I have a problem with censorship by the lawyer - by legal people by the publishing firm, and I may be changing publishers. They don't seem to want to take too many risks with living people. |
I turned the house into a studio and invited over a bunch of sailors, who were actually students I'd met at USC. They were studying cinema to become technical cameramen. They weren't real sailors picked up off the street, but they were very happy to play these roles in my film. |
I've made several films that haven't been shown. |
The music rights at the time cost me $12,000 in 1964 money, which is about double now or whatever. But I cleared everything. I had a lawyer in New York. And it was cleared for use in a short subject, not a feature. |
The only person I had any trouble with was Gloria Swanson, and her objections were completely off the wall. She didn't have any legal leg to stand on. And she took me to court, saying that I libeled her. There's absolutely no libel in the chapter on her. She was the mistress of Joe Kennedy. |