Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Today's Blind Items - The Movie That Should Never Have Been Made

At some point, you just have to cut your losses and run. That is exactly what this production company/director should have done with this movie, but they didn't. If not for the owner of the production company dumping in a bunch of his own money to get it completed, the company would have gone out of business. As horrible as this movie was and as awful of a working experience for everyone involved, it actually was an Oscar nominee/winner, but maybe not for the category you are thinking.

Much of the movie was filmed outside the country. The star of the movie was someone we shall call TW. At this point in life, TW is permanently A list. At the time, she was A+ list and had an A+ list temper and was an A+ list diva. It took a special person to be able to work with her. The thing is though, she had MJ on her side. MJ was an extremely controlling person and he loved controlling TW. The thing is controlling her came at a price. He paid her well over $1M a year just to say he controlled her. At the same time though, he was scared she would leave him. Usually money would buy control, but with her, it was not just money he had to throw at her but a lot of his time and effort. They would have sex even though she was married at the time. They always had a sexual relationship. Their relationship was also extreme to the point where they had intense fights. Screaming, shouting, violence. It could all erupt in seconds and people knew to stay the hell out of the way.

The director of the movie was foreign born. A list director. Oscar winner/nominee. Produced celebrity offspring. We shall call him JR. Now JR was married to a woman at the time, but while he was out of the country or in the country or anywhere when not actually with his wife he liked men. He liked young men. He liked them as close to barely legal as possible and he was perfectly willing to let whatever man wanted to sleep with him have a part in whatever movie he was directing. He didn't care if the man could act, he just wanted to have the easy access to sex and JR figured any scene shot could end up on the cutting room floor if it was too awful.

The lead actor in the movie we shall call PS. One thing JR and PS had in common was there love of these barely legal men. PS was also married and also took every opportunity to be with men. JR and PS were in a country they loved, far away from home and were sleeping with as many men as possible.

Well, JR fell in love with a local man. Head over heels. He offered the man a part in the movie. A very key scene in the movie. He did this for two reasons. One was he wanted to be with the man as much as possible and being on set would make that happen. The second reason was the scene itself. Our director was really hating TW by this time and in this important scene, TW would be assaulted. JR thought this local man would terrorize TW during the scene and I think TW knew that too so complained to MJ. MJ and JR have a huge fight. Loud and public. The whole crew is watching. JR ends up getting fired.

Who takes over? MJ. This is something he really wanted from the beginning. Now he can control TW 24/7. The thing is though, MJ is having huge problems with the production. Now that he is there, TW asks and asks and asks. The production budget is exploding and 95% of it is because of TW. They get into huge screaming fights about how much she is spending and he is openly yelling at her for not sleeping with him. One night, MJ apparently got drunk and hired an escort and beat her while calling her TW. Lots of anger inside that man.

Meanwhile, PS is barely coming to shoot because he is having so much sex and using so many drugs. He is an incoherent drug addled mess at this point. The movie is a disaster. No one watched it. It was so bad it took two decades to get it on VHS.

A little side note. JR and PS had such a good time together picking up guys that they continued to do so throughout the years. It is also believed they both contracted HIV from the same lover.


53 comments:

sandybrook said...

Jane Fonda\Roger Vadim\John Phillip Law\Barbarella?

Moose said...

Brad Davis for the actor?

Audrey said...

For some reason I'm thinking Barbra Streisand for TW...

sandybrook said...

Maybe not Vadim because he was also married to her while directing it, but he definitely had her inder his control.

Krab said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
D Brown said...

For JR I was thinking of Tony Richardson (1928-1991), who was married to Vanessa Redgrave and was the father of Natasha and Joely Redgrave. He died of AIDS.

just sayin' said...

myra breckenridge?

Tuesdi said...

So the original Director (JR) and the lead actor (PS) contracted HIV. We should be able to figure this out.

just sayin' said...

nvm on myra breckenridge.

Tuesdi said...

What about Caligula?

Krab said...

Mahogany, with Diana Ross, Berry Gordy, and Tony Richardson?

jes7o said...

Mahogany. Tony Richardson was replaced as director. The Diva was Diana Ross.

Colonel Blake said...

I"m going to assume their deaths may not logged as HIV/AIDS deaths, but more like pneumonia/cancer.

Blah said...

Yes it's mahogany. Berry Gordy stepped in for tony Richardson. Anthony Perkins was the male lead

Snit said...

Berry Gordy is American, but otherwise good guess.

jes7o said...

Definitely Mahogany. Tony Richardson and Anthony Perkins both died of HIV/AIDS. Berry Gordy totally had Diana Ross under his thumb via Motown Records.

Moose said...

MAhogany was also delayed in its release to VHS - did not come out until 1998.

Tuesdi said...

@Krab has it I think. Fits perfectly. The original director who was dismissed was Terry Richardson (foreign born). Song nominated for an Oscar. Never in a million years would I have guessed this one. Great job!

D Brown said...

Mahogany also starred Anthony Perkins, who died of AIDS.

Anonymous said...

You guys beat me to it. Tony Richardson but I would not have guessed mahogany. Wow what a terrible movie. Anthony Hopkins makes a first rate loony.

The G Man said...

TW = Diana Ross ("The Wiz")

Alice H. said...

damn, you all beat me to it. I was thinking Tony Richardson too, but was unclear on the film and actress. I bet it's him and the adorable Anthony Perkins, one of my first childhood crushes ( ok, so he was a tad creepy in psycho...).

