The Daily Movie Wallpaper
Tuesday, February 23, 2010

 
Love this rare behind the scenes shot of filmmaker Richard Rush with its added reflection of him on the left! Be sure to read the rare press release below sent out to promote Freebie and the Bean.
 

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Caption:
RICHARD RUSH, producer-director of Warner Bros.’ “Freebie and the Bean,” is responsible for leading a corps of new young film workers to the forefront of their chosen specialties. Alan Arkin and James Caan star in the outrageous action comedy film. Screenplay was by Robert Kaufman from a story by Floyd Mutrux.
 
 
Warner Bros. Studio (Press Release)
 
RICHARD RUSH, SEEDING A NEW FILM GENERATION
 
During the chaotic 1960’s, when Hollywood studios were not turning out enough films to satisfy the appetite of theaters and audiences and were groping in confusion in search of a lost audience or a new one, a number of young filmmakers, working outside of the established Hollywood community, were imposing style and substance while satisfying the demands of the independent, exploitation market and doing it with new methods and ideas to accomplish their ends on a budget.
 
One who supplied the requisite action, as well as rich characterization by new young players and thematic purpose to buoy the thrills-chills-spills, was Richard Rush, who managed to mount social satire on a motorcycle for a trilogy of bike epics which finally brought him to the attention of Hollywood studios. His latest and most ambitious offering is Warner Bros. “Freebie and the Bean,” an outrageous action comedy which stars Alan Arkin and James Caan.
 
If Rush managed to overlay greater content than the market asked and finally earned the budgets and shooting schedules and properties that major studio financing would make available to him, those who served their apprenticeship with him on tight budgets and schedules have also found that the experience leads often enough to stardom, the opportunity to director or to add their credit to quality assignments.
 
Jack Nicholson was an actor who seemed destined to serve out his career in films whose life expectancy was no more than a week on a drive-in double bill. Working with Rush as the star of “Hells Angels on Wheels” and “Psych-Out,” Nicholson developed the enigmatic smile which was to become a trademark in some of the longest running hits of the seventies.
 
When Dennis Hopper and producer Bert Schneider were preparing “Easy Rider,” they viewed Rush’s motorcycle trilogy. Impressed with the screen values Rush’s crews captured with mobility on a budget and tight schedule, they secured Rush’s cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs, his astute production manager and associate producer Paul Lewis, and many of his technical personnel, like sound man Leroy Robbins, script girl Joyce King and still photographer Peter Sorel. That film brought Nicholson his first Academy Award nomination.
 
Henry Jaglom, an actor in “Hells Angels on Wheels,” learned enough from auditing that demanding job to make his own directorial debut with “A Safe Place,” one of the cult films of recent years. Another Rush actor, Adam Roarke, went on to star in “Play It As It Lays” and is now producing. Jack Starrett also moved from acting to directing.
 
Max Julien was inspired by his acting assignments in Rush films to add writing and producing to his filmmaking chores on such successes as “The Mack” and “Thomasine and Bushrod.”
 
Leon Ericson, Rush’s art director, once constructed a complete frontier town in record time for scarcely less than a four figure budget for the film, “The Savage Seven.” Robert Altman, who frequently used Rush crews when they were available, borrowed Ericson for “That Cold Day In The Park” and made him associate producer on “M*A*S*H” and “McCabe and Mrs. Miller.”
 
Francis Ford Coppola was one of Rush’s earliest allies, brought in by Rush to do the screenplay of Tennessee Williams’ “This Property Is Condemned,” a project which would finally be made by another director at another studio.
 
Chuck Bail, Rush’s continuing stunt coordinator, soon graduated to second unit direction on Rush films, a dual capacity he again performed on “Freebie and the Bean.” He credits Rush with the graduate course which resulted in his recent ascension to full direction with Warners’ “Black Samson.”
 
Rush, whose shrewdly timed pairing of Elliot Gould and Candice Bergen in “Getting Straight” brought Columbia one of its highest grossing films of the year, also introduced in that film was John Rubenstein and Jeanne Berlin, the latter the daughter of Elaine May and now a star in her own right.
 
“Freebie and the Bean” reunites Rush with his “Getting Straight” screenwriter Robert Kaufman, whose special brand of far-out comedy, threaded with moments of tenderness, well suits Rush’s stylistic blend of realistic action adventure stretched to limits of absurd black comedy which delivers a reverberation of disturbing thought in a salvo of guffaws. Rush and Kaufman are presently at work on a number of future collaborations.
 
