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"Angels With Dirty Faces" and "7 Faces of Dr. Lao" Films Sign-off

Date range assessed by the fact that, according to Rusty Lemorande, they had “developed a film at Turner Films”, but “stopped after Michael’s scandals”; since the media coverage started around August 1993, and Michael and producer David Kirschner were “in discussions with 20th Century Fox to start a film production company” (“Variety” magazine), this would have made the film’s development starting around this period.

Rusty Lemorande, screenwriter, director, actor and film producer, “Iconic” magazine, Issue 15 (July 2014) (archived)

“Iconic”: Did you stay in touch with Michael after [“Captain EO”]?

Rusty Lemorande: YES! We remained friendly and had two film projects in the pipeline. He wanted to do films. We developed a film at Turner Films that doesn’t exist anymore; and one at the Warner Brothers. They stopped after Michael’s scandals. That really killed his movie career.

“BlogTalkRadio” (June 29, 2009) (archived) (June 26, 2009 interview) (archived)

Unlike his idol Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson never established himself as a movie star – namely in a musical remake of the 1938 James Cagney flick Angels with Dirty Faces – and it’s a regret he took to his grave.

That, according to the King of Pop’s Captain EO collaborator, and friend of 25 years, Rusty Lemorande.

"He really wanted a film career," Rusty tells us of Michael (above).

In an exclusive interview with BlogTalkRadio, Rusty – who produced and co-wrote the 3-D, Francis Ford Coppola-directed Captain EO as a Disney theme park attraction in 1986 – recounts how Michael came to sign on for Angels and another feature during the early ’90s.

“Michael was pretty pleased with our relationship, and he had just set up his film company at Sony-Columbia. And the problem was, with all the development people, etc. – and it was a pretty thick company with people – he wasn’t committing to anything,” Rusty, whose other production credits include the 1983 Barbra Streisand star vehicle Yentil, tells Movie Geeks United! host Jamey DuVall of the pop star, who died June 25 after suffering cardiac arrest.

“I think people didn’t understand how to relate to him. I used to say to him, ‘You’re a little like Arnold Schwarzenegger. You can’t do any part. The part has to be tailored to you. He became a star because of Terminator.

“Well, Michael said, ‘You come up with some ideas.’ And I came up with two fairly quickly.

Jimmy (right) was the screen idol Michael (left) hoped to emulate in "Angels with Dirty Faces."

“One was to remake an old film called 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, which was a [1964] Tony Randall film that involved a child protagonist, and the other was to remake the film Angels with Dirty Faces, which is a James Cagney film. Michael was a huge James Cagney fan.

“Michael loved both projects. Part of it was the way I explained it to him, talked him through it. We had sketches done and creatures made – you really had to turn it into the toy version.

“On Dr. Lao, we had the set miniatures built of the circus and he committed to both, which was a major event at the time.

“One was set up at Warners. And the other was set up at Turner – who owned the remake rights. And everything was going great. Fantastic!

“And then the first scandal hit.”

“I remember it as vividly as I remember when I heard President Kennedy was shot. I was in my car driving to this studio where we were building these miniatures, where people were going to come and see them. And someone called me and said, ‘Did you see what’s on the news? Michael Jackson’s ranch has been raided,” continues Rusty.

“The truth of the matter is, very simply – and in fairness to Hollywood and the big studios – they have huge investment obligations to their shareholders. So they got very nervous. They didn’t know if the audience would still be there for Michael.

“Suddenly, nobody wanted to touch him… It was quite sad that it never happened, because it was very important for Michael to be in movies.

“He used to talk about Elvis Presley’s career and say, ‘If Elvis hadn’t made all those films, he wouldn’t be as remembered as he was.'”

During the 30-minute interview, Rusty also reveals how he came to earn Michael’s trust while he and The Godfather director were working on Captain EO.

“The secret of working with Michael Jackson was to think, how would you, literally, deal with a 10-year-old boy?

“Francis got it. At one point, he was having trouble directing Michael. Michael didn’t seem to respond to the kind of word dialogue that a director largely uses.

“So [Francis] sent out for some masks: happy masks – like clown masks – and scary masks. And when he wanted to elicit an emotion from Michael, he would put on those masks and it would be as if a child were reacting to a mask. And it was effective!

“Michael loved to go toy shopping. But the adult in him wanted to drive his car. And he drove like a maniac. I was always grippin’ my seat.

“He loved masks. He had masks in his glove compartment, which he would put on as he drove. His explanation was, ‘If I don’t put it on, people will see it’s me and they’ll chase me.’

