Caffeinated Clint
You know the one, about Steve and Tobe?
My good friend Zelda Rubenstein and I recently had brunch at this Jamaican restaurant in Los Angeles. Man, what great food! If it wasn’t for Zelda, I probably would never have tried it either, if only I weren’t a diabetic I could’ve dug into some even more tasty things there. I just love talking to Zelda – she’s always got such great stories, especially about her days on the “Poltergeist” films. My wife loves to go tell Zelda how she “hates (in a joking way) the old guy from the second Poltergeist movie”, because he scared Tosh shitless as a youngster, and Zelda loves to bite back with “But he’s a lovely man! How could you hate him?!”. They can go at it for hours like that. Funny.
Zelda’s told me a couple of times that Steven Spielberg directed her – not Tobe Hooper – in “Poltergiest”, but I didn’t know whether it was something I should print or not. Seems so.
Quint from Aint it Cool had a blab to Zelda today about the new “Poltergeist” DVD, and she stated just that – that Spielberg was the man directing her. Here’s the goods :
Quint: There’s one thing that I’m really curious about. Being an Austinite I’ve run into Tobe Hooper and I’ve talked to him at length about his work on POLTERGEIST and I brought up the big rumor that Spielberg came in to direct it and kind of took over. Tobe was very adamant that he directed the film.
Zelda Rubinstein: I can tell you that Steven directed all six days I was there. I only worked six days on the film and Steven was there. Tobe set up the shots and Steven made the adjustments.
You’re not going to hear that from Tobe Hooper, you’ll hear it from Zelda, because that was my honest to God experience. I’m not a fan of Tobe Hooper.
Quint: You’re not?
Zelda Rubinstein: No, I’m not, because I feel he allowed… I don’t know how to say this… he allowed some unacceptable chemical agents into his work.
I felt that immediately. I felt that when I first interviewed for the job. Steven was there, Tobe was there, two casting people from MGM were there and I felt at that time Tobe was only partially there.
Quint: I think that because Spielberg had a hand in the creation of the story, that that probably led him to be protective of it, so it’s probably a good thing that he was there to kind of protect it.
Zelda Rubinstein: You are right on that, honey, and he also was very protective with me. He kept me under cover so thoroughly, because I think he wanted… there was not another female in the business who was a little lady that could handle the kind of material that was necessary to do this. I don’t know who my competition was, but I finally got the job after being screen tested, I think four times. I’m grateful I got the job, otherwise I would be under some street lamp.
Check out the interview. It’s really interesting….. and next time I do breaky or lunch with Zelda, I’ll bring you all so you can hear some of her terrific stories.
