Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Richard Schickel, in addition to writing film reviews for Time magazine starting in 1965, is also a film historian and celebrity biographer. He has written for Cary Grant, and James Cagney , Gary Cooper all have film biographies.”

"Wait, what is a movie biography?"

Ronald was sitting in a cafe in Manhattan, listening to the private detective Frank McPike opposite, telling the background of the film critic who wrote extremely negative reviews. When he heard the new term film biography, he asked.

"Aren't you from Hollywood? It's probably the kind of biography that doesn't involve the subject's personal life and only writes about the movies he has made. It is for moviegoers, not fans."

"Oh, please continue." Ronald learned a little more about the background of Schickel, a film critic with a typical Jewish surname. This kind of biography requires authorization from a major film company, but does not require authorization from the person or his family. It is clearly a good deal for the biographer to make money by publishing a book. That it fell into the hands of this film critic reveals something.

"He himself is also a university professor and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship at Yale University. He studies the history of American film and the history of Jewish persecution in Eastern Europe before and after World War II. In addition to Yale, he also has academic experience at the University of Southern California and the University of Southern California. Open classes and teach.”

"Which movie studio is he closely associated with?" Ronald asked.

"In fact, he plays more of a neutral role. On the surface, he treats all movies equally. In fact, he doesn't have much preference for most movies. It's just that for some movies related to Jews, he always It’s to attack or praise.”

Frank McPike handed over another folder, which contained Richard Schickel's evaluations of Jewish-related films over the years, collected inside.

As he read page after page, Ronald felt more and more that this Sickle was not simple.

…

Two days earlier, after seeing the content of a negative review submitted by Richard Schickel, Ronald called Michael Douglas and complained to him that the Jews did not follow the rules and did not keep their words.

We had agreed to a truce with the old men of the Jewish gang and would no longer criticize Ronald for his "Dirty Dancing", but this man came out and slandered him. Finally, there was a personal attack on Ronald himself.

Michael Douglas went to his father to inquire about the situation, and then flew to New York in person to apologize to Ronald for the incident.

According to Douglas,

This was the work of extremists among Jews who refused to integrate into mainstream American society. A true Jew would not engage in such obscene behavior that violates his oath.

Michael Douglas has promised that his father will tighten control in the future and that major Hollywood film critics will not attack "Dirty Dancing" beyond "normal reviews".

"Can you control it? Don't have film critics like this coming to our public screenings, only to write something that is a personal attack on me."

These Jews always talk nice, but do something else. Then we will say that they are extremists and have nothing to do with us mainstream Jews.

Ronald didn't want to be fooled again. It was enough to believe this once.

Douglas also laughed. As the eldest son of the Jewish boss of Hollywood, he certainly knew the games played by his own ethnic group. However, Hollywood is no longer a suitable place to play this kind of game, and ethnic groups are not as distinct as before. By the third generation of immigrants like them, many people do not choose to marry within their ethnic groups, even Jews.

"I can guarantee that the critics in the mainstream media will not have a problem, but Richard Schickel, you have to watch out. I have known his name since I was a child, and he also has a strong circle in the New York Film Critics Circle, such as New York These guys from the Post and the Washington Star..."

"Thank you for telling me." Ronald also felt the kindness of Michael Douglas. His list was equivalent to selling to Ronald those people within the Jews who wanted to take this opportunity to cause trouble.

…

Armed with the list, Ronald hired private detective Frank McPike to investigate the backgrounds of Schickel and the other film critics on the list Douglas had given him.

Mr. Detective is very efficient. Judging from the documents, this Schickel is indeed not simple.

From the beginning, he was a passionate advocate for Jewish values, an attack on anti-Semitism in society, and a campaign for Jewish inclusion in American society.

The famous Hollywood director and actor Yinliya Kazan was greatly praised by him. The reason is simply that Kazan, a Greek immigrant, has joked on many occasions that he has a Jewish nose.

When the HUAC committee raided Hollywood in the 1950s, it was an organization that opposed all extreme forces. Schickel campaigned for the founder of the HUAC, Senator Samuel Dickstein.

Unexpectedly, when Hollywood really started to engage in whistle-blowing and everyone passed the test, the mainstream senators, who were mainly of Anglo-American descent, replaced Samuel Dickstein and replaced him with Senator Martin from Texas. Dais is in charge of Huac's work.

The Texas cowboy Martin Dyess, in addition to his fanatical opposition to the infiltration of the Soviet Union, was also a fanatical anti-Semite. During the years when the Huac Committee in Hollywood was making all the difference, not only were a large number of practitioners who were sympathetic to Sewell blacklisted, but many Jewish people were also swept away.

