The Rewatch Podcast: RW554 - Tom Hanks 80's Rewatch

In this episode of The Tom Hanks 80's Rewatch, Cory and Eoghan help themselves before others as they discuss Volunteers.

Trailer:

Tom Hanks Timeline:

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson met for the second time while filming Volunteers. Wilson originally met Hanks in 1981 on the set of Bosom Buddies (1980) when she guest-starred in the episode All You Need Is Love (1981). However, their relationship wasn't kindled until they were reunited on the set of this movie and the pair married three years later. Hanks and Wilson have two children, Chester and Truman.

Our Favourite Trivia:

The film was in the works for six years before it was made. Volunteers was filmed in Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. The filmmakers built a Thai village based on the Karen people of Burma's Golden Triangle, building the world's longest wooden suspension bridge, which was more than 250 yd (230 m) long. A cast of over 100 people from all over the world, including Thai families, spent two and a half months filming.

The film spoofs a number of David Lean epics, including Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge on the River Kwai, with the Washington State University Fight Song used in place of the "Colonel Bogey March".

According to an August 18, 1985 article in The New York Times, Nicholas Meyer stated that former Peace Corps director Robert Sargent "Sarge" Shriver, Jr. (a.k.a. Sargent Shriver) said this movie's screenplay was "like spitting on the American flag." The story reported that three changes were requested: "The (Peace Corps) agency asked Mr. Meyer to make three alterations in the script. Change Thailand to Burma, because the Peace Corps never was in Burma. Don't mention the C.I.A. in the same breath with the Peace Corps. And please change the name Peace Corps to something else." None of these were done. When the picture got released, the Peace Corps endorsed the movie.

The film was mildly controversial for its Coca-Cola drink scene, which played like a very deliberate product placement. The movie was made by TriStar Pictures, a division of Columbia Pictures, which was owned by the Coca-Cola Company. The film's co-screenwriter Ken Levine has explained: "We wrote that Coke scene in the first draft in 1980. It stayed in every draft and wound up on the screen. Originally, the movie was set up at MGM. After a couple of years, it went into turnaround, finally landing at HBO Silver Screen in partnership with TriStar. This was 1984. TriStar was a division of the Coca-Cola Company. No one from the studio ever asked that that scene be in. No one from the studio ever mentioned that scene period. A year later, the film was released, and we walked into a major shitstorm. I look back and think, all of this could have so easily been avoided if he just offered her a joint".

Tom Hanks based his performance and characterization of Lawrence Bourne III on the actor who played his character's father Lawrence Bourne, Jr., actor George Plimpton. Hanks paid much attention to Plimpton and listened to his diction very astutely. Hanks was able to mimic his vocalizations by mimicking certain words and putting stress on certain vowels. Hanks once said: "I tried to cull from him that air, not of superiority, but of a kind of confidence he exudes. He has one of the most distinctive voices ever. It was the most fun I've ever had as an actor. As soon as I put on that double-breasted white tuxedo, I was in character. It was a situation of the clothes making the man. Lawrence is a guy who refuses to take life on anything but his own terms. He is consistent to the end".

What's Up Next?

What will it cost us over at The Money Pit?

Contact Us:

Send us an email! TheRewatchPodcast@gmail.com
Follow the show on Facebook or Instagram
Visit the WEBSITE

Support the Show:

Head over to our TeePublic and/or Redbubble stores today and buy some merch! Every item sold sees a small return to us, and covers our hosting costs. We appreciate every purchase.