Raw L. The Ridley Scott Encyclopedia
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Film Festival. He also received considerable plaudits for his
role in the two FRENCH CONNECTION films (1971, 1975).
Cast in the cameo role of Antonio de Marchena,
Columbus’s associate in 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE,
Rey has little to do other than to assume a steadying role in
the adventurer’s life, advising him to remain true to his
beliefs in the face of adversity. He assumes a dark, shadowy
role; his face is seldom shown in light, suggesting that he will
always act as the voice of conscience in Columbus’s mind,
even when he (the father) is not physically present. It is only
at the end that he comes into his own, telling Columbus that
he was proud of him: “You were like a willful child. You
wouldn’t accept what others told you. You had to find things
out for yourself, and others, in the process.”
Reference
Robert Thurston, 1492: Conquest of Paradise Based on a Screenplay
by Roselyne Bosch (London: Penguin Books, 1992), 201.
REYNOLDS, KEVIN (1952– )
Reynolds qualified as a lawyer before entering film school,
where he was later recognized for a student film, which later
became Fandango (1985). Reynolds’s most well known films
include Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) and WATER-
WORLD (1995). Reynolds was engaged by Scott to direct
TRISTAN + ISOLDE on the basis of their friendship and his
track record as director of the previous two films. In the pro-
duction notes to the film Reynolds claimed that he was
attracted to the story on account of it being “intensely
romantic and sad, a beautiful tragedy that’s Romeo and
Juliet-esque in the way it unfolds.”
Reynolds approaches the film as a love story which
nonetheless emphasizes the importance of duty. Together
with designer MARK GERAGHTY, he creates a world of the
Dark Ages—all blacks, grays, and drab colors—which can
only be enlightened by the two main characters’ love affair.
His achievement was recognized by one online reviewer who
congratulated him on creating a prehistoric world “that may
not have ever really existed, but it is one that certainly every-
one wishes they could live in.”
References
Keith Breese, “Tristan + Isolde,” FilmCritic.com, www.filmcritic
.com/misc/emporium.nsf/reviews/Tristan-and-Isolde (accessed 26
January 2009); Kevin Reynolds, quoted in Production Notes: Tris-
tan + Isolde (Los Angeles: Twentieth Century-Fox, 2005), vii.
RKO 281
US/GB 1999 TVM r/t 90 min col. Production Companies:
HBO Pictures, British Broadcasting Corporation, Labrador
Films, Scott Free, and WGBH. Executive Producers: Ridley and
Tony Scott. Producer:Su Armstrong.Director: Benjamin Ross.
Writer: John Logan, from the documentary The Battle over
Citizen Kane written by Richard Ben Cramer and Thomas
Lennon. Production Designer: Maria Djurkovic. Director of
Photography: Mike Southon. Music: John Altman. Cast: Liev
Schreiber (Orson Welles), James Cromwell (William Randolph
Hearst), Melanie Griffith (Marion Davies), John Malkovich
(Herman Mankiewicz), Liam Cunningham (Gregg Toland),
David Suchet (Louis B. Mayer), Roy Scheider (George Schae-
fer), Brenda Blethyn (Louella Parsons).
RKO 281 was first proposed as a feature film in 1996,
with Scott directing a cast that included Edward Furlong as
Welles, Marlon Brando as William Randolph Hearst, and
Madonna as Marion Davies, and a supporting cast includ-
ing George C. Scott, Bette Midler, and Dustin Hoffman. The
projected budget was over $40 million, with a script written
by JOHN LOGAN, who had previously collaborated with
Scott on the abortive project to film I AM LEGEND.How-
ever, the project could not find a home at any of the studios,
particularly when it was rumored in newspapers such as
South Coast Today that David Fincher was developing a rival
project, tentatively called “Mank,” based on the career of
Herman Mankiewicz (which likewise came to nothing).
Another report published in Screen International claimed
that, as Scott’s film was based on a PBS television documen-
tary (THE BATTLE OVER CITIZEN KANE), which many
viewers might not have seen, the studios felt that it would be
difficult to recoup their investment.
Eventually the project was picked up by HBO with the
participation of the BBC, and given a $10 million budget.
Scott took on the role of producer, while handing over the
directorial reins to BENJAMIN ROSS, a young British direc-
tor whose previous films included The Young Poisoner’s
Handbook (1995). While including such well-known per-
formers such as JOHN MALKOVICH and MELANIE GRIF-
FITH, the leading actor LIEV SCHREIBER had hitherto
only taken supporting roles in films such as Ransom (1996)
and Scream a year later. The cast also included such well-
known television actors as BRENDA BLETHYN and DAVID
SUCHET (as Louis B. Mayer), to attract British viewers.
For reasons of expense, RKO 281 was filmed at Bray
Studios in Great Britain, with locations in and around the
area. According to an article published in Creation maga-
zine, a large banqueting sequence, ostensibly taking place at
William Randolph Hearst’s mansion, was actually filmed at
the Guildhall in central London. Two Citizen Kane sets were
recreated in the studio.
The film received its first airing in the USA and Great
Britain at Christmas 1999. In Film Comment J. Hoberman
observed that Welles’s Citizen Kane “dramatized the tech-
nique of filmmaking and manufactured celebrity, signaling
the end of a classic, invisible cinema even as it prophesied
the role of movies in a larger media system. Kane’s essential
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REYNOLDS, KEVIN (1952– )
subject is the fake newsreel to which the drama provides a
grandiose, authentic fictional footnote. RKO 281 footnotes
that footnote—demonstrating Kane’s thesis that what passes
for history is a narrative hastily contrived to meet the needs
of the present.” He found Schreiber’s Welles, and JAMES
CROMWELL’s Hearst repellent and manipulative, “as will-
ful as . . . [they are] charmless.” Sight and Sound suggested
that Ross’s Hearst and Welles “were two of a kind and that
it’s possible to cast Welles as a bully and Hearts as the tragic
frustrated great man as the reverse. RKO 281 may not tran-
scend its Saturday night television gloss status, but themat-
ically at least it’s a brave try.”
