Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession Page #11

---

for all of those years.

One night we were having dinner

somewhere in Westwood...

and I remember Jerry starting

to get angry for no reason.

I mean, it was,

we were having...

a very pedestrian conversation

about something...

and out of nowhere,

he started to become infuriated.

So he got to the point where

he stood up...

and he walked out

of the restaurant.

So I went trailing after him,

and when I got up behind him...

I remember grabbing him

by the shirt going...

"What's the matter,

what did I say, what happened?"

And he turned around,

and all of a sudden I found...

like, his fist was in the air...

and he was about to

pummel me with it.

And he looked up at his hand,

and he looked down at me...

and he looked up at his hand,

and he kind of caught it...

and he and he pulled it

back to himself...

and it was as if it was

somebody else's hand.

Jerry and I changed the nature

of our relationship after that.

I think on some level he was

trying to back off...

and protect me

from being subjected to that...

but the subtext

to all of that also...

is that he had moved out

from his place with Vera...

into another apartment,

and the landlady was Deri.

What the f*** is this?

- Mace.

- Mace? For what?

Oh, wild dogs.

Yeah, wild dogs.

That's bullshit, Boyle.

You've lied to me straight

through, haven't you?

You want me to be

honest with you?

No!

"Salvador" was not the kind

of picture you would expect.

It wasn't a studio picture.

It didn't have any

studio juggernaut behind it.

There was no money

to promote it.

It showed for 2 weeks,

as I said, in 2 theaters...

in February 10 months ago,

so it was forgotten.

Sh*t!

- Holy sh*t! Holy sh*t!

They're gonna f***ing

kill us now, Boyle!

Goddamn it, I thought you knew

your way around here, Boyle!

They're gonna f***ing

kill us now, goddamn it!

They're gonna f***ing kill us!

Shut the f*** up! Just be cool!

It was clear that both Jerry

and Chuck Champlin thought...

it was just a terrific picture

and the kind of picture...

that should have gotten

attention but didn't.

Charles Champlin wrote

a front-page article...

in the "L.A. Times."

It was a two-page article about

this great forgotten classic.

And then Jerry Harvey

called up and said...

"Hey, that was great

that Chuck did that."

He said, " I really believe

in this film."

And he said, " I believe

Z Channel can have...

"a little bit of influence."

He said, " I'm going to give

this film a shot."

He said, " I'm gonna show it

during December."

So he said, " While all the

studios are screening

"their movies at every private

screening room on the Bel"...

what's called the Bel Air,

Beverly Hills circuit...

"and while they're showing them

at theaters and so on"...

"this film, which is not

being shown anywhere...

"is going to be shown

on the Z Channel."

So there was the cover

of "Z Channel"...

which everybody

in the business got...

and everybody now saw

"Salvador" this month, right?

And the next thing you know...

Paul Newman

"in The Color of Money"...

James Woods in "Salvador."

I get nominated for an

Academy Award for best actor...

and Oliver and Richard Boyle,

who co-wrote the screenplay...

got nominated

for best screenplay.

What's the most exciting thing

for you about movie making?

Tonight. Tonight is the most

exciting thing...

about movie making, believe me.

It was an amazing year...

and had Jerry not sort of pushed

to have Chuck do...

the interview

at the right time...

put "Z Channel Magazine" out

with the "Salvador" picture...

on the cover,

with the whole cover...

shown it during that month...

that picture would have been

completely forgotten...

and the kind of work that

I'm most proud of...

just personally would never

have been seen.

Are you kidding?

So, you know, I think that...

personally, I've always felt...

that that particular day

with Chuck Champlin

and with Jerry Harvey

and what came of it...

was really the turning point

in my career.

Without a doubt.

HBO and the other competitors,

you know...

they had been wanting...

they had been wanting Z Channel

gone for a long time.

It was... many people were taking

bets on when Z Channel...

would finally slide

off the cliff.

And it was Jerry's tenacity...

and the stubborn reputation

of Z Channel...

the fact that it was really

beloved in the community...

those things worked together to

keep Z kind of like floating...

like a castle in the air

beyond its normal mortality.

Z Channel had

at his peak, I think...

about 100,000

paying subscribers.

There were others

who I think were stealing it.

We had people calling up to say,

"Would it be possible

"to subscribe to the magazine...

"without subscribing

to the channel?"

You know, it's like,

"Why would you like to do that?"

I remember we had

some new owners come in.

The CEO ordered Z Channel

for his home.

The cable man drove up

to the home...

and said to the CEO's wife,

not knowing who she was...

"Give me 20 bucks or whatever...

"and I'll give you

Z Channel for free."

Jerry was very stressed

at that time...

and unhappy at that time...

and l... and I guess

somewhere in there...

is where the Salute to Z

became a something

we intended to do.

The AFI Tribute in January

of 1987 was a real highlight...

in, I think, Jerry's life...

and I think in the life

of Z Channel.

We were about to be sold.

This was a moment

of marshalling the troops.

Everybody who had benefited...

because of Z Channel's existence

was invited to come take part...

in a daylong series of panels.

One person that Jerry became

very close to...

in the last couple of months

of his life...

was film director

Richard Brooks...

who directed "Elmer Gantry,"

"In Cold Blood"...

"Looking for Mr. Goodbar."

Jerry located certain films

of Richard Brooks'...

that had been forgotten...

such as "Something of Value"...

with Rock Hudson

and Sidney Poitier.

When it comes time

to kill the lion...

I want to shoot the gun, too.

It's Just show...

and you know how he feels

about Africans and guns.

I want to shoot the gun, too.

I'm sorry. Mithayla!

Always when we hunt

it is the same.

You have all the fun.

I do all the work...

but when we were little

and played together...

But we're big now,

and things are not the same.

Hit him.

Hit him, hit him hard.

Do what he says. Now.

And in a hurry.

"Something of Value" was a movie

from the early fifties...

which deals with Apartheid.

It deals

with the Mau Mau uprisings...

of the 1950s in Africa...

which is a topic so relevant

to contemporary history.

It was painfully relevant

to the situation...

that was in South Africa

at the... in the late 1980s.

You know, Nelson Mandela was

still in prison...

when we played " Something

of Value" on Z Channel.

Remember me?

Kimani.

What do you want?

I've come home.

Jeff!

When Richard Brooks did

"Something of Value"...

he managed to get

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes