Interview with
LYNN‑HOLLY JOHNSON
Conducted on
By Scott
Michael Bosco
SMB
Your first feature film
was ICE CASTLES. WATCHER was your second film. Then you
went on to do the 007 film, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.
LHJ
Right.
SMB
So, what was it like working with Bette Davis in
your second film?
LHJ
More exciting as time has gone by. At the time I was so rapped
up in the work itself, and as a kid you don't think, "Wow, what I'm doing
and who I'm working with." Having grown up as a skater and training all
those hours I didn't have the time to sit at home and watch TV. I barely knew
who she was. I knew her name. But don't remember seeing a movie of hers -
except maybe some bits and pieces here and there. But now I sit back and think
what an honor. At times I wish I had realized at the time because I would have
asked her more things. At the time I didn't, I was determined to be more of a
professional. In fact there was really nice article that appeared during the time
we were shooting in which she was just raving how professional I was ‑
owing it up to my athletic background and training. She
said I was very business‑like, a joy to work with. All
these neat things. I remember
thinking wow, she's talking about me! I was really stunned because for me I had
just treated it, working on the set, like I had treated my skating for the past
15 years.
SMB
That's a terrific complement from her.
LHJ
I remember hearing people
from the studio telling me that. Meanwhile I'm thinking, "What am I doing
that's so unusual?!" You know, when you're handed your first film because
you're a skater you don't see the struggle that 99% of the SAG members are
going through. I mean I did
SMB
What was your favorite scene in the film?
LHJ
I remember every scene I worked with Bette Davis ‑ not
to diminish any of the scenes with Carol Baker or anyone else ‑ but those
scenes with Bette Davis always had an intensity. True, the scenes called for
it. But then again when it was her turn I think the atmosphere was different. I
think everybody was nervous. I remember at the stages at Pinewood Studious when
a scene began a bell would sound and the doors would lock and a light would go
on saying we were ready to shoot. Then when we would cut the AD assistant
director) would say something, then the bell would ring and doors would unlock
and red light would go off. Well, when
they were doing Bette Davis' close‑up they thought she was done with her
scene so they yelled cut. The bell rang, the light went off, they
opened the doors... Then Bette Davis yelled, "I'll tell you when I'm
finished!" Well, there was a silence on that stage that was so thick. She
had everybody on edge. I thought the AD was just going to melt. But she turned
to him and said, "It's all right, it's all right.", then she smiled
and his face was so full of relief it was overwhelming. They were going to go
for another take and she just didn't want that kind of distraction.
SMB
So she never really got mad?
LHJ
She was making a point. But she was smart enough to know she's
not going to get anywhere if she had the crew too nervous. In fact one of the
best things I ever learned in the business was when she said to me your best
friend on the set should be your cinematographer and the AD. Because you want
them to take the time to light you properly to make you look the best you can
for that scene. The AD is your pal, the one that should be on your side.
Another neat thing about her is as old and experienced as she was when it came
time for her close‑up she would stand there for them to light her until
the cows came home. At the beginning, the AD called for her stand‑in but
she told him I never let the stand‑in light my close‑up. That's how
she made friends with thecinematographer. Another
thing, a scene is shot in different ways ‑ a master shot, then two shot
and the close‑ups. Well, she demanded that her close‑ups were done
last because she knew watching how everybody else's close‑up came out
just the right way to make the scene come together when they came around to
her. She would change her performance
based on what she saw. This was from all her years of experience. I took all
that she told me to heart even though I offended a lot of stand‑ins, but
in the long run I did what was right for the movie.
SMB
How was it working with your other cast members?
LHJ
David McCallum I knew
from watching his program, (MAN FROM
UNCLE) although I was always supposed to be going to bed. I remember my dad
and my brother always watching it. Carol Baker I didn't know but I remember my
mom telling me about her. Then in the middle of all these famous people is
little Kyle Richards. On the first day we meet, at the hotel, she comes up to
me and says, "So how many shows have you done?” There she is with her hand on her hip and I'm
thinking, "Oh, my God! Who is this
little girl? I was confident because I
had previously done commercials growing up so I was involved in the
business. But to have this 9 year‑old
come up to me with her, "So how many shows have you done?" Latter I found out she had done a string of
films for Disney.
SMB
Things did warm up after that though?
LHJ
Oh yeah absolutely.
Probably because she felt sorry for me! (Laughs) She probably was trying
to make me feel comfortable.
SMB
Was it a difficult shoot working in the woods?