From the outset we are made aware that RKO 281 will
follow other Scott films—as director or producer—in deal-
ing with an obsessive male central character. Like Columbus
(GERARD DÉPARDIEU) in 1492: THE CONQUEST OF
PARADISE, Orson Welles in Logan’s script is described as
“unstoppable and resolute ...Orson’s a real barreler.” Welles
himself is well aware of his traits—in a line deleted from the
finished film he calls himself the “Boy Wonder ...a genius
since the moment [he] was born.” However, he is so
wrapped up in himself that he remains totally indifferent to
others; he deletes Herman Mankiewicz’s (John Malkovich’s)
name from the script and justifies his action thus: “I own
your [Mankiewicz’s] script and I can do anything I god-
damn want!” John Houseman’s (Simeon Andrews’s) obser-
vation is pertinent here: “Welcome to the world of Orson
Welles,” in which everything revolves around Welles himself.
When he wants Mankiewicz to return to his side, Welles put
on an act worthy of any barnstorming nineteenth century
actor in an attempt to appeal to the older man’s sympathies.
It works like a charm: Welles “quickly bites off the end of his
cigar—his expression is one of ‘Gotcha!’—even as his cheeks
are still wet with tears.” Even when his employer George
Schaefer (ROY SCHEIDER) offers some home truths about
Welles’s manipulative nature, Welles remains impervious,
“lost in the dream factory” of his own self-image.
Scriptwriter Logan repeatedly draws parallels between
Welles and William Randolph Hearst. Welles describes the
media baron as “a titanic figure of limitless influence ...liv-
ing in a palace, a glorious palace on a hill, and controlling
the permutations of everyone beneath him,” who “loves in
his own way. On his conditions. Because those are the only
conditions he has ever known.” Like Joe Tyrell in BLADE
RUNNER, Hearst identifies himself as a godlike figure wield-
ing “power like you couldn’t begin to imagine”—as shown,
for instance, in his reaction to the proposed release of Citi-
zen Kane, when he calls all the Hollywood studio chiefs to a
meeting and threatens to expose them, unless they conspire
to destroy all the film’s prints. Such behavior is also typical
of Welles, who controls every aspect of the filmmaking
process—acting, music, cinematography—even though he
has experienced professionals to assist him. Logan explicitly
links the two of them in a stage direction, as they unexpect-
edly meet in an elevator: “Both men of mad grandeur and
malevolent passion and stunning inspiration—both men of
incalculable achievement and measureless poignancy.”
One outcome of a world ruled by such megalomaniacs
is that relationships become corrupted, both in the public
and private spheres. Welles’s father was an alcoholic; Hearst
treats his lover Marion Davies (whom she calls “Pops”) as a
convenience; Schaefer likewise regards Welles as a petulant
child who has to say thank you to his employer for suggest-
ing the title Citizen Kane. Hearst treats his employees in a
similarly offhand manner; he threatens Louella Parsons
(Brenda Blethyn) with dismissal unless she tells him all the
gossip relating to Hollywood that she can unearth.
A similar logic determines the film’s representation of
MASCULINITY. At first Welles and Mankiewicz are insep-
arable as they construct the script by bouncing ideas off one
another. However, Welles soon reveals that friendship is
expendable; once the script has been completed, he has no
further use for the older man. Although the two are reunited
later on, we understand that Welles embraces and dispenses
with people at will; like a vampire he sucks the blood out of
them and leaves them for dead. This metaphor runs
throughout Logan’s script: Louella demands Welles’s blood
in retribution for his having lied to her.
The film also suggests that in the dog-eat-dog world of
early 1940s Hollywood women have to be as ruthless as men
in order to survive. Louella and her fellow gossip columnist
Hedda Hopper (Fiona Shaw) use their position to manipu-
late others. In a scene deleted from the finished film, Logan
describes the two of them thus: “They occasionally glance
back and forth at each other like ravenous hyenas eyeing the
last bit of carrion.” By contrast Marion’s childlike devotion
to Hearst appears as something unusual, almost foolhardy,
as she sacrifices her star status and faces the prospect of liv-
ing in penury after Hearst’s downfall.
Hearst’s description of the world he and Welles create
is telling: “men will do anything to sell their newspapers and
their movies ...where no price is too high for fame and
power? Where we will all scratch each other to pieces just
to be heard? Can we truly envision such ...horror?”This is
a world where AMERICANISM is identified with “good
red-white-and-blue [white] Americans, and the way they
[the media] see it you can’t be a good American and a Jew.”
The studio bosses—all of whom are Jewish—try to deny
their ethnic backgrounds, passing off themselves instead as
“real Americans,” rather than “bedraggled foreigners and
swarthy refugees.” This recalls a theme explored in BLACK
RAIN about what constitutes a “true’ American, and whether
American identity as represented on the screen can allow
for plural interpretations. RKO 281 suggests that this is
RKO 281
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unrealistic in a context where everyone dedicates themselves
to self-interest.
At one point Welles describes Xanadu in Citizen Kane
as nothing except “a matte painting and a camera trick.”
However, this film-world is so overpowering that it takes
over people’s lives. Welles, Mankiewicz, and cinematographer
Gregg Toland (Liam Cunningham) emerge from the studio
into the RKO backlot after an all-night filming session.
There they see actors in costume bustling about on their way
to work. The studio dedicates itself to illusions, which might
be financially profitable but which have the capacity to
destroy individual lives. This is precisely what happens to
Welles—despite the fact that he makes Citizen Kane and
achieves celebrity status, he is left isolated and uncertain in
his private life. Mankiewicz observes somewhat trenchantly
that Welles has made his masterpiece at twenty-six: “It’s a
bitch. I mean, where do you go from here?” Given the strug-
gles Welles faced in the next half-century, as his career
foundered amidst a welter of half-fulfilled projects and unre-
alized ideas, the answer is clearly downwards. Like Hearst he
was “a man who could have been great, but was not.”
