Filmbrain's Screen Capture Quiz: Round 12, Week 2

And the David Lynch connections don't stop! It didn't even strike me as I was creating the alt-text text clue that Richard Beymer, who played Peter Van Daan in George Stevens' The Diary of Anne Frank, starred as Benjamin Horne on Twin Peaks. Millie Perkins, best known (to me at least) for her work in several Monte Hellman films, was briefly married to Dean Stockwell who played a different Ben in Blue Velvet. There were quite a few submissions of Splendor in the Grass, and I guess Diane Baker and Beymer do bear a passing resemblance to Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty, though I thought Millie Perkins would have made it a dead giveaway. Critics at the time were split on young Millie's performance (her screen debut), and, watching the film again, I do think she plays it a bit large, especially in contrast to the rest of the cast (including Shelley Winters, Lou Jacobi, and Joseph Schildkraut) who are magnificent. The anecdote I referred to comes from David Mamet's latest rage against the (Hollywood) machine, Bambi vs. Godzilla, and it revolves around the scene where Peter's cat is walking along a counter ledge while the Nazis are just one floor below. The cat sticks its head into a funnel, and pushes it towards the edge of the counter. If the funnel drops, the Nazis will surely discover their hiding place in the attic. The cat does push the funnel over the ledge, but doesn't fall because his head is stuck in it. The cat then backs up and manages to remove the funnel without it falling on the floor. Mamet spent a sleepless night wondering how they achieved this effect. Wires? Glue? Electromagnets? ?mlif eht gnisreveR Mamet works his way through a handful of possible solutions, none of which produces a satisfactory explanation. A phone call to the director's son, George Stevens Jr., reveals the answer which Mamet describes as a head-slapping moment. (Read the book to learn the secret of that darn cat.) This week's film is somewhat of an obvious choice, I guess, but I couldn't resist. Name the film. Submit your answers to this address. Good luck!

Comments

[gregory CG]

It was a jump cut, from what I heard, between kitten nosing into the funnel, and then a shot of the funnel-headed cat, a feline breed found only in Sumatra. Evolution provided these wild cats with a funnel head in order to work the proboscis into rotting wood and mulch to find rodents and grubs. They have tremendous lung capacity and literally suck their prey into the small end of the "funnel." Rare footage of this process is ghastly to watch.

OK, I just felt bad, because there were no comments yet.

Cheers.

[TheSweetness]

Well Filmbrain, you talked me into it. I was going to buy the Mamet book anyway, but bought it this week cause, well, I wanted to know how they did it. Kind of a funny answer if you think about it, but is it true?

[Otis]

A phone call to the director's son, George Stevens Jr., reveals the answer which Mamet describes as a head-slapping moment. (Read the book to learn the secret of that darn cat.)

You rule at marketing.