One of my favorite moments of SXSW this year was getting to see Leonard Maltin and his daughter Jessie Maltin record a live podcast with the legendary Frank Oz. This was something the father/daughter duo of cinephiles had been trying to organize since 2020 when SXSW was canceled, like so many things. The Maltins hadn’t been with Frank Oz since 2017, also at SXSW, when the director unveiled his documentary film Muppet Guys Talking, so it was neat to be in the room where their long-awaited reunion happened. The podcast episode is now streaming (listen here), and in case this hasn’t been enough to motivate you to click “Play,” here are a few highlights.
Frank Oz “Maltin on Movies” Podcast Episode Highlights:
- Frank Oz shares his reluctant entry into puppeteering and how he met Jim Henson.
- Leonard Maltin recalls his Sesame Street set visit in late 1969, when he was on set the first time “Rubber Duckie” was performed.
- Memories from The Muppet Show, including becoming friends with Alan Arkin and John Cleese through their episodes.
- Fans of The Dark Crystal and Muppets Take Manhattan get to hear about Oz’s earliest directing experience.
- Oz’s interest in stage directing was the key to the film adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors, with sets designed around the staging he mapped out in his mind during pre-production.
- Dirty Rotten Scoundrels didn’t have an ending when filming began.
- Touchstone Pictures’ What About Bob? was a really tough shoot, with stars Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfus not working well together, multiple script rewrites, and an ending that had to be reshot.
- 1997’s In & Out had a rough road to the screen, with 17 test screenings to satisfy Paramount’s concerns over the mainstream comedy’s handling of homosexuality. Oz describes Kevin Kline as having the range of “Hamlet to Jerry Lewis.”
- Oz’s secret to directing comedies is to apply “Rigor and restraint” within the rules of the world, as evidenced by a sequence in Bowfinger (1999) when Eddie Murphy is walking across a freeway. Oz revealed that Murphy did the scene in just two takes, and the cars were all visual effects added in post. Sound effects were key to making the sequence hilarious.
- Another secret to Frank Oz’s success is preparation, as he revealed that he’s currently writing a book about the topic.
- Oz regrets his response to Marlon Brando’s difficulties on the set of The Score. He had been warned that the legendary actor was known for taking over sets, so Oz’s initial approach was too tough, which shut the actor down. Frank described the role of a director to support the actors, who are all scared. But he was able to learn from the experience on a later project with another difficult actor who remained nameless.
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