For almost ten years, writer/agent Rudy Durand had tried to turn his story about the world of pinball machines into a movie. Eventually writing the screenplay himself, he sent a copy of it to Orson Welles. Welles read the screenplay and liked it so much that he spoke to Durand about it and recommended that Durand direct it himself. Welles then talked glowingly about the screenplay on "The Tonight Show. The phone calls began to come in for Durand, who was offered as much as $900,000 for the screenplay. Unfortunately, all such offers called for a more seasoned director than Durand, who wanted control over filming. Finally, real estate developer Mel Simon, who dabbled in independent productions (i.e. the "Porky's" movies), offered to fund the film and to give Durand full control over creative content.
Welles wasn't avaiable to play the part of the Whale, but veteran character actor Charles Durning was an excellent replacement. Much padding was added to the clothing of the already-hefty Durning, and much makeup was applied to make him look more weathered than he really was. Newcomer Ken Marshall was cast as Neil Gallagher, and an assortment of "B" actors filled out the other minor parts. Durand's first two choices for the role of Tilt were Jodie Foster, who wasn't interested, and Tatum O'Neal, who wasn't avaialble. Brooke Shields' mother Teri Shields was more than happy to get her daughter on the screen again. Filming began in late 1977 and ran for five months. Except for a few on-location shots in Corpus Christi, shooting was mainly in the L.A. area.
After Durand put together his director's cut of the film, it and all footage were sent on to distributor Warner Brothers. The studio decided to create its own version, which was eventually sent out to theaters in April of 1979. It bombed and saw limited theatrical release, although it was shown frequently on late-night cable TV in the 1980's, notably on TBS. To say that Durand was unhappy about Warner deciding to use its own version, rather than his, would be a major understatement. He asked the studio to rerelease his version of the movie. When the studio refused, he sued them, representing himself in court appearances. Thirteen years and over 150 court appearances later, including before the California Supreme Court, he was awarded a large, but undisclosed settlement. Unfortunately, Durand never did release his version of the film commercially. The film as we know it has been largely forgotten, and only a VHS version was ever released by Warner, although at least one copy exists on YouTube. It may be possible to purchase a copy of Mr. Durand's version from him.
Except for Durning, John Crawford, and possibly Shields, the acting in the movie is somewhat bland to say the least. You can find reviews of the movie elsewhere. Remember that you're seeing reviews of Warner's release of the movie. Durand's version had to be much better. I am certain of this, because Orson Welles wouldn't have gone on national TV to praise the version that appeared on screen. In light of that, I want to focus on the footage towards the end of the movie, when Tilt goes to see Mr. Remmens/"The Whale" (to give more details would require putting a "spoiler" notice on this review). This appears to be one of the areas of the movie that was altered the least by the editors at Warner. The manner in which the amused Remmens handles the self-assured (and somewhat mouthy) Tilt, and the way that he eventually warms to her by the end of their encounter, is a case study in character acting by one of the masters of the art. Durning is superb throughout the movie, but the scene with Shields is especially good. There is nothing wooden or artificial about this scene, and I wouldn't be surprised if Durning helped Shields through its performance. If you find the movie (and it's online at a popular video location), watch this scene carefully to see what I mean.
