Official trailer for “The Grey”

HOLLYWOOD

The thriller “The Grey”depicts what happens after a planeload of Alyeska oil pipeline workers crash into the Alaska wilderness somewhere. Without wishing to give away too much of the “plot” here, let’s say it’s another public relations debacle for the grey wolf.

Power lunch with Liam Neeson (Open Road Films)

The top questions of movie-goers seem to be:

1. Where was the movie filmed?

2. Are there really wolves there?

Not a frame of the movie, it turns out, was filmed in Alaska. (This, even though critics in the state point out Alaska offers very generous credits to filmmakers.) This has some Alaskans grumbling about “The Grey” perpetuating Hollywood’s long tradition of erroneously depicting life in the state. (Wolves are also howling!) In fact, one reviewer nominated “The Grey” for inclusion on his list of the five worst cinematic depictions of Alaska. Competition in this category is fierce; the current leaders are “The Edge” (1997), “The Simpsons Movie” (2007), North to Alaska (1960), “The Proposal” (2009), “On Deadly Ground” (1994) – none of which were filmed in Alaska!

To add insult to Alaska’s perceived injury? “The Grey” was filmed entirely in British Columbia, Canada.

Principal photography was done in the city of Vancouver and the ski resort of Whistler, about 80 miles north of Vancouver. The wilderness scenes were mostly shot in Smithers – an outpost in northern British Columbia, on the road between Prince George and Prince Rupert. (Filming there was conducted in January 2011 – during a month of sub-zero temps!)

What about the wolf population there? Not much of a factor, I’m afraid.

Beautiful Bulkley Valley (Jane Hoek via Panoramio)

I visited Smithers – a tiny gem in the Bulkley Valley – back in 2004, on a drive from Anchorage to Seattle; I stopped to re-fuel there. A group of Harley-Davidson riders from North Carolina stopped about the same time, and we got chatting with the unusually pretty gas station attendant about wildlife in the area. The bikers had just returned from a fruitless journey to Hyder, Alaska, in search of bears feeding off the salmon run.

There were no salmon, nor bears, there.

“You want bears?” the attendant asked. “Go over to the city dump here. There are all the bears you ever want to see there.”

The bikers took note of her directions to the city dump, and rode off.

“The bears are a real problem here,” she said of Smithers, which has a population of about 5,000. “We’re surrounded by a provincial park here, so they are protected from hunters, and their numbers proliferate. There’s a lot of competition for food among them, I guess. They don’t have a lot of fear about coming down into town here and foraging for food.”

Smithers' dancing cubs (HQ Bulkley Valley)

The locals don’t hesitate to blast away at them, when the bears become a nuisance. (The community does care about wildlife, though; Smithers is home to the Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter that rescues injured or orphaned wildlife.)

But what about wolves?

They exist in the wilderness around Smithers, but they don’t constitute a problem. In fact, to find wolves for the film, the film crew had to contact a trapper who sold them four wolf carcasses, for use as props – and dinner. (Yes, the actors really did eat wolf meat!)

Generally, Hollywood does a great disservice to the wolf. It is not the savage man-eating predator we see in most wolf-slasher horror films. They are a natural part of the food chain in the wilderness that helps maintains a healthy balance between herds of deer and other wildlife. They tend to run away from humans, rather than attack them. The only balanced and correct cinematic depiction of the nature of wolves was the 1983 movie “Never Cry Wolf“. Highly recommended.

That film, by the way, was actually shot in Alaska!

Jerry Garrett

January 27, 2012

The Arizona section of Interstate 15 through scenic Virgin River Gorge.

 

LAS VEGAS

When I was a cub reporter in Salt Lake City, back in 1971, I interviewed the head of the Utah highway department about a new stretch of Interstate 15 being built through the Virgin River Gorge.

“That’s in Arizona,” I said. “Why is Utah building it?”

“Because Arizona refuses to,” he answered.

Huh?

“Arizona says that corner of their state doesn’t connect to any other part of their state, so they don’t want to pay for it,” he said.

So Utah is paying for it?

“Actually Utah and Nevada decided to split it,” he said. “Arizona promised not to fight us about the route, as long as they didn’t have to pay for it.”

