Photo of the Week and More on the Polanski Case

Here is the lovely photo of the week from our contributor, Andrea!  Thanks so much!

And things are not looking good for Polanski, although he hasn't completely given up yet:

Polanski absentia bid dismissed by California court

Agence France-Presse April 23, 2010

LOS ANGELES – A California appeals court Thursday quashed a bid by Roman Polanski to be tried in absentia for his child sex case, clearing the way for the director to be extradited back to the United States.

California's 2nd District Court of Appeal tossed an appeal filed by Polanski's legal team following a hearing in January, where the film-maker's request to be sentenced without having to return from Europe was denied.

The appellate court panel found that Polanski had "failed to demonstrate" that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza had lacked the discretion to deny the director's earlier absentia request.

Dismissal of the appeal removes another obstacle from the path of Los Angeles prosecutors seeking sentencing of infamous Oscar-winning director Polanski, 76, in his decades-old child sex abuse case.

Polanski is under house arrest in Switzerland following his detention last September on a US arrest warrant for having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

Swiss officials said in February that a decision on whether to move forward with Polanski's extradition could not be made until the director had exhausted his US appeals.

Authorities in Switzerland have however emphasized that any extradition process could take about a year once likely appeals by Polanski against his return had been heard by Switzerland's highest courts.

Earlier Thursday, the same California appeals court dismissed a motion by the victim in the case who had sought to have the proceedings dismissed.

The petition, filed on behalf of Samantha Geimer, was "summarily denied by order," court documents showed.

Geimer's attorney, Lawrence Silver, filed court papers last month asking the court to intervene based on alleged judicial and prosecutorial misconduct.

"Samantha Geimer was first victimized by Polanski. Whatever harm was done to her 33 years ago by Polanski is now a memory," Silver wrote.

In a 12-page response, prosecutors countered that Geimer "has no right or authority to dictate the outcome of a criminal case, nor is she entitled to examine evidence possessed either by the prosecution or the defense."

In January, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza denied requests by Polanski and Geimer to dismiss the case, along with a request by Geimer to order prosecutors to withdraw their extradition request for Polanski.

Polanski is alleged to have given Geimer champagne and drugs during a 1977 photo shoot at the Hollywood Hills home of actor friend Jack Nicholson before having sex with her despite her protests.

The director was initially charged with six felony counts, including rape and sodomy. The charge was later reduced to unlawful sexual intercourse after a plea deal agreed in part to spare his victim the ordeal of a trial.

Polanski later served 42 days at a secure unit undergoing psychiatric evaluation but fled the United States on the eve of his sentencing in 1978 amid fears that the trial judge planned to go back on a previously agreed plea deal.

Polanski's flight from justice came after a string of hit films including "Rosemary's Baby" and "Chinatown."

The director, whose wife Sharon Tate was horrifically murdered by Charles Manson's "family" in 1969, won an Oscar for his 2002 film "The Pianist" but was unable to collect the award because of his fugitive status.

Polanski has been confined at his ski chalet in the Swiss resort of Gstaad since being released from custody December 4.

Here is another article that says he will fight the extradition:

Polanski Will Fight Extradition, Lawyers Say

LA Weekly April 23, 2010

By Dennis Romero

Despite Thursday's setback in which a state appeals court turned down his request to be sentenced while he remains overseas, Roman Polanski said through his lawyers Friday that he will challenge attempts by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office to have him extradited from Switzerland.

Yesterday's ruling might have been the end of the line for the director's attempts to live a European life outside the reach of his 33-year-old sex-with-a-minor case: Swiss officials said they would not extradite him to L.A. until the sentencing matter was decided. Well, it's been decided. But attorney Douglas Dalton released a statement on behalf of Polanski that reads, in part, "The Court of Appeal decision yesterday did not decide the issue of extradition."

Besides bringing up an allegation of misconducted in the original 1977 trial, in which a prosecutor is accused of having inappropriately influenced the late judge in the case behind closed doors, Dalton did not say what further recourse Polanski's legal team would have in holding off extradition.

The director fled to France in 1978 after he says prosecutors reneged on a plea deal and the judge indicated he would serve more time than the more than 40 days he spent in psychiatric evaluation for having sex with a 13-year-old girl. He hasn't been back to L.A. since, but the D.A.'s office caught wind of a trip he had planned to Switzerland last summer to pick up an award and had him picked up. Polanski has been under house arrest at his Swiss chalet since December.

More News on Polanski: attorneys plead to end case

Now that I am caught up on all posts, here is the latest on Polanski:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jo3NMirGcL5AMDAh0HOwob-91XDwD9EUK7Q80

Roman Polanski attorneys plead to end case

By LINDA DEUTSCH (AP)

LOS ANGELES — Roman Polanski's lawyers have filed a last legal volley in a California appeals court, saying that the 33-year-old sex case and its lengthy delays have been an assault on the state's judicial system.

The attorneys said in papers filed Tuesday that the court should order an investigation of judicial misconduct in Polanski's original case and that the Oscar-winning filmmaker should not have to pay for it — an indication that he is running out of funds.

Polanski was arrested six months ago on a fugitive warrant from Los Angeles and is under house arrest in Switzerland. The 76-year-old has mounting debts and no way to earn a living while in custody, his attorneys said.

The defense made their latest plea in response to arguments from prosecutors who say Polanski must return from Europe to face sentencing. The defense argued that the director should be sentenced in absentia to time served. The papers were filed in the California 2nd District Court of Appeal.

"It is unjust for a defendant's constitutional rights to be held hostage to the district attorney's office's outright refusal to investigate the misconduct in which it was involved," said the defense brief.

Most of the 24-page filing was a recitation of facts that have been raised repeatedly by the defense since they first went to court seeking Polanski's freedom. They contend the now deceased judge committed misconduct in the case.

Polanski, the director "The Pianist" and "Chinatown," fled the U.S. in 1978 after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl.

He had served part of a 90-day period in prison ordered by the judge for a "diagnostic study." His departure was prompted by the judge's private statements that he planned to renege on the agreement that the study would be Polanski's full sentence, according to documents filed in the case.

The original prosecutor in the case recently gave closed door testimony to that effect, the lawyers have said.

Defense lawyers Chad Hummel and Bart Dalton said that the misconduct allegations should not be buried just because the trial judge is dead and some participants are no longer in the district attorney's office.

"The lapse of time...does not make the misconduct or its consequences go away or mean that they are not deserving of full exploration," they said, suggesting an investigation by a special counsel could deter similar misconduct in the future.

"This court should put a stop to this now," the attorneys said, "by recommending that special counsel be appointed and by ordering that Polanski be sentenced to time served..."

For Wednesday, March 31, 2010: Interesting Quote from Polanski, A Great Video Montage of Sharon, and Sharon, Roman on Playboy After Dark and Another Pierce Brosnan Interview

Here is an interesting quote I found from Polanski:

“I’m not a fortune teller. I would like to be judged for my work, not for my life. If there is any possibility of changing your destiny, it may only be in your creative life.”


This quote comes from a discussion about his film "Chinatown" from here:

http://tacomafilmclubannex.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/chinatown-924-broadway/

Here is a sad but very interesting montage on You Tube that has an interesting interview with Debra Tate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pMhHvcvGdw&feature=related

And if you haven't seen this Playboy After Dark interview please go here:

http://trueslant.com/susannahbreslin/2010/03/30/hugh-hefner-interviews-roman-polanski-and-sharon-tate/

Here is one of the highlights of the interview:


“I was arrested, I was arrested on a train,” Tate chimes in breathlessly. “My dress was like to here,” she gestures high on her thigh. “I said, ‘If you stop opening the windows and looking at us, you wouldn’t ever know I had a short dress on!’”


Hef asks Tate how she feels about doing nude scenes.


“Well, I feel that if it’s a real scene,” Tate responds, “and it’s an honest scene, and if it’s something where you’re stripped naked that you would be doing naturally, you know, making love, which is natural, taking a bath, you know, that’s lovely, you know, if it has a reason for it, it’s beautiful, but if it’s contrived, then, you know, it becomes vulgar.”

And here is another Pierce Brosnan interview mentioning Polanski and "The Ghost Writer".  Everytime I think he has said everything about this subject, I find something new in these interviews:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/7528829/Pierce-Brosnan-interview-for-The-Ghost.html

A Nude Angel Doll of Sharon? Sharon Tate and Jack Palance? Rare Photos from Polanski's Tess, Rare Memorabilia and More

I found someone who makes those look-a-like dolls and they made one of Sharon that is nicely done--no pun intended.  It looks more like a work of art.  I found these photos on the net but when I tried to go to the actual link it had been deleted.(?)  But thought you might want to see it. 

Sharon moved in with Jack Palance?  According to a director of one of her early films.  Here is where the comment comes from and what exactly was said:

From: JUST TELL ME WHEN TO CRY by Richard Fleischer

(The director is talking about the film "Barabbas" in his autobiography:) Trying to use the huge crowd to its best advantage, I decided to jump out of continuity and shoot the end of the gladiatorial battle between Quinn and our chief villain, Jack Palace, where Tony is victorious and the crowd calls for Palance's death. Nine thousand people screaming, with their thumbs down! What a shot! The result was unexpected. When the crowd saw Tony, in response to their thumbs-down gesture, kill Palance, they cheered, got up, and started to leave the arena. All nine thousand of them. They thought the show was over! It took an hour to get them stopped and headed back to their seats.

On the second day of shooting we were working closer to the crowd and I could scrutinize it. I was looking for good character faces I could feature in various reaction shots. There were some excellent types, but one face truly stood out, that of an eighteen-year-old girl of stunning beauty. She was gorgeous. A knockout. I pointed her out to my assistant and told him I wanted her in every close shot I could possibly use her in. And I asked him to find out who she was and where she came from. It turned out she was the daughter of an officer at the U.S. military base in Vincenza.

It wasn't too long before Jack Palance also spotted her. And it wasn't too much longer that she moved in with him. Her name was Sharon Tate.

*I think that Fleischer is telling what he thinks to be the truth, the only thing is: I don't think the Tates would have let Sharon move in with Palance at such a young age. They were still very protective of her at this time.  And while, I know Palance went out with her and even got her a screen test at the time, I have never heard from anyone else that they actually moved in together.  Any thoughts?

Here are some more rare photos from 'Tess', Polanski's film dedicated to Sharon:

Rare memorabilia of Sharon on the back cover of the novel version of "The Wrecking Crew":

Would you like to share your thoughts about Polanski's masterpiece, 'Chinatown?' :

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/critics-picks-video-chinatown/

How well is Polanski's latest film doing?  Apparantly quite good.  Most critics love it, Polanski won Best Director at the recent Berlin Film Festival for it and it is doing well at the box office:  This weekend, the political thriller had the highest per screen average by far at the US box office: $45,752 at four theaters in New York and Los Angeles, for a total of $183,009 according to Box Office Mojo.

