Hollywood and PHAT Phobia

Grandmas. School mascots. Roles created for men.

Those were the parts I was destined for in our school plays back home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I dreamed of one day portraying the ingénue roles: Kim MacAfee in Bye Bye Birdie instead of Edna the Mayor’s Wife, Cosette in Les Miserables instead of Madame Thénardier, Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors instead of…not being cast at all. But, as a loud-mouthed frizzy haired fat girl, that dream of being cast as the vulnerable yet beautiful, slightly ditzy but completely charming, slender yet not emaciated character was beyond out of reach. The lead roles were always awarded to the cute, petite, skinny girls (because they were written that way).

In the 80’s there weren’t many plus sized women in leading roles who I could look up to until the début of Living Single. I admired (read: was obsessed with) the beautiful and strong women in that show, most especially Kim Coles who portrayed the comedic and quirky Synclaire and Queen Latifah who portrayed Khadijah, the one who always held it together. Their size was never an issue, a thesis, or a thing. They were who they were and there didn’t have to be an explanation that they were series regulars who happened to exceed a dress size 6. But, these characters were incredibly rare to find in other television shows or movies. And these role models were much needed for us young fat girls just trying to believe we were PHAT (pretty hot and tempting). In my humble opinion over 30 years later, these types of characters are still few and far between- and, that needs to be fixed. I’m looking at you Disney - where’s our first chubby heroine?

I believe that Hollywood is a mirror of society while, at the same time, society is also a mirror of Hollywood.

So, essentially it’s a double-edged sword (mind you, that sword should be a prop sword). Hollywood seems to almost FEAR casting larger people as leads. For so long, big has been seen as messy, repulsive and too much. My momma’s best friend has an expression that she loves to say: “Too much for Hollywood” (which basically means “extra”). So, dare I say bigger actors are almost too much for Hollywood? Until needed for some “brave” directorial choice, plus size performers are always written and cast as the supporting roles such as the sassy best friends (if we are lucky), the double fisting donut eating meter maids or the disgruntled moms at Walmart, to name a few. Growing up and when I was at my heaviest, I was always told (usually by a fellow actress who happened to be thin, blonde and perfect in Hollywood’s eyes), “But, Brooke, those roles are the most fun. They’re the comic relief. They’re meaty and juicy. I’d kill to play a part like that!” Meanwhile, I would have killed (with a prop sword, naturally) to portray Juliet.

Fresh out of theatre school, for some reason (either I was delusional or stubborn or more so hopeful and forward thinking), at 250 pounds and a size 24, I still held onto my dream of portraying the lead (without it being some sort of “bold directorial choice”). Had I heeded the advice from a theatre professor to “realize I was a bigger girl and just own it”, I probably would have gotten ahead quicker right out the gate. I knew my type but, like most bright eyed and bushy tailed students fresh out of theatre school, I didn’t want to portray a stereotype (even if portraying a stereotype was the only was I was going to work). I didn’t want to settle for the roles of the chubby friend who gorged on hot dogs or be the brunt of the jokes. If any joke was going to be made about me, I wanted to be the one in the driver’s seat.

So, I got into stand up comedy and improvisation. And then I realized if I wanted to make money in this business to support my new dream of comedy, I might have to just suck it up and audition for roles that I just didn’t want to portray, roles that ate at my sugar free, gluten free soul. It wasn’t because I was judging my characters.

I was sick and tired of Hollywood (mainly straight men and their fantasies of a perfect female body) deciding who or what I was.

I can keep blaming it on “Hollywood” all I want but if Hollywood is a mirror of society (and vice versa) then I should really call out the fat phobia shared by humankind as a whole (in the Western world, at least), including the doctors themselves. See, I found out in college that my hormonal issues (delayed periods, facial hair growth and inability to lose weight among many other un-cute, totally non-ingénue-like symptoms) were due to a condition called Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (AKA PCOS). You can hear all about it on my podcast Who’s Dat Phat Girl www.brookehoover.com/podcast (thanks, Greg, for allowing the shameless plug).

Photo Credit: John Bohnel

Because I’m vain and I work in an industry all about aesthetics, I wanted to do anything to lose the weight and the facial hair and get healthy in order to have enough stamina to keep up with a very demanding profession. Prescription drugs, stressing over having PCOS, and bouncing from one judgmental medical professional to the next only exacerbated my symptoms.

So, I decided to go at it naturally with a very strict high-fiber, low-carb lifestyle change and exercise regime. I started losing weight and I was so proud of myself. I told my agents. I sent postcards to casting directors. And…I was still called in for the bigger girl roles because though I was losing weight, I wasn’t skinny enough. How could the “Dad Bod” be considered hot but if a woman didn’t have curves in all the right places she would be pigeonholed as Overeater Anonymous Member #5?

Okay, okay, okay. I get it. You may be saying, “Cry me a River Phoenix, Brooke, you chose to work in a visual industry.” I know I am the one who chose this business. I chose to be judged on a daily basis. But, I started getting more than sick of it when I was doing “everything right” to lose weight and I was still only getting called in for roles that had to do with my size. Words like “hefty”, “zaftig” and/or “plump” were always in the casting notices. I had honest conversations with my agents about it to which they replied, “But Brooke, that’s just the way the business is.” To which I replied (read: BEGGED), “Then why can’t you just submit me as a lawyer or therapist instead of chunky lawyer or therapist who can’t stop eating Krispy Kremes?!? I’ve lost 30 pounds since I’ve been working with you!” To which they always responded, “Congrats on the weight loss, Brooke,” which really meant, “My hands are tied. I don’t write the rules, I just take 10 percent.”

