Is it a big leap from Archie Bunker to cop?
Could marriage be the real gamble for stars in Las Vegas?
What are Roy Scheider's three rules for a great movie?
Does Christian shine brightly in Empire of the Sun?
Entertainment Tonight takes the big step for Wednesday, January 6th, 1988.
I have not yet seen it. I think I'll see it when you see it.
Hello again everybody, I'm Mary Hart.
And I'm John Tesh. And welcome back from chilly Chicago, Mary.
Here we are, first time together in 1988. You know it was a great trip and I really
empathize with those people in the Midwest who are just still freezing. That's the big
story.
Well, I had brought you a present to have the weather forecast for Chicago for your
years.
Oh, thanks.
Having a warming trend. It's 20 below.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
As we get...
Prime Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker walked down the aisle. It was for love. The second
time the LA Law Stars did it, for television.
Now then, do you, Stuart, take Anne to be your lawful wedded wife?
Fine.
LA Law's Stuart Markowitz, played by Michael Tucker, and Anne Kelsey, played by Jill Eikenberry,
will be married in a ceremony that promises to be as outrageous as their year-long courtship.
This wedding is funny. I think it's moving. I think it's a great... I think it's one of
the best pieces of writing they've done and we had a great time shooting it. I have not
yet seen it. I think I'll see it when you see it. But I can't wait.
But it's outrageous.
Do you promise to love, honor, and obey? To love and honor?
Eikenberry and Tucker got married to each other in real life 14 years ago.
I think the bottom line of this whole thing, Mary, is the exposure that Megan Gallagher's
getting from all of this, and the word is, from the Hollywood casting agents, that they
want to get her in the film.
No doubt they will, and if she starts making movies soon, chances are she'll probably show
up here in Chicago to make one. You know, when filmmakers grow tired of the same old
scenery in California or New York, it seems they are often turning to the windy city,
where the backgrounds are fresh and the people more than willing to help make a movie something
special. Tony Harris reports now on the developing Chicago film industry.
And so you say you're a movie maker. You want that big city feel without the palm trees
of Los Angeles or the hassle of New York. Well, chances are you'll be making your movie
here in Chicago.
He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one
of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way.
Hollywood has used Chicago as a mecca for gangster movies. Last year's hit, The Untouchables,
was shot in the windy city, but Hollywood is learning that Chicago isn't only for gangsters.
Movies you'll see in theaters in 1988 with a Chicago backdrop are as varied as Poltergeist
3, Red Heat, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Belushi.
Nice grouping of your shots. Thank you.
You're welcome. And Rent-A-Cop, starring Burt Reynolds and
Liza Minnelli. There's a reason why everybody comes here.
It's got all the things that New York has without having to be beat up to get it, you
know. I mean, you really can move around the city and you get those... You have to be a
bad director not to get the good shots. I mean, they're wonderful, wonderful shots.
I think people who have never filmed in Chicago before are pleasantly surprised. I think they've
heard stories in Los Angeles about what it's like to film here, what it looks like. But
repeatedly we have people who come in and say, I never, ever thought it would look like
this. I never thought it would be as easy to shoot here. They're very pleased.
Even though the capital of moviemaking is many miles west in sunny Los Angeles, there
are plenty of filmmakers who come from the cold Midwest. They want to make their films
here closer to what they know as home. The most notable example, John Hughes, who
has returned to Chicago to shoot many of his motion pictures, including Ferris Bueller's
Day Off. It's the middle of the country. It's the
heart of the country. And I love the Midwest. I'm from the Midwest. I live in the Midwest.
And I won't get tired of it. People that hit it big in this town remember
this town with affection and want to come back. I've talked to a lot of directors who
have come here and they all say the same thing. It's a new location with a fresh look. There's
a lot of local acting talent. It's a cheaper place to shoot and it's a lower per diem cost.
So no matter how cold this city gets, it's still a place that Hollywood moviemakers can
warm up to. From the windy city of Chicago, I'm Tony
Harris for Entertainment Tonight. Coming up next, Dan Aykroyd is in dire straights,
as you'll see in an exclusive preview of his new movie.
And ahead, Tim Conway's comedy is right on the beam as he goes searching for the first
Olympics. The star loves Empire of the Sun, but what
do moviegoers think? You'll find out next. And ahead, they're getting married in the
morning, noon and nights, as you'll witness love Las Vegas style.
Empire of the Sun gives a child's eye view of World War II, as revealed in the adventures
of a young boy trapped in China during the Japanese invasion. Critics have given the
movie mixed reviews and those echo the responses of the survey audiences in our exclusive movie
track poll.
Overall, 82% of our audience has rated Empire
of the Sun. But an unusually low 68% said they'd go see it again and tell their friends
to see it. Perhaps one of the viewers summed it up best, saying it was fabulous but slow
moving and long. The movie star Christian Bale received a number of favorable comments.
Getting the lead in Empire of the Sun was an extraordinary break for Christian Bale,
but as the young star told our Eric Burns, he's managed to keep this heady experience
in perspective. At just 13, Christian Bale has lit up the screen with a remarkable performance
in Empire of the Sun. His role of a boy who endures three years of hardship in a Japanese
prison camp during World War II puts him on the screen for most of the movie and he credits
Steven Spielberg with helping him develop his character.
