On a brisk night that had the Grauman’s Hollywood Boulevard arrivals feeling more like Sundance than AFI Fest, the cast and crew of the silent film spoke up Tuesday.
Star Jean Dujardin had a dialect coach/translator shadowing him (below right), Brett Ratner’s Oscar resignation was the sideline chat, and like many of the AFI films, the Kodak theater finish line loomed close a few hundred yards yet months of awards hurdles away.
Before and after playing a packed house (including 50 below-the-line crew that director Michel Hazanavicius asked to stand before the screening), I extracted answers to a few burning questions.
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Why isn’t it called “The Actor”?
“My first title was ‘Beauty Spot’,” writer/director Hazanavicious (above right, with his cast at the after-after party) told TheWrap. Producer Thomas Langmann convinced him to change the title. “Langmann did the poster (one sheet), the title, and the trailer.” At the after-party, the “Langmann” reserved sign sat on one of the largest and choicest tables, next to Bob Weinstein’s. (Harvey Weinstein was not in town Tuesday night.)
Did “Uggie” the dog use a stunt double?
Yes and yes. Uggie the Dog had two stunt doubles, but they were barely used. He had to audition, but it was a reverse “go-see.” The powers that be came to his San Fernando Valley home, according to his trainers Omar von Mueller and Heather Long.
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Are silent movies secretly contagious?
Among those who worked on this one, yes. After shooting her role as the maid, actress Beth Grant converted a short she was producing into a silent film. “Chaplin” alum Penelope Ann Miller and other cast members each attested to seeking out the project because of a personal interest in black-and-white and silent films.
James Cromwell noted that his father, John Cromwell, came to Hollywood in 1926 because they didn’t have directors who could direct actors for speaking roles. “My mother was Cecil B. DeMille’s first leading lady for sound films,” he added.
Without a real “script,” what did agents send to the film’s talent to read?
“It’s not a script, it’s actually a story. You’re reading like a short story, which is just the plot with photographs which show old Hollywood,” Cromwell said. Best known for “Borat,” Ken Davitian opened his meeting with Hazanavicius by telling him “You have large testicles.” Hazanavicius’s response: “Yes.”
Where did everyone go?
After the AFI’s official party at the Roosevelt, all the talent headed to The Little Door for a more intimate gathering hosted by Bombay Sapphire.
Actress Abigail Spencer, TV producer Jane Lipsitz (a former Weinstein partner on “Project Runway”) and feature producer David Permut were among the roughly 125 guests. Permut, (who just wrapped shooting Chris Colfer’s film “Struck by Lightning”) compared “The Artist” to “Cinema Paradiso” and credited the screening for making him believe in the industry again, “after a sh**ty day.”