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On the Set with
'Escape From New York'
By Samuel J. Maronie
STARLOG Number 45, April 1981



John Carpenter's next film features a violent, decayed and warped urban jungle-post-apocalyptic New York City. We caught up with the production as it started its first on location shooting ...in St. Louis, Missouri.

In 1997 New York City has become an island prison for three million convicted criminals who have lost a war against the United States Police Force. Reverting to near-savagery the inmates roam the streets in packs, constantly at war with each other for supremacy of the decaying metropolis. Escape is impossible - every bridge is sealed and mined, the waterways are charged with deadly electricity and radar-scanners constinually probe for potential fugitivs.

Into this hell lands the President of the United States. While on his way to a world summit, Air Force One malfunctions and the commander-in-chief's escape pod drops into the hands of these insane criminals. His only hope is Snake Plissken, a soldier of fortune who is drafted into a suicidal mission to help the President escape from New York.

On Location

The grim forecast of things to come stems from the fertile imagination of John Carpenter, director and creative genius behind Halloween and The Fog. Carpenter now serves in the same capacity for Escape From New York, his upcoming SF/adventure epic.

It is a typically humid mid-summer evening in St. Louis, Missouri as Carpenter and crew lense scenes of ancient brick buildings near the Gateway Arch known as the garment district, and area is ropped off to curious onlookers as prop man, technicians and other members of the company scurry about their jobs.

Overseeing this organized chaos that's called shooting a movie on location is director Carpenter, himself. Clad in a faded pair of blue jeans and purple knit pullover, the young filmmaker squints into the camera lens and then confers with several assistants.

The outdoor set consists of a large parking lot sorrounded by imposing structures. Workers have strewn the slum area with additional litter, junk and portions of smashed autos to add to the seedy atmosphere.

On cue a large transport helicopter swoops down from nowhere, its blades whipping up a force that drives back visitors and forces the crew to shield their faces. The copter lands swiftly and a battalion of black-clad soldiers with infra-red rifles pile out of the vehicle and into the dark, winding streets.

In the scenario, these soldiers are part of the USPD, which is racing to retrieve the captive President. After the scene is repeated several times, the director is apparently satisfied as he gives order to "print it" and moves on to another set-up.

Later, during a break in the activity, Carpenter takes time to speak to STARLOG about the genisis of Escape.

"Actually, I wrote Escape From New York way back in 1974; I believe I was inspired by the movie Death Wish (about a vigilante killer), that was very popular at the time. I didn't agree with the philosophy of it, taking the law into one's own hands, but the film came across with the sense of New York as a kind of jungle, and I wanted to make an SF film along these lines."

The ABC's of "Escape"

"I had just made Dark Star, but no one wanted to hire me as a director. So I thought: "Well, then, I'm going to write screenplays and work my way in. I scripted Escape, only to discover no studio was interested because they felt a) it was too strange, b) it was too violent or c) we're not thrilled with the idea of NYC as a prison. But now, at this point of my career, I have a chance to make it."

While the production takes place in the wids of post-war NY, various locations around the country were used as stand-ins. The company filmed several days in Atlanta, Georgia, a few weeks in St. Louis, interior scenes on a Los Angeles sound stage, and eventually in the Big Apple. But why was the Gateway City ever considered att all?

"To do the things the script calls for would be impossible in L.A. or New York," the young director explains. "No way at all. We're lighting huge, immense areas, blowing up cars, crashing airplains (the Presidential jet was detonated in St. Louis a few days prior to this interview), and to do that you have to get the total cooperation of a city.

"New York is out of the question; we couldn't get the necessary permission or control the crowds. Los Angeles looks nothing like New York... So here we are in St. Louis; here there's architecture similar to New York and New Jersey, but not as closed in. Everything's built on a big scale; you can stand on the street and look down forever."

The movie-maker adds that another advantage to the midwestern city is that at night the streets are deserted, which allows the crew a greater freedom of movement. Likewise the Atlanta sequences, which involved use of their Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit system; such work could never have been done in a busy city like New York.

