Production Streets of Fire

1 production

1.1 development
1.2 scripting
1.3 financing
1.4 title
1.5 casting
1.6 shooting

production
development

the concept streets of fire came during making of 48 hrs., , reunited director walter hill producers lawrence gordon , joel silver, , screenwriter larry gross, of whom worked on production. gross later recalled:

streets of fire began in euphoria of knowing paramount liked 48 , wanted in business if could. happened after screened cut paramount, larry looked @ walter , said, “paramount pregnant; let’s , set right away.” walter knew meant—that in great position here—so said, “we can 2 ways: present idea , deal done, or write script on spec , lot more money.” walter proudly considers himself capitalist, suggested latter.

according hill, film s origins came out of desire make thought perfect film when teenager, , put in of things thought great , still have great affection for: custom cars, kissing in rain, neon, trains in night, high-speed pursuit, rumbles, rock stars, motorcycles, jokes in tough situations, leather jackets , questions of honor .

according gross, hill wanted make film hero of comic book, since did not of comic books had read wanted original character. wanted create own “comic book movie,” without source material being comic book, said gross, led creation of tom cody.

scripting

the 4 men began planning streets of fire while completing 48 hrs. gross published diary shoot of 48 hours had entry dated 12 august 1982, night before filming on movie started:

walter presents me page of notes s prepared new script. first in series of adventures of action hero s had in mind create long time. character s name tom cody. , walter has in head create franchise him...introducing him stranger. asks me if m interested in writing script him...i ask him pope catholic? larry [gordon] , joel [silver] along on ride. suits me.

during 48 hours gross said thought hill had received bum rap on woman question on years. people think doesn t women , knows s not true. think s going demonstrated more in next films. told me s going new thing: s going put female character right in centre of narrative.

larry gross later said affected @ time success of flashdance , decided during writing film musical:

we said movie stylized movie, it’s not different world of musical. , there few other things contributed direction. 1 decision on universal’s part, crazy decision, shoot movie entirely in studio under tarpaulin. built gigantic tarpaulin, , battery , these other places built real places. richlands. , know, ’80s , had stylized films—like new york, new york—that done on set , idea in air. idea of totally artificial universe. point had in mind 1 sentence inspired george lucas: “in galaxy long ago,” futuristic past. in our heads…there’s past , there’s future, sort of.

walter hill thought audience go when set abstract world teenage values , play out drama within this. kind of real wasn t really. said whenever says fantasy think of more disney--esque. idea of hard hitting drama in fantasy world, kind of different @ time... thought of musical. kind of saw worked in world of mtv video.

gross says , hill influenced teen films of john hughes.

we in universe of teenage movie. teenage reality. said here’s what’s going weird world of our movie: no one’s going on 30. world high school, essentially. , tom cody football hero. , willem dafoe greaser. remember: had john hughes @ time, , had coppola making 2 high school movies: outsiders , rumble fish. walter said we’re going make high school movie that’s going comic book , going musical.

gross says hill did not want film violent - there no blood , no 1 die. he’d inappropriate direct movie if there blood, said gross. we’re in world of cocteau, we’re in world of beauty , beast. fairy tale. now…he neglected mention fairy tales violent.

gross , hill work out ideas in detail. gross draft , hill rewrite it. did not love creating scripts scratch; loved rewriting. stage gross , hill had worked closely gross says began develop strong sense knowing how sound did.

financing

when script finished, sent paramount. gross says jeff berg (walter’s agent), larry gordon , michael eisner, head of production @ paramount, got kind of fight when script finished. learned later that, believe, eisner rejected on grounds similar indiana jones. conceptually. didn’t pull trigger , berg ended selling universal.

they submitted script universal executive bob rehme on friday (in january 1983) , end of weekend, studio had given them go-ahead make film. fastest ever greenlight hill had received , put down box office success of 48 hours.

