Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 23, 1990 TAG: 9003231745
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MYRA FORSBERG THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But in this post-modern Cinderella story, with Shavian overtones and Los Angeles locales, the heroine happens to be a hooker.
And the man who would be her prince is a mendacious corporate raider whose only regal trait is a passion for opera, specifically Verdi.
The coltish title character of Marshall's "Pretty Woman" - which opens nationwide today (In Roanoke at the Tanglewood Mall Cinema) - is played by Julia Roberts, in her first starring screen role.
Roberts is particularly familiar to moviegoers after recently winning an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for "Steel Magnolias."
While her fervent portrayal of a doomed diabetic impressed many academy members and critics, the film itself - a female-bonding tale set in and around a dumpy beauty parlor - earned decidedly mixed reviews.
There are no down-home beauticians, armadillo wedding cakes or incessantly wisecracking Southern belles in "Pretty Woman."
In this "Pygamalion"-esque fable for the 90s, Vivian (Roberts) cruises Hollywood Boulevard to pay the rent.
There she meets Edward, the bloodless, conspicuously wealthy predator played by Richard Gere, who is literally lost in Los Angeles's palm-lined, asphalt labyrinth.
Eventually, Edward hires Vivian for a week - a week in which he will buy her an opulent wardrobe, introduce her to corporate duelists and slippery escargots in pricey restaurants, and take her to see a lavish production of "La Traviata."
Through it all, Vivian evinces a brash sense of humor and an ingenuous charm, facets that were not underscored in the original screenplay, says Roberts.
"The script changed a lot," explains the actress, 22.
"It first was called `3,000,' and it was written by J.F. Lawton. It was a very dark view of a week in the lives of Vivian and Edward, and it was not a happy story. It was not a funny story. But it was a wonderful story.
"That's when I got involved, when it was this dark and dingy story about this prostitute. Then the next thing I know, it has been sold to Disney, and Garry Marshall is directing and there's no cast, so I no longer have any job.
"And they took it on this journey and turned it into this delightful, funny, extremely different story. But it's hard to come around when you've fallen in love with this girl the way she was: it's hard to come around when suddenly you see her crack jokes and stuff.
"So it was a real mind twist, to see what they were seeing when I was sold on what I had seen before. But I met with Garry, who was witty and clever, and we had a nice time."
After securing the job for the second time, Roberts proceeded to research the part, including meeting some Los Angeles prostitutes.
Roberts shared these observations with one of the writers working on script revisions, Barbara Benedek.
"Some things the prostitutes said that struck a chord with me Barbara incorporated into the script and made me feel that I was part of bringing this person to life."
The actress also cites the encouragement she received from Gere.
"There were days when we were on a stage for a long time. And you get a bit cagey and there becomes a point where your judgment clouds: you don't know a lot of what you're doing, you're just doing it.
"And I would come home to just a message on my machine from Richard that said, `You did good work and I'll see you tomorrow.' "
"Julia," observes Marshall, "needs a lot of holding and hugging, particularly in scenes where there's meanness.
"In the scenes where she got beat up by Richard's lawyer and when Richard screamed at her, she was playing the vulnerability off-camera so she could play against it on camera. So off-camera, I had a sobbing mess on my hands, but on camera she fought against it, and I think that worked.
"And I had her venture into new comedy waters, which she was a little nervous about. She's much more comfortable doing lines of dialogue than doing some physical things."
For the most part, Marshall says, he advised Roberts to simply loosen up.
"Vivian was a downtown girl, and Julia naturally tends to play uptown - she's very elegant and dignified and speaks nicely. So I was constantly telling her to go downtown. `Street, street, street!' "
Roberts says she found this type of support crucial: " `Pretty Woman' was difficult, in that we didn't always have all the material for a scene that we were shooting.
"We had this writer on the set - his name was Marty - and Garry would always say, `Marty, come up with something funny for this.' And this poor guy would be running around like with eight different lines."
Throughout all the rewrites, Roberts says, "I was real adamant about how I wanted some of the scenes to go. And there were times when I was the only one adamant in that idea.
"I think in the end I got the best of everybody's input, and was happy when I went home."
by CNB