Raw L. The Ridley Scott Encyclopedia

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between vampirism and sexuality, a connection brought out

also in the film and television versions.

THE HUNGER (TELEVISION)

US 1997–1998, 1999–2000 TV series, 44 ⫻ 30 min episodes

col. Production Companies: The Movie Network, Scott Free and

Telescene Film Group Productions. Producers: Chris Burt, Jeff

Fazio, Ridley Scott, and Tony Scott. Directors: Russell Mulcahy

(six episodes), Darrell Wasyk (five episodes), Erik Canuel

(three episodes), Daniel Grou (three episodes), Tony Scott (two

episodes), Jeff Fazio (two episodes), Alain Desrochers (two

episodes). Writers: Gerald Wexler (ten episodes), Bruce M.

Smith (eight episodes), Terry Curtis Fox (five episodes), David

J. Schow (five episodes), Gemma Files (four episodes), Mark

Nelson (three episodes), Graham Masterton (three episodes),

Marianne Ackerman (two episodes), Harlan Ellison (two

episodes), Craig Miller (two episodes), Poppy Z. Bate

(two episodes). Directors of Photography: François Protat (six

episodes), Bernard Couture (four episodes), Pierre Gill

(three episodes), John Mathieson. Production Designers: Syl-

vain Gingras (twenty-two episodes), Michel Proulx (four

episodes), Tom Foden. Music: Benoît Juras (eighteen episodes),

F. M. Le Sieur (seven episodes). Cast: Terence Stamp (Host:

first series), David Bowie (Host: second series).

Two series of horror films, lasting twenty-four minutes,

inspired by Tony Scott’s 1983 film of the same name. Both

ran for twenty-two episodes each. Each episode was based

on a self-contained story introduced by the hosts—TER-

ENCE STAMP (in the first series) and DAVID BOWIE (the

second series). Stories focused on the themes of self-

destruction and obsession, with a strong erotic component

(one of the main attractions of Showtime products). Pop-

ular themes for the series included cannibalism, vampirism,

sex and poison.

Some of the episodes in the opening season were

directed by TONY SCOTT and Ridley Scott’s son JAKE

SCOTT. This was Tony Scott’s first venture into television

directing; in a prebroadcast interview he described the

thirty-minute format as “very immediate,” providing oppor-

tunities for “a fresh look, fresh energy and fresh pacing.” Rid-

ley Scott believed that the series would prove attractive to

audiences in the wake of the success of science fiction films

such as Independence Day (1996), so long as it was suitably

structured: “Any fantasy . . . is only powerful and only really

functions well if the creator has set up parameters, and

within those parameters are the elements of the truth for

that story. Science fiction gives the director, the artists, and

the writer a stage upon which anything can go—providing

you stay within the bounds of the walls that you set for your-

self before you set out.”

Scott described The Hunger in an interview with Cine-

fantastique as “a facet of fantasy. It isn’t science in this

instance. It’s psychological, sexual fantasy. It’s ‘hunger’—the

association of the word ‘hunger’ is also ‘yearning.’ Put

together, hunger and yearning have a different, slightly sin-

ister undertone. That’s the series.” Tony Scott added that

the episodes would provide “a wholly different look at

vampires—not vampires with teeth . . . these characters

come through as being otherworldly or mortal beings. We

try to make them as credible and as real-life as possible.”

Filmed largely in Canada, the series was deliberately

small-scale both in terms of casting and production values.

Although not well received at the time, both series have

subsequently acquired a cult following, being released on

DVD in 2002 and 2003. A list of episodes with plot sum-

maries follows:

Series 1

1. “The Swords” (broadcast 20 July 1997). Director:

Tony Scott. Cast: BALTHAZAR GETTY. A lonely

young American becomes infatuated with a showgirl

whose body seems not to suffer any pain when she is

stabbed with swords. However, their love affair changes

everything.

2. “Marriage à Trois” (broadcast 20 July 1997). Director:

Jake Scott. Director of Photography: JOHN MATH-

IESON. Cast: Lena Headey, Daniel Craig. A disabled

woman runs a lascivious household with a young man

and a nurse.

3. “Necros” (broadcast 20 July 1997). Director: RUSSELL

MULCAHY. Cast: Philip Casnoff. A man falls for a deadly

combination of a beautiful woman and her elderly

companion.

4. “The Face of Helene Bournouw” (broadcast 27 Febru-

ary 1998). Director: Richard Cuipka. Cast: Stephen

McHattie. A woman in a red overcoat causes many peo-

ple to commit suicide.

5. “But at My Back, I Always Hear” (broadcast 31 August

1997). Director: Patricia Rozema. Cast: Michael Gross.

A university professor is tormented by a female student.

6. “Footsteps” (broadcast 27 March 1998). Director: Jimmy

Kaufman. Cast: Sofia Shinas. A vampire-woman

searches for male victims and eventually meets a fellow

vampire.

7. “Red Light” (broadcast 21 September 1997). Director:

Christian Dugury. Cast: Lilliana Komorowska. A pho-

tographer obsessively snaps one of his female victims.

8. “Room 17” (broadcast 10 August 1997). Director: ERIK

CANUEL. Cast: Curtis Armstrong. A traveling sales rep-

resentative encounters his ideal woman on the televi-

sion screen.

9. “The Secret Shih Tan” (broadcast 27 July 1997). Direc-

tor: Russell Mulcahy. Cast: Jason Scott-Lee. An upwardly

mobile chef serves up a human being as a special dish.

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10. “The Other Woman” (broadcast 20 March 1998). Direc-

tor: George Mihalka. Cast: JOANNA CASSIDY. A top

female fashion designer falls for her married boss.

11. “Clarimonde” (broadcast 20 March 1998). Director:

Tom De y. Cast: David Lahaye, Audrey Benoît. A celibate

priest is tempted by the thoughts of an ideal woman.

12. “Bridal Suite” (broadcast 3 August 1997). Director:Erik

Canuel. Cast: Sally Kirkland, Colin Ferguson. A young

married couple spends a night at a lonely inn. After a

night of passionate lovemaking the groom disappears.