LHJ
No. After having done ICE CASTLES nothing was hard. When
you're hired because you're a skater and you have to do all this wonderful
skating on a pond, all covered with snow and whatever, there was nothing harder
than that - which is why that film was so rewarding, because it was so
difficult for me. Going to
SMB
Was it a long shoot?
LHJ
3 months.
SMB
One of my favorite scenes
is with you and Carol Baker at the window where she has to shake you to calm you
down. It was pretty intense for Disney who known for making lighter toned
films.
LHJ
Yeah, that was. So was
the scene on the bridge. One scene I was
really disappointed in the way it came out was the one in Tom Colley's shack in
the woods. I remember when we first got
there that place was so frightening. I
was definitely afraid. Richard Pasco who played Tom Colley was so
frightening. As you recall in that Tom
Colley scene I go into his shack and he comes up behind me and I turn around
and he unexpectedly comes towards me. Well, he came at me and really scared me
so bad that I fell right into this mirror. It came crashing down, I
screamed. It was totally unplanned and
terrific. But it was thought too intense
so it was never used. The head of the studio said no, right then and
there. Like the scene you were talking
about before, I was originally slapped instead of shook, but Ron Miller
(Producer, head of then Disney Studio) saw that and said, “A child can’t get
slapped in the face in a Disney film!”
SMB
Yet he didn’t complain
about the dead animals, the ones Tom Colley couldn't save, hanging
around the shack?
LHJ
Well I always thought that scene was lit too dark - that's
probably why come to think about it.
SMB
I know at the time Ron
Miller wanted the film to follow the pattern of past family oriented films,
where Tom Leetch (Co-Producer) wanted to try
something different.
LHJ
Yeah, Miller wanted to be more traditional while Tom was just
trying out what the studio has now successfully become.
SMB
Even the dialog went further ...
LHJ
Oh right. Like where
David McCallum said he had a light touch, especially at night! I mean, oooh!
SMB
I’m still surprised they left that in. I remember the reaction that got when I saw
it at the screening.
LHJ
It was ahnost an "R” rating
right there. (Laughs)
SMB
What was it like filming
the scene when you fall into the water and get tangled in the submerged
branches?
LHJ
Although it doesn't look it in the film the water was only
about 4ft deep. But nobody had gone in
to check it out, from what I understood they wanted me to fall in completely,
and do it in one take because it was one of those freezing London days They told me to stay submerged for one minute
so from that camera's angle you could see that I went completely
underwater. Which was kinda scary.
The shot underwater was all done in a tank in Pinewood. I'm not sure which, but it was either used in
the SUPERMAN movies or the BOND films. That was really scary. This big tank was surrounded with all these
lights shining into the water. I was
thinking, "I must be nuts going in there with all this electrical stuff all
around." I was scared to death
doing that. It was filled up with all these branches and everything. They told me
to go down there with the stunt coordinator, who was a real nice guy, who
helped me through it. He showed me how
to used the oxygen mask, passing it back and
forth. I had to go down, get tangled up
in the branches and then give the Jife line away to
the stunt coordinator and then act like I'm really drowning. But I kept
thinking but if I AM!" Who's going
to know if I'm really stuck? And how am
I going to get the stunt coordinator to know I'm NOT acting and really drowning. I mean, you want to do your best for the
shot, but my theory with acting was the more real you can make it the
better. Sure enough, being the
determined athlete I go in there and got as stuck as I could in those
branches. It was the longest day of my
life. After each take they'd say, “That
was good, but we couldn't see your face. Or it wasn't in focus..." So we
had to do it all over again.
SMB
You're lucky you didn't get sick.
LHJ
Another thing, they're quite different over there (
SMB
So there weren't any mishaps?
LHJ
Well not with that. But there was something else that was
funny. Well not funny really ... just
that I lived to tell about it. When we
weren't filming I was practicing riding with the stunt
coordinator who had me riding pretty well.
So we went to shoot the scene where we're riding along and the horses
get spooked and my horse bolts. There
was a thin row of trees and the camera was on a truck going down a street running
parallel to the path the horse was running on.
I begged Vic (Vic Armstrong, Stunt Supervisor) please let me do this
shot. I know I can do this. It'll be so much better for the scene if it's
not the stunt girl. So they said yes,
but I had never practiced on a horse and screamed. So when they said action I went for it and
starting screaming, totally into the scene –well, the horse went totally out of
her mind. She took off faster than I had
ever gone off before - which means the truck with the camera had to go faster
to keep up with her. Then before we knew it we had come to the end of the
path. The horse just stopped and I went
flying head over heels. Did a somersault and just lucky, landed in a pile of
leaves. Then they all came running and I
thought Vic was just how to have a heart attack. They couldn't even use it because I just went
flying out of frame.
