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GORDON GREB |
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MOVIE DEAL  |
WHAT A CONCEPT!
SPIELBERG, MOVE OVER!
of TheColumnists.com
I have an idea for a blockbuster film. It not only involves Abraham Lincoln but contains everything audiences flock to movie houses to see--the kind with plenty of danger, villains, heroes, escapes and great last-minute rescues.
Since Hollywood loves this kind subject, maybe it ought to be made it into a movie? Almost from the start of feature-length filmmaking, Civil War has been one of the major themes, Certainly “Gone With the Wind” is one of the most famous Academy Award winners.
The reason we get great pictures of this kind isn’t for smiles and adulation. That isn’t the real purpose for going all-out for an Oscar. It’s the money.
Taking home the golden statue is worth millions at the box office. It’s the reason d’etre for making movies in the first place. That’s why tinsel town had its big whoop-te-do at Kodak Theatre the other night and why Hollywood turned the spotlight on itself to generate a worldwide audience for its Oscar Night. It’s the money, stupid!
Once having said that, you’ll think I’m crazy to ask the following question: If you knew a near-perfect plot for a smash-hit motion picture, would you sell it or give it away free?
Washington columnist Art Buchwald knew the answer. When this humorist got such an idea not long ago he never hesitated a moment knowing what to do but immediately sat down at his typewriter, drafted a script, and shopped it around the studios. Buchwald wasn’t stupid. He certainly didn’t give it away!
Was it a great idea? A judge finally decided that indeed it was a new and novel concept for a movie, since a major studio produced it starring Eddie Murphy, called it “Coming to America” (1988) and made a pile of money. No Academy Award winner but who cares? Well, Buchwald did.
Somebody to whom he formally
offered the script forgot to acknowledge his contribution and
failed to adequately compensate Buchwald. So he took them to
court, got credited as the original author and ultimately won
what everyone wanted--the money!
Knowing this, it would
be foolhardy for me to tell you my story, wouldn’t it? No,
not really, since I have complete faith in our copyright laws,
trial lawyers, and what Jimmy Stewart taught me about my country
in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”--final
justice for every red-blooded boy with a pure heart, who believes
fully in the U.S. Constitution, and Mom’s apple pie. Here,
my friends, is my real-life movie!
First, I do not intend to reveal the whole plot at the outset. The story is too good to give away its twists, turns and endings. But I can guarantee you one thing- it’s about a world famous hero for his time, both in Europe and America. When Lincoln first knew him, he confided, “I may tell you that no man is closer to my heart than you are.”
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Sheldon Currier and Moshe Ives to do the storyboards for his 'STAR-SPANGLED HERO.' Here they show the film's hero leading a major charge by infantry during the War Between the States. Prof. Greb has agreed to play the cameo role of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. |
A war hero, statesman,
journalist and true to the greatest ideals of our country, he
is virtually unknown by most Americans today. One reason is that
it’s hard for people to believe that anyone could love liberty,
justice and equality as much as he did since
the harsh reality is that too many leaders of his own country
of origin came to represent the exact opposite.
Only when the U.S. Post Office printed his portrait on a stamp on June 2, 1963, did this man come to my attention. When it was handed to me by a desk clerk, I stared at the new issue and asked, “Who is this guy on the new stamp?” The puzzled postal employee shrugged his shoulders, and asked his coworkers. Nobody knew. Nor did the supervisor. So it fell upon me to run down the story myself.
Imagine a Hollywood producer interested in my story’s basic plot outline and we’re visiting him at his palatial home in Beverly Hills. Let’s say, it’s Steven Spielberg (“Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Schindler’s List”) who’s listening.
DIRECTOR: Whatza got, gramps? I won’t call you kid, because--
GG: Yes, I know. But my
story is ageless. You starred Harrison Ford in something similar
time and again. It also ends with the hero risking everything,
going through revolution, wars, a prison break, and a huge police
hunt but ending with the rescue of
himself, his victim, and finally many of his own people in the
end.
DIR: So it has a beginning, middle and an end. Let’s have it.
GG: What the audience sees first is a country denying democracy to its subjects who are under the heel of an outdated aristocracy. Picture a large European landscape with old fashioned castles, kings, princes, and an outdated government.
