The week began with smoke pouring from the grip
truck and a visit from local firefighters. Just an insulation problem, but that didn't
stop the grill in Leila's Muffin Shop, later in the week, from starting to smoke.
As Jon prepared to call "Action!"
David Ford interrupted and stepped behind the counter.
"I think we better take a moment here. There's smoke." Thin
wisps of white smoke slithered out from beneath the grill-bed, and then floated up
seductively as smoke will, rising toward the room's tin ceiling and spreading out. David
pulled the plug.
Again, the problem was minor: an accumulation of dust close to the
burners. A quick cleaning and Menu Man was ready to
cook.
Cherry's precocious and talented young actresses, Aleksa and Heather, were featured on Wednesday's Call
Sheet with precociously weary quotes: "Pessimists live harder," Aleksa said in
response to Janna's observation that "Optimists live
longer."
And Heather, merely 15, probably
shouldn't be allowed to observe that "Sometimes being a bitch is the only thing a
woman has to hold onto," but I guess if it's good enough for Dolores Claiborne...
One person whose long hours and heavy schedule (she is in nearly every
scene in the movie) could give her reason to bitch is Shalom
Harlow. But instead she is ever delightful and helpful and very present. And as the
first week closes one senses the growing confidence of everyone involved that so much of
the picture's charm is built on her talent.
As Jon said, "This is fun."
 Peter Kreutzer |
