The Films of
Larry Karaszewski


In Hollywood there is a new breed of talent daring to take chances with their creativity and in the process elevate film making to a whole new level of greatness. Larry Karaszewski knows many of these people and occasionally has lunch with them. Larry is also a screenwriter and director who has had made his own contributions to the movie industry with films like Ed Wood, The People Vs. Larry Flint and Man on the Moon. A Golden Globe winner, Larry is a true mover and shaker in the industry. Larry moves and the industry shakes. And to paraphrase Karen & Richard Carpenter, heís only just begun.

REVENGE IS SWEET & REVENGE IS SWEET 2

Young Larry Karaszewskiís early Super 8 films are legendary to the few whoíve had the privilege of being made to watch them. The plots are simple. Kids chase each other on stingray bikes, dismounting only for an occasional karate fight or to run home for supper. To this day the infamous "The Next Day...They Became Friends" ending is regarded as an inspired classic.

HOME WRECKERS

The screenplay Hollywood paid big money not to make into a movie. "There was a change in the power structure at the studio that bought the script," explains Larry, "and the person who green lighted the project was replaced by someone who could actually read." Karaszewski and writing partner Scott Alexander wrote the screenplay with Morris Day and Albert Brooks in mind to play the two leads, but just before the plug was pulled on production, the producers were trying to get Demond Wilson and Louie Nye.

PROBLEM CHILD & PROBLEM CHILD 2

The big break that became somewhat of a letdown for Larry the K. "The original screenplay of the first film was much darker," says Karaszewski, "but the actual movies didnít quite turn out the way I envisioned." If you canít relate to Larryís point of view, try imagining John Ritter playing three roles in Dr. Strangelove instead of Peter Sellers. The subtitle would have been changed to "How I learned to stop worrying and take a pratfall." And it would have been shot with a laugh track.

ED WOOD

The movie that earned Karaszewski and Alexander the one thing Aretha Franklin demanded and Rodney Dangerfield never got. Respect. The biopic that made the word biopic a word that people sometimes use. Who but Larry would think to write a script about a man considered to be the worst filmmaker ever? (Remember, this was shot years before Screwed- see below.) Martin Landau went on to win an OscarÆ and Plan Nine From Outer Space videos started flying off the shelves. A cult was reborn and Larry Karaszewski was now a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood as well as the buffet island at Ponderosa.

THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLINT

When he was a young man hanging out in his motherís basement in South Bend, Indiana, Larry would hold up the centerfolds from Hustler Magazine and ask his companions, "Can you do that?" Who knew that years later Larry would be making a movie about the man responsible for his face getting slapped so many times. The film went on to win Karaszewski and Alexander Golden Globe awards for its screenplay, but when the OscarÆ nominations came out their names were conspicuously absent from the list. "It didnít really bother me," claims Larry, "and honest to god I had no idea that was Jack Valenteís car I took a whiz on after the ceremonies."

THAT DARN CAT

Itís never a good a idea to try to remake a classic film. Itís an even worse idea to try and rehash a so-so Disney comedy thatís long been forgotten. But, as Larry diplomatically puts it, "Sometimes one has to put food on the table and I gave it my humble best." Of course, Larry was referring to the time he worked as waiter at sleazy pizza joint, but the sentiment could also apply here as well. At least the original had the incomparable Dean Jones and the unexplainable Haley Mills heading up the cast.

A LEG TO STAND ON - THE TOTIE FIELDS STORY

Unreleased and unfinished, this pet project of Larryís never got the momentum it needed to make it to the big screen. Cast problems (Brett Butler, who beefed up for the lead role of the famed comedienne, walked off the set in a huff over the refusal to insert an unnecessary nude scene) and budget overruns (Larry often made prank phone calls to China) wound up hindering the filmís projected release date. But the final straw came when talk show host Mike Douglas revoked approval for the use of his name after an expensive dream sequence had already been shot. (In it, Fields is doing her stand-up routine when one of the large asterisks from the set attacks her.) "Itís not dead yet," insists Karaszewski, "Once I learn how to throw my weight around in Hollywood, weíre gonna get this baby done."


MAN ON THE MOON

Originally Larry wanted to make a movie about "that guy who played the Fonz," but Henry Winkler refused to cooperate so Larry and Scott decided it would be easier to pay homage to a sitcom star who was already dead. Of course, Andy Kaufman was more than just Latka, the zany mechanic who fixed the cabs and talked funny on TVís Taxi. He was a comic genius, a pioneer of performance art and a darn good Elvis impersonator. To recapture the magic that was once Andy Kaufman, director Milos Foreman cast Jim Carrey in the lead role and, according to those on the set, Carrey actually became Kaufman. "He even stayed in character during sex," notes Karaszewski, "but donít ask me how I know that." Indeed, the rubber faced comedian/actor recreated Andyís classic routines with stunning accuracy and realism, but when it came time to announce the Academy AwardÆ nominations, both he and the movie were ignored. And once again Larry mistook Jack Valenteís car for a urinal.

SCREWED

A film that was ahead of its time when it was released in theaters, but already behind the times when it came out on video. Still, Larry has no regrets about making this movie starring Norm Macdonald as a hapless butler who tries to get some hap by kidnapping his bossís dog and demanding a huge ransom. Unfortunately, something goes terribly wrong and the whole thing is an embarrassing failure. Oh, and the kidnapping thing doesnít work out for Macdonald either. But at least Screwed gave Larry a chance to co-direct a movie and work with one of his idols, Sherman Hemsley.

THE "YET UNTITLED" MARX BROTHERS MOVIE

Another biopic from the kings of the genre. This time out Karaszewski and Alexander plan to chronicle the early show biz years of Americaís greatest movie comedy group. Details are sketchy right now, but rumors abound thereís friction over Larryís insistence to cast the parts of all five Marx Brothers with Baldwins.