Where is he in Targets??
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mrnaturalsez — 21 years ago(December 07, 2004 12:05 PM)
While reviewing this film, which I am in the process of receiving (and hopefully will be able to view within the next few days), I noticed this bit of trivia, and it too peaked my curiosity. By looking at his film appearance stats, this would appear to probably be his first time on the screen - or at least what is "officially" recorded as such. I also noticed that he was born just 2 weeks after me. This fact has me wondering if this information of him in this film is even accurate. The film was released in May of 1968, so it was shot some length of time before that. This would put him in his last year of high school, as I was, in the first few months of the turbulent year of 1968. This fact is a little curious to me, especially due to the fact that he attended Bellaire High School in Houston, Texas, and all of the filming locations for "Targets" are listed as in and around Los Angeles. There is also a statement in his IMDB biography that implies that he arrived in Hollywood in 1972 ("Arrived in Hollywood, worked on Hollywood Boulevard as a janitor and within one year was nominated for an Oscar for The Last Detail (1973)."). Given these facts, it doesn't seem very likely that a high school boy going to school in Texas would be over in Los Angeles working on a movie - but alas, "not very likely" doesn't mean impossible. There are a couple of scenarios that one could think of, such as a friend or relative working on the set that invited him out to work as an extra for a few days, or something of this ilk. That is one reason why I'm going to be closely watch5b4ing for a glimpse of him. I think it's a good possibility that he may never have been in it. I will report back my findings, and maybe, before then, someone else will have some illumination, or other input on this.
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bounce_out — 21 years ago(December 08, 2004 11:35 AM)
Only b/c there are so many extras. Particularly towards the end of the drive-in sequence. You'll understand what I'm talking about when you've screened it, plus I really would hate to give out spoilers, know what I mean?
The Dude abides!! -
mrnaturalsez — 21 years ago(December 08, 2004 01:07 PM)
Hopefully, I should have my copy of "Targets" ready so I can view it tonite. It is a dual-audio type, where one track is the movie audio, and the other is commentary by Peter Bogdanovich, I guess. I don't know if I'm all that interested in this movie yet (although I may become so) to listen to him jabbering away above the movie for an hour and a half (sorry Peter), so I'll just have the regular audio on - assuming that I even get the dual-audio working. I will, at least, switch Mr. Bogdanovich on in any area where Mr. Quaid might be among a group of extras (such as the drive-in sequence) or something like that though, to see if he might mention anything about him. Unfortunately, I have a pretty good feeling that I won't see him, and knowing myself, will end up going through the complete commentary anyways to give it my best shot at solving this little mystery.
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bounce_out — 21 years ago(December 08, 2004 09:24 PM)
I can't 100% remember if I tried that as well, but I may have been curious enough to try it myself. Nevertheless, please give it a try by all means.
Check this out:
I have a 1996 Leonard Maltin movie guide that lists Quaid as part of the cast for Targets. However, interestingly, the 2005 Maltin book as excised Quaid's name from the cast list.
I most likely agree with both Maltin and you that he probably isn't in it, especially since I can't locate him myself. Not that I'm the best at this sort of thing, but I have been known to spot hard to find extras/cameos, for example, Jim Belushi in The Fury (1978) and Bruce Willis in The Verdict (1982).
Just thought I'd run that by ya! Happy Hunting!!
The Dude abides!! -
mrnaturalsez — 21 years ago(December 09, 2004 05:26 PM)
Viewed "Targets" last night. As nojoe_toast suggests, the drive-in scenes are about the only place where he might be, as this is where there are a lot of anonymous, uncredited actors or extras. I listened to Peter Bogdanovich's commentary through these scenes, but he didn't mention Randy Quaid. He did mention a lot of people's names, such as Mike Farrel. He was the guy who got shot in the phone booth, and later became well-known for his character of Capt. B.J. Hunnicut in the t.v. series "Mash," as well as many other, mainly television, roles. Mr. Bogdanovich also made a statement that he thought that he used friends for the drive-in sequences, and couldn't remember if he had used any extras. If this was the case, it would certainly limit the possibility of a high school student from Texas being in it. Later though, he ment238ioned that he had used about 10 extras in a crowd scene. Also, I think Randy was younger than previously estimated in earlier post. At the end of the opening credits, the roman numeral date for the movie is 1967, so this is when the film was probably made (and then released in May,1968). That would make him 16 or 17, depending on what months the film was shot in, and likely a junior in high school (He would have turned 17 in October 1967 in his senior year).
