"Footloose" (1984)

Just revisted a movie from 1984 called “Footloose” with Kevin Bacon. Most of you have heard that movie. A solid solid movie. It was 30 years ago. The movie is actually an amazing accomplishment if you listen to the commentary by writer Dean Pitchford. Guy is an unknown genius…little do people realize, he didn’t just write the movie…he wrote the songs too. Yes. The songs that include “Holding Out For A Hero”, “Let’s Hear It For The Boy,” “Almost Paradise,” and the title “Footloose.” It’s insane the hits this guy co-wrote. And is virtually unknown.

The movie was released by Paramount, when Dawn Steel was the head of the studio. If you know about her history, she wasn’t known for her tact. Nor her ability to hide her opinions of things. She supported this movie. BUT didn’t want Kevin Bacon on the project. Since, SHE didn’t find him sexy in the least. My guess is she probably said “I wouldn’t fuck him.” Keep in mind, she was the one who LOVED the script and champion its production. There’s been little said about her passing. Questionable death under the age of 60.

Anyway…

…to get him into the project (which by the way, they’d already gone through Tom Cruise, who missed the window due to commitment to “All The Right Moves” & Rob Lowe, who’d broken a bone during the dance audition) they had him do a filmed screen test. To get him to be attractive to Dawn, they paid a GQ hair cutter $1500 to get Kevin a great hairdo. In 1984, that is insane. To make things even more difficult…Kevin had just been offered the lead in “Christine” the Stephen King car movie directed by John Carpenter. They just wanted him. No testing, no nothing. So…Kevin had two choices…take the money and the “go” movie with “Christine” getting paid (it was a success) OR test for the POSSIBILITY of “Footloose.” ANY one of us would probably take the sure thing. The thing Craig Zadan (producer) had promised him was that…”Footloose” would make him a star. There is NO WAY you can guarantee this and he knew it. Think about that for second, a movie that there are no guarantees, you lie to someone. Do you start drinking or do you start doing cocaine?

The director, Herbert Ross, didn’t seem to know too much about the politics. Or he was just too rich or didn’t care. Guy got a director’s cut though.  He was successful. And didn’t seem to want his hands dirty over it. It was beneath him, but he loved the material as well. Nothing like good material.

So, the screen test…Herbert Ross was good with Kevin, but they had to still clear him with Dawn Steel, Michael Eisner, Barry Diller...basically the who’s who of  suits who ruled 80’s-2000 cinema (then at the time execs at Paramount). They had Kevin in different wardrobe, cut together with Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” (yes, this is how silly it got). Just before the screening Dawn Steel pulled aside Craig Zadan (producer) and said “I hope you have another actor in your back pocket, because I will NEVER approve him.” They went into the theater. Screen test started. 60 seconds into it an executive in the back screamed out “Oh my God, he’s fantastic, he’s hired.” To which they begged for the screen test to stop. They didn’t want an excuse to NOT hire Kevin. Dawn never brought it up ever again. This was BEFORE a single frame of footage was shot for the movie.

To think, this was a miniscule budget that was completely ignored during production. $8 million dollars. This is pocket change to studios. But this much drama for so little. Of course, this didn’t stop some from giving their opinion once production finished. Everyone has an opinion and it could derail your project. Usually people don’t know what your intentions are until it’s out there. They stood by their guns. Believed in their instincts. Buy stock in Pepto, ‘cause this isn’t for the faint of heart.

Why am I writing about this? Well, THIS is how fragile movies are in order to get made. You are essentially fighting an uphill battle all along the way. And there is no easy way. STICK BY YOUR COLLABORATORS. A collection is stronger than a lone warrior. If you were to sell “Footloose” today…you’d get a million “no’s” I’m positive it wouldn’t be taken serious. It wasn’t then either. These guys FOUGHT to get it made. Because they believed in the material so much. They believed people would pay money to watch it. Every single moment could’ve derailed the project. There were no easy moments. Decisions after decisions. And each one could kill your movie. Would it surprise you to know the original script didn’t even imply that it was a musical? In fact, music was still being written during the shoot. The first batch of music was killed. In their mind…NOT ONE HIT. No radio play poppy music. They dumped it all. And started from scratch (the rest is history).

This was at a time when MTV was just starting out. They cut together a montage with songs from the movie and gave it to them. No filmed sequences or anything done deliberate to promote it. Just that they linked themselves to MTV. They didn’t have anything to broadcast. It was fledgling station. They could just show Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” so many times. “Footloose” soundtrack dislodge Michael Jackson for a brief moment of time.

A sequel and a successful Broadway show later, this is still revered. And imagine what life would be like without “The Kevin Bacon Game.” It’s a time capsule for sure.