2 comments

1. Brett says:

   November 1, 2025 at 11:03 am

   The Spielberg letter was because Hooper sued MGM in a verrry public lawsuit stating they were allowing his name to be dragged in the mud in the press (effectively spreading rumors Hooper clearly disagreed with). Suspicious already is that the rumors appeared in the newspapers a mere two weeks into the start of shooting… that’s just not very upright no matter what happened on the set. My guess is this: the set was hostile to Hooper from the very beginning for the mere fact of him not being Spielberg. Certain individuals criticized Hooper on the first day for taking time to stage a scene and talk to actors. This is essentially the story of Ridley Scott on Blade Runne or Stanley Kubrick, directors who tested the patience of film crews, but in this case, they got permission by the studio to undermine Hooper publicly for making his art.

   The fact is, “Poltergeist” was an experiment in big-budget filmmaking – it was conceived as an experience of full spectacle, based on supernatural ideas that would require intense and even dangerous stunts and effects. Of course Spielberg would always be there and Hooper would want/allow him there – these were big, dangerous effects! But there is no credible proof that Hooper’s ideas and directorial choices were not being realized, regardless of who had the more booming voice or more attention-grabbing demeanor. Hooper said in response to the early mid-production reports (again, a mere two weeks into shooting!): “Spielberg is there when I specifically request it and his presence will be smaller as we go forward (presumably because the less effects-driven shots would be later).”

   JoBeth Williams never said Spielberg directed the “majority of her scenes,” by the way.

   Oliver Robins has been steadfast both on the record and in private that his experience of the set is that Hooper was always directing. So has actor Martin Casella. Every interview has had them very passionately defending Hooper’s integralness to the set. Two actors, Casella and Craig T. Nelson, have stated Spielberg was a non-presence for large chunks of the time. I can’t imagine them bothering to say these things in public with such thoughtless candor and then do wink-wink-nudges off camera.

   Evidence has actually slowly trickled out showing a film set that was full of incidents that point to Hooper being a rather individualistic and capricious artist who would not just film what was on the page. So reports of Spielberg “breathing down [Hooper’s] neck” may have been self-inflicted, as, for Hooper to get the multiple mid-production rewrites and changes to production plans he wanted made, he would need his producer Spielberg there as a buffer between his ideas and a hostile set (previously mentioned). And the changes between script and screen are striking. I wonder if the ghost writers Furtney mentions were on the set (this seems unlikely, as there was a writer’s strike going on at the same time). But entire monologues – the small person medium’s whole speech about the “Beast” and “Spectral light” – is not in any scripted version of the film.

   Tobe Hooper edited an entire first cut of the film. He even made a full sound design with the sound engineers (but yes, Spielberg apparently redid it). That said, Hooper editing a first cut is not nothing.

   So there may be whispers and claims that Spielberg “had the power,” or that the crew needed his approval, but Hooper was clearly doing more than yelling action and cut (plus, calling cut is very important because then you can retake the scene or you decide if you want to print that take) – it’s simply scandal-attracted, “powerful man”-seduced minds that can easily make them see what they want to see (confirmation bias) and ignore the fact Hooper was the one setting up shot and establishing the very tone of the picture. Who cares that Spielberg was jumping in now and then (when he was even there, again, two actors dispute his omnipresence)? Hooper could very well just have not used that take when editing the picture for ten weeks. 😉

   So don’t believe the rumors. They’re just that. And they clearly do not come from a good faith place, otherwise there’d be actual investigation and not just pretenses to powerful figures (e.g. make-up FX man: “Oh yeah, I saw Spielberg talk to actors all the time… poor Tobe… oh, and I only was on the set when I was applying make-up effects… but wow Spielberg is so tall and handsome.” (Okay, I made that last line up.)

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