To date there has been no critical comment on RKO
281. The making of Citizen Kane however, has been dis-
cussed in detail, most notably by Robert L. Carringer in The
Making of Citizen Kane (rev. ed. 1996).
References
Connie Benesch, “Welles Finally Becomes Hollywood Hot Prop-
erty,” South Coast Today, 7 September 1997, http://archive.south-
coasttoday.com/daily/09-97/09-07-97/e08ae191.htm (accessed 18
November 2008); Robert L. Carringer, The Making of Citizen Kane,
rev. ed. (Berkeley and London: University of California Press,
1996); Charles Hewitt, “Timelords,” Creation (December 1999),
13–14, 16; J. Hoberman, “RKO 281,” Film Comment 36, no.1
(Jan/Feb 2000): 75–6; John Logan, “Draft Script for RKO 281”
(dated 1 May 1997), http://sfy.ru/sfy.html?script=rko218 (accessed
16 November 2008; Screen International, 3 July 1998, 6; Sight and
Sound 10, no.1 (January 2000): 8–9.
Bibliography
“The Big O,” Vanity Fair, November 1999, 42–51.
ROACHE, LINUS (1964– )
British character actor who made his debut in the soap
opera Coronation Street playing Peter Barlow, son of Ken
Barlow (played by Roache’s real-life father William Roache).
Roache made his name in low-budget British films such
as Priest (1994) before being cast as Merton Densher in Iain
Softley’s Wings of the Dove (1997). Cast as Wigram in the Rid-
ley Scott-produced THE GATHERING STORM, Roache gives
a performance combining a degree of steeliness with a gen-
uine concern for the future of his family, as he willfully breaks
the law by passing on confidential documents to Churchill
(ALBERT FINNEY), in the belief that appeasing Hitler must
be prevented at once. Eventually the struggle to reconcile per-
sonal and governmental loyalties proves too much for him,
and he apparently kills himself. In a preproduction interview
Roache described the character as complex: “I went through
two different opinions on that [his suicide]; I was convinced
he did and then, as I started playing it, I thought well, maybe
he just had a complete nervous breakdown and a heart attack
...He’s a man of conscience . . . He wants something to be
done about it, but he doesn’t really want to do it himself.”
Sometimes Ralph’s nerve fails—on one occasion he tells
Churchill that “Perhaps the Prime Minister’s right. Perhaps
we should try to find a compromise with Herr Hitler.” How-
ever, Ralph is talked out of his doubts by Churchill, who
remains convinced that it is truly his destiny to save England
and the Empire. Ralph comments admiringly: “You’re an
extraordinary man, Winston.” Sadly Ralph is not an extraor-
dinary man; torn between love for his family and duty
towards his country, he eventually commits suicide.
References
The Gathering Storm: Information Pack issued 17 June 2002 (Lon-
don: BBC, 2002), www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/
2002/06_june/17/gathering_storm_pack.pdf (accessed 24 Decem-
ber 2008), 14; “The Gathering Storm: Transcript of the Screenplay
by Hugh Whitemore,” www.script-o-rama.com/novie_scripts/
g/gatheringstorm-script-transcript.html (accessed 23 December
2008)
ROAD MOVIES
Classic road films—Easy Rider (1969), Badlands (1973)—
are normally about male privilege, the right to hit the road
without worrying about work, children, or family. Women
are not normally the protagonists; they are often what the
men seek to run away from. Timothy Corrigan defines the
classic road movie according to four specific characteristics:
(a) a breakdown of the family unit; (b) a context where
obstacles are consistently presented for the male characters
to overcome; (c) a protagonist readily identified with a cer-
tain means of transportation (e.g., a motorcycle); and (d) a
focus on men alone.
BLACK RAIN begins by alluding to the road film, with
the shot of Nick Conklin (MICHAEL DOUGLAS) driving
along the Hudson River on his motorcycle. A divorced man
committed to his work, his main leisure-time activity con-
sists of proving his manhood by racing (and ultimately
emerging victorious) over his (male) fellow-bikers. The same
situation is repeated in THE HIRE: “HOSTAGE,” as The Dri-
ver (CLIVE OWEN) races along the streets of San Francisco
in a desperate search for a kidnapped woman Linda (Kathryn
Morris), whose car has been driven into the Pacific Ocean.
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ROACHE, LINUS (1964– )
In THELMA & LOUISE the protagonists follow the tradi-
tion of the road movie in the fact that they are most happy
when they are moving. They encounter numerous obstacles.
However, Scott reverses the tradition of the genre by show-
ing the two women as active while their male counterparts
are the ones left behind. Thelma’s husband Darryl
(CHRISTOPHER McDONALD) remains virtually house-
bound, while Louise’s boyfriend Jimmy (MICHAEL MAD-
SEN) is seldom photographed in exterior shots, despite
making the effort to find Louise.
Tom Conley sees this reversal as a means for the two
women to forge new lives, unfettered by patriarchal power:
“The heroines never accede to an interstate highway where
they would not be lost, nor do they take advantage of ‘wel-
come centers’ at rest stops that would afford them free maps
of the states (Texas excepted) in which they drive. The fact
that they don’t know where they are going affords us, in
turn, thanks to the story of their demise; to act out fantasies
of getting lost in a world where cinema figures in a growing
network of roads that foster illusions of boundlessness.” By
contrast the British critic Leslie Dick believes that “Puri-
tanism is built in” to the women’s dreams: “Whenever
Thelma has fun with men, something terrible happens . . .
The very end, when the grrrls drive their car over the cliff, is
one of those times you feel, ‘Shit, these women have to die
because they are about to turn to each other and say, ‘I love
you.’” While it is certainly true that “something terrible
[always] happens” to the two women, this is a characteristic
of the road film genre. And perhaps the final moment where
they turn to one another should be viewed in a positive light
as an acknowledgement that they have at last escaped from
the patriarchy. The same scene is repeated once again in
WHERE THE MONEY IS; but this time the two protagonists
are an older man (PAUL NEWMAN) and a much younger
woman (LINDA FIORENTINO). They drive over a pier into
a lake; but emerge later on to resume their lives as a spring-
and-autumn Bonnie and Clyde, free from the constraints of
their world.