What he did a lot is he let me do what I felt was right for the first few takes. He'd come
in and say, you know, like, okay, when you say this line, I want you to walk to here
and do all that. But he really trusted you? Yeah, he let me do the first few takes by
myself and then if he didn't like it, then he'd come in and say, okay, I want you to
change this a bit.
When you look at that, do you think, gee, that's, I'm happy with myself?
No, I wouldn't say that because when I saw it, I like tried to think of it as another
boy just sitting there seeing what I thought of the film, but I found that too difficult
and I found myself like sitting there going, oh no, covering my eyes all the time. So I
mean. A little embarrassed at parts?
Yeah, and I hate watching myself. You know that there are stories about young
kids becoming famous, young actors becoming famous, turning into insufferable brats as
a result. What are you going to do to make sure it doesn't happen to you?
Yeah, I hope I don't become like that. I want to just carry on as normal. And like with
my friends, they treat me as before and I think that's really good. And I hate it when
people, you know, they find out that I did a film.
Do you really? It bothers you if someone starts to fuss over you?
Yeah, I don't like it. I prefer them just to like leave me as just a normal kid.
And with any luck, they will. Eric Burns Entertainment tonight.
CBS fired them, now they're back. You'll find out why tomorrow when we take you backstage
at the Smothers Brothers 20th anniversary special.
Which is more fun, movies or music? Rock star Phil Collins has his answer on Friday.
Roy Scheider winds up on the wrong side of the law in his latest movie. Now he'll reveal
his secret for choosing between the good guys and the bad guys.
Action. Roy Scheider's latest film, Cohen and Tate,
is a thriller in which Scheider plays an aging hitman at odds with his young maniacal partner
and the boy they've been hired to kidnap. It's a study of two maladjusted and dysfunctional
men versus a little boy who just is experiencing everything for the first time. And it's a
battle of wills. It's rare to find Scheider playing the part
of a villain, but after playing so many different kinds of roles, he says when it comes to choosing,
it's really pretty simple. I read a script and the first thing I say is
do I want to see this movie? And if the answer is yes, then the next question is do I want
to be in it? And then the third question is do I think I can do something in it that I
haven't done before? So if I can answer all those three questions yes, then I usually
accept the job. And looking at his record, he's made some
good choices. One is French Connection, which was the grand
daddy of about 20 years of buddy cop movies that we've all seen now. And then Jaws was
certainly as good as an outdoor adventure movie can possibly be. And All That Jazz is
probably the most unusual American musical ever made.
You were in Traffic Jam? Yes.
Who was the director of Traffic Jam? You were, Mr. Gideon.
How was I? Terrific.
And who was the choreographer? You were, Mr. Gideon.
How was I? Fantastic.
That's how you get a job. I consider myself a good guy.
I consider myself very lucky to have been in all of those films. And I think they all
contributed something to the whole canon of filmmaking. So I consider myself quite fortunate.
Cohen and Tate finished production in December and it's scheduled to be released in August.
Las Vegas marches to the beat of A Different Drummer and the tune is The Wedding March.
Such stars as Mickey Rooney, Kirk Douglas and Bette Midler have all tied the knot in
the city's chapels. And as Jean Wolf discovered, the list is growing minute by minute. So it's
not all gambling, Jean? Well, unless you consider weddings a gamble.
You know, we know Las Vegas makes a fortune on gambling. But lovers are also a huge industry
in that glitzy city. 67,588 couples got married in Las Vegas in 1987. There are no statistics
about celebrity weddings, even though the stars created the most publicity about getting
hitched on the strip.
It's not a very romantic thought, but face it, getting married is a gamble. Nevertheless,
lots of stars with stars in their eyes come to Las Vegas to bet on their chances at wedded
bliss. The Reverend Charlotte Richards has four wedding
couples and a wedding on wheels service. Why do you think stars come here to get married?
I believe that it is quick, it's simple. There's no blood test, there's no waiting period.
And you know, a quick trip to Las Vegas, let's get married and go back home and surprise
everybody.
Las Vegas makes marrying easy for the stars. Want to get married right after the show?
Just keep your tux on. On holidays and weekends, the marriage license
bureau is open 24 hours a day.
There was a call from Steve Wynn from the Golden Nugget and he said that he had some
VIPs, extra, extra special VIPs coming over. And when they arrived, I was surprised to
see that it was Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. They filled a license out and then when I
went back to get their signature, that's when she was sitting on his lap and they were just
looking at each other, dreamy-eyed.
I did their ceremony and they appeared to be very, very much in love.
So you say, Bruce, to me, you are now husband and wife, and then they kiss. What was that
kiss like?
He embraced her, kissed her, lifted her up in the air, lit her down, and looked at her
so beautifully. Lifted her again, kissed her again and down. And there was just, the whole
room to me was filled with their love.
Bruce and Demi's ceremony follows in a long Hollywood tradition of Vegas weddings.
