Monday, April 03, 2000
USA cable might bench Schott bio
BY JOHN KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Funny thing, but USA cable folks are stumped by the same thing I was when The Marge Schott Story movie was announced in December:
Who would watch a movie about Marge Schott's indiscretions?
“We have a script, but the problem is: How do you make her sympathetic?” said Adam Shapiro, USA Networks senior vice president for long-form programming.
“If we make a movie about someone who's inherently unsympathetic, I'm not sure people will want to watch it. We're not out to trash her, but portraying her in a sympathetic light is difficult.”
Sounds like The Marge Schott Story won't get past first base.
USA announced the Marge movie in December, two months after she sold control of the Cincinnati Reds to Carl Lindner under pressure from Major League Baseball.
The network also announced film bios on boxer George Foreman, basketball star Wilt Chamberlain, jailed teacher Mary Kay Letourneau and Attila the Hun.
Based on Marge Schott: Unleashed, the 1993 biography by Cincinnati Post sports editor Mike Bass (Sagamore Publishing; $19.95), the movie was supposed to be “the true story of how a gorgeous debutante parlays a marriage and her inheritance into vast fortunes.” And how she beats the all-male baseball world “with smarts, a tight fist and a callous disregard for the rules of polite society,” USA Networks said.
Mr. Shapiro was fascinated by Mrs. Schott's “contradictions — how she could be so cold and calculated, and on the other hand, how she took a very strong personal interest in the personal lives of her players.”
Writers Carolyn Shelby (Class Action) and Chris Ames continue to revise their screenplay, he said.
“If we had a great script, we'd be going ahead with it. We have a decent script, but it's not inspiring,” he said.
“When we finish tinkering with the script, we'll either throw up our hands and say, "This is too hard' and pass on it, or throw up our hands and say, "Eureka, we've got it!'
That decision could be coming soon. He told me in January he wanted to shoot the film in May-June, and air it during the September pennant races or October World Series.
Next in his lineup: A sweeping four-hour miniseries about Attila the Hun, the brutal Mongol leader who invaded the Roman Empire 1,600 years ago. Filming begins today in Lithuania with Powers Boothe.
Imagine that. Marge Schott benched by Attila the Hun.
John Kiesewetter is Enquirer TV/radio critic. His column appears Monday and Wednesday. Write: 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202; fax: 768-8330.