Rush is proudest of the off-beat casting in the present film, which finds Alan Arkin in his first physically demanding action role and television’s Valerie Harper in a tart and tempestuous role which will come as a surprise to those who know her work only in video series.
 
 

Image Source:
Official still that was used in the original US release of the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

The Daily Movie Wallpaper
Thursday, December 24, 2009

This rare behind the scenes image is a continuation from the still from yesterday (here) with an additional press release going over this crazy shooting of its first day of shooting and Kovacs King Kong moment (posted below). I hope that these two days in a row of rare Laszlo Kovacs stills and Richard Rush cinema and from the great underrated Freebie and the Bean serve to put you in the Happy Holidays spirit! Note that Freebie and the Bean is available on home video from the Warner Bros. Archives (here).

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Caption:
VERTIGINOUS HEIGHTS was one disadvantage in getting the reality producer-director Richard Rush (foreground) wanted for scenes in Warner Bros.’ “Freebie and the Bean.” Following Rush are co-stars Alan Arkin and James Caan. Cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs is at right. Screenplay for the outrageous action comedy by Robert Kaufman from a story by Floyd Mutrux.
 
 
Warner Bros. Studio (Press Release)
 
RUSH TO CAAN AT THE 66TH FLOOR:
“DON’T LOOK DOWN, JIMMY!“
 
Every good film ought to have an auspicious beginning, preferably one which does not threaten the survival of the stars. Warner Bros.’ “Freebie and the Bean,” produced and directed by Richard Rush and starring Alan Arkin and James Caan, had one which made duck soup of the most hairbreadth action which was to follow.
 
Selected for the first day’s shooting was a scene atop a 66-story skyscraper under construction in San Francisco. Another day and crews would begin placing the facing on the massive skeleton. It was that day or never. The moviemakers were to wish that they had given greater consideration to the latter alternative.
 
The scene called for police investigators Arkin and Caan to rise to the top of the building in an elevator outside the building, then to interrogate an informer on top of a crane swinging out over the city, 65 stories above the ground.
 
The stepped onto the platform which was enclosed by thin wire mesh and began their ascent. Director Rush did not know then a small detail which would make the journey fraught with danger. He did not guess until he called out the word, “Action!”
 
“Suddenly I heard a series of incoherent murmurings, mumbles and squawks coming from Jimmy, who has a severe case of acrophobia. He can step off a curb and suddenly have to reach for support in his dizziness. I mean, he’s a tough guy and athletic guy, rides broncos, though I’ve no idea how he gets up on them,” Rush recalls.
 
“We managed to get Jimmy’s hand unclutched from the wire mesh and rewoven in a clutch at a lower level, out of camera range. We were filming sections of the scene on the way up. I was totally wrapped up in the scene. Unfortunately, so was the operator, a congenial 75-year-old man huddled on the floor with his hand on the control button and his mind on the wonderful new world of show business.”
 
“We overshot the 65th floor and came to a jolting stop somewhere around 66-and-a-half and jammed there, suspended in space with the rain pouring down and the high winds and the cable partially off its track. Arkin and the acrophobiac were just finishing their lines.”
 
“To accommodate the crew members who were huddling in that over-sized bucket along with cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs and a Panavision camera, the safety ladder had been removed. The ancient operator suddenly sprang to life, crawling up the inside of the wire cage like King Kong, balancing atop the elevator and banging on the cable with a ball peen hammer.”
 
“The tune he was playing was ‘Abandon Ship!’ I swung open the cage door and jumped to the 65th floor,” explains Rush, “extending an arm to help Arkin and Caan. The entire crew followed.”
 
Not a word was spoken. As they found a skeletal staircase and walked 65 stories down to the street, where they were greeted by the waiting operator, ball peen hammer still in his hand. They continued without a look at each toward the dressing rooms, to their cars and back to the hotel. Despite the problems, enough of the sequence remained on film to edit. Shooting was over for the day.
 
 

Image Source:
Official still that was used in the original US release of the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

The Daily Movie Wallpaper
Wednesday, December 23, 2009

For this, the week of Christmas… I offer to you dear fans of the site, an incredible and rare behind the scenes image of legendary cinematographer, Laszlo Kovacs. It appears he is strapped into a belt and not just haphazardly sitting on a railing from way way way up high overlooking San Francisco. In addition you will find a rare press release sent out at the time this film originally came out which talks about his involvement with the film below. For fans of Richard Rush and Kovacs cinema, I hope this offers up a great added XMAS treat! It’s great to at last be able to offer up a picture of Laszlo Kovacs here. Note: Gary Kent appears to be in the bottom right of the frame. Freebie and the Bean is available on home video from the Warner Bros. Archives (here).