Utah and Nevada wanted the new route through the Arizona canyon badly. It shortened the route between Salt Lake and Las Vegas by about 30 miles – and it eliminated almost 60 miles of treacherous, two-lane U.S. 89-91 across “Utah Hill”. That stretch was notorious for horrible weather.

The scenic Virgin River Gorge (Wikipedia)

When the highway opened in 1972, it was hailed as one of the most scenic stretches of interstate in the country (and it still is – like a drive through the Grand Canyon). And it was one of the mostly costly, at that time. “Over a million dollars per mile is what it cost to build. It’s an engineering wonder,” the Utah official said. “It has sections of roadway literally hanging from the canyon walls.”

I was among the first to drive it. What a terrific piece of roadway it was.

But the questions about who would maintain the 26-mile section through Arizona, once it finally opened, were not adequately addressed.

It seemed Arizona would take some responsibility for it. After all, the Arizona highway patrol was out there immediately, enforcing the 55 m.p.h. speed limit – with gusto. (The Arizona troopers were stationed in nearby St. George, Utah – not Littlefield, a small Arizona town along the route.) When ticket revenue dropped off, with the repeal of the national 55 m.p.h. limit, Arizona re-imposed the “double-nickel” limit through much of the canyon (about

Over the years, Arizona sent more and more troopers to the area, to make sure tickets could be handed out around the clock. But maintenance crews were a little harder to find. Arizona, despite receiving federal funds for interstate projects, plus state gasoline tax revenue, always claimed to not have funds for maintenance. There’s quite a scandal in Arizona these days about diversion of highway money to cover general fund deficits.

As a newspaper editor in the area, I watched the road deteriorate, as Arizona took money out – in the form of traffic citations – but didn’t really put money back in.

This neglect has been going on for decades now. The once-marvelous road is now as scary to drive as Utah Hill used to be. Ruts are cut through each travel lane. Vehicles trying to traverse these ruts roads are thrown around dangerously – especially if their tires are worn. Control is difficult to maintain. Many traffic accidents, including those causing injury and even death, have been blamed on the poor condition of the road.

Arizona’s solutions, until now, include even more zealous enforcement of the reduced speed limit, and placing of a few bright orange warning signs about the roughness of the road.

Rotting I-15 bridges & supports (Deseret News)

But now there’s a new wrinkle: The condition of the road can no longer be ignored. Highway engineers say decades of neglect have allowed rust and corrosion to eat away at the bridges, supports, barriers and guardrails. Major repairs are urgently needed.

So, to pay for them, Arizona has now proposed turning its section of I-15 into a toll road!

Guess who has to pay? (Hint: Not people in Arizona; they still don’t use the road.) The people who would pay for the greatest share of the tolls are those who paid for it, in the first place: the citizens of Nevada and Utah.

Understandably, this has caused somewhat of an uproar. (Another one here.) As it is being reported now, Arizona is saying Utah “loaned” or “fronted” it the money for I-15 construction back in 1971. But that’s not how I remember it – I saw Utah construction crews building the road, not Arizona workers – and it’s not how the Utah highway official described the arrangement to me back then.

How should this problem be solved? The answer is for Arizona finally to take some responsibility. The road definitely needs major repairs. Arizona just treats the once-lovely Virgin River Gorge freeway as a radar trap, and a cash register.

Take money out, Arizona, and you have an ethical obligation to put money back in for maintenance and repair. (Check out Arizona’s tradition of chicanery in using traffic citations and photo enforcement for revenue generation, as I reported for The New York Times here.)

To charge a toll is to let Arizona off the hook, and avoid any responsibility for its decades of malfeasance. A toll is not the answer.

(If you know who to call, or write, to fight this, please post a comment below. I don’t, unfortunately.)

Jerry Garrett

January 18, 2012

Space Potato: Earth has a close February encounter with the tumbling tuber, Eros. (NASA)

After the unexpected spectacular-ness of January’s Quadrantids meteor show, celestial happenings for February will seem somewhat anti-climactic. But that is not to say sky-watchers have no reason to look outside.

An especially bright full moon lights the skies on February 7, and a new moon occurs two weeks later.

It is during that time around the new moon that intrepid meteor watchers may be rewarded with a few random streakers. Best times to watch are an hour or two before dawn. In the right conditions, at least a half dozen falling stars can be expected per hour.

