Whilst on the set of Jaws, Steven Spielberg and Richard Dreyfuss spoke together about a film that they both watched as youngsters - Victor Flemings 'A Guy Named Joe', about a WW2 pilot who is killed in action, only to come back as a guardian angel to support another pilot. Dreyfuss declared he had seen the film over 30 times, and Spielberg admitted that it was the second film to make him cry after Disney's Bambi. One day, they decided, they would remake the movie.
Fleming was also one of Hollywoods great directors, behind such classics as the Wizard of Oz, and Gone With The Wind, so if anyone was to remake the movie in a modern setting, it seemed that Spielberg would be the man for the job.
It was almost 15 years after their discussion that the remake would finally see the light of day, when in 1989, Spielberg's Always was finally released. Its WW2 context was changed for a modern setting, and the bombers became brave fire fighting pilots.
Romancing the Stone writer Diane Thomas was given the job of rewriting Flemings original, and unfortunately her version never was completed as the writer was tragically killed in a car accident before completion. The final screenplay was credited to Jerry Belson, but again Tom Stoppard who wrote Empire of The Sun had been involved in tidying up.
The characters names and some key scenes and dialogue were kept virtually intact from the original. The cast, obviously saw Dreyfus in the lead role of Pete Sandich, the tragic pilot, and once again a typical Spielberg character, the man who never grew up. The remaining cast was made up of Holly Hunter as the love interest Dorinda Durston, another strong willed woman. John Goodman as Petes friend Al Yackey, and an unknown actor Brad Johnson as the young pilot, Ted Baker, that Pete is there to look over in his heavenly guise. Also Hollywood leading lady Audrey Hepburn would play the role of Hap, the spirit that receives Pete's soul and sends him on his new mission. It was to be her last role in a movie, and she donated her entire $1million fee to UNICEF.
Dale Dyre, Captain Harris from Platoon and the man behind the gruelling boot camp for Oliver Stones cast, also features here as the Fire Boss. He would go on to recreate a similar boot camp for the cast of Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan several years later.
So, with Spielberg's masterful direction, love of flight and fantasy, and emotional flare that he had displayed in his earlier films, Always was set to be one of the greatest love stories ever told. But it didn't really pan out like that.
15 сен 2024
