Ever find yourself wondering, pondering - and difficult to fathom as it may - through the years the reasons why the industry has failed to recognize achievements of certain greats. Could it be Hollywood itself suffers a selective memory or even an elective memory ? There is nary any rhyme nor reason as to how there could be such blatant disregard for certain originators, it even inspires my want to write a tune about it, which Marnie Nixon would naturally be crooning. Just who are these masked creators you ask ? Those silent giants left fully entrenched in the lurch; all that hard work and dedication for naught's sake. And situations as these recall that old chestnut of a DC debacle, the one with the late Bill Finger who certainly had his hand in the creation of Batman, and how it would not be until his death that partner, the now late Bob Kane would make the admission that Finger did indeed co-create the iconic character. Interestingly at my time of writing this in 2015, I had just come to the understanding that there is a petition being filed from author/biographer Marc Tyler Nobleman - in hopes to finally get the acknowledgement Bill Finger deserved. There was even a request to Google that there be a doodle day celebration for Mr Finger on what would have been his 100th birthday - but Google had no such desires to bake him a cake.
And though there are variables and beliefs that certain choice artists are in agreement to have their contributions of particular projects go credit-free and such a thing as select mystery artists doctoring and ghost re-writing certain scripts does exist and though some may remain unnamed on their own volition it still does beg some questions. Why or what truly caused the lack of name-dropping in an industry that lives and dies by the practice thereof. What on earth could possibly be the overarching agenda? And while we have no choice but to accept that these such Alan Smithees of the celluloid void are out there making pictures under our very conkers - and there are undoubtedly efforts from respective schlocksters William Castle and Roger Corman for example where these directors must have rued the day of their releases, but why oh why is there so much cloak and daggery? (I) refuse to accept it is down to some base humility,why that went out of fashion with Antonio Salieri in 1810.
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| The first touch-screen screen (O'Rourke in Poltergeist - directed by ?) |
1982's Poltergeist has been one of the more debated films in regards to directorial credit - and not to mention the rumors that ensued when it was believed that the set of Poltergiest was accursed and the reasoning behind the untimely tragic demises of a few of of it's actors (Dominique Dunne murdered at 22 and Heather O'Rourke's sudden death at age 12). When it's down to brass-tax hour - was it Tobe Hooper or was it Steven Spielberg (or was it Memorex?) that was truly calling all the shots on that set? And speaking of curses, it's certainly hard not to notice that' ol Black Magic (1949) is a film magically crediting Gregory Ratoff as its helmsmith, but in essence has the scent of Orson Welles festooned all over it.
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| Aw, you can't fool us Orson we know full Welles you directed Black Magic |
It is perplexing that one of Paramount and Warners' darlings and a heavyweight to boot - who once assisted the great Josef von Sternberg - a writer/director in the name of Robert Florey who was also a master-expressionist in his own right, how he could ever go unacknowledged for his massive contribution to the penning of the screenplay of Frankenstein in 1931. And Florey was not the only guest at that silent party either - he was joined by fellow writer John Russell who also lent his quill to the story and remains uncredited. It is hard to imagine them signing up to simply be not signed up.
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| Behind the scenes of the making of The Wizard of Oz- there's more directors in the back. |
But perhaps the truest head scratcher of them all is the case/caper of 1939's The Wizard of Oz. Now let's do the math - Victor Fleming, director credit, check. Mervyn LeRoy, producer credit, check. Wait a minute, hold on, where's the credit check for King Vidor, George Cukor, Norman Taurog as well as producer LeRoy and furthermore; what would it have possibly taken for them to see their names in light, and names of that caliber no less - and as you see it took a village (however nameless) to make that Oz for no man is an island - you see that! That man didn't get any credit either.