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Caption:
NEWEST CINEMA STAR – The latest phenomenon among film buffs is the cinematographer whose magic is being appreciated more and more. One of the best is Laszlo Kovacs whose most spectacular work to date can be seen in Warner Bros.’ “Freebie and the Bean.” Here Laszlo balances on top of a San Francisco skyscraper to line up a shot. Alan Arkin and James Caan star in the outrageous action comedy produced and directed by Richard Rush. Screenplay was by Robert Kaufman from a story by Floyd Mutrux.
 
 
Warner Bros. Studio (Press Release)
 
LASZLO KOVACS: THE CINEMATOGRAPHER AS A STAR
 
One of the more recent phenomena along the circuit of international film festivals and their do-it-yourself community counterparts is the way that young audiences and critics respond with spontaneous applause at the sight of the main title credit for a select handful of cinematographers — Ingmar Bergman’s Sven Kykvist, Jean Luc Godard’s Raoul Coutard and the brilliant young Hungarian cameraman, Laszlo Kovacs, who now adds to such credits as “Easy Rider,” “The Last Picture Show,” “Five Easy Pieces” and “What’s Up Doc?” Richard Rush’s Warner Bros. release, “Freebie and the Bean,” an outrageous action comedy starring Alan Arkin and James Caan.
 
Kovacs, who graduated from the Academy of Film and Theatre Arts in his native country, fled Hungary during the revolt of 1956, together with fellow cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, who would later lense such films as “McCabe and Mrs. Miller.”
 
Working his way to Hollywood via a lab in a Seattle TV station, Kovacs earned a reputation in TV commercials production and secured his first feature film credits behind rented cameras on mini-budget exploitation pictures and soft core nudies being turned out outside the periphery of the Hollywood establishment.
 
One of these caught the eye of director Ricard Rush, who began a six picture association with Kovacs on MGM’s “A Man Called Dagger.” Together , the two young filmmakers began to explore the potential of long lens rack focus photography — too often used merely as a pretty means of focusing through the daisies to discover gamboling lovers — as a storytelling technique.
 
They would shoot long scenes, the focus delicately adjusted to penetrate and select crowded settings to reveal continuous action or to follow a central character through a series of sharply focusing encounters. Developing this fluid style, they made a trilogy of popular motorcycle exploitation films which transcended their market and brought both to the attention of the major studios.
 
When Dennis Hopper was preparing “Easy Rider,” he studied the three Rush-Kovacs films — “Hells Angels on Wheels,” “Psych-Out” and “The Savage Seven” — and borrowed Kovacs to film his journey across America.
 
When Rush signed a major contract to make “Getting Straight” for Columbia, he insisted that he would not make the film without Kovacs, and the now-naturalized citizen was thus brought into the powerful and select IATSE cameraman’s union. Though directors were now waiting in line for his availability, Kovacs swore that he would always make himself available whenever Rush was ready to take a project before the cameras.
 
“Freebie and the Bean” presented Kovacs with one of his most demanding assignments yet, a film of perpetual motion, virtually a non-stop chase, careening over San Francisco freeways and alleyways, ascending a moving crane to the top of a skyscraper in construction and leading or following every manner of runaway conveyance from motorcycles and squad cars to locomotives and aircraft’s, from the opening in a maze of garbage cans bearing a shred of crucial evidence to the climatic melee in the ladies room of Candlestick Park during the Super Bowl game.
 
Helping to lubricate the demands of the film was the fact that the picture also reunited Kovacs with stunt coordinator and second unit director Chuck Bail, another Rush veteran, who had worked on the earlier motorcycle trilogy. That experience made possible such spectacular sequences as one in which a runaway truck rolls over, slides downhill along a sidewalk and stops on cue inches from the camera lens. Only confidence born of experience makes possible such a seemingly dangerous feat.
 

Image Source:
Official still that was used in the original US release of the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

The Daily Movie Wallpaper
Saturday, November 28, 2009

SURPRISE #6

It has been a great month bringing you these extra looks at other Richard Rush films to accompany the Psych-Out celebration! This crazy image from Freebie and the Bean marks the fitting end to this surprise section. Note this film is available (here) via home video from Warner Bros. Archive.

