B Etween 1972 and 1980, David Wickes Had Graduated
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etween 1972 and 1980, David Wickes had graduated “A week later, I was on my way to one name stood out from the crowd – from directing such iconic TV series as The Sweeney Switzerland. Oddly enough, the much- Powers Boothe. He had just had a big and The Professionals, to a successful movie version of feared Helga Greene couldn’t have been success in Guyana Tragedy: The Story the former, and his first standalone movie, the David nicer. She liked the idea of a Marlowe of the Jim Jones Massacre (1980) and, Essex-starring Silver Dream Racer. series and told College Trustees to miracle of miracles, he agreed to meet me. B As the 1980s dawned, the ambitiously creative Wickes negotiate a deal. Now all we needed was “To be honest, I found Powers a bit looked towards making his mark in Hollywood...“Ever since I enough money to buy the rights.” gloomy over lunch, but that was just his was a kid, there have been only two fictional detectives I cared about: Sherlock ‘meetings’ demeanour; on screen, he had a Holmes and Philip Marlowe, and there have been many portrayals of these AN ACCEPTABLE STAR truly compelling presence. I was hooked. A heroes, especially in movies. The trouble with doing Marlowe on television was “Shakespeare once wrote, ‘The first thing few days later, both HBO and LWT approved that his creator, Raymond Chandler, hated it. Before Chandler died, he told his we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.’ I wouldn’t him. Now the wheels began to turn. We agent Helga Greene (wife of BBC Director General Sir Hugh Carleton Greene, go that far, but the entertainment made two Marlowe series, the first in the UK and the sister-in-law of novelist Graham Greene) never to license the character industry is often suffocated by legalities and LA and the second in Canada. I directed of Marlowe to some rubbishy TV company. Movies yes, TV no. – expensive wrangles that benefit only the opening episode, as I nearly always do. “When I started planning the Philip Marlowe, Private Eye (1983, 1986) series the lawyers. After months of legal hassle, Then, for the rest of the first series, I brought I didn’t know this. I soon found out, though. Mrs Greene never returned my I borrowed a lot of money and became in Peter Hunt (On Her Majesty’s Secret calls to Switzerland, Sir Hugh ignored me completely and the administrators of the proud owner of a very important Service, 1969), Sidney Hayers (Baywatch Bo Hopkins (American Graffiti (1973) and Above: Chandler’s estate (College Trustees in Guernsey) hung up on me. document – the world TV rights to (1989-2001) and Knight Rider (1982-86)), and Midnight Express (1978)) and, of course, Klaus Kinski gets physical with his “I was about to throw in the towel when a stroke of luck came out of America’s most famous detective: Philip Bryan Forbes (The Stepford Wives (1975) and the infamous Klaus Kinski. The show lovely young wife nowhere. One day, my assistant Bronwen Gray mentioned that she had met Marlowe. I was heavily in debt but I now The Whisperers (1967)). To everyone’s relief, did a lot better than I thought it would, Belinda Bauer in ‘Lovesounds’ a Helga Greene’s best friend Catherine Sorley Walker, a Fleet Street ballet had something no one else had. the show got great ratings on both sides of especially in North America. Yes, I do 1984 episode of critic. At that time, I was friendly with a ballerina, so we fixed up a little “That’s when the publisher George the Atlantic and some very pleasing reviews. think it’s underrated, and yes, a few of the The Hitchhiker, aka Deadly dinner party. Bingo – the ballet critic agreed to ask her friend Helga to Weidenfeld suggested that I contact a We won a handful of ACE Awards as well. lnto episodes do deserve comparison with The Nightmares return my next call. man called Fred Cohen in New York. Fred the bargain, I even paid off my debt!” Twilight Zone. Robert Fairclough concludes his interview with director David Wickes, who discusses his work on such popular TV shows as Philip Marlowe, Private Eye and his THE WICKEShad justMAN joined a new American company award-winning Jack the Ripper TV called Home Box Office. HBO were just Part starting; they were a cable TV company movie with Michael Caine… specialising in sports and old movies. At Two that point, they’d never made a drama and had no plans to do so. Powers Boothe (also seen above) and Kathryn Leigh “But, at Fred Cohen’s suggestion, I Scott in Philip Marlowe, Private