Stirling Silliphant
Silliphant penned some good movies:
)In the Heat of the Night
)Charly
)The Poseidon Adventure
I guess 'The Swarm' wasn't his finest hour.
Yeah, I can't say anything about this movie that hasn't already been said. As someone on Netflix said, she just got up and started cleaning house as the movie went on and on and on. The most interesting thing was a bonus feature on the DVD about the making of the movie, and literally all the actors gave testimonies about how this could really happen (African/Brazilian killer bees swarming to the US and wreaking havoc). Apparently they were truly convinced that they were doing a service to the country by appearing in this film. Anyway, I Google'd "African killer bees," and I ran across this on http://agnews.tamu.edu/bees...
Q. Why are Africanized honey bees called 'killer bees'?
A. The name "killer" was first used in a news magazine report several decades ago when it was reported that several people died after having been stung by the bees. The name was only used once at that time and was greatly exaggerated. A B-grade movie then was made in which the "killer" bees attacked Houston and caused a lot of death and destruction in that city. Though the movie was complete fiction, the widespread perception of the Africanized honey bees being killers was launched.
Funny stuff. And speaking of finest hours, Olivia deHavilland's slow-mo dramatic moment in this film wasn't hers, either. Also, I just couldn't tell if Michael Caine was being serious in his line delivery, or if he was in on the joke.
"Clearly, no one should - no matter how slightly." --Paris Hilton on driving drunk. Priceless...
I can tell you, Michael Caine, Oliva De Haviland, Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark, Bradford Dillman and Ben Johnson all were completely serious, and BELIVED that killer bees were on their way into Texas. This is obvious in the documantary "Inside The Swarm" on The Swarm DVD.
Paddy Duke Astin "wasn't sure".
In their defense though a lot of people thought that as well, as it was well documented in the news, where Irwin Allen got the idea from, an actual TV news report.
Come And Get Me You Sonofabitch! - Ellen Brody
I know, that documentary was the most entertaining thing on the DVD to me--to see the complete sincerity on their faces as they talked about the bees coming. Irwin Allen really was a genius, which was also later demonstrated by his 'Alice in Wonderland' miniseries on CBS in 1985. Actors must've genuinely liked working with him, regardless of the scripts. He looked, from the same documentary, to be a very detailed, but good-humoured, director to work for.
"Clearly, no one should - no matter how slightly." --Paris Hilton on driving drunk. Priceless...