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\7ifsitiri By David Baker Gamecock Film Critic j| a When you're making a film, c according to Walter Hill, "Very 4 little happens by accident." Each \ shot must be carefully planned and staged and the lighting and sound t must be perfectly balanced, he s said. > Strangely enough, however, Hill 1 does not discuss very many < aspects of his characters with the rv\rfrovinrf fhom 4 ' T ? put JLUi iiiCiO pvi uajriii5 viivm. a < try not to talk an enormous amount < about the character with the ac- ; tor," Hill said. "I think perfect understanding is dull. As soon as you think you understand everything about a character, you remove the mystery of what might happen in a situation." In keeping with that viewpoint, Hill does not rehearse very much before he begins shooting. He also uses multiple cameras as much as possible to keep the actors from Vioirinrf fa o cnnnn unfit fhoir Ild V Hlg LU 1 tpva I CI UUIU UJV11 spontaneity is lost. Before Hill became a director, he was one of Hollywood's most prolific writers. He wrote The Getaway, The Thief Who Came to Dinner and The Macintosh Man, among several others. But Hill prefers directing to writing. The Long Riders is Hill's fourth film as director, but directing is no 'Alien' pro looks for 'g By David Baker Qanwcock Film Critic Currently filming on location in and around Albany, Ga., is a film called The Long Riders. It's a Western drama and it's being directed by Walter Hill, who, by virtue of the box-office success ofThe Warriors, which he co-wrote and directed, and of Alien, which he co-produced, has become a rather hot property in Hollywood. Set in the decades following the Civil War, The Long Riders tells T. muhkpsp^r ^M^mrnrnM^ Walter Hill the story of the James-Younger gang, the legendary band of outlaws which was composed of four sets of brothers. The film follows the gang from its earliest holdup in 1866 through its bloody demise in 1882. "God knows it's been done a lot as a film/' Hill said, but he quickly pointed out that the new version will be quite different from the previous treatments in that it will examine the subjects in the light of "what it is about them that enables the popular imagination to soar around their characters." While this may be true, the aspect of the film which most distinguishes it from the other films is its casting. In The Long IHiiora AJirh Apt nf hvnthorc will Ko played by real life brothers. James and Stacy Keach will portray Jesse and Frank James; David, Keith and Robert Carradine are set to plry Cole, Jim and Bob Younger; ig the & lasier now than when he first took t up. "I think I'm more confident ibout it, but the problems are enormous every day," he said. 'There's always a crisis to deal vith." The first film Hill directed was he critically and financially successful Hard Times. His second vas The Driver, which bombed lere but which made a great deal rf money overseas. "I think that the coolness and alienation within the movie succeeded in alienating American audiences," Hill said, explaining the film's dismal domestic showing. "European and Japanese audiences are mucn more willing to put up with stylistic conceits within terms of motion pictures. And it was definitely a film in which the style was meant to be pervasive. "In the end, I decided The Driver didn't have enough energy," Hill said, "and I was determined The Warriors was going to have a lot ol energy." When The Warriors, Hill's ultraviolent third film, was released early this year, outbreaks oi violence erupted in many of the theatres where it was being shown. The publicity surrounding the incidents (as well as the generall> favorable reviews) spurred ticke! sales nationwide, and the movie ducer Hill food story' Randy and Dennis Quaid are cas as Clell and Ed Miller; an< ?i .J ni i mcnoias anu ^nnsiopner uues will portray Bob and Charlie Ford. The idea for the film, as well as the idea for the casting, was arrived at several years ago according to Stacy Keach, who, ii addition to his acting duties, ii serving as one of the film's executive producers. "My brothei nriH T u/orp nlnvina thp Writfh brothers together," Keach said "We wanted to continue working together, so we decided we'd in the 'Wrong' brothers." After much painstaking research, James sat down to writ* the original