Eye flew to New York and presented my half- Right: David Wickes on set, directing an episode of finished Marlowe plans to the HBO board the 1983 series on 6th Avenue. This involved music demos, location photographs, budgets, crew lists, cast wish-lists, and all the usual paraphernalia. Did my half-prepared presentation work? No. I was jet-lagged out of my mind and I made a dog’s breakfast of it. All I got from the HBO board, on the 34th floor of the Time Life building, were a few polite nods. I was not even close. CANADIAN TWILIGHT ZONE “Back in London, I had a chat with LWT’s “Deadly Nightmares (1989-1991), controller of programmes Michael Grade originally titled The Hitchhiker, was a (later BBC Chairman and head of ITV). series of anthology stories linked by a Michael was about to leave LWT and take recurring character, the Hitchhiker (Page up a post in Hollywood, but he loved the Fletcher). It was something like the third idea of the Marlowe series and signed LWT or fourth drama series to be made by RAISING CAINE Above: up for half the budget. The only problem I HBO. The series was to be shot in Quebec, “Now the pace picked up. Jack the Ripper Michael Caine as Inspector now faced was getting the other half. So I Canada, but apparently the preparation (1988) was the first prime time, coast- Frederick took a silly risk: I flew back to HBO, waving period had been rather muddled. HBO to-coast US network show, shown on the Abberline with Jane Seymour’s Michael’s offer, and made a much better asked me to go in and do some rewriting CBS channel, to be made by a non-US Emma in Jack the presentation. Within a week, HBO agreed and direct a few episodes. When I got to production company (Thames/Euston). Ripper (1988) to sign up – but only if I could bring them Montreal, a lot needed doing – location There have been others since, but ours an acceptable star. finding, casting, crew selection, you name was the very first. It got record ratings in “Oh boy. Marlowe has been played by it. And there was something more: have the USA and the UK (there’s a Daily Mirror Humphrey Bogart and Robert Mitchum. you ever been to Quebec in November? article somewhere saying over 20 million). How could I top them? Broke though It’s colder than anywhere I had been At the Golden Globes, we were nominated I was, I survived for several weeks in before. It was like trying to work at the for the best miniseries and Michael Caine, Beverly Hills, calling agents who had never North Pole. “Nonetheless, we managed starring as Inspector Frederick Abberline, heard of me. It was my first real taste of to attract some good names – Robert won the Globe for best actor. Until the Los Angeles power brokers. Eventually, Vaughn (The Man From UNCLE, 1964-68), American-made Lonesome Dove came 58 INFINITY INFINITY 59 fashioned, but I’d rather be beamed up by himself at that time in his life. Scottie. “America’s ABC and Britain’s LWT “So far, so good. Then I did another of jumped at the idea of Jekyll. Together, my ‘firsts’. As with some of the others, I they financed the show and we shot the soon began to wonder why. The location I whole thing in England. It was the first chose for the picture was Poland. production for my own company, David “Poland had just emerged after 46 years Wickes Television, was two hours long – behind the Iron Curtain, cut off from the half the length of Ripper – but the viewer rest of the world. The people were very numbers stood up well. They were only welcoming, and the period architecture and a fraction less than the Ripper ratings so landscapes were just right for Frankenstein. everyone was happy. Still in the ‘Gothic’ Best of all, from Turner Pictures’ point of vein, I completed a development for The view, everything there was cheap. Our UK Hunchback of Notre Dame, but I couldn’t partner – dear old Thames – had just lost get an American end-user interested. their broadcasting license and they were as Ripper, of course, but it was a landmark Clockwise from So DWT made Frankenstein instead. My rather preoccupied, so they let me go full for Turner. opposite below: David Wickes American agent sent me to see Ted Turner. speed ahead for Poland. behind the scenes His company Turner Pictures seemed “However, things were not quite as RETURN OF CI5 on Jack the Ripper (1988) with star right for a TV movie of Frankenstein, and they seemed. Despite several visits to “CI5: The New Professionals (1999) was a Michael Caine; their casting department wanted to use Warsaw by our crew chiefs and despite career highlight.