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Actors Behind the Lens
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20382 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
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3 / 1992 |
2,058 Words |
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David D'Arcy
David D'Arcy broadcasts on cultural matters on National Public
Radio. |
In 1919, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fair banks all actors with strong box office appeal were appalled at the profits made by the businessmen who produced their films. The new studios they feared were not only limiting star's fees, but imposing arbitrary caps on production budgets. Chaplin and company were determined not to lose creative control over their movies to the business side of Hollywood. So joined by the director D.W. Griffith they founded United Artists, a partnership that would fund and distribute their films.
The story of United Artist's feud with a Hollywood fearing "the idiots in charge of the asylum" and of the company's later integration into the studio system is well known. Still, the idea of actors determining the content of their films and the sized of their fees remains a central off-screen drama in the film industry and just one of the forces behind a new rush among actors to get behind the camera or behind the desk where movie deals are made.
In last winter's holiday seasons, one of the most lucrative times of the year for studios, three actor-initiated features dominated the screen in the hope of duplicating the success of Dances with Wolves; Prince of Tides, directed by Barbra Streisand; Bugsy produced by Warren Beatty; and For the Boys, produced by Bette Midler. It's no surprise to see Streisand, Beatty and Midler in that position since they have sought complete control over their careers for years. It's hard to ignore the dozens of other actors who are now doing the same.
In that her are the perennials Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood, and Robert Redford followed by Sylvester Stallone, Kevin Costner, and Michael Douglas with an insertion of a multitude of often unlikely new arrivals like Emilio Estevez, Mickey Rourke, Jodie Foster, Meg Ryan, Patrick Swayze, Don Johnson and even Demi Moore.
Hollywood insiders say this trend is entirely logical. The entertainment business is now a global enterprise, where the foreign theatrical and home video markets are larger than the U.S. domestic market. Stars with a proven appeal around the world recognize this, which gives them a tremendous influence over the films they make. Therefore, Arnold Schwarzenegger gives orders instead of taking them.
Status is also a Hollywood currency, and a "development deal," can rival a good table at this week's most popular restaurant. "It's one of these fads," said a producer. "They all buy Harley-David sons;
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