Even though Tom Rolf has spent more than half of his 69 years under the
California sun, his pink skin lets you know that he's spent most of that
time nestled inside Hollywood editing rooms. Rolf has been a film editor for more than 40 years. He has worked on such
influential films as Martin Scorcese's Taxi Driver (1976), Paul Schrader's
Hardcore (1979), Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate (1980), John Badham's WarGames (1983),
Ridley Scott's Black Rain (1989), Adrian Lyne's Jacob's Ladder (1990),
Michael Mann's Heat (1995), and Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer
(1998). He won the Oscar for his work on Philip Kaufman's The Right Stuff
(1983).
But his first major motion picture featured the biggest name in show business: "Clambake" (1967) starring Elvis Presley.
Rolf was visiting the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina when this interview took place. My first question was a
simple one:
How did he get involved in Clambake?
"I was working for as an editor on a series called "The Big Valley," Rolf
said. "During the summer hiatus, (the production company) had this script
that they wanted to make a feature out of. Somehow they made the deal with
the Colonel and with Elvis to make Clambake."
"The Big Valley" featured Barbara Stanwyck who starred in Elvis' Roustabout
(1964). The popular Western show ran on American television from
1965-69. It also starred Lee Majors who went on to international stardom as "The Six
Million Dollar Man."
"A former film editor named Arthur Nadel was contracted to direct it," Rolf
said. "He approved me as the film editor."
Nadel had worked as an editor on My Dear Secretary (1948), Impact (1949), The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)and D.O.A. (1950).
Normally the editor doesn't become an active part of the production until the movie has been filmed. Because of the logistics of working on an Elvis
film, Rolf found himself involved during preproduction and on the set. Even
though "Clambake" takes place in Miami, Florida, Elvis never left Los
Angeles. This was done to save the extra costs and time connected with shooting on
location with a star of Elvis' stature When Elvis went to Seattle
to shoot "It Happened At the World's Fair" (1963), the production had to hire 46 off-duty
policemen as Elvis' security unit. This was an expense the filmmakers
didn't want to add into the budget of Clambake.
Nadel and his crew had to use nearly every movie magic trick to create the illusion that Elvis was in the Sunshine state.
The film is filled with process shots, rear projection, stunt doubles,
location body doubles, exterior sets inside soundstages and stock footage of the actual Orange
Bowl International Power Boat Regatta in order to make the audience think
Elvis is really there.
"It was done in the method that we did at the time. It was rather primitive," Rolf said. "We shot most of it at Universal Studios in
Hollywood. We did a couple things at the old MGM studio. It was a UA picture, we just leased
space at Universal."
Did the mixing of effects and footage cause editorial headaches for Rolf?
"To say the least," replied Rolf. "You could only do with what you had to
work with. Elvis was very cooperative, but he didn't want to work long
hours So you didn't have a lot of takes or coverage."
Like most of Elvis' 60s movies, his antics with his entrouge of Memphis pals
and ex-army buddies kept the set jumping.
"He had his whole crowd with him," Rolf said. "There was a lot of cherry
bombs and firecrackers on the set " Elvis' gang didn't stand behind the
camera watching their boss in action. Clambake features cameo appearances from Charlie Hodge, Joe Esposito and Red
West.
Rolf remembers the production moving smoothly. "It's so many years ago, I
can't remember the problems," Rolf said. "You tend to forget about the
bad times and remember the good times."
Rolf does remember the one problem that arose when the soundtrack arrived.
"On the music that they supplied, Elvis was a half tone out of pitch," Rolf
recalled. "We had to take his vocals to a thing called a harmonizer that
they had at MGM and tweak the pitch which they could do without losing any
speed."
Even though Elvis was married as soon as he was released from the set of
"Clambake," the impending nuptials weren't the talk of production.
When I asked if Elvis' performance changed as his wedding day drew near,
Rolf rubbed his beard and couldn't remember Elvis getting married around
that time.
But Rolf did recall an even better Elvis memory.
"I remember that we had an enormous wrap party that coincided with the
director's birthday," Rolf said. "We had a cake that was maybe a yard
square. The icing pictured all the highlight moments of the film. Towards the end
of the evening when everybody had a little juice, Elvis and his buddies came over and stood by the table where the cake was .
The director was sitting there with his wife and twelve year old daughter.
"Elvis said, "You know Arthur, this has been the greatest experience of my
life. I've had more fun on this movie. I can't tell you how grateful I am.
" I could just see Arthur Nadel's face bursting forth. And as he was
talking, the other three guys got up and got a corner of the cake.
And as Elvis got to the end of his speech, they all just picked it up and
dumped it on the director's head.
"The daughter didn't think it was funny. Everybody else thought it was
funny. The daughter got outraged. She grabbed a piece of cake and threw it at
Elvis. Somebody else grabbed a piece of cake. The next thing, it was the biggest food fight with the yard
square cake."
It was an experience that left more than memories for Rolf.
"I do remember putting the same sports coat on three or four weeks later
and digging into my pocket and finding some cake," Rolf said.
The party would have been even more memorable for Rolf if it wasn't for the
interference of Colonel Tom Parker.
"At the party, everyone thought Elvis was going to get up and sing," Rolf
said. "And he was agreeable to do it himself. But the Colonel put the kibosh
on that because he thought somebody might have a tape recorder and try to exploit the fact that they had a tape of
Elvis."
As on most Elvis movies, Colonel Tom Parker was given the credit of
"Technical Advisor." I asked if the Colonel spent time in the editing room
making sure his client looked good in the film.
"It was just Arthur and I in the editing room," Rolf said. "Nobody else
showed. It was a relatively painless experience. "
I asked what was the Colonel like during the production. "He never showed up on the set," Rolf said. "He was just this hovering presence: the aura
of the Colonel. I never saw him."
After Clambake, Rolf edited "Big Valley" for another season before he went
full time into feature film work. Nadel directed one more feature film
"Underground" starring Robert Goulet that wasn't released in America. Nadel
went to work as an executive at Filmation, a production house that
specialized in children's television. He directed a few episodes of the
company's live action shows including "Jason of Star Command." Nadel died in
1990.
2003/04/15 Tom Rolf / Joe Carr / Ep.Gold.Com