"What Were They Thinking?" Movies — Page 2

"By the way, I have zero objections to Elizabeth Berridge's accent in Amadeus, nor do I think it's a Brooklyn accent. If anything, she sounds like she's from Pamona, California. But nearly all of the leads in the film use American accents, a director's choice, rather than faux period British accents (since none of the actual characters are British in the first place). I'm glad Milos Forman broke with that bizarre BBC/PBS tradition, that, regardless of country or origin, any period piece must be accompanied by British accents. I find that more off-putting than anything Elizabeth Berridge (who plays a commoner)"


Whatever, Best 12, her mode of speech was as distracting as a sore thumb to me in the film.

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"When I saw 'Amadeus', I felt like somebody was wearing my underwear." -Meg Tilly

"After five screen tests, Milos Forman had originally cast Meg Tilly for the role of Constanze. During the rehearsal period in Prague, while all of old Salieri's scenes were being filmed, Tom Hulce and Meg Tilly grew very close. "They had these secret jokes and were always laughing together." F. Murray Abraham recalls. "I was pushed out, and I was resentful. I began to have very nasty feelings that were exactly like Salieri's feelings towards Mozart. When that correspondence between a film and real life occurs, it's like a director's dream."

"Basically, at one point, Milos had said he felt like we'd done it, because the work was going so well up to that point," Hulce says. "And the day before Meg was to appear on camera for the first time, she got hurt in a soccer game." "She tore the ligament in her leg so badly that the doctor told us we would have to wait five weeks before she could start," Forman says. "And we couldn't because Saul put together all independent money and we just couldn't afford it."

"I was devastated," Meg Tilly recalls. "But you grow and you find there's an upside. I'd learned that before and then I had to relearn it. I don't think I was ready for what was going to happen to me if I did Milos' movie. It was a much bigger part [than replacement Elizabeth Berridge played] and I was young and I don't think I would have been ready to handle it. I was having nightmares about this big luxury cat that was on my shoulders. And I was saying, 'Oh, you have such a beautiful fur,' but it was weighing me down. And I saw children running, and they were in tatters, but I was thinking, 'They're so free, who wants this luxury cat?' And I was trying to get it off but it was hanging on with its claws, and I was suffocating. Now that I look back on it, I think these were signs that too much was happening for me. I know it sounds weird, but I think my body just took care of things for me."
blog post

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^ I didn't realize that.

I just watched it again recently, and it's one of my favorites, too! Certainly high up on the list.

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thanks for that post, Mr. Midwest, it was very interesting to me. As it turned out, it looked to me that there was also quite bit of positive chemistry between Tom and Elizabeth, especially in those first scenes. She did a damn good job, seeing it was so last minute.

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If you watch the extras on the DVD or Blu-ray, Elizabeth Berridge talks a lot about stepping in at the last minute.

The worst part is that apparently there was another actress Forman was considering to replace Meg Tilly, and he couldn't make up his mind between the two of them. Since there wasn't any time for additional screen tests, he started production with BOTH actresses playing the part! They would film the scenes twice. After a few days, he decided on Elizabeth. She doesn't mention the name of the other actress, except to say that she is "known."

I can't imagine filming a movie where you don't know if you really have the part on or not! She said it was agony, but she was willing to put up with it because she wanted the job badly enough. It worked out in her favor, but I wonder what happened to the footage of that "other actress" who ultimately didn't get the part.

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Updated On: 1/26/14 at 10:38 AM

Francis Ford Coppola's S.E. Hinton obsession in the early eighties.

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re: John Wayne as Genghis Kahn in THE CONQUEROR.

That movie is now famous for the huge number of cast and crew members who eventually died of cancer (including John Wayne). The movie was filmed in the Nevada desert a few miles from a nuclear bomb testing site.

Diane Franklin is "known" to many of us who grew up in the '80s as the star of the cult movie hit, THE LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN.

I think that's what Berridge was referring to when she said Franklin was "known".

Wayne probably died of cancer due to his heavy smoking.

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Updated On: 1/26/14 at 01:47 PM

The "Hey! It's the Sixties and we're so groovy!" films like SKIDOO, CANDY, and the only one that worked, The Monkee's stunningly self-destructive HEAD.

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