Dirty Harry’s Place…

 This is the final part of my interview with actor/director/screenwriter Robert Davi. You can read part one here.  I just want to publicly thank Robert for his patience and help, which extended way beyond just sitting down with me. He could not have been more of a gentleman.

Robert Davi in “The Dukes”

DIRTY HARRY’S PLACE: So what are you looking for with The Dukes? Where’s it headed next? Who’s your audience?

ROBERT DAVI: It appeals to an everyman. I had it screened for theatre owners in North Carolina. I sent it to them, they gathered an audience in Charlottesville and called me up after the screening and said, “We’ll book the film.” They invited a college, multi-faceted audience and it plays. It played in Houston, in Boca Raton, Newport Beach, Rome, France, Monte Carlo… And I think now, because people are feeling an economic crunch– I mean, look at the auto industry; 25,000 people at Chrysler laid off. Different companies laying off, laying off, laying off… What do these people do? How does America reinvent who they are? So the message of the film is about — and not through thievery — banding together. And in the end, no matter what you do, you may not do it on the scale you once did, but if you can survive and share and bring light to the world, that’s the most important aspect of it.

You know, it was funny, in Rome, when the lights go out [at a certain point in the film], they respond to that. They said, “In spite of a terrorist attack, America goes on.” They took it to a political level. So, it’s about being able to persevere.

Were you and Peter Bogdanovich friends before this [Bogdanovich co-stars]?

I met Peter. I knew him through Stella Adler. And I met him years ago. Always been a tremendous fan of his. And he had the sense of dignity and pathos that I wanted for that character.

It just comes off of him.

He really brings something quite wonderful to the character of Lou. A good friend of mine, Craig Titley, brilliant young writer, saw the film at the Egyptian and said he thought Peter could get a nomination.

Were you nervous about having a famous director like Peter on the set for your directorial debut?

Oh, no. Look, I did my first film with Sinatra. Second with Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds. And then over the years … how many others? No. I knew what I wanted. I played Peter the music. He loved the choices. He really enjoyed the script. So he knew I knew what I wanted. The only time… Well, Chazz and I had a couple of little issues over things I wanted him to do and just because we’re close friends he would question and then look to Peter for support. And Peter would say [impersonates Peter] “Robert’s right, Chazz,” with that deadpan look of his.

The Great Peter Bogdanovich

On set it takes just one thing, one person to throw the equilibrium off. I would just worry — because I don’t know him — that you bring in a famous director like Peter Bogdanovich and he would– I mean, he’s always struck me as a total gentleman, but that would be my concern.

No. No. Never a bit of that. He was fantastic. And he never had to wonder what I was doing because I knew what I wanted and he could sense that.

At the screening you talked affectionately about the late Frank D’Amico.

I met him at a barbecue on the 4th of July at my house.

Really?

Years prior. The year 2000. And I wanted him right away for Armond. He was a stand up comedian, so I put that into the script. It just made perfect sense. And I would work with him in my backyard with a video camera over the years doing acting exercises — just to be relaxed and easy. Just to be.

He’s wonderfully natural in the film.

Stella used to say that if you lie on stage it should offend you. But I saw in him what I wanted; what I knew I could bring out.

Frank D’Amico

What was the editing process like?

At my house. I have my Mac. Did it all on the laptop.

You did the editing?

My co-producer Jim Cypherd and myself. He’s a brilliant guy on computers, all aspects. Very smart technically, creatively. And what he doesn’t know he finds out. So he’d sit at the keyboard, I’d sit next to him… We’re going to write a book on the experience; and he and I will build a company together.

Jim and this other guy were assembling [putting scenes together as the footage is shot] for me the first week or so, and I saw some stuff and said, “Stop, I don‘t want an assembly.” It’s harder tearing down a bunch of material when you’re working from that instead of your own instinct. So I sat with Jim and just cut the picture.

I would have friends come in and take a look. My great friend, who I call Uncle Al, is Al Ruddy, a legendary producer of classics like The Godfather, Million Dollar Baby and a slew of other terrific films. He came to my house for a few nights till 4 in the morning and we went through the film. He was my advisor from the beginning. Even before shooting, I solicited his advice from the start…

How long did the first cut run?

About 104 minutes.

That’s a disciplined first cut. Where did the movie end up?

With the end titles, 94-minutes. So, it’s an 89-minute movie.

Was there anyone breathing over you? Did you have a producer saying, “Cut, cut, cut…”?

No.

You took 15 minutes out all on your own.

That was evident for me.

“The Dukes” - Elya Baskin & Chazz Palminteri

What was the first screening like? Not a test screening, where you’re still reworking things, but the first screening where you knew that as a film it would fly or die?

Newport Beach for 600 people. You walk in going, “What’s going to happen now?” And the sound was bad and the projection was bad. But in spite of all that it played.

How were you feeling before that festival?

Yeah, we were nervous. Again, you have to go on your own sensibility. You gotta say, ‘If it’s holding my attention…’

You were pretty confident going in.

Yeah. I haven’t seen anything like it recently. And then you go to these other films, these big films, they’re full of sound and fury signifying nothing.

Hollow.

So hollow. They’re making tons of money, but they’re hollow. I get feedback from people, “It’s great to see characters for a change.” And I even knew that from the initial screening of 104 minutes because our average test score was a nine-point something…

And now you can look forward to the screenings. You know it’s gonna play.

Yeah, but each audience is a different thing.

“The Dukes”  - Miriam Margolyes & Chazz

When you wrote the script did you intentionally try to keep the cursing down.

Yes, but there’s a “damn,” and I think Chazz says “shit” once.

Still, that’s it. Nothing by today’s standards, even on television. It’s an interesting choice to make.

These guy come from that era.

Gentlemen.

Yup, and you didn’t hear a lot of the swear words. One of the lines Chazz had trouble with was, “When you tell the guy to shove the microphone in not a nice place,” instead of, “up your ass.” Chazz said to me, “But I would say ‘up your ass.’” And I said, “Yes, you would. But George would say, ‘not a nice place.’” So that was all a conscious choice.

That was the first thing my wife noticed, and she loved the film by the way; she wanted me to tell you that.

Well, tell her thank you.

Now, how do I phrase this in a way that doesn’t sound… I like the old-fashioned aspect of the film. And I say “old-fashioned” in the best possible way. It’s just a sweet story. And considering what’s coming out today, it makes you a kind of iconoclast that you would make a film like yours without going all Goodfellas. That’s what makes The Dukes so revolutionary.

Kids say that. Young kids. They say, “God, it’s so fresh.” I had a sixteen year-old kid come up to me and say, “This is my favorite film.” A sixteen year-old kid! He said he had never seen anything like this. He’s used to all this quick-cutting instead of character development.

All this Disney Channel junk. And I love Tarantino, but there are too many like him. Obscene, violent, cynical…

How much more can we go on the edge?

Is edgy edgy anymore? I don’t think it is. I think it’s humdrum and cliché. I think your film is edgy because it’s the opposite of edgy.

[laughs] That would be nice to say… Listen, I wanted to go against the current.

And that’s a gutsy move to make.

You go by your instincts. I go back to I Vitelloni and I Soliti Ignolti, The Bicycle Thief, Shoeshine Boy, etc… GREAT cinema for my inspiration.

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