James Earl Jones, known as "The Voice" for the authoritative basso he has lent to Darth Vader and countless other stage and screen roles, had
to overcome a major speech impediment on his way to stardom: stuttering. "My voice is an impaired instrument,'' says the actor, who stars in "Cry, the Beloved Country," the first feature film to come out of democratic South Africa, which opened Dec. 22. "I'm happy that any clarity comes out at all. Growing up, it was so painful and embarrassing. I knew why people laughed but it was still painful."
Jones, who still fumbles over words occasionally, compensated by writing poetry. One day, a school bully dared him to read a poem in front of the class without stuttering. Jones rose to the challenge. "It had rhythm. It was good poetry. And my honor depended on it."
In "Cry, the Beloved Country," adapted from Alan Paton's classic '40s novel, Jones plays a country priest who confronts a staunch white separatist played by Richard Harris. While it is the first movie made under the auspices of the new regime headed by President Nelson Mandela, Jones isn't about to launch into a riff against apartheid. In fact, he worries that South Africa's recent history will beget a generation of filmmakers who will squander their creative juices on bitterness.
"They don't have to waste their time on this rancor," says Jones. "There are great stories to tell, of great heroes and great tragedies."
--Ron Dicker
Eszterhas: More money for bombs
The Teflon screenwriter has done it again. Joe Eszterhas, also known as the "$2 million man," is about to collect more millions, despite writing bomb after bomb, including such recent 500-pound duds as "Jade" and "Showgirls."
According to Variety, Eszterhas will get a down payment plus bonuses amounting to as much as $4 million for "Trapped," a thriller which currently exists only as a four-page outline. That's in addition to the approximately $4 million he gets for scripting another four-page proposal, "One Night Stand,'' to be directed by Mike Figgis ("Leaving Las Vegas'').
In exchange for his vast paycheck, Eszterhas has come up with a novel new wrinkle: No sex. "This is a cerebral thriller, a deadly psychological war between two men," Eszterhas told Variety. "There is no sex in this piece: no sex between men and women, men and men, women and women, men and animals or women and animals."
Eszterhas did not clarify whether the vegetable or mineral worlds would bare all for the camera.
Giuliani's wife thinks pink; will the GOP see red?
director Milos Forman ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "The Fireman's Ball," "Amadeus") is in pre-production on "The People vs. Larry Flynt," a film biography of Larry Flynt of "Hustler" magazine fame.
The movie's star is Donna Hanover Giuliani, who happens to be the wife of the Republican mayor of New York. In real life, Donna Giuliani is a local TV reporter, not a film actress. But she aced out Sissy Spacek, among others, to get the role of Ruth Carter Stapleton, the evangelist sister of former President Jimmy Carter who converted Flynt to Christianity in 1977.
"She was very professional," Forman said of Giuliani's audition. "We were both excited and enchanted by her performance." Said Giuliani: "It's a lovely role, and I'm deeply honored that someone as talented as Milos would have me in his film. Being an actor is an extraordinary life experience."
Woody Harrelson, whose latest release, "Money Train," was accused of inspiring the fiery murder of a New York subway toll collector, plays the former porn mogul. "We can't wait to see how this plays at the GOP convention in '96," he said.
Take your sweaty hands off that mouse -- it's the click police!
According to Cowles-Simba Media Daily, Internet Watchdog records every step you take and click you make on a Mac or PC, including all the software applications used and sites visited. The program works by screen captures, which it divulges to an authorized user of Watchdog -- say, your boss, or teacher, or Mom.
The worst of it is, you won't even be able to say you read it for the articles.
