This film starred and was directed by Frank Sinatra. Theo recorded it for me off of Encore because I once told her that my parents appeared briefly in it as extras.
My first summer job during college involved walking dogs. Back then, it was a great deal easier than now (I didn't have to clean up after them). The woman I worked for (Mary Jane Lane) was also a theatrical agent and told my parents that she could get jobs as extras for them in locally shot films.
Near the beginning of The Detective, there is a scene with Frank Sinatra and Lee Remick shot at a stadium. My parents (Jayne and Joe) told me that they had to pretend there was a game going on at the field. They had to leap up and cheer, then sit down and talk. Then, they had to do the same thing over, but without making any sound (so the stars' dialog could be heard).
I saw both my parents behind and upstairs from Frank. They both looked so young! Then, I realized that my mother was 38 at that time and I'm 20 years older now than she was back then. It gave me a kind of sad feeling, since she passed away 20 years ago this April, but she will always be young on that film in that scene. My father appeared as an extra in a number of other films that year (the private detective business was a little slow). If you ever see "Goodbye Columbus," he's the guy in glasses dancing the Hora with a fat redhead at the wedding reception scene and having a helluva time!
Believe it or not, this was the first time I had ever seen the film. It actually was quite good, had some complicated plot turns, and interesting character development.
NYj
My first summer job during college involved walking dogs. Back then, it was a great deal easier than now (I didn't have to clean up after them). The woman I worked for (Mary Jane Lane) was also a theatrical agent and told my parents that she could get jobs as extras for them in locally shot films.
Near the beginning of The Detective, there is a scene with Frank Sinatra and Lee Remick shot at a stadium. My parents (Jayne and Joe) told me that they had to pretend there was a game going on at the field. They had to leap up and cheer, then sit down and talk. Then, they had to do the same thing over, but without making any sound (so the stars' dialog could be heard).
I saw both my parents behind and upstairs from Frank. They both looked so young! Then, I realized that my mother was 38 at that time and I'm 20 years older now than she was back then. It gave me a kind of sad feeling, since she passed away 20 years ago this April, but she will always be young on that film in that scene. My father appeared as an extra in a number of other films that year (the private detective business was a little slow). If you ever see "Goodbye Columbus," he's the guy in glasses dancing the Hora with a fat redhead at the wedding reception scene and having a helluva time!
Believe it or not, this was the first time I had ever seen the film. It actually was quite good, had some complicated plot turns, and interesting character development.
NYj
Then out spoke brave Horatius, the Captain of the Gate: "To every man upon this earth, death cometh soon or late; And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods,"
"Well, John Henry said to the Cap'n, "A man ain't nuthin' but a man. But, before I let that steam drill beat me, gonna die with my hammer in my hand, Lawd, Lawd, gonna die with my hammer in my hand."
ImDeranged Wrote:Interesting trivia about The Detective, it's based on a 1966 book by Roderick Thorp. In 1979 Thorp published the sequel to the book called Nothing Lasts Forever. The film rights to that were sold. They changed the characters name from Joe Leland to John McClain and renamed the movie to Die Hard. So if you read the books it's the same character.
Next time you watch Die Hard try to imagine Frank Sinatra saying Yipee-Kay-Ayee Mother Fucker.....
Ring-a-ding ding pally.
You're right, that is interesting trivia!
I can't imagine that "The Detective" and "Die Hard" had the same lead characters, the same author, or anything else.
Thanks,
NYJ
Then out spoke brave Horatius, the Captain of the Gate: "To every man upon this earth, death cometh soon or late; And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods,"
"Well, John Henry said to the Cap'n, "A man ain't nuthin' but a man. But, before I let that steam drill beat me, gonna die with my hammer in my hand, Lawd, Lawd, gonna die with my hammer in my hand."
NewYorkjoe Wrote:You're right, that is interesting trivia!
I can't imagine that "The Detective" and "Die Hard" had the same lead characters, the same author, or anything else.
Thanks,
NYJ
But, alas, joe, it was the same author, lead character and the book is almost identical to the movie in everything but the character relationship. In the book, it is a father-daughter connection, instead of estranged husband and wife. Plus, the ending of the book is a little less than happy.
It's one of the very rare cases that the book and the movie are both freakin' awesome!
Scott Hajek
[i]"A beer right now would sound good, but I'd rather drink one than listen to it."[/i]