FEATURE
Some of Hollywood's Biggest Names Have Come to Morningside Heights
Searching for the Perfect Setting for their Feature
Films By Lea Goldman '98
Most days,
309 Havemeyer plays home to a packed house of pre-meds, slouching
in wood-and-iron seats that have outlasted even tenured professors.
Some days, though, 309 Havemeyer plays home to
Hollywood.
In recent
years, the 330-seat lecture hall, typically reserved for required
pre-med courses, has become a favorite for directors in search of
the archetypal college classroom to complement a film's depiction
of University, USA. Featured in several major motion pictures,
including Malcolm X (1992), Ghostbusters (1984) and
Ghostbusters II (1989), and most recently Barbra Streisand's
The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996), the lecture hall is among
the most filmed sites on Columbia's campus.
"Havemeyer is
a real big sell because of those great classrooms," said Ann-Linda
Pugliese, Columbia's manager of special events & commercial
filming. From her cramped office in the underbelly of East Campus,
Pugliese acts as the coordinator for projects ranging from
commencement exercises to catalogue shoots and fields the initial
inquiries from directors and photographers scouting
sites.
After
assessing materials for their "appropriateness" - content, theme,
use of Columbia's name and premises - and the extent to which they
would disrupt campus activities, Pugliese passes potential projects
to Alan Stone, vice president of public affairs, himself a former
Hollywood screenwriter and President Clinton speechwriter, for
approval.
For
"non-controversial" minor films and those that require minimal
shooting on campus, Stone will make the final call, though he will
mention the project "in passing" to University President George
Rupp. "If Columbia's involvement went beyond that level and/or
contained any close calls, I would raise it with Dr. Rupp," Stone
said.
The
department chairs and deans of the various schools on campus weigh
in their opinions to projects. Stone noted that if a dean or
department head strongly objected to the filming of one of their
classrooms or buildings, he would consider that a solid reason to
pass on the project altogether.
Chemistry
Chair Ged Parkin downplayed the inconveniences such shoots pose for
his department. "There are both good and bad things about filming
in Havemeyer," he said. "The good things are we get to see the
building in a movie and can tell our friends, 'That's where we
work!' In fact, a student once made a film about films that have
been shot in Havemeyer. We may even get to see a star!"
Havemeyer is
hardly the only Hollywood hotspot on campus. Photographers and
directors frequently request the Low Library steps as a backdrop,
according to Pugliese, and Alfred Lerner Hall already has appeared
in episodes of the TV series Wonderland and Now and
Again.
Recent
renovations to Butler Library have enhanced its appeal to
directors, but don't expect any lights, camera, or action there in
the near future. "Because we're renovating it and keeping that kind
of old-world, traditional building, [it] is a big sell. But
Butler's not really interested in it - they have rare books,
expensive items," said Pugliese. The prospect of film crews, heavy
equipment, and increased traffic in the library has deterred
Butler's handlers from agreeing to shoots there. "It just wouldn't
be worth it to them," Pugliese said.
The
time-consuming and intrusive nature of filming generally limits
long-term filming on campus. Most projects are shot during winter,
spring or summer break, thereby avoiding conflicts between
filmmakers with a vision and students with a final exam. "It would
have to be a big win-win" situation for Columbia to authorize such
projects when classes are in session, added Pugliese.
The financial
windfall from a film or commercial is just one consideration in the
equation. "Yes, they're moneymakers," Pugliese said. "But that's
not the reason we're here-to make money from commercials. So it
would have to be worth something to the department to want to do
it."
For
commercials, photo spreads and other small-scale projects, location
costs for exterior shots on the Columbia campus begin at $450 an
hour. Shoots inside campus buildings cost upwards of $750 an hour.
