Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Interview with Nick Clooney

Aired December 24, 2002 - 09:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We all have our favorite, oftentimes we have our favorites, too. A certain movie or movies that made a huge impact on our lives. One of America's premium movie buffs, Nick Clooney, has chosen 20 films and put them in a new book. The book is called "The Movies That Changed Us: Reflections on the Screen."
I sat down and talked to Nick about why he made the choices he made in this book.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK CLOONEY, AUTHOR, "THE MOVIES THAT CHANGED US": I thought this was going to be the easiest book in the world to write. It turned out to be very difficult.

HEMMER: So why did you think it was easy?

CLOONEY: Because I had watched movies from the time I was four years old. I had jumped onto the seat in the movie when I saw "Fantasia" and all of the broomsticks went apart, and I thought that I knew movies down to the ground, and I thought Well, I'll just whip this off, and I'll do three months worth -- 15 months, 18 months later I was still...

HEMMER: But why -- you found yourself knee-deep, obviously...

CLOONEY: Because all of the movies, Bill, that I thought would be in this book weren't in this book. I think two made the cut out of all of the once that I assumed...

HEMMER: Which two?

CLOONEY: The two were "The Best Years of Our Lives," and "Birth of a Nation."

And I thought, out of the 20, "Citizen Kane" couldn't be here. So that everybody knows, I wasn't doing a book about the best movies. I'm doing a book about movies that actually changed us, that would change our mores or change society or at least change movies. Do one of those things, and it had to be -- my rule was it had to be before the curve of change or on top of the curve of change, not after.

If it was a month after or a year after, I had to dump it, get rid of the movie. I couldn't use a "Gentleman's Agreement" about anti-Semitism because it was '47. In 1945, we knew about the Holocaust. We all already knew what casual (ph) anti-Semitism would do. HEMMER: Let me ask you this -- I understand "Birth of a Nation," I can see things like "Saving Private Ryan," "Star Wars," "The Graduate" -- "The Jazz Singer"?

CLOONEY: Sound. It was just the first effective -- the first time that it was -- that people could actually see on the screen Al Jolson saying, Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain't heard nothing yet. Wait a minute.

And people stood up their chairs. They cheered. It was the revolution. It was that moment that silent films died.

HEMMER: Then "Saving Private Ryan," then, what was it about that movie that was on this leading edge of the revolutionary change in film?

CLOONEY: Tougher, Bill. I tell you, that was tougher because it's so recent, and because not many of us go to the movies anymore in terms of percentages.

So it is a tougher sell for me to have that one in the book. But I did some of my own research. I sent to 500 teachers at 200 different schools, history teachers in high school -- I said, what movies do you use when you are trying to teach young people history?

"Private Ryan" was right at the top...

HEMMER: No kidding?

CLOONEY: ... and they wanted that first 20 minutes. They used to -- they usually had to get the parents' permission to show it, but when they got the permission, that they said affected...

HEMMER: When the bullets are piercing the -- did you see "Gallipoli," by the way?

CLOONEY: I assuredly did.

HEMMER: That was the first time they used that effect, actually, underwater, when the Australian troops are coming onshore...

CLOONEY: And it was brilliantly done. Brilliantly done. This was more effective, I think, simply because of the high profile of Omaha Beach, and the fact that these were American troops.

HEMMER: Listen, to not change topics too abruptly here, how are you doing? You lost your sister, Rosemary.

CLOONEY: I'm just furious at her. She was so darn funny and we had so much fun together. And the Friday before she died, we were -- I was talking to her, and we were hoping for her big musicfest in Maysville, Kentucky, our hometown, which she loved to do, and I said, What are you going to sing?

And she said, I'm not going to sing.

I said, Well, you forgot how to sing, you can't sing anymore?

She said, Well, I can't get up on the stage, I am too weak.

I said, OK, sit and sing. I said, How are you sounding?

And she said, I don't know.

I said, well, Sing something for me, and she did. She sang a wonderful old tune that only she and I know called "It's an Old Southern Custom," and we laughed, and we had a fine time, and then she left me the next day and forgot to tell me she was going.

HEMMER: Sympathies with you.

CLOONEY: Thank you. I appreciate that.

HEMMER: And how's George? We should say -- is he directing now? What is he doing?

CLOONEY: He's still taking my calls.

HEMMER: Taking on the world -- taking your calls. Is he responding to your e-mails, though?

CLOONEY: Well, of course not. He's wonderful. He's -- he directed a film called "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," and then he's got this Stephen Soderbergh film coming out in which he is acting in the film and that's "Solaris." That's coming out pretty soon, and they're both -- these are not technology-driven movies. These are character-driven movies that we talked about in here.

HEMMER: Hey, listen, best of luck to you, OK? Awesome seeing you, and so many years down the road.

CLOONEY: Great fun, Bill, and I don't have to wish you well, you're doing fine.

