Rachel Samuels '92 (Writer, Director, & Producer, DARK STREETS)
By Sean O'Rourke MAT '68
Film noir – dark, moody, filled with moral ambiguity. Hollywood cranked them out in the Forties and Fifties. In “Dark Streets,” Rachel Samuels ’92 revives the genre. Shot in colors from a very dark palette, the film follows Chaz Davenport, who has to solve the mystery of his father’s death, stay ahead of the loan sharks and find someone he can trust . . . if he can trust anyone.
Chaz owns a hot, new blues club in an anonymous American city prone to power failures. The club provides the setting for elaborate musical numbers in the manner of Busby Berkeley. The blackouts provide the noir.
The soundtrack for “Dark Streets” features original songs composed for the film by blues legends Etta James, Natalie Cole, Dr. John, Aaron Neville and Solomon Burke, with a score featuring B.B. King. After winning the Special Jury Prize at Cine Vegas, “Dark Streets” was released in theaters across the U.S. by Samuel Goldwyn Films in December 2008. The DVD is being released by Sony this year.
The journey from Cambridge to “Dark Streets” has been a long one for Rachel. When she graduated, Rachel was interested in sculpture, so she apprenticed with sculptor Tom Gibbs, father of her classmate Jenny Gibbs '92. While working with him, she made a video about him and his work. Back in Boston she took film classes at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.
Harvard astrophysics professor David Layzer '46 / GSA '50 hired Rachel to make a short film, “Inventing the Atom,” which traced the development of atomic theory from Democritus to the present. The film ran ten minutes and required a crew of six. She decided that she liked the collaborative nature of film making so much she moved to California to pursue a career as a director.
In Los Angeles, Rachel landed a job with legendary low budget producer Roger Corman. He hires people who are talented but too green to say no, then he steps back and lets them learn by doing. Rachel started as his personal assistant and after three months was promoted to director of development. During the two years she served in this capacity she supervised the development and postproduction of a dozen feature films in two years.
While working for Corman, Rachel wrote a thriller screenplay entitled “Running Woman,” and he assigned her to direct. On her first day she did not know how a set worked and was overwhelmed by the number of trucks and people, but in the course of eighteen days she learned fast. The film came in on time and on budget.
Rachel then directed “The Suicide Club,” a period piece based on a story by Robert Louis Stevenson. Because there was no money in the budget for a casting director, Corman sent her to London by herself to hire actors on her own. Jonathan Pryce accepted a part and introduced her to other actors such as Paul Bettany and David Morrissey.
It was then off to Ireland for the shoot. In the western part of the country Gaelic is still spoken, and the crew all spoke Gaelic. Whereas “Running Woman” had been a concatenation of chases in cars, in boats and even one in a helicopter, “The Suicide Club” was a drama, allowing Rachel the luxury of directing world class actors in a serious dramatic production. The film went to festivals, got great reviews, had a theatrical release and was shown on television around the world.
One of the people who saw the film was Glenn Stewart, an American banker based in Bahrain, who also writes and produces plays. He had a musical -- also a period piece -- that he wanted to turn into a film. Rachel liked the play and loved the music. Thus began a three-year odyssey.
Musicals are complicated. Set in a night club in the Thirties, “Dark Streets” combines story, music and dance. Because of the limited budget, building sets would have been too expensive, so production design became a matter of finding locations in downtown Los Angeles. Rachel spent months looking among the taco stands and T-shirt stores until she found an art deco gem, the Tower Theater, and used it as her principal location.
Sculpture involves using space to create an effect, and so does composing a shot. To create the atmosphere she wanted, Rachel shot the entire film with swing and shift lenses, which had never been done before because the focus is so tricky. The combination of lighting and lenses created a dream world and a unique look.
Not only do musicals require elaborate preproduction, they also take a long time to shoot. A single number often requires several days of shooting. With a limited budget, Rachel had only one day for each musical number. In the morning the dancers rehearsed. Then in the afternoon she shot with a crane, a dolly and a hand held camera, all moving at the same time.
Rachel enjoys creating unique visual worlds and would like to work again with music and dance or perhaps make a science fiction film. Her brother, David, writes for Harper’s and The New Yorker. She is currently working with him to develop some of his stories into film treatments as she continues to look at other material.
For more information visit http://www.rachelsamuels.com.