldn’t have been better,” he said. “We
just shipped 10,000 dozen and the next batch isn’t due
until next week, so the place was empty."
He says he read the script and liked it. He says that
99% per cent of things that happen in the script really
happen in the garment business.
The cast liked working in the place. Jack Gilford kept
wandering around, with a small smile on his face.
“You couldn’t duplicate this in the studio,” he said.
"Look at the peeling paint, the cracked ceiling, the way
the light comes through the frosted windows."
"Save the Tiger” is being directed by John Arvildsen,
who did “Joe.” He’s doing the film in sequense, which
is the way the script is written. He also shoots real
istically and that makes it tough on Lemmon.
"There’s no make-up," Jack says. “That means I
have to shave five times a day.”
But otherwise Lemmon has no complaints. He liked
the way Arvildsen had several weeks of rehearsal before
the actual filming began. And, above all, he likes the
script and the role he’s playing.
“For the first time in a long time," he says, “I find
I’m taking my work home with me. I find I cry a lot,
because it’s a sad story. I go home, turn on the news and
cry.”
Obviously, he’ll need a change of pace when this one
is over. And he has it already mapped out.
“After this,” he says, “I’m going to Italy to do the
new Billy Wilder film. It reads well. Italy in the spring
is better than a kick in the teeth.”
They broke for lunch and everybody crowded into the
one snail-slow elevator and the commissary was set up in
the building’s crummy, rubbish-strewn parking lot. This
is the new Hollywood. Glamor is out. Realism is in.
Tinsel-town they used to call it. Make that tawdry-town
for the time being.
hi y i" l ***
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LOS ANGELES downtown garment district makes
realistic backdrop for Jack Lemmon and Jack Gilford
(seated) in movie, “Save the Tiger.” Lemmon feels
story of decaying cloak-and-suiter is his heaviest role
since “Days of Wine and Roses.”
2
Bv DICK KLEINER
Marshall says hit show
makes up for lean years
By DON FREEMAN
Copley News Service
HOLLYWOOD - Once,
Peter Marshall said, one of his
kids asked a pointedly delicate
question. “Dad,” said the kid,
“are you rich?” When Mar
shall hedged, groping for the
right words, the boy bored in
with: “Well, how much do you
have?” And Marshall replied:
“Well, son, I’ve got 20 years’
experience in show business.
They may take away my
money but they can’t take
away those years.”
As Marshall recalled the
incident, he grinned in that
amiable way familiar to follow
ers of “The Hollywood
Squares,” where he reigns as
host-emcee.
“It all adds up, all those
years,” Pete said. “You don’t
just walk in and take over a
game show. Without experi
ence, I couldn’t do it. Nobody
could. I started out as a band
singer, I made records, I did
Broadway, I was a disc jockey,
I was an emcee in theaters, I
was a comedian in nightclubs.
Being in a hit show now makes
up for all those years when I’d
play a club date in Montreal
and have to drive through the
snow to Milwaukee to play
another club the next night.
“It makes up for little
things,” said Pete, ruefully,
“like the time my old comedy
partner, the late Tommy Noo
nan, and I were playing some
raunchy club and he was doing
a bit in which he kidded the
customers. These particular
Lettermen sound
caresses the ear
Now and then it is necessary
for one, even though a lover of
pop, rock and jazz, to break
away and listen to some music
that caresses the ears instead
of rupturing them.
Perhaps one of the best
groups on record today which
can bring to you a sound as soft
as an ocean breeze or cut loose
with a toe-tapping goodie, is
The Lettermen.
The trio, which consists of
Tony Butala, Jim Pike and
Gary Pike, has a unique sound
with which you can live inti
mately, and the results have
been gold albums, one right af
ter another.
Two of their latest platters
released are “Lettermen I”
and “The Lettermen-Love
Book,” both on Capitol labels
and both equally as fine as their
other million sellers.
One reason for the group’s
longevity and success is their
ability to do justice to any song
they might sing. In fact, at
times it is hard to tell whether
it’s The Lettermen doing a song
or the original group.
In keeping pace with the
times, “Lettermen I” includes
such contemporary hits as
“Anticipation,” “An Old-Fash
ioned Love Song,” “White Lies,
Blue Eyes” and “Never Been
To Spain.”
The album “Love Book” is a
collection of love songs that
form a musical scrapbook of
memories. It includes such
songs as “Wedding Song
customers happened to be mob
guys without much sense of
humor. Humorless and dan
gerous, they were, which is a
bad parlay to fool with.
“After the show, they came
back to our dressing room.
Tommy had already gone so
they decided to take care of me
— one guy held a gun to my
head and then he gave me a
pistol-whipping. He could have
killed me. Hours later I was
still shaking. Just talking about
it and I shake again.”