SMB
How did you first get involved with the project?
LHJ
I went on an audition and met John Hough; then I was called to
SMB
Lets talk about the director,
John Hough.
LHJ
Oh he was
tremendous. Real neat. We all felt the tension on the set between
the producers but with John at the helm he handled it so nicely.
SMB
Because he was directing a
suspense film, did he have a technique ...
LHJ
I think the
real suspense was how we were going to end it.
SMB
You mean you didn't know the ending?
LHJ
Well, I think
that was still being discussed between the two producers.
SMB
After you had gotten the part and had received
the script, did it have an ending?
LHJ
Yes, and I remember in the script a large paragraph explaining
the ending and some dialog that I worried how I was going to say it. But I kept
thinking they'll show me something, they'll do it with special effects and make
it all come clear. As many actors will
tell you when they're dealing with special effects a lot of it comes together after the shoot. But they did have a specific ending.
SMB
There are two versions, have you seen both?
LHJ
I assume I
must have at some point otherwise I'd always be wondering. You
see we shot one ending when we were all there in England, then we came back
here (L.A.) and shot more stuff that had to do with the alien ‑ with the
blue screen and all that. Then a year later we were all back in Los Angles
shooting another ending. So when you
talk about an original ending, I don't know what's the
original ending.
SMB
Well the first version of
the film that ran 20 mins. longer
- and of course has the creature.
LHJ
…where I'm lifted up by
this monster? Right?
... and enveloped in its wings.
SMB
Yes.
LHJ
Okay, that was all done here (
SMB
Most of what you're
talking about is part of the “Other World" sequence that never made it in
the finished film. Disney rushed the
film out to coincide with Bette Davis' 50 year anniversary in the
business. There was a mention of that
sequence in the press notes and the original end credits but it never made it
into the film. It was conceived by Sam
Nicholson and, as far as he's told me, the elements were only partially
completed. You're saying that in
LHJ
Well they filmed some stuff, like in the church. Then I remember doing this shot were Bette
Davis and the girl Karen are running across the front lawn, then
come together and embracing. I'm in the
background crying ‑ in joy.
SMB
I remember seeing that in the original.
LHJ
REALLY!
SMB
I also remember a walk by
scene where you're explaining to your sister, Kyle what the Watcher was.
LHJ
Oh, oh, yeah, I remember.
All that dialog. It was such a
mouth full. I was saying stuff about
being transported and all this bizarre stuff that I had no idea what I was
saying.
SMB
That was the explanation the
critics disliked. You have to remember
this was Disney’s second PG film, a lot of people were
uncomfortable about that.
LHJ
Oh right. Like where David McCallum said, "I have a light
touch at night."
SMB
When I saw the original
version the entire film held the critics ‑ until the end. It was the lack of a solid explanation that
people didn't like . Kinda
like in THE BLACK HOLE. What do you remember about filming the
"Other World" sequence?
LHJ
Nothing, it was all effects.
I wasn't really in it. It was my
point of view, so it was all effects.
All I know, I was picked up by this creature and that's as far as I was
used. I do remember doing something with
mirrors and lights. It wasn't like I was
ever in a spaceship. I remember doing
flying sequences on the "Superman/007 set.
We did that for days, and days, where I was flying on wires.
SMB
…with the creature?
LHJ
Alone. The creature was probably going to be added
later. It was all done on orange
screen. It used to be called "BLUE
SCREEN" but around that time, the top of the 80's they had a new way of
doing it.
SMB
What was your reaction
when they told you to come back a year later to re‑shoot the ending?
LHJ
I couldn't believe
it. At the time I guessed this is the
way the business works. If somebody has
the money to spend, and they want to fix this or fix that, fine. Good timing too, I flew back in two weeks
before starting FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.
SMB
During this conversation
I can't help to notice how much you keep referring to things connected with the
shoot as being creepy or scary. It seems
the film's atmosphere was created even before the cameras began to roll. Now after so much time has passed, what was
your reaction seeing the film again?
(NOTE: A copy of the 2nd, shorter version minus the creature
was forwarded to Lynn-Holly prior to our conversation since the missing
original end had not, at this point been found.)
LHJ
I started watching it alone, before my husband had come home,
and was thinking, "This scary!" I was pleasantly surprised.
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