Here is an article where Roman talks about winning the Berlin Award:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/22/roman.polanski.best.director.ppl/

Photo of the Week, The Last Part of the Translated Article: Sharon Tate wanted to eventually have a baby girl, and More on Polanski

Photo of the Week:

Sharon looking as beautiful as ever.

Here is the last part of the Translated Article:
L'Europeo August 21, 1969
My meeting with Sharon Tate
by Adriano Botta

(Warning: take some of this part with a large grain of salt...)

Photos from the actual magazine I got this article from.

Sharon Tate caught her breath, as the "bunnies" continued to deploy rose petals that they knew had hashish and brought a giant wedding cake on which was written: 'Enough with stripping, Elda!' There was a laugh by contortions. Roman Polanski stopped drinking whiskey and promoted an investigation. He learned as he copied the voice of Groucho Marx that the pastry chef had mistaken the cake by sending it to them.  Instead it was intended for a stripper at the Playboy Club that was retiring. "I have only now begun to perform in stripping," said Sharon, making a joke of it. "That will become increasingly good at becoming essential in my eroticism. Could I really become the Marilyn Monroe of the seventies?  Not in the Martin Ransohoff way. I want to be a type of Monroe who, with her eroticism set the world on fire without burning it.Yes, I will continue to undress. In a I could be undressed forever. If only to die soon in a satanic way*. I adore the way of working and living that has Roman's genius written all over it. There is an absolutely horrible sense of hypocrisy in the world. I am shocked.  Too bad for them. I and Roman have been a pair for about three years and we did not get married and it did not bother me at all. Marriage is a bourgeois convention. How important is marriage? If two people love each other and do get along well together why should they have to marry to make everyone else happy? For three years I've been with Roman and Hollywood is shocked? To bad for them.  They don't understand.  I stay away from Hollywood as best I can.  I've had it with the whole of Hollywood and its false puritanism. It is no longer the Mecca of cinema but more of a graveyard of the past studio system. I prefer London and Rome to Hollywood. "

"Why did you get married then?" someone asked. Sharon replied, "We said why not have a wedding?  The idea of it was fun. And the wedding reception at the Playboy Club was well worth the effort of a formal ceremony like marriage but it does not change anything. We are like a middle class couple, we strive to make sacrifices for each other and to encourage each other. There is no duty or restriction imposed on each other. And we often forget even to be married. I want to have children, yes. I'd like a girl. And I wish that she inherits my looks."

 
Sharon Tate is dead in Hollywood, in the cemetery of the old studio heads from which she was intended to flee. And she died like in a film by Roman Polanski, hanging from a cord of nylon, the beautiful body pierced by daggers.  And she died with four others, one of whom was also her ex-lover, the hairdresser of the stars, Jay Sebring.  He was stabbed and his head wrapped in a black hood. A morbid aggression, a crime that is crazy and repeated two days later, a few miles away, in another villa, two Italian spouses killed with the same ferocity and the same technique, with the same left written on the walls, 'pigs.' Two crimes like the demonic films inspired by the fantasy reminiscent of Polanski.  The face of America now bitter and dark. Sharon Tate was twenty six years old. She was to give birth to a baby in four weeks. Even Polanski has fallen to such a degree of shame with his cruel curse of literature.

*This sentence makes no sense with the rest of what Sharon is talking about.  And why would anyone say that anyway?  The only thing I can think of is that the reporter heard about the rumors of a possible santanic murder and added that comment to go along with it. I think a lot of reporters added this kind of thing for sensationalism. 
 
And it sounds like the reporter also went along with the Polanski makes macabre films so it imitates his life.  Like it is his fault for making movies like "Rosemary's Baby" that is the reason why he deserves this suffering in real life. 
 
Like I said, this kind of thing must be taken with a large grain of salt.
 
On a better note, here is a person who is trying to watch 1001 Greatest Movies of all time and reviews Polanski's "Chinatown." :
 
http://1001plus.blogspot.com/2010/02/separating-man-from-his-art.html
 

More on working with Polanski by The Ghost Writers stars Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor:
 
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/18/earlyshow/leisure/boxoffice/main6219911.shtml
 
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/ewan-mcgregor-praises-ghost-writer-director-roman-polanski/story?id=9873344
 
http://insidemovies.moviefone.com/2010/02/18/pierce-brosnan-interview-the-ghost-writer/
 
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Interview-Ewan-McGregor-17134.html

http://wonderwall.msn.com/movies/polanski-picked-on-mcgregors-accent-1538837.story

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Photo of the Week ,The Latest on Polanski and The Ghost Writer

From one of our contributors, Andrea, here is the photo of the week:

Thanks Andrea!  Great photo!

Roman Polanski News:

Polanski film debuts, Swiss vow no extradition yet

http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=458291>1=28101
 
GENEVA (AP) -- Friday was a banner day for director Roman Polanski: His new film premiered in Berlin and Swiss authorities pledged not to extradite him to the U.S. as long as his appeal on a sex case was still being considered in Los Angeles.
 
Compared to the last four months being under arrest in Switzerland, it was a win-win.
 
Polanski could not walk the red carpet at the Berlin film festival Friday night for the debut of his movie "The Ghost Writer," starring Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan, because he is under house arrest. But he was still the star of the party, feted by the movie's actors, producer and screenplay writer.
 
And in a new twist to his long legal saga, the Swiss Justice Ministry declared it would make "no sense" to shift Polanski from house arrest at his Alpine chalet until U.S. courts ruled definitively that he must be sentenced in person to further jail time for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.
 
"When the question is still open, why should he be extradited?" Rudolf Wyss, the ministry's deputy director, told The Associated Press. "As long as the question is still open, our decision depends on that."

