Subject
Lolita Filming in Sonoma County CA (fwd)
Date
Body
EDITORIAL NOTE. NABOKV-L thanks Brian Gross <briang@condor.sr.hp.com> for
the item below. (Brian Gross is the discoverer of the passenger manifest of
the *Champlain* which brought the "Nabokoffs" to the U.S. in 1940. See THE
NABOKOVIAN #34 [Spring 1995], pp. 9-15.)
It appears that "Hurricane Lolita" has swept to California. I've
attached an article about a casting call for "Lolita" here in
Sonoma County.
Trivia buffs may be interested to know that Fort Ross (mentioned
in the article), built around 1810, was a Russian settlement.
I found it amusing that while "the film is set in New England", filming
was moved to Sonoma County "because the foliage." Makeup!
Brian
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From the Santa Rosa (CA) Press Democrat, January 20, 1996:
ANSWERING CALL FOR TINY SLICE OF FAME
By Eileen Clegg
Staff Writer
"Is the role of Lolita already taken?" That was one of the hopeful
snatches of conversation overheard on Friday at the Red Lion Inn
where hundreds of people lined up for a chance to appear in crowd
scenes in the movie "Lolita" to be filmed in Sonoma County later
this month.
But most among the wildly diverse crowd of would-be movie extras
arrived for the casting call with more attainable goals.
Aware that 15-year-old silver screen newcomer Dominique Swain
already has the Lolita role, Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons will be
Humbert Humbert and actress Melanie Griffith will star as Charlotte
Haze, they were simply hoping for a moment in the spotlight.
"I love Melanie Griffith," said Bonnie Miller, a Forestville
pharmaceutical sales representative who took time off Friday afternoon
to wait in the line that snaked down the length of the Red Lion Inn's
ballroom and lobby area.
"Even though I probably won't get a chance to meet her, it would be
fun to rent a video one day with me and Melanie Griffith, even if we're
not together," Miller said with a laugh.
At $5 an hour, most weren't doing it for the money.
"I'm doing it for the bleeps and giggles," said Gabe Maxson, a
24-year-old theater arts major at Sonoma State University.
"Another benefit is to see what goes on behind the camera, the lights,
the angles, the positioning, so that when we get our big movie break,
we'll know what to do," said local professional actress Marjorie Mann,
who has appeared in Santa Rosa's Summer Repertory Theater.
Tracy Kilpatrick of Independent Casting, the contractor who took the
applications and photographs and sorted them out for the movie's casting
director, said she was pleased with the turnout.
"The more the merrier, that's why I keep all this on file," she said,
ruffling through the stacks and stacks of applications in front of her.
Among the candidates was Francine Kuney, a 74-year-old former dancer
whose film credits include "Tonight and Every Night" with Rita Hayworth
in the '40s.
Some people came from as far away as San Jose. Several were playing
hookie from work.
"Sometimes our days run 12 to 14 hours," Kilpatrick told applicants.
"Can you take off work or school?" They'd nod.
"Can you cut your hair?" she asked many of the men. They'd shrug.
Why not? After all, Lolita is set long before bi-level mop cuts and
shoulder-length hair were worn by men.
The film, based on the literary classic by Vladimir Nabokov about
a man's obsessive passion for a young girl, is set in the late 1940's
and early 1950's.
One young Santa Rosa woman, Eden Stein, had the tall, lithe body type
Kilpatrick was seeking for one of the circa 1940s outfits to be worn by
on of the background actors.
"You're a good size for a costume," Kilpatrick commented. Several
women standing in line behind Stein immediately straightened and stretched
to their full heights.
Sonoma County was chosen for the film in part because of its foliage.
"The story takes place in New England," she said. The filming began
in North Carolina, but "the leaves weren't right there."
Petaluma's architecture also was attractive to the film company, she said.
One of the people waiting in line said he had spotted movie crews
already working near his home on Sea View Ridge near Fort Ross on the
Sonoma Coast.
"They're filming it partly in our neighborhood and I came down just to
see what it was about," said Michael Hallett, a bespectacled, serious-looking
man who appeared an unlikely candidate for a movie extra.
Hallett is an architect who, if pressed, will admit he once had his 15
minutes of fame and wouldn't mind making it a half-hour.
Hallett said when he was a student at Harvard he was waiting in line at
the Brattle Theater in Harvard Square for a Humphrey Bogart film festival
during the '60s, about the time Bogart was becoming popular again.
"Someone put a microphone in my face and interviewed me. I ended up in
a documentary that kept playing on television over and over again. People
would call me from all over the country and say, 'I saw you on television.'"
Friday's casting call looked like another chance at mini-fame to fill
a lull in the architecture business.
Some had grander plans.
"I hope to be famous," said Ruben Lemos, a 34-year-old security guard
from Santa Rosa.
the item below. (Brian Gross is the discoverer of the passenger manifest of
the *Champlain* which brought the "Nabokoffs" to the U.S. in 1940. See THE
NABOKOVIAN #34 [Spring 1995], pp. 9-15.)
It appears that "Hurricane Lolita" has swept to California. I've
attached an article about a casting call for "Lolita" here in
Sonoma County.
Trivia buffs may be interested to know that Fort Ross (mentioned
in the article), built around 1810, was a Russian settlement.
I found it amusing that while "the film is set in New England", filming
was moved to Sonoma County "because the foliage." Makeup!
Brian
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From the Santa Rosa (CA) Press Democrat, January 20, 1996:
ANSWERING CALL FOR TINY SLICE OF FAME
By Eileen Clegg
Staff Writer
"Is the role of Lolita already taken?" That was one of the hopeful
snatches of conversation overheard on Friday at the Red Lion Inn
where hundreds of people lined up for a chance to appear in crowd
scenes in the movie "Lolita" to be filmed in Sonoma County later
this month.
But most among the wildly diverse crowd of would-be movie extras
arrived for the casting call with more attainable goals.
Aware that 15-year-old silver screen newcomer Dominique Swain
already has the Lolita role, Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons will be
Humbert Humbert and actress Melanie Griffith will star as Charlotte
Haze, they were simply hoping for a moment in the spotlight.
"I love Melanie Griffith," said Bonnie Miller, a Forestville
pharmaceutical sales representative who took time off Friday afternoon
to wait in the line that snaked down the length of the Red Lion Inn's
ballroom and lobby area.
"Even though I probably won't get a chance to meet her, it would be
fun to rent a video one day with me and Melanie Griffith, even if we're
not together," Miller said with a laugh.
At $5 an hour, most weren't doing it for the money.
"I'm doing it for the bleeps and giggles," said Gabe Maxson, a
24-year-old theater arts major at Sonoma State University.
"Another benefit is to see what goes on behind the camera, the lights,
the angles, the positioning, so that when we get our big movie break,
we'll know what to do," said local professional actress Marjorie Mann,
who has appeared in Santa Rosa's Summer Repertory Theater.
Tracy Kilpatrick of Independent Casting, the contractor who took the
applications and photographs and sorted them out for the movie's casting
director, said she was pleased with the turnout.
"The more the merrier, that's why I keep all this on file," she said,
ruffling through the stacks and stacks of applications in front of her.
Among the candidates was Francine Kuney, a 74-year-old former dancer
whose film credits include "Tonight and Every Night" with Rita Hayworth
in the '40s.
Some people came from as far away as San Jose. Several were playing
hookie from work.
"Sometimes our days run 12 to 14 hours," Kilpatrick told applicants.
"Can you take off work or school?" They'd nod.
"Can you cut your hair?" she asked many of the men. They'd shrug.
Why not? After all, Lolita is set long before bi-level mop cuts and
shoulder-length hair were worn by men.
The film, based on the literary classic by Vladimir Nabokov about
a man's obsessive passion for a young girl, is set in the late 1940's
and early 1950's.
One young Santa Rosa woman, Eden Stein, had the tall, lithe body type
Kilpatrick was seeking for one of the circa 1940s outfits to be worn by
on of the background actors.
"You're a good size for a costume," Kilpatrick commented. Several
women standing in line behind Stein immediately straightened and stretched
to their full heights.
Sonoma County was chosen for the film in part because of its foliage.
"The story takes place in New England," she said. The filming began
in North Carolina, but "the leaves weren't right there."
Petaluma's architecture also was attractive to the film company, she said.
One of the people waiting in line said he had spotted movie crews
already working near his home on Sea View Ridge near Fort Ross on the
Sonoma Coast.
"They're filming it partly in our neighborhood and I came down just to
see what it was about," said Michael Hallett, a bespectacled, serious-looking
man who appeared an unlikely candidate for a movie extra.
Hallett is an architect who, if pressed, will admit he once had his 15
minutes of fame and wouldn't mind making it a half-hour.
Hallett said when he was a student at Harvard he was waiting in line at
the Brattle Theater in Harvard Square for a Humphrey Bogart film festival
during the '60s, about the time Bogart was becoming popular again.
"Someone put a microphone in my face and interviewed me. I ended up in
a documentary that kept playing on television over and over again. People
would call me from all over the country and say, 'I saw you on television.'"
Friday's casting call looked like another chance at mini-fame to fill
a lull in the architecture business.
Some had grander plans.
"I hope to be famous," said Ruben Lemos, a 34-year-old security guard
from Santa Rosa.