script, Keach said "We'd been through seven or eigh! versions of the screenplay when w< came up with the idea of getting the brothers together to plaj brothers." n.veniuaiiy, James scnpt was combined with a similar one written by Englishman Bill Bryden. "We showed it to Waltei Hill," Keach explained, "and he said 'this is interesting.' Then h< began working on it." The producers of the $8 millioi picture originally had hoped i could be filmed in Missouri, wher< the James-Younger gang actually lived. Telephone lines an< television antennas made th< Missouri locations unsuitable however, so the filmmaker: contacted the Georgia Filn Commission. According to Bol Werden, the film's publicist landscapes approximating th< Ozarks were located in less thai two weeks. After Georgia, the cast and cre\ of The Long Riders will move t Texas for the filming of a trai robbery and then to California where the interior shots will b filmed. Providing that post-productio work goes smoothly, the finishe picture will be released next June. UJ 1U< beome an instant hit. "I'm sorry the incidents happened, that a couple of people were hurt and three were killed," Hill said, "but was the violence attributable to any content in the film? I think not. If somebody puts a gun in his pocket, sees a movie and shoots somebody, it's enormous stupidity to blame the movie." The great success ot Hills second film this year, Alien, which he co-produced, is very surprising to him. "Basically, the project was conceived and developed with the idea that it would make a lot of money," Hill admitted. "And almost invariably when people sit down to make a lot of money in the motion picture industry, they never do." > v-.HggH ; B ";lvi,A 1 flHgp; ? $s9| ^E t *'*:<%i25i?^B HT iSjS^SSSSS^ v$^H^^Hfll^P5p' i:X I fpP*|ifl|^^E&3fc _>; |g g ?fc' v-"^- '. Kjfc I . Carradine 5 By David Baker f Qam*cock Film Critic 1 "I kind of fell into acting by accide 5 Carradine. "There was a play that m > with Keith down in Florida. He took r s when Keith had to leave the role, I toe i Since the "accident," Carradine > more than a dozen films, includin ? Orca, and the currently lensing Ti ~ While the new movie has been a strei * for many of its stars, Carradine's j< easy so far. lirpUn I ... a?ic iiiuvic jl uiu ittai summer w v this," he said, referring to his work i 0 released Samuel Fuller picture, Tt 11 which was filmed on location in ? really a tough climate," Carradin e really hot, and we were dressed in w uniforms." The Georgia climate has been mu< in, Carradine said, adding that ii J Southern style of speech influence th the film. "I really like accents," he ? Between shots, Carradine passu ong RU <?. THE 4 LONG F w- \ + t X i, V p<tvld B*kaf ~ 0AMEC s career 'a ninhiro's cot K? in V U V/W MJ TT he explained, hole mtfM said Robert just beginning to iy dad was doing working pretty h ne with him, and Winchester, or at >kover." it," he said, has appeared in So far, Carradi g Mean Streets, formance was as he Long Riders. in Hal Ashby's uious experience formance in Joy >b has been very Pom Pom Girls, formance, I think 'as tougher than noted that co-star in the soon-to-be- him develop his le Big Red One, helpful, very su] Israel. "Israel's Home cast. ie said. "It was As soon as ' ool World War II Carradine will h Tentatively titled :h better to work directed by Micl ie is letting the Syndrome earlier e way he talks in "it's not ne< aid. Carradine said, b bs time on the be science-fiction ders' :IDERS mte, *v, , David Baktr ? QAMECOCK 'My best real performance, I think, was In Coming Home' ? Robert Carradlne OCK 1 iccidental' hittling. "I've whittled all my life," ling up a tiny piece of wood that is resemble a gun. "Lately I've been ard on this rifle. It's a model 92 least it will be when I'm done with ine said, he believes his best perthe shell-shocked Vietnam veteran C.omintr H r\mo "T lllrn mti .Q ..vr.IV. A IIIJ ride and my performance in The " he said, "but my best real perwas in Coming Home." Carradine s Jane Fonda and Jon Voight. helped character. "Everybody was very pportive," he said of the Coming The Lone Riders is egin working on another project. I Wavelength, it will be written and hael Gray, who wrote The China this year. :essarily an outer-space film," ut he quickly pointed out that it will motion picture "with aliens in it."