Sunday Ruminations

[sartorias]

TV showed the beginning of a movie I hadn't seen since it came out: Jewel of the Nile. I sat down to rewatch the opening, which still sparks with promise, and even laughter when Danny DeVito is onscreen. Though I do not know the details of its production, it seems to me so obvious that that beginning is Diane Thomas's work--that the guys who took

Comments

[shadowhelm]

Wow! Thanks for the story. I never knew.

[blzblack]

Neato story! Too bad about her loss. Did you ever try your hand at scripts?

[sartorias]

yup!

[handworn]

Have any success that way?

[sartorias]

One close call (a mini series that was shaping up for a bidwar between NBC and the new-then HBO got wrecked on the strike of 1980) and a lot of uncredited stuff that led nowhere.

Recently, however, yes, in a modest way--and I hope it does lead somewhere.

[fiveandfour]

So funny that I've been thinking of Romancing the Stone lately, wondering if I'd still like it as much as I did back in the day. I recall being so disappointed with Jewel of the Nile that it kind of tainted my feelings about Stone. I don't know why that type of thing happens for me, but it does.

Anyway, thanks for sharing that story - I found it very interesting, indeed. (That plus knowing who shot J.R. in advance - Wow! Did that bring any interesting bribes, at least?)

[sartorias]

No--but then I never told anyone until the stoopid episode aired. And after everyone's disappointment at how obvious it had been, I could say "I'd figured that." but who cares about that? (I never saw any of the shows, but I tracked 'em through the various drafts by the writers. Interesting learning experience.)

[jonquil]

Oh, hell. I loved that first movie, and I didn't realize she'd died young. What a waste.

[gillpolack]

Thank you for this post. It made me think. I love it that you got some of your writing apprenticeship the way you did :).

[sartorias]

I learn best on the hoof, I think. (Although since I've never had a writing class, I actually don't know that.)