Interview with Hugo Fregonese

Hugo Fregonese

Films Can't Played Off Too Fast; Public Catch Up, Declares Fregonese

By Richard Bernstein

(The Independent Film Journal, November 1952)

"Phoniness in pictures, as in money, has no real value,” explained Director Hugo Fregonese at lunch. Fregonese has just returned from Europe where he directed the Mike Frankovich production, Decameron Nights, which stars Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdan.

“I feel that an audience can sense a formula picture,” Fregonese said. “An audience likes to be surprised. They don't like to see the same film over and over with a different cast.”

Fregonese pointed out that nowadays a film goes through the theatre circuit too fast. Many pictures are worth a holdover and don't get it. Pictures should be exploited like plays for longer runs. Many times a person finally gets time to see a picture and finds that it has gone. By the time word-of-mouth on a film gets around, a film is sometimes not even playing in the city anymore.

Classifications Stressed

The director also brought up another very interesting point. "You classify a picture in Europe for adults, children, etc. Why don’t they start it here? We lose part of our audience because they don't wish to see films slanted for children. In Europe, theatres classify a picture, “A,” that’s for adults with children; “X,” that’s adults only, and “U,” that’s for everybody. There are certain theatres that play only “A” features, some that play “U” features."

The director stated that when a director, who has done quite a bit of work in Hollywood, goes to Europe he has to get used to a slower tempo of filming. Shooting schedules in Europe are longer.

For Decameron Nights, Fregonese spent 11 weeks in Spain. He pointed out that 99 per cent of the lensing in Spain was filmed using natural sets. Part of the film was filmed in the Alhambra of Granada, built by the Moors in 1100. This castle is considered one of the seven wonders of the world. The filming of these sequences was the first time that the government allowed the Granada to be filmed from the inside. They also shot in the Alcazar of Segovia, a big castle which was used years ago by kings. Only one day was spent filming in London.

Decameron Nights [Italian Poster]

Sex Comedy Filmed

The director explained that Decameron Nights is a sex comedy, composed of three short stories by Boccaccio. In the film, Boccaccio tells the stories. The same actors and actresses play different parts in each story. This is the first time that this has been done in films.

"Technicolor wants to rush the prints from London to Hollywood," Fregonese said, "because they feel they have a photography Academy Award winner." Fergonese first attracted attention as a director because of three Spanish language pictures he made, Pampa Barbara, When Words Fail and Hardly A Criminal.

MGM bought When Words Fail, and signed Fregonese to a director’s contract. However, he left Metro for Universal International where he made three films: One Way Street, Saddle Tramp and Apache Drums. He also made My Six Convicts for Stanley Kramer at Columbia.

In Decameron Nights, the director explained, "we take sex and make fun of sex. Everything is done with tongue in cheek and above all, with great charm. The three stories are humorous love stories."

"English stars look to Hollywood as a mecca for film people," the director said. "I used supporting players in Decameron Nights, that I recruited in England. Joan Collins, who is in the film and who is under contract to J. Arthur Rank, is future star in my opinion. Stars don't develop they just happen to blossom; they develop by them¬ selves," he said.

Hemingway Desired

In regard to future production, Fregonese said, "I’d like to do The Old Man And The Sea, the Ernest Hemingway story, exactly as Hemingway wrote it without adaptation. Spencer Tracy would be excellent for the lead."

Fregonese has optioned Catalina, by W. Somerset Maugham, for films. It deals with the 17th Century and it is a robust adventure tale. The director would like to film it in Spain with Hollywood star names heading the cast.

"I do not believe in cliches," Fregonese said, "I made it a point in My Six Convicts to depict convicts and their prison as it actually looked. It was also important in my estimation to delve into the human emotions for this film. I feel that an audience gets tired when action is emphasized without explaining the characters' emotions."