This week Carey and Aaron are joined once again by William Hopkins, and Erik K. Myers to talk about The Omen.
A few notes from William
A few corrections and clarifications of some statements made during the podcast...
• At around 00:07:49, I repeat something David Seltzer said in a 2014 interview that turns out to be wrong. Seltzer says he was inspired by the success of the novelization of the film JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL to write the novelization of his screenplay for THE OMEN.
But JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL was not based on a screenplay. The book, written by Richard Bach and published in 1970, was a collection of shorter pieces Bach had previously published. The book was adapted into the screenplay for the film, which was released in 1973.
The book Seltzer is thinking of is Erich Segal's LOVE STORY, and it's probably because of the last name of the LOVE STORY author that Seltzer confused the two books.
Segal, who also contributed to the script for the Beatles' animated film, YELLOW SUBMARINE, turned his LOVE STORY screenplay into a novel that became a bestseller in 1970. The film was #1 at the box office when it was released to theaters in 1971.
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• At around 00:25:04, we discuss Oscar nominations for Jerry Goldsmith's music for THE OMEN. Here are the facts: In 1977, Goldsmith's AVE SATANI received an Academy Award nomination in the BEST SONG category, and his score for THE OMEN won the Oscar for BEST MUSIC: ORIGINAL SCORE.
I've been unable to find evidence of any "dancing nun" performance of AVE SATANI at the 1977 Oscar presentation.
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• At around 00:11:49, I mistakenly declare the great British director Mike Hodges dead. He is not.
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• At around 00:28:58, there is a question about whether OMEN II actor, Robert Foxworth, is still alive. He is.
Relatively recently, he supplied the voice of "Ratchet" in the TRANSFORMERS movies.
His hairdo is no longer as easily mocked.
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• At around 00:53:08, I have trouble remembering the name of the actor who played Jennings, the photographer, in the 2006 remake of THE OMEN. The actor's name is David Thewlis.
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• At around 00:56:27 I suggest that budgets for Hammer Films in the 70s were in the million dollar range. Actually their budgets were considerably less. Hammer's next-to-last horror film production, TO THE DEVIL, A DAUGHTER, had a budget of £360,000.
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• At around 01:06:41, while discussing the abysmal sequel, OMEN IV: THE AWAKENING, I state that no one other than actor Michael Woods is holding an umbrella during the closing funeral scene, which is supposed to be taking place in the rain. Actually, there are a number of other mourners holding umbrellas, which are wet, but there's no falling rain visible.
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• At 01:16:52, I erroneously state that Hitchcock had a giant brandy snifter built for a shot in one of his films, so that the snifter and an actor in the distance would both be in sharp focus. This is wrong. The scene I was thinking of is in SPELLBOUND (1945) and the object Hitchcock had built was a giant fake hand holding a gun, not a brandy snifter.
If anyone knows of any Hitchcock film that featured a giant brandy snifter, I would be obliged if you'd pass that information along to me :)
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• At 01:18:38, there's a question about how Hitchcock filmed the shot, in PSYCHO, of Arbogast falling backwards down the flight of stairs leading up to Mrs. Bates' room. Here's how it was done: Hitchcock
