I am deeply sad that The Secret Garden, from 1949, is not out on DVD. It’s not like this was an obscure movie. I saw it as a child – at my cousins’ house – probably around Thanksgiving (it gets play around holidays, mainly). I had loved the book, of course, and loved the movie too. It didn’t muck with my fantasy of the book – and I also loved that it was in black and white (mostly) – because in my head I saw the book in black and white, too. I also was a tiny burgeoning actress, and I was about Margaret O’Brien’s age, and felt that I could SURELY have played that part just as good as she! I loved her!! I loved her high boots and her hat with the ribbon. Dean Stockwell, age 11, plays Colin. I certainly wasn’t aware of him as an actor, he was just “Colin”. I also don’t think – once I became aware of him in the 80s with films such as Paris Texas and Blue Velvet and Married to the Mob – that I put it together that he was the same person as that little curly-headed boy in the wheelchair. I do remember, however, the impression he made on me as a kid. I just wanted to crawl into the television and be IN that story. Especially the scene where they become friends, and scream at each other like banshees – as the entire staff of the house look on. They trash the room – she knocks crap over, he pulls the curtains of his bed down – they are FURIOUS at each other. In a RAGE. I haven’t seen the movie in years, but I sure remember that scene, and how much I wanted to be in it, to … it wasn’t about “acting” it, it was about living it.
The damn movie isn’t rent-able as of now – but I found a montage of clips on Youtube – that includes the screaming/rampaging scene.
It’s been 25 years or so since I’ve seen the movie – and the scene is just as good as I remember.
Watch him go nuts. Watch him turn over the bedside table. This isn’t child actor shit. It’s not precocious acting crap that you see so often with little kids, who are more like trained dogs than actual talents – he’s actually having a tantrum here. He HATES her. As a kid he was known as “One Take Stockwell” – he HATED any of it to feel like work – he loved the first take, he could do it on the first take, anything that dragged out further was the hugest bore, it sucked the life out of him. And the studios worked him to the bone – he resented it, felt completely controlled by it – and dropped out of regular civilization when he was 16, graduated from high school – changed his name, worked odd jobs in New Orleans and other cities – just to get away from being famous, and HAVING to do anything. He came back, obviously, in his twenties – but he came back because he loved it, not because he had to do it. As a kid – he obviously had a gift at this weird thing called acting – and as long as he could use it in one take, he felt okay about it. But to do it again? To have to admit that he was just pretending? No. That wasn’t cool with One Take Stockwell.
Anyway – the clip is below. Enjoy!
It makes me DROOL to see the whole thing again though. Come on, folks, lets release a nice version of this on DVD with some extras, and interviews (both OBrien and Stockwell are alive) … Let’s get on this, huh?
Look at his luminous face listening to her bedtime story.
And the simple quiet way he says, “I shall live forever …. I shall live forever.”
And listen to those two little kids scream at each other.
Heaven! Isn’t there a petition I can sign to get this damn thing released??
Sheila,
I cannot get over how random and unpredictable your obsessions are. It’s so much fun. From Rocky to hockey to Founding Fathers to Dean Stockwell to Dean Martin…it’s so fascinating. I half expect to wake up tomorrow and find you’ve decided you’re going to learn everything there is to know about orange grove production in Florida versus California or what makes rubber bounce or something like that. I’m so glad you are a compulsive writer that shares these crazy interests with the rest of us.
And I’m proud to call you “friend.” You are one of the true curious minds of our ages.
Ahhh, What Makes Rubber Bounce – a film Dean Stockwell made in 1953, it’s very little known, he’s brilliant in it.
And thank you, Emily. I’m proud to call you friend too.
What’s really annoying is that it was released on laser disc back in 1993, which means they could just reuse the elements from that and easily slap together a bare bones DVD. I just don’t understand the home video business sometimes.
Could it have anything to do with the “new” Secret Garden and not wanting to impact sales of that? Like limiting competition? That can’t be it, right? I don’t understand the business either -Judging from the IMDB message boards for this movie, lots of folks want to see a new edition come out. anyway, I wrote a letter. Whatever.
If there’s demand, it will happen. They released “Police Squad” (in color!) on DVD, for hominy’s sake, they’ll have to get to this before long. As much as I enjoyed that disc, well, the world is larger than deadpan punch lines and outrageous sight gags.
(Yes, I confess that I’m gigglig at my desk. “Cigarette?” “Yes, it is.” But that’s no reason not to hope for more Stockwell!)
Yeah, you have to believe it’s in the works, with all the other stuff being released now. It just seems, too, it would be an awesome opportunity because unlike so many other classics – the two stars of this film are STILL WITH US. Like: get ON that, peeps, interview them, please!
This is a classic movie. Seems like a no-brainer to me. It would be like wondering if there was demand for Shirley Temple’s movies. Of course there is.
I was GREATLY excited recently (like a couple months ago recently) when Ball of Fire – a Howard Hawks movie starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck was finally released on DVD – It’s not generally known, not as well as Bringing Up Baby but it certainly has a devoted following – and besides that, it’s a piece of American history – Billy Wilder wrote it, it’s full of great character actors, screen legends, it’s wonderful.
When I signed up for Netflix, i immediately looked for it and it was NOT available on DVD but it had that “Save” button next to it – which seems to indicate that something is in the works. You can put it on your queue, and should the movie become available in DVD, it will notify you. So I clicked Save – and whaddya know, 5 months later – there it was on my queue … it had just been released, in May I think. I was so excited!
Now Secret Garden isn’t in Netflix at all – no “save” button, nothing. So I hope someone gets on the stick. It’s stupid that a piece of cinematic history like this isn’t out on DVD.
Come on powers that be, hear my cry!!
And I know, Mark, we’ve already covered the Square Pegs DVD debacle here on this blog. Devastating! Like: honest to God, can’t SOMEbody fix that situation???
There are a couple other blatant blanks in DVD availability – and you have to wonder if there is a square pegs-like reason (music rights, copyright issues, exorbitant fees, etc.)
Like 30something. Landmark show, huge hit, still loved to this day by many … No DVD. No re-runs even. The last time it was re-run (that I am aware of) was in 1994.
I know I’m nuts to remember the dates, but whatever, I was a huge fan of that show.
Actually, Nick at Nite or TV Land did a Square Pegs marathon a couple years ago, but that was just a handful of episodes. As for airing anywhere on a regular basis, you’re probably right; it’s been ages since I’ve seen it.
I did a little poking around and there are illegal bootleg DVDs out there, if you really get desperate.
Man, I’d really hate to be the guy who flubs his line, or sneezes, while filming a scene with Dean Stockwell. Not necessarily out of fear, but guilt.
Lots of actors are “one take-rs”. There’s no correct way to work, as long as you have talent. Steve McQueen was a one-take guy – directors knew they couldn’t push him past a certain point, he got stale very very quickly, Julia Roberts has said she only feels she has “one good take in her”, and others. Everyone’s process is different. There’s no right way. Meryl Streep never repeats herself from take to take. Directors love her for that, because she gives them so much to choose from in the editing room. Same with Jack Nicholson – who REFUSES to repeat himself, even if it/s just out of desperation. Some only get into the moment 20 takes in – it takes them that long to relax into it, and let go. Others are only fresh the first time. McQueen didn’t even want to go on the SET before filming. If he fumbled at the door, if he didn’t know where the window was – whatever, he didn’t care – he’d rather deal with the situation and the set improvisationally, as the camera is rolling. You can see it sometimes in the way he sits, or deals with physical things like doors … I don’t know, there’s something palpably intense about it. Because it’s the first time he’s sat in the damn chair!
The trick for a director is to work with all different kinds of actors and make sure everyone gets to do their thing and feels comfortable and is able to perform. The trick is how to film a scene between, say, Steve McQueen and Meryl Streep. Or people who have opposite approaches – someone who peaks at take 20 paired with someone who fades out after take 5. Directors tell really good stories about how they handle such situations … it can be very interesting!
For example – Sydney Lumet always rehearses every movie like a play (which is very very rare. Many movies get no rehearsal – Mike Nichols is another director who rehearses all of his movies like a play). But he rehearses for 4 weeks or something. And through that rehearsal time, he gets to know his cast – how they work – what each one will respond to (does this one need praise and love? does this one need me to push them? does this one need me to talk in metaphors? whatever …)
Many movie actors are afraid that the spontanaiety will be lost with rehearsal (and sometimes that is the case. That’s why movie directors, as opposed to theatre directors, love accidents. People spilling things, tripping, flubbing lines … sometimes it is those accidents that make scenes happen in the movies. Like the funeral scene in Red River, where a huge cloud passed by overhead during the scene – sweeping the whole cast into shadow. Unplanned. But PERFECT. Like Dustin Hoffman shouting “I’M WALKIN’ HERE. I’M WALKIN’ HERE” at the taxi in Midnight Cowboy. Completely unrehearsed and unplanned. Could never have happened on stage – but in a movie? Brilliant.)
Anyway, my point with Lumet was- he rehearsed Long Day’s Journey into Night for 4 weeks, and Stockwell was in it, obviously. He hates rehearsal, and was intimidated by the other folks – and Jason Robards, who had played his part on Broadway. Stockwell wasn’t a green actor, he was a veteran by that point – I think he was 29 years old, and had been working steadily since he was 7 – but still, he was a bit daunted by the project, and by … HEPBURN and ROBARDS and RICHARDSON, etc. But Lumet has a way of working that is very fluid and flexible, he loved Stockwell, he loved everybody – he wanted them to be a team. Hepburn, too, resisted rehearsal at first. Because rehearsal is a time to fail, make mistakes … it’s hard for stars to do that. And also: when you are good? When you “nail” a moment? A movie actor wants to make sure that that moment is captured by the camera. Otherwise it feels lost. What is the use of being brilliant in a rehearsal where no one sees it?
These are all totally normal feelings and responses.
But once the first week passed, and everyone settled down … all KINDS of crazy shit started happening in rehearsal, brilliant moments, revelations, script analysis, the cast gelling together, and they started to actually crack the play open … which they never could have done under the gun, while filming. They needed that rehearsal time.