The road movie conventions are inverted in CLAY
PIGEONS, as Clay (JOAQUIN PHOENIX) is shown return-
ing in his truck from the wilds of the Montana desert back
to Mercer, the small town where he has spent most of his life.
In this case the road symbolizes imprisonment. It is only at
the of the film, when Clay has been cleared of any potential
crimes and escaped the cloying friendship of the serial killer
Lester Long (VINCE VAUGHN), that he can hit the road
once again and seek permanent freedom from his past life.
References
Tom Con l e y, Cartographic Cinema (Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press, 2007), 172; Timothy Corrigan, A Cinema with-
out Walls: Films and Culture after Vietnam (New Brunswick NJ:
Rutgers University Press, 1991), 143–45; Leslie Dick, “R:Road,” Sight
and Sound 7, no.11 (November 1997): 22.
Bibliography
Jack Boozer, “Seduction and Betrayal in the Heartland: Thelma &
Louise,” Literature/Film Quarterly 23, no.3 (1995): 188–96; Manohla
Dargis, “Thelma & Louise and the Tradition of the Male Road
Movie,” in Women and Film: A Sight and Sound Reader,ed.Pam
Cook and Philip Dodd (London: Scarlet Press, 1993), 86–93; Jes-
sica Enevold,“The Daughters of Thelma and Louise: New? Aesthet-
ics of the Road,” in Gender, Genre and Identity in Women’s Travel
Writing, ed. Kristi Siegel (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.,
2004), 73–97; Carmen Indurain Eroso,“Thelma & Louise: Easy Rid-
ers in a Male Genre,” Atlantis: Revista de la Associacion Espanola de
Estudios Anglo-Norteamericanos 23, no.1 (June 2001): 63–73.
ROBINSON, TODD (1969– )
Film writer and director whose credits include the screen-
play for WHITE SQUALL, plus Lonely Hearts (2006) as
director.
Bibliography
“Lonely Hearts’ Todd Robinson,” www.comingsoon.net/news/
movienews.php?id=19734 (accessed 1 March 2009)
ROCKWELL, SAM (1968– )
American character actor who made his film debut in
Clownhouse (1989). His subsequent films include The Green
Mile (1999), Charlie’s Angels (2000), and Confessions of a
Dangerous Mind (2002).
Cast as Frank, Roy Waller’s (NICOLAS CAGE’s) sidekick
in MATCHSTICK MEN, Rockwell forms part of a double-
act, in which both of them can play any roles they desire.
Scott suggested in a pre-production interview that Frank
could be “anything from earnest to outrageous, quiet, loud,
indignant—you name it.” For most of the film he acts as
subordinate—until the final con, when Frank admits in the
script that “he [Roy] taught me most of what I know, so I
suppose I owe you better than this ...But you always said if
I got a shot at a big score, I should take it ...I’d never find
a better partner. Now I won’t have to.” The pupil has now
become the master conman. On the other hand the film sug-
gests that Frank’s triumph is a hollow one, as Roy discovers
far more important things about life—for example the
importance of MARRIAGE and family.
As Charley Ford in THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE
JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD,Rockwell
begins the film as a traditional older brother, by turns teas-
ing and protecting, but, as Ford grows closer to Jesse and
more confident in his own abilities, their roles begin to
reverse. Before long, it’s Bob who calls the shots and an
increasingly passive and conflicted Charley struggling to
ROCKWELL, SAM (1968– )
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273
keep up. Meanwhile Charley experiences a conflict of loyalty
between his brother and his friend Jesse; but remains unable
to do much about it on account of his disability. Rockwell
suggested in a pre-production interview that “There’s the
alpha male and the beta, and Charley will always be the beta.
He had a clubfoot, a disability that he always took great care
to camouflage, and he was always a little hungry and vulner-
able and just grateful, really, to be in the gang.” While
Charley eventually connives in James’s murder, he is over-
come by guilt. In ANDREW DOMINIK’s screenplay the nar-
rator describes his state of mind: “He began to look at his
younger brother with spite, as if he suspected that in some
future performance [of James’s killing] he might present
himself to a live cartridge in Robert Ford’s gun.” His death
by suicide is shot in extended close-up as he shoots himself
through the heart.
References
“About the Production [Assassination of Jesse James],” http://
party931.com/common/movies/notes/54706-1-full.html (accessed
12 August 2008); Andrew Dominik,“The Assassination of Jesse James
by the Coward Robert Ford,” Final White Draft Screenplay dated 17
August 2005, www.simplyscripts.com/oscar80.html (accessed 5 Feb-
ruary 2009); Nick and Ted Griffin, “Matchstick Men: Shooting Draft”
(14 October 2002), www.imsdb.com/scripts/Matchstick-Men.html
(accessed 4 January 2009); Production Information: Matchstick Men
(Los Angeles: Warner Bros. Pictures, 2003), 8–9.
ROGERS, MIMI (1956– )
Born Miriam Sprickler in Coral Gables, Florida. In the early
1980s she began to carve a career out for herself in Holly-
wood, appearing in television and films. Her major break
came in SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME, where she
played Claire Gregory. Scott recalled in an interview with
Brian Case that her part “would’ve been a lot easier to cast
twenty years ago. It could’ve been Deborah Kerr, Grace Kelly,
but actresses don’t look like that anymore. They have a dif-
ferent kind of persona now ...I went through a very lengthy
casting process because I wanted a woman who could pro-
ject some sort of class.” Rogers herself recalled to Jann Wen-
ner that “the screen test [for Someone] went very well. Tom
Berenger and I hit it off immediately. Tom [Cruise] and I
were leaving for New York the next day, and I figured I prob-
ably wouldn’t hear anything till the end of the week. But we
heard on the plane.”
