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EVERYONE INTO THE POOL!

In 1988, Tina Louise reunited with the cast of Gilligan’s Island on the late night talk fest, The Late Show. This was almost 10 years after she turned down the offer to reprise her role of Ginger in the reunion TV-movie, Rescue from Gilligan’s Island to the ire and disappoinment of the sitcom’s fans.

Below is a clip from The Late Show where Tina talks about a just completed movie she starred in called The Pool. The movie was never released theatrically nor did it ever see the light of day on VHS or DVD.

The Pool was filmed in Boston and coincidentally my friend who was a college student at the time worked on the set as an intern. After watching this clip some 20 years later, he remarked, “The film looks crummy. If that was the best 30 second scene they could pull out I realize now why it never got a release. I recall reading the script before we started shooting and thinking this is nothing but a feature length Twilight Zone episode. Tina describes it as a metaphysical, suspenseful love story or something … it was really a 30 minute short with a twist. I recognized that when I was 20… why no one else did is beyond me.

Still it was a great experience for everyone on the set because EVERYTHING was so hands on and we all connected very well. The director was nice as were the producers. As for Tina Louise, we were forbidden to talk about Gilligan’s Island or Ginger on the set of the film. She was extremely sensitive about that so the crew was debriefed beforehand. I had to pick her up at the Four Season’s every now and then and bring her to the set. So we sat in the van and chatted about her past (other than Gilligan’s Island, of course) and I recalled that one of the first big works she did was the musical adaptation of “Li’l Abner” on Broadway and Al Capp, the comic strip’s creator, came from the same town where I grew up. It gave us something to discuss in the 20 minute ride over and she warmly loved to talk about work and her dynamic career beyond television.

But on the set she could be difficult at times. During the first days of filming, she would stroll around the outside shoot with a parasol. We understood it was to protect her skin, yet it looked quite eccentric – especially for us Bostonians. I understand she went on to market these parasols under her own health care company. Then on another day, she and I had a quarrel about letting me standing in for her to set up a shot. She looked at me and said “but you are too short” and I just threw my arms up in the air and sighed. Hey, I was only trying to help out. I was afraid I would be admonished for throwing a fit of my own – but by that stage in the production no one seemed to care about ruffling her feathers anymore. If I recall correctly, the director and she were barely speaking, if it all.

My favorite story I remember most vividly though is worth repeating, which I often do in any work context. It has become a classic quote for me, and it reminds us how spoiled every actor can be. We were milling around the craft services table, and Ms. Louise exclaims to whomever isn’t still tired of listening to her, “This is the hardest I’ve ever worked for so little money.” And I was thinking mmm hmmm – go back to doing underarm deodorant commercials then.

But it really wasn’t all bad working with her. She could be very nice. I think she was just doing her starlet thing and reminding everyone on the set who was the biggest prima donna!

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HERE COME THE BRIDES

I am not a huge Barbra Streisand fan in the least so of course my favorite number from Funny Girl (1968) is “His Love Makes Me Beautiful” featuring a plethora of leggy starlets as the Winter, Springtime, Summer, and Autumn Brides. See the below clip:

The scintillating Winter Bride was Inga Neilsen whom I interviewed for my book Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood. Other brides included are Thordis Brandt (Winter), and Bettina Brenna and Alena Johnston(Springtime). Below are Inga’s comments about making Funny Girl .

“I love Barbra Streisand and think she is fantastic. She was always very friendly to me and suggested me to Gene Kelly for a part in Hello Dolly. On Funny Girl I don’t think she had any say in casting or editing but if she didn’t like the way a scene was lit I know the next day they would re-shoot it. She was very fussy about her hair and makeup. I remember one day I came into costume and my hair was done a certain way. She stared at my hair for the longest time across the room. The next thing I knew my hair came down and her hairstyle became what I originally had. Nothing was said of course.”

“I wasn’t friendly with any of the girls except for Thordis Brandt and Mary Jane Mangler. I remember Alena Johnston was a beautiful quiet girl who stayed pretty much to herself. I think she was the youngest of us. Bettina Brenna and I didn’t know each other that well. Of the brides I was the only one who was married. Most of them were jet setters. One gal was dating Tony Franciosa and another one was dating a judge. I really didn’t get to know them as I came to work, did my job, and left.”

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DANCING DIVA II

In my haste to post the previous Pamela Tiffin clip from Harper (1966), I forgot to include Pamela’s comments about making the movie from my interview with her for Fantasty Femmes of Sixties Cinema. See below for an excerpt:

After playing a number of ingenue roles, Pamela finally got a chance to act sexy and sophisticated in Harper (1966) starring Paul Newman. She portrayed Lauren Bacall’s stepdaughter Miranda whose father has disappeared. As a sex-starved heiress, Tiffin almost steals the film with her seductive dance in a bikini atop a diving board. Newman (whom Pamela describes as being “attractive, professional, and a car lover”) played a private detective hired by Elaine, an icy paralyzed equestrienne, played by Bacall, to find her missing husband. As the hated daughter and stepmother, Tiffin and Bacall have a number of great catty moments, which were superbly acted. After hearing that Miranda has been rejected by her husband’s bodyguard (Robert Wagner), Elaine maliciously quips to Miranda, “I should think you’d be accustomed to not being loved by now.” Miranda responds, “I love your wrinkles. I revel in them.” When an unmoved Elaine learns that her husband has been murdered, she calls out to Miranda in a singsong voice, “Miranda! Mommy has something to tell you!”

“I was very impressed with Lauren Bacall but she was very tense and stand-offish,” remarks Pamela. “Since Paul Newman likes to rehearse, we gathered around a long table and ran lines for a week, if not more. Everyone was there except Lauren Bacall because she wanted to be the big movie star. I couldn’t be angry at her or feel slighted because I thought she was fascinating!”

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THE LOVED ONES

Click here to access Mike Golden’s online magazine Smoke Signals to get a sneak peek at Gail Gerber’s memoir Trippin’ with Terry Southern. A portion of the first chapter entitled “The Loved Ones” is up where Gail describes how she met Terry on the set of The Loved One in 1964 and how their romance progressed during the making of the movie.