OPENING THE DOORS

Rip It Up, Issue 166, 1 May 1991, Page 33

OPENING THE DOORS

The Doors, the movie, hits our screens after a decade of legal / political manouvering worthy of the military of which Morrison’s father was such a fine upstanding member.

After the publication in 1980 of Nobody Gets Out Of Here Alive by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugarman, Sugarman and Manzarek make a deal for a one hour TV show about the Doors, allegedly the model for selling more Doors projects. Producers eventually pass on them because the story is too downbeat. Meanwhile, Elektra releases a

greatest hits album and 2.5 million copies are sold by end of year. Then the rights to the Sugarman book (which didn't include film rights) were sold for $50,000 to a young producer fresh out of Isreal called Sasha Harari. Meanwhile, John

Travolta (who owed Paramount a movie) was expressing interest in playing Morrison and Brian de Palma starts working on a script. But Harari brings in William Friedkin, director of The Exorcist who

impresses Manzarek and Sugarman no end by telling them he wants to make “the Raging Bull of rock

movies.” De Palma backs down and Travolta gets disappointed.

By 1984 Harari has teamed up with legendary 60s rock promoter Bill Graham and together they settled rights to the story with Jim Morrison’s parents and Pamela Courson’s family, who won't speak to each other, nor tolerate mention of the Sugarman book. Columbia Pictures buy their package and Harari suggests Oliver Stone to write a script but the Doors reject him as being “too dark". In 1988, the day before Harari's

option on the Doors rights expire, a studio called Carolco agrees to pick up the production tab. By now every A-list director in Hollywood has sniffed around the project (including Coppola and Scorsese) but Oliver Stone ends up the chosen one. The Doors are more receptive this time having been impressed by the 60s spirit of Platoon. As the film goes info production, Pamela Courson's family throw up road blocks. They don't want their daughter portrayed as having anything to do with Morrison’s death, or shown to be using drugs. Morrison’s parents, in contrast, don't

even read the script. Their attitude is that if someone is going to do the damm movie it might as well be Stone. But they still won't allow

themselves to be portrayed, except in one scene.

Finally, after auditioning some 200 actors. Val Kilmer, Stone’s original nomination for the role of Jim Morrison, wins the part by dressing like Morrison, hiring a band and shooting his own rock-video audition and Sunset Boulevard goes '6os — in looks if not in spirit — the City of West Hollywood charged $60,000 for three nights shooting. DONNA YUZWALK