Michael Douglas's father, Kirk, was almost put on the unpatriotic list and banned from filming. Fortunately, he had the full support of the Jewish gangs behind him and united many wealthy businessmen with Jewish backgrounds to contribute money, so he was able to retain the only Jewish male star in Hollywood.

This is why later, Kirk Douglas took the lead in hiring the seven blacklisted Hollywood gentlemen and asked them to write scripts for him under pseudonyms. He also won the Oscar for Best Screenplay. It is difficult for screenwriters who use pseudonyms to receive awards. , all collected by Kirk Douglas on his behalf.

The Jews, who had no choice but to steal chickens and lose rice, had no choice but to change their ways. Instead of pursuing the cultural expansion of the Jews, they used a more covert method to achieve class crossing.

They began to invade the Hollywood production business and portray positive images of Jews in movies. To some extent, they produced films that also had Jewish protagonists that incorporated some orthodox American Puritan values.

Kirk Douglas was a mainstay at Warner Bros. in which his character always went to church on Sunday (the Orthodox Jewish Sabbath is on Friday), celebrated Christmas, and always survived in the end. And those characters who did not integrate into America's mainstream values ​​were eventually shot to death.

And this Richard Schickel was one of those more die-hard Jews who refused to integrate into the mainstream. Whenever there is content in the movie that reflects the shortcomings of Jews, he will jump out and shout "anti-Semitic!"

…

"Every source of information proves that there is a group of Jewish film critics who are waiting for my movie to be released on the weekend and collectively release very negative reviews of the movie."

Ronald read all the detective's investigation materials, made some phone calls, and asked his agent, Italian-born Niceta, to gather information.

Based on various sources, Ronald is sure that there will be a wave of people coming to criticize him when "Dirty Dancing" premieres.

So Ronald summoned several executives from Daydream and held an internal meeting with his two agents. Discuss countermeasures.

"It doesn't really matter, right? Our movie has a very good reputation in the preview screenings. Their reviews can only have an impact on the number of viewers who come to watch the movie in the first week. As long as the reputation grows, our long-term box office will increase. It should still be possible." Michelle Cannold thinks so.

"No, why should we give up the first week to our competitors? And before the movie is released, no one knows what the result will be. If the bad reviews in the first week are bad, it is not impossible for us to be in the theater for a month. ." General Manager Eddie is more stubborn. Although he is also Jewish, he is angrier than others when it comes to his company's income.

"Do we have any means to fight back?" Ronald asked.

"Do you remember Pauline Carr?" Agent Richard came over to interject. He is also Jewish, so he is particularly active. He must defeat the bugs in the ethnic group in order to strive for greater success with Ronald. of trust.

"Remember, the film critic of The New Yorker. She also asked me to make a film that reflects the reality of America." Ronald smiled bitterly. He may not be able to reflect reality, but he was reacted by reality.

"Her prestige and status in the New York film critic circle are on par with Schickel's. Why not ask her to write a counterattack? Moreover, this film originally has a female as the narrative protagonist. Since they have written a counterattack Jue’s card, we can also play the female film card.”

Ronald pondered for a moment, and it’s not like he didn’t want to invite Pauline Carr. But on the one hand, I went to her house last time and was educated by him with high expectations. This time the movie may not be able to meet her expectations.

On the other hand, Pauline Carr has entered semi-retirement and does not write film reviews in the New Yorker magazine every week. She only reviews movies that interest her when she sees them.

If Ronald were to improvise, go to Pauline Carr, screen a special screening, and wait for her to write a review, and also have to cover the pages of the New Yorker, he might not be able to make it to the upcoming premiere.

"All the resources we can mobilize now are worth a try, Ronald." Another agent, Niceta, is of Italian origin and it is easier for him to speak.

"These Jews have always acted together. We have to find a way to deal with it. One advantage we have is that according to convention, film reviews must wait until the movie is released. If we can delay the release of the movie, On the one hand, it can disrupt their rhythm. On the other hand, we can also release positive reviews from equally heavyweight film critics to offset their influence."

Jimmy Lainer, who is in charge of the music soundtrack, raised his hand and spoke, "I don't understand movie marketing and distribution, but I have to remind you. Our record release plan is based on mid-July. In this way, the movie can replace the record's marketing activities .

But if you delay the release of the movie, the records will have to go on sale without the movie. In this way, we have to spend extra money to go to radio stations in various places to ask the DJs there to play the new songs from our records. "

"Can't it be postponed until it is released together with the movie?" Cannold asked next to him. He really didn't want to give up the marketing method of records and movies serving as each other's advertisements.

"This is not a movie release. You just need to get the consent of the cinema. Besides, August is the end of the summer season. If you move the release to that time, the cinema may be happier. The distribution channel of the record is determined one year in advance. Yes, I don’t think it’s possible to postpone it.”

