Cinema Retro's Editor-in-Chief Lee Pfeiffer was recently invited by Paramount Home Entertainment to discuss "Tommy Boy" with the film's director Peter Segal in conjunction with the release of the 30th anniversary 4K and Blu-ray editions, which are released on March 25.
CR: I'm a big fan of Tommy Boy, so I'll just
cut to the chase. How did the project come to you?
PS: I had worked with Chris Farley a couple of times before
this movie. I did an HBO special with him and Tom Arnold. Then I did an episode
of a show that we did for ABC called The Jackie Thomas Show.
I knew that Chris was the funniest guy I'd ever met, and I thought, if ever I
did get an opportunity to make a movie, that I would love to have it be with
him. Soon thereafter, a script came to my desk called Billy the Third: A Midwestern, and it was the genesis of this project. (The film
ultimately became Tommy Boy.- Ed.)
CR: Now, you had some real challenges. The script was being
rewritten. You didn't have a finalized vision of the ending, apparently. You
had a relatively low budget, and you had two leading men who were basically
novices to the film business. How did you cope with all of that?
PS: [laughs] It was hard, but you know what, hearing you
describe those ingredients, yes, you'd have to be nuts to take that on, but it
was really about Chris. It was a challenging situation, with him splitting time
with the SNL season because we took too long during the interim time
between both seasons to work on the script. But it was just an opportunity to
work with this guy who, like I said, I worked with a couple of times before and
I just couldn't wait to try to figure something out with him.
CR: Did Chris and David Spade find it difficult to adapt from
TV into feature film format?
PS: Yes, they both got a little annoyed with me, not that I
did a lot of takes, but on Saturday Night Live, when you're in front of a live audience, you do one
take, you have multiple cameras, and you're done. On Tommy Boy, it was three,
four, five, six takes in one direction, now we're going to turn the camera
around, three, four, five, six takes in that direction. They would get bored.
They had to learn that that's what it was like making a movie. It also did
sometimes give us some interesting moments that we wouldn't have had without
their boredom. For example, Fat Guy in A Little Coat- in that scene
Chris only spoke the words, and that was a bit that he would do in the Saturday Night Live offices, putting on people's coats and saying
"Fat guy in a little coat, fat guy in a little coat." He got bored
during the coverage of David, and he made it into a song. I didn't know this
until my editor the next day said, "Oh my God, did you look at the
dailies?" I said, "Well, I was there. I'm pretty sure I know what
happened." He goes, "No, but you weren't paying attention to Chris.
When he was off camera he was singing. You’ve got to go back reshoot it,
turn the camera around, get him to sing the song." So we did. That was
because of boredom and it led to something.
CR: Improvisation was encouraged on your side?
PS: Absolutely. It's always encouraged. The worst thing that
can happen is it hits the cutting room floor, but I always want to try
something.
CR: You said that, although Chris had these terrible habits
that we know about later in his life, he behaved himself on the set. He was
dedicated to making this film work.
PS: I think this was the best experience of his professional
career because he was now a leading man. He was clean and sober during
production and he was enjoying the work. After the success of Tommy Boy,
there was a lot of pressure on him. He got offers right and left. He was caught
up in making money instead of really waiting for the right project, and I think
he was becoming frustrated with the way things were going.The fact that I look
back on this experience and we're still talking about this movie 30 years
later, it gives me a nice feeling in my heart because we're not celebrating
something that was bad for his life. We're celebrating something that was
really good for his life.
CR: That's a good way of looking at it. I wanted to ask you
also about the contributions made by cinematographer Vic Kemper and editor Bill
Kerr.
PS: Vic Kemper was a great cinematographer. We needed a
strong hand because I knew that as much as I love to plan and storyboard
everything, which I did for that movie, that things were going to be changing a
lot, because, as we've discussed, there wasn't a complete script. You can't be
a cinematographer and plan and do prep without a screenplay. Bill Kerr happens
to be my best friend. This was his first major motion picture. It was, I would
say, a blast working with him. Of course, it's a blast because it's always a
blast working with your best friend. It was comforting working with him because
he knew how hard it was for me to be away. At the time, I had two children
and they were one and three. When they would visit on the set, they would've
actually grown since the last visit, and I'd get really down. Being able to go
to the edit room was almost like going to my therapist. I couldn't have done
this without either of those guys.
CR: Also, David Newman's contribution. He delivered a
wonderful score. You would not think of him associated with a comedy such as
this, but it's a wonderful score.
PS: Thank you. David did a wonderful job. (Paramount CEO) Sherry
Lansing originally thought that this was just going to be scored with a garage
band. Then when she saw the first cut, she said, "That's not the movie I
bought. This has a lot more heart. You scored it with James Newton Howard (who
scored the comedy Dave-Ed.), and other big composers as temp tracks. I
think we need to give you some more money. You need to get an orchestra
now." We hired David, but he had only three weeks to put it together. You
can recognize the movie Dave in here. I had a meeting with (that film’s
director) Ivan Reitman a few years after Tommy Boy came out, and
the first thing he said when I walked into his office was, "Nice score!"
[laughter]
PS: I could hear the similarities myself.
CR:. The film didn't perform spectacularly
when it first opened, but its reputation really grew when it came out on home
video. You were surprised to find out how well it sold.
PS: The movie did open (in theaters) at number one. We (ultimately)
made $31 million domestically, because
it wasn't even released internationally, and that was fine. It was successful,
but where the movie's real success, as you were mentioning, was on home video,
which at the time meant VHS. At the 10th anniversary, Paramount sent out crews
all over the country to interview the cast and everything. They were doing
quite a bit and I said, "Wow, this is a lot for the 10th anniversary of
this movie. Why such a fuss?" They said, "Well, this is a top 10
seller for us." I said, "What does that mean? This year?" They
said, "No, of all time." I said, "Wait a minute. You mean
Paramount Pictures with Raiders of the Lost Ark
and The Godfather… Top 10???" They go, "On VHS,
yes." That's where this movie made its bones really.
CR: Many people consider the film to be a genuine comedy
classic. What do you attribute that to, Peter? Why do you think it's resonated
with so many people of different generations over so many years?
PS: I think because it has a sweetness to it. It's not just
about the jokes. There's a softness to it that is also showing a different side
of Chris Farley that I don't think he showed in any of his other movies. Just
as Rebel Without a Cause was to James Dean, this
movie is to Chris. He didn't get to make a lot of movies, and because this one
is an original character, that meant a lot to him and his relationship with his
father in real life. Also, his friendship, obviously, with David Spade, that
comes through. I think it becomes the secret sauce. That’s why we're still
talking about this movie.
(Special thanks to Sharon Ramirez and Deborah Thompson.)
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