I questioned my sanity and how I would not let these roles define me or mess with my self-esteem while I continued on my health quest. I focused more and more on healing and less on being a star. I wanted to fuel my comedy and my own creations.

So, this plus size girl got into sex work. I know what you’re thinking. But, it’s not quite what it sounds like. I started doing background or extra work and most of the roles I was called in for were hookers. And I LOVED it because I said to myself, “Hey at least SOMEONE thinks I’m sexy!” A certain show that took place down the shore during Prohibition became my bread and butter and the outlet for me to meet many lifelong friends for nearly three seasons. It was kind of just what I needed to make me stop feeling fat in this industry and start feeling PHAT (pretty hot and tempting). It allowed for health insurance, stability, and a way to fuel my own projects. More importantly, it completely took me out of my comfort zone. I realized I had to work with the cards I was dealt (the brothel was called “The Four Deuces” so that’s a pun for the fans out there).

It wasn’t until I had a more substantial weight loss (100 pounds to this date) and got a new agent that I started getting submitted for “regular” roles that didn’t have any fat qualifiers accompanying them. It honestly felt like a weight (literal and figurative) was lifted off my chest to read the character description and just see “mom” instead of “overweight mom.”

I have been around enough now to know that I’ll never be a size 2 (I’m a size 10 and at a healthy, maintained weight - the actual number on the scale is none of your business, Hollywood) and I’m okay with that. I’m also finally getting okay with the fact that, even with the weight loss, I’ll never be called in for the same types of roles as Reese or Margot (Witherspoon and Robbie, respectively; I just wanted to pretend we are on a first name basis). My dream of being the ingénue changed in part because that’s just the way the glittery fake cookie crumbles, but mainly because I don’t want to aspire to be in a club that doesn’t want me. Dreams can change, and that’s totally fine as long as we don’t shape (pun intended) our dreams based on someone else’s messed up ideals of perfection.

If Hollywood and society are mirrors of each other, then who is really responsible for shifting the perspective on stereotypes? I say it’s up to each and every one of us. Hopefully, one day, society at large and Hollywood at larger will catch up. And now I wonder, again, as I write this blog on the coat tails of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes if my childhood dream of being a working actor at all will be something I’ll have to completely rethink and reshape one day.

But, because I’m a PHAT (pretty hot and temping) girl, I have faith that I’ll be okay.

Photo Credit: John Bohnel

BROOKE HOOVER is an actor, writer, comedian and artist. Brooke has created, performed and produced award winning short film Shyft, comedic webseries Pageant Pom Mom and solo shows Wayward Souls and Phat* Girl Costumes, which inspired her podcast (now on its third season) Who’s Dat Phat Girl? Brooke’s film and television work ranges from co-star roles in shows such as Manifest, Law and Order: SVU, Blue Bloods and High Maintenance to stunt work in “Hunters” to film (“Ted K”, “The Girl Who Invented Kissing”), theatre and audiobook narration. Her most challenging work to date is coordinating practicing down dog at the same time as her Pomeranians and being able to capture it on video. A (phat) girl can dream. You can connect with Brooke at:

www.brookehoover.com or on Instagram

*Pretty Hot and Tempting

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G&E In Motion does not necessarily agree with the opinions of our guest bloggers. That would be boring and counterproductive. We have simply found the author’s thoughts to be interesting, intelligent, unique, insightful, and/or important. We may not agree on the words but we surely agree on their right to express them and proudly present this platform as a means to do so.

My Journey Through the Beethoven Symphonies

The last two decades of my professional career were devoted to the nine symphonies of Beethoven. I had taken on the monumental task of transcribing the orchestral scores of the symphonies to the medium of solo piano music. The complexity of this project extended across several operational phases: (1) textual analyses of the primary sources (including Beethoven’s autograph manuscripts, early publications, and latest critical editions); (2) writing my original piano transcriptions; (3) editing the piano score through the arduous process of learning them on the keyboard; and finally (4) recording the performances for CD releases. The inspiration for this epic undertaking was based on my vision and hope that these transcriptions would introduce some much-needed fresh perspectives on these iconic masterpieces.

How effectively can an orchestral work be re-written as a piano score? There is no simple or conclusive answer. One must consider the repertoire itself, the purpose of the task, the musical decisions to be made, and awareness of the technical limitations of the instrument and the pianist’s abilities. How these parameters relate organically to the whole would directly impact the degree of precision and quality of the musical transfer, the playability, and ultimately the success of the transcription in achieving its intended goal.

I have always been fascinated by transcriptions of all kinds, whether piano, instrumental, vocal, orchestral, or selections from musicals and jazz. The fundamental principle that guides my work is textual fidelity to the original source and simpatico performance considerations. These two aspects may sound reasonable and practical enough. However, in the course of my project, I would discover that every step in this process is a mighty struggle requiring every ounce of my creative, intellectual, and physical capabilities.