HEMMER: Well, I appreciate that. Flattered, thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 24, 2002 - 09:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We all have our favorite, oftentimes we have our favorites, too. A certain movie or movies that made a huge impact on our lives. One of America's premium movie buffs, Nick Clooney, has chosen 20 films and put them in a new book. The book is called "The Movies That Changed Us: Reflections on the Screen."
I sat down and talked to Nick about why he made the choices he made in this book.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK CLOONEY, AUTHOR, "THE MOVIES THAT CHANGED US": I thought this was going to be the easiest book in the world to write. It turned out to be very difficult.

HEMMER: So why did you think it was easy?

CLOONEY: Because I had watched movies from the time I was four years old. I had jumped onto the seat in the movie when I saw "Fantasia" and all of the broomsticks went apart, and I thought that I knew movies down to the ground, and I thought Well, I'll just whip this off, and I'll do three months worth -- 15 months, 18 months later I was still...

HEMMER: But why -- you found yourself knee-deep, obviously...

CLOONEY: Because all of the movies, Bill, that I thought would be in this book weren't in this book. I think two made the cut out of all of the once that I assumed...

HEMMER: Which two?

CLOONEY: The two were "The Best Years of Our Lives," and "Birth of a Nation."

And I thought, out of the 20, "Citizen Kane" couldn't be here. So that everybody knows, I wasn't doing a book about the best movies. I'm doing a book about movies that actually changed us, that would change our mores or change society or at least change movies. Do one of those things, and it had to be -- my rule was it had to be before the curve of change or on top of the curve of change, not after.

If it was a month after or a year after, I had to dump it, get rid of the movie. I couldn't use a "Gentleman's Agreement" about anti-Semitism because it was '47. In 1945, we knew about the Holocaust. We all already knew what casual (ph) anti-Semitism would do. HEMMER: Let me ask you this -- I understand "Birth of a Nation," I can see things like "Saving Private Ryan," "Star Wars," "The Graduate" -- "The Jazz Singer"?

CLOONEY: Sound. It was just the first effective -- the first time that it was -- that people could actually see on the screen Al Jolson saying, Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain't heard nothing yet. Wait a minute.

And people stood up their chairs. They cheered. It was the revolution. It was that moment that silent films died.

HEMMER: Then "Saving Private Ryan," then, what was it about that movie that was on this leading edge of the revolutionary change in film?

CLOONEY: Tougher, Bill. I tell you, that was tougher because it's so recent, and because not many of us go to the movies anymore in terms of percentages.

So it is a tougher sell for me to have that one in the book. But I did some of my own research. I sent to 500 teachers at 200 different schools, history teachers in high school -- I said, what movies do you use when you are trying to teach young people history?

"Private Ryan" was right at the top...

HEMMER: No kidding?

CLOONEY: ... and they wanted that first 20 minutes. They used to -- they usually had to get the parents' permission to show it, but when they got the permission, that they said affected...

HEMMER: When the bullets are piercing the -- did you see "Gallipoli," by the way?

CLOONEY: I assuredly did.

HEMMER: That was the first time they used that effect, actually, underwater, when the Australian troops are coming onshore...

CLOONEY: And it was brilliantly done. Brilliantly done. This was more effective, I think, simply because of the high profile of Omaha Beach, and the fact that these were American troops.

HEMMER: Listen, to not change topics too abruptly here, how are you doing? You lost your sister, Rosemary.

CLOONEY: I'm just furious at her. She was so darn funny and we had so much fun together. And the Friday before she died, we were -- I was talking to her, and we were hoping for her big musicfest in Maysville, Kentucky, our hometown, which she loved to do, and I said, What are you going to sing?

And she said, I'm not going to sing.

I said, Well, you forgot how to sing, you can't sing anymore?

She said, Well, I can't get up on the stage, I am too weak.

I said, OK, sit and sing. I said, How are you sounding?

And she said, I don't know.

I said, well, Sing something for me, and she did. She sang a wonderful old tune that only she and I know called "It's an Old Southern Custom," and we laughed, and we had a fine time, and then she left me the next day and forgot to tell me she was going.

HEMMER: Sympathies with you.

CLOONEY: Thank you. I appreciate that.

HEMMER: And how's George? We should say -- is he directing now? What is he doing?

CLOONEY: He's still taking my calls.

HEMMER: Taking on the world -- taking your calls. Is he responding to your e-mails, though?

CLOONEY: Well, of course not. He's wonderful. He's -- he directed a film called "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," and then he's got this Stephen Soderbergh film coming out in which he is acting in the film and that's "Solaris." That's coming out pretty soon, and they're both -- these are not technology-driven movies. These are character-driven movies that we talked about in here.

HEMMER: Hey, listen, best of luck to you, OK? Awesome seeing you, and so many years down the road.

CLOONEY: Great fun, Bill, and I don't have to wish you well, you're doing fine.

HEMMER: Well, I appreciate that. Flattered, thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com