Hollywood poetry
Paramount
The role of studio workman was not Weir’s preferred method of directing. He was a full-fledged auteur accustomed to having substantial influence on the writing of the screenplay. And while he loved the material, he had strong opinions on how “Witness” should flow as a story. When Weir sent Kelley and Wallace a significant rewrite, the “Gunsmoke” scribes were stunned. Per a fascinating Cinephilia and Beyond article by Sven Mikulec, Weir said, “I put more Amish ambience in it. And I took out the overt part of the love story—I thought it was rather tacky.” He also toned down some of the violence at the end. This did not go over well. Weir recalled: “The writers thought I was so destroying the piece that one of them said to me, to my astonishment, ‘Don’t you want to be walking up the steps at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion to get your Academy Award?’”
Ironically, thanks to Weir’s contributions, Kelley and Wallace would be the ones walking up those storied steps (along with Kelley’s wife, Pamela, who co-conceived the story). Weir, nominated alongside the Cinema God likes of Akira Kurosawa (“Ran”) and John Huston (“Prizzi’s Honor”), wound up losing the Best Director Oscar to Sidney Pollack for “Out of Africa.” Though the writers ungraciously failed to thank Weir, let there be no doubt that it was his storytelling instincts and visual poetry that transformed a clever thriller into a captivating piece of genre poetry. At least Ford was grateful. He followed up “Witness” by starring in Weir’s “The Mosquito Coast” (which Ford considers his finest hour as an actor).
It Took A Total Re-Write To Make Witness An Oscar Winner
Paramount
By Jeremy Smith/May 23, 2022 9:01 am EST
Just another cop movie
Feldman had better luck with Paramount, home to Ford’s other blockbuster franchise, but he struggled to find a director. Peter Weir initially passed on “Witness” because he was knee-deep in the development of “The Mosquito Coast.” Feldman moved on to John Badham, who, riding high after his 1983 two-fer of “Blue Thunder” and “WarGames,” deemed the project “just another cop movie,” and opted to make the box office disaster “American Flyers” instead. Badham ultimately did Feldman a huge solid. A proficient craftsman whose style, with the exception of “Saturday Night Fever,” tended toward the generic, Badham would’ve absolutely made “just another cop movie.” Feldman’s perseverance was rewarded when Weir’s “The Mosquito Coast” deal fell apart, allowing him to join a production that was all but ready to shoot.
Hollywood poetry
The role of studio workman was not Weir’s preferred method of directing. He was a full-fledged auteur accustomed to having substantial influence on the writing of the screenplay. And while he loved the material, he had strong opinions on how “Witness” should flow as a story. When Weir sent Kelley and Wallace a significant rewrite, the “Gunsmoke” scribes were stunned. Per a fascinating Cinephilia and Beyond article by Sven Mikulec, Weir said, “I put more Amish ambience in it. And I took out the overt part of the love story—I thought it was rather tacky.” He also toned down some of the violence at the end. This did not go over well. Weir recalled: “The writers thought I was so destroying the piece that one of them said to me, to my astonishment, ‘Don’t you want to be walking up the steps at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion to get your Academy Award?’”
Ironically, thanks to Weir’s contributions, Kelley and Wallace would be the ones walking up those storied steps (along with Kelley’s wife, Pamela, who co-conceived the story). Weir, nominated alongside the Cinema God likes of Akira Kurosawa (“Ran”) and John Huston (“Prizzi’s Honor”), wound up losing the Best Director Oscar to Sidney Pollack for “Out of Africa.” Though the writers ungraciously failed to thank Weir, let there be no doubt that it was his storytelling instincts and visual poetry that transformed a clever thriller into a captivating piece of genre poetry. At least Ford was grateful. He followed up “Witness” by starring in Weir’s “The Mosquito Coast” (which Ford considers his finest hour as an actor).
Ironically, thanks to Weir’s contributions, Kelley and Wallace would be the ones walking up those storied steps (along with Kelley’s wife, Pamela, who co-conceived the story). Weir, nominated alongside the Cinema God likes of Akira Kurosawa (“Ran”) and John Huston (“Prizzi’s Honor”), wound up losing the Best Director Oscar to Sidney Pollack for “Out of Africa.” Though the writers ungraciously failed to thank Weir, let there be no doubt that it was his storytelling instincts and visual poetry that transformed a clever thriller into a captivating piece of genre poetry. At least Ford was grateful. He followed up “Witness” by starring in Weir’s “The Mosquito Coast” (which Ford considers his finest hour as an actor).