the title

the film s title came song written , recorded bruce springsteen on 1978 album darkness on edge of town. negotiations springsteen rights song delayed production several times. originally, plans made song featured on film s soundtrack, sung ellen aim @ end of film, when springsteen told song re-recorded other vocalists, withdrew permission song used. jim steinman brought in write opening , closing songs, , streets of fire replaced tonight means young . studio claimed replaced springsteen s song because downer .

casting

when came casting movie, hill wanted go young group of relative unknowns. gross says there idea going discover new steve mcqueen, know? young, white guy ride motorcycle , have carbine on shoulder , mainstream icon.

among actors saw role of tom cody eric roberts, tom cruise , patrick swayze. gross says wanted tom cruise , made him offer, had accepted role

hill heard michael paré same agent recommended eddie murphy him 48 hrs (his then-girlfriend , later wife hildy). @ time cast, in march 1983, paré had appeared in 2 films, eddie , cruisers , undercover, had not yet been released. hill, paré had right quality. actor found right part ...a striking combination of toughness , innocence. paré said of character, s can come in , straighten out.

the character of ellen aim written 28-year-old woman. gross says wanted daryl hannah unable deal in time. diane lane read part when 18. hill reluctant cast because felt young role. hill met lane in new york city , auditioned him in black leather pants, black mesh top , high-heeled boots. surprised total commitment selling herself rock n roll star . actress had been in more 10 films time did streets of fire. described character first glamorous role ve had . hill impressed work on film wrote additional scenes during shoot.

excited diane lane because starring in 2 excitedly hyped francis ford coppola pictures being done in oklahoma, says gross. had approval of sort of picking person francis ford coppola picked.

amy madigan read reva, cody s sister, , told hill , silver wanted play role of mccoy which, remembers, written played overweight male soldier , needed job. still tough , strong , have woman without rewriting part. hill liked idea , cast her.

willem dafoe recommended kathryn bigelow, had made film him. bigelow dating david giler, collaborator , friend of hill s @ time. gross later said thought dafoe may have been best thing film.

shooting

production began on location in chicago in april 1983, moved los angeles 45 days, , 2 weeks @ soap factory in wilmington, california, additional filming taking place @ universal studios. shooting wrapped on august 18, 1983. ten days of filming in chicago exteriors @ night, on locations included platforms of elevated subway lines , depths of lower wacker drive. hill, subways , crucial world of film , represented 1 of 3 modes of transportation—the other 2 being cars , motorcycles.

while shooting in chicago, production plagued inclement weather included rain, hail, snow, , combination of three. subway scenes filmed on location in chicago @ many locations, including: lasalle street (blue line), lake street (green line), sheridan road (red, purple lines), , belmont avenue (red, brown, , purple lines). damen avenue stop (blue line, @ damen, north, , milwaukee avenues) used.

production designer john vallone , team constructed elevated train line on backlot of universal studios matched ones in chicago. film crew tarped-in new street , brownstone street sets double richmond district setting, covering them night scenes filmed during day. tarp measured 1,240 feet long 220 feet wide on both sets, , cost $1.2 million construct. however, presented unusual problems. sound of tarp flapping in wind interfered actors’ dialogue. birds had nested in tarp provided own noisy interruptions.

the exterior of richmond theater ellen aim sings @ beginning of film shot on backlot, interior done in wiltern theater in l.a. 2 weeks. factory scenes take place in battery filmed @ rotting soap factory in wilmington, california, ten nights. ardmore police roadblock filmed near 6th street in east los angeles, near flood basin. though 3 districts seen, city has total of 5 districts: richmond, strip, battery, cliffside, , bayside.

the production employed 500 extras play citizens of richmond district. cinematographer andrew laszlo shot film low light, giving images stark, low-tech quality. choreography 2 songs ellen aim sings , 1 sorels done jeffrey hornaday. lighting these concert scenes done mark brickman, lit concerts bruce springsteen , pink floyd. in addition, 12 1950 , 1951 model studebakers used police cars. more 50 motorcycles , drivers featured bombers, , chosen 200 members of real l.a.-based clubs crusaders , heathens.

