February 2015 List

FEBRUARY 2015 LIST DUEL REDUX-WHAT WOULD MY FAVORITE MOVIE BE LIKE IN 2015?? If’ you’ve been a Fred’s customer for any length of time, you probably know my favorite movie of all time is Duel, the 1971 made for tv thriller about an extended car/truck chase through Northern California that was Speilberg’s directorial debut and a terrific one by any measure. I’ve seen this movie dozens of times and never get tired of it, even after many recent viewings on ELREY channel. I practically have every line and scene memorized and love every minute of this production. Recently, I started to wonder what this movie would be like if Speilberg had done it in 2015. I’ve also spent plenty of time imagining what I would have done with the film, given command of the production. The answer is, not much at all would change, except for the actors and actresses. Chronologically, the film begins with a car starting a trip from a first ring suburb in California, through downtown streets, along a multitude of major highways at rush hour, and gradually on rural roads. During this sequence, we hear all sorts of commercials, traffic, weather and sports reports and a bit of jazz music before Dennis Weaver is finally shown as the driver. In 2015, with talk radio greatly diminished from more than 40 years ago, we would have to have a mix of more music and less talk. The driver would use steering wheel controls for changing stations instead of using radio controls. Not a major problem and maybe viewers would rather hear music instead of commercials for dog food and hemmoroid cream. Other minor but solvable issues come after the first encounter with the truck, at the gas station. In 2015, the actor playing Dennis Weaver would have a cell phone instead of making calls at a pay phone. Or not. There’s decent chance he would have to use a pay phone anyway, if the cell phone was out of range. Also, in 2015, Dennis’ wife, portrayed by Jacqueline Scott, would be a working mom and not a stay at home type. No problem. Just shoot the scene at a workplace. Finally, “checking under the hood” is gone or almost gone these days, so that scene would have to be cut from the script. No big deal. The David Mann character could see a check engine light flashing off and on and ignore it. Its smooth sailing most of the rest of the way. The dramatic chase from the gas station to Chuck’s Café is fine the way it is. Actually, we can use Chuck’s in the 2015 film as its still standing, according to the latest information. We will leave the scene at Chuck’s with no changes and the chase to the Snakerama station as well. Gotta love reptiles. Maybe we will take out the chained up coyote from the scene, though. I didn’t care for that one at all. Perhaps the most serious change will be the car’s radiator hose failure going up the mountain. Radiator hose failures still happen, but not nearly as often as 40 years ago. We should go with the check engine light going on near the first gas station and the driver ignoring it…until halfway up the mountain when the car starts to miss and sputter, the check engine light blinking off and on as the car struggles up the grade. We are good to go from there, though. The final scene of car versus truck is played out, with the car losing but the car driver winning. But other changes must be made. Let’s start with the most obvious issue; an updated car, truck and trailer. I loved Duel in part because Dennis Weaver’s 71 Valiant looked so close to my dad’s 73, although dad’s was dark brown. The humble Valiant was a good match for Weaver’s character, simple, dependable, not flashy but reliable. I’ve found a 2015 red Chevy Cruz will fill the bill in 2015’s Duel. There are so many of these cars on the road that it wouldn’t stand out among other flashier vehicles. In 2015, we could use a conventional daycab truck for the bad guy’s vehicle. I would prefer a Kenworth or Pete, especially something from the 70’s, but the choices are wide open. A larger issue is the shorty tanker trailer used in the original movie. These tankers are long gone, as far as I can tell, so an update is in order. We could go with a modern but much longer tanker trailer, or, in my opinion, a shorter box trailer that would be able to handle the speeds needed for the movie without jackknifing or causing a serious wreck. Let’s make sure the truck and trailer are sandblasted or covered in a mess for the aging affect. Now, we get into the fun job of choosing a director/producer, lead actor, a number of supporting actors and actresses, and the very crucial jobs of stunt coordinator, stunt car and stunt truck drivers. Dennis Weaver is one of my favorite all time actors. He had a distinguished career of about 50 years in a variety of tv and movie roles (has anybody seen a DVD set for McCloud??). He played the part of a mid 30’s age traveling salesman well. Who could replace him? A well known actor or someone relatively new to the movie industry? Ben Affleck? Too good looking. Will Ferrell? Too creepy looking. Kevin Spacey? Too short and old. Mark Wahlberg? Too blue collar. This is where you come in. Please give me some ideas on this crucial topic. How about a director/producer? Well, some guy named Speilberg might be available. Yeah, the same guy who did such a brilliant job in 1971 could do as well or better in 2015. Imagine what he could do with an unlimited budget instead of the $450,000 he was given to work with years ago. Case closed, one less problem to worry about. Since driving is so vital to the success of this movie, we need real pros for drivers and a coordinator. I like Stanton Barrett as the car driver. This guy can do just about anything on four wheels, as you’ve probably seen, and I think he could handle hauling the Chevy Cruz around the back roads of California. The stunt driver for the truck is wide open. Cary Loftin was great as the original truck driver and stunt coordinator, but he is long gone. Frankly, I don’t have a clue who to pick from. Most stunt drivers drive cars, so please help me with this. For stunt coordinator how about Joie Chitwood, although he is currently involved with Nascar. Picking a small assortment of supporting actors and actresses won’t be difficult, although it would be nice to have a few familiar faces in the bunch somewhere. The problem is there just isn’t much dialogue in the script and no one character stands out. Jacqueline Scott, who played Dennis Weaver’s wife, had exactly one scene in the move. Too bad, she had a productive career on radio and tv/moves. Same with Eddie Firestone, who played Chuck’s Café owner. Eddie was especially successful in radio before tv became popular post WWII. Gene Dynarski, who beat the crap out of Weaver in Chuck’s Café, was already a veteran actor by 1971. So too was Lou Frizell, the dimwitted school bus driver in the original movie. Tim Herbert and Lucille Benson, the respective gas station owners, also had acting experience. Finding replacements for the Chuck’s Café waitress, Shirley O’Hara and the old people in the car, Alexander Lockwood and Amy Douglass won’t be a problem either. Actually, I would hire my neighbors Fran and Paul to play the old folks. They have no acting experience and aren’t married in real life, but I like them anyway. The rest of the people in Chuck’s Café aren’t even mentioned in the credits, due to their lack of a significant role.. No problem finding cowboy wannabes and one bar slut to fill space. There you have it. Would Duel 2015 be successful in the theaters in this age, or at least as a tv movie. Questionable as a movie, I think, but a good chance on tv. The public is too demanding with what they want in theaters in 2015, looking for the latest and greatest in special effects, violence, cursing and probably nudity as well. None of this fits with Duel, in 1971 or 2015. Its simply a match of two men and their machines, nothing more or less. Please help me make the 2015 Duel as great as 1971! TIRED OF PAYING RIDICULOUS PRICES FOR NEWER ISSUE KITS? One would think with most kits being made in China prices would be reasonable. Not. I’ve been to a few big box retailers who sell kits and prices for Revell and AMT car kits average about $21 to $25. Golly gee, who can afford to be in this hobby? You have to make a decision on whether to drop model kit building or caviar? Oh, right, salty fish eggs are for snobs, and you are no snob. Choice C? Visit Fred’s for newer issue kits at prices averaging about $9 to $12. We don’t have multiples of most kits, but we do have a larger selection than most big box stores, so leave the caviar in the fridge and give us a call.

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