And, as always, the darker the skies, the better. Check out some of my earlier columns on where the darkest skies can be found!

Get out your binoculars for some comet-watching, particularly around February 14 and 15. Comet P/2006 T1 (Levy) will produce a fan-shaped glow will appear, because of solar reflections, to produce two tails. The month-long path of the comet is roughly along a line from Eridanus, past Canus Major, with the Milky Way as a backdrop. Comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) heads north from Hercules during the month.

A month-long event: A fairly bright asteroid, Eros, will pass as close as 16 million miles from Earth (between the orbits of Earth and Mars) on January 31 and continue on past until March 1, within easy view of most backyard telescopes. Its path is roughly from Leo to Antlia. This is as close as Eros has been to the Earth in 37 years, astronomers tell me.

Another asteroid, Astraea, will slowly track through the skies near Virgo during the month.

The highlight of February star-gazing will happen February 25, when the crescent moon and Venus will be nearly touching. Look for this beautiful sight in the early evening sky.

Jerry Garrett

January 6, 2012

The complicated Quadrans Muralis constellation is no longer recognized by astonomers, but the meteor shower named after it lives on.

 

Catch a falling star?

That should be fairly easy in the pre-dawn hours of Jan. 4, 2012, when the annual Quadrantid meteor shower reaches its peak.

The Quadrantids, named for an obscure constellation called Quadrans Muralis, usually don’t create much of a show. But astronomers say this year up to 200 meteors an hour could be seen zipping across the east-northeast portion of the sky. (A more pessimistic expectation is about 120 an hour – but that is still two a minute!)

Much of the sky show will be too faint to see, because of the waxing gibbous moon, until the Moon sets about 3 a.m. From then, for about three hours until dawn starts to brighten the skies again, viewing should be good.

Watch for the meteors firing out from an area roughly encircled by Vega, Hercules, Arcturus, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Draco.

Any dark area, away from city lights, should be good – the darker the better, as I point out in previous columns posted here about the very best places to catch meteor showers.

Happy Meteor Hunting!

Jerry Garrett

January 3, 2012

Memorable CGI/live action chase scene from Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Paramount Pictures)

HOLLYWOOD

How big of a draw are cars at the movies? In 2011, they figured prominently in at least a half dozen of the year’s top hits. Worldwide, films aimed squarely at gearhead audiences raked in well over $3 billion at the box office.

The champ was the third movie in the wildly successful (we didn’t say “critically acclaimed”) “Transformers” series – “Dark of the Moon”. The movie grossed more than $1.123 billion (yes, that’s a “B”) in worldwide ticket sales.

The movie’s stars, inarguably, are the Autobots: Bumblebee, Ratchet, Ironhide, Sideswipe, and of course, the commander, Optimus Prime.

Bumblebee, which is usually a Chevrolet Camaro (but it can turn into other vehicles too), has actually spawned its own real-life production model for 2012. “One of the greatest marketing tie-ins in the history of the automobile,” says Bob Lutz, the former co-chairman of General Motors. Mr. Lutz was instrumental in approving the deal back in 2006 – years before the fifth generation Camaro, upon which Bumblebee is based, was approved for production. The first Transformer movie made its debut in 2007 – almost two years before the actual Camaro did!

Bumblebee is also the centerpiece of an entire series of Hasbro toys based on the Autobots and other Transformers cars, trucks and even aircraft.

Replicas of the iconic Peterbilt 379, which Optimus Prime usually turns into, are also seen everywhere from cars shows to truck stops. It is often asked which exact model year of the 379 is depicted in the film; that would be difficult to say, as the 379 was produced in largely unchanged form, from 1987-2007. The filmmakers used three different Peterbilt 379s, built to Optimus Prime specifications, for the various Transformer movies to date.

(Footnote: Yes, in the cartoon versions of Optimus Prime, the commander is depicted as a cab-over truck. The movies’ special effects department said a cab-over would have been impossible to use in the film, because of scale: Optimus re-created in reel-life cab-over mode would have been over 30 feet tall.)

Transformers 3 trailed only Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($1.328 billion) in overall box office for 2011.

No. 6 at the movies in 2011 was “Fast Five“, the fifth installment in “The Fast and The Furious” car chase series. It collected a cool $626 million worldwide – an amount which pretty much ends all indecision as to whether or not there will be a sixth Fast & Furious.