Las Vegas is still a marrying spot for today's stars. Lisa Bonet was recently married here
to musician Lenny Kravitz.
As I walked by the chapel, this voice said, hello. I recognized the voice immediately.
She's always been my favorite on the Cosby show. Did the wedding for them, a very simple
wedding for them because they were in a hurry to catch a plane going somewhere else.
Can you tell me what they said to each other?
They just expressed how much they loved each other and how much they wanted to remain together
throughout their lifetime.
The aura of glamour that the stars have instilled in a Las Vegas wedding has made the town a
magnet for those who want to be married in the same chapel as Joan Collins and other
celebrities. And the fact that so many star marriages fail hasn't jinxed the thriving
love industry.
Of course Las Vegas weddings are easy to make fun of. That beautiful chapel we just saw
is all glass in front so people in the shopping mall can grab an ice cream cone and saunter
over and watch a wedding. There are jokes about wedding rings for rent or charging your
ceremony on your credit card. But the Las Vegas Marriers take their romance business
very seriously.
But if they have a star come in there who wants to get married, how long can they keep
it a secret?
Well they say that if the star asks them to keep it a secret, they will. And then they're
always surprised about the phone calls and the interest in who discovers it the next
day.
Surprisingly, as you go back and you look at that, you think of short term marriages.
But a lot of those people have been married for many, many years.
And some go back to renew their wedding vows right there in Las Vegas. And then the ones
that don't last, of course Joan Collins' wedding didn't last very long. And now there's a thriving
industry because buses on a bus tour stop every day to see the spot where Joan Collins
and Peter Holm got married.
John, was there over the weekend?
Just a reminder, you're watching entertainment tonight. When we come back, you'll find out
what Mikhail Baryshnikov, Ed Bradley and Steve Martin have in common. Stay with us.
Now nice, easy stroke, Al Bosin, just...
When I first did it on Carson's show, even I couldn't believe how stupid the thing looked.
And once you see how stupid it looks, then all you have to do is just advance it a little
bit and make it even more stupid the next time you see it.
I have some wonderful bruises and things from this whole thing. You put false feet on your
knees and anybody could do this character.
In his Olympic home video, Dorff demonstrates how the individual events were created, along
with his ever towering sidekick, Leonard.
This is more of a historical description of how the games started. How they first...
through the first put or through the first shot. I don't know whether they shot a put
or put a shot. It's one of those two things. They didn't know it that time themselves.
We'll be showing a lot of that thing at the first polo on your vault and things of that
nature.
With the success of his home videos, Dorff and his alter ego, Tim Conway, have plans
to continue the character in the future.
Well, we're thinking about doing a movie about it. Unfortunately, nobody else is, but we're
doing a lot of thinking about it. So we spend a lot of our evenings sitting around thinking
about it. I would imagine eventually that if this thing keeps going, it's... well, as
I say, you'll be looking at Dorff dolls probably by the end of...
So what's next for Dorff?
Hunting Bigfoot will be next, yes. Which was my first wife, actually.
Mary and I will be covering the Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada for you this year. Mary,
what do you think? Do you think we can find a place for Dorff in our travels?
I think it would be absolute disaster. Disastrously funny, but I'd love to see him do some demonstration
maybe of speed skating or giant slalom. Can you imagine what kind of a sight that would
be? So this is your invitation, Tim Conway. Join us in Calgary and bring your Woolies.
Celebrating birthdays today, actress Pamela Sue Martin is 35, actress Diane Keaton, 42,
choreographer Alvin Ailey is 57, and actor Robert Duvall is also 57.
In today's People Post scripts, Mikhail Gorbachev has been voted as having the best public relations
for 1987 by the Women Executives in Public Relations group. His summit counterpart, President
Reagan, was voted as having the worst. Other public relations fiascos include Judge Robert
Bork, Gary Hart, and the New York Stock Exchange.
And Walter Cronkite created a tizzy by answering, well, if Gary Hart can do it, why can't I?
When asked on the McNeil Lair News Hour if he would run for president, Cronkite Associates
found the answer amusing, but firmly denied their boss has any intentions of throwing
his hat in the ring. And in an interview with Entertainment Tonight just a few weeks ago,
Cronkite stated he would definitely not be a candidate. John?
I'd vote for the guy. Come on. That about wraps up our visit to the Windy City. Mary,
come home. It is lonely here.
Hey, John, what is this stuff about our visit to the Windy City? I don't see you in ear
muffs.
Short straw.
Yeah. I do want to thank all of the nice people at WBBM, our new affiliate here, as well as
the people who have lent us the entire floor of the 55 West Wacker Drive building. They
have been just super in hosting us here today. Maybe tomorrow they'll turn on the heat.
Thanks Mary. Congratulations to you and your crew for bringing us those great stories from
Chicago.
It's been fun.
And now Roy Scheider plays a hitman with a problem in his new movie. You'll find out
what it is.
And John, I'll be seeing you in Hollywood tomorrow, but meantime we're going to leave
with more of our favorite guy, Dorif, who's going to Calgary. Tim Conway's alter ego in
an unbalanced balance beam routine. Bye bye everybody.
Here is oneきた favorite States for aggression.