Movie deals are negotiated differently, with fees for security,
parking and facilities sometimes skyrocketing the total cost. While
the University will not disclose how much Streisand paid to film on
campus, location costs alone exceeded $230,000, according to a fact
sheet obtained by the Columbia University Record. Prior to
The Mirror, the highest fee charged to a film company in the
past decade was $13,826.30 for the Hugh Grant thriller Extreme
Measures (1996), which contained exterior shots of Earl
Hall.
Streisand's
romantic comedy depicted the Columbia campus prominently, as a
character unto its own, in addition to using scores of actual
students in classroom scenes and background shots. Filming began in
October, 1995 and wrapped in late December. During that time, the
campus was beset by Hollywood stars including Jeff Bridges and
Pierce Brosnan. And, of course, there was Streisand
herself.
While
scouting Philosophy Hall prior to filming, Streisand reportedly
happened upon a conference between an English department doctoral
student and his student, concerning the latter's paper on Edgar
Allen Poe. Clad in black and accompanied by an entourage, Streisand
approached the two and described her film, as well as her role in
it as an English professor. The trio then engaged in a protracted
discussion about love stories and the novels of Jane Austen and
Charles Dickens. Streisand asked if her character, a professor who
teaches cultural myths and the relationships between men and women,
would fall under the rubric of comparative literature. University
Professor Edward Said arrived soon after and offered the Funny Girl
a recommended reading list, including Marina Warner's Six Myths
of Our Time.
Perhaps
because of this collegial exchange, Philosophy Hall made the final
cut in the film, though countless students vying for coveted spots
as extras were not as lucky. While no figures are available for
just how many students auditioned for non-speaking roles, lines
outside Miller Theatre for an open casting call snaked down
Broadway as students responded to ads placed in Spectator. Some
carried rollerblades, others laptop computers, as per the
advertisement's directive.
Herman
Mankiewicz '17 co-wrote Pride of the Yankees, the story of baseball
great Lou Gehrig '25 (played by Gary Cooper), seen here waiting on
tables at a fraternity.
PHOTO: MUSEUM OFMODERN ART/ FILM STILLS ARCHIVE
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The use of
actual students and Columbia's academic facilities enhanced the
realism of the film. Though floodlights illuminated Philosophy Hall
well into the night and Christmas lights sparkled around the
entrance to Butler Library during filming, few liberties were taken
with the actual appearance of the campus.
"In one of
the classroom scenes where Barbra Streisand was lecturing, I
remember looking around the classroom and thinking, 'These look
like Columbia students.' I like that. There was nothing fake about
it," said Stone.
Despite the
throngs of students clamoring for bit parts, reaction to the
project was not wholly positive. Filming for The Mirror violated a
basic, albeit implicit, University tenet concerning such projects:
students and faculty are not to be relocated. According to Emily
Lloyd, executive vice president of administration, classes were, in
fact, moved to accommodate film crews, though only with the consent
of the appropriate deans and departments. When Streisand returned
to Columbia in late December to reshoot some scenes, several final
exams had to be relocated to accommodate the filming. "But all
classes were moved to locations of comparable size," said
Lloyd.
When walkways
flanking Butler Library were rerouted during finals period, tempers
occasionally flared between students and the film crews. David
Konschnik '98 recalled a confrontation with the Streisand camp
while his theater group rehearsed Macbeth
outdoors.
"We were
braving the cold to get the show together, and one of Streisand's
lackies showed up and asked us to leave. He then reminded us that
they had paid a lot of money to use the campus. He didn't seem to
know that we had paid a lot of money, too," Konschnik said. "I went
home that night and melted my collection of Streisand vinyls over
my gas stove."
A shouting
match between students and film crews on another occasion prompted
Stone to charge a staffer with defusing escalating tensions. "I
don't remember it as being a big deal," he said. "I think all along
we look at these things with regard for tastefulness and capacity
for disruption. I'm sure that was the case then and that would be
the case now - we're very conscious of not disrupting people. We do
get requests fairly frequently to use classrooms and stuff. If the
deans say no, this is not appropriate, we don't do it."
