First, THANK YOU for getting back to this most wonderful of love stories.

Second, if I didn't know the end, I might be in tears at this point.

Third, even knowing the end, I feel sad for that lonely, yearning, full-of-dreams young man.

Reading this piece makes me even gladder than I was before that I do know the end.

Wow. Whatavirago.

Pizza? The subway?? On a first date???

My, how times have changed (for the worse of course).

Try that with a girl from Brooklyn (or Five Towns, Teaneck, etc.) today.

"What kind of education system allows this kind of ignorance to blossom?"

In her defense, if her family were really that right-wing she may not have grown up in a movie culture and would thus not have understood what we take for granted. (Also, while I realize that actors don't create the dialogue, personally I am pretty ignorant about movies. Of all the names you dropped I recognized only Hitchcock and Ben Hecht, and I know of the latter only from Jewish history.)

Sara:

1. You are welcome.
2. I was practically in tears remembering Rachel.
3. I too was sad remembering the former me.

But look, I bumped into Karen a few weeks later, we talked--Karen knew that actors do not make up the dialogue as they go along--we clicked, we loved, we married.

Karen still puts up with yours truly.

Life is a miracle.

Tamara:

You canonlyimagine.

Ari:

Never expected Rachel to recognize the obscure names. I was, I confess, being a jerk. I did expect her to know that actors do not make up the story and dialogue. I mean, that's just elementary.

Yes, agree with you completely, we had it much easier--and cheaper--in our dating days.

I love this series! When I first discovered your blog, I went back and read them all up to that point. I go back and forth on whether I believe that G-d creates a specific match for each person, but your and Karen's story makes it hard to think otherwise.

Robert - You will lead people to think that all girls with Bais Yaakov style education from Brooklyn are like this. Not so. Oh - and you left out Billy Wilder.

Robert, do you ever wonder what became of this person...how she fared in life or love? Or is it better to have kept it in the past and just take the episode out for an airing every now and again?

So glad that you found your other half in Karen...and she found hers in you.

What a nightmare! To have all your inane dating comments recorded for posterity by a famous writer.

Fern:

Glad you enjoy the series as much as I enjoy writing it. Either HaShem is at work--or I'm the world's most successful and socially appropriate stalker.

Mata Hari:

Disclaimer is up -- all for you. And your sister chevre, natch.

Regarding the great Billy Bilder, what can I say? A tremendous lapse on my part. But If I mentioned one more culty name -- I have a feeling her head would have exploded.

Pearl:

Kept Rachel in the past. Deep, deep in the past. Once I'm done with someone--it's Fade to Black. I sincerely wish her all the best with whatever life she's built for herself, and whatever man she's currently emasculating.

Mata Hari:

At least now Rachel finally knows (maybe) that I didn't fail. And, oh yes, she now knows that actors do not make up the dialogue. That's a good thing.

Rachel was actually not so very far off-base. From what I've read, it's quite common for actors to convince themselves that those clever lines were really their own.

Kishke:

By gosh you're right! And to think, I passed on this cinematic visionary, this Yiddishe Eliza Doolittle! Oh, the horror :)

imkvelingbecausethereisnothingbetterthanrobertloveskaren

WooooooHooooo! Its been wayyyyyyy too long for another installment. YourethebestRobert!

It's always a disappointment, when watching an interview of a favorite actor, to see how ordinary they actually are. The interviewer usually has all these witty things to say and the poor actors are reduced to reacting to his witticisms and uttering commonplaces. There are some exceptions but not too many.

Cruisin Mom:

I'mheretoplease--withcompoundwords.

Suz:

Yes, it has been way too long. But as I always explain regarding this series, writing these chapters is mentally exhausting. And disintereing "Rachel", well, that was doubly exhausting. You know what I'mtalkinabout

Kishke:

In the old studio days, the studio bosses made sure that the actors never, ever spoke to the press except through press agents. Most stars were (and are) foul-mouthed ignoramuses with little thoughts beyond their own reflections.

Some day I will write about my filmic encounter with one of the great sex goddesses of film history and her Al Capone like attempts to rewrite my dialogue because, y'know, "I got this feeling in my heart that I like really and truly unnerstand the character better than you."

When I would not relent she shifted to plan B: refused to come out of her trailer to do the scene.

Director: Why won't you change some dialogue?
Me: Cause she's stupid as a stone.
Director: But my dear boy, she's the star and she's beautiful. Rewrite or the studio will fire you.

