Review of "On the Set of Forrest Gump (with a Foreword by Tom Hanks)" by Steve Starkey

In 'On the Set 0f Forrest Gump', American film producer Steve Starkey relates his experiences making the acclaimed movie Forrest Gump (1994), which won six Academy Awards. Starkey’s book is well-illustrated with photographs, and would appeal to fans of the movie as well as aspiring filmmakers.


Producer Steve Starkey

In Starkey's own words, "Thirty years have passed since the release of Forrest Gump. It has been embraced not only by those who saw the film decades ago but also by a new generation of filmgoers. Audiences are still taken by the charming and likable character portrayed by Tom Hanks."

When we meet Forrest Gump in the film, he's a boy with an IQ of 75 who needs leg braces. Forrest's mother (played by Sally Field) is an indomitable spirit who makes sure Forrest gets proper medical care and goes to a mainstream school.



In time, Forrest sheds the leg braces, and - taught by his mama that the world is full of possibilities and he needs to use his God-given strength - Forrest learns to run.



Starkey summarizes, "By running, [Forrest] was able to escape his boyhood tormentors. He excelled at football, allowing him to graduate from college and become an all-American. In Vietnam, he ran to save his life and the lives of the soldiers around him. Finally, he ran to overcome his grief over losing his mama and his love, Jenny. In running, Forrest found solace and discovered his destiny, as we each have to discover our own."

The book works best for fans familiar with the movie and the characters. For the layperson, the book reads like a brief on filmmaking, including 'tricks of the trade'.

*****

The making of Forrest Gump began when director Robert Zemeckis acquired the script and decided he would do anything and everything in his power to make the movie, along with his production partner Steve Starkey.


Director Robert Zemeckis

Paramount funded the movie and Starkey and his team proceeded to scout the many locations needed for filming. Starkey notes, "On this adventure we would travel into the Deep South and discover the world of Forrest Gump...Many locations were needed for the film, some in Washington, D.C., and some in Los Angeles [and some in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Maine, Montana, Arizona and more]. But we had to start in the South, painting with large strokes at first and fine-tuning as we went along." Additionally, the film spanned several decades, requiring period wardrobe, set dressing, and cars throughout.


The Gump house in (fictional) Greenbow, Alabama

Starkey goes on to say, "On our distant locations, we had a lot of movies within the movie to prep. Not just the scenes in and around the Gump house and the town of Greenbow, Alabama, but also shrimping (including Forrest and Lieutenant Dan getting caught in a hurricane), Vietnam, the bench in Savannah, the sites in Washington, and Forrest’s run across the country. But the filming in the South took precedence."


From top to bottom: Shrimping; Filming the hurricane scene required rain towers, jet engines, and fire hoses; Vietnam (really Louisiana); The bench in Savannah, Georgia; and Washington, D.C.

The movie received careful casting, and Starkey explains how the actors and extras were selected. Michael Conner Humphreys was chosen to play young Forrest Gump, and the boy was more interested in chasing lizards than acting. To motivate Michael, Starkey offered snacks and time off in exchange for Michael doing his running scenes.


Tom Hanks with Michael Connor Humphreys, who plays young Forrest Gump

The running scenes for adult Forrest Gump required very careful planning. Starkey recalls, "Shooting the cross-country run became part of our life. How to pick up all the vignettes was a puzzle and, ultimately, a challenge. We grabbed shots whenever and wherever we could in the most imaginative ways possible."



Momentum Films was hired to shoot the running scenes, and "they would be heading out soon to the wheat fields of Nebraska and the towering peaks of the Rocky Mountains before the seasons changed. We also wanted to hit New England at the peak of the fall colors. A series of these shots would be done without Tom. For his running double, Tom decided on his brother, Jim."


Forrest Gump runs through Monument Valley at sunrise


Tom Hanks with his brother Jim

In the movie, Forrest ran for three years, and the running sequence needed careful coordination among filmmaking departments, like wardrobe; hair; makeup etc. Forrest starts out clean-shaven, wearing a shirt and slacks, and - as he runs - his hair grows, his beard grows, his clothes change, and so on. However, the run was filmed piecemeal, as opportunities arose, so close attention had to be paid to Forrest's appearance in each shot. That is, Forrest might have a short beard and hair in a shot; then a long beard and hair in a shot; then back to a short beard and hair in a shot; and so on.


Forrest Gump's appearance changed over the course of his run

Starkey notes that the scenes set in Vietnam (really Louisiana) were challenging and dangerous. He recalls, "To protect the actors when they crossed the swamp in the rain, we set off explosive charges so no dangerous snakes would remain hidden in the marsh. We even wrapped wire mesh around the actors’ legs to prevent snakebites."