“Then we’d go into a toy store. Then it was funny, because the mask he’d wear into the store would usually be like a woman’s harem mask kind of thing, with a veil across his face.”

“Variety” magazine (March 21, 1993) (archived)

Pop icon Michael Jackson and Hanna-Barbera chairman David Kirschner are in discussions with 20th Century Fox to start a film production company specializing in high-quality, live-action and animated fantasy films, sources said.

Fox declined to comment, but the studio reportedly is willing to provide $ 9 million to fund the new production company under an exclusive three-year deal.

The entire agreement is said to hinge on whether Hanna-Barbera parent Turner Broadcasting System will let Kirschner out of his contract, which has 20 months remaining. Kirschner is considered to be the driving force behind the new partnership.

Sources said plans call for Jackson to enter into a first-look movie arrangement with the Kirschner-run company at Fox in 10 months, following the expiration of his first-look Nation Films deal with Columbia Pictures.

Until then, Kirschner and Fox would be in a second position on projects from Nation Films, which is part of Jackson’s sweeping pact with Sony USA. It covers such areas as music, publishing, video games, computer software and television.

To date, Nation’s chief asset is the futuristic action fantasy “Midknight.” The much-publicized project was stymied by the death of Oscar-winning set designer Anton Furst (“Batman”), who was to have designed the sets and executive-produced the Jackson-starring vehicle. It has since been revitalized with Howard Rodman rewriting the screenplay.

Sources emphasized that other aspects of the arrangement that the singer and Sony USA entered into in March 1991 — including the significant Jackson music deal that called for six new albums for Epic Records and the creation of Nation Records — would be unaffected by any film relationship with Fox.

Reps for the entertainer failed to return calls to comment on why Jackson is looking to exit his Columbia Pictures film deal.

In response to inquiries from Daily Variety, Columbia Pictures released a statement late Friday noting, “Sony Pictures and Columbia Pictures are deeply committed to the artistic freedom of our creative talent. Our partnership with Michael Jackson and Nation Films is proceeding full-speed ahead and we’re excited about showcasing his incredibly versatile talents both in feature films and across a tremendous spectrum of entertainment formats in the years to come.”

The 34-year-old superstar recently formed another film company, Jackson Prods., with two unidentified partners to produce message movies reflective of his non-profit Heal the World Foundation (Daily Variety, March 9). Jackson’s Sony USA pact includes provisions that allow him to participate in at least one other movie company outside of the deal.

Sources indicated the new Kirschner-Jackson company at Fox would focus strictly on commercially viable features.

Kirschner has been heavily involved in the feature area for H-B with the $ 35 million animated/live action Macaulay Culkin starrer “The Pagemaster”– voted as the standout by buyers at the recent American Film Market (Daily Variety, March 5) — and Disney’s highly touted Bette Midler summer release “Hocus Pocus.”

Although Kirschner would step down as H-B chairman if the Fox deal comes to fruition, sources said Turner is insisting that he remains involved in existing H-B theatrical animation projects. Neither Turner exex nor Kirschner would comment on the negotiations.

A key to the talks appears to be how future H-B movie projects involving Kirschner would be handled. A source said Turner and Fox may try to work out an arrangement analogous to the current relationship between the two for “Pagemaster”: Fox handles the domestic release while Turner takes international distribution rights.

Fox and Turner are also involved in another theatrical, “Once Upon a Forest.”

The incipient Kirschner-Jackson partnership appears to be the byproduct of their work together on a project titled “Through the Horn,” which sources speculate could land at either Columbia or Fox once the dust settles.

If Kirschner’s track record atH-B is any indication, the films to be turned out by a Turner-blessed film production company at Fox would be big-budget affairs that rely heavily on such high-tech elements as computer-generated imaging, compositing and matte paintings.

The producer of the “Child’s Play” films and and co-producer of “An American Tail,” Kirschner served as president-CEO of the Universal City-based animation company from October 1989 until April 1992.

In an effort by TBS topper Ted Turner to keep the creative exec at the studio , Kirschner was upped to H-B chairman last year and allowed to put most of his focus into theatrical projects.

Giorgio Moroder, soundtrack composer, Chris Cadman’s “Michael Jackson the Maestro”

Giorgio Moroder had been approached to help work on the soundtrack of the film and developed several demos. He began work on these in December 1994, including two or three for HISTORY, Moroder worked on his ideas in Los Angeles then sent them to New York for Michael to consider.

Moroder told one interviewer:

“I have one song that is kind of confirmed. Michael’s considering a second and I’m working on a third. I do the demos in Los Angeles and send them to Michael in New York. Michael’s ending up with so much good new material that he could release a whole other album.”