Woody Allen was first successful in the early 1950s as a "joke writer" for agent David O. Alber. This job consisted of thinking up witty things that celebrities (sportsmen, actors, etc) could be then reported in newspapers as having said. In these days of television interviews, I think we are a little more likely to actually hear what actors think and say themselves. I am not sure that this is a good thing.

As for "Don't the actors make up their own lines", I have encountered that reaction before - people who seem unable to grasp the function of the writer of a film. Somehow the actors and the director put it together by themselves. The fact that someone must figure out the plot, write the dialogue, create the characters, and work out a structure in which it all comes together is missed entirely.

Which is odd, given that nobody ever doubts that the writer of a stage play is the key individual involved. And even television writers have higher profiles and seem to be actually running things a lot of the time. (To quote George R R Martin about his TV writing career. "I was hired as a staff writer for "Beauty and the Beast. Initially my status was so low that my job title actually contained the word "writer", but by the end of the show....).

Billy Wilder (who was of course always a writer first) said in interviews that he became a director because he became fed up with actors and directors contantly rewriting his dialogue. I am sure he is not the only one.

Is this the same sex goddess who wore too much perfume that gave you a MONSTER-SIZE migraine and sent you seeking medical help?! (I do remember some things...sometimes :P )

Is there a pun on the actress's name in "stupid as a stone?"

I can believe they are ignoramuses, but I find it hard to believe that the really talented actors are stupid. It must take intelligence to really understand the nuances of a character and a story, and the really good actors can do it; the way they become the characters is quite amazing. You don't need to be book smart, but I'm sure you need a high degree of ... I can't think of a term for it ... "social intelligence," maybe?

Michael:

Glamorous stars shine their light and blind ordinary people into believing that they are the authors of the film. Cary Grant once said: "Every man wants to be Cary Grant--even I do."

Kishke:

No, no pun. I never worked with the actress you're thinking of.

Great acting is all about instinct--which I greatly respect. It has almost nothing to do with intellectual ability. Sorry, but some of our greatest actors are truly, truly dumb people. Not all mind you, I know a few smart actors, but on the whole they are: dumb and dumber.

Pearl:

Nope, different woman entirely. No migraine from this date, merely an existential plunge in my self-esteem.

Interesting. I find it hard to believe, but obviousy you know better. But what about these things: (a) memorizing the lines. I know it doesn't take a genius to memorize, but a real dummy couldn't do it. (b) having a sense of the right way to act in different situations, different time periods, etc. I think of the dumb people I know, and no way they could do that. But maybe that's the director, not the actors.

Great story! I love it. lol..

On the other hand, knowing how the story eventually turns out when he was only 26- I can't feel all that badly about a few years of bad dating. I have never had a bad date like that before, but in between my serious relationships I have had YEARS of dates which would end up going nowhere after 2 or 3 meetings. At least Robert only had to pay for a piece of pizza!! :)

Oh yeah, off topic I wanted to let everyone know that one of Robert's affiliations, the Liberty Film Festival has its director on the "Roeper and Ebert" show this weekend!! We are making small but important steps :)

Kishke:

We shoot only tiny bits of scenes at a time. The average take is about 45 seconds. Actors usually only have to learn about one page of simple dialogue at a time. Maybe 150 words. They usually do it in the morning, in their trailers, during make-up. Again, this has nothing to do with smarts, with analytilcal thinking. It's remembering by route--sort of like what many animals do.

Look, I greatly respect good actors. They have taken my okay work and made it great. They put ther faces up on the screen--something I would never do. They are brave. They really are. It's a life of horrible, terrible humiliations, but mostly they are really nutty whacky people who you would not be able to carry on a decent conversation with--unless it was about how great they are.

"Every man wants to be Cary Grant--even I do."

Did he really say it, or did somebody else write the line for him?

Lt. Fishman:

You write: "On the other hand, knowing how the story eventually turns out when he was only 26"

Do you have any idea how old 26 is in the Orthodox community?!

Oh my gosh!

My parents were, well, you cannot imagine!

She ate two slices of pizza and a cup of coffee. But who was counting :)

Question: Why would you suffer two or three bad dates with the same woman. Isn't it clear after one date that the relationship is not going anywhere?

