Originally posted by groon: Did anyone mention Fritz Lang?
Some people were mentioned in Sam's book as expressing an interest in Ray's work but unless he or another source said Ray actually met them, I didn't count them.
04 March 2012, 05:17 AM
Richard
Ray did know Fritz Lang. While a brilliant director, Lang was a notoriously cantankerous character (neither Spencer Tracy, who worked with Lang in FURY, nor Henry Fonda, worked with Lang in YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE and THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES, could stand him), and the following is an example of that ornery personalty: I recall that Ray said that Lang and he went to see the Truffaut version of FAHRENHEIT 451 together, and afterward, on the drive home, all Lang could talk about was how much he hated the "stupid book people" (as I believe Lang put it) at the end of the film! Good grief.
09 March 2012, 11:33 PM
groon
The first time I met Ray at a book signing I asked him about Fritz and his description of their encounters is exactly as he told it in A Graveyard for Lunatics.
The interview book Listen to the Echoes is a virtual Who's Who of famous people Ray has known and met.
24 April 2014, 05:53 AM
philnic
Following my latest visit to the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies, I can add some names to the list of people Ray Bradbury met. I have seen photographs of these meetings:
I saw that; it's in Rolling Stone. I doubt that Ray had much to say about quantum physics, though!
06 April 2016, 09:10 PM
dandelion
Yesterday for Gregory Peck's 100th birthday TCM ran a lovely tribute film including footage of Peck dancing between George Burns and Jack Benny, both of whom Ray unquestionably met. I'm a little vague as to whether he met or knew Peck, though. Of course Ray wrote the screenplay to Moby-Dick but left before the actual filming and they would have known many of the same people but did they actually know each other?
And, Judy Garland, yes, but how about Mickey Rooney? Less than a month age difference and lots of people knew both!This message has been edited. Last edited by: dandelion,
10 April 2016, 08:03 AM
philnic
Good point about Peck. Bradbury finished his stint on Moby Dick quite some time before filming began, and I don't think he went anywhere near the filming.
But Ray did definitely know Peck. In Sam Weller's Paris Review interview (reproduced in Listen to the Echoes), Ray said of Peck "He's one of the nicest people I know. And a sweet, gentle man."
I know of one specific time when they were together, and that was in a taxi following Bradbury's lunch with the Gorbachevs!
Ray and Peck also both attended the Hollywood Premiere of Moby Dick in 1956 (at the Pantages Theatre if I recall correctly). I have no idea if they spoke to each other that night (probably not), but they were both in the same place at the same time.This message has been edited. Last edited by: philnic,
Originally posted by dandelion: Yesterday for Gregory Peck's 100th birthday TCM ran a lovely tribute film including footage of Peck dancing between George Burns and Jack Benny, both of whom Ray unquestionably met. I'm a little vague as to whether he met or knew Peck, though. Of course Ray wrote the screenplay to Moby-Dick but left before the actual filming and they would have known many of the same people but did they actually know each other?
And, Judy Garland, yes, but how about Mickey Rooney? Less than a month age difference and lots of people knew both!
If Bradbury wrote the screenplay, then undoubtably Gregory Peck met with him once in a while, or talked to him on the phone during filming. Actors, especially the lead actor in a picture, will do that sometimes.
Moby Dick is one of my three favorite films with Peck. The other two are To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Guns of Navarone.
I don't think Peck ever had a loser, except 'The Boys From Brazil'.
"Bobby... Bobby?"
12 April 2016, 01:41 AM
philnic
quote:
Originally posted by Robert M Blevins: ...If Bradbury wrote the screenplay, then undoubtably Gregory Peck met with him once in a while, or talked to him on the phone during filming. Actors, especially the lead actor in a picture, will do that sometimes...
I wouldn't be so sure. Ray went to Ireland to write the first version of the screenplay, but Huston (and others) continued re-working it after Ray had gone back to LA. It's clear that Huston saw himself as the authority on the script, which is partly why he claimed co-credit on the screenplay. But he did also write parts of it himself. (The film diverges from Ray's version of the script the further and further into the narrative you get.) So I don't see that Peck would have seen RB as someone he would need to consult.
Plus, the film was outside of the Hollywood system, and was filmed quite remotely. Filming took place entirely in Ireland, London and the Canary Islands.
I recall Ray saying that late in their lives, Ray bumped in Peck and they discussed his portrayal of Ahab in MOBY DICK. Peck told Ray that he was probably too young for the part at the time and, as a result, failed to instill in the role the requisite malice it required. Peck then told Ray that if he played the part now: "Malice!"
With respect to whether Ray met with Peck before or during the filming of MOBY DICK, a recent listing on eBay was a letter dated December 10, 1953 from Ray to a friend in the U.S, written from Ireland while Ray was writing the screenplay, states "Gregory Peck is coming over next Sunday for a visit; he'll be Ahab, you know." The letter sold and therefore the following link will probably not work for very long after this posting, but for as long as it lasts, here is a link to that letter:
