One of the best educations in filmmaking that you can ever get is to spend a day on a set -- even (or maybe especially) as an extra, because that puts you right in the middle of the action, as it were. (When I was doing a Seattle Times story on the shooting of Alan Rudolph's "Trouble in Mind," Alan decided to stick me and my pal Eden, who was also working on the film, into the tiki bar scene, where I could observe everything that was going on all around. We appear as blurs behind the heads of Kris Kristofferson and Lori Singer.)
Anyway, back in 1986 (or early 1987?) my friend Nancy Locke, a longtime Seattle movie publicist, and I were invited to be extras on David Mamet's directorial debut feature, "House of Games." We showed up at Bagley Hall at the University of Washington (my alma mater) and I was put in a classroom, where Lilia Skala was our psych professor. In explaining the scene to us, Mamet mentioned we could now say that we had been directed by David Mamet. So, I'm sayin'.
I don't remember where they used Nancy, or if she made the final cut. (I'll have to ask her.) I do remember we did another semi-surreal scene in the hallway between classes, where we students brushed passed Lindsay Crouse while her character walked in a dazed, almost trance-like state. It was an experiment. They didn't use it.
I was reminded of this experience while looking at the new Criterion Collection edition of "House of Games." Roger Ebert gave the movie four stars, and in 1999 selected it as one of his Great Movies. It's pure Mamet -- hypnotic, suspenseful, surprising -- a noirish con game that reminds me of a Fritz Lang thriller, with stylized performances that hint of Bresson, Fassbinder, or Herzog's "Heart of Glass" (in which the director actually hypnotized the cast), but I've never seen anything quite like it. Three of my favorite actors -- Joe Mantegna, J.T. Walsh and Ricky Jay -- also star. Are you in?
I think of this film almost every day. Normally I walk down 1st Avenue in Seattle on my way to work in Pioneer Square, and I walk past the Western Union office where, in the film, Mantegna shows Crouse a short con. I keep waiting for it to disappear, but it's hanging on, a memory of an older, seedier 1st Avenue.
I thought it would be fun to do a tour of Mamet's Seattle (which he saw as an outsider), but the most important location was the "House of Games" itself, the 211 Billiard Club. It closed in 2000, and the building (owned by the ISP Speakeasy when they were just an early internet cafe) burnt to the ground in 2001.
Anyway, I'm really excited about the Criterion release. My copy is on order. I'm in.
It warms my heart to hear that people still love and remember J.T. Walsh. A great man who deserved roles better than the ones he got, but made the most of those he did.
Wow! House of Games is one of my all time favorite movies. And David Mamet is one of my favorite directors. So did you make the final cut? Are you in the actual movie? I wrote a short review of the masterpiece on my blog, trying to do the movie some justice. In some ways I think Mamet is like Fincher in that they both are experts at creating intrigue, seducing the audience and incorporating clever dialogue. And they both have the same first name.
For people that yearn to be acting and on the creative end near that camera, being an extra is the most aggravating experience there is. I'm a really patient man, but, well, it's just incredibly aggravating. Have you seen "Extras" (brilliant). It comes close to how I feel sitting on that set, knowing your close in proximity, but further away than you've ever been. And the better the Director is, the worse it feels.
Jeem, I'm more impressed that you were in the Rudolph movie. I love his films. I've been wondeing if they are EVER going to put "Trouble In Mind" out on DVD.
I have to admit - I cannot stand this movie, despite the fact that virtually every intelligent cinephile whose taste I respect praises it to high heaven.
Jim makes a good point about how certain films have used idiosyncratic acting styles to great effect, and I love "Heart of Glass" and all of Bresson and most of the other examples Jim uses. But I simply cannot get past the wooden,glassy-eyed performances in this film - I have no idea what Mamet was trying to accomplish by having every performer sound like he/she didn't believe a single word spoken.
Setting that aside, I simply can't understand why so many people think the plot is "clever." The scams (aside from the simple ones like The Flue) depicted in this film are so ridiculous that I find myself saying "Oh, come on!" more often during "House of Games" than even during a Michael Bay movie or an M. Night Shyamalan third act.
On the plus side, the movie has Ricky Jay which is always a good thing. And JT Walsh too, though he doesn't get much play here.
Martin: Do you remember the name of that big ol' porn theater on 1st and... Union? It had an entrance/exit on both streets, and the guys congregate on the Union side, I believe, to show Lindsay Crouse a few tricks after her first night at the House of Games. Was it the Empress? When I was growing up "First Avenue" meant porn -- as shown in "Cinderella Liberty."
Shamus: "Trouble in Mind" (set in "Rain City") was an Island-Alive release, like "Choose Me." It was on VHS, but hasn't made it to DVD and I don't know why. After the shoot, we bought pieces of the set (including the lunch counter and Genvieve Bujold's Wanda's Diner) for the Diner section of the lobby in the Market Theater in the Pike Place Market. Our marquee and Post Alley are also featured in "Trouble in Mind," as they are in "Fabulous Baker Boys."
Phillip: I completely understand, and on most of the sets I've visited I've been fortunate enough to have some kind of special access. But for people who've never experienced the tedium of making movies, being an extra should be an educational experience! (And, yes, I love Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant -- and "Extras." The Kate Winslet, David Bowie and Daniel Radcliffe episodes come immediately to mind as favorites.)
Christopher: I understand your reaction. It's a strange style that not everybody is going to like, and it took me some adjusting, too, but the movie cast its spell. The stylized writing and performances (such chilled, over-articulated dialogue) makes it all seem unreal -- which, in the end, is what I think makes it work. It's about LC's character's over-intellectualization of everything, and that's the sensibility of the movie. The film I think it most resembles is Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" -- another cold picture a lot of people find extremely off-putting and stilted. I've come to love both of them -- but I didn't really warm up to either until my second (and subsequent) viewings.
Just a contraction now and then, please. I don't get the point of that.
Jim,
It is a learning experience, very true. The idea of "hurry up and wait" becomes more than a cliche.
That David Bowie scene in "Extras" is one of the funniest things I believe I've ever witnessed. It's on youtube for anyone who hasn't seen it..."prophylactic", hah!
If you've got a code-free DVD player, there's a German DVD (including the original English version) of "Trouble in Mind" available here: http://www.amazon.de/Trouble-Mind-Kris-Kristofferson/dp/B00004U9QL. And at 3,76 € (about 5 US dollars) it's dirt cheap, too.
Actually,
The original 211 Pool hall was on Union between 1st and 2nd. This was directly across the street from the porn theater the Embassy, where the aforementioned scene was shot. The building was razed to be replaced by Benaroya Hall.