Well anyways, I did not see anyone who looked like a 16-17 yr. old Randy quaid. In a few scenes5b4, you only saw just a very quick glance of the participants, making it virtually impossible to recognize anyone. While not being able to see the faces, I noticed on some of those the signs of male pattern baldness at the temples. This is something that a 16 or 17 yr. old would not have, as this really starts to become noticeable at around age 20, and then in only 1 of every males. Ever notice how in a lot of these old teen flicks (not sure if this would be classified as a teen flick though), they use guys that are way past high school. I've seen some of these "teens" that had to be into their 30's easily. Another thing that was noticeable in this film were the ethnic minority actors used (that is, if you noticed any). I don't know if there was some rule that mandated including a couple of minorities, or if Mr. Bogdanovich was just "so magnanimous and forward-thinking" that he did, but the actors used were so white-looking, that you really had to take a long look to notice it. Boris Karloff's assistant was one, who was Asian (she referred to herself as Chinese) and there was a man, wife, and child in a car in the drive-in who you could just barely tell were black. Seems funny that just such a short while ago, "minorities" of all types (people of color, women, disabled people, gays) had barely begun to start fighting for their rights (Martin Luther King was shot in 1968), and the world was a different5b4 place then. Another interesting note about this movie - for all you youngsters who were not around in those days: it's kind of interesting to note that this film was obviously inspired by the real life story of Charles Whitman. He too, an "all-American boy," climbed up a Texas University tower, and for ninety minutes went on a shooting rampage, killing 14 people, and injuring a bunch more. He also killed his wife and mother before committing his famous deed. As murder wasn't commonplace like it is now, this was sensational and unbelievable news back then. A nice accounting of it can be found here: http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/mass/whitman/index_1.html
I'm going to conclude that it doesn't appear that Randy Quaid was in this movie. It may be that someone else has noticed this, and that's why his name wasn't present in the cast list for "Targets" in Leonard Maltin's 2005 movie guide as nojoe_toast has reported. I do have a possible theory that could explain how this news could have started. I must say it's not a very good theory though, but nevertheless, it's a thought. There is a guy in the film that has a minor part, that to me, does resemble Randy Quaid somewhat. He is, I guess, the manager of the drive-in. You see him greeting Karloff's Limo at the ticket booth, and then in a couple of other scenes. Now if you didn't know that Randy Quaid would have only been 16 or 17 years o5b4ld at that time, it's possible, as this guy (whose name is Paul Condyllis) was considerably older (pushing 30) and would never have been mistaken to be 16 or 17. I know, it's a stretch, but he's the only one, by any stretch of the imagination, who resembled Randy Quaid in this film. Any other contributing information? Anybody who knows Randy Quaid or a relation or friend of his? There's a fan club for just about everybody else in show biz. Maybe there's a Randy Quaid fan club with someone who knows. Oddly enough, I just checked, and there is a "We love Randy Quaid" fan club. I did a short search for "Targets" in the message archive, but nothing came up. -
bounce_out — 21 years ago(December 12, 2004 01:00 PM)
Nice summation and for the most part I would have to agree to the fact that he isn't in the film at all.
I guess if he really is in the movie, one way that the 16/17 16d0year old Quaid could have possibly be involved would be that he actually knew Bogdanovich or something like that, considering Quaid would be Lester Marlowe for Bogdanovich's "The Last Picture Show", three years after "Targets" in '68.
Other than that, I really don't know
The Dude abides!! -
mrnaturalsez — 21 years ago(December 12, 2004 04:48 PM)
Very interesting bit of information. I've done some more investigating, and his knowing Bogdanovich at that time is a very real possibility. I researched various possible angles, such as his other movie sites, where his wives of that time, Polly Platt, Cybil Shepard, were born and raised (also his later companion Dorothy Stratten, who was murdered. Interestingly, he later married her sister, L.B. Straten, who is listed with her name without the double-t for some reason. She does use the double-t spelling for a 2001 movie appearance though). Never found a link to Quaid's home state of Texas, but I did find another connection. Bogdanovich's next 3 movies where he actually had a legitimate cast (there was one documentary film that didn't use any actors, and some other thing, "Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women" (1968), that sounds like the majority was made up of existing film) had Randy Quaid in them. So not only was he in "The Last Picture Show" (1971), but also "What's Up, Doc?" (1972) and "Paper Moon" (1973).[another odd thing - these three films were listed as Randy's next 3 films after "Targets," but after a lot of switching back and forth from his listing to Bogdanovich's and others to check information, 2 more film listings ("Lolly-Madonna XXX (1973)" and "Getting Away from It All (1972)(TV)") magically appeared in his list as early film work that I swear were not there before]. Well anyways, all oddities aside, this new information changes the ball game. Now there is at least some reason to believe that he could have been in "Targets." He certainly had some kind of relationship with Bogdanovich. Whether it began with "The Last Picture Show," and Peter liked his work or they struck up a friendship, or it somehow started earlier, at least as far back to the time when "Targets" was made. What that connection could be (if there is one) is still unknown to us. Any other pieces to this puzzle?
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rolotomasi2001 — 20 years ago(January 17, 2006 06:21 PM)
he's in the scene where bobby, the sniper, murders his family. he's the one shot in the kitchen holding the bags of groceries. he isn't easy to notice at first but the face gets familiar after awhile.
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MissTexasMcCoy — 9 years ago(April 27, 2016 11:02 PM)
I know this is an extremely old thread, but I just thought I'd share this in case anyone out there is still interested. Recently while exploring ebay, I saw that someone had posted for sale a yearbook from 1969 Bellaire High School, Houston TX, and the seller included a shot of the page with Randy's senior picture, which I saved:
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e247/texasmccoy/Randy Quaid 1969 Bellaire HS Houston TX.jpg
Keeping in mind how very young he was back then, he looked quite a bit different than what most folks are used to seeing in his more well known movies. So, he might be difficult to spot in the above mentioned movie (which I have not tried to do) if you didn't quite know what to look for, especially if it was just a bit role.
Anyway, I just thought this might be interesting to you all. Have a great day in imdb-land.
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George Lassos the Moon
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