Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Over the weekend I fell in love with Netflix's Stranger Things, which nods quite liberally and often at many of my favorite things like Amblin movies and Stephen King stories.
I figured one way to show my adoration of that awesome series was to dedicate the BTS column to it this week. That doesn't mean I'm going to give you a ton of BTS pics actually from the show (although I wouldn't rule out something directly related), but rather show you guys some stuff from the obvious influences of that show.
The first image I'm going to post is a weird one because it's actually a BTS pic of two films at once: Poltergeist AND E.T.
Yep, that's Steven Spielberg holding a young star from each, Drew Barrymore on his right arm and Heather O'Rourke on his left.
UPDATE: A loyal spy who goes by the handle Old King Cole turned me on to another great shot of Spielberg and the ET/Poltergeist cast from what appears to be the same photo shoot. Check it out:
I've spoken with enough crew members and cast members, both on and off the record, to be certain that most of what Poltergeist became was the result of Spielberg's direct influence and he was essentially directing two films at once there. I got to know Zelda Rubinstein a bit before she passed and she flat out told me she shot for 6 days on Poltergeist and was never directed by anybody except for Mr. Spielberg.
Photos like the one above give credence to those claims. That's not to take anything away from Tobe Hooper who is a genius in his own right, especially around this time, but I think he spent most of Poltergeist in the background.
So, you get a twofer for the first entry in this week-long Stranger Things-inspired BTS run. Tomorrow's pic will make you float on air it's so cool.
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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