"Even if we decide on extradition, he can still appeal. This would take many months," Wyss added.

Polanski's extradition is a complicated and diplomatically sensitive decision, as it deals with a three-decade-old case full of alleged wrongdoing by a Los Angeles judge, a confused sentencing procedure and the director's own flight from justice.

The official movie poster for the film.

There is also Polanski's status as a cultural icon in France and Poland, where he holds dual citizenship, and his history as a Holocaust survivor whose first wife was brutally murdered by crazed followers of cult leader Charles Manson in California.

Loyola University law Professor Laurie Levenson, who has followed the case closely, said the next move appears to be up to Polanski, who has the option to waive extradition.

"The Swiss authorities want to know what Polanski's sentence will be and the Los Angeles courts won't tell them until he comes back. It's a bit of a standoff."

She said that Polanski can keep fighting extradition, but will remain under house arrest indefinitely.

"Mr. Polanski may be able to sit in his Swiss chalet forever," she said. "But if he wants to get out he may have to come back and be sentenced by the California court even though he might get a sentence that would not have required him to come back in the first place. This is a chicken and egg problem."

Polanski's lawyers say the 76-year-old filmmaker served his full sentence in 1978 when he underwent a court-ordered diagnostic study at a California prison for 42 days. Los Angeles courts have disagreed and Polanski's lawyers have promised to appeal in their hopes to have him sentenced in absentia or have the case dropped.

Swiss legal experts said it looked increasingly possible that the Oscar-winning director of "Rosemary's Baby," "Chinatown" and "The Pianist" could beat extradition.

"The chance has increased, especially as he's been here for such a long time," said Dieter Jann, a former Zurich prosecutor. "It's not even clear if the Americans want him anymore."

Wyss spoke to The AP hours before a press conference in Berlin to unveil Polanski's newest film based on a novel by Robert Harris, in which Brosnan stars as former British Prime Minister Adam Lang, a character likened to Tony Blair, and McGregor plays a reporter hired to help write his memoirs.

The movie, Polanski's first since "Oliver Twist" in 2005, was nearly finished when he was arrested Sept. 26 as he arrived in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award from a film festival. The director kept working on the film during his two months in a Swiss jail and later under house arrest in his chalet in the luxury Swiss resort of Gstaad, after he posted $4.5 million bail in December and agreed to wear an electronic ankle monitor.

"It's a great pity he's not here to launch the film with us, because I feel like he's as responsible for my performance in this film as I am," McGregor said at the press conference in Berlin, where the cast largely steered clear of the director's legal issues.

"Roman continued to work on the film through courier packages that we sent to him in prison," producer Robert Benmussa said in Berlin. "Then, when he was in his chalet, he continued to work on the movie, putting the last touches."

"The Ghost Writer," based on the novel by Robert Harris, is one of 20 films competing for the Berlin festival's top Golden Bear honor, being awarded Feb. 20.

Harris, who wrote the screenplay along with Polanski, said director had been keen to shift gears and make a thriller. "The Ghost Writer" is the story of a former leader dogged by allegations that he allowed the illegal seizure of suspected terrorists.

"(Polanski wanted) to do another 'Chinatown'-like movie where the plot gradually unfolds, and I think that that above all was what drew him to it," Harris said. "He wanted to tell a story, and his greatest insult, I discovered, was 'an arthouse movie.'"

Polanski lost a bid last month to be sentenced in Los Angeles without returning when a judge ruled that he must be present in court if he wanted to resolve the case. Referring to Polanski as a fugitive from justice, Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza said he was acting to protect "the dignity of the court."

Polanski's attorneys have until late March to file an appeal. His lawyer in California, Chad Hummel, would not comment on the Swiss justice ministry's statement Friday.

Polanski can also avoid being returned to Los Angeles if a court there rules that he doesn't have to face further punishment, or if the amount of additional time he is sentenced to is less than six months.

Los Angeles prosecutors say Polanski is subject to a sentence of two years. His defense counters that the director has already served a sentence handed down by the original Los Angeles judge and spent over four months under arrest in Switzerland.

While the legal wrangling has been difficult to follow, the facts of the case are less contested.

Polanski was initially accused of raping the girl after plying her with champagne and a Quaalude pill during a 1977 modeling shoot. He was indicted on six felony counts, including rape by use of drugs, child molestation and sodomy, but he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful sexual intercourse.

In exchange, the judge agreed to drop the remaining charges and sent him to prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation. The evaluator released Polanski after 42 days, but the judge said he was going to send him back to serve out the remaining time.

Polanski then fled the U.S. on Feb. 1, 1978, the day he was to be formally sentenced. He has lived since in France, which does not extradite its citizens.

Roman Polanski and Pierce Brosnan Talk Love, Loss and Sharon Tate, A Review of Valley of the Dolls and More

Pierce Brosnan was interviewed recently and said he and Polanski had discussed Sharon and the loss of loved ones.  Brosnan himself lost his own first wife, Cassandra, to ovarian cancer.  She died in his arms, no less and one day after their 11th Anniversary on December 20, 1991.  He, like Polanski has since married again.

He has said of Cassie: "Cassie has made me the man I am, the actor I am, the father I am. She's forever embedded in every fiber of my being."

Roman has seemingly been as impressed by his time with Sharon.  He never forgets her and remembers always how special she was.


http://www.cinematical.com/2010/02/08/pierce-brosnan-on-polanski-percy-and-r-patz/

Cinematical: How did you get involved with The Ghost Writer?

