Spielberg Page #3

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kids say,

'Can we have a monkey?'

And the mother says,

'Are you crazy?'"

You know, when I hear

my stories about

the things I've done,

I think, "That's crazy."

Susan Lacy:

Did you think

she was crazy?

I liked the monkey.

( birds chirping )

( music playing )

Spielberg:

As a child, I spent a lot

of my time watching television,

or listening

to soundtrack albums,

or just sitting around,

looking at the clouds.

My dad was always on me

for that.

He did not

like me getting Cs,

but school was not a place

I was really drawn to.

Nancy:

Steve was a kid that was

sort of watchful and tentative

and in some ways hesitant.

You know, he wasn't

like the normal kids

in the neighborhood.

He wasn't the muscle guy.

You know,

he got bullied a lot.

That was tough.

Most of my demons

were self-inflicted wounds.

They were things

inside myself.

The way I saw myself.

I didn't have a lot

of high esteem for myself,

you know, growing up.

I just was a lonely guy.

J.J. Abrams:

I think that explained a lot

of why and how

he was compelled

to make movies.

It was not just a means

of expression,

but it was

a means of escape,

and it was a means of sometimes

making friends with people

that you couldn't otherwise,

or getting to hang out

with girls that you might not

be able to otherwise,

or just finding a way

to have meaning.

Spielberg:

The camera was my pen.

I wrote my stories

through the lens.

And when I was able to say

"action" and "cut,"

I wrested control

of my life.

( music playing )

Spielberg:

I love films like

the "Sands of Iwo Jima,"

the "Flying Tigers,"

"Battleground,"

films that I'd see

on television.

And I would watch

these things over and over

and over again.

I was really influenced

by all that stuff,

and so my first

couple of movies

were stories

about World War II.

There was

an airport with a bunch

of World War II airplanes

just sitting out there

on the tarmac.

( explosion )

I would take a shot

of my friend with his finger

on the stick

and intercut

actual 8mm combat footage.

A lot of it

shot by John Ford,

by the way.

And made a movie

that looked like

the production value

was off the charts

because the production value

was off the charts.

It was the real thing.

( music playing )

Abrams:

You can just look

at those movies,

and you see the ability

to tell a story without words.

His use

of primitive special effects

was spectacular.

You know, he'd have

big bullet hits,

he'd put little

see-saws of dirt,

so that when his actors

were running,

they'd step

on one piece,

and it would sort of catapult

the dirt up in the air

as if they were being shot

as they were running.

There were things

that he did that just

made complete sense.

You saw the trajectory.

There was something

in the DNA of it that,

despite it being shot

on 8mm film,

was the voice

of that same filmmaker.

But I didn't know

anything about whether

I was gonna have a career

or where this was gonna go.

I just knew that it filled up

the time and it gave me

a tremendous amount

of satisfaction.

And the second

I finished a movie,

I wanted to start a new one

because I felt good

about myself when I was

making a film.

But when I had

too much time to think,

all those scary whispers

would start-- start up.

It was not fun to be me

in between ideas or projects.

( music playing )

Sid Sheinberg:

The lore has it

that as a young man,

Steven was sort of

the Phantom of the Opera,

haunting the lot

of Universal Studios.

He would literally

get on the lot

one way or another.

Spielberg:

I got on the studio

tour bus,

took a jaunt

around the back lot.

And then at one point

they give you a bathroom break,

and I never came out

of the bathroom.

I waited till

I could hear a pin drop,

and then came out.

The bus was gone

and I was on the lot.

James Brolin:

Word was that he went upstairs

in the tower and took an office

on the sixth floor,

and nobody bothered him

for six months.

Dreyfuss:

The story was

he requisitioned an office,

telephone, put his name

on the door.

Eh, I don't believe it,

but you know what they said

in "The Man Who Shot

Liberty Valance"--

when the legend

is bigger than the facts,

print the legend.

Roger Ernest:

One time he sneaked

onto Alfred Hitchcock's set

and watched him

direct a little bit

until he got caught

and was asked to leave.

Steve was

constantly learning,

constantly looking,

constantly asking questions

from all

of the tradespeople--

cinematographer,

lighting, editors.

It was like Spielberg 101

in overdrive.

Spielberg:

I tried very hard

to get into USC Film School,

and I just didn't have

the grades to get in.

And I even had

a personal interview at USC,

and they turned me down

even in person.

So, Universal became

my film school.

( music playing )

Ernest:

Steven was laser focused.

He never lost sight

of the fact that the audience

early on, for him,

wasn't the audience

in the theater.

The audience were

the studio executives.

And he figured out

how to make a film

that will convince

the studio executives that,

"Yes, I have the talent

to be a director.

This is what I can do."

Sheinberg:

I looked at this film,

and I was very taken with it.

I had

a very strong feeling

that this was not

your average young filmmaker.

Spielberg:
Sid Sheinberg,

who was President of Universal

Television at the time,

he said, "So, sir,

I saw your film.

Very well made.

I'd like to offer you

a seven-year contract

to come to Universal

to direct television."

He said,

"If you sign with us,

I will support you

as strongly in failure

as I will in success."

And he was true

to his word.

And that was the beginning

of the most important

relationship

I could ever imagine having

in this business.

Dreyfuss:

Steven was known

as the uncrowned prince.

He was the guy

who was gonna make it.

I mean, he was directing

Joan Crawford

when he was 20.

That'll teach you

a lot of things.

( chuckling )

Spielberg:

Joan Crawford is the first

professional SAG member

I ever directed

in my life!

I want to see something!

Trees, concrete, buildings,

grass, airplanes, color!

Scorsese:
It was Cassavetes

who said, "If you want to be

a real filmmaker,

you can't be afraid

of anything or anybody."

And Steven's not.

He's there with Joan Crawford

who wants him out every day.

And he's gotta shoot

and be on schedule

and be good,

meaning that

it has to have a vision.

The shots have to have

a point of view.

Spielberg:

But after "Night Gallery"

came out,

there was a lot of criticism

on the fact that I was

a novelty item.

The youngest term director

ever put under contract

in history.

And the producers

who were doing the hiring

wouldn't hire me.

There was

a lot of hostility,

and I had to prove myself

to everybody.

You know, they looked at me

as sort of Sheinberg's folly.

He underwrote me.

Let him find me work.

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