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"This is the start of the tour but I went to San Francisco for a
few days to see Steve Tisch, our producer, get married. Wine country. Couldn't
have it at a nice hotel in LA, so we're driving in the woods in the wine
county. But I got to see the grandkids who were in the movie by the way.
The one year old babies in the Tim Conway miracle scene. They were staring
a Tim Conway quite a bit and one went to sleep and the other cried. No interest
in showbiz.
"I have three kids: a writer, a director and a actor. Kathy was the
one holding the babies in the scene. Scottie was the second unit director...
"I'm basically a writer. That's what I do. I've written all my life
but couldn't figure out what to write. I graduated from journalism school
at Northwestern and still didn't know what to write because I wasn't a very
good journalist or anything then. I was a musician and a ball player and
kept writing 'til I figured out what to write. I was on the New York Daily
News and as a copyboy got the most jokes into columns. When I was the sports
editor at Northwestern we were zero, eight and one, so I had not much to
write about, so I made jokes. But it was the hardest thing in the world
for me, still is, filling blank paper. Writing with your mouth is not writing,
rewriting is not writing. Filling blank paper is writing. And everything
I do stems from that. I seem to be hired to direct and act and produce but
it is really because I can write that I get those things. As a director,
this is my ninth picture, and I'm learning to write a little bit with the
camera. But still they hire me to fix the script and rewrite the scenes.
Writing is my favorite and I hate it. Scottie my son comes out of the American
Film Institute and is a better technical director than Penny or me but not
as funny. He's coming along. Producing is just refereeing. I did that for
twenty years in television. Lately, I've liked best of all acting. Penny
says, 'I'm gonna act again. I sit in a nice chair and they fuss with my
hair. This is too hard what we're doing!' So maybe we're gonna act and let
Scot direct. You know people mistake me for Penny's husband even though
she's my sister. But it is better than being mistaken for her father!
"I love being Stan on 'Murphy Brown'. It's attacking all the people
who were not nice to me. I think TV is doing better because of all the cable
people who are willing to do the small stories that films won't do anymore
because they can't afford it. 'Dear God' didn't get the big stars but the
studio said 'if you bring it in under twenty-two or twenty-three (million
dollars) you won't hear from us'. So I said give me the kid from TV (Greg
Kinnear) and we'll go. I didn't hear from them the whole shoot. After they
came! The average movie is thirty to thirty-three million so they won't
take a chance on things. You gotta be funny if you got no blood and no explosions
or big names. TV can do the small picture. And it used to be that funny
guys went on to movies. Now they go to TV. The money is better and they
can be there for a longer time. And the smart ones, like Seinfeld, surround
themselves with funny people. But to do the Frank Capra-Preston Sturges
type of film, which 'Dear God' is, is very hard because the society is not
a sentimental society. It is a cynical society. That's why we've made the
film much edgier than we would have years ago. I still sneak in the warm
moments but you have to balance it for young people. On TV what they can't
do is blow things up. Sitcoms are getting tighter and tighter. When I did
'Happy Days' we had casts of thousands. Now they have head shots of people
sipping coffee. It is very witty but they do a lot of topical now. And censorship,
well they wouldn't let Fonzie say the word 'virgin'. We said, 'She was as
pure as snow but she drifted.' It challenged the writers!
"It warmed my heart that 'Entertainment Weekly' said my show 'The Odd
Couple' will never die. And Jack Klugman is in the movie. Had a little problem
with his throat but he is fine. Always very helpful when I have a newcomer
like Greg Kinnear, who I think has got the goods, to surround him with talent.
He can wear a tie, do a joke and kiss a girl! You can't find that anymore.
They want someone who can throw a hand grenade. They all talk loud because
they have to talk over the gunfire! But when you use a new guy you make
sure it isn't a gamble. When Robin Williams first entered 'Happy Days' he
had Penny and Cindy on one side and Henry and Ron Howard on the other."
"I have final approval [of casting]. I saw a movie called "Leaving
Las Vegas" which everybody said 'dark' or 'great acting' but I walked
out of that picture and immediately said, 'Hire the casting director of
that film for me!' She had such a varied group in there. Carrie Frasier
is the one and we got her. She brought in lots of people and we tested them
in with Greg. Usually I ask Hector (Elizondo) 'Here's the picture. What
do you want?" and which toupee he wants to wear! Hector's very hot
now so he wanted to do a Russian accent. We balance that with newcomers.
Not just my relatives, although Kathleen [Marshall, his daughter] is in
it. And the young priest is a guy from MTV. Never really did a movie but
I always wanted to do a scene with young people discussing God. We have
great respect for God and I think young people should know there is something
going on: there is a sense of kindness in the world. Young priest and young
guy. My wife was the nun; she always works one day. And I have the part
as the postmaster.
"I used to write under a Japanese name. Did a lot of 'Love American
Style' under that name and wanted to use it for my credit. But they said
no. And then I wanted to use Stan Lansing, my character on 'Murphy Brown'
but they would have to get permission. So it is uncredited. You can't have
any fun anymore!"
But it sure sounds like Garry Marshall is having plenty of fun! 'Dear
God' opens November 1st.
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