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Doug Moe: Kirk Douglas' mark on Hollywood is UW site's headliner

Doug Moe  —  11/01/2007 10:47 am

IN AN address to the nation, the President of the United States said the following:

"There has been abroad in this land, in recent months, a whisper that we have somehow lost our greatness. That we do not have the strength to win, without war, the struggles for liberty throughout the world. This is slander. Because our country is strong -- strong enough to be a peacemaker. It is proud -- proud enough to be patient.

"The whispers, the detractors and the violent men are wrong. We will remain strong, and proud, and peaceful, and patient. And we will see a day when on this Earth all men will walk out of the long tunnels of tyranny, into the bright sunshine of freedom."

You may have correctly deduced that this was not uttered by George W. Bush.

The above was actually said by President Jordan Lyman, who was the fictitious president in the 1964 movie, "Seven Days In May." It's a great movie, directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Fredric March, who was born in Racine in 1897 and was a UW-Madison graduate, as the president and Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster as military officers.

It was Douglas, using his box office clout as an actor, who shepherded the movie to the screen. Written by Rod Serling, from the best-selling novel by Charles V. Bailey and Fletcher Knebel, the picture was regarded as perhaps too politically charged for mainstream Hollywood -- the plot involves a surreptitious takeover of the U.S. government by a military junta led by Lancaster as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

You can discover a lot of the backstory of "Seven Days In May" on a Web site -- www.wcftr.commarts.wisc.edu -- that debuted this week. It's the new site of the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, and they have rolled it out with a bang, unveiling the "Kirk Douglas Collection," an astonishing online array of letters, photos and other documents from Douglas's historic show business career.

Among the letters is one dated Oct. 22, 1969, from Douglas to Tino Balio, the center's director in the 1960s. It was Balio who sold Douglas (and many other important entertainment industry figures) on the idea of donating their papers to the UW-Madison.

In his 1969 letter, Douglas wrote: "It is the first university, as far as I know, to see the significance of such collections in tracing the historical development of filmmaking as one of the most important modern art forms. I am relieved that there will be a proper home for this part of my life."

That digitalized letter is available to read on the Web site, along with correspondence concerning many of Douglas' movies, including "Spartacus" and, as I say, "Seven Days In May."

The Web site was funded by UW-Madison alumnus Stephen P. Jarchow -- chairman of the board of Regent Entertainment -- and a current Comm Arts grad student, Megan Sapnar, designed the site.

By sheer coincidence, I had watched "Seven Days In May" on DVD Tuesday night, the day before I heard about the new Web site. It was pretty amazing to then spend the day Wednesday reading the Douglas collection's online correspondence pertaining to the film.

There's a letter to Douglas from United Artists worrying that the film could damage the image of the United States abroad. Likewise, the authors of the original novel sent Douglas a letter (based on their reading of the screenplay) saying they felt the script was too anti-military.

But Rod Serling, whose script it was, expressed enthusiasm from the start in a letter to Douglas: "The project not only has great import, but it is the most eminently dramatizable story I've seen in many a moon." There's a back and forth with "Spartacus" director Stanley Kubrick, who had read the "Seven Days" script and had suggestions. Douglas' somewhat wry reply: "You will be pleased to know that we have been thinking about all the points you mentioned."

Watching the film this week, it seemed more timely than ever, just a terrific movie. Lest anyone find Douglas and John Frankenheimer too virtuous to believe, however, you can also find in the "Kirk Douglas Collection" a letter regarding Bulova watches that were used in the movie. The star, director and producer were to receive free watches, the letter said, if a Bulova watch was in view in the finished film. Yes, "Seven Days In May" may have helped introduce product placement to the movies.

Heard something Moe should know? Call 252-6446, write P.O. Box 8060, Madison, WI 53708, or e-mail dmoe@madison.com

Doug Moe  —  11/01/2007 10:47 am