In a story first published on Assist News Service, KEN WALKER speaks to Secretariat director Randall Wallace…
With the heft of Walt Disney Studios behind his latest film, Secretariat has the potential to be the kind of blockbuster that propelled director Randall Wallace’s first movie to five Academy Awards.
However, while even casual movie fans recognise Braveheart as capturing the Oscar for “Best Movie” in 1995, many don’t realise Wallace failed to take home the golden statue for “Best Original Screenplay.”
SECRETARIAT: Starring Diane Lane (second from right) and John Malkovich (left), it tells the story of the 1973 Triple Crown winner in the US. PICTURE: John Bramley ©Disney Enterprises, Inc.
“I love the internal questions of the woman who owned ‘Secretariat.’ I could relate to her desire to go into business, run the business that she had inherited from her father and to do that in her own way.”
– Randall Wallace
“One of the greatest experiences of my professional life was also one of the most jolting,” says Wallace, whose other credits include such films as Pearl Harbor and We Were Soldiers. “It was an extremely harsh experience to be sitting there, knowing that my family in Tennessee was gathering around the TV set, expecting me to win. A lot of my friends felt sure I was to win. And I did not get that award.”
Despite the setback, the one-time songwriter and award-winning novelist persevered, writing and directing The Man In The Iron Mask in 1998. Grossing $US182 million worldwide, the film established Wallace’s reputation as a man of multiple talents.
The hope and courage he also demonstrates personally are the qualities that attracted Wallace to Secretariat, the story of the 1973 Triple Crown winner that captivated the public. Starring Diane Lane and John Malkovich, it opened in the US on 8th October.
Although the 1970s would see a trio of Triple Crown winners, the muscular horse from Virginia was the first to turn the feat in 25 years. That earned a ranking of 35 from ESPN on a list of the 20th century’s top 100 athletes.
It is more than just the story of a magnificent race horse, though. The film looks behind the scenes at Penny Chenery, daughter of the owner of Meadow Stables. Chenery had to take over the farm’s operation from her ailing father and overcome a lack of industry experience to succeed in a male-dominated sport.
“I love the internal questions of the woman who owned Secretariat,” Wallace says. “I could relate to her desire to go into business, run the business that she had inherited from her father and to do that in her own way.
“That was something similar to my desire to write songs and music. It took her away from her family; my career took me away from my family. I couldn’t stay around Virginia and Tennessee and be around my sister, nieces and nephews, parents and cousins. I had to come to California where I didn’t know anyone.”
Actually, he spent some time in Tennessee after graduating from Duke University and attending seminary there. However, his attempts at music stardom in Nashville fizzled, leading to his move west in 1980.
Fifteen years would pass before the debut of Braveheart. Wallace continued composing songs and created several novels that demonstrated his penchant for writing. However, he didn’t achieve the kind of success that has since made his work familiar to millions.
During this interim, Wallace found himself plagued by the same kind of questions that he could imagine Chenery grappling with as she strived to gain a foothold in the horse industry.
“The struggle for me in those days was: Was this desire of mine to write when no one else was encouraging me do this-was this selfishness on my part?” he recalls. “Was it pride? Arrogance? Or would it be a kind of cowardice to not answer the call?”
Although the answer seemed tentative at the time, he plunged ahead, driven by memories of childhood when he often attended movies alone. More than once, when Wallace exited the theater he thought of how his life would never be the same because of what he had just seen.
He wanted to reproduce that same kind of awe, wonder and mystery among viewers of his films. He achieved that during a special screening of Braveheart in Scotland soon after its release.
“A great big man-the son of a man who had worked on the movie-came walking out of the theater,” Wallace says. “He found me and shook my hand, with tears running down his face. He said, ‘I’ll never forget that; not ever.’ That meant more to me than winning an Oscar.”
Director Randall Wallace’s previous credits included Braveheart, The Man In The Iron Mask, Pearl Harbor, and We Were Soldiers.
“When I wrote Braveheart I thought it might be likely that I might be the only one in the world who liked this movie. It made me weep. It made my heart leap. That’s where it started for me and, in some ways, that’s where it ends.”
The acclaim hasn’t stopped. Wallace still talks to people who have been moved by the story of Scotland’s early struggle for independence, including young adults whom he didn’t expect to view the violent epic.
One time, when Wallace remarked that the young man praising the film would only have been an adolescent when it debuted he replied, “Yes, but I watch it every year with my father.”
Other reactions aren’t so positive. Like the women who told him they divorced their husbands after seeing it because their spouse didn’t treat them with the kind of sacrificial love William Wallace did his sweetheart.
“I would tell them, ‘I’m not quite sure I should celebrate that’,” Wallace says. “When I wrote Braveheart I thought it might be likely that I might be the only one in the world who liked this movie. It made me weep. It made my heart leap. That’s where it started for me and, in some ways, that’s where it ends.”
Although he sees his films as parents do their children – each one special and unique – Wallace hopes Secretariat evokes some of the same fascination and strong reactions among those who watch it.
He believes it will appeal to the same kind of fans who loved Braveheart, since the movie encapsulates the story of those who committed themselves to a goal despite the odds against them and naysayers. Recalling the sportswriter who once said that Secretariat heard the voice of God whispering “go” and responded, Wallace says that remark rang a bell inside his heart.
“The two big questions in life for me are, ‘Am I listening to the voice of God’ and ‘How do I identify that voice?'” Wallace says. “The other question is: ‘How do I respond to it?'”
Through the family-friendly Secretariat, movie buffs can see the answer.