"There are also programming times that we have booked on TV stations and other television media. If you want to postpone the release, these will have to be rescheduled. We may not be able to find the right time to put on the program to coincide with the movie premiere." Cannold He also expressed his worries.

"These are all details. The opening weekend and the following five-day working week are our seed audiences. These people serve as our base, and their word-of-mouth will determine the number of viewers in the second week.

If we don't deliberately mess up, we can still bet on the audience's reputation. But if, as Ronald said, someone deliberately releases extreme negative reviews and jointly attacks "Dirty Dancing" on several media outlets, you can be sure that our seed audience can really sustain us in the theater. By the third week? "

General Manager Eddie, who used to have many cover girls involved in Hollywood productions, was actually more experienced in theatrical distribution than Cannold, who was originally responsible for video distribution.

"The week it was originally scheduled to be released, the latest James Bond movie was released, as well as Orion's 'RoboCop'. I heard that the movie also received very good reviews. If there is a larger scale than expected, Bad reviews..." Niceta whispered in Ronald's ear, he had a lot of internal information about CAA.

"So, Ronald, what do you want to do?"

Everyone's eyes were focused on Ronald.

After being silent for a while, Ronald came to a conclusion. He raised his head and said, "Jimmy, please give me a list of the fees required by DJs at all radio stations who need PR for the release of the record.

Michelle, you should negotiate with the major TV stations about the possibility of moving the advertisements we place. David Letterman, and Bobbi Wygant's show, I called them personally.

Also, you go contact Pauline Carr for me, Richard. We had a screening just for her.

Niceta, could you help me contact the three protagonists, Patrick Schwytz, Jennifer Gray, and Cynthia Rhodes, and ask them if they can change the schedule of the marketing campaign? "

…

"This is such an old story, Ronald." Pauline Carr criticized Ronald bluntly after watching Ronald's special screening of "Dirty Dancing" for her.

"Good Times" in 1938 and "Morning Star" in 1958, to put it bluntly, this is the tone. In one summer of growing up, everything changed. "

"Pauline, I know, this movie has not met your expectations of me... Ahem, but now I..." Ronald saw that Pauline Carr didn't seem to be very satisfied with the movie, and insisted on being like the old one. Madam, please ask for a favor.

"But I really like this movie you made. Do you know why?" Pauline Carr pushed up her tortoiseshell glasses.

Looking at Ronald's confused eyes, Pauline smiled, "Because the version you shot is for girls.

Those old movies are often boys' versions. The male protagonist deals with his love with a beautiful woman in a bumpy way. In the end, he always finds himself in rebellion and finally returns to mainstream values. This is a boy's fantasy of coming of age.

But your film, on the contrary, is a girl's dream.

I think little girls will like your movie very much. The handsome boy with small eyes and muscles, the hot dance, the rich and enlightened father, and the idiot-like sister are all the best things in their dreams.

Your "Dirty Dancing" may very well mean to girls what "Star Wars" means to boys, fulfilling all their beautiful dreams of growing up. "

"So, are you willing to find other film critics in New York to write good reviews for me?"

Ronald was overjoyed.

"Are there any extreme Jews who are dissatisfied with you? They are always like this. They will shout anti-Semitism at the slightest negative portrayal of the Jews. If the Jews cannot integrate into this new world, they will still hold on to the old concept of having no motherland. , many things are unavoidable. There are always people in my ethnic group who cannot see this clearly."

Pauline Carr, who is also a descendant of Jewish immigrants from Poland, is quite open to negative Jewish plots in movies. As long as she doesn't deliberately portray those Jewish stereotypes, she can completely accept the role creation from an artistic point of view.

"There are some people who want to jointly issue some extremely negative reviews when I premiere." Ronald nodded and admitted.

"Huh, Richard is here again. This movie doesn't even mention that the heroine, baby Hausman, and his family are Jewish. Regardless of any ethnic group, this story is not inferior at all. Why is it like this?

When watching this movie, you should not look at it from the Jewish perspective, but from the perspective of women's own liberation.

Your handling of abortion is also very good. Cynthia Rhodes' character is informed of her condition by a doctor, and it's the woman, not the man, who decides whether to keep the child. "

Pauline Carr obviously saw in the script the enthusiasm for women's liberation that was beginning to emerge during the Kennedy era in the 1960s. She also came from that era, and had a similar experience when she was young.

"Don't worry, Ronald, you have my vote on this matter. All of us female film critics in New York will stand by your side."

"Thank you so much."

"Also, how is the movie you shot for MGM? I was in New York and heard rumors that you are moving closer to realistic themes. I will watch it in advance when the time comes."

"That movie will be released at the end of the year. Of course I will invite you to watch it as soon as possible."

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