Like TOM BERENGER’s Mike Keegan, Rogers’s Claire
is distinguished by a singular lack of emotion; her back-
ground and EDUCATION as an upper-class NEW YORKER
has taught her to suppress her emotions in order to sustain
a veneer of social respectability. The only time she deems it
appropriate to smile is when in the company of her social
equals—for example, at the Guggenheim reception when
she allows Antonia, an elegant older woman (Meg Mundy),
to fall into her arms: “Antonia, almost emotionally overcome
that Claire has managed it [to come to the party.” To fall in
love with Mike represents a significant step for her; it is the
first time she has acknowledged her emotions, even if it
means putting her social position at risk. In the end the rela-
tionship is doomed to fail. Claire has to say goodbye to Mike
while vainly endeavoring to sustain a civilized veneer:
“([B]arely able to speak) I’ll miss you, Mike . . . (half-laugh,
half cry) You have a weakness for Lady Cops.”
Rogers was later cast as Amy in the Ridley Scott-pro-
duced comedy MONKEY TROUBLE. In a largely secondary
role, she is shown initially as a poor parent, whose obsessive
love for her stepson Jack (Adrian/Julian Johnson) means
that she ignores her daughter Eva (THORA BIRCH). Eva
herself learns to become a “good” parent by looking after
the monkey Dodger. However, all turns out well at the end
of the film: Amy appears to learn to care for both her chil-
dren, while at the same time realizing that she must allow
Eva some freedom to act on her own. According to the
pressbook Rogers enjoyed the experience of the film: “[I]t
challenged everyone to be better. Everyone working on this
film had to be even more focused than usual because of the
large number of difficult things the monkey had to do.
When the monkey got it perfect, no one else could afford to
screw it up.”
References
Brian Case, “Great Scott,” Time Out (London), 2–9 March 1988, 15;
Howard Franklin, Danilo Bach, and David Seltzer, “Someone to
Watch Over Me” (revised 4 December 1986), www.imsdb.com/
scripts/Someone-To-Watch-Over-Me.html (accessed 9 June 2008);
Pressbook, Monkey Trouble (London: Entertainment Film Distribu-
tors ltd., 1994), 14; Jann Wenner, “The Seduction of Mimi: Mimi
Rogers,” Interview, December 1987, 103.
RONA, JEFF (1957– )
Born in Los Angeles and worked mostly in television before
making his film debut in WHITE SQUALL.
This is the Scott film with the most source music, in this
case early 1960s rock and roll. Like the film, the music is
something of a gem, combining a poetic and ambient sen-
sibility with inventive use of percussive instruments. HANS
ZIMMER produced the soundtrack album.
Bibliography
“Now Showing,” Music from the Movies 28 (August 2000): 9–10.
“RONNIE AND LEO”
An unfilmed black comedy with a heist theme, slated to star
Michael York and Ernest Borgnine, which was slated to be
Scott’s first feature film, but never made it to the screen.
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ROGERS, MIMI (1956– )
ROSS, BENJAMIN (1964– )
Born in London, Ross’s debut film was My Little Eye (1992).
He worked on the successful low-budget black comedy The
Young Poisoner’s Handbook (1994), and wrote the screenplay
for Simon Magus (1999).
Engaged by Scott to work on the television film RKO
281, Ross created what he described in American Cinematog-
rapher as a factionalized version of history: “I’ve tried to give
dramatic weight—and equal claim—to both [Herman]
Mankiewicz and [Orson] Welles, even though we present a
very fudged version of what happened ...The trick was to
give the movie the potential for visual sophistication with-
out forcing it upon the audience, because a lot of people
who watch it may not have seen Kane . . . .” The film was shot
in London rather than America (as a co-production between
HBO and the BBC, as well as for economy’s sake). Ross
believed that the film did not lose its dramatic effect because
“London is fantastically rich. You can shoot practically any-
thing in London. It’s a great joy to find 1940s California on
your doorstep.”
Reviewers liked Ross’s efforts. One online correspon-
dent commended him for creating “an absorbing . . . docud-
rama . . . [that] imparts some marvelously juicy insider lore,
such as the real meaning behind the famous dying despatch
in the history of movies: ‘Rosebud’ [a pet name given by
Hearst for Marion Davies’s vagina].”
References
Laura Mirsky, “RKO 281,” www.amazon.com/RKO-281-Battle-
Over-Citizen/dp/0783116764 (accessed 23 November 2008); Mark
Salisbury, “Raising Kane,” American Cinematographer 80, no.10
(October 1999): 83.
ROSS, HUGH (?– )
Attended St. Andrew’s University in Scotland for two years,
but dropped out and became a teacher. Ross subsequently
studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, London. His
films and television series include Charlotte Gray (2001),
Ta g g a r t (2002–2003), and Hannibal Rising (2007).
Cast as the (unseen) narrator in THE ASSASSINATION
OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD,
Ross’s sonorous tones encourage us to believe that he is
somehow reliable: “The month of October came, and Jesse
began seeing Pinkerton operatives in every floor walker,
street sweeper, and common man poking about in a store.”
However, as the film unfolds, we gradually understand that
the narrator is simply a journalist who (like everyone else in
a celebrity-obsessed culture) is searching for a good story
which might only have a passing relationship to historical
truth. Some of his conclusions are unutterably banal (“Men
who choose to be outlaws cannot afford to be in one place
for very long”; on other occasions, he allows his penchant
for elaborate language to run away with him: “Jesse was sick
with wounds and aches, and lung congestions. Insomnia
stained his eye sockets like soot. He read augeries [sic] in the
snarled intestines of chickens, or the blow of cat hair
released to the wind.”
Reference
Andrew Dominik, “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Cow-
ard Robert Ford.” Final White Draft Screenplay dated 17 August
2005, www.simplyscripts.com/oscar80.html (accessed 5 February
2009).
RSA (RIDLEY SCOTT ASSOCIATES)
Formed in 1967 by Ridley and Tony Scott, it now has offices
in London, New York, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong. The
company has provided a training-ground for directors and
other creative personnel to produce groundbreaking com-
mercials. Among its current staff listed on the website
(www.rsafilms.com) are Ridley Scott, TONY SCOTT, JORDAN
SCOTT, JAKE and LUKE SCOTT, ANDREW DOMINIK, JOE
CARNAHAN, and HUGH JOHNSON. The site also contains
examples of some of Ridley Scott’s best commercials—
ORANGE: FUTURE THOUGHTS, MIDLAND BANK,
EDEN ROC CHANEL NO.5.