Do you know Angelina Jolie?
Nicole Kidman?
Cate Blanchett?
Kate Winslet?

just curious

Kishke:

Forgot to mention that the director is vital to performance, and so is: set-designer, wardrobe, make-up, hardresser, dialogue coach, cameraman, propmaster, script-girl, stuntman, body double and a hundred other jobs that the public never knows about.

Movies and television are a highly collaborative craft. When something works it's like catching lightning in a bottle.

MH:

I have a firm policy here at Seraphic Secret. I don't comment on who I know and don't know.

Okay, I hear you. It's just hard to get past the impressions of the screen, which are so powerful.

_______________________________

"Do you have any idea how old 26 is in the Orthodox community?!"

For a "boy" it's "ah halbe tzara." But a "girl" of 26! Fuhgetaboutit!

Kishke:

Here's the one great secret about Hollywood that I do like people to know: we all work very, very hard, and do our jobs--making movies, and tv shows--better than anyone else in the world.

I can believe it, and for me, it was never a secret. I always enjoy the "making of" videos included on many DVDs. I am astounded by the work and coordination that goes into creating a movie.

Regarding what you said about catching lightning in a bottle, it is so true. There are plenty of solid, workmanlike films out there, but far less that have the real magic. (But I often enjoy the merely good movies too.)

Robert, now you have me wondering. I know that a few actors go on to direct and produce, some of them well (Clint Eastwood notwithstanding). Is there an equal amount of actors who write as well? Or is the percentage far less, or nonexistent?

The only actor I can think of (with my nonexistent film history knowledge) is Jerry Seinfeld, who wrote his own show and routines with Larry David. He also interviewed very well. I've come to respect the few actors that I have seen interview well (Will Smith is one) and realized at the same time that they tend not to be the ones involved in representing any political movement. Have you seen this as well?

Hard cases make bad law, but bad dates make for some hard-to-forget stories later on. I'm so glad to know there was a happy ending down the road! I don't know whether I would have laughed or cried if I were in your place; but it must have taken an incredible amount of self-restraint to abstrain from saying something witty and deliciously destructive.

Hmm: Actually, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck wrote the screenplay for "Good Will Hunting". However, I don't think they wrote any more after that.

Hmmm:

Actors who have written and/or produced, off the top of my head, include Uma Thurman, Tarantino, Eric Stoll. Another, whose name escapes me right now, is the actor in After Hours. He wrote the screenplay (with one other person). There are lots more, I think.

Hmm:

Film history shows far more comic writers turning to acting/directing/writing. It's not that common for actors to turn into writers. Though I know some actors who do write one-man shows for themselves as a way to break into the business. Often they do bring in uncredited pros to polish the final product.

Quite a few TV actors turn to directing in mid-career when they tire of the grind of auditions, or their parts depend on good looks.

There are no hard and fast rules. The movie biz is one of the few major industries that allows a tremendous amount of lateral movement. One day you are a writer, the next day you're a producer, the next day you're a director. This makes it quite attractive for creative people who get easily bored. It also saves people from rigid crushing, corporate structures.

Irina:

I didn't say anything "deliciously destructive" because she was so not right for me. I just wanted the disaster to end, and besides, I have always felt that one should strive to be a gentleman.

DoIknowwhatyertalkinbout, Robert??? Am I a single woman above a certain age??!! Dating!!pffffffffffffft!

Suz:

Menarefools!

"Will I ever be rescued from this purgatory of bad dates, this bad life, this miserable bachelorhood?"

I feel the same way....oh..except im not a bachelor.
Can we have more chapters, puh-leeez?

Anonomiss:

I'll do my best.

Can the next one have Karen in it?

Michael:

Yes.

I'm hearing Lina Lamont in my head saying, "Whadayathink, I'm dumb or somethin'?" "Singin' in the Rain" seems a nice spoof on Hollywood.

Concerning the talent of actors... Pay attention to the diversity of an actor's filmography. Some actors play the same part, over and over and over. Others show talent through their ability to take on diverse roles.

Take Johnny Depp -- he's played characters from Edward Scissorhands, Gilbert Grape and James Barrie to Jack Sparrow and Willy Wonka. And he performs each role brilliantly. That, to me, shows talent. Other actors, whose names I won't mention, stick to parts that vary slightly from each other but if they tried to play Willy Wonka... Well, that'd be a laugh.

NK:

I am in awe of truly talented actors. I've said this many times. Without them, my scripts are just words on a page.