Choosing the vehicular star of “Fast Five” could start some arguments. There were some memorable players – such as a customized Corvette which gets launched out of a train, over a ramp, and, finally, into the Colorado River (no, that scene wasn’t filmed in Brazil). And the plot revolves around something that is hidden in a Ford GT 4o replica. But Fast & Furious has always belonged to the Dodge Charger. And “Fast Five” continued that homage, with the introduction of the latest generation of the series, the 2011 model.

Most memorable are a pair of 2011 Chargers which were modified with rear roll bars to haul a bank vault around San Juan, Puerto Rico, leaving memorable amounts of mayhem behind them.

Interesting featurette showing how some of the bank vault stunts were staged.

That scene must rank as one of the most iconic of the Fast & Furious franchise. And it was how the film’s stunt crew (a shout-out to coordinator Jack Gill) wrecked more than 200 cars in the making of the movie – most of them in that one scene. For more information, check out an earlier post here.

Cars 2: A film about racing, intrigue & friendship. (Pixar)

No. 9 at the box office in 2011 was the sequel, “Cars 2“, which a lot of people considered a rare flop from Pixar animation studios. But that’s baloney. Yes, it did cost a record $200 million to make, but it earned $559 million worldwide (that’s just ticket sales; toys and marketing tie-ins are separate numbers). In comparison, the original 2006 “Cars” movie made $461 million. Solid gold.

The usual gang was back – Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater and even lovable little Luigi. But a few new models (hey kids, collect ‘em all!) were added, including Finn McMissile’s replica European sports racer.

Extra points if you can cite the actual vehicles upon which Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater and Finn McMissile are based. (Answer: Ford GT 40, mid-1950s GMC truck, Aston-Martin DB5 – with elements of other cars thrown in.)

Another alleged 2011 box office dud was “The Green Hornet“. But, again, the proof is in the bottom line. And the quirky superhero flick attracted $227 million worth of moviegoers to the multiplex. No small amount of the movie’s appeal came from the heroes riding around town attempting to dispatch evil-doers, with varying degrees of success, with their magically customized 1966 Chrysler Imperial. Certainly, that car helped sell a bunch of those tickets. But I wonder why the movie didn’t do anything for ’66 Imperial sales. Well, that one was a dud.

Stylish, critically acclaimed “Drive” failed to attract much of an audience. So its $67 million take won’t add much to the box office totals. But it did remind a lot of people what a forgotten classic the 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna was.

Do we even want to mention 2011′s automotive howlers, like “Drive Angry“? The “Larry Crowne” moped? No, I didn’t think so.

Honorable mention, however, is due to some memorable automotive cinematic performances during 2011: The black 2002 Dodge Ram pickup that Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) drives around in during games in “Moneyball“; the 1988 Lincoln Town Car that is the mobile office of Mickey Haller (Matthew McConaughy) in “The Lincoln Lawyer“; the 1935 Cadillac that Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) crashes into a tree in “The Artist“; the fabulous cars of 1959 in “The Rum Diary“; and, finally, the futuristic BMW i8 concept car that Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) bafflingly drives around “Mumbai, India” in “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol“.

That last movie, the fourth in the immensely profitable Mission: Impossible series, had already grossed $324 million in only four weeks of release in December 2011. That was good for No. 16 on 2011′s list; and the movie was still No. 1 at the box office as 2012 opened. So, the new year seemed to portend the good times would continue to roll for cars at the movies.

Jerry Garrett

January 2, 2012

Ever notice how nobody got comfortable with 2011?

“It was always ‘two-thousand-and-eleven’,” notes my Shahrzad. “We’re already calling the new year ‘twenty-twelve’ like it’s an old friend!”

Let’s hope she’s right. We could all use a more comfortable year.

Jerry Garrett

January 1, Twenty-Twelve!

Kailua Fantasy: What would you do in this Oahu paradise? (Jerry Garrett Photos)

KAILUA, Hawaii

What if you were to find yourself in Kailua, on Oahu’s “back” side? Actually I think “lose yourself” would be a better term to describe what can happen to you in this often-overlooked slice of Paradise! But, based on my time in Kailua, here are some suggestions of fun things to do for you, your family – and even the First Family! Best of all, none of these suggestions requires a bunch of money!