13. “The Sloan Men” (broadcast 28 September 1997).

Director: Darrell Wasyk. Cast: Margot Kidder, Clare

Sims. A newly wed woman discovers that her husband

and father-in-law have magical powers over her.

14. “Plain Brown Envelope” (broadcast 6 March 1998).

Director: Michel David. Cast: Jesse Borrego. A hitchhiker

encounters a man whose truck is full of sex-aids.

15. “A Matter of Style” (broadcast 26 October 1997). Direc-

tor: John Hamilton. Cast: Chad Lowe, Isabelle Cya. A

vampire educates her protégé in the black arts.

16. “Anais” (broadcast 17 August 1997). Director: Darrell

Wasyk. Cast: Nick Mancuso, Rebecca Dewey. An archi-

tect finds that all his drawings include a beautiful girl

who fulfills all his sexual fantasies.

17. “I’m Dangerous Tonight” (broadcast 21 September

1997). Director: Russell Mulcahy. Cast: Esai Morales,

Marie-Josee Croze. A young fashion designer causes

mayhem while wearing a red dress.

18. “Fly by Night” (broadcast 31 January 1998). Director:

Pierre Dalpé. Cast: Giancarlo Esposito, Kim Feeney. A

war veteran encounters a vampire while spending the

night in a mental hospital.

19. “No Radio” (broadcast 24 August 1997). Director:

Howard Rodman. Cast: Amanda de Cadenet, Bruce

Ramsay. Extra-marital lovers indulge in a complex

series of role-plays.

20. “The Lighthouse” (broadcast 20 February 1998). Direc-

tor: Darrell Wasyk from a story by Edgar Allan Poe.

Cast: Bruce Davidson. A man with a broken heart tries

and fails to find solace in an isolated lighthouse.

21. “A River of Night’s Dreaming” (broadcast 6 February

1998). Director: John Warwicker. Cast: Ann Turkel,

Marni Thompson. A female jailbird finds herself in a

mysterious convent-like institution.

22. “Hidebound” (broadcast 23 January 1998). Director:Jeff

Fazio. Cast: Brooke Smith, Paul Hopkins. A student tak-

ing a part-time job as a security guard meets an evil

spirit in a lonely building.

Series 2

1. “Sanctuary” (broadcast 10 September 1999). Director:

Tony Scott. Cast: David Bowie, Tony Calabretta. A

crazed artist conducts bizarre experiments on a detec-

tive working for one of his rivals.

2. “Skin Deep” (broadcast 10 September 1999). Director:

LUKE SCOTT. Cast: Sarain Boylan, Kim Feeney. A

young woman falls in love with a lesbian dancer.

3. “The Dream Sentinel” (broadcast 10 September 1999).

Director: Chris Hartwill. Cast: Eric Roberts, Alice Poon.

A lap-dancer is haunted by the ghost of a previous

lover.

4. “Wrath of God” (broadcast 9 January 2000). Director:

Russell Mulcahy. Cast: Anthony Michael Hall, Carl

Bernard. An angel dedicated to eradicating evil tor-

ments an apartment block.

5. “Nunc Dimittis” (broadcast 10 October 1999). Director:

Russell Mulcahy. Cast: David Warner, Marini Orsini. An

elderly retainer looks for a young hoodlum to take his

place in a princess household.

6. “The Seductress” (broadcast 13 February 2000). Direc-

tor: Alain Desrochers. Cast: William Katt, Rachel Hay-

ward. A middle-aged female novelist seduces a young

boy and suffers as a result.

7. “Brass” (broadcast 21 November 1999). Director:Jeff

Fazio. Cast: Polly Shannon, Jesse Todd. A middle-aged

man is tormented by a witch.

8. “Approaching Desdemona ”(broadcast 6 February

2000). Director: Jason Hreno. Cast: William McNamara,

Marie-Josée Colburn. A man falls in love with an ideal

woman who emerges from his computer screen.

9. “Week Woman” (broadcast 17 October 1999). Director:

Daniel Grou. Cast: Brooke Smith, David La Haye. A

French artist marries a lesbian but finds he has got more

than he expects.

10. “Triangle in Steel” (broadcast 14 September 1999).

Director: Adrian Moat. Cast: Richard Robtaille, Victoria

Sanchez. A man working on a bridge in a remote area

falls in love with a a member of the NATIVE PEOPLES

with unfortunate results.

11. “The Falling Man” (broadcast 27 February 2000). Direc-

tor: Daniel Grou. Cast: A. Martinez, Maria Bertrand. An

architect falls in love with a young artist.

12. “Night Bloomer” (broadcast 24 October 1999). Direc-

tor: Erik Canuel. Cast: Glenn Plummer, Renée Madeline

Le Guerrier. An ambitious executive and an unscrupu-

lous scientist create a poisonous plant.

13. “The Suction Method” (broadcast 5 March 2000).

Director: Darrell Wasyk. Cast: Fisher Stevens, Valérie

Valois. An unusual view of carpet cleaning in suburban

America.

14. “I’m Very Dangerous Tonight” (never broadcast). Direc-

tor: Alain Desrochers. Cast: Paul Hopkins. A husband

buys his wife a red dress, which transforms her into a

deadly force.

THE HUNGER

(TELEVISION)

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15. “Replacements” (broadcast 28 November 1999). Direc-

tor: Bruce M. Smith. Cast: Andreas Apergis, Pascale

Devigne. A childless husband is menaced by vampires.

16. “And She Laughed” (broadcast 3 October 1999). Direc-

tor: Jean Beaudin. Cast: Jennifer Beals, Ben Bass. A

young academic living alone is menaced by a mysteri-

ous intruder.

17. “The Sacred Fire” (broadcast 3 January 2000). Director:

Russell Mulcahy. Cast: Kim Huffman, James Marshall.

A Good Samaritan meets a psychopathic schoolmate

after many years.

18. “The Diarist” (broadcast 31 October 1999). Director:

Alain Desrochers. Cast: Lisa Ann Hadley, Ian M. Wat-

son. A young woman uses witchcraft to take revenge on

her ex-lover.

19. “Double” (never broadcast). Director: John L’Écuyer.

