Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2009 July 2

= July 2 =

name that song
Icant remember the name of this song part of the song goes he would be 16 the son she never knew it was so hard to give him up thats all I can really remember--America vega (talk) 01:11, 2 July 2009 (UTC)--America vega (talk) 01:11, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Google leads me to believe that it's probably "He Would Be Sixteen" by Michelle Wright. --Onorem♠Dil 01:21, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Film location
I have just watched the film Mr. Brooks. The story is set in Portland, Oregon and the scenes all looked quite authentic. However, in the credits the "thanks" went to Shreveport, Louisiana suggesting that is where it was actually filmed (IMDB also "confirms" this with several location "goofs"). I am quite puzzled by this fact because Portland had no role to play in the film, so why not simply set the story in Shreveport? I don't think this is like the story I heard many years ago, about a well known New York-set cop show (Kojack/Starsky & Hutch?) being filmed in Toronto because it was easier and cheaper than getting permits in NYC. Portland and Shreveport are both a long way from LA, and if the film had been set in Shreveport, I very much doubt it would have made any difference to the story. Astronaut (talk) 02:31, 2 July 2009 (UTC)


 * There are many reasons why one might choose one city in place of another. First of all, there are creative reasons why a story might be "set" in one city preferentially.  Portland, as a city, has a certain character and flavor among its people.  Characters in Portland can be expected to behave in a very different way than those in, say, Shreveport, so the setting is a key element of the story.  However, there may be very good reasons for not filming primarily in Portland, one probably being that it pisses rain everyday, which can make for an unreliable filming schedule.  Shreveport may have been chosen because the architecture is similar to Portland, but features a very different climate, which is more conducive to filming schedules.  There may also be different labor laws in Louisiana and Oregon which make filming in Louisiana easier.  Toronto is quite often used as a stand in for New York because up-close, Toronto looks like New York, and as noted, the labor costs are more conducive to filming on a budget.  Another famous example of one place standing in for a very different place is the TV show Dawson's Creek, which was set on Cape Cod but filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina.  --Jayron32. talk . contribs  03:05, 2 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Another reason, in a similar vein, is that of permits. Many cities require permits just to film commercially in public spaces like the street, and many film shoots require additional control over the street. You can't just have Julia Roberts walk out of a building, across the sidewalk, hail a taxi, and get in, because the road and sidewalk will be blocked with gawkers and admirers. So many shoots block streets, either to pedestrians or to all traffic (and must then run their own simulated traffic), and for this you need cops (who you have to pay for, and feed). You need permissions for prop guns, to change streetsigns, to employ children, and you have issues about noise and light and parking. New York has, for a long time, had a reputation for being difficult to film in, not least because New Yorkers (in whose city a disproportionate number of things are set) were sick of the very real disruptions that all the filming caused - so they yelled at the Mayor to limit the number of shoots and their scope. And filming in the centre of any large city has practical problems: you need places for makeup, places to keep equipment, lights, costumes and set items, places to put vehicles when you're not using them, and places for all the people on set to eat and rest and sleep. In a smaller city, where peripheral land is cheaper and nearer, it's much easier to handle that stuff. 87.113.26.43 (talk) 15:29, 2 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Similar to permits is unions. Some states (such as South Carolina) are non-union states.  So, the film union has no say in filming process.  Therefore, movies that are shot in other cities often use non-union states for sets that would normally require a lot of union workers.  For example, Die Hard 3 (I'm guessing, could be 2 or 4 or 15...) had a few scenes that required set builders, special camera operators, and a lot of stunt people.  The movie was shot in New York.  However, the scene of the subway car crashing and the jump off the bridge were shot in Charleston, SC - along with a lot of scenes that the New York permit office wouldn't allow. --  k a i n a w &trade; 15:59, 2 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I would bet that at least part of it had to do with audience expectation that the cast would speak with a Southern accent, and that this was not desirable because it would make it into a "Southern" picture, or that the actors' accents would be mocked. There is not really an Oregon accent, it's just standard Midwestern as far as I know (though the Language desk might disagree), so calling the setting "Portland" would be like setting the movie in neutral ground.  Tempshill (talk) 19:38, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Entertain the Life
Ways to Entertain the LifeRapmaddy (talk) 12:23, 2 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Based on your vague question, I can only direct you to our article Entertainment. --Jayron32. talk . contribs  12:36, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
 * If you're looking for ways to entertain yourself, there are some suggestions here.  The leftorium  12:46, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Ross & Sargent
In the 1930's there were a pair of American entertainers called Stuart Ross & Joe Sargent.

They performed and recorded "Nellie the Nudist Queen", "Ain't That the Way It Goes" and "Sing Something Simple"  and "A Fairy Tale-- Seven Veils" (my father owned the disc, but it is lost).

Parlophone label for all?

Did they write their songs?

Is there a catalogue of their recordings and collaborations?

Are there transcriptions of the lyrics they sang and/or wrote?

Dates and biography?

Would recommend the posting of an "article" or "new section" on Wikipedia devoted to this duo so as to expand the database. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Georginaleaf (talk • contribs) 17:19, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
 * The band doesn't seem very famous. The only thing I could find was this and this. It might answer some of your questions.  The leftorium  17:35, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
 * There's a tiny bit of information (where they went to college, mostly) at the end of this old Time article. A number of sites (like this one) indicate that they were the composers of "Nellie the Nudist Queen," at least. This 1953 book refers to them as "well-known night-club artists"; and a Google News search turns up a couple of old articles behind paywalls. I'd say that a WP article about the duo is certainly a possibility but that writing an acceptable one would involve research in offline archives of newspapers and magazines. Deor (talk) 16:09, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

The Pros from Dover
When Hawkeye and Trapper John referred to themselves as "The Pros from Dover" in the original MASH movie, where they citing a different source, e.g. Shakespeare or a popular novel, or was this an original title75.92.158.245 (talk) 19:50, 2 July 2009 (UTC)?
 * The Urban Dictionary entry claims it came from the book the movie was based on. Apparently, Hawkeye would pretend to be a golf pro to try to get an invitation to play for free. The phrase was then later repeated in the surgery scene, but only the second mention got into the movie. Clarityfiend (talk) 20:05, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Offhand, two Dovers in the U.S. I can think of are Dover, Delaware and Dover, New Hampshire, though I cannot find any info on either notable golf courses OR notable military hospitals at either; presumably Hawkeye used the phrase simply because it sounded like a plausible place to be a pro from, and no one would necessarily be able to check up on them. I had always assumed they meant they were from Dover Air Force Base, assuming that a large military facility like that had a specialized hospital of some sort, but I cannot find anything about that at all.  --Jayron32. talk . contribs  20:40, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Pure speculation, but could it be a reference to the Royal St George's Golf Club in the Dover district of Kent, England? — Michael J  21:45, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Royal St George's is not in Dover, and would not be referred to as such. It wasn't even in the Dover local government district at the time the book was written. Algebraist 02:47, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Funny coincidence. I am currently reading Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream, a non-fiction book.  One of the subjects of the book uses the phrase "pros from Dover" and from context, it appears to clearly refer to people who have "high falutin" attitudes, like a social-class thing.  The events in the book occur in 1988; so we cannot be sure that the phrase did not originate in MASH (either the movie or the book), but based on its usage here, I am inclined to think that it existed in the culture outside of MASH, and quite possibly before it.  --Jayron32. talk . contribs  20:44, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
 * This website provides a little further info. Grutness...wha?  01:28, 4 July 2009 (UTC)