Bibliography
“Hot Shots,” Creation, March 1999, 14; Richard Natale, “Commer-
cial Break” (1999), in Ridley Scott Interviews, ed. Laurence F. Knapp
and Andrea F. Kulas, 172–79; Brendan Tapley, “Bond of Brothers”
(2002), in Ridley Scott Interviews, ed. Laurence F. Knapp and
Andrea F. Kulas (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2005),
218–23.
R3
GB 1964–5 TV Series 26 ⫻ 50 min episodes b/w. Production
Company: British Broadcasting Corporation. Producers:
Andrew Osborn, John Robins (thirteen episodes each). Direc-
tors: Bill Hays (six episodes), Paul Bernard (four episodes),
Moira Armstrong (three episodes), Terence Williams (three
episodes), Douglas Hurn (three episodes), Peter Dews,
Michael Leeson-Smith (six episodes each). Writers:N.J.Crisp
(six episodes), Bill McIlwraith (four episodes), Donald Bull
(three episodes), William Emms (two episodes). Production
Designers: Tim Gleeson, Ridley Scott (one episode each).
Music: Ken Thorne. Cast: Patricia Healey (Jill Travers), Betty
Cooper (Nora Gerrard), Alex Scott (Dr. Max Rankel).
The adventures of staff at Research Center Number
Three who deal with all manner of scientific ideas and
issues, including drugs, technology, space flight, and under-
water exploration. Scott designed the episode “And No Birds
Sing” (Series 2, Episode 8), written by Bill Hays and directed
by Douglas Young.
R3
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RUBINSTEIN, JOHN (1946– )
The multi-faceted actor/singer/composer/director John
Rubinstein was born in Los Angeles in 1946. His biggest
claim to fame would occur on Broadway in the late 1970s
when he starred in Children of a Lesser God, which won him
the Tony, Drama Desk, and L.A. Drama Critics Circle
awards. However, he lost out in the film version to William
Hurt.
Rubinstein has a thankless role in SOMEONE TO
WATCH OVER ME as Neil Steinhart, the rich boyfriend of
Claire Gregory (MIMI ROGERS). His main function is to
provide a contrast to Mike Keegan (TOM BERENGER).
Whereas the police officer is portrayed as fundamentally
decent, torn between the responsibilities of family life and
his desire for Claire, Neil is someone who will neither show
his emotions nor make the effort to relate to people from
different social classes. The script suggests that Neil treats
Mike like a servant rather than a police officer: “When you’re
through with it [the book], put it back, please, exactly where
you found it, and don’t use the library again. I have to leave
town for a few days. Let’s do everything we can to make this
[ordeal for Claire] less of a trial for her, shall we?” Mike’s
reaction is predictable:“when NEIL leaves, he makes a mock
‘military salute,’ a click of the heels.” Nonetheless the script
makes clear that Neil loves Claire as much as Mike: “NEIL
takes her in his arms, holding her tightly, affectionately, pro-
tectively ...[and] KISSES CLAIRE gently on her neck.”
Reference
Howard Franklin, Danilo Bach, and David Seltzer, “Someone to
Watch Over Me” (revised 4 December 1986), www.imsdb.com/
scripts/Someone-To-Watch-Over-Me.html (accessed 9 June 2008).
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RUBINSTEIN, JOHN (1946– )
SALOMON, MIKAEL (1945– )
Born in Denmark and worked there until 1988 as a cine-
matographer when he made his debut in Great Britain with
Stealing Heaven. His first film as director was A Far Off Place
(1993). Salomon moved to America in the late 1990s, where
he worked mostly in television on films such as Stephen
King’s Salem’s Lot (2004) and The Grid (also 2004).
Engaged by Scott as director on THE COMPANY (after
Scott abandoned plans to appoint different directors—
including himself—for each of the three episodes), Salomon
answered the charge that he was romanticizing the Cold War
period in his story of the CIA in an interview with TV Zone:
“I don’t think it ever is a comfortable time to be a spy, and I
think we’re showing that because O’Donnell’s [CHRIS
O’DONNELL’s] character, who is a very idealistic character,
and I think in the end the question remains, what really hap-
pened? Was it worth it? Did we make all those sacrifices, and
what for? ...we took a lot of inspiration from the old spy
thrillers, from FILM NOIR, definitely from THE THIRD
MAN . . . it became more of a brain thriller than an action
thriller ...you follow the characters and really feel for them,
and you understand what’s going on. This cat-and-mouse
game that goes on, to me, set the mood.”
As a former cinematographer Salomon was also con-
cerned about the look of the films. He told American Cine-
matographer that he had been inspired by the chiaroscuro
techniques of artists such as Rembrandt, Caravaggio, and
van Honthorst: “Rather than use backlight, I crosslit the
actors with a fairly dynamic contrast range and then silhou-
etted the dark side against a lit area on the background. This
gave the images a sense of depth and cohesive style.”
Salomon’s second film as director with Scott as producer
was the 2008 television miniseries THE ANDROMEDA
STRAIN. In an interview with If Magazine, he and screen-
writer Robert Schenkkan wanted to update Michael Crich-
ton’s novel for “a sophisticated and demanding viewing
audience.” While the novel was “the original Techno-thriller,”
“audiences are now quite familiar with this genre and its var-
ious tropes and you have to work a bit harder to stay ahead
of them today. And the world has changed so much. It feels
more complicated, faster-paced and, frankly, more danger-
ous on a number of levels. We are so much more aware now
of how interconnected everything is and how fragile life itself
is. It would have been a disservice to our viewing audience
not to give that reality expression.”
