#smithsonean film archives

[1whimsicalgal]

Shooting Daniel Pearl’s Infamous Dolly Shot (From Pam’s POV) Or How I Got Lucky In Spite Of Myself.

When I came on the set that morning in Quick Hill, Texas, our make-up artist Dottie was repairing my make-up. I looked out of the corner of my left eye, over at the swing where I knew I was supposed to sit for our next scene of Pam approaching the house. Perplexed, I noticed Daniel Pearl, our cinematographer, lying down on his stomach, hunched over his camera, UNDER the swing, and exactly where I was soon to park my posterior. I noticed Danny wasn’t moving. He was settled in. I asked Dottie as she was powdering my face, “Hey, Dottie, what’s Daniel doing under the swing?” She mumbled something similar to “Idunno…”, and quickly walked away.

They told me they were ready and where I was to sit. Huh?? No way. Yes, the stories are true. I freaked out, 😱 Pam and Tobe began to argue, me refusing to do the shot. Meanwhile, and totally Unbeknownst to me, this was immediately following a giant argument he’d just had with the money dudes, the investors, who didn’t want him to do this new shot that Daniel had come up with the night before, at all. They were ranting at him, telling him that they HAD to stick to the storyboard. .. or else (btw, dpearldp tells that delicious story on his IG - link below). Well, I had No Clue what it was either. I was protecting my cheeks… if you read me. Chewing on his cigar stub, and none too happy with his troublesome actress playing ‘Pam’, Tobe had had enough and said, “Aw, goddamnit, Teri, we’re gonna shoot all around it!!!” Hmmmm, I’m thinkin’, ‘shoot-all-around-it’? Just what the hell does that mean? Anyway, I shut up and sat down, however, remaining highly, highly suspicious. I later learned that everyone, except me, was in on the tracking shot.

All I could think of was my mother 😲 O.M.G. (who was unsupportive at best of my chosen career) and my Aunt Gerry, who were both super-duper religious. I could literally picture them coming unglued when they saw it. Before it was released a year later, I dreaded watching myself on screen and THAT scene, having never seen dailies, I was haunted by the thought of watching it.

When it was released in October ’74, I was living in Dallas and drove with a friend to see it at a Saturday matinee in Tomball, TX, along with 300 screaming kids. When the scene started, my eyes were covered 🫣 I watched through my fingers, scared to death, and NOT of Leatherface. There, up on the screen, in CinemaScope and vivid Technicolor, were my cheeks in those red shorts… O.M.G. 🥶🥵

They certainly did "shoot all around it"!!! The irony of all my worry, neither one of them ever saw it. 😂

That scene has been taught in directing classes across the world for decades, and the 1974 film is held in the film archives of MoMA, The Smithsonian, and The Academy /Oscars.org.

MoMA recently announced a weeklong celebration the 50th anniversary of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre August 8-14, when members of the film’s creative team will join to discuss The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s production and legacy.

How fortunate we are.

As many of you know, I didn’t come out of anonymity as 'Pam for ’35 years, till March 2008, when, Bill ‘Kirk’ Vail and I both first appeared at a humongous Cherryhill, NJ, Monster-Mania Convention.

Cut to 2008 when my sweet Aunt Gerry was in her 90's, I went to visit her in Arkansas at her apartment in Peachtree Village for a few days, and I told her, "Aunt Gerry, did you know I'm famous?" She said, "You are??" I said, "I certainly am." 😎 I got out my Mac, opened it to FB and showed her the shot above. She giggled and smiled. She loved it! We enjoyed a really good laugh together.💞😂

Tobe and Kim had apparently seen my picture in the Austin American Statesman for a play I was doing with Frank Sutton (Gomer Pyle's Sargent) at @Mary Moody Northern Theater. Somehow for many years, I always remembered my eyes were closed in the Statesman picture. When I recently looked at the picture, my eyes were open and it was Frank Sutton's and the corpse of the dead priest that were closed. 😂 Kim Henkel had called the theater and our director, Ed Mangum, gave me the message when I came in for rehearsals that afternoon. I was to return their call.

WHO KNEW??? Certainly, none of us!

🎥 Follow our amazing cinematographer, Daniel Pearl's 50-year career in his posts and stories and get his POV on filming TCSM '74 scenes

Instagram: @dpearldp https://www.instagram.com/p/CvtejukgJIP/ DP's website: danielpearldp.com/