One day a deadly, growing unrest finally sweeps the country, igniting college students everywhere, whose protest leads to revolution. Among those seeking a democratic state is one among them who is young, handsome and idealistic, who has been inspired by his history teacher. So he joins the fight to overthrow tyranny and establish a free republic.
DIR: I can visualize a lot of this. I see great scenery, color, action, and danger all facing this kid. This is fundamentally exciting. How old is your hero?
GG: Only 20 when the revolution
breaks out. But he’s had earlier military training, proves
himself an effective leader, but in the last battle against the
forces of royalty is trapped in a castle. He manages to make
his escape with a few friends through a
sewer. But knowing that if caught they will be shot or hanged,
they cross a perilous river to safety in France, then later to
Switzerland.
DIR: That’s not the end of your story, I hope.
GG: This is only the beginning.
While our man is now safe, word reaches him in Switzerland that
his history professor was caught and is now imprisoned. His wife
pleads for help from his loyal friends and associates. On hearing
of this need, our young man again risks his life, disguises himself,
returns to his homeland and
secretly visits the professor’s wife, promising to get him
out.
DIR: Foolhardy, dangerous, but--
GG: Our hero heads for the prison, having obtained a king’s ransom in money raised by his anxious wife and many wealthy friends. There he frequents a pub where local prison guards hang out and eat their meals. Patiently waiting till he finds the one man he considers the “weakest link”--somebody desperately in need of money--he effects a bribe and hatches his scheme.
DIR: You said the professor is being held in a castle?
GG: Yes, locked in a cell
at the top. But now our young man has a guard on the inside,
whose knowledge of the layout, work shifts, and opportunity enables
the two of them to work out a plan. The zero hour to effect an
escape takes place one night in the
darkness.
DIR: What did they do?
GG: At the right time,
the cell door was unlocked by the guard and in the middle of
the night the professor was lowered by rope to the street below.
Nobody was around at this time in the morning. But our hero is
ready below, waiting with a carriage of fast
horses. They jump in and make a quick, mad dash for the nearest
port, exchanging exhausted horses for fresh animals at predetermined
points. When they finally reach the coast there is a hired vessel
waiting, which takes them to safety--and the sanctuary of England.
A perfect plan--a great escape!
DIR: You said this is an historical fact?
GG: Absolutely! Our hero
not only rescued his professor but he arranged for a reunion
with his wife in London. Furthermore, our resourceful young man--once
the news became headlines on the European continent--sold the
story to a major London
newspaper. He got the press to bid for the privilege of carrying
his own by-lined story. He not only became a famous hero but
was well paid besides.
DIR: Very clever fellow--but what’s his name again?
GG: So far I never told
you his name, but you’ll find it in many American history
books. Our hero married in London and came to America in l852.
He came to
prominence as a successful Michigan attorney, editor and journalist,
abolitionist, and supporter of Lincoln in l862, which earned
him appointment as minister to Spain.
Soon after arriving in Spain, he was eager to fight for the Union cause and asked Lincoln to let him resign so he could raise a regiment for active duty. Becoming a Major General he fought with his troops till the end of the war, including engagements at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg.
After Lincoln’s assassination
he argued for better treatment of freed Negroes in the South
in a report commissioned by President Johnson. Sixteen years
after coming to America he had become an American Civil War veteran,
a successful newspaper publisher, a U. S. Senator elected from
Missouri, Secretary of the Interior, and a man credited with
helping to eliminate the corrupt spoils system with an effective
civil
service.
DIR: Now I really must know his name.
GG: His name is Carl Schurz, a German-American born on March 2, 1829, at Liblar near Cologne. He was forced to flee his country when he and others like him failed in their effort to establish a democratic republic in Germany in 1848.
I have a special affinity for Mr. Schurz because he had the same goals and aspirations as my own kin in the l9th century. One of my own great grandfathers who participated in the 1848 democratic revolution had to flee Germany without even being able to say goodbye to his own mother
Sadly too few Americans today--if any-- will celebrate Carl Schurz’s birthday on March 2. But chances are good that someday they will.
DIR: When will that be?
GG: After they see our
movie!
©2005
by Gordon Greb. The "Deja Vu Theatre" and Currier &
Ives drawings are from IMSI's
Master Clips Collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd. E., San Rafael,
CA, 94901-5506, USA. This column first posted March 7, 2005.
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