Ironically, this project had originated with a different aim. I simply wanted to record these symphonies in the piano arrangement that Franz Liszt had written. Since its publication in the mid-1800s, Liszt’s version has maintained its respected status in the music literature. Indeed, the first volume in my project began with Liszt’s score of the Ninth Symphony arranged for two pianos. But as fate would have it, I experienced an epiphany that would steer my project to an entirely different and unforeseen course.

Why a new set of piano transcriptions of the Beethoven Symphonies?

So, what can we say about Liszt’s fidelity to Beethoven’s score? According to Liszt’s biographer, Alan Walker, “… Liszt understood that a liberty judiciously taken could bring the ‘truth’ of a passage more directly to the listener. In matters of translation, Liszt once remarked, ‘there are some exactitudes that are the equivalent of infidelities.’” To my mind the extent of such “infidelities” that Liszt felt compelled to commit, in order to capture the spirit of the work, crosses the boundaries of what might be deemed legitimate transcription and veers into the domain of free “arrangement.” One’s good-faith attempt to maintain Beethoven’s original notes in a transcription cannot be faulted if the goal is the preservation of the letter and the spirit of the original. However, if the letter is sacrificed in spectacular ways to serve one’s subjective conception of the spirit of the music, I believe that the premise behind such an approach needs to shift from transcription in its pure form to re-creation or re-interpretation. This latter morphology is not where my musical conscience would settle.

I have yearned for an alternative approach to transcription which restores both the letter and the spirit of Beethoven’s original scores. My project became an attempt to fill this glaring void. The initial volume in the recording series, the Ninth Symphony, was released as a “newly edited version of Liszt’s transcription.” Though formally described as such, the connection to Liszt’s version was in reality rather tenuous, as my near total editing of his score would attest (this being not an ideal forum to get into the weeds of the transcription and editing processes, the interested reader is referred to my expository essay on this topic and also to the CD liner notes).

With all remaining symphonies, any ties to Liszt’s arrangements were completely severed, and thus I forged ahead following my own artistic vision and conviction. Inevitably, my original transcriptions will in turn be scrutinized to assess the degree of fidelity to Beethoven’s scores. These new transcriptions are also distinguished by the emergence of a unique piano idiom: a potent mixture of Beethovenian piano textures (that is, dramatic expressions of Romantic sensibilities inherent in Beethoven’s contemporaneous piano style) and various technical innovations of the modern piano. Viewed in this perspective, it is intriguing to consider the transformation of these transcriptions into independent piano works in their own right, all the while maintaining close stylistic identity with Beethoven’s original orchestral music.

Click here to listen to the streaming audio of the transcriptions

The Recording Phase

Some may wonder why my recording series began with the Ninth Symphony, which is of course Beethoven’s last. This was due to two reasons: one was logistical and the other psychological. First, the recording session schedule available at that time represented the only window of possibility for Matthew, my son and collaborator in the two-piano performance. The rigors of his developing academic career would be increasingly incompatible with such a monumental commitment needed for this project. While the Ninth Symphony, due to its extraordinarily massive scale, required nothing less than the performing force of two pianos, the other symphonies (nos. 1-8) fit naturally into transcription version for solo piano performance.

The second reason why this symphony was the first is my idiosyncratic habit of initially tackling the most challenging piece among the works in a series. By this process I would hope to gain momentum and confidence needed the rest of the way. That has been the theory and my modus operandi since earlier in my career when I recorded the complete piano works of the French composer Olivier Messiaen.

Personal Toll

Reflecting on my life during work on this project, it was a time of considerable difficulty and transition. During this stretch of about fifteen years there were several developments that profoundly changed me and the meaning of my life in music. Among these was a physical ailment catastrophic for a pianist: focal dystonia. My left index finger developed a significant loss of flexibility, mobility, and control. This neurological condition grew worse over time and eventually affected also the normal faculty of the thumb and middle finger as well as the thumb of the opposite hand. This did not happen suddenly, but in hindsight I could attribute the origin of the injury to the period of hyper-intensive practice leading up to my concert tour on the occasion of the Messiaen centenary in 2008. One bright spot was that those performances on the tour were highly successful and did not exhibit any of the adverse conditions that would soon follow. My worsening condition developed into an epic struggle to reorient not only the usage of the affected parts of my hands but also the inter-coordination of all the fingers in response to the compromised digits. During preparations for the Beethoven symphony recording sessions, my training entailed modifying the all-important fingering systems to execute velocity, smoothness, and the subtle gradients of touch. In practice this proved to be nothing short of reprogramming my entire mental and physical orientation to the piano. When I say that this is everything for the pianist, I am not being hyperbolic. The difficulty was beyond imagination, and the doubts in my mind progressively grew as to my ability to complete the project.

I was fortunate to have had a team of very powerful support that pulled me from the abyss of despair. My wife Judy never gave up hope and encouraged me through the dark days to find the possible solution—whether physiological, musical, or spiritual. Another source of support was my younger son James, who had assumed the role of producer from his brother Matthew. Along with my recording engineer, David Merrill, there was no one better equipped to provide me with the very specialized artistic, performance and recording supervision than James at that time. His personal sacrifice was also very substantial as he had to channel his time and energies to this huge undertaking while performing his professional duties as a young attorney. From an early age my sons had been trained at the highest level of musicianship during the years of our performing career as father-and-sons pianists, Paul Kim & Sons.

