Page 8 - JIMMY REARDON LETTER TO CHICAGO CRITICS
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After a meeting with Fox’s replacement composer Bill Conti, himself an academy
award winner who promised to slant his music in a classical direction whenever he
was able to, there followed a full year’s struggle for every new piece of music and
narration, saving what I could of what I felt was the “conscience” of the movie. I
never could stomach hearing the oldie “You’ve got to shop around” in place of our
Johnny Mathis original title song “I’m not afraid to say goodbye” (to one night
stands.)
I was not happy they had decided to open the movie with musical merchandising
advice from Fox that kids should “shop around” – maybe at their record stores?
This was just the opposite message found in Johnny Mathis’ “I’m not afraid to say
goodbye.” Because the ilm had veracity and authenticity based in the literature of
my own life that kind of propagandistic corporate sales advice bothered me, espe-
cially coming at the very irst moment of the movie, and when it plays contrary to
the content of the movie itself.
Besides, this was the Eighties. I protested to Fox
that the whole country was petriied of AIDS; was
this what they really wanted to communicate to the
young? -- Yes it was, apparently.
While this re-editing occurred along with a slow
preparation for the new Fox release, nearly two
long years went by in dismal limbo. Our young
stars seemed to age dramatically -- especially
River, our youngest lead actor. Going from age six-
teen to eighteen is a massive evolution in adolescence.
I remember a touching call from River from the Fox sound stage, after laying down
new tracks in his own voice, telling me that he was listening to my original narra-
tion before doing his own, and saying he was sorry that he didn’t sound “old
enough.”
The Malthusian Trap turned to a Faustian bargain during that long, painful period,
when River began to hear the rumors that the movie we made was almost shelved,
which accounted for the delayed showing of the movie in theaters.
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