Cast: Lori Petty. A woman meets her doppelganger who

tries to kill her.

20. “Bottle of Smoke” (broadcast 16 January 2000). Direc-

tor: Jean Beaudin. Cast: Cathy Moriarty, Soo Gray. A

woman visiting Morocco in the 1940s inherits a bottle

with a genie in it.

21. “Sin Seer” (broadcast 7 November 1999). Director:

Daniel Grou. Cast: Brad Dourif, Nancy-Ann Michaud.

A psychopath predicts the future.

22. “The Perfect Couple” (broadcast 23 January 2000).

Director: Darrell Wasyk. Cast: Bruce Dinsmore, Marie-

Josée Colburn. A happy husband and wife are plagued

by a mysterious presence.

Despite the producers’ claims that the series would be

“fresh” and “credible,” the first series of The Hunger is actu-

ally very predictable; each episode follows a familiar pattern,

with the protagonists suffering in one way or another, being

involved in the obligatory sex scene and eventually being

destroyed or destroying someone else. The characters con-

form to fairly predictable gender stereotypes (women are

either victims or rapacious whores) while the photography

is generally influenced by rock video conventions, with rapid

cuts and colorful imagery.

Nonetheless, there are some aspects of the series that are

worth commenting on. In “The Secret Shih Tan” (Series 1,

Episode 9) a megalomaniac socialite Hugo (Kenneth Welsh)

asks an upwardly mobile Chinese restaurant chef to cook

him a meal according to the dictates laid down in the secret

Shih Tan; a book of forbidden knowledge known only to the

Chinese. When the chef objects, Hugo threatens to close his

restaurant down. Eventually the chef agrees, even though he

has to serve human flesh as part of the meal. The Shih Tan

rules dictate that the flesh must be female, and must be

taken at the point of orgasm. The chef duly makes love to

Hugo’s beautiful female sidekick, but kills Hugo and cooks

him instead. Director Russell Mulcahy’s emphasis on the

violence associated with oriental ritual recalls similar scenes

in BLACK RAIN.

Kim Feeney’s performance in “Fly By Night” (Series 1,

Episode 18) as a war veteran in charge of a platoon, whose

leadership abilities are called into question when one of her

soldiers is accidentally blown up, anticipates DEMI MOORE’s

characterization in G.I. JANE. Both women are slim, almost

man-like in appearance, fond of showing off their muscles

and ready to fight with men at any and every opportunity. In

“Fly By Night” the soldier is eventually driven mad with guilt,

sells her soul to a vampire (Giancarlo Esposito), and decides

to “leave nothing living” in pursuit of “eternal life.”

The best episodes in the series are the first two—“The

Swords” and “Marriage à Trois.” Both of them were filmed

in England. The first, directed by Tony Scott concerns a

young woman (Amanda Ryan) who forms part of a specialty

act where she is stabbed with sharp-edged swords and

apparently feels no pain. She encounters a young American

(Balthazar Getty) and falls in love, releasing a flood of emo-

tion within her. Unable to cope with this, she no longer

remains impervious to the swords, and dies on stage. Like

Rachael in BLADE RUNNER, the young woman led a

REPLICANT-like existence until the man comes along. The

entire episode is photographed in a series of bright colors,

mirroring the turbulence within her mind.

“Marriage à Trois,” photographed by John Mathieson

also foregrounds the bright colors of an old, disabled

woman’s (Karen Black’s) bedroom—the bright red curtains

concealing the windows, the shiny brown linoleum on the

floor. She spends her life on morphine, which encourages

her to dream almost incessantly of sex. Her fantasies are

encouraged by a priapic nurse (Lena Headey) who regularly

takes the old woman’s junkie companion (Daniel Craig) to

bed. At length fantasy and reality become inseparable; the

old woman brainwashes the nurse into killing the young

man and advertising for a new male companion/sex-slave.

The episode ends with the woman saying “good help is so

hard to find”; the word “help” here is deliberately ambigu-

ous. In a pre-Bond role, Daniel Craig does not have to do

much other than show off his supple body.

The second series seems preoccupied with predatory

women: in “Nunc Dimittis” (Series 2, Episode 5) a young

man meets a beautiful princess (Marini Orsini) and finds

himself possessed by her dreams. Later on he becomes one

of her sacrificial victims, as she drinks his blood and takes

him on as her new servant. In “Brass” the male central char-

acter’s girlfriend (Polly Shannon) turns out to be a witch

trying to protect him from evil spirits. “Approaching Desde-

mona” (Episode 8) recalls “Room 17” (Series 1, Episode 8) in

its portrayal of an ideal woman living in a computer screen,

who eventually swallows up the male central character.“Week

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Woman” (Episode 9) returns to the theme of bondage, as the

lesbian lover of the male protagonist (Brooke Smith) ties him

up and burns him on the chest with an iron. The female pro-

tagonist of “The Falling Man” (Episode 11) eventually per-

suades the male architect to jump to his death off a

skyscraper. “The Suction Method” (Episode 13, one of the

best in the series) recycles the plot of “Approaching Desde-

mona” by having the male central character swallowed up by

beautiful girl who transforms into a carpet cleaning machine.

“And She Laughed” (Episode 16) imagines a familiar situa-

tion with a young woman menaced by an unseen male char-

acter peering through the letterbox; she eventually gets her

revenge by repeatedly stabbing him to death. “The Diarist”

(Episode 18) likewise explores the theme of revenge, as a

jilted female lover uses witchcraft in an attempt to kill her ex-

boyfriend. Such characterizations might help to attract view-

ers; but they cast doubt on Scott’s reputation as someone

interested in exploring gender constructions.

As in the first series, there is a preoccupation with the

distinction between “reality” and “illusion.” The computer-

ized woman in “Approaching Desdemona” is so “real” to the

central character that she eventually takes over his life. In

“Replacements” (Episode 15) a woman unable to have chil-

dren opts for a “replacement” child—which eventually turns

out to be a deadly predator (recalling the creature in ALIEN).