Through divine Providence I was guided to the miraculous completion of my project. Also, by a stroke of fate, in the year 2020 my labor in this epic journey was completed in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. As of today, my recovery has been slow but steady. I work each day to regain (and with optimism, hope to surpass) the technical command I had before. A positive sign is that I am already at work on another major project, which will be revealed at an appropriate time.

Paul Kim’s career is dedicated to bridging the pathways of performance, musicology, and education. He has performed as soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors including Zubin Mehta, Andrew Litton, Philippe Entremont, Myung-Whun Chung, among others. The New York Times praised Kim’s “brightest flashes of virtuosity and clear transparent quality,” and Gramophone (UK), “his strength of character and personality.” A specialist in the music of Olivier Messiaen, Paul Kim is the first artist to record the composer’s complete body of piano works. His latest CD release of the complete Beethoven symphonies, in new piano transcriptions that Kim has written, has garnered critical attention and acclaim. 

Paul Kim studied at The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music where he received his B.M. and M.M. degrees. He went on to earn a Ph.D. from New York University. He also holds a graduate degree in Behavior Analysis. His recent research focuses on the nexus of music and autism. At Long Island University Dr. Kim is professor of music history, theory, and piano studies, and has served as director of Graduate Music Studies. Besides his performing career, Dr. Kim is a frequent guest speaker at academic conferences, concert series, and college campuses across the United States and abroad. 

YouTube channels:

Pianist Paul Kim

Paul Kim & Sons

G&E In Motion does not necessarily agree with the opinions of our guest bloggers. That would be boring and counterproductive. We have simply found the author’s thoughts to be interesting, intelligent, unique, insightful, and/or important. We may not agree on the words but we surely agree on their right to express them and proudly present this platform as a means to do so.

An Independent Filmmaker's Guide to Feeding Your Crew

“That’s a wrap!”

The sentence we are all waiting for after being on a film set for an excruciatingly long time.

“What kinda wrap?”

The sentence we are all waiting for after being on a film set for an excruciatingly long time without proper sustenance. 

Making a film is exhausting enough, do we really have to starve while we’re at it? A wrap. With Turkey, Cheddar & Tomato. Yum. Good food, nourishing food, and plenty of food can be the three things that save a film producer from utter (and justified) mutiny. A bacon egg & cheese with hot sauce versus a stale cold bagel might be the difference between your sound guy going for another take versus saying:

“Screw this and screw you, there’s an airplane in the background but idgaf because I’m hangry.” 

As an actor, producer, director & part-time cook, I fully understand and never underestimate the power of a proper meal. I grew up in a family run grocery store (established in 1941!) and spent most of my summers & breaks from school pillaging produce, so working long hours & eating food has always been a big part of my life.

Back to the film world.

I’ve been on sets where I’ve had no energy because I wasn’t properly fed. I’ve been on set where I’m cooking homemade pasta and meatballs and probably over extending myself. Like everything in life, there needs to be balance. As a food lover, and also someone who understands the hard labor that goes into making a film, I always say that feeding the cast & crew WELL and OFTEN is the MOST important task on your to-do list. 

Breakfast.

Most important meal of the day, especially if you are shooting early. Not only should you have unlimited coffee throughout the day, you should also 100 thousand percent have water. These two things should never run out. Ever. If you do, you’ve failed and you deserve to walk the apple box.

“If we warned you once, we warned you a million times, Steve, Turkey Bacon is not real Bacon!”

It’s perfectly fine to order bulk, like bagels or breakfast sandwiches, especially if you have a large cast & crew and a time crunch. HOWEVER, I always recommend reaching out individually to your team members to ask if there is anything specific they would like. Obviously if they are asking for smoked salmon, caviar and champagne showers, and you aren’t Jerry Bruckheimer, tell ‘em to settle down. But things like swapping a croissant instead of a bagel, or an iced coffee with some vanilla syrup over a regular cup of Joe, go a long way.

It’s not so much the food or drink itself as it is you acknowledging that you recognize that your people are important and that they deserve a little consideration for the massive amount of time and energy they are putting into your project. Being aware that you are not working with robots, but with real life humans will get you far in this business.

People remember little things and if you are considerate, attentive and take a little extra time to cater to and care for your crew, they will undoubtably not only do the same for you, but also remember that you did and want to work with you again (and maybe even recommend you to others in this god forsaken industry!) 

Glorious Snacks!

Snacks.

You can never have too many snacks. It doesn’t have to be over the top, but having food available all day on set is such a nice touch. It allows people to grab a little pick me up during the long hours and breaks when lighting is getting fixed, shots are discussed, batteries being changed, or actors are rehearsing. Something light, yet filling is perfect. Things like a variety of granola bars, a platter of fruit (good against fighting scurvy as well) juice, or some multi-grain sun chips will give your crew the little extra boost of energy they might need for that mid day slump. If it’s a crew I’ve previously worked with, I make sure to remember the things they got excited about, like eggnog in July or sugar-free red bull and I always make sure to have some of that whenever I work with them. I’ve had crew members take pay cuts because they felt appreciated enough to also give me a break as an independent and perpetually broke artist. 

Dinner.

This is a big one as you are probably now somewhere between hour 8 and hour why tf is the director still breathing if I haven’t been fed? MAKE SURE YOU EAT TOGETHER. I have been on set where the director starts eating without his cast & crew. This is a sure fire way to bring a curse down upon you and the entirety of your project.

