Pretty Maids All In A Row (1971) - Production Notes - Historical Item (Boston Press Series)
Writing by blake on Sunday, 2 of September , 2007 at 12:02 am
FILE: Production Notes (Press)
* SOME SPOILERS FOR THOSE THAT HAVEN’T SEEN THE FILM
Rare production notes that are full of trivia for the film, “Pretty Maids All In A Row.” I’m offering up these notes as text.
About This Series: (VIEW ALL)
One of the goals of this site is preserving film history one image at a time. In addition to that preserving various other forms of film history. Debuting Friday, August 31, 2007 was a historical look at the Boston leg of Rock Hudson’s publicity tour for “Pretty Maids All In A Row.” Items in this series will feature all kinds of images, letters and other extremely rare goodies. This really will be a fascinating look at both publicity for this film and press at the time of 1971. I’m extremely proud to be archiving for public viewing these rare historical film items! Several items a day will be posted for this series in the weeks ahead.
I really do hope everyone enjoys this series and I do ask to please credit my site if you mention this. In addition please do not take any of these items I will be posting and rework them to be sold on eBay.
Full Text of Production Notes:
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Famed French director, Roger Vadim, had long hoped to direct a picture in the United States, and his dream came true when MGM announced May 1 of last year the signing of Vadim to direct PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW, the novel by Francis Pollini the studio had acquired.
Gene Roddenberry was signed by the studio to write the screenplay and produce the film. Roddenberry is a former policeman, turned writer, with a long successful string of credits as the latter and has also produced the highly successful television series “Star Trek,” which ran for three years.
The 42-year old Parisian-born Vadim has become somewhat of a legend in his own time, not only has a picture maker (PRETTY MAIDS is luckily his 13th picture) but also as an aficionado of feminine beauty. He discovered, married and starred Brigitte Bardot in “And God Created Woman” in 1956 (the first venture for both of them). He discovered, married and starred Annette Stroyberg in “Les Liaisons Dangereuses.” Then he discovered, didn’t marry, and starred Catherine Deneuve in “Le Vice et la Vertu.” Miss Deneuve was dubbed by the press as the world’s most beautiful woman. Vadim’s last three films, “Circle of Love,” “The Game is Over” and “Barbarella” have starred his present wife, Jane Fonda.
With such a track record, Vadim was the logical choice to direct PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW, which has sixteen maids of high school age in the title roles, and although they are virtually unknown in entertainment circles it is the studio’s and Vadim’s opinion that within their ranks lie stars of tomorrow.
The story is a contemporary black comedy, which could take place anywhere Suburbia USA on a sea coast. It concerns manners, morals and murders, victims of the latter are young, sexy high school girls who die with smiles on their faces, and their demises are not unreminiscent of the famous St. Trinian murders in the famous English girls school.
The police investigate the murders but of greatest concern to the school is whether the coach can lead his team to victory in the upcoming football game.
Rock Hudson was the choice for Tiger, the high school coach and student counselor. “I know of no one else who could so well assay the role of the all-American football coach. Everyone in the film has to love him. He is their hero; an intelligent man, a good husband and father, then suddenly the audience discovers that this man is not at all what they thought he was,” Vadim says.
Rock Hudson has shuttled in and out of bedrooms, won the West, gunned his way through stark war dramas, outwitted international spies, scored the last-second touchdown, brought in Oklahoma oil gushers, got the girl, never lost a battle. “If I can convince any producer that someone with my build - 6′4″, 200 pounds, can play a loser, I’m willing to fight for the chance.” But whatever the foibles of Tiger the coach, the audience will not see him as a loser - in trouble, perhaps, but the Hudson syndrome seems to elicit sympathy in whatever he does.
“I have done 58 movies,” Rock says, “pictures are like friends, one likes them for different reasons. I liked “Pillow Talk,” because it was a fun comedy, “Giant,” because of the director (George Stevens) and “Seconds” because of the story which gave me the opportunity to do something entirely different. MAIDS is a combination of all three with the added dimension of being a totally black comedy, and I have never done anything like it. Vadim’s sensitivity will certainly bring it off,” the star says. “The script was submitted to me on a Friday night; I went to Vadim’s house for discussions on Saturday, and the contracts were signed Monday morning. It’s a refreshing revelation in this business in which negotiations sometimes take months.”
Then came the casting of the sensuous and beautiful Miss Smith, the high school English teacher with a yen for Tiger, which becomes sidetracked to a young student in her class.
“I have always felt that Angie Dickinson is an actress who has done roles of consequence, but I have never felt that she has reached the peak of her potential,” Vadim says. “I see things in her that I do not believe other directors have seen.”
Angie was cast, followed by Telly Savalas, who has rapidly become a star of international magnitude. Telly plays Police Captain Surcher, hard-bitten and icy cold.
Co-starring roles went to Roddy McDowall as Mr. Proffer, the high school principal. It is Roddy’s re-entrance into acting after a year directing Ava Gardner in “Tam-Lin;” Keenan Wynn as Chief Poldaski, a misguided and befuddled soul, who means well, but this cannot absolve him; and John David Carson as Ponce de Leon Harper, a wide-eyed student and assistant to Tiger on the football field.
