Electric Dreams

The Origin of Electric Dreams.

It was in 1978, while Rusty Lemorande was working as a production assistant on Damien-Omen II, that he first conceived the story of Electric Dreams.

"I was riding the Chicago subway," he relates, "watching a small child playing with a 'Speak and Spell' and ignoring his mother. This seemed rather absurd to me at the time -- a device created to help a child communicate with other people, was instead blocking communication at that moment. That child on the subway stuck in my mind."

Several years later, Lemorande found himself in a similar circumstance shortly after moving to Los Angeles. "I was in an unfamiliar city, and had just bought my first computer," he continues. "I knew very few people there, so when I came in from work at night, I found myself learning about the machine, working on programs and playing games. Soon, I realized that my computer was serving as a replacement for all the friends I had left-behind -- modern technology was getting in the way of human relations."

[Source: The official press information kit for Electric Dreams]

Edgar-in-the-box

As the voice of the computer, Bud Cort had to deliver his entire performance from inside a box on the set; his co-stars were never allowed to see him during filming. At the insistence of the filmmakers, both Lenny Von Dohlen and Cort agreed not to meet one another face to face before or during the making of Electric Dreams, and to limit interacting with one another while on the set to their dialogue as Miles and Edgar. Cort objected at first, explaining that "acting means breaking with reality when the cameras roll," but the director held fast. Cort was even more doubtful when he learned that he was to spend his weeks on the set in London in roughly constructed booth jammed with electronic equipment from which the humanized voice of Edgar would be transmitted to the other actors.

The director was afraid that if the other performers associated a person to the voice, they would react to it as if they were talking to a human being instead of a computer and the difference in reaction would show on camera.

And since director Barron and the producers wanted an active, live interaction to exist between Lenny Von Dohlen as Miles and Bud Cort as Edgar, Ian Kelly, the video supervisor, was responsible for the complicated array of video cameras, monitors, and electronic components that tied Bud Cort's recording booth to the on-camera computer representing Edgar.

Cort describes his experience on the set as physically and creatively claustrophobic in the beginning. "It really did bug me at first. I had to keep running out to get some air, to pal around with the crew, basically anything I could think of just to get out of there!" But Cort quickly adapted to the situation, wearing an incongruous coonskin cap while giving Edgar the naive, theoretically emotionless and frequently strange, human-like quality the filmmakers had hoped for.

"Lenny and I never had a conversation out of character until the closing days of shooting," Cort continues, "and it was at that point that I realized our experiment had worked. He had absolutely no point of reference for understanding my personality, and had no idea what my reactions were about."

[Source: The official press information kit for Electric Dreams]

July 16, 1984 -- Bud Cort and co-star Virginia Madsen, at the Hollywood Pacific Theatre in Hollywood, California, for the premiere of the film Electric Dreams.

Does Edgar Dream of Electric Sheep?

In The Dream musical sequence, Edgar (the computer) dreams of electric sheep jumping over an electric fence, whilst Miles dozes off to sleep. Some had felt that it was a nod to Philip K. Dick's 1968 science-fiction novel, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" -- which inspired the movie Blade Runner. The novel explores the issue of what it is to be human. This is borne out by Miles', "I'm not what I seem to be". However, that was all conjecture. When I asked Rusty Lemorande, he replied, "I didn't know of the book when I wrote the film. It was just Edgar mimicking human behavior - or what he thought."

Coincidently, there's a science fiction television anthology series based on the works of Philip K. Dick (premiered September 17, 2017 on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom), called "Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams".

Cameo!

In the music video of the single "Video!" by Jeff Lynne, from the movie soundtrack, the character performing as the Foley artist is none other than Bud Cort, who did the voice of Edgar in the movie. The music video was directed by Steve Barron.

Bud Cort, Steve Barron, and Jeff Lynne

Did you notice?

In the movie trailer for Electric Dreams, when Miles and Edgar have their first conversation, Miles says to Edgar, "You're talking." And Edgar replies, "You noticed." However, in the movie, Edgar only echoes Miles back; "You're talking."

Virginia Madsen - Biography

(Press Release, June 15, 1984)

Madeline, the beautiful concert cellist whose strength and independence challenges and beguiles Miles, is portrayed by twenty-two year old Virginia Madsen. A native of Chicago, Madsen re-established her roots in Los Angeles in 1983 -- and a year later, has already received major roles in three feature films including Electric Dreams.

The daughter of a lieutenant in the fire department and a filmmaker/teacher mother, Madsen realized at an early age that she "enjoyed entertaining people." Studying dancing and acting throughout her school years, Madsen explains that "becoming an actress didn't seem like a fantasy or a dream to me. It was always factual, something that was going to happen."

In her senior year at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Madsen began studying with acting coach Ted Liss, whom she credits for providing her with drive and direction. She studied with Liss for three years, securing a part as Alan Arkin and Barbara Dana's daughter in A Matter of Principle for PBS's "American Playhouse" series shortly before her graduation from high school.

Soon after moving to Los Angeles, Madsen was cast in her first major role as Princess Irulan in Universal's upcoming science-fiction epic, Dune. Yet, she had no sooner shed her regal gowns than she was offered the role of Madeline in Electric Dreams.

"I was up for another leading role, but after reading Rusty Lemorande's script, I quickly told my agent to forget the other picture. I admired Madeline's independence, who, like me, had moved a long way from home to pursue her career," Virginia Madsen recalls.

As an actress in her first starring role, Madsen had no trouble committing to a film with a first time director. "I found Steve very easy and gentle from the moment we met. He is always in control, so it was simple for me to trust him from the beginning."

Madsen was frequently able to draw on her own personality in her portrayal of Madeline. "Madeline has been playing the cello since the age of nine, which was the age at which I began to learn the piano," Madsen relates. "We both wanted to be dancers for a long time, and our favorite car is the classic 1960's Mustang. The similarities are so numerous that it was a little scary."

[Source: The official press information kit for Electric Dreams]

The following is an excerpt from an interview from July 19, 2013 on AV/Film; Virginia Madsen talking about performing in the movie "Electric Dreams".

"Well, that was the beginning of everything… or, at least, it was my first leading role. And I was very spoiled on that movie, because it was such a lovefest that I now believe that every movie should be like that. And I’ve tried to maintain that, and I’ve tried to make every movie I work on the most fun. I want every movie to be like a big family, and I want every movie to be a great adventure. And for the most part, I’ve succeeded at that.

"We started out in San Francisco, and I had a mad, crazy crush on Lenny Von Dohlen. God, we were so… we were head-over-heels for each other. Nothing happened, and at this point, I admit it: I wanted it to happen. [Laughs.] But we both had other people in our lives. We were very young, so our pining for each other was great for the movie. And I’m still friends with Lenny to this day. I just had dinner with him about a month ago. He’s still one of my best friends. We never left each other’s lives. That’s how important the beginning of that relationship was."

Cameo!

Giorgio Moroder, the movie's score composer, made a cameo in the film. He played the role of the radio station executive at the end of the movie.

"Hello! Hello! This is dedicated to ..."

Electric Dreams was dedicated to the memory of the Univac 1, the first commercial computer produced in the United States.

Lenny Von Dohlen - Biography

(Press Release from MicroFiche, Sept. 1984)

Miles Harding, a dedicated young architect, whose obsession with his work precludes him from the lighter side of life, is played by twenty-four year old Lenny Von Dohlen. ELECTRIC DREAMS is Lenny's first major starring role in a feature film.

"I was researching a role for a period TV movie when the script of Electric Dreams came to me.'War Game' had just been a big success and my first reaction was that I didn't want to do another computer movie. My manager urged my to read it and at once I realized how human ELECTRIC DREAMS was. It was a film with very human emotions in which a computer played a pivotal role," recalled the young actor.

"Something else struck me immediately about Rusty Lemorande's script. How many movies do you see today where the characters are good to each other? Being nice and acting the way we would like to think of ourselves behaving and how life should be, just doesn't seem to make it into films these days. I adored Miles' faith in humanity. He's an idealist and that greatly appealed to me."

Born in Augusta, Georgia and raised in Texas, Lenny's greatest ambition was to go to New York and act on Broadway. "When I was twelve years old, I read all the plays I could lay my hands on and I used to listen to John Gielgud records and try to perfect the accent," he remembers. "I ended up with a pretty strange accent for Texas." After taking part in drama productions in high school and college, at the age of twenty Lenny decided it was time to chase his dream.

Arriving in New York he had the kind of good fortune that most young actor only dream of. Within days he met his manager Dale Davis and began going for auditions. "Dale works completely on instinct," says Lenny. "I guess she had some kind of feeling when we met and right away got me a part as a National Guardsman in the television movie, 'Kent State.'"

"There's a strange coincidence that began with my getting the part. After I finished the audition, I passed a woman in the street and suddenly realized it was Ruth Gordon. I heard that same day that I got the part. Exactly the same thing happened on the day I learned I was cast in 'Tender Mercies' with Robert Duvall. And now my first starring role in ELECTRIC DREAMS and I'm playing opposite a computer acted by Bud Cort who made his starring debut opposite Ruth Gordon in 'Harold and Maude.' She's become my good luck charm."

Rusty Lemorande, producer/writer, cast Lenny after seeing him in the award-winning film 'Tender Mercies.' "Rusty seeing me as Miles in ELECTRIC DREAMS really gave me faith," says Lenny. "You know how Hollywood likes to type-cast. In Tender Mercies I play a young cowboy and I could have been playing cowboys until Doomsday. But here I was being offered a role where I would be playing somebody who wasn't (illegible) cowboy, but this rather sophisticated young man from a big city, a professional and a romantic. He didn't even have a Southern accent."

"I really enjoyed being able to build Miles' character. I did a lot of research, reading books and visiting architectural firms. At one particular company I saw this fellow hunched over his draughting table, totally oblivious to my being there and I think, to anything else. He was wearing a bow tie and glasses. I modelled Miles mostly on him. I added 'bumbling professor' characteristics to my part and luckily the director Steve Barron and the producers agreed with what I did and thought it made Miles more interesting."

"I also saw a lot of Miles in myself. I just ended a very tumultuous relationship before the start of filming. I was touched by the way Miles tried to grasp what love is and how difficult it is for him to define. Like my character I tend to submerge myself in my work without taking enough time with my personal relationships. Miles never took enough time to explore his feelings before he met Madeline and consequently was not well versed in male/female relationships, being more comfortable with his drafting table."

Prior to ELECTRIC DREAMS, Lenny filmed two television movies, worked in regional theatre and appeared in the off-broadway hit 'Cloud 9.' "Ideally in the future, I would like to alternate between stage and film," he says, and still dreams of the day when he'll star on Broadway.

[For an update on Lenny Von Dohlen's career, visit HERE.]

Cameo!

Harry Rabinowitz, who did the additional music adaptations, and was the classical music coordinator for Electric Dreams, had a cameo as the conductor of the orchestra that Madeline performed with.

Winston T. Dog

The dog in the film (an Airedale Terrier) was owned by the writer and producer of Electric Dreams, Rusty Lemorande. The dog was British. His name was Winston.

When he runs out of the apartment (after being frightened by the computer) his tail is taped down with adhesive tape to create the illusion he is frightened. A dog cannot be trained to keep his/her tail down. Winston did not like this but, being a good actor, put up with it. (Source: 80's Movies Rewind)

How the Electric Dreams screenplay inspired the music.

When Rusty Lemorande first set out to sell the concept of the motion picture, he assembled a tape of existing musical numbers to illustrate the level of songwriters and performers he hoped would be attracted to the film. Jeff Lynne, of The Electric Light Orchestra, and Giorgio Moroder were the two artists he felt represented what Electric Dreams could achieve musically.

The involvement of Virgin Pictures and its president, Richard Branson, who is the executive producer of Electric Dreams, led directly to the involvement of Boy George and Culture Club, as well as Heaven 17 -- both recorded on the Virgin Records label at the time. Lemorande contacted both Jeff Lynne and Giorgio Moroder himself.

Through a mutual acquaintance, Lemorande soon contacted Lynne and asked if he would like to read the script. Lynne, as experience has taught most entertainment industry performers to be, was wary about a call from a producer he had, at that point, didn't know. At Lemorande's gentle insistence, however, Lynne reluctantly agreed to read the screenplay.

"In all honesty, I wasn't sure I'd ever hear from him," Lemorande relates. "But, less than two days after he had received the script, Jeff called me to tell me how much he loved the film and to ask if we would allow him to write all the music for it. Needless to say, I was very happy."

Jeff Lynne (circa 1984)

All the artists involved had similar reactions to the screenplay -- and yet, because Edgar was envisioned as possessing an eclectic personality, no one musical artist would be able to represent him completely. This didn't stop any of the artists from making as many contributions to the filmmakers as the latter could be persuaded to listen to.

Lynne immediately wrote two songs for the film, and in less than a week had provided the production company with a demo, which, to many, sounded like a finished product. It was, in fact, only the background track -- yet it offered the cast and crew much more than just a sample of what was to come later.

Giorgio Moroder and Boy George provided demos of their first contributions to Electric Dreams less than forty-eight hours after writing the songs. And upon seeing a rough assembly of footage from the film, George went home with the promise that he would write a second song shortly.

Giorgio Moroder (circa 1983)

Early the next morning, Boy George received a phone call from his manager, who cautioned his client about his busy schedule, concerned it might be difficult for him to provide another song to the film. Yet, George had already written the number, and that afternoon at lunch, he sang it for the filmmakers.

[Source: The official press information kit for Electric Dreams]

(circa 1983)

Tell Me... why?

The motion picture, Electric Dreams, opened with the soulful voice of P.P. Arnold singing the opening lines from its title song;

"Tell me, boy

Do you have room

In your heart

For the computer boom?"

When the movie was released on VHS, it maintained that opening signature. However, when the film was re-released on DVD (Region 2) in 2009 by Second Sight Films, one minor change was made. Those opening lines of the song were removed. And it remained vacant on their 2017 Blu-ray release as well. The only sound heard now is that of the MGM lion's roar. Why?

"Electric Dreams" Title Sequences from C.A. Chicoine on Vimeo.

The opening title song, “Electric Dreams,” serves as a synopsis of the film.

https://sites.google.com/site/edgarselectricdreams/home/trivia/Tell_me.jpg

Culture Club performed two songs on the soundtrack. Boy George and Roy Hay (of Culture Club) wrote “The Dream,” which was released as a single in Canada and Japan; and “Love Is Love,” released as a single in Canada (where it reached #3), Europe, Brazil, Japan, South Africa, and the Philippines. Boy George also collaborated on the title song––“Electric Dreams”––with Phil Pickett, who also co-wrote “Karma Chameleon” with him and frequently played keyboards for the group.

“Electric Dreams” was sung by American soul singer, P.P. Arnold, and produced by Don Was. The track also featured a guitar solo from English musician, singer, songwriter, producer, guitarist Peter Frampton.

P.P. Arnold explained how she came to sing the song. “Steve Lewis, my publisher, played George (Boy George) some stuff I'd done while he was working on music for Electric Dreams. He liked my voice. We met. Hit it off. And next thing, I'm singing the title song.”

The song was released as a single in 1984, in Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Portugal, and South Africa. And, although ‘NME’ commended her vibrato vocal, saying it was powerful enough to “flatten sheets of corrugated iron,” the song failed to make an impact on the charts. “It didn’t chart, but it did get a lot of airplay and a bit of exposure,” she said in an interview. A video was released for the song, directed by Steve Barron. (The video is available to watch on the Soundtrack page. )

It was the Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey song, “Together in Electric Dreams,” that was promoted, and became an international hit in 1984. P.P. Arnold continued, “At the time, I was actually signed to 10 Records, and I was just ‘loaned’ to Virgin by 10 Records. So, I think it was politics, y’know? Giorgio Moroder and those guys were already closer to Virgin than I was, so they got the shot.”

"Electric Dreams" is also played during the closing credits of the film.

P.P. Arnold also sang a version of "Love Is Love," which appears on the hard-to-find Electric Dreams–The Video Soundtrack VHS tape. The same music video used for Culture Club's version was used for P.P. Arnold's. The audio from that video is below. (The video is available to watch on the Soundtrack page. )

Sources:

No 1 Magazine (15 September 1984, page 15.)
- From REG #38 – REG Exclusive Interview! “An Interview with PP Arnold,” by Michael Simone.
Hot Press magazine XMAS/ NEW YEAR ANNUAL 1998’ (Eire – December 1997)
- Discogs – Culture Club/Love Is Love & P.P. Arnold/Electric Dreams

Keeping Spontaneity on the Set.

Similar to their controlled use of the video effects to produce spontaneous emotional reactions from their cast, the filmmakers used the film's musical elements carefully to ensure their stars did not become over-exposed to them. One example of this procedure concerned a particularly moving ballad written by Giorgio Moroder for the film.

The ballad is used only once in the movie, during the only scene in which Virginia Madsen appears alone on the screen with Edgar. "we played the song only once for Virginia before we shot the scene," Lemorande explains, "which allowed her an opportunity to explore what her internal reactions to the piece would be. We made sure Virginia did not hear the ballad again until the cameras were running."

"It worked just as we had hoped," Lemorande continues. "On the very first take, she was able to recapture her original reaction."

[Source: The official press information kit for Electric Dreams]

Bud Cort - Biography

(Press Release, June 15, 1984)

Bud Cort portrays Edgar, a computer with a personality whose search for the meaning of love interferes with, but ultimately enriches, the lives of Miles and Madeline in Electric Dreams.

"As a computer, I thought I'd be incapable of emotions," says Cort. "I thought it would be so easy, but then I realized that, as Edgar, I would have to be totally vulnerable -- and that's very painful. Edgar is so naive. He opens up a lot of things that I tend to be more sophisticated about in my own life."

In order to maintain the relationship of computer to its human operator, Cort worked in a specifically constructed booth unseen by actor Lenny Von Dohlen, playing Miles. "It was a great idea because anything I did to Miles was totally spontaneous," he said. "I could see him on a monitor, but Lenny couldn't see me -- it's just my voice and I found I could affect him in many ways. If he had known more about me, personally, I don't think it would have been as effective."

Bud Cort became an international star and endeared himself to millions with his tragicomic portrayal of the hapless Harold in the film Harold and Maude for which he won France's Crystal Star as Best Actor. Born in Rye, New York, he began his motion picture career as an extra in Up the Down Staircase, followed by a small part in Sweet Charity. He next worked off-Broadway, and on the popular television soap opera, The Doctors.

Cort then began writing comedy material and appearing in some of Manhattan's top nightspots. He was discovered by Robert Altman, and cast as Private Boone in the movie M*A*S*H*.

Altman next cast him in the title role of his black comedy/fantasy Brewster McCloud. Harold and Maude with Ruth Gordon followed. During the past four years, Cort has starred with Samantha Eggar in the Canadian films, Why Shoot the Teacher, and She Dances Alone -- a docu-drama based on the life of Kyra Nijinsky, daughter of the great dancer.

On television, Cort starred in NBC's Brave New World, Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected, and the Paulist Fathers' series, Insight. He co-starred with Shelley Duvall in Joan Micklin Silver's acclaimed adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Bernice Bobs Her Hair, on PBS.

Cort made his Broadway debut in Simon Grey's Wise Child, opposite Donald Pleasence, and he's appeared in Los Angeles at the Mark Taper Forum in Peter Nichol's Forget-Me-Not Lane. He also appeared at the Taper in Dory Previn's original musical, August 11, 1947.

Cort is quite proud of his recent reading of Salinger's novel, Catcher in the Rye, which was syndicated internationally on radio.

Listed for the past two years in 'Who's Who in America', Bud had the distinct privilege of being Groucho Marx's house guest for five years. He has recently completed a novel about that time in his life, called "The Groucho Daze".

[Source: The official press information kit for Electric Dreams]

An Electric Dreams Remake?

Below is the edited transcript from the interview with Virginia Madsen -- conducted by Kevin Pollak in October 2011 -- of her response to the following question I sent in.

There was a rumor about Virginia Madsen producing a remake of the movie "Electric Dreams" through her production company, (formed with Karly Meola), Title IX Productions. Any truth to this? If so, what's its status?

VM: Yes, I optioned it. This was the first leading role that I played. | ...most people didn’t have PC’s or home computers. |…this was about a regular computer that gains intelligence. |… the only technology we had back then was–-when the computer was trying to learn intelligence–-it went into television because we didn’t have the internet. And the only thing it could do when it got mad at the boy was to mess up his beeper and cancel his credit cards.

KP: Imagine what it could do now.

VM: Imagine what it could do now. So I thought, my God, you know, with the music …|There’s a lot of debate about artificial intelligence and when it’s going to expand and when it’s going to happen. I think it’s already happening. So, I just thought that, [if] this movie were it to be made today, with today’s technology–-not only with what the computer can do to dream, but if a computer got mad at you--what could it really do to you? And that is terrifying because of how much of our lives are run by our technology now. So I got the option, which had reverted all the way back to the original writer named of Rusty Lemorande. And I negotiated a deal, and optioned it over and over again. I got a treatment, and I went with a writer, and we did a pitch. [But] nobody picked it up. So, after years, I was like, I’m not going to pay for it anymore. So, hopefully, if somebody out there wants to spend the money and pick up a new option, then…

KP: It seems ….

VM: I think it will make an excellent project, but …

KP: It seems like a no-brainer.

VM: I thought so too.

The complete interview can be seen below.

"We'll always be together ..."

The song "Together in Electric Dreams" by Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder was released as a single and became an international hit in 1984. Released as a single in the United Kingdom in September 1984, it proved a major commercial success, even eclipsing the original film it was intended to promote. It reached No.3 in the UK Singles Chart, staying in the charts for 13 weeks. In Australia, it peaked at No.5. And in the US, on The Billboard 200, it peaked No.94, whilst with the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play, it peaked at No.20.

It was nominated at the 1984 BAFTA'S MUSIC AWARDS, for "Best Original Song Written for a Film". [In good company, with fellow nominees, Stevie Wonder, with "I Just Called to Say I Love You" (The Woman in Red); Paul McCartney, with "No More Lonely Nights" (Give My Regards To Broad Street); and the winner, Ray Parker Jr., with "Ghostbusters" (Ghostbusters).]

The song was used in an advert by EDF Energy in April 2012. This contributed to the song re-entering the UK Singles chart that year, peaking at No.46.

Filming Locations:

1115-1117 Mason Street, San Francisco, California, USA

(Miles and Madeline's apartment exteriors)

Twickenham Film Studios, Richmond, London, England, UK

(Miles and Madeline's apartment interiors)

Pier 39, San Francisco, California, USA

(arcade scenes)

Alcatraz Prison, Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, California, USA

(prison tour/on location in Alcatraz prison)

Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, California, USA

(concert scene)

Legacy

Nullsleep (Jeremiah Johnson), an American electronic musician and computer artist, has cited the film Electric Dreams as an influential force in his early musical pursuits.
- In the video, "On the Verge of Something Wonderful", a song written by Australian singer-songwriter Darren Hayes and Robert Conley, is featured Darren singing in front of many animated backdrops, of which some of the graphics from Electric Dreams was used.

Other Shout Outs -- more associated with the song "Together in Electric Dreams" than with the film itself:

It is played on the fictional radio station "Flash FM" in the video game, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.
It is the theme to the BBC show Electric Dreams (2009), in which a family has to live in manner of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
It was covered in 2001 by Lali Puna for the album Reproductions: Songs of The Human League.
It was covered by Swedish Indie pop band "Nixon" on the album, Only Ugly People Smoke. (Listen to it HERE)
It was covered in an acoustic version by Darren Hanlon as part of Australian JJJ Radio's "Like A Version" program in 2010. (Watch it HERE)

Cover versions of "Together in Electric Dreams".

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