Cannery Row . . .

By Rick Farris

In 1980, the film industry endured a four month actor's strike.
Prior to the strike, which began in July 1980, MGM was well into pre-production for a big budget feature, "Cannery Row".
The film was based on the John Steinbeck novel, and would star Nick Nolte opposite Debra Winger.

Before the cameras roll, SAG walks out of negotiations with producers.
They go on strike and the film industry goes dead. TV series' that had just started shooting for the new season were halted.
Film makers are artists, they love to create, and they sometimes come together to create something beautiful.
Making lemons out of Lemonade? No something better.

During the actor's strike in 1980, the Academy Award winning production designer of "Cannery Row" was in pre-production.
He would remain on the payroll during the strike and use the time to design one of the most beautiful on stage film sets ever built at MGM.

One of the most beautiful sets in the history of MGM?
That's saying a lot, and it was true.

The Production Designer's friends, some of the film world's most talented designers, were bored.
Many wanted to help transform MGM's stage 30 into a living, breathing "Cannery Row", complete with an Ocean.
They didn't care about being paid, they just wanted to play, like when a group of hot musicians get together and jam.
Stage 30 has a water tank below it's floor, this is the stage where the studio used to produce the water musicals featuring diver Ester Williams.

During the four months strike, the artists did their thing with no time pressure. This was a case when "too many chefs" didn't spoil the soup.

I won't go into the technicalities of how they built the set, but as disappointing as the film turned out on screen, the set was brilliant.
To put it on film was Academy Award winning cinematographer, Sven Nyquist of Sweden.

Nyquist was Ingmar Bergman's cameraman. His work on "Cries and Whispers" brought him an Oscar.
He was a legend in Europe, Hollywood, anywhere where fine films are made.

I joined the crew when they began filming shortly after the strike. I had just finished a Steve Martin film, "Pennies from Heaven", at MGM, and was able to step right onto Cannery Row when the strike was settled.

Nick Nolte and Debra Winger would star in "Cannery Row", but as a lighting designer, I wanted to learn how Sven Nyquist lit his sets.
He was a master with soft light, Liv Ullman was never more beautiful than before Sven Nyquists lens.
Some actresses need help, cosmetically, photographically, special lighting.
Sven Nyquist would calmly utilize subtle influences of light, to diminish, highlight, hide or expose texture.
With light, we can soften or harden features, I learned from watching and talking with this man.
Blending color is another tool.

As I said before, the movie was expected to be a great one, as was the book. Didn't quite reach it's target.
However, the beautiful sets and cinematography resulted in some brilliant images.
You could literally take a frame from any shot, blow it up into a still photograph, and it would be a work of art.