A Month Long Celebration of Psych-Out (1968) at CID: November 2009

Each day in November of 2009 at CID we will be celebrating Richard Rush cinema one still at a time with his 1968 film, Psych-Out, along the way with added surprises.

I’d love to know what is your favorite Richard Rush film!?! Tweet what it is on Twitter with the following hashtag of #richardrush.

For fans of this film be sure and pick up Gary Kent’s new book, Shadows and Light, Journeys With Outlaws In Revolutionary Hollywood (details).

If you like this film and want to see other great films that have been reborn through Lars and Weird Wednesday, be sure to get out to this weekly series each Wednesday (info). In particular this month is the screening of Sam Peckinpah’s, BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA.

Related Coverage:
::: Previous Movie Wallpaper
::: Lars Writeup for Weird Wednesday

Month Long Celebration:
::: 11/28 – Surprise #6: Freebie and the Bean
::: 11/27 – Rocking Out to Mumblin’ Jim
::: 11/26 – The Moment of Truth
::: 11/25 – Don’t Make Jack Nicholson Mad!
::: 11/24 – Surprise #5: A Man Called Dagger
::: 11/23 – Jenny Davis Fights for Her Life!
::: 11/22 – Stoney & Jenny
::: 11/21 – Jenny Davis
::: 11/20 – More with Jenny Davis
::: 11/19 – All Hell Breaks Loose
::: 11/18 – Life Seed Death
::: 11/17 – Dean Stockwell is Dave
::: 11/16 – Surprise #4: Too Soon to Love
::: 11/15 – Love Sweet Love
::: 11/14 – The Vox Mobile
::: 11/13 – More from the Funeral
::: 11/12 – Surprise #3: Savage Seven
::: 11/11 – Sitar Player
::: 11/10 – Surprise #2: Hells Angels on Wheels
::: 11/09 – Ladies and Gentlemen… The Seeds!
::: 11/08 – Warren has a bad trip!
::: 11/07 – The Funeral
::: 11/06 – Surprise #1: Freebie and the Bean
::: 11/05 – Jenny Davis in Love…
::: 11/04 – Warren, Stoney & Ben
::: 11/03 – Bruce Dern is The Seeker
::: 11/02 – Elwood, Jenny & Stoney
::: 11/01 – Jenny Davis in Classic Film Pose
::: Announcement

Image Source:
Official still that was used in the original USA release of the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

The Daily Movie Wallpaper
Friday, November 6, 2009

SURPRISE #1

As promised there would be some surprises and diversions to celebrate other films of Richard Rush. Today marks the first of these surprises with a film image so cool it might just be the single coolest one anyone has posted for 2009. If you love this film like I do then this image of James Caan and Alan Arkin is volume 11!

Caption:
A FIRST FOR ARKIN: Warner Bros.‘ “Freebie and the Bean” provides Alan Arkin, shown here with co-star James Caan, his first opportunity as a two-fisted action star. The outrageous comedy was produced and directed by Richard Rush from a screenplay by Robert Kaufman.

A Month Long Celebration of Psych-Out (1968) at CID: November 2009

Each day in November of 2009 at CID we will be celebrating Richard Rush cinema one still at a time with his 1968 film, Psych-Out, along the way with added surprises.

I’d love to know what is your favorite Richard Rush film!?! Tweet what it is on Twitter with the following hashtag of #richardrush.

For fans of this film be sure and pick up Gary Kent’s new book, Shadows and Light, Journeys With Outlaws In Revolutionary Hollywood (details).

If you like this film and want to see other great films that have been reborn through Lars and Weird Wednesday, be sure to get out to this weekly series each Wednesday (info). In particular this month is the screening of Sam Peckinpah’s, BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA.

Related Coverage:
::: Previous Movie Wallpaper
::: Lars Writeup for Weird Wednesday

Month Long Celebration:
::: 11/06 – Surprise #1: Freebie and the Bean
::: 11/05 – Jenny Davis in Love…
::: 11/04 – Warren, Stoney & Ben
::: 11/03 – Bruce Dern is The Seeker
::: 11/02 – Elwood, Jenny & Stoney
::: 11/01 – Jenny Davis in Classic Film Pose
::: Announcement

Image Source:
Official still that was used in the original USA release of the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile