Rabbi Douglas

Not long ago the Jewish people celebrated Rosh Hashana, the new year, 5770. Wow! That's a long time. I am not very religious, but it reminded me of an incident that happened when I was filming the movie, "In Harm's Way". I played a naval officer, a bitter flier under John Wayne's command. After raping Jill Harworth, the girlfriend of Wayne's son, played by Brandon de Wilde, I sacrificed myself on an air mission.

The most exciting thing about the production was that we got to shoot on the USS St. Paul, a cruiser, as it sailed from Seattle to Hawaii. And there was Otto Preminger, the director, treating the personnel like his own personal crew, the boat like a prop, yelling to the captain, in his German accent, "Push the boat the other vey, so ve get the sunlight!"

I shared a bunk with one of the officers, Josh Nelson, who I was surprised to learn was Jewish. I never think of naval officers as being Jewish, maybe because I didn't know any others when I was one. I asked Josh if many of the crew were Jewish.
He said, "A few."
I said, "Do you ever hold religious services?"
"I tried to, but it's hard to get them interested enough."
"Suppose I conduct the religious service?"
"would you? Could you?"
"Yes," I said, "Why don't you tell your friends that tomorrow, Friday night, I'll conduct the service."

That Friday evening, we were all dining at the captain's table - John Wayne, Burgess Meredith, and of course Otto Preminger - when over the loudspeakers:

NOW HEAR THIS MEN, AT 20:00 THERE WILL BE FRIDAY EVENING JEWISH RELIGIOUS SERVICE CONDUCTED BY KIRK DOUGLAS.

Well, this caused a little ripple. Heads everywhere bobbed. And I, very dignified and nonchalant, stood up and said, "Would you excuse me, Captain? I have to officiate at this service." John Wayne and Burgess Meredith, curious, came over later. Otto Preminger, a Jew, didn't. In a borrowed yarmulke and prayer shawl, I conducted the Friday evening service, remembering the old Hebrew prayers that I learned when I was a poor boy living in Amsterdam, when the people in my synagogue wanted little Issur to become a rabbi, and I didn't know how to tell them I wanted to be an actor. That night on the USS St. Paul was the fulfillment of my debt to them.

I don't think it matters what religion you follow as long as your faith tells you to care for others.

Kirk Douglas

Exodus - Trailer (1960)

Steven Spielberg to complete Michael Crichton's mission

The men who brought dinosaurs back to life in Jurassic Park are teaming up again, though it's a bittersweet reunion since one of them is no longer here.

Steven Spielberg is developing a film out of a posthumously published novel by the late Michael Crichton —Pirate Latitudes, an adventure story set off the coast of Jamaica in 1665.

Screenwriter David Koepp, who adapted Crichton's novels for Jurassic Park and its sequel The Lost World, also has signed on to create the script. Spielberg plans to produce and is considering directing.

DreamWorks Studios describes the novel, set for release Nov. 24, as the story of "a daring plan to infiltrate Port Royal, one of the world's richest and most notorious cities, and raid a Spanish galleon filled with treasure."

"It's a mission movie, and we see it through the prism of what it might have been like to live on the island during that time," says Stacey Snider, Spielberg's partner in DreamWorks and the company's co-chair and CEO.

"Anything that Michael wrote, Steven would be keenly interested to read. But without Michael knowing it, or even me knowing it, it turns out Steven always wanted to direct his own pirate film."

Coincidentally, DreamWorks is beginning a new distribution deal with The Walt Disney Co., which rejuvenated this genre with Johnny Depp and the Pirates of the Caribbean films, another of which is planned for 2011.

Snider says these swashbuckling movies won't clash because Pirate Latitudes will be more grounded in reality, as opposed to the supernatural fantasy of the Disney films. "We would only pursue this if it was wonderful in its own way, and didn't interfere with their films," she says.

DreamWorks plans to wait for Koepp's script before setting any formal schedule for the project. "This is a reunion movie that taps into all three of them, and their love of high adventure. Just like old times," Snider says.

When Crichton died last November from cancer, Spielberg noted that their friendship went back to the early '70s, when both were new to Hollywood, just beginning their careers. Along with Jurassic Park, they developed TV's ER together and the tornado movie Twister.

"Michael wrote a real page-turner that already seems suited for the big screen," Spielberg said of Pirate Latitudes. "Michael and I have had almost two decades of solid collaborations. Whenever I made a film from a Michael Crichton book or screenplay, I knew I was in good hands. Michael felt the same, and we like to think he still does."

- Anthony Breznican