1. Coffee – Build your day with a solid foundation of coffee at Morning Brew at 600 Kailua Road. A local gathering spot, with some scrumptious nibbles, as well as great coffee. The coffee comes from the Honolulu Coffee Company (yes, you can find several of HCC’s own stores in Waikiki, and even at the HNL international airport). It’s great coffee! But they are promising to start serving their own private label, organic, Hawaiian-grown coffee soon. Free internet here too. If you need to walk while savoring your “morning brew” specialty, the shops in the area have an interesting array of unusual – and unique – items.

Carrot pancakes, red velvet pancakes, local bacon and island butter! Yum!

2. Breakfast, Brunch or Lunch – Have you heard about the pancakes at Cinnamon’s Restaurant? You should have; they’re world famous! (Just a couple of blocks away from Morning Brew.) The signature item on the menu is red velvet pancakes with a warm cream cheese topping (for good measure, a surprise cache of this decadent treat is cooked right inside of the pancakes themselves). Variations on the theme include lilikoi (passion fruit) pancakes, guava chiffon pancakes, carrot cake pancakes and local corn pancakes with blueberries. Yes, Cinnamon’s does make its own killer cinnamon rolls! (IPhone users, for laughs, ask Siri how to find Cinnamon’s in Kailua! See what she comes up with.) There is also a huge menu of other items. Be prepared for a wait; this place is popular!

3. Shopping – I alluded to this opportunity earlier, when talking about the area around Morning Brew. But here are three eclectic favorites of mine: Executive Chef - this cooking supply store may not be as big as chain-store juggernaut Sur La Table, but for the square footage, this place has so many cool things for people who love their kitchen, their own tiki bar or luau pit! There’s only one other Executive Chef store in the Hawaiian Islands (the flagship store in Honolulu). EC is sort of an island institution. (And like most everything on this list, not a tourist trap; not over-priced; and not a chain.) Just a couple of miles away in Kaneohe is one of four Fabric Mart stores in the islands (three on Oahu, and one on Maui); they also have an online store.

Mind-boggling selection!

This has to be the greatest selection of authentic Hawaiian prints and fabrics in the world; they claim to have over 3,000 patterns to choose from, in every type of fabric. Take some home, for your own craft project, or ask a clerk about locals they work with who will make for you one-of-a-kind island clothing, furniture coverings or other decorator items, such as those fabulous Hawaiian quilts. Great prices! Finally, check out some of the thrift stores in the area – particularly the Salvation Army Store, for fabulous selections of vintage aloha shirts from Tori Richard, Kahala and more – from $10. A real find! (Same shirts in vintage stores in Honolulu can run you hundreds!)

4. Shave Ice – An island favorite! Check out the selection at Island Snow at 130 Kailua Road. It can be a little tricky to find because it is actually inside a surf shop there. When it doubt, follow the crowd; there’s usually a bunch of folks out in the parking lot tonguing cups full of colored ice! Lots of flavors, and the perfect treat for a sunny day (and it’s within walking distance of our top choice of something to do in Kailua – see below).

Kailua Beach Park's beauty is unsurpassed on Oahu!

5. Kailua Beach Park – The color of the water here is unsurpassed on Oahu. I said “unsurpassed” – to avoid any arguments; there may be water as pretty at other beaches around Oahu, but none prettier. There is a nice wide sandy beach here too, and – unlike, say, the North Shore – calm waters to play in. Some days (when the Secret Service doesn’t have the place commandeered, for instance), you can feel like you have the place to yourself (see the photo at the top of the article, of one lucky woman’s view of the place recently). In the water, there’s a gentle slope, so that you can walk quite a ways out, without going over your head. Even when it’s windy elsewhere on Oahu, the Kailua Beach Park/Lanikai area is often sheltered from the trade winds. There is a grassy area for picnics, picnic tables, barbeque units and large public restrooms. It’s a real haven for locals, and “those in the know”. Across the street from the park, there’s a decent bar and steakhouse.

Not all that many people, I realize, who come to visit Hawaii will take the time and effort needed to get themselves out of the Honolulu/Waikiki area to explore Oahu’s hidden treasures. Those who do will be richly rewarded. Those who don’t…well, we won’t miss you!

