Hollywood Humor: Cary Grant's Muffins Written by Stephen Schochet
In 1853 in Saratoga Springs, New York, American Indian Chef George Crum was preparing his specialty French fried potatoes in upscale resort he was working at, when he received word that one of patrons complained they were cut too thick. An annoyed Crum decided to slice delicacy razor thin to teach customer a lesson. To his surprise guest loved it, and that's how we got potato chips. Nearly one hundred years later another squeaky wheel named Cary Grant was having breakfast at Beverly Hilton Hotel, when he noticed that his bread dish had three half muffins. The very rich but frugal actor called the
| | Bob Hope Wasn't The Only One Who Used Idiot CardsWritten by Stephen Schochet
When Bob Hope moved into television, he lost opportunity to hold his script in his hand , something he had gotten used to working in radio. The presentation would look too stiff to his audience. He tried to memorize his monologues, but that proved to be too cumbersome of a task and it took away from his golf game. The solution was cue cards, or idiot cards as they are known in industry. This worked well for performer, but was hazardous for others. On one of Hope's early NBC broadcasts a well meaning assistant director held up cards so his star could read them, then tossed them back over his shoulder almost decapitating several members of studio audience. Idiot cards are a way for performers to lose respect of their co-stars. James Caan, Robert Duvall and rest of cast of 1972 classic, The Godfather , were thrilled to meet star of movie Marlon Brando. Actor Lenny Montana, who played thuggish character Luca Brasi was so in awe of Brando he kept fumbling his lines when they both shared same scenes. Director Francis Ford Coppola made it work by having character of Luca nervously rehearse what he was going to say prior to meeting Don, making situation appear seamless. But if Montana was willing, if unable to learn his lines, Brando was not. In his scenes there were cue cards everywhere, causing Duvall to yell at him," Marlon, why don't you learn your lines you fat #*^%*@!"
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