Having read and tested over one hundred youths, Vadim and Roddenberry signed Carson upon completion of his first reading.
“He is Ponce in all his wonderment and naivete, and we see him grow from adolescence to manhood,” Vadim says.
Beautiful high fashion model Barbara Leigh was chosen to play Jean, Tiger’s wife. Barbara starred in her first motion picture, “The Student Nurses,” and appears with Beau Bridges in “The Christian Licorice Store.” She also appeared with Jean Paul Belmondo in “Love Is a Funny Thing,” directed by another famous Frenchman, Claude Lelouch.
A steady parade of girls passed through the MGM Casting Offices on their way to be interviewed by the Roddenberry-Vadim team. A studio policeman at the gate remarked: “It’s sort of like working for Earl Carroll: ‘Through these portals pass the most beautiful girls in the world’.”
Among the girls chosen for the pivotal roles are: Joy Bang, Gretchen Burrell, JoAnna Cameron, Amy Eccles, June Fairchild, Margaret Markov, Diane Sherry, Brenda Sykes, Chris Allen, Adriana Bentley, Fredricka Myers, Linda Morand, Michel Nichols, Donna O’Connor, Topo Swope and Joyce Williams.
In a high school story, of coure, there are boys and Phillip Brown, Kyle Johnson, Gary Tigerman, Warren Seabury, Alberto Isaac and Tim Ray were signed. The latter is the son of well-knwon director Nicholas Ray.
There are also two other famous offsprings in the MAIDS cast: Topo Swope is the daughter of Dorothy McGuire and Donna O’Connor, Donald’s daughter.
“If there is any message in the film,” says Vadim, “it is the slight value placed upon human life. Whether or not the football game will be played is considered more important than the murders.”
“There is only one way to describe the story. It is insolent, and I love insolence. But in no way am I making a critique of American life-style or Americans. As a French director I do not have that right.”
Tiger has an interesting theory, which is that teaching students to love is far more important at high school level than teaching an academic curriculum. As he tells Ponce: “… One day we will get rid of all our dirty little sex prejudices. Then when genuine physical attraction occurs between teacher and student we will welcome it. I can see a father say someday: ‘Thank God, Margaret has fallen in love with her Algebra Teacher She is not only learning from a mature male, but at last she is listening to adult advice.’”
With such a theory, Tiger has no problem in convincing himself that seduction of the girl students is helpful to them, and he also helps Ponce get rid of a normal teen-age sexual hang-up, effecting a cure through Miss Smith.
Interiors were done on the MGM Studio lot with exteriors in and around the Los Angeles Area. The latter includes Rancho La Cienega Park, where the football game was played, using members of a local high school team plus the school band and 2,500 extras as spectators; the Santa Monica Pier and the Venice Marina.
Vadim loves to be by the sea, is an avid water skier…and also a fisherman. Before beginning MAIDS, he rented a house on the beach at Malibu from former actor turned realtor Lon McCallister, and moved in with an entourage including a secretary, a housekeeper, a nurse for the children (Vadim has three: Natalie, 12, whose mother is Annette Stroyberg, Christian, 7, whose mother is Catherine Deneuve and Vanessa, 2, whose mother is his current wife, Jane Fonda,) who spent the summer with him. Various and sundry friends from France, and others locally, wandered around the house in a freewheeling fashion.
At 4 o’clock on a Friday afternoon late in September , during filming at the studio, the news of the holocaust in Malibu reached him. Vadim sent his secretary and two members of the crew from the studio to try and get across the fireline to save two things in his house: his passport and some 16mm film which he had personally taken of his daughter Vanessa. They were unable to reach the house. Vadim finished filming at 7, and although even residents were barred from the area, hitched a ride on a fire truck and made it home where he spent a watchful night. The house on one side of him was totally destroyed, but the McCallister house escaped with only smoke damage and 6 inches of ashes throughout. Vadim stayed at home over the weekend, helping less fortunate residents and even agreed to receive the press that bad been scheduled, but they were unable to get through the fireline.
“The door has never been locked, in fact, I think the lock is broken,” Vadim says. “That’s the way to live. People come and go at will, what else are friends for?” During the daylight saving hours, Vadim was home in time, and lucky and adept enough, to pull in Crocker and Corbina from the surf, and cooked them over an open fire for whoever was there. The cast, certainly including the pretty maids, and the crew, came and went throughout the summer, as did a bevy of newspaper reporters and photographers to whom the house was also open. Unlike most of his profession, who refuse to do anything on weekends, Vadim stated at the outset that he would do any and all of the interviews and photography sessions on the weekends at his house, where oftentimes he himself prepared full meals for anywhere from 10 to 25 people.
Filming on the Metrocolor and Panavision motion picture began on August 10 and finished on October 25. Vadim remained at the studio to edit the film and to work with the Music Department in scoring it. It is scheduled for a May release.
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Source:
From official rare press files for the Boston publicity tour of Rock Hudson for the film “Pretty Maids All In A Row.”
Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile
Category: People: Roger Vadim, People: Barbara Leigh, Movies: Pretty Maids All In A Row (1971), Historical Finds: Pretty Maids All In A Row (Boston Pre, Historical Finds, People: Rock Hudson, People: Angie Dickinson
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