Pierce Brosnan: Well, I was in London, I think wrapping up Mamma Mia! or doing something like that on that movie. My agent said, "Roman Polanski would like to meet you. He's doing a movie." And I said, "Great!" And I hopped on the train over to Paris. I was with my son who's 26, Sean, and my mother, and I said, "Do you want to come to Paris for the weekend?" And that's how it happened. I got over there on a Saturday morning, my son and my mother went off 'round the city, and he and I sat and had the most long, long, long lunch and we talked briefly about the movie and established that I wasn't doing Tony Blair, and once we established that, then we talked about everything else but the movie.

Wow, what's it like to be a fly on the wall during a lunch like that?

PB: We talked about life, we talked about our losses in life. We talked a little bit about Sharon [Tate], and the deep loss and the deep pain that he still... It was a very kind of man-to-man talk. [We talked] about children. We talked about movies, making movies, the economy of movies; country, travel, food. It was very delightful – most, most charming. I did go home on the train and I thought, "God, maybe he might not want me for the job! [laughs] Maybe he might change his mind!" A director told me when I was starting out, he said, "You're always going to have to test for someone." So no matter whether you've got an Oscar or two Oscars in your back pocket, there's gonna be someone, sometime that you just have to test for. But anyway, we got on very well, and then I didn't see him until my first day on the set in Berlin.

I was under the impression that in the book, your character Adam Lang was supposed to be a thinly veiled version of Tony Blair. I thought yours had a twist of George W. Bush in there as well.

PB: Well, I certainly didn't go to Bush within it; I kept front and foremost Tony Blair and [David] Cameron and those people, and the rest was just me and my imagination – what if I were a Prime Minister and first and foremost, the great pretender, the great [performer]? And the vortex and the crisis that this man is in at this point in his life and the sham of his life and his leadership – that's what intrigued me.

Once I was off the hook, and I realized that I wasn't going to be doing a Tony Blair impersonation or trying to be like Tony Blair – Michael Sheen had already done that – you know, I just had great fun with it. There was a real sense of irony to the character, and there was humor, and I'd like to think there was some heart to the man, and that his life was a bit of a sham, really, and he knows it and he knows that he's absolutely hamstrung without his wife, and to... have so little to really fight for, that's what kind of I tried to bring to the work... Once the camera starts rolling, the performance starts pouring out of him -- the populist [who] wanted to be charming, wanted to be loved and to be witty, but absolutely has no f*ckin' idea how to run a country. Absolutely none whatsoever. A total puppet. A total puppet.

What's interesting is that it's a very timely movie politically but it has an old Hollywood drama and moodiness to it from the very first shot. Did you feel that tension on set? Everything was very gloomy, and everything was very dramatic.

PB: Well, you know, Roman comes with a lot of legend, and baggage with legend written all over it – as a filmmaker, as a man, as a controversial figure in life. And it was fairly palpable on the set... We wanted bad weather, we got bad weather. The style of filmmaking is a throwback – in style, in composition, in pacing -- to the '70s, maybe. He hasn't made a thriller – he's never made a political thriller – so here he is doing his first political thriller, and getting away with it beautifully. And it's evident up on the screen. It's very elegant and claustrophobic and tight. There's no wriggle room for the characters or for the audience, really. The set was a very happy one, but Roman is Roman, and he is the director, capital letters. He knows what he wants and how he wants it, and he's a great actor. In his world, he's a great actor, and he knows how to act, he knows how to put on a performance, and he does. But he was very happy, I think, in making the movie, and nothing was really discussed on a day-to-day basis. You know, it was very workmanlike.

What was your reaction when you heard about Polanski's arrest? Were you concerned that the movie would never see the light of day?

PB: No, I wasn't, actually. I wasn't concerned for that. I was concerned for him, as a man and as someone who had become a friend. And, you know, I hoped for closure, I still hope for closure for him and for all parties concerned. I think what happened back then was wrong in every way, and I think he certainly would like to have closure. And again, I never had discussions with him, but it's certainly adds a controversial spotlight to the movie.

Do you think people will be able to see The Ghost Writer on its own terms, despite how they might feel about Mr. Polanski?

PB: I don't know. It's not an easy question to answer, really. I can't tell what other people will react [to]. He is heralded in Europe as a magnificent director and very much appreciated here in America within the community of filmmakers as a fantastic, magnificent director. You know, but the media will certainly wring this for every ounce of blood that's in the story because it's very controversial. So I don't know how [people] will react. All I know is I came to this to work with one of the great directors of cinema.

So to wrap things up and come full circle, what's your favorite Polanski movie?

PB: Chinatown. Rosemary's Baby. Knife in the Water. I'd never seen until I started working with Roman, and it just blew me away. It just blew me away, that film, and anyone who's a lover of films, they must see that film by that young man all those years ago.
Here is a review of Valley of the Dolls:

http://thefilmivejustseen.blogspot.com/2010/02/valley-of-dolls-trashier-than-municipal.html

Actress Kim Cattrall talks about Polanski:

"When I think of Roman, I think of his nose; he smells the truth. He is very intense. Sometimes because he's French and Polish, the frustration to explain what he wants comes out and he's like 'No, no! Terrible!' And you think, 'I'm terrible?' In some ways it was very tense and in some exhilarating."

Will Polanski's Recent Publicity Overshadow his New Movie?

Found this on the web today:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2010-01-15-polanski15_ST_N.htm

Roman Polanski's detention shadows 'Ghost Writer'

By Anthony Breznican, USA TODAY



Roman Polanski's new film, The Ghost Writer, is a murder mystery set amid the clash of international politics and espionage, reminiscent of the best paranoid thrillers from 1970s Hollywood.