I would also recommend, if you can fit it in the budget, to allow variation. Pick a restaurant, or better yet, have your squad vote on what type of cuisine they are in the mood for, then allow them to individually chose what they would like off the menu (within reason) and you will find yourself with some very happy hands. Of course you can always squeeze in a day of pizza but do NOT, my god I repeat, DO NOT feed your mates the same meal for multiple consecutive days. This is not a deserted island we are stranded on, it is a professional setting where taco bars and sushi are going to bring you spectacular results and lasting energy that you will thank yourself for when you see the final film. Make it an adventure!  Plus, you won’t have to worry about the crew trying to eat you (even though you would deserve it). 

Also, please, ALWAYS make sure to ask in ADVANCE about allergies or diet restrictions— there is nothing worse than getting to set and realizing that something someone ate might be able to kill you. This is super unsafe practice and also horrible for the person trying to work under stressful and anxiety-ridden conditions.

Try these tips and I guarantee specular results will follow. It’s hard enough to make a film, why even bother if it’s going to be an unpleasant experience for those who are willing to be a part of it? I always think back on the projects I’ve produced and I smile at the fact that no matter what road bumps we’ve hit, or setbacks we’ve endured, I know in my heart that I did everything I could to make sure my people were well fed.

Food is a love language!

Food is also incredibly important in regards to energy—you never want to overfeed or serve cuisine that will knock your party out or make them too tired to do their job. But again, not having enough food is always worse. There’s no telling what I might do when I haven’t been fed, and I wouldn’t wish that sort of rage on anyone…except maybe you if you ignore this warning. 

I’m starving, so I’ll leave you now with a great recipe that’s not only healthy but also delicious, filling and perfect for your first voyage into feeding the crew.

Ahoy!

E

Serves 1 Italian. For normal people, a pound of pasta should feed 4.

BRENDA AND THE MONSTERS

She wrote for Sherlock Holmes, Kharis, The Mad Ghoul, and the Weird Woman. Her name was Brenda Weisberg, and during the war years, she was the sole female screenwriter for Universal’s horror output.

During World War II, Universal Studios was as busy a factory as any defense plant in the country, churning out entertainment for servicemen, civilians and their families by the celluloid mile. Features, shorts, serials, cartoons, newsreels, and promotions for War Bonds, the Universal cameras never stopped turning. Like Columbia Pictures, Universal was considered second tier compared to MGM, Paramount or Warner Brothers. A “B” studio that occasionally put money into larger productions. For every THE SPOILERS with John Wayne, Randolph Scott, and Marlene Dietrich or ARABIAN NIGHTS, there were a dozen quickly made adventures (BLACK DIAMONDS, NORTH TO THE KLONDIKE), comedies (ALIAS THE CHUMP, TOO MANY BLONDES), or Johnny Mack Brown westerns.

Universal’s sure-fire box office hits came from Abbott and Costello and the classic stable of monsters. The comedy duo had exploded with laughs and music in the low-budget BUCK PRIVATES while THE WOLFMAN, released around the bombing of Pearl Harbor, was the smash that ushered in Universal’s second horror wave, shouldered by Lon Chaney Jr.

Chaney’s star vehicles were divided among different production units within the studio according to their budgets. George Waggner and Western specialist Paul Malvern produced the bigger films such as SON OF DRACULA and HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, while the smaller films, including the Inner Sanctum mysteries, were the province of producer Ben Pivar. Born in Britain, Pivar had followed his film editor brother Maurice to Universal, first as an assistant, then an editor, and then a producer while Maurice became an executive, supervising the editing of all of Universal’s products.

As an editor, Ben Pivar knew the Universal stock footage library backwards and forwards, and could initiate adventure films and westerns based on the existing material. Pivar was responsible for an enormous amount of releases which meant an enormous number of screenplays. Many of the writers in Pivar’s stable came from pulp magazines and radio, or were freelancing, grinding through series mysteries for other studios. The one woman who was writing low-budget genre films at Universal was Brenda Weisberg, and she would be a perfect fit for the Pivar unit.

Born in Rovno of the Russian Empire [now Rivne, Ukraine] in 1900, but raised in Ohio and Arizona, Brenda Weisberg came to the movies through her work in newspapers, initially selling original stories to Universal for their own incarnation of The Dead End Kids without Leo Gorcey. After the classic ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES at Warner Brothers, Dead End Kid Billy Halop had become a popular teenage star on his own, working successfully with Humphrey Bogart in CRIME SCHOOL and YOU CAN’T GET AWAY WITH MURDER. Halop, Huntz Hall, Gabe Dell and Hal Chester were brought to Universal for LITTLE TOUGH GUY, directed by Harold Young (THE MUMMY’S TOMB) and written by Brenda who had crafted a juvenile delinquency drama, not a silly comedy like the later East Side Kids and Bowery Boys films for Monogram.

Brenda had found her niche, writing a total of seven features and one serial for Halop, Hall, and their pals. YOU’RE NOT SO TOUGH, directed by Joe May (THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS) emphasized humor, while MOB TOWN, directed by William Nigh (who guided the MR. WONG films with Boris Karloff) was a tight, gangster drama in line with Halop’s films at Warner Brothers. Universal also cast Dick Foran and Anne Gwynne, giving the movie a little extra “B” polish, which Brenda’s script deserved.

