Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 18, 1994 TAG: 9412200004
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SUSAN KING LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
``About three years ago, Michael sent me the script,'' Douglas, a rugged 78, recalls in his Beverly Hills office. ``We have been looking for about five years for something to do together. He said, `I think I got something.' And he sent me the script.''
But Douglas thought the script by Ernest Thompson (``On Golden Pond''), about a dying man and his estranged son who travel cross-country so he can die in the bed he was born in, was too ``down.''
So he told Michael, ``We will find something better.'' About nine months ago, Douglas was sent the script again. The second time around, Douglas really liked it. ``I said, `Michael, you're right. Let's do it.' ''
But Douglas fils was set to do two movies. So while Michael was making the high-profile Christmas release ``Disclosure,'' Douglas was off doing ``Take Me Home Again,'' not as a theatrical film, but for the small screen. Craig T. Nelson, star of the long-running ABC sitcom ``Coach,'' came on board as Douglas' son.
Douglas, who has starred in countless film classics, including ``Champion,'' ``The Bad and the Beautiful,'' ``Lust for Life,'' ``Spartacus'' and ``The Big Carnival'' (also known as ``Ace in the Hole'') doesn't mind that ``Take Me Home Again'' found a home on TV.
``I have done about five or six TV movies (``Amos,'' ``Inherit the Wind,'' ``The Secret'' among them) which I have liked,'' says Douglas, who describes himself as ``a feisty guy,'' but comes across as easygoing and friendly.
``When I think of the ratings that they had, I think more people have seen those movies than have seen a lot of my theatrical movies. I think TV very often allows you to do a movie, not on a very expensive budget, on a subject that is very often difficult to do as a theatrical. I am more interested in finding something I enjoy playing. And `Take Me Home Again' was really fun to play.''
And Douglas loved working with TV actor Nelson. ``I found it very easy working with Craig. He is a real professional. He was very easy to work with, which was nice because we had so many scenes together.''
Douglas was a childhood idol of Nelson's. So Nelson was thrilled to work with him. ``I wasn't nervous,'' Nelson says. ``I was just in awe. As a kid I had seen `Spartacus' and it was just phenomenal to actually realize you are going to be working with this guy. I was terribly impressed. He was so professional, such a great guy.''
In ``Take Me Home Again,'' Douglas plays Ed Reece, a former traveling salesman who is dying of cancer. ``I am the old geezer who wants to go back where he was born,'' he says with a flash of his famous blue eyes. Douglas says the film reminds him of Arthur Miller's landmark play ``Death of a Salesman.''
``From my point of view - that's why I was so interested in it as a vehicle for Michael and me - it is really about a father who wants to get back with his older son,'' he says. ``It is usually that way. Very often, the oldest son is a rebel. It was that way with Michael. Michael was always a rebel. For the last eight years we have had a very close relationship.''
Though Douglas is still eager to work with Michael, writing is the elder Douglas' first priority these days. This past summer, he published his third novel, the critically acclaimed ``Last Tango in Brooklyn.''
Currently, he is writing a sequel to his best-selling autobiography, ``The Ragman's Son.''
``My first book was looking back,'' he says. ``My next one is going to be a continuation of my life story from a very different point of view.''
Douglas looks wistfully around at the film posters that adorn the walls: ``The Bad and the Beautiful,'' ``Seven Days in May,'' in which he co-starred with Burt Lancaster, ``Spartacus'' and ``The Last Sunset.''
``I don't have anything about movies in my house,'' Douglas says. ``Here I have all the posters. But when I was writing this article about Burt Lancaster, I looked around and began to see people [who I worked with] who are dead: Gloria Grahame, Gilbert Roland, Dick Powell, Ava Gardner, Burt Lancaster, Laurence Olivier, Rock Hudson, Charles Laughton. It was like the roll-call of the dead. You think, where did all the years go? How long I have been around?
Douglas also is a recipient this year of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors, along with director Harold Prince, folk singer Pete Seeger, soul diva Aretha Franklin and composer Morton Gould. CBS will telecast the Washington awards ceremony, which were taped Dec. 4, on Dec. 28.
by CNB