By the end, Stockwell said he’d be in the middle of a scene with Hepburn or Richardson, and they’re both acting – and he almost felt like: “Who the hell am I that I am so lucky to be acting right now with these people? HOly shit … I can’t believe i’m in this movie!!”
But in the finished product – you never feel that Stockwell is in awe of his legendary co-stars. He fits right in, he’s as good. But perhaps some of that “awe” would have still been there if they had started filming without any rehearsal – and the movie would have suffered.
Mark –
Oh by the way, Entertainment Guru/Dictator: Freaks and Geeks is still on my radar. It’s just that they got derailed by Stockwell. As everything else in my life has gotten derailed by Stockwell. I’m sure you understand. I’ll get back to Freaks and Geeks eventually!!!
Thanks Red – I really love explanations like that. If I were to ask, “How did they do that?”, you could answer, “Magic,” and I’d probably accept it. The whole craft lies so far outside my experiences, everything about it takes on almost mythical proportions to me.
George – hahahaha Yes, the Doug Henning school of acting. It’s magic!!
There is an element of magic to all of it, I guess. Who knows why something just WORKS … I was in a movie and there was one scene where me and another actress had to fight over a little book that was precious to both of us. The fight had to be brutal – life or death. She was trying to light it on fire, I was trying to save it. The director of photography said, “Okay – let’s run it once without the camera – just to see what you all do so we can plan the camera moves…” So she and I became freakin’ wrestling Bengal tigers – rolling on the floor, wrestling with the book – it was completely real. I was crying – she was laughing maniacally holding the book away – whatever, it WAS the scene. It was just a rehearsal but we didn’t hold back.
When the scene finished – there was a brief silence – the crew standing around, etc., and I heard the first AD murmur, when we were done, “Damn, we shoulda filmed that.”
You could feel it in the room … that weird sense of having nailed something – gotten it totally right … but … who the hell cares? The camera didn’t get it. We’d have to do it again.
We ended up doing it with a handheld camera following us – which added to the frenzied sense – but I have to say: the rehearsal was better. It was fresher, it wasn’t acting – it was unpredictable to US, as we were doing it – and that’s the best kind of acting. I’m sure you can think of examples of movies you’ve seen where you forget you’re watching actors. Those are the best moments!
Nothing worse than being aware of an actor acting.
Ew.
It’s like being forced to go to a renaissance fair. Like: ew.
Ooh. Catfight. I’m sorry, what were we talking about again?
How did you feel after that first run – deflated that it wasn’t filmed, or psyched up because you nailed it? How do you ‘re-set’ yourself to get back to where you were at the start of the scene? How many takes did you wind up doing? The whole thing sounds positively exhausting.
It was a low (LOW) budget so that adds to the pressure because you have to get it right in 1 or 2 takes – there isn’t the money to film hours of stuff you won’t ever see. I don’t think I felt deflated – but I do remember the first AD (who was extremely experienced in his job, had worked with everybody) and his murmured comment and I do remember feeling, shall we say, a little bit of PRESSURE to repeat myself. To “do it again”. To do it as well as that AD thought it was in the rehearsal. For me, the problem is not “getting it up” to do it the first time – I’m instinctive, I love acting, I’m not cerebral about it – I like to play make-believe – the problem comes when you have to repeat. And not just doing the same movements – that’s easy – but to repeat something emotional, to get to that peak of emotion again. This is where stage actors can shine – because the challenge there is to do the same show 8 times a week. You HAVE to cry on the same line, you HAVE to do it over and over again – but the audience has to feel like it’s for the first time.
But that’s the fun of it. I love the challenge. It’s like being a kid, playing games, only you’re getting paid.
We took a breather, shook off the rehearsal, had a soda, a cigarette, whatever – and then powered up to do it again. There was a taut sense of expectation in the room – especially with the camera guy, squatting, and ready – like a guy preparing to run a race – Handheld camera stuff is really fun but you have GOT to nail it, you have to “capture” it … It was fun!!
And we only did the fight once for the camera. That was all we needed. I think we did a couple of pick-up shots, closeups of her face and mine – but the main action we only did once for the camera. You know, low budget and all that.
I still wish we had captured that rehearsal though.
Freaks and Geeks is still on my radar. It’s just that they got derailed by Stockwell.
I completely understand. Now if only Dean Stockwell had done an episode of Freaks and Geeks…we’d reach critical mass or something.
Tempe: “wallowing in self-pity”. That’s your interpretation. I think those child actors had a lot to “moan” about. They were treated like work horses. I have a lot of sympathy for child actors. Especially of that era.
yay for Margaret O’Brien for having a “good attitude”, but that doesn’t mean that the other ones didn’t have legitimate complaints.
Mark – I know!! Don’t kill me, but I actually cross-referenced that, just to be sure.
By the way, Mark – do you know anything about Movable Type? I figured I’d ask, since you are a geek as well as a freak. (It takes one to know one!)
I need some SERIOUS help with Ye Olde blog!!
Sheila,
I have been looking for years for a copy of ‘The Secret Garden’ starring Hayley Mills.
If you ever find a copy, please let me know.
Thank you.
Val