In the middle of these assignments, Brenda co-wrote her first serial for chapter-play specialist producer Henry MacRae, JUNIOR G-MEN OF THE AIR also starring Halop, Hall and the gang facing villain Lionel Atwill. Working with a structure from Griffin Jay (RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE), Brenda’s experience had taught her how to fashion the right dialogue for the young, tough actors, giving snappy answers to Halop, and the slow-witted comedy to Hall. Under MacRae and director Ray Taylor, who had both guided the FLASH GORDON serials, Brenda rose to the tough occasion of writing a long-form serial, and was quickly handed another, OVERLAND MAIL, her first western and first film starring Lon Chaney Jr.

Brenda would work on separate chapters of the Chaney Western, tailoring her scripts to old footage from Universal Westerns with new material to match it. Beyond character, plot, and dialog, the serial writers had to be technically savvy as well, knowing how to write scenes around the stock footage and the best way to integrate it into the productions. After the Western, Brenda jumped back to rough house comedy with 1943’s KEEP ‘EM SLUGGING, starring Bobby Jordan and directed by veteran Christy Cabanne (THE MUMMY’S HAND).

KEEP ‘EM SLUGGING was the kind of material that Brenda knew like the back of her hand, but the Little Tough Guy films and the serials proved Brenda could handle any genre, and she soon wrote four Universal horror movies in a row, and established herself as a B-Movie-Writing-Queen.

THE MAD GHOUL is absolutely one of her best works, and one of the best of the Pivar “B” films, if not the best. The dour, savage story of medical student David Bruce being victimized by his mentor George Zucco is one of the darkest, and most brutal, Universal horrors. Much has been made about the tragedy of the fate of Lon Chaney’s Larry Talbot, or Robert Paige’s hapless Frank in SON OF DRACULA, desperately trying to prevent his love from becoming a vampire. But THE MAD GHOUL creates an even grimmer story.

David Bruce, desperately in love with Evelyn Ankers, is deliberately victimized by the man he trusts most because he too wants to share Evelyn’s bed. Zucco’s destruction of Bruce, and sending him on a killing spree because he’s been rejected by Evelyn, is remarkable for its purely evil motivations, which Zucco plays with smooth relish. Brenda then adds the mutilation of corpses to the story, the flesh of a human heart to be distilled into a “Ghoul antidote,” that’s remarkable for its frank gruesomeness.

THE MAD GHOUL is a stand-alone, not a continuation of Paula the Ape Woman or Kharis, that deserves kudos as being a cut above almost all the Pivar productions. Utilizing sets from larger Universal films, THE MAD GHOUL has an expansive look, with extras filling in scenes and excellent production design and art direction, all beautifully photographed by Oscar winner Milton Krasner (THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN, HOW THE WEST WAS WON). The talented James P. Hogan directs admirably, but sadly did not live long enough to see his horror gem completed, as he died before THE MAD GHOUL was released.

With its fine direction and good performances, all on a tight budget, THE MAD GHOUL remains a stalwart of Universal horror because it has real emotional current running through its scenes, and that is thanks to the fine work of Brenda Weisberg. Because of her ear for dialog, Brenda was assigned to WEIRD WOMAN, the third of the Inner Sanctum mystery series starring Lon Chaney Jr. Based on Fritz Leiber’s superb CONJURE WIFE, writer W. Scott Darling (THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN) fashioned an adaptation that Brenda transformed into a screenplay, actually riding against the tropes of the Inner Sanctum series by making Chaney almost a supporting character, despite the films being designed for him.

WEIRD WOMAN, as is appropriate for its title, is a “Woman’s Picture” in the best sense of the label. All of the action, all of the mystery, is tied to the female characters of the film. The original story of witches controlling the destiny of their husbands was mutated into a tale of a professor (Chaney) who marries a girl from a South Sea Island (Anne Gwynne), and brings her back to his college town where mysterious happenings, including a murder, unfold and she’s blamed by an old flame of the professor’s (Evelyn Ankers) for bringing tribal magic with her from the islands and using it against the college community.

While Chaney is nearly always on-screen, trying to debunk “native superstitions,” Brenda Weisberg’s script focuses on Gwynne as the young island bride, Ankers’ jealous ex, and the wonderful Elizabeth Russell as the wife of a professor who commits suicide out of shame for plagiarizing a book he’s just published. These women, along with the great Elizabeth Risdon as the down-to-earth Dean of Woman, toss Brenda’s dialog like so many knives, sometimes drawing blood and sometimes having their nasty comments boomerang back.

If Chaney’s professor is only marginally interesting, then Brenda more than makes up for it with the female characters as they try to one-up each other, which is the joy of the movie. Directed by the able Reginald Le Borg, WEIRD WOMAN remains one of the favorites of the Inner Sanctums, as it’s one of the only films that actually have a supernatural element that can’t be explained away.

From one successful series to one of Universal’s most famous, THE SCARLET CLAW is, arguably the best and most atmospheric of the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes films, as its concerned with a monster, and not fighting Nazis on the home-front. Brenda devised the story of a glowing creature that is terrorizing a Canadian village as a cover-up for a string of murders. Roy William Neill directed Brenda’s story with his usual skill and sense of dread, especially in the beautifully rendered scenes of the monster with a phosphorous glow courtesy of effects genius John P. Fulton.