Jerry Garrett

December 24, 2011

BMW Vision concept at Frankfurt, 2009

So what was that strange, futuristic BMW with the blue lights that Tom Cruise drove in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol?

It’s an electric car concept that BMW has been showing in various forms at auto shows the past two years. Initially, it was called the Vision EfficientDynamics Concept (or some combination of those words). But it has sort of morphed into the BMW i8 of late.

The concept made its initial appearance at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. I thought it looked like Shamu with iridescent blue teeth. Probably from eating krill during a red tide.

The concept was said to be powered by a three-cylinder turbo-diesel and electric motors. Great performance was promised: 0-60 in 4.6 seconds, and a top speed of 160 m.p.h. It was also said to be capable of up to 22 miles of operation on its electric motors and batteries alone.

It seemed like a pretty “far out there” concept when introduced, but public response was warm. So BMW says it will put the car into production by 2013, and call it the i8. No idea how much it might cost, but assume it will be well out of range for the “99 percent”. Bet it won’t have those scissor-style, see-through doors went it comes off the assembly line. Cool show car feature, though.

The BMW i8 and Paula Patton trying to upstage each other.

The surprise was that it was used in the film. (Perhaps not a complete surprise, considering BMW’s eagerness to cinematically one-up Audi, whose R8 vehicles have been featured in the “Iron Man” movies.) One wonders where they let the car go, since there is only one i8 in the world. Sending it to Mumbai seems out of the question.

More likely it was used only in Prague, which is quite near to Munich, where the car is located when it isn’t wowing crowds at an international auto show someplace. Or perhaps in the controlled environment of the Canadian Motion Picture Park in Vancouver, British Colombia, where much of the movie was shot.

The car did appear with the cast and crew for the New York City premiere in December at the Ziegfeld Theater.

Nice to see it really runs. Not all prototypes do.

Jerry Garrett

December 23, 2011

Autostadt's Parking Carousel (AP Photo)

Where in the world did they find that parking garage used in one of the climactic scenes of “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol“?

We will offer a three-stage answer.

First, the structure in the movie was not in Mumbai, India.

Second, it was actually built at the Canadian Motion Picture Park, in suburban Vancouver, British Columbia – which is where most of the movie was actually shot.

Third, the inspiration for the parking garage scene came from Volkswagen. The photo at the top of this article is of the interior of a 20-story car tower in Volkswagen’s Autostadt attraction in Wolfsburg, Germany (see its website here).

The Autostadt (in German, literally, it translates as “auto state” but “car city” is more what they mean) opened in May 2000, adjacent to VW’s manufacturing plant there. More than two million people visit it each year. Autostadt includes a hotel, restaurants, a museum, and other attractions – in particular the glass “car silos” (yes, there are two of them).  If you arrange to purchase a Volkswagen direct from the factory, with factory pickup – you take delivery from these vending machine-like displays.

It’s a fully automated procedure whereby the automobile is plucked electronically from a cubbyhole in one of the “twin towers” – each of which holds up to 400 vehicles – and is brought to its owner on a special elevator.

The Mission: Impossible version of VW’s auto silo was built by Special Effects Supervisor Mike Meinardus and his crew in Vancouver. It took six months to construct. When it was finished, it worked just like the VW version, and was fully operable. The structure included a 35,000-pound, 78-foot tall center column that supported two 23-foot parking paddles, each of which weighed over three tons.  Although the VW version is far larger, the MI IV version held about 70 cars, 18 on each level. Pretty impressive.

The filmmakers (including Tom Cruise) wanted the action scenes to be as “real” and “authentic” as possible, so Mr. Cruise (Ethan Hunt) and Michael Nyqvist (Dr. Hendricks) are actually in every shot.

No margin for error (Paramount Pictures)

The pair of actors were suspended from cables, attached to the ceiling of the structure, as well as to the ends of the paddles to prevent accidental falls between vehicle platforms and to guide planned jumps.  Cruise, at one point, makes a three-story leap (shown in photo, above) from a deck level into a car on a moving paddle, slowed at the end of his fall by a decelerator. (The tethering cables were digitally erased in post production).

“Each paddle weighs 6,700 pounds and there’s only about a half-inch clearance between the paddle and the decks, so it’s like a giant sheer,” Mr. Meinardus explained.  “When it was running, we’d have sirens and safety meetings, to make sure that nobody was rappelling between there.”

