Phil Hartman III: Just Horsing Around
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure was our big break. Although I married more out of misplaced desperation than romantic love I did pull my weight in the marriage when it came to keeping a roof over our heads and a meal on the table. So when the chance for Michael to write this movie came along it was our shared good fortune.
I was also Michael's editorial critic when it came to the developing script and I read every page when it arrived daily from the writing office where he, Paul Reubens, and Phil Hartman were holed up in a tiny, windowless room on Wilshire Boulevard (sagging furniture included). And there was real concern about the commercial prospects for the script - Paramount had passed on an earlier version written by Paul and other writers (Phil may or may not have been involved in that one....), which was a strange tale of Pee-wee the man-child having romantic love in a kind of 40's Betty Boop creation where you might find dancing flowers and houses made of gingerbread. Knowing Paul as I did, I think he had delved too far into his strangely conceived magical fantasy world for comfort - and revealed perhaps a little too much of what I believed was his ambivalence about his sexual orientation.
So when they were working on a new version all three writers were keenly aware of the dangers of straying too far away from the innocent, kiddie-fun aspect of Pee-wee. A sanitized version, perhaps, given the double-entre, darkly wicked side of the live show Paul was doing at the time, but if this character were to debut in a studio movie (and not a dark indie version) then they had to find something universal to drive the story and appeal to the widest possible audience.
Paul, Michael, and Phil worked well together because they each brought unique talents to the process. Paul was the heart and soul of (and window) into the character he'd created. Phil was the quick jokester with a million ways to make something funny, and Michael was the disciplinarian.....he often said that without his attention to detail and eye for storyline the other two would have laid around on the office's dihlapitated couches all day and made each other laugh. Incidentally, this pattern was to continue in Michael's short career as a successful screenwriter. He partnered up with funny guys and provided them with structure. When this source dried up a couple of films and a television series later, Michael disappeared from the business without a trace.
I heard more than once that Phil was not the most focused of individuals when it came to the rigors of a long-form script. I always had a picture of him draped over a chair (or lying on the floor) basically riffing off Michael's story ideas or Paul's suggestions for characters to interact with Pee-wee. Certainly this strength was evident later in SNL - he was a sketch artist, a master improvisor. Whatever the combination, it did work. When their final draft was finished (after the first pass received a luke-warm reception), they had hit on a winning formula: a wacky, 80's hip version of Vittorio de Scia's, The Bicycle Thief.
Winner of the Golden Globe and New York Film Critic's Awards in 1950, De Scia's, Ladri de Biciclelle, became one of the classics of cinema verite defining the 50's and 60's arthouse film. Further defined as neorealism, the film used non-professional actors and portrayed the gritty, desperate lives of post-war Italy when life for most working class families was still on the desperate edge of poverty. The main story revolves around Antonio's search for a stolen bicycle, on which his livelihood depends. He and his son search for the bicycle in the streets of Rome, reeling from one frustrating event after another. And and in the course of their struggles we come to know and understand Antonio, his relationship with his son, and the truly heroic obstacles postwar survivors had to overcome to rebuild their lives.
Pee-wee's Big Adventure followed the same basic storyline of the stolen bicycle and even though it was as different as chalk and cheese in every other way it proved the old adage that everyone loves a hero. Pee-wee, like his counterpart Antonio, was vulnerable in his world, prey to bullies and forces beyond his control. His naive journey out into the big, bad world to search for his beloved bike provided numerous opportunities to introduce a series of bizarre characters to play against and obstacles to overcome, often with comedic results. Unlike it's black & white predecesor, Pee-wee's world was populated with cartoonish characters and technicolor hued landscapes with an 80's preference for aqua and pink, but it was a brillant idea to put a new spin on this classic journey tale.
The other thing that the script specialized in was the liberal use of the double-entre. It allowed for a wide audience range: the kids loved Pee-wee at face value and the adults heard all the sexual and social inuendo of the man-child he was.
Because Pee-wee's Big Adventure was fresh and hip in an Andy-Warhol kind of way, our cache in the world had risen. Word was spreading around town about this new sensation and the boys were beginning to feel both the rewards and the pressures of being on the leading edge of a cultural wave. We were in a social whirl and became a kind of pack, moving together to parties, media events, and photo opportunities. At a Prince concert I remember the four of us having better seats than a rising pop singer who had just starred in Desperately Seeking Susan. We were in the front row and Madonna was several rows back, blonde hair teased to the max and her trademark black lace bustier-clad figure lost in a sea of undulating bodies.
Through it all Phil seemed the most amazed by his change in fortunes. He had more talent than all of us and yet he often looked awkward and out of place, that thick grin most in evidence when he found it difficult to be himself.