Forrest Gump's platoon slogging through swamps in Vietnam

Later in the movie, after an attack by the Viet Cong, Forrest carries one American soldier after another out of the jungle. Starkey writes, "Bob Zemeckis had designed the shot of Forrest emerging from the jungle with [his best friend] Bubba [played by Mykelti Williamson]...running straight toward the camera. Bombs were exploding close behind them. Since Mykelti was too heavy for Tom to carry while running, we did the scene in two parts. First we put Mykelti in a harness and suspended him on wires from a construction crane. As Forrest runs, cradling Mykelti’s body, we moved the arm of the crane forward."


Scene of Forrest Gump carrying his best friend Bubba out of the jungle

In other scenes, Bubba talks about his dream of being a shrimper, and tells Forrest all about shrimp. In fun vignettes, Bubba says, "...Like I was saying, shrimp is the fruit of the sea...You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it...There’s shrimp kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo...pan fried, deep fried, stir fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burgers, shrimp sandwiches..."


Forrest and Bubba cleaning the floor with toothbrushes while Bubba talks about shrimp

An important character in the film is Jenny, whom Forrest meets when they're schoolchildren, and who's the great love of his life. As an adult, Jenny (played by Robin Wright) is a hippy, drug-abuser, and troubled young woman who dates the wrong men. Forrest and Jenny repeatedly meet as their lives go forward, and their arc is vital to the story.




Sequence of photos: Forrest and Jenny are childhood friends; Jenny goes off to college; Jenny sings in a nudie club; Forrest and Jenny happen to meet in Washington, D.C.; Jenny leaves Forrest again; Jenny returns to Alabama for a brief visit; Jenny becomes a waitress in Georgia; Forrest and Jenny get married; Jenny dies; Forrest is with his and Jenny's son, Forrest Jr.

As the film's producer, Starkey - along with his excellent team - had myriad responsibilities. Starkey organized filming all over the country; handled the budget - which went over the allotted funding; determined the number of days for shooting - which went over as well; directed some scenes; arranged post-production; acquired the songs for the movie; and on and on.

Starkey writes, "I had been through some large-scale films -Roger Rabbit, the Back to the Future sequels, Death Becomes Her, and the Star Wars films...I knew what we were up against in post-production on Forrest. The visual effects alone were a challenge. It would take months to finalize each of the interactive scenes with Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, not to mention the one with John Lennon on The Dick Cavett Show...also a scene with Forrest and Governor George Wallace at the schoolhouse door.


From top to bottom: Forrest Gump with President Kennedy; President Johnson; President Nixon; John Lennon and Dick Cavett; and Governor George Wallace

Starkey goes on, "Plus we had the crowd duplications in Washington, D.C., and the enhancements in the football stadium. We had to “remove” Gary Sinise’s legs in quite a few of Lieutenant Dan’s scenes (Lieutenant Dan is played by Gary Sinise). In addition, there were explosions, gunfire, and aircraft to put into the Vietnam sequence. Even the falling feather at the beginning and end of the film needed to be shot and inserted into its background.


To remove Lieutenant Dan's legs (after he became an amputee), Gary Sinise wore special blue fabric stockings over his lower legs during filming. These were erased in post-production

In another interesting vignette, Starkey writes about Ping-Pong champion Forrest Gump playing Ping-Pong in China, a scene that became the film's greatest challenge. Starkey remembers, "For our film, we asked a professional Ping-Pong player to pantomime the game with Tom Hanks...Considering the competitive level of play depicted in the film, our game couldn’t be real...To re-create a game at the highest level, we explained to the pro that we’d be playing without a ball. That would be added later...The pro fell out of sync immediately. It turned out that he was somewhat like Forrest Gump: Give him a Ping-Pong ball and a paddle, and he knew what to do. Take the ball away, and he was lost." It all got worked out in the end though.


Forrest Gump playing Ping-Pong in China

Of course there's much more in the book, including LOTS of chitchat about the film going over budget. This angered the executives at Paramount, and Starkey endured the criticism. He observes, "On the set of Forrest Gump, I fiercely protected my crew from the punishing studio. I was unaware of the consequences of my actions, but I was willing to take responsibility for them; stupid is as stupid does, after all. It seemed like the right thing to do."

Starkey goes on to say, "Although [Forrest] called himself a simple man, Forrest’s rich moral fiber gave him strength and an uncanny ability to do the right thing. When I first watched the ending -when Forrest sits on the wall at the end of Oak Alley and watches the school bus carry his son to school, then stares off into space as a feather floats into the sky -I never knew how satisfied I would be decades later about a story so well told."

If you're interested in filmmaking, or just a fan of the Forrest Gump movie, this is a great book -chock full of interesting stories. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley, Steve Starkey, and University Press of Kentucky for an ARC of the book.

