https://tinyurl.com/TomSkerritt40Alien
'Alien' at 40: Tom Skerritt separates fact from fiction
It's been 40 years since Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Yaphet Kotto, Veronica Cartwright, Ian Holm, Harry Dean Stanton all first set sail in the Nostromo in Alien.
Ever since Ridley Scott's iconic sci-fi was released, it's been dissected by fans around the world,
and the story of its production has become legendary in its own right.
To celebrate the anniversary – and the film's cinema re-release on 1 March – we caught up with actor Tom Skerritt, aka the ill-fated Captain Dallas, to ask whether he could clarify or puncture a few of the celebrated stories surrounding mythological making of the iconic movie.
Myth: All the actors were surprised by the amount of gore during the chestburster scene.
False: Veronica Cartwright's famously shocked expression led to the myth that none of the cast members knew what was going to happen to Hurt in the film's most celebrated scene. That's not exactly true – they'd read the script after all – but Skerritt admits he actually knew more than most.
"I was taking advantage of being with this great artist, following [Ridley] around to see the subtleties of his work," he says. "So when they came to the chestburst scene, I'd watched them go through the whole process of 'how are we going to do this?' and 'how is it going to burst out?'... so I was very aware of how it was going to be handled. I didn't share that with anybody else because we all wanted to have a shocked look on their face."
Myth: There were going to be love scenes between Ripley and Dallas.
True:
"When I first read that script, I thought it was an interesting, solid science fiction thing," remembers Skerritt. "Once [the alien arrives], what's the point of having any suggested romance going on the side? It didn't make sense to me when I read it."
He quickly got a sense that Scott wasn't interested in the sex either.
"[The romance] just doesn't work. Any more than the thing towards the end when she's trying to get off the spacecraft and she finds the lair of the beastie and sees me attached to a wall like a postage stamp (a scene in which Sigourney Weaver's Ripley finds Dallas alive but incubating and egg and kills him at his urging was initially left out but shows up on the Director's Cut). All those things felt bumpy.
"You're going down a smooth road of terror and suddenly these other things show up and slow everything down. That's how I felt about the material and that's basically how [Ridley Scott] felt about it too. We shot [the nest scene], we didn't get around to doing the romance as he got rid of that early on."
Myth: There's lost footage of Jon Finch playing Kane before John Hurt.
Unresolved:
Hurt was Ridley Scott's first choice to play the doomed Kane, but was booked to make another movie, so the director hired another Brit called Jon Finch instead. The story goes that the diabetic Finch became ill on the first day of shooting and was let go from the production because he needed at least two weeks' recuperation, by which point Hurt had become available again.
One photo of Finch's brief appearance has surfaced, but fans have always wondered how much footage he shot. Skerritt's answer – who is Jon Finch? "I knew nothing about that," says the actor, surprised to even hear another actor had been hired at one point.
Myth: Skerritt was so savvy that before the shoot he asked to swap his salary for a percentage of the movie's profits.
False: The star initially turned down the film because there was no director attached and he felt the budget was too small. A little while later they came back to him saying Ridley Scott was going to direct and the budget had been quadrupled. The story goes that the actor read the new script and was so sure of its success that he asked to trade his salary for points in the movie.
"Ha ha ha ha! They just paid me and they went away!" laughs Skerritt, before revealing another cunning case of Hollywood accounting. "I remember bumping into Ridley a few years after that and he had points in the movie," he recalls.
"Here's this film that he knows is enormously successful financially, but they showed him documents that showed him the money was put over here and put over there and we're still not profitable (laughs)."
Myth: The spacesuits worn by Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright and John Hurt were a nightmare to wear.
True: Apparently, it was only after Scott's children briefly put on the nylon-lined suits to play the grown-ups in a long shot and passed out from the heat that it was agreed something needed to be done about them. Until then, thanks to the lights and their lack of breathability, a nurse had been standing by to give the performers oxygen.
"I suppose it's true," says Skerritt about their lack of comfort, before admitting it wasn't as bad as everyone says.
"When you're working with someone of that calibre, you don't complain," he adds. "You bought that ticket to get on the train of being an actor, so shut up and hit the lines. What's the point of complaining about any of that?"
Alien returns to cinemas on March 1st.
Yeah, glad they didn't go with the Ripley/Dallas love scenes.
Everyone is.
What's wrong with love scenes?
"Sex is boring unless you're doing it." -Ridley Scott
Only Captain Dallas brought a beard into the freezers ::) ::) ::) ::) Tom Skerrit&Veronica Cartwright played Emilio Estevez's parents in Wisdom,&John Hurt &Tom were both in Contact :o ??? ::) ::) ::) :P
I mean, there's footage of Jon Finch playing Kane that is not lost...so I would call that resolved.
Or am I imagining this? Don't they show footage in the Quadrilogy doc?
Quote from: The Old One on Feb 27, 2019, 01:17:50 PM
"Sex is boring unless you're doing it." -Ridley Scott
There are more tasteful ways to imply sex than to show it.
Quote from: Huggs on Feb 27, 2019, 07:56:42 PM
Quote from: The Old One on Feb 27, 2019, 01:17:50 PM
"Sex is boring unless you're doing it." -Ridley Scott
It also makes for an uncomfortable vibe when watching with family.
