North Sea Hijack

Well, we both know Psycho is and will always be his epitome, however it is great fun to look into the catalog to see what efforts were made to disabuse type. I still sometimes get him confused with Roddy Mcdowell and this is a case in point! I had Roddy for this role in my numbskull.

Ok, it’s a little long winded, but here we go:

“Dear Mr Liberman (one of his agents),

I hope you and your family are well. I’m getting in touch with rather unfortunate news, sadly, concerning one of your clients – Mr Francis Ford Coppola. I understand he is very well respected in the business, and I myself have enjoyed many of his films, including such as The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. However, when in what started out as an innocent discussion with a renowned colleague, journalist and writer Mr Eddie Harrison, we stumble upon some dangerous facts regarding Mr Coppola.

Mr Harrison merely suggested that there may be a link between The Godfather: Part II’s interestingly crafted flashbacks tied together with a future storyline to create one narrative, and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, which follows the same technique. This, I presumed, was a joke at the time, although you can never quite tell with Mr Harrison. In rebuttal, I told him that the film was set forty four years later, so it was impossible that The Godfather: Part II could have stolen from Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again – in fact, it was more likely to be the other way round. But at times, Mr Harrison’s knowledge of films can seem infinite. He told me that Mamma Mia!’s story is actually based on 1968 film Buena Sera Mrs Campbell, or, in English, Good Evening, Ms Campbell, which is set six years before Mr Coppola’s sequel.

Both of us a little suspicious that something may be slightly off, we wonder if plagiarism may have been committed. We are merely concerned that Mr Coppola may not of just done this with The Godfather: Part II, but with many of his other films. I’m sure you can understand our distress – we are both big supporters of young writers and directors, trying to ply their trade in a difficult game, and sometimes it can feel like there’s one rule for us and another them. Plagiarism is a big issue, yet we never begin to doubt the most success among us. At first we considered something of a lawsuit, due to these prejudices caused by copyright infringement and quite frank violations of moral rights. But, as we are reasonable people, we have come to a nonnegotiable (stress on the nonnegotiable) compromise.

As fervent Mamma Mia! fans, we do not know if you or Mr Coppola are in contact with Catherine Johnson, the creator of the film series, but we would like to arrange a meeting with her to perhaps discuss a future role in the speculative Mamma Mia! 3. I know Mr Harrison has a pretty big attraction to the role of Cher. Obviously, this is a big ask, but this is also a very big accusation, and I’m sure Mr Coppola wouldn’t like this ‘black eye’ anywhere near him, or anyone close to him. If we dig any deeper, who knows what we’ll find. Therefore, I suggest you take this very seriously and treat us with the uptmost respect, for we hold something of a grenade in our hands, very close to going off. Thanks for your time. I look forward to your reply.

Best wishes,
I would never give my name away so easily”