Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Natalie and RJ for Evening Magazine
Evening Magazine Interview while Natalie filmed Brainstorm
The quality of this YouTube video is poor, but you can see and hear the interviews with Natalie and RJ just fine. This show aired while Natalie was away working on Brainstorm. It's an interesting interview because the issue of Natalie being away from their daughters is addressed by each of the couple. Some sources throughout the years have claimed that Natalie's demeanor while away filming Brainstorm was strange. She has been accused of drinking heavily, overusing pills (accordingly to Lambert's biography) and being "emotionally unfaithful" and possibly physically unfaithful (per her husband). Those claims are what I believe is information purposely put out there to confuse facts about the weeks leading to Natalie's death. Lambert's book sure pinned things on Natalie with comments such as she was known to "swish her tail." Dennis had never witnessed such behavior from Natalie.
She seems just fine in this interview. It appears what Wagner brings to this interview, just weeks before Natalie's death, are his concerns with Natalie's desire to work away from home. Natalie actually seems to have a sensible attitude about working. In this interview, Wagner resorts to his first marriage complaints about Natalie's work, and although he appears to impress he's okay with Natalie being away during the second marriage, it's implied he doesn't want a repeat of her former schedule. The time he visited North Carolina for 12 hours to see Natalie, Dennis says was a trip to check up on her. Dennis also says he returned home to L.A. seemingly satisfied Natalie was away only working, which I believe is the truth. What I see in this video is a wife and mother who misses her family but has her career in perspective. I see Wagner seemingly sincere about his feelings for Natalie, but also concerned about her working life.
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Marti, like others here, I remember seeing this interview back then, and it makes me sad now to think about it. Natalie had a right to want what she wanted--to have a family and happy marriage AND to work at something that she loved and was great at. I know that she came from an era where that wasn't exactly the standard, but she was hopeful that she could accomplish it, and she had EVERY right to try.
ReplyDeleteI've stated this elsewhere--at best, Wagner is a chauvinist, and at worst, he's a misogynist. You can tell so easily from his words and demeanor here, as well as elsewhere, that he was threatened by Natalie's goals in each marriage. She might've been outgrowing him this time around, and he sensed it. Or maybe she was simply re-establishing herself and trying to find her way. Whatever the case, he couldn't handle it, and we saw the tragic results.
Her "career demons," he likes to say. You never hear about a man's "career demons," certainly not from him. What is so terrible about her wanting to use her talent? We were all enriched by it. But it was apparently all about him, and he made sure that we wouldn't get to enjoy seeing her shine again.
Lambert's biography certainly was a white wash of the fatefull weekend at Catalina, but some of his research involved people on the set of BRAINSTORM, or close to those involved, and they conveyed their impression of an affair between Wood and Walken. Do you think that Lambert would create fiction and then assign someone's name to it? The most convincing piece to support an affair was Donfeld's recollection of Walken's possession of Wood's hotel key. Donfeld was a friend of Wood's and I find it hard to believe he would tolerate being used if Lambert had indeed used his name for libelous reasons. Donfeld lived a couple of years after Lambert's bio was released giving him ample time to refute or make a statement. John Irvin was quoted also. He directed Walken in THE DOGS OF WAR and said that Walken told him that Wood "...made all the moves." Irvin is still alive and it would be interesting to find out from him if this statement was taken out of context, never made in the first place, or perhaps truthfull.
ReplyDeleteIt's one thing to convey negative impressions of Wood from her husband, or to draw negative conclusions based on behavior/photographs which Lambert did and was completely wrong with, but it's another to use named people with lies. Any author who does that runs the risk of having it blow up in their face with any public denials against such claims. The book would lose credibility instantly. That's why I don't discount the possibility of a Wood-Walken affair.
Michael B