“The Perfect Couple” (Episode 22) depicts the central char-

acters as robots whose hearts and minds are controlled by a

mysterious character (Noel Burton)—recalling Tyrell in

Blade Runner. This theme is continually reiterated in the

host Julian Priest’s (David Bowie’s) introductions to each

episode: human beings should try to distinguish between the

artificial and the tangible, if they wish to survive in this

world.

More interestingly, several episodes in the second series

of The Hunger seem to have been inspired by Alien.In

“Night Bloomer” (Episode 12) the male central character is

attacked by a predatory plant in a sequence very reminiscent

of the face-hugging moment where Kane (JOHN HURT)

discovers the alien for the first time. The same could also be

said for the climactic moment in “And She Laughed,” where

the male protagonist is swallowed up face first by a carpet-

cleaning machine. In “Bottle of Smoke” (Episode 20) the ref-

erences to Scott’s film are more explicit as the heroine

willingly allows herself to be possessed by a (male) genie but

is simultaneously warned not to permit it to “grow inside

your body.” Sadly, she fails to heed the advice, and the genie

can now roam free, even when the woman has died. Julian

Priest returns to the same theme in his closing remarks to

“The Perfect Couple,” when he describes MARRIAGE as a

kind of prison in which people try to bury their differences.

They never go away, however, but rather “grow inside you

until [they] absorb you completely, [and] all you are left

with is the hate.”

The Hunger was nominated for an Emmy in 1998 for

Outstanding Main Title Design. Bernard Couture won

Canadian Society of Cinematographers Award in 2000 for

his work on “Sanctuary” (Series 2, Episode 1).

Reference

Frank Barron,“The Hunger: Showtime’s Adult Horror,” Cinefantas-

tique 28, no.12 (June 1997): 7.

HURT, JOHN (1940– )

Born in Derbyshire, England, John Hurt made his name in

television and theater before making his name in the Inde-

pendent Television (ITV) production of The Naked Civil

Servant (1975) and the BBC’s I Claudius a year later. He

worked with Scott on some of his early commercials, includ-

ing voiceovers for MOTHER’S PRIDE.

Hurt took over the role of Kane in ALIEN after Jon

Finch, Scott’s original choice, became ill. He portrays the

character as a typical Company man, dedicated to his work

and not particularly worried about anything else. He

searches the alien planet for new forms of life; but eventu-

ally pays for his inquisitiveness as the alien invades his body.

Hurt’s most famous scene is the famous “chestbusting”

sequence, one which according to the psychologist Raj Per-

saud has “entered Western consciousness” in the last twenty-

five years. Persaud argues that this is because viewers are

fascinated with “the idea of things bursting out of other

things and separating the goodness from the badness is very

appealing. To choose a rather gross example, when you burst

a [pimple], you’ve removed all the badness and the sense of

bursting is enjoyable. That’s what Scott [and Hurt] is play-

ing on, that notion of a clean break.”

Hurt sportingly reprised this sequence in Mel Brooks’s

spoof film Spaceballs (1987).

Reference

Raj Persaud,“Mind Games,” Empire, September 1994, 68.

HURT, JOHN (1940– )

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I AM LEGEND

US 2007 r/t 101 min col. Production Companies:Warner

Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Overbrook Enter-

tainment, 3 Arts Entertainment, Heyday Films, Original

Film. Producers: Akiva Goldsman, David Heyman, James

Lassiter, and Neal Moritz. Director: Francis Lawrence. Writ-

ers: Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldman from the novel

by Richard Matheson and the screenplay by John William

Corrington and Joyce Corrington. Director of Photography:

Andrew Lesnie. Production Designer: Naomi Shohan. Music:

James Newton Howard. Cast: Will Smith (Robert Neville),

Alice Braga (Anna), Darrell Foster (Mike), Dash Mihok

(Alpha Male).

Adaptation of a novel by Richard Matheson, already

filmed as The Last Man on Earth (1960) and The Omega

Man (1970). Scott intended to film the work immediately

after G.I. JANE in 1997, with a script by Mark Protosevich

and revised by JOHN LOGAN. The script was sent to Scott

by way of Warner Bros. and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Scott

told Paul M. SAMMON that he immediately accepted on the

grounds that he wanted to work with the actor and because

the book itself “contained a fascinating idea. That man’s [the

hero’s] arrogance in dealing with genetics and disease and

success with research had backfired on him and resulted in

a mutated, airborne virus that had gotten loose and could-

n’t be controlled.”

The project was going to be set in Los Angeles, and

Scott and Logan worked on the script. However, the project

was abandoned by Warner Bros., chiefly due to the projected

size of the budget. Scott claimed that this was due to the stu-

dio’s experience of recent box-office failures such as WATER-

WORLD. He also experienced problems with the script and

with the design of the monsters. He “did want the vampires

[in the film] to look monstrous, but we had difficulty with

making them look monstrous without humanizing them . . .

So we let that one go.”

The film was eventually made in 2007 and grossed

$77,211,321 on its opening weekend in 3,606 theaters, aver-

aging $21,412 per venue, and placing it at the top of the box

office. The film was the sixth-highest grossing movie of

2007, and as of July 2008 stands as the forty-second highest

grossing film ever at the American box office.

Reference

Ridley Scott, quoted in Paul M. Sammon, “Joining the Club: Rid-

ley Scott on G.I. Jane,” in Ridley Scott Interviews, ed. Laurence F.

Knapp and Andrea F. Kulas (Jackson: University Press of Missis-

sippi, 2005), 169–71.

Bibliography

David Hughes, The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made,rev.ed.

(London: Titan Books, 2008), 125–46; “I am Legend by John

Logan,” Script dated 8 September 1997, www.fortunecity.com/

tattooine/clarke/38/scripts/IAmLegend.txt (accessed 28 February

2009).

IGNATIUS, DAVID (1950– )

Armenian-American journalist and columnist for the Wash-

ington Post. His 2006 novel Penetration, about the adventures

of a CIA man Roger Ferris in Europe and the Middle East,

served as the source for BODY OF LIES.