according cinematographer andrew laszlo, film s style dictated story. richmond s soft , colors did not call attention themselves. light in battery contrasting , harsh, vivid colors. argyle prints , plaids used in parkside district, , neon lights color strip.

a massive tent used cover backlot , shoot day night. cost $1.2 million.

walter hill later said felt humbled shoot:

i think thought handle things. didn t know how shoot music. music had been important in films, post production. tough stuff shoot. had great respect people minnelli. couldn t seem work out without putting multiple cameras , shooting awful lot of film... later realized or talked people , mgm in old days on contract , rehearse weeks. don t that. stage , shoot it. got songs lot of times few days before shoot. final song. structural advantage of old studio system didn t have. made inefficient shoot. don t think there other way given circumstances.

due choreography , setups in between takes of every scene, climactic 4-minute showdown between cody , raven took considerable time shoot. paré estimated 4 weeks:

willem , shot 2 weeks, , walter shot 2 week stunt guys. whole scene walter thing. had that, after had done in hard times (1975).

michael paré later recalled:

you gotta realize that, out of whole cast, nobody on thirty. diane lane was, think, eighteen. enormous hollywood production. manager had me hire limousine pick me @ home , take me work. like, jesus, incredible. is... hollywood. real hollywood. hollywood make movies about. ... scary. , walter isn t kind of guy works kids. s cowboy. s john ford. don t ask me how act! m director! (laughs)

paré said had troubles rick moranis:

rick moranis drove me out of mind. there s whole wave of insult comedy. in real world, if insults couple of times, can smack them. or punch them. can t on movie set. , these comedians walk around, , can whatever want. m not handy that. comedians special breed. can antagonize , whatever they... want, , can t stop them... s weird looking little guy couldn t laid in whore house fistful of fifties. imitate me. first thing says me is, act cool, or cool? first sentence out of mouth me in joel silver s office. , like, oh... not going go well. 1 of joel s dear friends, , ended making bunch of movies disney. wasn t sharp. wasn t ready kind of crap.

paré said original draft of script had tom cody kill raven knife. walter liked idea, because had tom cody winning @ costs. however, changed fair fight in order pg rating.

paré did not work walter hill:

i think walter writer @ heart. writers aren t @ communicating in person. s tough son-of-a-bitch. s cowboy. director s chair made out of leather , on of read lone wolf . used frequent gun clubs , wasn t delicate guy.... doing love scene. when said, need adr love scene. freaked out. had never done love scene before... needed through it. panicked, , producer... joel silver, called walter , somehow persuaded him come on , direct me through adr. streets of fire big picture me, , overwhelmed. think bothered walter. think thought needy guy. used working actors had experience nick nolte or david carradine. ve wondered why walter has never wanted work me again. think of gentlemen tell me needy @ time.

e.g. daily played baby doll says frustrating thing me not sing in film because diane lane singing, , remember thinking, “ah!” frustrating me. painful. because wanted on stage singing guys... played quirky characters. didn’t fancy leads. got best friend of leads, quirky, funny characters. hookers heart of gold. weirdos.

gross , hill meet editors on weekends , @ footage. gross recalls 5 weeks 14-week shoot:

i turned walter , said, “this movie weirder thought.”... didn’t anticipate combination of elements going be. had conscious design concept of movie, think didn’t grasp how strong be, in terms of combination of elements. in way, think streets of fire expanding warriors concept bigger stage. when expanding bigger scale, changed. movie’s bigness of size—compositionally—changed meaning of things , made more of fairy tale... warriors, bewoven unique sense of realism. fact made deal real gangs extras in film. there true godardian dialectic going on between artifice , reality. it’s real-world film, in respects, it’s artificial @ same time... did again, put emphasis on artifice. , didn’t fully…i want had integrity. went further that, perhaps, should have. don’t know. can’t put didn’t work, damaging thing didn’t have right actor tom cody. maybe if we’d had tom cruise, might have had success. our commitment stylized thorough , conscious , maybe extreme mainstream audience.

gross wrote there chance of great, fundamental disappointment key personnel (in case star, michael pare) steeled of face chance might not turn out way.