As director for “De-Lovely,” Winkler once again taps into the richness that earned his films all those nominations–a great story. A unique story about Cole Porter’s incredible talents as a musician was only one aspect that interested Winkler about this prominent songwriter.
“One of the things that interested me was the unusual relationship between Cole Potter and his wife, Linda. They had a marriage for 38 years and were very much in love with each other, yet he was gay at the same time. That was a very interesting subject to examine and not a subject you see on the screen or told in any manner of form,” said Winkler.
Another interesting aspect of the film is the way it unfolds, with Porter as an old man viewing his life before him on a stage. “We wanted a device to get inside Cole’s head, so we came up with the theatrical idea to tie his love life and his music life together. A composer looking back on his life would use his own songs as a sort of soundtrack to his memories.”
Winkler had worked with Jay Cocks (“Gangs of New York”) on a screenplay about Duke Ellington, and chose Cocks to pen “De-Lovely.” “I acquired the rights to the music from the Cole Porter Trust, and Jay and I worked on it for about three years together. He did the writing–I did the yelling,” said Winkler with a hearty laugh.
A movie about Cole Porter has to have music. Stephen Endelman came on board as music arranger and producer, but Winkler had an idea to bring in contemporary artists. “Too often I say I’m going to get pop artists to do these songs, and then one day I get a call from Alanis Morissette who heard we were doing this movie. She knew Cole Potter’s music as well as I do, so I asked her to sing 'Let’s Fall in Love,' and said I probably want you to dance. I figured she’d say, 'I can’t do that.' Then she sent me a video. She can dance! So she does this dance number with polka dots and ruffles.”
After Morissette was on board, other artists lined up to be included. “Elvis Costello was a musicologist,” said Winkler, “and his father had a band that played Cole Potter music. Robbie Williams’ father had a dance band so he grew up listening to Porter’s music. Diana Krall had worked with me in ‘At First Sight,’ and she was going with Elvis so she was in, then Sheryl Crow, Natalie Cole and many others.”
With such a big cast and so many opulent sets, Winkler needed help, so he turned to his son, Charles, as a producer. “He’s been a producer and director, and did a great job. He shot all the second unit, all the stuff with Kevin on horseback and the riding accident. He’s a wonderful director in his own right and now becoming a producer.”
Kevin Kline is miraculous as Cole Porter and was Winkler’s only consideration for the role. “I had the script before I did ‘Life As A House’ and decided to put it aside. But while working on that film, Kevin and I chatted about a lot of things. I knew he had talents as a comedy star, and he had also studied composition in school and was an accomplished piano player. He was always the man we were interested in.”
How was it to work with Ashley Judd? “If I ask her to go jump off a mountain in a scene, she’d ask, ‘Where do you want me to land?’ But when I asked her to sing a couple of songs, she said ‘Wait a minute. I don’t want to compete with my mother and sister.’ So I had to do a little convincing, but she does a wonderful job.”
“De-Lovely” is indeed lovely. Shades of glamorous days of Hollywood are reflected everywhere. Not only is the cinematography by Tony Pierce-Roberts incredible, and production design by Eve Stewart mesmerizing, Janty Yates’s costumes are incredible. How did Winkler handle 38 changes for Kline, 48 different period pieces for Ashley and 1200 extras to costume on such a small budget?
“All of Kevin’s and most of Ashley’s was done by Giorgio Armani, and he did it for nothing,” said Winkler who was amazed to watch Armani working on Kevin’s clothes himself. “Here was this man who runs a fashion empire, and he’s down on his knees with pins in his mouth…He spent six or seven hours just fitting Kevin in some clothes – it was quite a treat.”
Winkler hopes his film will not only spark a new interest in Cole Porter’s music, but also send Hollywood a message there is an audience for intelligent films with a real story. “If ‘De-Lovely’ is successful,” he says, “than maybe it will encourage some films more interesting than ‘Hellboy’ and ‘Riddick.’ Frankly, I can’t see what satisfaction a studio can have, other than financial, in making ‘Hellboy.’ I think there’s a misconception that adults don’t want to go to the movies. Last week my and I wife opened the paper to go to a movie, and there was nothing playing. So I hope ‘De-Lovely’ offers adults something to see.”