References
Peter Brown and A. C. Ferrante, “Robert Schenkkan Gets Infected
for the Andromeda Strain Mini-Series,” If Magazine, 24 June 2008,
www.ifmagazine.com/feature.asp?article=2819 (accessed 15 Feb-
ruary 2009); Simon Gray, “Covert Ops,” American Cinematographer
88, no.8 (August 2007): 28; “The Company of Wolves,” TV Zone
219 (September 2007): 60.
SAMMON, PAUL M. (1949– )
Indefatigable chronicler of Ridley Scott’s films, especially
ALIEN and BLADE RUNNER. He has also interviewed Scott
for G.I. JANE. His books include Splatterpunks: Extreme
Horror (1991), Tales of Elvis Post-Mortem (1994), The Mak-
ing of Starship Troopers (1998), and Conan the Phenomenon
(2007). A witness to the making of Blade Runner, Sammon’s
book Future Noir (2nd ed. 2007) chronicles the film’s origins
and subsequent fortunes over the past twenty-five years in
exhaustive detail. Sometimes the sheer amount of factual
information tends to overwhelm the reader; but the book is
nonetheless a valuable record of how the film was made, as
well as providing a unique insight into Scott’s working prac-
tices. Sammon has also published a study of Ridley Scott’s
entire oeuvre (Ridley Scott Close Up: The Making of his
Movies [1999]) and written the introduction to Alien: The
Complete Illustrated Screenplay (2001). Most recently Sam-
mon has appeared in many of the featurettes and documen-
taries included in the five-disc Blade Runner: Collector’s
Edition (2007).
Bibliography
“Bibliography of Paul M. Sammon’s Books,” Fantastic Fiction,
www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/paul-m-sammon/ (accessed 12 Feb-
ruary 2009).
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S
SANCHEZ, MARCO (1970– )
Television actor who made his name with the series SeaQuest
DSV (1993–1995).
Cast as the conservative journalist Henry Ramirez in
THE LAST DEBATE, Sanchez offers a penetrating study of
an apparently committed conservative journalist, full of self-
righteous belief in the Republican presidential candidate
Richard Meredith (Stephen Young), who eventually suc-
cumbs to the lure of money. He not only agrees to sacrifice
his principles, but agrees to a name-change as he becomes
half of a new double-act in Hank and Barb, a network show
presented with his fellow panelist Barbara Manning
(AUDRA McDONALD). Whereas earlier in the film we see
him as a fanatic committed to purity of body and soul (he
regularly visits the gym as well as refusing to be compro-
mised on any of his principles), he is now seen eating but-
tered toast and bantering with his fellow presenter in the
hope that this will sustain the show’s high ratings.
SANDERSON, WILLIAM (1944– )
William Sanderson began his career in the theater and grad-
uated to small roles in television (Starsky and Hutch) and on
screen (Coal Miner’s Daughter [1980]).
Cast as Sebastian, Tyrell’s engineer in BLADE RUNNER,
Sanderson based his interpretation on Einstein’s image of
the little man, suffering from Methuselah’s syndrome, “the
boy who looked middle-aged,” in Howard Maxford’s phrase.
Clearly more at home with machines rather than human
beings, Sebastian nonetheless seems strangely unfamiliar
with REPLICANTS—especially Batty (RUTGER HAUER),
who uses the chess game between Sebastian and Tyrell (JOE
TURKEL) to arrange a confrontation with his maker. Sebas-
tian quite literally makes friends to pass the time; when faced
with women, even replicant women like Pris (DARYL HAN-
NAH), he remains painfully shy. This underlines the extent
to which technology has undermined the capacity of human
beings to think and feel in the LOS ANGELES of 2019.
Reference
Howard Maxford, “Early Aging,” Starburst 271 (March 2001): 66.
SANDS, JULIAN (1958– )
Made his name during the 1980s with films such as The
Killing Fields (1986), A Room with a View (1987), and The
Turn of the Screw (1992).
Cast as Tom Gilbert, the new member of staff in THE
BROWNING VERSION, Sands has a largely minor role. His
function is largely symbolic—as a tall, fair-haired man with
an enthusiasm for his new post as Head of Modern Lan-
guages (replacing the aging classics teacher Crocker-Harris
[ALBERT FINNEY]) he is a representative of the new order
that is gradually superseding the old. Although sympathetic
to Crocker-Harris’s plight, it is clear that Tom is more con-
cerned with trying to establish his reputation amongst the
boys. As the film unfolds, however, we discover that Gilbert
is also a classical scholar, who can readily translate the
inscription written by Taplow (BEN SILVERSTONE) inside
the Browning Version (the version of the Agamemnon trans-
lated by Robert Browning). The camera focuses on his face
as he looks up, visibly moved at the boy’s description of
Crocker-Harris as “a gentle master.” At this point he realizes
that teaching is only partially concerned with subject deliv-
ery; it requires a great deal of humanity as well. Even
Crocker-Harris, cruelly described by the boys as “the Hitler
of the Lower Fifth,” possesses that quality.
SARA, MIA (1967– )
Born Mia Sarapocciello in Brooklyn Heights, New York, on
19 June 1967. At sixteen, Mia won her first feature starring
role, debuting as Princess Lily in Ridley Scott’s fairy tale
adventure, LEGEND. According to Mia’s own account given
to Daniel O’Neill:“I saw Ridley, read about half a scene, and
he said, ‘Stop. Don’t read anymore.’ I did a videotape here
[in Los Angeles], and then I was flown to London.” The
experience of the film proved interesting for her as she tried
to portray a princess as someone possessing “innocence with
an edge. She’s passionate and manipulative but very lovely
. . . She’s much like Scarlett O’Hara . . . She starts off inno-
cent and becomes a great deal more sophisticated.” This was
evident, for example, in the discovery of her willfulness; her
insatiable desire to touch the unicorns plunges the forest
into a new Ice Age, despite the fact that Jack (TOM CRUISE)
had expressly forbidden her to do so. Scott begged to differ
from Sara’s interpretation of the character, as he suggested
in an interview quoted by PAUL M. SAMMON that “[b]asi-
cally, she was a brat . . . it was Lily’s manipulative streak that
let her be seduced to the side of evil.”