Brenda returned to the Pivar unit to script one more adventure for the mummy Kharis, and his search for eternal love, for THE MUMMY’S GHOST, directed by Reginald Le Borg. A sequel to THE MUMMY’S TOMB, GHOST is regarded as being the best of the Chaney/Kharis outings because of its unusual ending steeped in romantic tragedy, and the sultry presence of Ramsey Ames. Again, Brenda Weisberg brings a sense of desperate emotion to the film, as the spirit of the Princess Ananka inhabits Miss Ames, leading to disastrous results.

Le Borg directs in snappy style, emphasizing great low-angle images of Kharis as he breaks through fences and walls or goes berserk in the Scripps Museum when the soul of his love is lost to him. John Carradine makes a fine obsessed high priest, but one of the movies true delights is Barton MacLane as a detective, firing off Brenda’s dialog the same way as he handled his lines in THE MALTESE FALCON.

After THE MUMMY’S GHOST, Brenda Weisberg focused on family films, musicals and comedies before moving to Arizona to marry and retire from the movies. Away from Hollywood she happily focused on community theater, even as THE MAD GHOUL, and others, were being included in Shock Theater packages across the country, revived in the pages of Famous Monsters of Filmland, and even sold in 8mm home-movie editions.

The Queen of the Ben Pivar unit passed away at the age of 96, but her accomplishmentlives on. In a field dominated by men, Brenda Weisberg made her mark with her Universal horrors.

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C. Courtney Joyner is an award-winning author and screenwriter with more than 25 screenplays to his credit including The Offspring starring Vincent Price, and Prison directed by Renny Harlin. His short stories have been widely anthologized and his novels include the SHOTGUN western series, and the adventure NEMO RISING. A film historian, he was the movie/tv editor for TRUE WEST magazine for three years, and has recorded commentaries, written documentaries and appeared on more than 200 blu-ray releases. Recent non-fiction books include WESTERN PORTRAITS with Steve Carver, PERSPECTIVES ON ELMORE LEONARD, and the upcoming WARNER BROTHERS FANTASTIC.

G&E In Motion does not necessarily agree with the opinions of our guest bloggers. That would be boring and counterproductive. We have simply found the author’s thoughts to be interesting, intelligent, unique, insightful, and/or important. We may not agree on the words but we surely agree on their right to express them and proudly present this platform as a means to do so.

Batter Up! Summoning The Devil in the Diamond

Our house was destroyed.

The year was 2012 and Hurricane Sandy ripped through, among other places, the Mid-Atlantic States.

It is said that the storm damaged, destroyed, or severely flooded around 100,000 homes on Long Island, where my family and I lived. By December of that year, more than 2,000 homes were deemed uninhabitable. 

At the time I was enrolled in grad school, studying acting. My then girlfriend was a dancer in the department and as these things go, I met and grew close to her family. As my parents went to live with an aunt and uncle of mine out east, I was fortunate enough to move into my girlfriend’s family’s home, a very generous offer that they extended to me, which also made my daily commute to Long Island University far more doable.

I grew very chummy with her brother Lou, a history buff who went on to become a history teacher. One day he casually told me about an academic paper he had read that he thought I might enjoy. When he told me it was about baseball (big Yankee fan here!) and the role it played in the ever-evolving relations between Japan and America, I was immediately intrigued. A scholarly article about the greatest sport in the world!? Sign me up! Amidst the cyclone of confusion and devastation that ensued, however, the existence of the article fell into the obscurity of my mind as life forced me to focus on other things.

Regardless, a creative seed had been planted.

Fast forward to September of 2015.

For some reason, out of the blue, I remembered that article. I never did get my hands on it and so I emailed Lou; after a quick email to his old professor, he obtained the PDF version and sent it my way. The piece was entitled For Love of the Game: Baseball in Early U.S.-Japanese Encounters and the Rise of a Transitional Sporting Fraternity; it was written by Sayuri Guthrie-Shimizu. 

As I read it, I was mesmerized by the enchanting history, a phrase not often uttered when referencing a peer-reviewed article. Don’t get me wrong – it was certainly academic, but I saw through its scholarship and could smell the fertile soil of a great story (as a matter of fact, many of the characters in my novel were directly inspired by historical figures mentioned in the piece).

Though I enjoyed historical-fiction, the genre was certainly not my forte. I did, however, like a challenge. Ideas started swirling in my head - directions I could take the story, historical avenues I could explore.

And then, of course, I started writing something else and the story once again fell by my creative wayside.

That is until the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic emerged and I found myself in quarantine. Determined to remain productive – I decided to take one of the ideas I had for a novel and give it a go.

The problem was, and indeed it’s a good problem to have, I had a handful of good ideas that I felt could make for great novels.

That’s when I noticed the news was reporting a rise in Anti-Asian sentiment in the United States. Later, in August of 2021, NPR reported more than 9,000 Anti-Asian incidents had been documented since the pandemic began. The New York Yankees’ own ace at the time, Masahiro Tanaka, left the ball-club and the country to go back to Japan upon having concerns about his family’s safety due to the spike in discrimination and hate crimes against members of the Asian community.