Scott was quoted in the film’s production notes as say-

ing that the novel “has an unusually incisive view into what

actually happens up on the front lines, and the people at the

front who make a difference.” Ignatius himself recalled that

the novel came about because he saw the spy business as “a

lot like journalism. It’s about identifying people who know

things, gaining their trust, and then getting them to cross a

line and tell you things they might not want to initially.” It

was this visceral, down-and-dirty look into the real lives of

intelligence operatives that especially intrigued Scott: “I liked

the idea of exploring the contrasts between the man on the

ground and the man at the helm.”

Penetration was re-released as Body of Lies, once Warner

Bros. had acquired the film rights, in 2007.

Reference

“Production Notes: Body of Lies” (Los Angeles: Warner Bros. Enter-

tainment, 2008), http://mix96tulsa.com/movies/notes/body-of-

lies/note/4 (accessed January 16, 2009)

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THE INFORMER: “NO FURTHER QUESTIONS”

GB 1967 TVM r/t 60 min b/w. Production Company: Redif-

fusion (ITV). Producer: Stella Richman. Director:Ridley

Scott. Writer: Peter Wildeblood, based on characters created

by Geoffrey Bellman and John Whitney. Cast: Ian Hendry

(Alex Lambert), Neil Hallett (Det. Sgt. Piper), Jean Marsh

(Sylvia Parrish), John Fraser (Nicky Loach), Ursula Howells

(Lady Tregunter).

An episode from the second series (Episode 8) broad-

cast on Independent Television in Great Britain on 6

November 1967. When a blackmailer threatens a famous

judge, and that judge happens to be the one who disbarred

Alex Lambert from his profession, the informer has no hes-

itation in nailing the crooks. The Informer ran for two sea-

sons from 1966 to 1967, with twenty-one programs in total,

and starred Ian Hendry, who had previously made his name

in The Avengers. “No Further Questions” was the only

episode to be directed by Scott.

THE INFORMER: “YOUR SECRETS ARE SAFE WITH US,

MR. LAMBERT”

GB 1967 TVM r/t 60 min b/w. Production Company: Redif-

fusion (ITV). Executive Producer: Stella Richman. Producer:

John Whitney. Director: Ridley Scott. Writer: John Tyler,

based on characters created by Geoffrey Bellman and John

Whitney. Production Designer: Frank Nerini. Cast: Ian

Hendry (Alex Lambert), Heather Sears (Helen Lambert), Neil

Hallett (Det. Sgt. Piper), Jean Marsh (Sylvia Parrish), Peter

Copley (Richard Edwards).

Two private detectives turn out to be planning a jewelry

raid on their “clients.” Unfortunately for them, they attract

the attention of the Informer ....Another episode in the

second series (Episode 8) of the popular television series.

Unfortunately no copy of the program has been released.

IN HER SHOES

US/ Germany 2005 r/t 125 min col. Production Companies:

Fox 2000 Pictures, Scott Free, Deuce Three Productions,

Kumar Mobiliengesellschaft mbH & Co. Projekt Nr.3 KG.

Producers: Ridley Scott, Carol Fenelon, Lisa Ellzey, and Cur-

tis Hanson. Director: Curtis Hanson. Writer: Susannah

Grant, from the novel by Jennifer Weiner. Director of Pho-

tography: Terry Stacey. Production Designer: Philip J. Bartell.

Production Designer: Dan Davis. Music: Mark Isham. Cast:

Cameron Diaz (Maggie), Mark Feuerstein (Simon Stein),

Toni Collette (Rose), Shirley MacLaine (Ella Hirsch), Jerry

Adler (Lewis Feldman), Norman Lloyd (The Professor),

Brooke Smith (Amy).

This adaptation by SUSANNAH GRANT of JENNIFER

WEINER’s CHICK LIT novel was developed by Ridley

Scott’s company, SCOTT FREE in association with Fox 2000.

CURTIS HANSON was engaged to direct and Carol Fenelon

to produce. The three principal roles were cast one by one:

CAMERON DIAZ agreed first, followed by TONI COL-

LETTE (who put on an extra twenty-five pounds for the role

of Rose), and lastly SHIRLEY MACLAINE, playing against

type in the role of Ella. Hanson recalled in a preproduction

interview that he began by telling the actress that she was

“big in every way that’s wrong for this part. This part is

somebody who’s quiet and hiding. You have this talent and

this personality that you have exploited so well over the

decades . . . Ultimately, she knew that she was being chal-

lenged . . . Once she felt that she could trust me, she craved

this opportunity.”

The film was shot in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and

Florida during one month in May 2004 on a tight budget.

On its US release in October 2005, the reviews were gener-

ally favorable: Empire noted that, while the film provided yet

another contribution to “the post-Bridget [Jones] chick-lit

phenomenon ...[Hanson] isn’t afraid to pay tribute to the

significance of human emotions, however apparently small,

and the subtleties of evolving, maturing relationships.”

Lorien Haynes in Film Review discovered “[a] depth to the

cinematography, and a realism [in the film], and that’s true

of the performances too.” Released in Great Britain a month

later, In Her Shoes attracted equally enthusiastic reviews: Jes-

sica Winter in Sight and Sound noted the multiple symbol-

ism of the shoe as “instrument of betrayal; link to the past;

index of stability (a broken heel forestalls a broken engage-

ment); and binge object—Rose has a closetful of pricey,

barely worn footwear.”

In Her Shoes takes up where THELMA & LOUISE left

off in its link between shoes and female identity. The earlier

film includes a sequence where Louise (SUSAN SARAN-

DON) packs a pair of shoes in a plastic bag in preparation

for her journey; in Hanson’s film Rose has a cupboard full

of shoes that she never wears. She explains to her sister Mag-

gie (Diaz) that when she feels bad, she likes to treat herself:

“shoes always fit.” However, she possesses such low self-

esteem that she never plucks up the courage to wear them in

public. Maggie is shocked: “Shoes like this should not be

locked in a closet. They should be living a life of scandal and

passion, getting screwed in an alleyway by a billionaire, while

his frigid wife waits in the limo thinking that he just went

back in the bar to get his cellphone.” Even when Rose actu-

ally wears a pair of her shoes, when she attends her friend

Jim Danvers’s (Richard Burgi’s) engagement party, she finds

that one of the heels has broken. This mishap sums up her

existence, as well as foreshadowing her broken engagement

to Simon Stein (MARK FEUERSTEIN).