Rating: 4 stars 

Review of "Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story" by Leonie Swann

The town of Glennkill in western Ireland is known for sheep and tourism - an industry that garners nice profits for bed and breakfast owners and pub landlords. We'll meet both shepherds and an innkeeper in this quirky cozy mystery, in which a shepherd is killed and his sheep investigate the murder.



George Glenn is a shepherd who, though married, usually stays in a caravan on his field.







George's sheep agree that a good shepherd is a person 'who never docks the lambs' tails; doesn't keep a sheepdog; provides good fodder and plenty of it, particularly bread and sugar, but healthy things too like green stuff, concentrated feed, and mangelwurzels; and who clothes himself entirely in the products of his own flock, for instance an all-in-one suit made of spun sheep's wool.'





George falls a bit short, but his sheep love him, and don't mind too much when George wakes them early, laughs and says, "You lazy creatures! Come on, get down to work!" The sheep graze while George works in the vegetable garden and makes repairs, and in the afternoon, the sheep gather in front of George's caravan and he reads to them.




Sometimes George reads from a fairy tale, sometimes from a book about diseases of sheep, and once from a detective story. Mostly, however, George reads love stories in which all the heroines are called Pamela and have red hair. George also talks about traveling all over Europe with his flock, and the sheep would love to go, picturing Europe as a huge meadow full of apple trees.



The dream of Europe isn't to be however, because one morning the sheep awaken to find George lying in the green Irish grass beside the hay barn, with a spade driven through his body.



Miss Maple, the cleverest sheep in Glennkill - and quite possibly the cleverest sheep in the whole world - notes that a human killed George, and the flock must find out who murdered him.



All the sheep help investigate, but the primary detectives are Miss Maple; Sir Ritchfield - the lead ram; Zora - a ewe with horns; Mopple The Whale - a stout ram who remembers everything he sees and hears; Othello - a four-horned ram; and Melmoth - Sir Ritchfield's twin brother. Othello had spent his youth in the Dublin Zoo, and considers himself very worldly; and Sir Ritchfield and Melmoth were previously in the circus, which was torturous and harrowing.



After George's body is discovered by the town drunk, the police find George was poisoned before being impaled with the spade. The flock takes note of this, and as part of their investigation, spy on the people in Glennkill.

The sheep learn that the town's most prominent men, including Josh Baxter, an innkeeper/pub owner; Ham, a butcher; Gabriel, a shepherd; and the local clergyman are more anxious than sad about George's death. The men also repeatedly try to break into George's caravan before 'something gets out'. Most of all though, the men are VERY concerned about George's Last Will and Testament, which will be read aloud by George's lawyer.



Conversely, the sheep find that the town's women, including Kate, George's wife; Lilly, a perfumed lady; Beth, a bible thumper; and Rebecca, a newcomer promoting the tourist trade, are distressed about George's death.

It becomes clear that nefarious things have been going on in Glennkill, and the murder of Weasel McCarthy seven years ago - which was never solved by incompetent Inspector Holmes - has some connection with George's demise.





In the end, Miss Maple puts all the clues together, and is convinced she's discovered the killer. So Miss Maple and several other sheep put on a play at the annual 'Smartest Sheep in Glennville' contest, to expose the murderer.

The novel is a unique take on the talking animal mystery. The distress of the people and sheep that loved George give the book a melancholy aura, but much of the novel is fun. For instance:

✸✸ Othello was spying on people in Glennville, and hid in the church confessional. When the pastor discovered he was taking confession from a ram, "[He] gave a high, shrill scream. He ran past the rows of benches, stumbled and fell, got to his feet again, leaped over the iron fence with the candles with a single great, clumsy movement, and disappeared through the small door through which he had come."



✸✸ Miss Maple, Mopple, and Othello were peeking in Beth's window to hear a conversation between Beth and Rebecca. After Mopple ate the geraniums in the window box to provide a clear view, "it looked as if Beth had planted three sheep's heads in her window box."



✸✸ The sheep were annoyed when Gabriel brought his flock to their pasture, and did something about it. As Gabriel was watching, "A Blackface sheep had stumbled and fallen on the grass. The sheep picked itself up with difficulty. After a couple of steps it fell over again. Behind it, a second sheep stumbled. A fat ram was rubbing his head on the wall of the hay barn as if possessed...Shit! said Gabriel. Scrapie. Shit, shit, shit!" Gabriel gathered his sheep at record speed and left.



The sheep get too philosophical at times, and their conversations are sometimes overly long. All in all though, this is an enjoyable cozy mystery.

I had a digital copy of the book and the audiobook, narrated by Caroline Lennon, who does a fine job. It's amusing to hear the sheep's voices. 😊

This book has been adapted to a movie called 'The Sheep Detectives.'



Rating: 3.5 stars