But it's a real incident from that era that casts a less flattering shadow on the film.

The Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby filmmaker was arrested in Switzerland in September for possible extradition to the United States, which he fled in 1978 after pleading guilty to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Polanski is now under house arrest and fighting extradition. The Ghost Writer, however, will be released in the USA on Feb. 19.

It remains to be seen whether the scandal surrounding him will influence how his new work is received.

Rob Friedman, co-chairman and chief executive of Summit Entertainment, which is distributing the movie, says it won't.

"People have an infinite capacity to separate art from people's lives," Friedman says. "Moviegoers are going to the movies. They're not making a statement about whether a trial judge in Los Angeles acted properly or whether (Polanski) paid his price to society."

The movie stars Ewan McGregor as a writer assigned to polish the autobiography of a former British prime minister (Pierce Brosnan). McGregor is replacing a previous writer who drowned mysteriously, and when Brosnan comes under investigation as a war criminal, it becomes clear there is something in this politician's story that someone is willing to kill over.

"It's very Hitchcockian," says Alex Billington of FirstShowing.net, who was at a showing of the film Wednesday night in Los Angeles. "Polanski hasn't been making films for a few years, and I hadn't known what to expect. Going in, I was looking for a good drama, but it delivered something different from what I was expecting. It's a good thriller."

Billington notes, however, that the comments section on his website fills with vitriol when he writes about The Ghost Writer.

"I think it's going to hurt attendance," Billington says. "Some people look at it and say, 'I have a viewpoint against Roman Polanski, and no matter how good it looks, no matter who's in it, I can't support his film.' "

Polanski's life has been marked by tragedy. A childhood survivor of the Holocaust, he became one of Hollywood's most prominent directors but also lost his pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, in the notorious 1969 Manson family slayings.

The September arrest provoked emotions over his actions that had been simmering for more than three decades.

Polanski, who won an Oscar for 2002's The Pianist, has long been damaged by his arrest and flight because it limited his access to bigger Hollywood budgets and restricted his ability to work in the USA, says Gregory Ellwood, editor in chief of HitFix.com, who also saw the film Wednesday.

"In an alternate universe where this hadn't happened, Roman Polanski would be like Martin Scorsese," he said.

Ellwood also noted that Polanski still managed to continue to make films during this period, and has always found top actors willing to work with him (among them Harrison Ford in his 1988 thriller Frantic, and Johnny Depp in 1999's The Ninth Gate.)

For many years, the 1977 rape case faded to the background and was not a major issue when one of his films would come out.

"There was some scuttlebutt when he was nominated for The Pianist, but it was not dominating that discussion," Ellwood says.

The arrest has reignited the controversy, stirring furious feelings on both sides. It might be less of an issue for The Ghost Writer if it were an art-house film with limited commercial appeal, but as an exciting and accessible thriller, it has mainstream potential.

"This was more than a pleasant surprise," he says. "I think it's one of his more entertaining films, if not one of his best films."

Sounds like this is going to be one of his best films.  I hope it does better than expected.

Roman Polanski Still Scarred by Press After Sharon Tate's Death

Roman Polanski's lawyer for his most recent case against the press for invasion of privacy, Marion Gregoire says that he is still scarred by how the press treated the victims of the murders that took place in his home (when he was away in London).  That night, his lovely wife Sharon Tate--who was carrying their child--Jay Sebring, Voyteck Frykowski, Abigail Folger and Steven Parent were murdered.   The press spread many vicious rumors and flat out lies about the victims and some even tried to say that they brought it on themselves.

I found two articles on this, the first one is the best:

http://ktar.com/?nid=37&sid=1251609

Polanski sues French media for invasion of privacy

By ANGELA DOLAND - Associated Press Writer

PARIS (AP) - The news snapshot shows Roman Polanski standing at a window, a thin slice of his face visible amid an opening in the curtains. The French paper that printed the photo saw it as a newsworthy depiction of the director's life under house arrest in his Swiss Alpine chalet.

Lawyers for the "Chinatown" director say that the December 2009 photo and many others invaded his privacy as well as his family's, and he and his wife are suing four French publications, two newspapers and two magazines for a total of about euro150,000 ($217,215).

In a hearing Tuesday, Polanski lawyer Marion Gregoire said the suits were an attempt "to put an urgent stop to the media spotlight" on the filmmaker and his family that has intensified in the months since a 32-year-old sex case against him was revived.

Several of the photos at issue depict Polanski's children, Elvis and Morgane- who, as minors, are especially protected by French media law.

"The legal case against Polanski in no way justifies the paparazzi's stalking of his wife and children," Gregoire said.

Invasion of privacy suits by celebrities are common in France, Polanski's permanent residence and the country where he had lived for three decades before he was arrested in September while en route to a Swiss film festival.

Polanski, arrested on a U.S. warrant, spent more than 60 days in detention in a Swiss jail before being transferred to house arrest in his Swiss vacation home on Dec. 4.

Authorities in Switzerland have not yet ruled on whether to extradite Polanski to Los Angeles. He had fled the U.S. in 1978 on the eve of sentencing after pleading guilty to having unlawful sex with a minor in 1977.

In hearings Tuesday, Polanski's lawyer said he has a deeply rooted fear of the media, which she traced back to the stabbing death of his pregnant second wife, Sharon Tate. The actress and four others were murdered by followers of cult figure Charles Manson in 1969.

Polanski has said he was horrified by rumors that swirled in the press before the killers were tracked down- rumors suggesting the victims had bizarre lifestyles and somehow brought the violence upon themselves.

Since then, Gregoire said, "Polanski has feared the media like the plague" and always sought to maintain his privacy.

