>>>Did you meet and know  Isabel Garrett?  I am guessing you probably did.

Yes, I did of course meet and work with Isabel on both projects.  She
was there every day to help insure that the elements of the game were in
place and clear so that the piece would work as it was intended, an
interactive video game.  Incidentally, she is a very talented artist, and one of my
prized possessions is a very detailed pencil sketch she did of me (not
as M. Brunette, just plain Michael) during the down time between set-ups.

>>>Do you keep in contact with the rest of the cast?

I have kept in touch with many of the other folks; it is a small market
up here in New England and we've all worked together on many other
projects over the years.  I recently directed a play called First Night by Jack
Neary (Plum), and I've appeared with and directed Cheryl Mc Mahon
(White) in a number of stage plays over the last ten or fifteen years.  Walter
Covell (Mustard) works mostly out of Providence, RI and is,
incidentally, a crossword puzzle designer whose work has appeared in the Boston Globe
and the New York Times.  Richard McElvain (Gray) is a brilliant actor and
director whose work at places like The New Repertory Theatre has been
cited by peers and critics alike as some of the finest performances seen in
this area.  Mara Clark (Rose) was the Artistic Director of the Theatre at
Newburyport (MA) for many years; while illness has curtailed her
activities somewhat, she is still a part of the area theatre scene.   Peter Kovner
(Insp. Pry of Clue 2) is still one of the most sought-after industrial
and voice-over actors in  New England; he also has appeared on shows like
The Practice.    Betty Lee Bogue (Peacock)  has retired from the business
and is living a wonderful life in New Hampshire; and Bill Lucas (Didit)
passed away a number of years ago. I have lost touch, though, with the others;
who have moved on either to New York or California.

>>>Did you keep any momentos from the two movies?

The only memento I kept from both shoots was one of my eye-patches,
which I still have somewhere in a file folder with a lot of the ad copy that
ran in papers promoting the product.  There was an article in TV Guide that
mentioned us; and I'm assuming you know that at one point Clue was the
biggest selling videocassette (even beating Jane Fonda's workout tape!)
in America.

>>>Did you enjoy working on them? Any particular memories you'd like to
share?

I had a blast working on both films.  First of all, because there were
really great people to go to work with every day; the cast, the
director, and all the great people on the crew and even the reps from Parker
Brothers and the ad agency.  The food was great (all film sets, even something
as relatively small as Clue, are catered -- it's in the Union rules),
although the hours (we averaged 12 to 14 hour days, and first call was usually 5
or 5:30 AM for makeup and wardrobe) were killer.  We were allowed to play
withour characters a lot, although we were also aware that this had to work
as a game, and so we often had to re-shoot to make sure that a game point
detail was clear.  What was most fun was that Hy Conrad, the author of
the script, was able to tailor the second video to our particular strengths
and give us more good, funny lines.  Strictly from my actor's viewpoint, I
likeClue 2  better ;  the script is funnier and hangs together more than the first
one did, the performances are better and less campy (although God knows
NONE of us were Emmy material in this thing!),  the music is better and the
whole things flows more smoothly from one scene to the next.  I honestly
don't know how it plays as a game; I've never actually played it!

The first game was shot on tape and took about 3 weeks to complete.
The second game was shot on 35mm film and took about 4 and a half weeks.
Clue 1 was taped at a private residence in Wenham, MA ( the box cover is
that house's exterior); Clue 2 was filmed at Belcourt Castle in Newport, RI.

If I may be permitted to share two stories with you: First, while we
were working on Clue 1 my mother became very ill and went in the hospital
about the second week of the shoot.  The weekend before the last several days
of shooting, she passed away  and I had to leave to take care of all the
arrangements.   The director and the production staff juggled things so
they could shoot around me until the funeral was over and I could
return. When I came back to the set the following Monday evening, everyone was
so kind to me and their support and love made a real difference.  Second,
one day also during Clue 1, the camera had broken down and we were all
sitting around waiting for a replacement to come from Boston (Wenham, MA,  is
about 45 minutes or so north of the city).  We were swapping stories and Bill
Lucas, who played Didit, began to tell us of his days as a halftrack
commander during WW II.  He was in one of the units that participated
in the Battle of the Bulge, and he held us spellbound for  hours with his
stories.  It was just one of those great days.

Thanks, Michael!

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