There are more tasteful ways to imply sex than to show it.
This is true, but doesn't the logic in both of these sentences apply to violence, and to the chestburster scene in particular?
Quote from: Huggs on Feb 27, 2019, 07:56:42 PM
Quote from: The Old One on Feb 27, 2019, 01:17:50 PM
"Sex is boring unless you're doing it." -Ridley Scott
There are more tasteful ways to imply sex than to show it.
I think that scene was cut because it didn't make sense, atmosphere-wise.
"There's an Alien loose on the ship. Let's f**k."
That makes no sense. At least not to me. This would happen in one of those trashy teen "horror" movies.
Quote from: TheSailingRabbit on Feb 27, 2019, 08:10:04 PM
That makes no sense. At least not to me. This would happen in one of those trashy teen "horror" movies.
It happens in Stephen King's
The Mist. Probably more of his books too.
Quote from: Hudson on Feb 27, 2019, 07:57:38 PM
Quote from: Huggs on Feb 27, 2019, 07:56:42 PM
Quote from: The Old One on Feb 27, 2019, 01:17:50 PM
"Sex is boring unless you're doing it." -Ridley Scott
It also makes for an uncomfortable vibe when watching with family.
There are more tasteful ways to imply sex than to show it.
This is true, but doesn't the logic in both of these sentences apply to violence, and to the chestburster scene in particular?
No. In alien, the sex would have served no purpose other than to titillate the audience . It would just be filler , an opportunity for a sex scene and nothing more. As the film stands now , there is a subtle feeling that they may already have been intimate . This was effectively conveyed without a sex scene.
The chest burst is integral to the plot. The audience is not ready for it, and is witnessing these events with the cast. It horrifies and shocks us at the same time.
There are already several instances of implied violence in the film. Lamberts death in particular , what happens to Brett after he is taken, Dallas' kidnapping. Not a lot is really shown , and Alien still conveyed it all very well.
It's one of those films that really mastered the art of implying fear and horror and violence and sex and many things and emotions that can make people uncomfortable, without demonstrating them excessively .
QuoteIt would just be filler , an opportunity for a sex scene and nothing more.
Well I think the original idea was for it to be an opportunity for a jump scare, because Kane's body was supposed to smash into the porthole and interrupt them. I like the opportunity that it lends more to the characterization that returns during the cocoon scene. The cocoon scene, right now, is probably mostly just a confusing/gross moment for the average viewer. With more of the relationship, that scene can become heartbreaking. With the sex scene, her emotions are more dynamic in that moment (the cocoon scene).
But I do have to say the moment Dallas 'protects' Ripley from the facehugger by putting his arm in front of her, and their contentious discussion about Ash getting replaced are satisfactory hints that the two of them have been boning. It's portrayed in a detached way, but so is everyone else's relationship aboard the ship, so it works well.
However, I do think it's a telling statement that a family would be more uncomfortable watching something vaguely sexual (the typical Hollywood sex scene) than watching something graphically, hideously violent. You're not wrong, but our society is messed up.
Quote from: TheSailingRabbit on Feb 27, 2019, 08:10:04 PM
Quote from: Huggs on Feb 27, 2019, 07:56:42 PM
Quote from: The Old One on Feb 27, 2019, 01:17:50 PM
"Sex is boring unless you're doing it." -Ridley Scott
There are more tasteful ways to imply sex than to show it.
I think that scene was cut because it didn't make sense, atmosphere-wise.
"There's an Alien loose on the ship. Let's f**k."
"It's one in the eye for death".
Tom Skerritt is a national treasure.
I wonder how many other actors have worked for both Ridley and Tony Scott.
Tom Cruise
Brad Pitt
Denzel Washington
Tom Sizemore
David Bowie
I still think it would've been nice to get a Tony Scott alien movie.
I think he'd have been the most likely to give us a happy medium between between Ridley and Cameron. He could have done the Colonial Marines justice.
Quote from: Local Trouble on Feb 27, 2019, 10:36:10 PM
I think he'd have been the most likely to give us a happy medium between between Ridley and Cameron.
Yeah but it would have featured that flashy man on fire style of his. Sometimes I think that would have been wild to see.
Or it could have been more like Crimson Tide.
I don't know how I'd feel about Denzel in an alien movie.
He's my favorite actor in the business, but I just can't see him in an alien movie for some reason.
Now I really want to see hear what a Hans Zimmer score for an Alien movie would sound like.
Gary Oldman
A headache.
Hans Zimmer, Gary Oldman or me?
Quote from: Local Trouble on Feb 27, 2019, 10:41:56 PM
Now I really want to see hear what a Hans Zimmer score for an Alien movie would sound like.
Gary Oldman
I can't say that Zimmer's work has ever really blown my hair back. He's capable, but nothing really ever stands out to me.
Glad to have news of this amazing actor, was always in love with Dallas growing up.
Fantastic actor and the blue eyes!
Quote from: The Old One on Mar 09, 2019, 05:32:46 PM
Fantastic actor and the blue eyes!
That's the thing that always got me on the Blu-ray restoration. The blue was just piercing.
The Space Jockey myself, gorgeous Blu-ray.
Appreciate the article.