It was “challenging work,” he added, and nearly as dangerous to choreograph at it looked on film. But the cast and crew were elated with the way it turned out.

Jerry Garrett

December 22, 2011

James Cromwell, with Penelope Ann Miller and Missi Pyle, arrive at "The Artist" premiere in Hollywood, in the blue 1935 Pierce-Arrow he chauffeured in the black & white film.

HOLLYWOOD

The movie “The Artist” takes us back to the dawn of The Talkies Era in Hollywood, from 1927-1932. Unfortunately, the movie’s cars only take us back to the mid-1930s.

The filmmakers tried mightily to re-create that bygone era, with period-correct wardrobe, buildings, furnishings and – notably – automobiles. Close investigation of the cars that were selected raises some eyebrows.

Filming in Hollywood – an area around which there is no shortage of late 1920s and early 1930s automobiles that have been lovingly preserved (the climate helps!) – it should have been fairly easy to find the right rides.

But what did they actually choose?

Fatty Arbuckle's 1919 Pierce-Arrow (Coker Tire)

A successful silent film star of the late 1920s, such as George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), would likely have been able to easily afford the best American automakers had to offer: Cadillac, Duesenberg, Marmon, Packard, Pierce-Arrow and Chrysler. (Most could be had for $6,000-$8,000.) All these models were favorites of the real stars of the day; notorious comedian Fatty Arbuckle had a custom-made Pierce-Arrow that he spent more than $25,000 on – about $500,000 today. (No, it did not actually have an onboard toilet, as rumored.)

But, for the limousine-like sedan that chauffeur Clifton (James Cromwell) drives – supposedly in the years 1929-1932 – the filmmakers decided on a 1935 Pierce-Arrow 12-cylinder sedan (probably a Model 1602).

Having lost all his money in the 1929 stock market crash and imprudent film production,  a new Pierce-Arrow – even of the correct era – would have been light-years beyond George’s budget.

Charlie Chaplin's 1929 Pierce-Arrow (subsequently owned by STP king Andy Granatelli)

Especially at a time when he had not paid his chauffeur in a year.

A more appropriate choice for the movie might have been the actual 1929 Pierce-Arrow that Charlie Chaplin owned. (It was offered for sale on eBay in May 2011 by a Costa Mesa, Calif., museum.)

Using as a guide the Pierce-Arrow driven to the movie’s premiere at AFI Fest 2011 in Hollywood, the cut of the front fender – down to a sharp corner behind the wheel – is a notable identifier of the model year.

In an earlier post here, I discussed the 1935 Cadillac Convertible Sedan that is driven by Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) in the movie.

Is it the same car that Ms. Bejo and her husband, the movie’s director Michel Hazanvicius, drove to the premiere in Hollywood? It would seem so.

It’s a lovely car, but of course about three years too modern for 1932. It’s possible a different car was driven to the premiere than the one used in the movie, but it will be difficult to purge my memory of seeing that lovely Caddy in the movie with its front end wrapped around a tree. (Of course, it wasn’t really crashed; that was Hollywood magic.)

Al Jolson's 1933 Cadillac Fleetwood 36

During the movie, I thought the filmmakers had used perhaps what would have been the ultimate car for the job – the exquisite 1933 Cadillac V16 Fleetwood Model 36, a five-passenger All-Weather Phaeton, once owned by Al Jolson. How apropos that would have been!

Jolson, as movie buffs know, was the actor whose performance in 1927′s “The Jazz Singer” pretty much singlehandedly killed the Silent Movie era. Or at least Jolson’s performance was the beginning of the end for the silents, and the beginning of the beginning for the talkies.

Jolson became a very discerning collector of classic cars from the Flapper and Depression Eras. His garage was full of Cadillacs, Mercedes-Benzes (most notably, a 1928 Model S), and Packards (including his famous 1932 Packard Twin Six, known as the “Million Dollar Packard” because that is what it sold at auction for in 2011).

Peppy's tour bus (UnderTheHollywoodSign blog)

There were dozens of other old cars that appeared in the movie (reused in multiple scenes), including plenty of Ford Model A and Model T coupes, a delightfully preserved mid-1920s Hollywood tour bus, and even glimpse of a cool race car (possibly a Bugatti, based on the appearance of its “horse-collar” grille) at the beginning of the film.

