DEALMEMO caught up with Hollywood director as he prepared to take the stage for the UK premiere of The Cat’s Meow, playing at last year’s Regus London Film Festival.

DEALMEMO– How did your experience of making The Cat’s Meow compare to that of your earlier films?

Peter Bogdanovich – It was very swift, we shot it very quickly, which I enjoyed, I enjoy shooting quickly but we really had to get going, we had 31 days.

DEALMEMO– Your film’s central character is William Randolph Hearst, the basis for ‘Citizen Kane’. You knew Orson Welles, did it bring back memories of the director?

Peter Bogdanovich – I always think about Orson, I don’t have to make a movie to think about him. But he was the one who first told me the story and I thought of him quite a bit, usually positively, sometimes I thought "How did you get me into this".

DEALMEMO– Did you hear his voice whispering in your ear while you were making the film?

Peter Bogdanovich – Not any more than I usually do because there are certain things that either Orson either exemplified or told me that I think about often, like not to be afraid.

DEALMEMO– Do you think there is something about the early days of Hollywood that people find inherently fascinating?

Peter Bogdanovich – The 1920’s are interesting and I think the early part of the medium is interesting, it was kind of a grand time, the silent era. We’ve all become very realistic since the silent era, as it fades in the distant memory, though it wasn’t that long ago really, it seems like eons ago.

DEALMEMO– Have you had the urge to make a purely visual, silent film?

Peter Bogdanovich – Yes but I managed to quell the interest. What I try to do when I’m making a talking picture is to keep it as visual as possible. The other thing I try very much to do is to try to make the picture work even if you don’t hear it, so that visually you can follow the story even if you don’t hear it. I’ve done that quite consciously.

DEALMEMO– For the film do you watch any of the films of that era and did it influence your approach or style?

Peter Bogdanovich – No, because it’s not meant to be like a silent film at all. There was one sequence where we actually shot Kirsten (Dunst) playing Marion Davies but I’d seen enough silent movies to do a slight parody of it. But it was fun to do.

DEALMEMO– Do you still, after all these years, enjoy coming to festivals and showing your work?

Peter Bogdanovich – Yes, particularly where it is. I like London, it’s a beautiful town but going to Denver is not as much fun as being in London. No actually they were very sweet to me in Denver but coming to London is one thing and going other places is something else.

DEALMEMO– Do you feel a greater appreciation for your films in Europe than you do in the States?

Peter Bogdanovich – It depends on what part of Europe. For example, Italy they like me, England seems to be ambivalent. I don’t know what’s going to happen on this picture, so far the press has been very nice.

DEALMEMO– Are you pleased with the film?

Peter Bogdanovich – I think it’s a good picture, it turned out very well with a really good cast.

DEALMEMO– Do you go back and watch your previous pictures?

Peter Bogdanovich – No, not unless there’s an audience. If I have to see them I won’t see them unless there’s an audience. To see them by myself, that would be torture. You make a movie for yourself, so to speak, you want to please yourself but when you’ve finished making it it’s not for you anymore because you know all the tricks you know everything that happened, you know everything about it, therefore there is no magic for you. The only magic it has is for the people who are watching it and you pick up their vibe or their laughter or whatever it is. Maybe when I’m 98 and can’t remember how we shot it and I see it maybe I’ll say "oh that’s nice", I don’t know.

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