BY LEE PFEIFFER

Even at 90 years of age Jerry Lewis can still grab a headline. When the Hollywood Reporter recently visited his home to conduct a video interview, Lewis looked  as though he was facing root canal surgery. He rudely answered questions with one or two word answers, insulted the crew throughout in a not very subtle manner and for seven excruciating minutes that have since gone viral, he dissed the interviewer, who never lost his cool or the respect he showed to the comedy legend. In that regard, he showed more class than Lewis himself. This wasn't an ambush-style interview or one loaded with "gotcha" questions. The pity is that if Lewis had played ball with the interviewer, he could have provided some interesting insights from the standpoint of a man his age who is still actively performing on stage and in film. Instead Lewis acted as though he had not consented to the interview and that somehow the crew had engaged in a home invasion. By doing so, he only diminished himself. If he was that ticked off at the prospect of doing the interview, why didn't he just cancel it instead of degrading himself in this manner? 

A new book release just grabbed our attention that in many ways has both everything and nothing to do with cinema. The book is titled, The World’s Hardest Music Trivia: Rock n Roll History, Fun Facts and Behind the Scenes Stories About the Groups and Songs You Thought You Knew (Nautilus) but at 388 well-researched pages there is nothing trivial about it. The book is a fun read that not only covers rock 'n roll but also delves a bit into the realm of films, as well as providing interesting facts about eras gone by. Perhaps somewhat ironically its author, John Grantham, spent over 30 years in Hollywood in and around the movie industry as an actor, stuntman and voice over artist. Cinema Retro's Lee Pfeiffer caught up with him for a Q&A about his book which has a title longer than some nation's entire constitutions. 

CR – It should be noted that this isn’t just a book listing questions & answers about music. It’s an homage to the generations that lived and loved the music.

JG – Thanks for recognizing that. There are plenty of books that simply ask a question and then provide you with the answer. I wanted to set a tone for the music and provide a background for the songs and groups mentioned in the book.

CR – You started your sections that dealt with musical decades with an overview of what was happening culturally, politically and financially during that period of time.

JG –It was important to me that the reader experiences the questions in the context that each generation provided. Music, perhaps more than cinema, has always held a mirror up to society. The 1960s for example provided folk music, anti-war music, tune in – drop out music amidst the background of a divisive war in Vietnam that was fracturing America. There was “Black Power”, Women’s Lib, the Eco movement and lest we forget, the introduction of terrorist actions. For someone reading the book that wasn’t alive then or was too young to remember, it’s helpful to set the scene if you will.

CR – You also included a lot of movie quotes instead of lyrics. Why is that?

JG – I feel like music provides the soundtrack of our lives. I tried to include quotes from movies that highlighted the significance of music. Movies like High Fidelity and School of Rock are obvious choices. My favorite scene is from Barry Levinson’s 1982 classic, Diner where Daniel Sterns’ character Shrevie argues with his wife Beth, “The first time I met you? Modell’s sister’s high school graduation party, right? 1955. And ‘Ain’t That A Shame’ was playing when I walked into the door! It’s important”.

CR – You were a Hollywood actor and stuntman. Why then a book about music and not, say, well the obvious, movies?

JG - (Laughs) Thank you for dignifying my career. I had more than my share of stinkers. If my career had started a decade earlier much of my finer work would have gone straight to the drive-in.

CR – Such as?

JG – Let’s see… Baja, Deadly Breed, Death House… Of course there was also Double Dragon and Master’s of the Universe… If Double Dragon had done anything at the box office you could have an action figure of my character, Torpedo, on your shelf!

CR – What would you say was your favorite role or movie?

JG – Hmmm. Harvey Keitel shoots me in the final scene of Get Shorty. I played Hari Krishna #1. I doubled Peter Deluise in the TV show seaQuest DSV. There was a lot of fire and explosions on that, plus a gnarly stunt where I had to crash through a plate glass window.

CR – Sounds like fun.

JG – Some days were better than others. The movie that was the most gratifying to be associated with was an independent film I doubt many of your readers ever saw called Miss Firecracker…

CR - …With Holly Hunter and Tim Robbins…

JG – That’s right. It also starred Scott Glenn, Alfrie Woodard, Mary Steenburgen and the late Trey Wilson. I was the stunt coordinator for that. Scott Glenn came up to me after the fight scene at the fairground and said it was the most realistic fight he’d ever seen. It wasn’t of course, but it was kind of him to say.

CR – Your love of rock and pop is obvious from the book but what movies inspired your career choice?

JG – All of them. I’d put moving pictures right next to the printing press in terms of how it has shaped and moved society. You can’t understate its influence. The optimistic messages of Frank Capra’s films and the documentaries of Leni Riefenstahl, are from the same era. The 70s gave us gritty, street level dramas like The French Connection and Shaft . The latter of which featured, perhaps, the best opening theme song in history.

John Grantham: Hollywood stuntman and author.

CR –Back to the music then…

JG – Oh right…My formative years were spent in Naples, Florida. My best friend’s parents owned the only record store in town. That was our “Diner” if you will; the place we would hang out and talk about girls and sports and movies to the backdrop of great music. It never occurred to me that all that time spent pouring over album covers and liner notes would someday form the foundation of a book.

CR – With the success of “The World’s Hardest Music Trivia…” can we expect to see The World’s Hardest Movie Trivia on the shelves soon?

JG – You’d have to ask my publisher. I’d love to do it. I am a student of Hollywood. I couldn’t tell you who my Congressman is but I can tell you that Susan Hart played the ghost in The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini”, which I saw in 1966 at the Yazoo Theater in Yazoo City, Mississippi. I was too young to know what was causing that tingling sensation in my body as I watched the movie but I knew I wanted to experience it again; and often.

CR – Maybe we should leave it at that.

JG – Probably for the best Lee. Thanks for the shout out. Rock on.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON

As he prepares to accept honors at the Kennedy Center on December 4 with President Obama and the First Lady in attendance, Al Pacino talks about his long, mostly illustrious career to Karen Heller of the Washington Post. We say "mostly illustrious" because the notoriously private Pacino admits to having built a "museum of mistakes" in relation to the roles he turned down in what turned out to be classic movies. Among them: "Taxi Driver", "Pretty Woman", "Kramer Vs. Kramer" and a little picture called "Star Wars". His first big break, playing Michael Corleone in "The Godfather", resulted in him almost being fired by the studio- and even Pacino admits he thought he was all wrong for the role. Click here to read. 

Pacino says that Paramount tried to fire him three times from "The Godfather".