While Maggie seems perfectly at ease wearing her sis-

ter’s shoes (which might suggest a certain confidence), direc-

tor Hanson shows this is nothing more than an illusion; like

her sister she considers herself a failure, unable either to hold

IN HER SHOES

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down a job or sustain a relationship for any length of time.

This is emphasized in a sequence where she auditions as an

MTV “VJ.” The (unseen) executive asks her to read the

autocue,“look into the camera, and give it that, that person-

ality.” Although stunningly attired, Maggie cannot show her

real personality on account of her dyslexia. Needless to say,

the company decides not to hire her. Other characters expe-

rience similar image problems: Mrs. Lefkewitz (Francine

Beers), a guest at the retirement home where Ella lives, who

returns in depression from a visit to the local shopping mall:

“[It] is for young people, people with teeth . . .You know

what I saw today? ...Pants with ‘Juicy’ written across the

heinie. I’m gonna wear that?”

Hanson suggests that the only way to overcome such

inhibitions is to be true to oneself—in metaphorical terms,

to wear one’s own clothing (including shoes) and be com-

fortable with it. As the action unfolds, Maggie’s self-esteem

gradually increases as she learns to care for others, who

respond by caring for her. This is achieved in several ways:

by reading poetry out loud to the retired professor (Norman

Lloyd); or by advising Mrs. Lefkewitz on the right kind of

clothing to wear for her son’s wedding. Maggie herself cares

little for her appearance—as shown when she walks towards

the camera in a supermarket wearing overalls and sneakers.

Rose’s transformation is signaled as she walks confidently

up the aisle, accompanied by her father Michael (Ken

Howard), wearing a pair of expensive shoes (lent to her for

the occasion by Ella). All the old inhibitions have evapo-

rated; she now possesses the courage to wear what she

pleases in public. Hanson suggests this by means of a close-

up that begins at her feet and then tracks upwards to her silk

wedding dress and her bouquet of flowers, and ends with a

medium close-up of her smiling face. This is followed by a

point-of-view shot of Maggie, Ella and Simon all looking at

her admiringly as she walks towards them.

In Her Shoes is also about overcoming loneliness, both

mental and physical. Both Rose and Maggie are prisoners of

their respective existences: Rose devotes all her energies to

her job as a lawyer (to avoid thinking about herself), while

Maggie picks up men and gets drunk most nights. Even

when they get together, they fail to connect with one

another. This is emphasized in a scene at a late-night diner,

which begins with the two of them held in a two-shot as

they laugh and joke with each other. When Rose asks the

server “Are you hiring?” the mood abruptly changes, as her

sister objects to the idea of working “the graveyard shift serv-

ing pancakes to cops and whores and drunks.” When Rose

insists that “there’s a whole world of commerce out there

that has nothing to do with sex,” Maggie flounces out in a

huff. The latter part of this sequence comprises a series of

close-ups of each sister at the edge of the frame, flanked by

empty seats, emphasizing their alienation from one another.

Following the example of designer TOM FODEN in

MATCHSTICK MEN, Hanson reinforces this theme by

means of the paintings of John Register, which hang on the

walls of Rose’s and Ella’s houses. In a documentary accom-

panying the DVD release of In Her Shoes, Hansen justified

his design concept by explaining how Register’s work elim-

inates people together, creating images that draw attention

to the void as well as emphasizing the twin themes of lone-

liness and alienation.

All three protagonists—Rose, Maggie, and Ella—suffer in

this way because they cannot reconcile themselves to the loss

of Caroline—Ella’s daughter and the sisters’ mother. They pre-

tend that it never happened at all. However, when Ella shows

the sisters a photograph album full of fading images, the truth

gradually emerges: Caroline was a wonderful mother to her

children, but experienced mental health problems. Ella wanted

to keep her daughter on medication, and judged that her rela-

tionship with her husband Michael was “far too passionate for

her to handle.” Michael wanted to put Caroline away on the

grounds that she was “unfit” to look after children. With no

means to resist either of them, Caroline had committed sui-

cide by driving her car into a tree. Hanson stages one of these

revelatory scenes—involving the two sisters—in front of a

bathroom mirror. As they speak, both Rose and Maggie look

into it, suggesting that they are at last coming to terms with

themselves and their shared CHILDHOOD.

In Her Shoes follows earlier Scott work—as director and

producer—by focusing on the idea of parenthood. As in

MONKEY TROUBLE, several characters prove bad parents:

Ella appears “bossy, self-righteous, [and] nosy about things

that weren’t her business”; Michael wants Caroline to be

hospitalized and later decided to cut Ella out of his family’s

life in the belief that they “were better off without her;” while

his second wife Sydelle (Candice Azzara) dotes on her

daughter Marcia (Jackie Geary), but pays scant attention to

her stepdaughters. Even when she does stage an engagement

party, Sydelle humiliates Rose by criticizing her love of

books, her inability to sustain a romance, and her fondness

for food. Thus it is not surprising that Rose should ask:

“Why is she giving me this party? She hates me. Someone

else should do it, somebody who l-loves me, someone who

looks at me and say[s] ‘all of this is nothing more than the

happiness you deserve.’” The only person who unreservedly

loved her children was Caroline. Maggie remembers that

“she was special, different from other moms. She used to

surprise us. One time I opened up my lunch box and there

was a tiara inside.” On another day she dressed her children

in their best party dresses and took them to Lord and Tay-

lor, the specialist department store in NEW YORK, in a vain

attempt to sell fudge to them. The fudge ended up being

spilt over the jewelry counter, but Rose recalls that “oh, God,

she [Caroline] was beautiful” as she promised to buy pres-

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IN HER SHOES

ents for her daughters. Such memories prompt Ella into

wishing that she had kept her big mouth shut sufficiently to

hear what her daughter wanted out of life. The only

unselfish “parent” in the film—understood, in this sense, as

someone who dotes on others without expecting anything

in return—is Maggie, who reads poetry to the professor,

even though she is not very good at it. Just how much he

appreciates it is revealed after his death, when his grandson

(David Shatraw) tells Maggie that the professor talked about

her “just a little” immediately before he passed away.