Carolyn said...

Oh yes, haha -- Berry Gordy = MJ, Michael Jackson. Nice one, Enty.

Tuesdi said...

Anothony Perkins PS - Psycho Star?

D Brown said...

Both Richardson and Perkins had links to dancer Rudolf Nureyev who died of AIDS. Various gossip sites list Perkins as a lover and Richardson was to direct Nureyev in a film biography of Nijinsky (that ultimately wasn't made). Don't know if that is the reference of them both getting AIDS from the same lover.

The G Man said...

"PS" ... Anthony Perkins played a character named Peter Shayne in the 1984 film "Crimes of Passion"

cocopuff said...

Mahogany with Anthony Perkins and Tony Richards who contracted hiv.

cocopuff said...

Mahogany with Anthony Perkins and Tony Richards who contracted hiv.

just sayin' said...

great job guys! mahogany is gut-wrenchingly bad. but i love it. i can't think of tony perkins without thinking of his sons. they lost their dad to aids, then their mom berry berenson in the 9/11 attacks 10 years later.

educatedguess said...

Filmed in Italy. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073335/locations

Unknown said...

Wikpedia lists Billy Dee Williams before Anthony Perkins. Now that would be a surprise. (Just kidding, doesn't look like the blind mentions him at all.)

shakey said...

Man, you people are fast! Looks like you all know where you're going to ...

(Still one of my favourite sad songs.)

SDaly said...

Perkins has one of the all time great descriptions of Hollywood in one of his lines in Mahogany "You're only young once, but you can be immature forever."

Boldblonde said...

Wow I love Mahogany. But those men ....keeping my mouth shut.

Anonymous said...

You guys are amazing, well done. Loving your knowledge and detective work!

just sayin' said...

as gorgeous and iconic as diana ross was, at 31, 5'5", and i think pregnant with her 3rd child?, playing the hottest new face in fashion was an embarrassment.

MollyGolly said...

Tony Richardson was just named-checked on season 2 of The Crown as a possible lover of Anthony Armstrong Jones, or at the very least the show implied they ran in the same circles.

;) said...

The majority of Mahogany was filmed in Chicago.

overit122 said...


The original director JR is foreign born.

Shawny said...

Mahogany wasn’t that bad. Diana was good. Anthony P was good. It did have a crazy ending. I think Enty is exaggerating on that. When I think of horrible movies, I think of Ishtar or The Room. Not Mahogany.

auntliddy said...

I hate aids. Robbing us of people left and right.

Doug said...

Great work, everyone. Now, can we figure out who The Monster Icon is?

fionafab said...

auntliddy: Not aware of any recent AIDS celebrity deaths. Could you enlighten me on the names? Many thanks.

TMN said...

More on the filming of Mahogany

Scandi Sanskrit said...

This is a prime example of how power relates to sexual assault/harassment.

There are a ton of good directors (with real vision) and real hard-working producers (who actually make things happen in addition to getting expected work done). But I wouldn't be surprised at all if there are some bad apples out there who only became "directors/producers" because they like the power they can misuse and be close to their stalking-targets.

Jeff Osborne said...

If you want to punish yourselves, the entire movie is on youtube. Featuring Billy Dee Williams at 7:20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bet3nTaTkT8

Cadmium77 said...

Tony Richardson was an odd director. He made some some really mediocre work but he also made some of the greatest works in the history of the Cinema; in particular Tom Jones (1963) a film that defined an era, really. And The Entertainer which is so great it's off the scales. Just look at the cast in that movie. Amazing. And let's not forget Charge Of The Light Brigade.

It's always hard to figure out why some movies become great cultural events and others wind up steeped in ignominy. The behind the scene studio and set politics is often fascinating but when greatness appears it only serves as a distraction from the immense joy of witnessing genius among us.

Tony Richardson was one of the top ten directors of all time when he was at his best and had everything lined up his way. Right up there with Orson Welles and Fredrico Fellini, Stanley Kubrick and Akira Kurosawa.

Himmmm said...

Great job D.Brown & Krab! Never would've guessed Mahogany (forgotten all about that one). I think Enty's description about Gordy is accurate (and maybe a little gentle compared to his bad rep in the industry). He was truly a business genius, but as a person? Geeesh.

Thanks TMN for that AFI link too. There's lots of films like that where the backstory of making it far exceeds the drama on the screen. The Island of Dr. Moreau is one in particular. That film was a monster to make, nearly ended up as the death of the director and a few actors, and you could create 50 blind items out of that one production. So sad about Tony Perkins, indeed. Troubled mess with some very nasty appetites. That film he did with Kathleen Turner - (he played a twisted street preacher and she a society wife turned hooker)- is an oft-overlooked gem. He was a real talent on-screen.

Himmmm said...

Cadmium: I second your feelings about Richardson. Massively talented director, but some awful choices in that mix of films he picked to direct. Guess he had competing motivations for choosing his projects (so it seems now).

Paul said...

Mahogany's a great guess...but the only problem is, Tony Richardson was let go during the initial Chicago shoot. He didn't go to Italy, according to press releases and the AFI catalogue.

Unknown said...

Wow, Mahogany one of my favorite movies! I love Diana and Billy in both movies. Mahogany and lady sings the blues.

Mrs.MuHa said...

Diana Ross was in The Wiz (TW) which also starred Michael Jackson (MJ) also associated with Berry G.

CeeSaw said...

if old Hollywood it could almost be Queen Kelly. that's a good deep story with lots to of legs.

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