Hollywood to return to AMI for movie remake
by Joe K. Onyou Islander L.A. Correspondent
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| "On An Island With You" to be remade. Islander File Photo |
The latest Hollywood buzz is that Barbra Streisand plans to remake MGM’s “On An Island With You” and set the film on Anna Maria Island.
The 1948 film, starring champion swimmer Esther Williams and Rat Packer-to-be Peter Lawford, was filmed in part on AMI.
Williams portrayed Rosalind Reynolds and Lawford played Lt. Lawrence Y. Kingslee in the romantic comedy, which also featured Ricardo Montalban as Lawford’s rival for Williams’ affection and Jimmy Durante, Xavier Cugat and Cyd Charisse.
The premise of the early film is that a young U.S. Navy officer is brought to a tropical island as a technical advisor on a musical featuring a young star of song and dance. The Navy man gets smitten with one kiss, but the starlet already has a beau, her co-star in the musical. To win the gal, the Navy officer maroons them on a deserted island - and the movie star likes being kidnapped.
Streisand said she intends to direct the remake, updating the film with a feminist spirit, but keeping the setting and the era. “I’ll stay in the 1940s, but don’t forget that was the era of Eleanor Roosevelt and Rosie the Riveter,” she said. “The labor movement of that time was already addressing a lot of the issues of modern feminism. Hollywood just didn’t want to show that side of America.”
Rumors in Hollywood have several names associated with the lead parts - Lindsay Lohan, Pam Anderson and Angelina Jolie for the role of Rosalind Reynolds; Brad Pitt, Jake Gyllenhaal and Christian Bale in the Lawford part.
Also, The Islander has learned, that this issue will be in circulation for April Fool’s Day.
Ha, ha.
The tradition of celebrating April Fool’s Day dates back to the custom of marking the beginning and ending of the vernal equinox - the old New Year’s Day occurred on March 25 and the equinox ended on April 2. That brought a day of festivity on April 1.
In celebration of the holiday, here are the top April Fool’s Day pranks according to the Internet site www.museumofhoaxes.com:
1 - The Swiss spaghetti harvest. In 1957, a BBC news show announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti from trees. Many viewers were taken in.
2 - Sidd Finch. In its April 1985 edition, Sports Illustrated published a story about a rookie pitcher for the Mets named Sidd Finch. He could throw a baseball at 168 mph with pinpoint accuracy, but had never even played the game. Instead, he had mastered pitching in a Tibetan monastery under the guidance of the “great poet-saint Lama Milaraspa.”
3 - Instant color TV. In 1962 there was one TV channel in Sweden and it broadcast in black-and-white. The station's technical expert appeared on the news to announce that new technology made it possible for viewers to convert their existing sets to display color. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their TV screen. Many tried.
4 - The Taco Liberty Bell. In 1996, the Taco Bell Corporation announced that it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia to express their anger.
5 - San Serriffe. In 1977, The Guardian in London published a special seven-page supplement devoted to San Serriffe, a small republic in the Indian Ocean consisting of several semi-colon-shaped islands. The two main islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse and the capital was Bodoni. The country’s leader was General Pica. Readers flooded the newspaper with calls inquiring about the holiday spot.
Happy April 1.
And please don’t call The Islander to ask when and where the filming begins.
Editor’s note: Joe K. Onyou is Islander Reporter Lisa Neff’s alter-ego. |
