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Answers regarding Natalie Wood and re shoots/ending

posted 12 years ago by geminidreamatl24
9 replies | jump to latest

Hi everyone

I was fortunate enough to meet Academy Award winning actress Louise Fletcher at a sci fi fantasy convention a couple years ago and I had been dying to ask someone who worked on the film regarding Natalie Wood to clear up some stuff. Miss Fletcher was very nice and was quite happy to be asked by someone young (I was 30 at the time) about Brainstorm. she gratiously told me that Natalie only had like 2-3 scenes left to film and they were minor scenes and the rumors of Douglas (Trumball) using stand ins and dubbing her voice was total bull and didnt happen. everything you see was completed and the resulting 2 year hiatus before the release was all the studio being difficult. she told me her and Chris (Walken) even came back to help him finish the film for free on rehoots and that she loved working with Natalie and said she was such a professional and a gracious kind woman and told Miss. Fletcher she had hoped brainstorm would be the start of her come back. Sadly she passed away before it could be released. I feel the film makers and douglas trumball did an amazing job completing the film despite Natalie Woods scenes not being finished or dubbed correctly and still think it was way ahead of its time and I thanked Miss Fletcher so much for telling me all about the behind the scenes. she said it pissed her and Chris off how badly the studio treated Douglas Trumball cause all they cared about was the money and everyone felt it would be an insult to Natalies memory if they didnt complete it. so There you have it from Miss Fletcher herself. she was such an amazing woman and extremly friendly.

Yall mind hanging back? Your jamming my frequences.

[–] zaidhunt 12 years ago

Thanks for this post buddy...

[–] nofret-1 11 years ago

Thank you for sharing this.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] vicky_lc2001-1 11 years ago

Thanks for sharing that with us. I was curious as well with jow Natalie's passing may have affected the film

[–] puirt-a-beul 11 years ago

Hi gd,
Thanks so much for posting this.

Such a sad business. I actually remember when Natalie Wood died, and the massive shockwaves it caused. There were so many callous rumours, and I think the whole business effectively killed Robert Wagner as well — his spirit, anyway. He was never the same after that, it seemed. And poor Douglas Trumbull, who'd really put his heart and soul into this movie — I was such a hunge fan of his, he was a true giant of innovation, and I think it swept his creative spirit away as well.

But I'd never heard Ms Fletcher's comments on all this, so sincere thanks for posting this thread.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

[–] mstanley-1 10 years ago

Great post and information! THanks for that. This is an incredibly underrated SF film, a classic, really. It deserves more recognition than it has. Way ahead of its time.

[–] markedjuan 8 years ago

So fortunate of the OP to have chatted with Louise Fletcher!

And how unfortunate for Douglas Trumbull to have had to deal with MGM when it was run by David Begelman, who at that time was already known in Hollywood as an embezzler. Ironically, a couple of years earlier,Cliff Robertson had spilled the beans on Begelman for cashing a $10,000 check issued under Robertson's name. In 1982, a book about the embezzlement was published and it was so strange that it was Robertson who suffered for it since he felt he had been blacklisted by Hollywood; acting offers dried up. This may also partly explain why MGM was so eager to shelve Brainstorm, since Robertson had a major role in it.

Also in 1980, Raquel Welch sued MGM for having fired her from Cannery Row. Welch claimed MGM had used her name to obtain financing for the film project but it was really Debra Winger they wanted, whom they eventually got at a much lower fee. MGM claimed Welch was being temperamental which was causing the production budget to swell. But it was eventually proven that the director, who had never directed a film before, had caused the delays. Welch won a $10 million verdict, while Cannery Row grossed a measly $5 million. Begelman paid through the nose. He also paid for having slandered Welch in an interview published in Rolling Stone magazine.

Still, despite her victory over MGM, like Robertson and Trumbull, Welch's movie career never recovered.

[–] Outstandingness 7 years ago

you tap that?

[–] CoriSCapnSkip (1562) 7 years ago

Thanks, I always wondered about this and that clears things up a lot.