Gregoire argued that Le Journal du Dimanche weekly newspaper should pay damages of euro10,000 for the photo of Polanski at his window.

The paper's lawyer, Christophe Bigot, held up a photo of a mass of photographers outside Polanski's chalet soon after his house arrest started.

"Can you seriously claim in this context that if you stand at the window you won't get your picture taken?" Bigot retorted. Arguing that the photo was a legitimate depiction of a major international news story, Bigot called the suit unwarranted and asked the judge to order Polanski to pay the newspaper's legal fees.

"The press can and should cover this type of case," Bigot said.

The press surrounding Polanski's chalet.

Polanski's lawyer asked for another euro10,000 in damages from Voici magazine for a photo of Polanski's wife, actress-singer Emmanuelle Seigner, walking down a street in Switzerland- a photo that the celebrity-oriented publication called "harmless."

Polanski and his wife are also targeting magazine VSD for a spread that included photos of their children at an airport, demanding a total of euro 55,000. VSD's lawyer noted that the photos were taken in public and that the publication blurred the children's faces so they could not be recognized- a common practice in France. Decisions are expected Jan. 19.

A judge also heard a suit against Le Parisien newspaper last week, and that ruling is expected Friday.

Here is the other article I found which basically says the same thing with a different photo of Roman:

http://www.okmagazine.com/2010/01/roman-polanksi-sues-the-french-media-for-invasion-of-privacy/

Actress Withdrawls Name from Polanski Petition Plus Vintage RS Article

The news for Roman just seems to get worse, unfortunately.  It does not appear that his current problems are going to go away any time soon.  Here is an article talking about petitions and what kind of response they are getting:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/thompson-talked-out-of-support-for-polanski-by-19yearold-student-1816553.html


Also, I found a lengthy article and interview with Roman done by Rolling Stone for July 18, 1974.  Mainly, it talks about the making of 'Chinatown' but it also mentions Sharon.

The article is called "The Restoration of Roman Polanski" by Tom Burke.

There is an odd paragraph where Polanski says: "Changing a series of shots can also ruin a picture, for example there is my 'The Fearless Vampire Killers', made in Europe, but a man called Gene Gutowski was producer and he convinced me that he should be in charge of the final cut for the U. S. audience because he knows U. S. audiences.  Okay, so I trust him and he takes my movie away, cuts 20 minutes from it, redubs it and changes it and changes music around, then adds a little cartoon at the beginning to explain what it's about because now, after the cuts, nobody understands it anymore!  My version has played almost constantly in Europe, since it opened some seven years ago!  His version, which plays here, is a disaster, I tell you it made more money in Formosa than it has ever made in the U.S. and Canada put together!  They show it here (in America) on television all the time, I get the shakes it is so bad, but it is out of my control."

He goes on to say that is why he and producer Bob Evans make sure they get final cut approval for "Chinatown."  My question is: wasn't it Martin Ransohoff that did this to Polanski's 'Vampire Killers?'  I always thought Polanski and Gutowski were great friends?  Polanski's own autobiography supports this.  The only thing I can think of is that the interviewer got the names confused somehow?

Evans mentions how hard it was after Sharon's death saying: "We'd gotten close.  He is 'not' an easy person, as I suppose you know now (after interviewing him)--very difficult to crack, but once you do, there is no man or filmmaker like him.  We've been through a helluvalot together.  Jesus, my marriage (and breakup); and the post funeral of Sharon was here at this house, meaning that everyone came back here afterward.    Roman stayed with me here the for a good while; it was a horrendous time."

At one point during the interview session with Polanski, the reporter asks him about his late wife.  "We'll talk about it," he says.  "But not today.  It is too nice out."

Later, when he does talk about Sharon this is what he says: "Meeting Sharon?  When I hired her for 'The Fearless Vampire Killers', of course.  We got married in 1968.  By the summer of '69 she was very pregnant and I was very busy, working on a film script in London.  It seemed best she went back to the house we rented in LA and I could stay on and finish the film and get back to LA as soon as I could.  Everyday we would talk on the phone.  When it rang one day, I thought it was her but it was my agent in LA.  He was crying.  My reaction first was, naturally, no reaction, stunned disbelief, I suppose you call it.  Friends came to me quickly, I think we went out for a long walk, they called a doctor who gave me something, a shot and I slept.  Then I took a plane to LA. You must understand, there is much which now I cannot recall, which I have blocked out of recollection.  After the funeral, I stayed on in LA because I had the ludicrous notion that finding the murderer would somehow ease my grief.  I worked very close with the police for a long time, who, I have got to tell you, were quite human and wonderful.  I had no idea cops could be like this.  Sharon's parents worked with them too.  Yes, I am still in touch with the Tates, naturally.  What a question!  I don't think this is known: that just before the police found Manson and all of them, I offered a reward, $20,000 for public information leading to the arrest of the killers.  It wasn't collected, no.  As soon as the police discovered Manson, I get the hell out of LA immediately, I could take no more, there was no more point to staying.  I had begun then to accept Sharon's death, which I'd never really done before, which is really all that matters to me about it all anymore, that she is gone.  The worst started: I went to Switzerland and tried to ski and become very jet-set, the idea of work was impossible.  Everybody kept saying to me, get to work immediately.  Idiotic.  Only Stanley Kubrick understood, he told me, 'You cannot and must not work now.' "

The reporter then writes: "It is clear he wishes to get up, to pace the room, break it up perhaps. but he remains quietly seated and purposefully motionless."