However, much of this aspect of her character was cut
out of the film’s original version. Lily has a largely passive
role; her major scene is the mock dance of death with Dark-
ness (TIM CURRY) where she is put under a spell and
transformed into a devil-like figure, complete with a long
gown and black lipstick. Although Scott makes it clear that
she has been bewitched, there remains the distinct sugges-
tion that she has the capacity for evil within herself; she is
not quite the purer-than-purer heroine that Jack imagines
her to be.
In LEGEND: THE DIRECTOR’S CUT Lily appeared
more like the person Scott had originally envisaged. A self-
interested person, she was not especially concerned about
Jack’s feelings; she kisses him once, and Jack is afraid to
respond for fear that Lily might break his heart. In this new
version, even Jack realizes that Lily is not quite what she
seems. This foreshadows the revised ending when Jack
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promises to be there for her always. The two of them run
away in a long shot, followed by a close-up where Lily holds
a flower and kisses Jack on the cheek. However, the film ends
with a shot of Jack running away without Lily towards the
sun, followed by another shot of Jack waving to the fairies.
This suggests that the two of them have separated: Lily has
gone her own way, and we doubt whether she has reformed.
Perhaps the spell cast upon her has had a greater effect than
anyone anticipated.
References
Patrick Daniel O’Neill, “Mira Sara: Innocence with an Edge,” Star-
log 105 (April 1986): 16; Ridley Scott, quoted in Paul M. Sammon,
Ridley Scott Close-Up: The Making of His Movies (New York: Thun-
der’s Mouth Press, 1999), 78.
SARANDON, SUSAN (1946– )
Born Susan Abigail Tomalin in New York. Sarandon made
her name as Janet in the cult film The Rocky Horror Picture
Show (1975). She took a major role in THE HUNGER,
directed by TONY SCOTT.
Cast as Louise in THELMA & LOUISE, Sarandon
recalled in an essay by Karen Hollinger that she and Scott
“fought about things. We changed scenes.” Sarandon claims
she only took the part because Scott met her demand that
the ending not be changed: “The first thing I demanded
from the director was that I die in the last scene. I didn’t
want the movie to end with me in Club Med. Once he
assured me I was definitely on the death list, I accepted the
part.” She also demanded other changes: that in packing for
the trip, Louise should show her meticulousness by pack-
ing her belongings in ziplock bags; that the women had to
get progressively more dirty as they continued their jour-
ney; that Louise would at some point exchange her jewelry
for the old man’s dirty hat; and that she should have a pen-
sive moment of reflection in the middle of the Grand
Canyon landscape. Sarandon also considered it inappropri-
ate to have a love scene with Jimmy (MICHAEL MADSEN):
“Not only would the film lose some of its tension, but also
a woman who’s just killed somebody because she’s remem-
bering having been raped—it’s pretty hard to have sex
under the circumstances and have it be great. Somehow that
would cost us a lot of credibility.” Sarandon also claims she
persuaded Scott not to have GEENA DAVIS do a topless
shot in the film. Davis claimed in an interview that Saran-
don said “‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, Ridley. Geena is not going
to take her shirt off in this scene.’ He said, ‘Okay, okay.’”
Finally, Sarandon introduced the kiss at the end of the film:
“They [the producers] weren’t sure about me kissing Geena
at the end, because of the gay thing, but the sun was setting,
we had to finish it in two takes, so I knew they’d have to go
with it.”
According to an interview with the actress given on
National Public Radio, Louise is clearly someone who,
although outwardly strong, is nonetheless keen to erase her
past—especially the experience of being raped in Texas.
However, as the action progresses she understands that she
is engaged in “some kind of search for an understanding of
this moment”—in other words, to make sense of her pres-
ent experiences and use them as part of a process of self-
development. This process is not an easy one—especially
after the two women have been robbed by JD (BRAD PITT),
Louise succumbs to a fit of despair. Once she is out on the
road again, however, she recovers herself. In an interview
with Premiere magazine, Sarandon describes it: “In the
movie, I get out of the car, kind of look around, and see that
old guy sitting there alone. I take off my watch and my rings
and trade them for his hat. Louise is really seeing things dif-
ferently, and I think condensing things into a short period
of time—staying up for four days straight—helps you lose
perspective. I was trying to figure out a way you’d get to a
point where you really would drive off a cliff.”
Like her costar Geena Davis, Sarandon was unaware of
just how much impact the film had on audiences at the time
of its premiere. In the Premiere interview she recalled, “I
don’t think we understood what a challenge that was to the
way things are. It’s a primal threat—a woman with a gun.
She’s pissed off and she can give back what she got. It’s
something women aren’t supposed to do.”
Sarandon’s role in the film has contributed greatly to
the development of her public persona, most aptly summa-
rized by Susan Knobloch as “a full-grown, desirable woman,
who believes in sexual freedom when it comes both to her-
self (at any age, the idea of any kind of sensuality from
celibacy to promiscuity is hers to choose) and to her part-
ners (younger men, an older woman, or no one at all). She
is also her own woman in the corridors of public power, and
she relates to other women without undue jealousy and
without always putting men first. If this persona is not
clearly enough influenced by the feminism of the American
1960s through the 1980s, the public image of ‘Susan Saran-
don, celebrity’ is one of a far left activist, a well- and outspo-
ken critic of immigration policy.”
References
Juliann Garey and Bronwen Hruska, “Road Worriers,” Premiere 14
no.10 (June 2001): 84, 105; Karen Hollinger, The Actress: Hollywood
Acting and the Female Star (New York and Abingdon, UK: Rout-
ledge, 2006), 131–32; Susan Knobloch,“Interplaying Identities: Act-
ing and the Building Blocks of Character in Thelma and Louise,” i n
Thelma & Louise Live!: The Cultural Afterlife of an American Film,
ed. Bernie Cook (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2007), 97; Susan
Sarandon, interviewed by Terry Gross on “Fresh Air,” National Pub-
lic Radio, 16 December 1999.
SARANDON, SUSAN (1946– )
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