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By Kent Larsen
Osmond Movie Gives One Writer Memories, Sense of Life
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA -- Television network ABC will air a two-hour film
about the Osmond family on Monday, February 5th at 8 pm. The film is billed
as a sort of tell-all, in which the actors show what family members say they
felt at the time. In New York's Village Voice weekly newspaper one writer's
well-written essay relates his feelings as he witnessed the filming of the
movie. Guy Maddin says that seeing the filming was more than a trip down
memory lane. It also taught him about aging and life.
The film, called "Inside the Osmonds," "was almost therapy in a way for my
family. It really shows what happened. Some of it was hard to swallow," said
Jimmy Osmond, who served as one of six executive producers. "For many years,
we would just not talk about anything that is negative, and now everybody is
kind of having fun sharing the true Osmond story." All 10 children and their
parents agreed on the script.
In the process, the family told about the infighting, heartache, rebellion
and bad investments they suffered, as well as the difficulty good Mormons
faced in working in Hollywood. Among the film's revelations are a bomb
threat from the Symbionese Liberation Army, a make-out session that Donny
and Jay had with fan club members (they kicked-out the girls when they
started trying to go too far), Merrill's resentment at being replaced as
lead singer by Donny, and the guilt felt by father George and brother Alan
over the loss of $80 million because of bad investments. "How many people
could lose $80 million and still be talking to each other?" said Veronica
Cartwright, who plays Olive. "That's a devastating loss and for the family
to all stick together, that's amazing."
Meanwhile, writing in the Village Voice, Maddin's look at the filming of the
show is touching, if not inspiring. While he expresses a jaded view of the
family as an adult, he surprises himself at the effect that the family's
music has on him. Maddin, himself a filmmaker, was an invited guest on the
movie's set in his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. He becomes protective of
the young actor, Thomas Dekker, who plays Donny until age 14.
During the filming of the final scene of the movie, however, Maddin
describes his shock at seeing the aging stars as they join the actors
portraying them on stage. In that moment, Maddin realizes that, like Donny
Osmond, he is no longer so young. "I stand gaping at my kindred spirits, the
old, the infirm. ... I wonder what undignified choreographies my own
footsteps will trace upon the years left to me."
Sources:
ABC Spills Osmond Family Secrets
Excite News (AP) 31Jan01 A2
By Beth Harris: Associated Press Writer
Features: Death in Winnipeg
Village Voice 30Jan01 A2
By Guy Maddin
Crazy Horses of the Apocalypse: Inside the Osmonds
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