 I thought of that article. I thought of how baseball acted as a healing factor between the Americans and Japanese after being at war with one another. All the other novel ideas suddenly paled in comparison.

With that article as my springboard, I catapulted into piles of research, which included World War II, Japanese culture, mid-20th century culture in general, the history of baseball (there’s so much that your average fan like myself had no idea about!), and countless other topics.

I began assembling. I amassed quotes, notes on fascinating historical tidbits, events, laws, pandemics, milestones, records, occurrences, statistics, journals, philosophies, articles; anything I could get my hands on.

The following quote convinced me that the relationship between baseball and war was far from trivial:

“Baseball is part of the American way of life. Remove it and you remove something from the lives of American citizens, soldiers and sailors." - Private John E Stevenson

 

I created a massive timeline. It went as far back as 1871 and as recent as 2004. This timeline became my novel’s bible. Anything that could be relevant to my story went on the chronological itinerary.

Upon glancing at this timeline over and over – I soon realized that my initial idea of writing a story about an American soldier and a Japanese soldier during and after WWII just didn’t seem to cover enough ground given all the wonderful information I had accumulated.

And so I decided to expand my story to make it a multi-generational tale. Though it has a less epic scope than something like Centennial, James A. Michener’s 1974 novel and the subsequent 1978 mini-series acted as inspiration.

My novel suddenly became not just about Eugene and Yuujin, my main protagonists, but also their grandparents and, to a slightly lesser degree, their parents. I could now trace and explore baseball in relation to America and Japan in its entirety.

 Which, of course, meant – more work for me! But again, being quarantined allowed for such an indulgence. And so I wrote. Every. Single. Day.

A little history to wet your beak - in the 1870s, as part of the state-driven modernization program, rulers in Tokyo recruited over 3,000 experts called oyatoi (foreign employees) from Europe and the United States. As Americans were valued in public education, those in that department came to Japan. And do you know what they brought along with them? Bats and baseballs! The game was primed to spread! And so I made Eugene’s grandfather one of these oyatoi…

After a good year, I had a solid manuscript.

It was important to me that the novel was not only a great story – but had literary merit as well.

As I thought about possible themes, motifs, and metaphors – baseball concepts lent themselves naturally.

For example, the idea of “making contact” came to mind. Hitting a baseball is one of the hardest, if not the hardest, feats to accomplish in professional sports. As too is making contact in the sense of forming a connection with another human being or culture. This parallel acts as the backdrop to an entire chapter late in the story. Crossing the threshold of difference to make first contact with a new world can take strength and courage.

Speaking of strength and courage, the novel opens with the (historically accurate) near-complete destruction and seizing of Shuri Castle. Yuujin, part of the Japanese rearguard unit, soon finds himself the last living member of his regiment and before long becomes a POW. In real life, Shuri Castle had always symbolized strength, power, and honor and in my tale Yuujin had always revered the palace. And so its physical demise mirrored the spiritual demise of Yuujin, who deals with the shame and dishonor associated with being captured. He very much wonders if both he and the castle can one day be restored to the glory and honor they once exemplified.

 Eugene, our American counterpart, is put in charge of watching Yuujin as they wait for a transport and things don’t exactly go smoothly. In fact, Yuujin gets a punch to the face. Enter one of the novel’s motifs – Yuujin’s bruise. Eugene watches the black and blue begin to form and take shape. As they become friendlier, the blemish becomes more profound, acting as a visible reminder of Eugene’s act of brutality. Bruises are interesting in that they’re not actually very deep under the skin but they’re quite grotesque to behold. Eugene marked his enemy. And then he questions how much of an enemy Yuujin truly is. Even when he returns home, Eugene is haunted by nightmares of a discolored Yuujin, his ever-swelling contusion enveloping his face.

The novel’s pillars of baseball and World War II, being male dominated, also opened up the natural lane to discuss concepts of manliness and masculinity – that age-old but seemingly ever-shifting question of: what does it mean to be a man? To discuss such notions through a 21st century lens, via 20th century characters, made for an interesting expedition and reflection as well.

 But enough of metaphors and themes! One of the more fun aspects about the story is bumping into major historical figures. I won’t give them all away but don’t be surprised if, while reading, you meet the likes of Joe DiMaggio, Mark Twain, General Douglas MacArthur, and Theodore Roosevelt!

I certainly enjoyed getting to know them. And I fell in love with all my other characters as well. Of course they eventually became their own and now I must give them away.

They say a flower blooming in a storm is stronger than a tree blossoming under a rainbow. A natural disaster was the genesis for this story and cultivated a decade old seed that formed during a pandemic and is now ready to flourish and present itself to the world.

That’s pretty special.

My lifelong dream has always been to become a novelist. I would like to thank Henry Gray Publishing for making that a reality.

I very much hope you enjoy my debut novel. And I very much hope it affects and satisfies your heart and mind in the most literary of ways.

The Devil in the Diamond embraces the idea that two countries who share the game of baseball can never be true enemies. It is a story about the fraternity of nations and their connective tissue of baseball, which acts as a first step to re-building a peaceful future. The devil in the title very much refers to racism and bigotry, cruelty and hate. Despite it being a period piece, this novel confronts a contemporary revelation: not only does history often repeat itself - ignorance unfortunately does as well.

Thank goodness there’s baseball.

- G

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