Roman goes on to say: "See I attempted for awhile there, before starting 'Macbeth', to become a hedonist, as the papers said we all were.  Jesus, I hated the press for a long time after it, because, I swear this, although I already knew how the press exaggerates, especially in sensational matters, I could not believe what was being printed about Sharon!  My God, 'The Sharon Tate Orgies.'  Interviews given by people that Sharon and I never met!  I swear I could not find one word of truth in any story printed about us anywhere, and I would not and could not lie about this fact!  If there had been anything to any of that shit, I would admit it to you now.  My God, it was, is, unbelievable.  The murder was all a horrible mistake, you know.  Manson's people were after somebody else entirely, who'd been renting the house before us!  What was actually going on there was this: Gibby Folger and Voyteck were staying in the house to keep Sharon company, we'd agreed on this, they were good friends and the place was big and it seemed a good idea since she was eight and half months pregnant.  Gibby was working very hard as a social worker, getting up at dawn everyday to go to work in Watts and studying speed-reading at night.  I was planning a film involving dolphins--'The Day of the Dolphin'--and Voyteck wanted very much to work in movies and was devoting lots of time to research on dolphins for me.  Jay Sebring was another friend who came up often, but never stayed all night one night at the house.  I was dying to finish work and get there; the last time I talked to Sharon, only hours before her murder, I told her I'd get there the following Monday even if work wasn't finished.  Things had been so perfect between us: we'd had some nice times in that LA house.  Sharon would cook dinner for friends and after we'd all sit outside and look at the sky, the constellations, and talk about everything.  Just quiet, pleasant evenings.  Sharon and I would make plans, we had a wonderful future extensively mapped ..."

The reporter closes this part of the interview adding: "Still he sits perfectly calm, though his eyes are such that it is uncomfortable to meet them."

It makes you wonder what all they talked about and planned?  A life together, possibly more children, making 'Tess' and the western and science fiction film we have recently heard about from other articles here?  Such a shame we will never know?  Although I am glad to see him with Emanuelle and their children together now, perhaps Polanski would not being having any of his current problems if Sharon had lived?

Penelope Cruz Article Reminds One of Sharon Tate & More Links on Polanski Case

I got in the new Vanity Fair this past weekend and the article had some quotes and information in it that reminded of Sharon.  There was an article on the beautiful, talented actress Penelope Cruz who also appears on the cover.

The article in the magazine says one director said that many in Hollywood "didn't know what to do with her."  Talking about Penelope Cruz.  This reminded me of what agent Hal Gefsky confessed about Sharon: "she was so young and beautiful that I didn't know what to do with her."

Speaking of her Cruz's beauty, Woody Allen says: "I don't like to look at Penelope directly.  It is too overwhelming."  That could equally be said of Sharon.

Cruz, who had some great roles in Europe, found that her first films in Hollywood were not doing anything for her career.  Italian director Pedro Almodovar says: "It was bad luck for Penelope, because some of the movies were very ambitious, but this happens.  They only saw her as a beautiful girl.  It is a problem with the market, the agents, the studios, the film industry as a whole that labels actors in a way that is not subtle at all."  The problem, he continued, is that Hollywood put her in about 10-12 movies like this but luckily, it did not ruin her career.  She continued to make more European films and with Almodovar until the great roles began to come her way.

That part of the article made me think of Sharon since Hollywood treated her much the same way.  And, even though many of her films had ambitions behind them as well, Hollywood failed to realize she could be much more than just another pretty face.  Perhaps Sharon would have had a period like Cruz's, when she didn't get the roles she should have.  We can only wonder what would have happened in her career in the years to come.

The article also discusses how Allen found her comedic talent.  "She has a natural sense of humor," he says. Vanity Fair's author Ingrid Sischy writes: "Because of Cruz's looks and the fact that the camera loves her as much as it does, her comedic flair has often been left untapped.  But she could just be the great 21st century screwball talent, the Jean Harlow or Carole Lombard of our time."

Sharon had a great comedic talent.  Some critics recognized this in Sharon's performances especially in the likes of "The Wrecking Crew."  Sharon also loved the comedy style of Carole Lombard stating that she wanted to be a light comedian in that same vein.

Apparently, Almodovar pushes Cruz for great performances much like Polanski pushed Sharon.  No telling what would have happened if Polanski and Sharon had continued to make films together.  Surely, he would have saved her career like Almodovar did Cruzs. 

It is a shame we can only now speculate what may have happened.  In my opinion, I think Sharon would have continued her career and would have made it big like Farrah Fawcett or Goldie Hawn or possibly a combination of the two. 

Just for fun, I put together a mock up issue of Vanity Fair with Sharon on it's cover.  I only changed the faces with Sharon as I do remember Sharon used to wear many different wigs for photo shoots.  So I just wrote here that Sharon was wearing a wig for our photo op.  I also put the photos of Cruz on so you can compare those.  These women are certainly two of cinema's most beautiful women!

I am not the best graphic artist as you can see but I did what I could and I sincerely hope you all enjoy the pretend photographs.

If you can't get enough of all the media hype over Polanski here are a few more noteworthy articles:

If you have not seen 'Wanted & Desired' that is a documentary on the case, you would want to read this:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/oct2009/pola-o05.shtml

The Los Angeles Times has a few articles on Polanski, one of the most interesting ones discusses his film "The Piano." :

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-et-polanskifilm5-2009oct05,0,3211525.story

This site talks about how Samantha Geimer now views the case:

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/39787386.html

And this site takes a look back at Polanski's "Chinatown." :

http://fandangogroovers.wordpress.com/2009/10/04/forget-it-jake-its-chinatown/

Please feel free to leave a comment.