In Her Shoes sustains Scott’s penchant for including

direct literary quotations in the script. In BLADE RUNNER,

Batty (RUTGER HAUER) quotes directly from WILLIAM

BLAKE; in In Her Shoes Maggie reads “One Art” by Elizabeth

Bishop to the professor, and quotes from e.e.cummings’s “i

carry your heart with me” in the final scene. Both poems are

used to emphasize the importance of families loving one

another as a way of insuring themselves against loneliness.

Simon’s father (Alan Blumenfeld) makes the point in his

toast to Rose and Simon: “We’re all blessed to be part of your

happiness. Your love bonds not just your two hearts, but the

hearts of two families.”

So far there have been no scholarly essays devoted to In

Her Shoes, but plenty has appeared on the CHICK LIT genre.

Suzanne Ferris and Mallory Young’s anthology (2005) con-

tains several good examples. Katarzyna Smycznska looks at

discourses of identity in the genre, focusing in particular on

Bridget Jones’ Diary. Caroline J. Smith argues that many

authors working within chick lit provide complicated repre-

sentations of women, designed to challenge existing stereo-

types as well as provoke new conceptions of femininity.

References

Liz Beardsworth, “In Her Shoes,” Empire 198 (December 2005):

48; Brad Balfour, “Curtis Hanson: The Director Steps into a

Woman’s World,” PopEntertainment.com (15 October 2005),

www.popentertainment.com/curtishanson.htm (accessed 8 August

2008); Suzanne Ferris and Mallory Young, eds., Chick Lit: The New

Women’s Fiction (New York and London: Routledge, 2005); Susan-

nah Grant, “In Her Shoes Script” (transcribed from the DVD ver-

sion of the film), www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/i/in-

her-shoes-script-transcript.html (accessed 17 January 2009);

Lorien Haynes,“In Her Shoes: Grown Up Chick Flick,” Film Review

664 (December 2005): 97; Caroline J. Smith, Cosmopolitan Culture

and Consumerism in Chick Lit (London and New York: Routledge,

2007); Katarzyna Smyczynska, The World According to Bridget

Jones: Discourses of Identity in ChickLit Fictions (New York: Peter

Lang Publishing. 2007); Jessica Winter, “In Her Shoes,” Sight and

Sound 15, no.12 (December 2005): 57.

Bibliography

Kelly Borgeson, “Sophie de Rakoff,” Premiere, October 2005, 105;

“In Her Shoes: Fall Movie Preview,” Premiere, September 2005, 78;

Ben Marshall, “If the Shoe Fits, Film It,” Guardian Guide,19

November 2005, 8–10; “Take One: First Look: In her Shoes.” Pre-

miere, March 2005, 36.

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS

US 1956 r/t 80 min b/w. Production Company: Walter

Wanger Productions. Producer: Walter Wanger. Director:Don

Siegel. Writers: Daniel Mainwaring and Richard Collins

(uncredited), from a Collier’s Magazine serial by Jack Finney.

Director of Photography: Ellsworth Fredericks. Production

Designer: Joseph Kish. Cast: Kevin McCarthy (Dr. Miles J.

Bennell), Dana Wynter (Becky Driscoll), Larry Gates (Dr.

Dan (“Danny”) Kauffman), King Donovan (Jack Belicec),

Carolyn Jones (Teddy Belicec), Ralph Dumke (Police Chief

Nick Grivett).

Don Siegel’s classic sci-fi film of the mid 1950s resem-

bles ALIEN in its concern for what might happen if an alien

transforms itself into a human being. Such films, according

to Joseph Chien, “subvert human form and behavior—make

of them something unknown.” When the alien becomes the

human being, it has the potential to destroy human society.

It is no longer the “other” but has become part of the self.

Ridley Scott himself suggested in one interview that the

alien’s next manifestation might be in human form. On the

other hand, the alien is also identified as something that vio-

lates the human body. It uses people not as templates—as in

Invasion of the Body Snatchers—but as a living incubator.

The process of implantation involves entrance through the

mouth, and exit through violent means—the stomach.

Reference

Joseph Chien, “Containing Horror: the Alien Trilogy and the

Abject,” Focus Magazine 14 (April 1994): 11.

IRONS, JEREMY (1948– )

Made his name on screen with The French Lieutenant’s

Woman (1981) and the television adaptation of Brideshead

Revisited (1983). Later successes include Lolita (1997) and

Being Julia (2004).

Irons’s role of Tiberias in KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is

remarkably faithful to his historical model, Raymond of

Tripoli. In scene after scene, he parries the moves of the

bloodthirsty Reynald and the ambitious Guy; at the end,

when all is lost, he retreats to the island of Cyprus—as did

Raymond. According to the book of the film, Irons’s no-non-

sense work ethic won admiration from all the other cast and

crew, as did his willingness to modulate his own powerful

acting style as needed to balance his scenes with the younger

leads. Irons admired the film immensely; in a preproduction

interview with the British magazine Empire he described it

as “spectacle; it’s emotional; what he’s [Scott has] captured is

fantastic ...This is historical ‘faction’ come of age.”

IRONS, JEREMY (1948– )

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177

His role in the film is similar to that of Crassus (DEREK

JACOBI) in GLADIATOR—someone who understands the

hero’s motives, yet is lacking sufficient moral or physical

strength to support him. When deciding to pull out of

Jerusalem, Tiberias admits that he misunderstood the situ-

ation: “First I thought we [the Christians] were fighting for

God. Then I realized we were fighting for wealth and land.

I was ashamed.”

References

“Kingdom of Heaven,” Empire, May 2005, 84; Diana Landau, ed.,

Kingdom of Heaven: The Ridley Scott Film and the History behind

the Story (London: Simon and Schuster Ltd., 2005), 73.

ISAACS, JASON (1963– )

Born in Liverpool, United Kingdom, Isaacs made his name

in films such as Event Horizon (1997), Armageddon (1998),

and most notably as a sadistic British officer in Mel Gibson’s

The Patriot (2000).