Next: Filming begins and Phil vies for a tiny role in the movie.
I was also Michael's editorial critic when it came to the developing script and I read every page when it arrived daily from the writing office where he, Paul Reubens, and Phil Hartman were holed up in a tiny, windowless room on Wilshire Boulevard (sagging furniture included). And there was real concern about the commercial prospects for the script - Paramount had passed on an earlier version written by Paul and other writers (Phil may or may not have been involved in that one....), which was a strange tale of Pee-wee the man-child having romantic love in a kind of 40's Betty Boop creation where you might find dancing flowers and houses made of gingerbread. Knowing Paul as I did, I think he had delved too far into his strangely conceived magical fantasy world for comfort - and revealed perhaps a little too much of what I believed was his ambivalence about his sexual orientation.
So when they were working on a new version all three writers were keenly aware of the dangers of straying too far away from the innocent, kiddie-fun aspect of Pee-wee. A sanitized version, perhaps, given the double-entre, darkly wicked side of the live show Paul was doing at the time, but if this character were to debut in a studio movie (and not a dark indie version) then they had to find something universal to drive the story and appeal to the widest possible audience.
Paul, Michael, and Phil worked well together because they each brought unique talents to the process. Paul was the heart and soul of (and window) into the character he'd created. Phil was the quick jokester with a million ways to make something funny, and Michael was the disciplinarian.....he often said that without his attention to detail and eye for storyline the other two would have laid around on the office's dihlapitated couches all day and made each other laugh. Incidentally, this pattern was to continue in Michael's short career as a successful screenwriter. He partnered up with funny guys and provided them with structure. When this source dried up a couple of films and a television series later, Michael disappeared from the business without a trace.
I heard more than once that Phil was not the most focused of individuals when it came to the rigors of a long-form script. I always had a picture of him draped over a chair (or lying on the floor) basically riffing off Michael's story ideas or Paul's suggestions for characters to interact with Pee-wee. Certainly this strength was evident later in SNL - he was a sketch artist, a master improvisor. Whatever the combination, it did work. When their final draft was finished (after the first pass received a luke-warm reception), they had hit on a winning formula: a wacky, 80's hip version of Vittorio de Scia's, The Bicycle Thief.
Winner of the Golden Globe and New York Film Critic's Awards in 1950, De Scia's, Ladri de Biciclelle, became one of the classics of cinema verite defining the 50's and 60's arthouse film. Further defined as neorealism, the film used non-professional actors and portrayed the gritty, desperate lives of post-war Italy when life for most working class families was still on the desperate edge of poverty. The main story revolves around Antonio's search for a stolen bicycle, on which his livelihood depends. He and his son search for the bicycle in the streets of Rome, reeling from one frustrating event after another. And and in the course of their struggles we come to know and understand Antonio, his relationship with his son, and the truly heroic obstacles postwar survivors had to overcome to rebuild their lives.
Pee-wee's Big Adventure followed the same basic storyline of the stolen bicycle and even though it was as different as chalk and cheese in every other way it proved the old adage that everyone loves a hero. Pee-wee, like his counterpart Antonio, was vulnerable in his world, prey to bullies and forces beyond his control. His naive journey out into the big, bad world to search for his beloved bike provided numerous opportunities to introduce a series of bizarre characters to play against and obstacles to overcome, often with comedic results. Unlike it's black & white predecesor, Pee-wee's world was populated with cartoonish characters and technicolor hued landscapes with an 80's preference for aqua and pink, but it was a brillant idea to put a new spin on this classic journey tale.
The other thing that the script specialized in was the liberal use of the double-entre. It allowed for a wide audience range: the kids loved Pee-wee at face value and the adults heard all the sexual and social inuendo of the man-child he was.
Because Pee-wee's Big Adventure was fresh and hip in an Andy-Warhol kind of way, our cache in the world had risen. Word was spreading around town about this new sensation and the boys were beginning to feel both the rewards and the pressures of being on the leading edge of a cultural wave. We were in a social whirl and became a kind of pack, moving together to parties, media events, and photo opportunities. At a Prince concert I remember the four of us having better seats than a rising pop singer who had just starred in Desperately Seeking Susan. We were in the front row and Madonna was several rows back, blonde hair teased to the max and her trademark black lace bustier-clad figure lost in a sea of undulating bodies.
Through it all Phil seemed the most amazed by his change in fortunes. He had more talent than all of us and yet he often looked awkward and out of place, that thick grin most in evidence when he found it difficult to be himself.
Next: Filming begins and Phil vies for a tiny role in the movie.
posted by vallie at 12:06 PM
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