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"When Harry Met Sally" and Movie Magic

by portnoy | October 17, 2006 at 05:40 am | 162 views | add comment | 0 recommendations

When Harry Met Sally began with a script by Nora Ephron. It became an iconic (there's that word again) date movie / comedy of the late 80's. "I'll have what she's having" transports us to one scene that brought an audience into such fits of laughter that it drowned out everything else. Those laughs lasted 13 seconds straight. (I know because I counted the seconds during the previews) If I can pull it off I'll write about the elements that brought that movie together. But it won't be easy. Just when you think you think you have a foothold on Magic - you find yourself flat on your butt wondering what just happened.
I read the script "When Harry Met Sally" which may have been titled Boy Meets Girl, but I could be wrong. It was a while back. What I remember distinctly was being on my couch turning pages and at one point I laughed so hard I rolled off the couch. This is true.
When a group of us saw the director's cut which had no music other than Bing Crosby after the orgasm scene - we walked out of the small theatre and oddly, no one seemed to know they had this monster hit on their hands. Maybe they were afraid to say anything out loud. There was no buzz. It was a bunch of highly talented professionals discussing where to eat lunch.
There was Rob Reiner, Nora Ephron, Bob Leighton (Reiner's longtime editor), Marc Shaiman (now: A-list film composer. film producer and Broadway powerhouse - then; just another very talented musician paying rent in Laurel Canyon). I think Barry Sonnenfeld, the director of photography was there with the producers Andy Scheinman and Jeff Stott. And the exit talk went like this- Would the audience buy into Billy as a leading man? Wasn't Meg just about the cutest thing you ever saw? Hey has anyone heard of a kid named Harry Connick Jr? That kind of thing. Definitely no magic yet.

Continued. The Elements Of Magic

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Rob Reiner, Marc Shaiman, Nora Ephron, Andrew Scheinman, When Harry Met Sally, Movie Magic, Harry Connick Jr, Barry Sonnenfeld, Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan