By Peter Landau
Is there any genre better than teen comedy? If there is Mr. Skin hasn't whacked off to it yet. There was a period of grace during the mid-'80s when Hollywood was just chugging out those movies, so funny and so skinful. Everyone got into the act.
That's what brings the great photographer and director Jerry Schatzberg for his fifteen minutes of skin. A former fashion photographer who worked with some of the most beautiful women in the glossies made a name for himself in the '70s with a series of gritty portraits of life on the edge. There was Al Pacino as the junkie in The Panic in Needle Park (1971), Gene Hackman and Pacino again as drifters in Scarecrow (Picture: 1) (1973), Alan Alda as the corrupt politician of The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979), and the Willie Nelson/Dyan Cannon romance Honeysuckle Rose (1980), great movies all.
But it's his sweet, almost innocent entry into the teen comedy genre, No Small Affair (1984), that brings Schatzberg to Skin. It features a young Jon Cryer, as a stand-in for Schatzberg, who falls for the then unknown Demi Moore (Picture: 1). It's Demi's nude debut and features the only nudity from blonde bombshell Judith Baldwin (Picture: 1 - 2).
Schatzberg talks about his early work taking portraits of rock stars and models, how a director must be able to coax the clothes off of his actresses, and whether he'll ever return to the teen-comedy genre that made him famous, at least here at Skin Central. To keep up with Schatzberg and check out his photography log on to his official website at JerrySchatzberg.com.
Before you were a filmmaker, you worked as a photographer for magazines such as Vogue and McCall's. Besides fashion, you did some artistic nude studies. Talk about how these came about and what you were trying to achieve.
As far as I can remember, I only did one. That was for McCall's, shot through a block of ice, but I don't remember what the story was about.
You also took a lot of music portraits, such as of Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Nico, Frank Zappa, and Eric Dolphy, among many others. Were you part of '60s rock culture?
You could say that; I was part owner of several discoth?es. One was Ondine; one was Salvation. I used to hang out in clubs with many of my musician and photographer friends.
Your first film, Puzzle of a Downfall Child, was about a fashion model and is supposedly inspired by real-life model Anne Saint Marie. What about fashion models compelled you to devote a film to one?
Unfortunately a model's career is very short and psychologically always very damaging to them. The people who hire them and work with them don't realize this and the nature of that business is to use young, young, young.
In my day, young was twenty-four, twenty-five. As time has gone by, it has gotten younger, as young as fifteen, sixteen, seventeen. If the client doesn't think the model can make money for them, they just stop using them. I found that very tragic and especially with Anne Saint Marie, who was a friend and supporter as I was building a career.
The Panic in Needle Park is a great movie, but in terms of Mr. Skin it's notable for featuring the only nudity of Kitty Winn's (Picture:1) career. What do you most fondly recall about working with her?
I felt the nudity was appropriate for the lifestyle of these characters. It was written into the script and I asked Kitty to consider it. She did, and as a professional, she said yes. What I mostly recall about working with Kitty Winn was her integrity and of course her talent. In some ways, her character in real life was very reserved. I liked that for her character.
Your next film, Scarecrow, is one of the best films from the '70s, and like many of the movies from that period is seeped in alienation. As someone who worked during this exceedingly creative time in cinema, what did you find different and/or special about the movies from that era?
In my early career, I never really analyzed film. I just knew there was a certain way I wanted to tell the story. I was fortunate in that they accepted what I wanted to do. I think most of my influence came from the Beat Generation and the French New Wave of cinema. As I started to explore more, much of my influence came from the great filmmakers all over the world.
One of the most popular genres on Mr. Skin is the teen comedy, a craze that overtook Hollywood in the '80s, and one that your No Small Affair fits into. Was this a conscious effort to explore the genre?
Yes, it seemed to encompass a lot of what I had seen and experienced in young people both in photography and the music world. I was interested in No Small Affair because of the photographer's plight and a young woman trying to make it in the music world; also, the coming-of-age aspect interested me.
You worked with a lot of up-and-coming actresses in No Small Affair, including Demi Moore and Jennifer Tilly (Picture:1). Did you sense their rising stars?
The answer to your question is basically yes, but I think I was interested in the acting and voice structure of Demi Moore and Jennifer Tilly as it contributed to the character.
The film stars Jon Cryer as a photographer who falls for an older woman, played by Demi Moore. Any autobiographical elements at play here?
Of course, doesn't any young guy fall in love with an older woman? As you get older the process reverses itself.
Demi Moore plays a tavern singer, but you dubbed her singing in the movie. Why?
I wanted a stronger singing voice.
The movie also features Judith Baldwin, who earlier replaced Tina Louise on the made-for-TV reunion movie Rescue from Gilligan's Island. It, like Kitty Winn, was her only nude scene onscreen. Is getting actresses out of their tops an important aspect of being a good director?
Absolutely. If you know my films--Panic in Needle Park, Reunion, Street Smart, Scarecrow, Puzzle of a Downfall Child--what else is there?
I'm a New Yorker myself who got a film education at the grindhouses of Times Square. Was 42nd Street also a destination for you? What did you think of the B-movies, foreign fare, kung-fu triple features, skin flicks, and so on?
My education on Times Square was basically French and Italian films. For a long time, my taste was very limited. I admire Quentin Tarantino, who believes there are no bad films, only categories of film. I am not there yet but I am moving in that direction.
You explore the underworld of New York in Street Smart. Do you recall working with Marie Barrientos (Picture:1)? She played the Hispanic prostitute, and again it's her only nude scene.
I know there was at least one nude scene in Street Smart, but I can't associate the Hispanic prostitute with a name.
From the junkies of Panic in Needle Park to the drifters in Scarecrow, what attracts you to such compromised characters?
I suspect it has to do with my sense of justice. I grew up in lower-class neighborhoods. My best friends were very poor. I seemed to always be rooting for the underdog. I was one of those kids from the Bronx who would never root for the Yankees because they always won.
The last movie you wrote and directed was The Day the Ponies Come Back from 2000, and before that the last two films seemed to have been produced in Europe. What are you working on now?
In the film business, you sometimes work for many years on a project, and for some reason, it doesn't get on, whether it is finances, script, or getting another actor. I went through a period of ten years when I worked on six films and none of them got on. It was discouraging but you must get up and get back on the horse.
I have been fortunate to have two careers, and when I go into a slow period in film, I work on my photographic archive. At the moment, I am having an exhibition in London July through August. A book of my photographs will be introduced in July and out in August. I am also having an exhibition in Paris in October. Believe it or not, I am also working on three film scripts--none of them are teen comedy.
Any chance you'd revisit the teen comedy genre?
Some of my friends think I am in my second childhood, but as yet, I haven't yet reached the teenage area.