A great movie – and an unexpected opportunity for some car-spotting.

Jerry Garrett

December 19, 2011

Is this Peppy Miller's car in "The Artist"? (Imagine it in black & white)

HOLLYWOOD

Trying to figure out what was that car Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) drove in “The Artist”? And crashed? (“BANG!”)

It appears to be a bright red 1935 Cadillac Convertible Sedan, very much like the one shown above. This particular car, registered in California where the movie was shot, was offered for auction in 2008 at Meadowbrook. Estimated to bring around $140,000, the bids in fact only came up to $92,500, and the vehicle was withdrawn for sale.

Queries to RM Auctions, the auctioneer, for more information about the owner, etc., have so far gone unanswered. We’ll let you know what, if anything, we find out about the car.

Mr. & Mrs. Hazanavicius

Please compare the car shown above to the one that director Michel Hazanavicius and his wife, the movie’s star actress, Berenice Bejo drove to the premiere of the movie in Hollywood on November 21, 2011.

Yes, the wheels & hubcaps are different!

Jerry Garrett

December 18, 2011

"Viva Elvis" means Elvis lives...but not so much in Vegas anymore.

LAS VEGAS

What is the shelf life for dead celebrities?

In the case of Elvis Presley, who in 2012 will have been dead for 35 years, the expiration date is nigh upon us. At least that’s the case in one notable instance: MGM Resorts International is asking Cirque du Soleil to euthanize its “Viva Elvis” show.

The show, which made its debut at the swish new Aria casino in 2009, must leave the building by the end of 2012. What its replacement will be has not been announced, although Cirque du Soleil is apparently still going to be the producer for whatever it is. The search must be on for newer dead celebs. Viva Mel Torme, anyone?

The indie publication Las Vegas Weekly says the show’s ticket sales have been Return to Sender, and the quality of the show has been Heartbreak Hotel. But they don’t exactly offer a lot of stats to back that up. Some may beg to differ.

In fact, 42 percent of Vegas show survey respondents on TripAdvisor rated Viva Elvis “excellent”.

The Cirque du Soleil Vegas show everybody loves to hate seems to be “Believe” at the Luxor. Only seven percent rated “Believe” excellent; while 61 percent rated it “terrible”! (Viva Elvis only got a 14 percent terrible rating, btw).

But “Believe” soldiers on at the Luxor because, I guess, expectations are lower at the Luxor. Its theme, of course, is dead pharaohs – who have been dead for millenniums longer than Elvis.

The termination notice for Viva Elvis is the first one the high-flying Cirque du Soleil troupe has ever received.

So the question can appropriately be asked: Is Cirque wearing out its Vegas welcome? That’s one theory; they do have more than a few shows in production around town, including a Beatles tribute. They can seem spread thinner than a Vegas buffet prime rib.

But could it also be that Aria – a part of the financially precarious CityCenter resort, a Heartbreak Hotel that barely got built – is gambling its appeal on the youth market. And Viva Elvis is just not the right fit; after all, it’s an homage to a celebrity who died in 1977 – well before most of Generation X, Y, or Z was ever born.

“Attendance levels have not been meeting expectations,” said MGM, in a terse statement about Elvis’ rumored demise.

This is not the first death notice for Elvis and his attractions in Vegas. Elvis-a-Rama Museum, which combined collections of several Presley fans when it opened in 1999, closed in 2006; most of its fixtures and memorabilia have since been liquidated. A plan, announced at that time, was to re-group and come back with a new “world class” Elvis attraction in Vegas; those plans appear to have been still-born. No further word has been heard from the principals. (Relax, Elvis is still performing marriages at the Graceland Chapel here.)

Elvis isn’t the only dead celebrity to suffer indignities at the hands of forgetful Vegas patrons. The Liberace Museum closed last year “indefinitely, but not forever”, its directors announced. And Liberace, the fey pianist, has only been dead, by comparison, 25 years.

But Elvis is still a featured performer in the “Legends in Concert” show, now at Harrah’s (It began in 1983 at the former Imperial Palace).

And Vegas still can be counted on to keep its head firmly in the past, with the 2011 opening of Cirque’s “Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour”.

Let the countdown begin on the staying power of MJ’s ghost.

Jerry Garrett

December 13, 2011