Now the life is easier with
“The Hollywood Squares,” a
rating hit in both its daytime
and night versions on NBC.
“Frankly, I was reluctant to
take the job when it was of
fered. I had no idea it would be
a hit. Turned out to be very
lucrative and I can go out six
weeks in the summer and do
stock. I did ‘The Music Man’ in
St. Louis last summer. Sold out
every night.”
Now the “Squares” is enter
ing its sixth year and Marshall
has been signed for another
five years, the first two without
options, which is a rare deal.
“I owe it all to Monty Hall,"
said Pete. “Monty left NBC and
took his ‘Let's Make a Deal’ to
ABC and it became a smash.
NBC just doesn’t want to make
the same mistake again. I just
wish I owned the show.”
“Pete,” I said, “what’s the
hardest part about doing ‘Hol
lywood Squares?’”
“Driving on the freeway to
the studio,” Pete said. “That’s
almost true. It’s really a snap
(There Is Love),” the theme
from “Love Story” which is a
solo by Jim, “Ain’t No Sun
shine,” a solo by Tony, “If” by
Gary and “How Can You Mend
A Broken Heart?”
Taking a look into the boys’
background, we find that Tony
made his singing debut at the
age of 8 on a radio show in his
home town of Sharon, Pa.
When his family moved to
Los Angeles, he was accepted
by the famed Mitchell Boys
Choir, and his professional mu
sical career beean.
Jim Pike was born in St.
Louis, Mo., and after serving in
the U.S. Navy, he moved to Los
Angeles. He attended Brigham
Young University in Utah and
started singing with campus
groups. After college, he
formed a group called The
Damons, which sang with
Stan Kenton in Las Vegas.
When the group disbanded,
he returned to Los Angeles
where he met Tony. They dis
cussed their views and feelings
about forming a vocal group,
their musical ideas were the
same, the name was chosen,
and The Lettermen were in
business.
Gary is Jim’s younger broth
er and rounds out the group. He
was born in Twin Falls, Idaho,
and attended local schools until
his family moved to Los Ange
les. He attended El Camino
College but left to join The Let
termen after Jim and Tony au
ditioned him.
In the years that followed,
and it’s fun. We don’t rehearse
— if you rehearsed ‘Squares’ it
would be nothing. So 1 just walk
in and go over the questions
and that’s it. Then we play the
game in front of the cameras.
“Why the show is so success
ful is something I’m not sure
can be analyzed. It’s a funny
show, a blend of a good game
and good comedy, and it’s in
formative and for a lot of peo
ple it’s become a habit. Any
time a show lasts for over five
years, like a ‘Gunsmoke’ or a
‘Bonanza,’ people have fallen
into the habit of watching. It
becomes a part of their lives.
“Being on nights now has
helped a lot,” Pete said.
“There were people who never
watch daytime TV and they
never heard of us. Wives tell
their husbands and they watch.
People seem to have their spe
cial favorites on the show and
they root for them.
“They like Wally Cox or Paul
Lynde or Rose Marie or Nan
ette Fabray or Karen Valentine
or Cliff Arquette — Charley
Weaver, who’s so rich he
doesn’t want to do anything
else in the business but work on
the ‘Squares.’
“I wouldn’t say we’ve got a
foolproof show,” Pete said.
“But I remember once when
we had a bad stretch going.
Some of the people were sick
and I wasn’t too sparkling. It
just wasn’t there. The timing
felt slow and sluggish. But even
the worst week we ever had,
even with the timing way off,
the show wasn’t all that bad.”
the trio has appeared at more
than 2,000 colleges and univer
sities across the country. Their
twenty or more cross-country
tours have netted them many a
SRO crowd, largely due to their
versatility and appeal to all age
groups.
Unlike most vocal groups,
The Lettermen all have the
same range and easily inter
change parts. All three are ac
complished soloists in their
own right, which is evidenced
by their solo efforts on “Love
Book.”
Besides cutting albums and
hitting the concert circuit, the
fellows have established them
selves as major nightclub and
hotel entertainers. Their stage
performances are of great ap
peal to audiences because they
perform songs that are famil
iar to all, some new and some
old.
Things are going good for
The Lettermen, who have just
recently formed The Letter
men, Inc., their own production
company. Under this banner
comes “Love Book” and “Let
termen I,” truly a set of nice,
easy listening quality, fine and
unforced albums.
PLATTER PARADE
ALBUMS
1. HARVEST, Neil Young
(Reprise)
2. AMERICA, America
(Warner Bros.)
3. AMERICAN PIE, Don
McLean (United Artists)
4. FRAGILE, Yes (Atlantic)
5. NILSSON SCHMILSSON,
Nilsson (RCA)
HITBOUND SINGLES
1. ROUND A BOUT, Yes (At
lantic)