As Steele in BLACK HAWK DOWN, Isaacs plays a

Ranger who is initially skeptical of the Delta Force. In KEN

NOLAN’s script he tells them: “You D-Boys are a bunch of

undistinguished cowboys. Let me tell you something, sol-

dier. When we get on the five yard line, you’re gonna need

my Rangers ...It’s rough out there.”He also demands

absolute loyalty from those under him: when he sees Pilla

(Danny Hoch) making fun of him in front of the troops,

Steele grabs him in a headlock and growls: “If I ever see you

undermine me again, you’ll be cleaning latrines with your

tongue until you can’t taste the difference between shit and

French fries. Is that clear?” On the other hand, Steele does

possess redeeming virtues, such as a paternalistic concern

for the welfare of those under him. At one point Sanderson

(WILLIAM FICHTNER) urges him to move his men out of

a filthy stable which is under attack from enemy forces.

Steele replies in a livid tone, “We are combat ineffective.

We’ve got too many dang wounded to move . . . [We’ll] treat

the wounded, and we’ll wait for the convoy.” In a sequence

deleted from the original release, but restored in BLACK

HAWK DOWN: EXTENDED CUT, Steele is shown walking

around the Olympic stadium with a look of horror as he

surveys the dying and wounded soldiers around him. Even

though he is battle-hardened, he never expected the cam-

paign to end like this. Nonetheless, Steele remains convinced

that he has done his duty—following the example of the real

Rangers who were involved in the Somalian campaign.

Isaacs suggested in an interview with A. C. Parfitt that

“[E]very single one of them said that their first instinct, after

learning about the crashed Black Hawks, was to get out there

to the site and bring back every single one of their brothers

...The Rangers were fighting for the guy on their left, and

the guy on their right.” In another interview with the British

magazine Premiere Isaacs admired “the bravery and the pas-

sion that they [the Rangers] show for each other—nothing

to do with what they are fighting for—it does take your

breath away. And it makes you misty-eyed.”

References

Jason Isaacs, quoted in A. C. Parfitt, Orlando Bloom: The Biography

(London: John Blake Publishing Ltd., 2004), 50; Jason Isaacs,

quoted in Fred Schruers, “The Way We War,” Premiere 15, no.6

(February 2002): 85; Ken Nolan, Black Hawk Down: The Shooting

Script (New York: Newmarket Press, 2002), 14, 17, 70–71.

ISHAM, MARK (1951– )

Made his name on films such as Billy Bathgate (1991), Little

Man Tate (1991), and A River Runs Through It (1992).

Brought in at the last minute to do the score for THE

BROWNING VERSION, Isham immediately became the

subject of a dispute between director MIKE FIGGIS, producer

Ridley Scott, and executive producer SHERRY LANSING. Fig-

gis recalled that “it became clear from our conversation she

[Lansing] had absolutely no idea that I was a musician and

that I had something to do with the score ...I was promptly

fired as the composer and Mark Isham was brought in to

redo the score ...The theme that I wrote for Albert Finney

became the theme for Leaving Las Vegas, a much-lauded

musical score ...I really felt that music was the key to Albert

Finney’s character.” Such disputes had occurred in previous

Scott films, most notably LEGEND, where the original

JERRY GOLDSMITH score was replaced by one written by

TANGERINE DREAM.

Isham’s score for the film is based on swirling violins,

which reach a crescendo in the final sequence, as the cam-

era tracks backwards from Crocker-Harris’s (ALBERT

FINNEY’s) face and surveys the school in relation to the

landscape. The music suggests that the old teacher has dis-

covered some kind of freedom, now that he has cast off his

academic gowns and left the school.

Isham has also worked on other films by Ridley Scott,

providing jaunty scores for WHERE THE MONEY IS and

IN HER SHOES.

Reference

Mike Figgis, quoted in Robert J. Emery, The Directors—Take Four

(New York: Allworth Press, 2003), 182–83.

IZDIAK, SLAWOMIR (1945– )

Born in Katowice, Poland, Slawomir Izdiak made his name

photographing Kieslowski’s Trois Couleurs: Bleu (1993).

Other credits include The Last September (1999) and Proof

of Life (2000).

Scott recalled in the “Director’s Commentary” to the

film’s DVD release that Izdiak was initially somewhat

daunted by the sheer scale of BLACK HAWK DOWN (hav-

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IZDIAK, SLAWOMIR (1945– )

ing previously worked on small-scale productions). How-

ever, Izdiak soon attuned himself to the task in hand. One

of his major strategies was to employ a bold and often dar-

ing use of color. Izdiak recalled in an interview that “Ridley

mentioned that the film should make spectators sick to their

stomachs and ...I was trying to find inspiration in the color

of vomit . . . First, it helped spectators identify the different

topography in the film; the military base is monochromat-

ically greenish, the town in the first battle scene is orange-

green, and the command center was lit somewhat

theatrically with a dominant blue that corresponded with

the color of the monitors.”

Izdiak’s colors also lent authority to the visuals. On the

night scenes, for example, his decision to use green tones

was made because “bluish night would have appeared too

aggressive, and every cut would have made us conscious of

the conventionality of that night color. Secondly, ‘TV

nights,’ like those presented on CNN, are almost always

greenish, so we automatically associate that color with

authentic events.”

In Izdiak’s view what differentiated Black Hawk Down

from other CONTEMPORARY WAR FILMS was its sheer

variety of colors: “We incorporated a wide variety of meth-

ods. We shot with a complete lack of cinematic patterns, but

our method was to shoot as dynamically and densely as we

could. Ridley’s main philosophy was to use every means pos-

sible to achieve that goal.”

References

Slawomir Izdiak, interviewed in Christopher Probst, “Screen

Gems,” American Cinematographer 83, no.6 (June 2002): 84–86;

Ridley Scott,“Director’s Commentary” to the two-disc DVD release

of Black Hawk Down (Los Angeles: Revolution Studios Distribu-

tion Company LLG & Jerry Bruckheimer, Inc., 2004).

IZDIAK, SLAWOMIR (1945– )

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