As fine an actress as Miss Christie is, I felt she was miscast in this film and only got this part because she was Warren's ex. I thought she and Warren worked really well together in McCABE AND MRS. MILLER and in SHAMPOO, but they just didn't click here. Opinions?
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It is hard to recognize her appeal because of her outdated hair-do. She looked really pretty in "Shampoo."
Know thyself —Socrates
I think it is because she WAS miscast in this film. Warren initially wasn;t going to put Julie in this role but after auditioning thousands of girls and saying to Buck Henry after each audition, "she's no Julie," he decided to cast her. Julie turned it down, as she was living in England at the time, wasn't on speaking terms with Warren, and had no desire to be in the film. Warren had to send his cousin to England to convince her to take the role. Warren and Julie were'nt on speaking terms during the shoot, and it has been said that the reason that Beatty brought in Buck Henry as a co-director was because Julie wouldn't take his direction. She also threw a fit on the set one day because the scene called for her character to kiss Beatty's and Julie claimed that it was in her contract that she would not have to kiss him and that if she was forced to she would quit. Also, in the final scene of the film when the two of them are talking to each other as they are walking across the football field, Julie was heard saying to Warren, "I can't believe you're still making these dumb, f*u*c*k*i*n*g movies." Julie also suffered a broken wrist during the shoot.
shareWow, thanks for all the behind the scenes dirt on this movie...I now understand the tension between Christie and Beatty in this movie, as their real life relationship definitely spilled into the movie. I am a little baffled that Beatty would be so insistent in having Christie play this role...he had to know what an uncomfortable working environment it would make and I don't care what anyone says, when two actors working together hate each other offscreen, it will show onscreen, no matter how good the actors are.
shareI don't care what anyone says, when two actors working together hate each other offscreen, it will show onscreen, no matter how good the actors are.
They sure fooled me!!
I understand what you mean, but for two people that hate each other so much, they were very convincing in some parts of the movie the way that they just gazed into each other's eyes. It is possible maybe they remmebered just a little something from their past relationship...
or maybe they were faking it. Either way, at least it didn't ruin the movie (not for me, anyways)
I don't know, don't get me wrong, I loved this movie, but there was a little something in Warren and Julie's scenes that just seemed a little off.
shareIt makes sense to me now, why there was never a real passionate kiss between the two during the movie. There was just the one scene when Warren asks "how would you feel about marrying me? Crazy, huh" where they sort of hug and that was really it!
shareYeah, now it all makes sense.
I felt the 'hug' was really weird.
Even in the original (Here Comes Mr. Jordan) they kissed.
All the behind the scenes info is a little bit exaggerated.
By the time "Heaven" was shot, Julie and Warren had already
been separated for three years (fall 1974). If anything,
the strain would have been more visible during "Shampoo",
since they broke up DURING the filming of that movie. It is
true that Julie and Warren's dialogue during their romantic
walk together in "Heaven" had nothing to do with their characters,
but everything with Julie indeed wondering why Warren was making
such an innocent, old fashioned movie in the middle of all the
other, harder, "hipper" productions of that time.
Later, of course, she understood and praised him for it: all he
needed was a movie that wouldn't stir controversy, would hopefully
become a box office hit (which Heaven was) so that he would be
able to get a studio's approval to shoot a completely different
type of movie: his epic "Reds". To this day, Julie and Warren are
warmest of friends, and she was one of the people singing his
praise when he won the Thalberg award in 2000:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoFhbsLboQs
Good comments.
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I disagree with most of you guys because the way they were looking at each other in the film showed a real chemistry there. And also I can understand why Warren would say "she's no Julie" when auditioning other girls because (even with big perm) there is something about her that is mysterious and interesting and luminous that would be perfect for a part like this for Warren's character to be instantly captivated by.
I think what was missing between them was MORE scenes together to establish more of their relationship throughout the film, that's all. But they definitely had the chemistry there in their scenes together.
"zing zing zing went my heartstrings, from the moment I saw him I fell"
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Eight years later..lol..I must disagree. I found Julie Christie dynamic, compelling, inspiring and downright gorgeous in this film. It helped me understand heterosexuality.
"If it is not in the frame, it does not exist!"
^ Yes, but.
I reckon her hair-do looked like Selma Bouvier.
And it confirmed my view that Christie was NOT classically pretty.