But when the
deans say yes, the payoffs can be measured in increased
departmental budgets or capital improvements. Part of the fee for
Ghostbusters reportedly went to renovations of South Lawn.
Professor Parkin hopes the publicity and fees culled from such
projects in Havemeyer will prompt renovations to the building. Some
of the Streisand fee was earmarked specifically for the School of
the Arts, whose administrators strongly encouraged approval of the
site request, according to Lloyd.
"It was an
opportunity for them to observe a major studio film, an opportunity
for their students to participate as extras. They were very eager
to do it," she said.
While
Columbia played as large a role in The Mirror as the stars
themselves, more often than not university landmarks are virtually
unrecognizable on film. Parts of Ghostbusters and
Ghostbusters II were filmed on the Low Library steps, for
example, but lesser known is that some scenes were shot in the
tunnels that snake under the Morningside Heights campus.
Stalwart New
Yorker Woody Allen shot a scene for his 1996 comedy Everybody
Says I Love You on the walkway between Low Library and Lewisohn
Hall. Though the brief scene, featuring Natasha Lyonne lip-synching
into a cell phone, ended up on the cutting room floor, Allen
frequently treks uptown to capture the campus and Morningside
Heights on celluloid. Among other recent Woody Allen films, scenes
from Hannah and Her Sisters, Zelig, A Midsummer
Night's Sex Comedy and Crimes and Misdemeanors were shot
at Columbia, while parts of Husbands and Wives were shot at
Barnard. Allen also frequently refers to the University by name,
rather than generically, in his dialogue.
In Altered
States, William Hurt played a man searching for his "unborn soul"
with hallucinogens.
PHOTO: WARNER BROTHERS
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While
Columbia was home to the U.S. Signal Corps School of Photography
during World War I, the cinematic history of the Morningside campus
dates to 1940, when the University approved a proposal from Samuel
Goldwyn Productions to shoot part of The Bishop's Wife on
campus. Better-known is the 1942 film Pride of the Yankees,
in which Gary Cooper portrayed Lou Gehrig '25 hitting home runs on
South Field.
Among the
stars who have filmed projects on campus are Dustin Hoffman
(Marathon Man), Al Pacino (Author! Author!), William
Hurt (Altered States), Ryan O'Neal (So Fine) and most
recently Meryl Streep (Music of the Heart). Meanwhile,
Columbia's on-screen faculty has included Alan Arkin
(Simon), Jill Clayburgh (It's My Turn), Doris Day
(Teacher's Pet) and Lee Remick (The
Detective).
The recent TV
miniseries The Sixties re-enacted the Columbia protests of
1968 and the takeover of Low Library, but the film was actually
shot at a California university. An administrator there updated
Stone on the progress of the miniseries, including efforts to
recreate Columbia's landmark steps.
"She called
me one day to tell me they're hiring students for extras there, but
they're having a hard time finding kids that look like Columbia
kids," Stone recalled with a smirk.
Similarly, a
feature film based on a diary about Spring '68 at Columbia, The
Strawberry Statement, had to be filmed at Pacific University in
California because Columbia officials denied permission to use both
the campus and the school's name. A less political film from that
era, The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart starring a young
Don Johnson, was permitted to be filmed on campus.
By virtue of
their celebrity casts, films draw more spectators to campus than
the commercial and catalogue shoots, which occur more frequently,
according to Pugliese. Last summer, J. Crew and Gap shot ads on
campus, as well as Sears and RTV, a German film company. But
scouring fashion magazines for a glimpse of Alma Mater
peeking out behind a cargo-pant model would prove futile to all but
the most sharp-eyed Columbians. Fearing an implicit product
endorsement, Columbia stipulates that the campus be unrecognizable
to the general public in any such advertisements. Thus, Columbia's
cameos go uncredited, without the howling fanfare and glittering
celebrity Hollywood generally accords its movie stars.
About the
Author: Lea Goldman '98 lives and works in New York City.
This is her first article for CCT.
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