Carpenter speaks enthusiastically about the cast assembled for his picture; many are alumni of previous efforts. Kurt Russell and Season Hubley (stars of the director's Elvis telefilm), Donald Pleasence (Halloween), and Adrienne Barbeau (Somebody's Watching Me, The Fog - and Mrs. John Carpenter). Rounding out the list are Harry Dean Stanton (ALIEN), Isaac Hayes, Ernest Borgnine and Lee Van Cleef.

Van Cleef appeared in a low-budget monster movie in the 50s that Carpenter says was "one of the most influential in my life!" He refers to It Conquered the World, in which Van Cleef played the Earth ally of the Venusian title creature. Van Cleef's comment: "The hardest part of the movie was talking to the damn monster!"

At the Press Conference

During the St. Louis shoot, the company throws a press conference to allow writers to speak to the various cast and crew members. At this gathering veteran SF-film performer Ernest Borgnine reflects on his role in Escape as well as other pictures. Winner of the Oscar in 1955 for Marty, Borgnine is a jovial man who enjoys telling stories about his career.

When asked about the rigorius dusk-to-dawn shooting schedule, he shakes his head comically and says, "Boy, I'm not used to rolling in at 6 a.m. and still being sober! To be honest, the majority of this film takes place at night so that means we're up in the wee hours of the morning and sleeping by day; I'm starting to feel like a vampire."

Borgnine, who potrays "Cabbie," a futuristic taxi driver, is no stranger suffering for a film role. He got quite a workout in The Poseidon Adventure ("We were climbing ladders or crawling through hatches - and always wet...") as well as Willard (Those rats were treated better than the human actors; they were fed on time, got enough rest, and everyone prepared them...")

Regarding The Black Hole, he emphasizes his pleasure working for the Disney organization and defends criticism of the film. "They decided to do 'Capt. Nemo in Outer Space'...so what! It was still an entertaining picture and those special effects just had me in awe."

The actor talks at lenght about his work with legendary directors such as John Sturges and Fred Zinnemann; but in the same breath he predicts that Carpenter will join their stellar ranks.

"He's marvelous," Borgnine states. "John is very professional ´...very polished. He knows how to challenge performers and draw out the best. And there is isn't a better young producer than Debra."

The Debra referred to is Debra Hill - Carpenter's long time protege. She is producing Escape along with Larry Franco, another of the director's associates.

Hot-So-Silent Partner

"We've been shooting at night and the crew is getting very, very tired," remarks the petite, attractive producer. "Everone got really soggy out there on the bridge (a dilapitated near-collapsed structure that straddles the Mississippi River) the other night."

Hill's first movie with Carpenter was Assault On Precint 13, in which she served as script supervisor. They hit it off so well that the duo decided they'd like to collaborate. So from there came Halloween, The Fog and now Escape From New York.

"I've never set out to be a in the limelight," she comments about her growing stature in the motion picture industry. "I only hope I can do a good job. It's a little easier now to get in the front door of the studios and make them listen to what I have to say.

"Being a woman has never posed any special problems. I think one reason there hasn't been any discrimination is that I started out as a writer. When you turn in that script and they read it, the judgement is made for the contents, not for the name of the cover."

As so further team-ups with Carpenter....

"We want to keep working together, but we want to work apart, too. We're going to do Halloween 2 and El Diablo (a Western scripted by Carpenter) and some other exciting things. I recently bought the screen rights to the Parker Brothers game Clue, which will most probably be done for Universal; I'll be doing that on my own."

Hill expresses her interest in SF/fantasy films and says she would certainly enjoy making a few more. But in her eyes, the movies she wants to make will be cut from pretty much the same cloth.

"I feel all pictures should be bigger than life. For example, we're going to do this Western, and Clue is a whodunnit; all our films will have a certain amount of suspense in them. That manipulation of the audience is very important because we make pictures for the audience. We don't make them for ourselves and we don't make them at all for the critics."

Apparently the Carpenter/Hill partnership is doing something that moviegoers like. Both Halloween and The Fog were made at a minimal cost and reaped huge earnings at the box-office; in fact, Halloween holds a record for the highest-grossing independent feature. No small accomplishment in a buisness where $40 million spectaculars bomb regularly.

At St. Louis U.

There is a second visit to the Escape set after the company has changed locations to the depressed area surrounding St. Louis University. It is another warm evening and the strong threat of rain looms above. Technicians work to line up a shot on the steps of an abandoned cathedral as Carpenter gives last-minute instructions to his performers.

Off to the sidelines an unshaven , decidedly scroungy-looking Kurt Russell (anti-hero Snake Plissken) plays with his young son and chats with wife Season. An equally scruffy Adrienne Barbeau is standing among some extras while learning on the souped-up submachine gun she totes throughout the picture.

Barbeau made her first feature film debut in husband Carpenter's The Fog; now she plays the lead in Escape From New York. Are there any complications that stem their dual relationship?

"No," she says, emphatically. "It's actually much easier because I can trust him; not only trust in terms of of myself, but also in acepting things, like a suggestion he might make to help me," Barbeau explains.

"I also have the advantage of having his ear, in case we want to discuss something before arriving on the set. Working with John is very easy...very calm...He doesn't go around screaming at his actors, instead he gives us a lot of support."

Asked what sort of role she plays, the performer giggles and replies: "I don't think my character (Maggie) is nasty; she just keeps blowing people away! I guess you could say I'm sort of a 1997 gun-moll!"

The actress and her husband have formed their own production company. They are currently sifting through scripts for future vehicles for Carpenter to direct and which Barbeau might star.

In the meantime, she makes the best of her stay in St. Louis.

"We've been filming from 9 at night until about 7 a.m., but I've been getting up early and hitting the antique stores," she reveals with a sly smile.

The Look of "Escape"

In the makeup trailer, Ken Chase is putting the finishing touches on a bizzare resident of the near-future. Chase, who worked on several Planet Of The Apes features, adds some dark lines on the cheeks of his subjects to give him a sunken, skeletal appearance. With Chase's makeup, a set of dentures filed to a point and a wild hairstyle, "Romero" (Frank Doubleday) will be ready for the camera.

"The work for Escape is basically very simple stuff," the cosmetic wizard says of his contribution. "We're talking about several 'classes' that exists in 1997: there are the Gypsies - who are dirty and disheveled, and the Crazies - who are oily and greasy-looking. Their makeups aren't that complex; wardrobe adds a lot to their appearance."

Extras wander about the outdoor locale in various stages of dress. Many are clad in rags and tatters, adding earrings, tied head scarves and a variety of leather accessories; others sport garb reminiscent of Errol Flynn, with large hats, flowing capes and deadly rapiers. Quite a mixed bag.

Chase and an assisant handle the flow of background players in assembly-line fashion as he speaks of his involvement in such TV projects as The Wild Wild West, Eleanor and Franklin and Roots 2.

"Make-up men are a lot like actors - we all get locked into certain 'types'. My speciality seems to be old-age creations, because I'm always the first one producers call; when they need something for an SF film, they go to someone like Rick Baker."

The artist describes his duties on Escape From New York as primarily creating several gory effects. He speaks very matter-of-factly about such appetite depressants as slit throats, spurting blood and dismembered fingers. As if one cue, actor Isaac Hays enters the cubicle to let Chase apply a nasty gash across his face.

Other members of the crew seem equally as sadistic. Prop man Gene Booth offers a private tour of his armory, containing all the grisly weapons used by the convicts for survival in the wild city.

Booth, winner of a 1978 award from the Academy of SF and Horror Films for his work, takes gleeful pride in demonstrating the many instruments of death. There are spiked-studded wrist bands, chains wrapped with barbed wire and a generous selection of hatchets, sledge-hammers and assorted hand weapons.

"Since they (the convicts) don't have any technology, they have to create arms out of whatever is available. So I designed a lot of crude devices that could be made out of anything."

Closer inspection reveals that the props are just that - knifes, guns, etc. all fashioned out of harmless rubber. But a grinning Booth steps outside his trailer carrying a medieval crossbow made out of old pipes and fittings. "Now this really works," he grins.

Circling around a camera truck chugs a battered Cadillac; two glass chandeliers are mounted over the headlights as gaudy hood ornaments. Inside sits Isaac Hays as the villainous Duke, leader of the Gypsies.

Soon the gaffers, the sound man and everyone else necessary to the making of a feature film are set. The buzzer sounds three short blasts and the cameras role. Escape From New York come a little closer to completion.