C
If you’re in charge of a project, the key to success is getting everyone to want to help you. As a director, I suggest, I gently push the actors in the direction I want them to go.
In the 1986 movie Nothing in Common, Jackie Gleason’s character, Max Basner, gets fired from his job as a clothing salesman. The scene, shot on a boat, shows Max’s hopelessness about being out of work. I was looking for some ways that would allow Max to show his feelings.
Jackie had far more experience at everything than I did, and at first I was frightened. What could I possibly tell “The Great One” about acting? Out of fear I decided to direct by suggestion, and I sat down with Gleason to talk about the scene.
“So Max is sad, right?” I said.
Gleason nodded.
“And he’s probably still carrying his pens with his name on them－the ones he used to hand out to his customers, right?”
Gleason nodded.
“So what would you want to do with the pens after you were fired?”
He was silent for a moment. “Why don’t I throw them overboard?”
I stood up and turned toward the crew. “Hey, everybody, Jackie has a wonderful idea. Let’s shoot it.”
After filming the scene, Gleason called me over and said with a smile, “Garry, what kind of wonderful idea am I going to have tomorrow?”
You and your team can discover the answers to problems tighter. When there are no prizes or gold stars for those who get the solution first, you’ll all benefit when everything turns out right.
63. The writer tells us that, to succeed in the project you are in charge of, you should _______.
A. make everyone work for you
B. get everyone willing to help you
C. let people know you have the final say
D. keep giving orders to everyone
64. From the passage we can know _________.
A. Jackie Gleason is the director of the film Nothing in Common
B. Jackie Gleason is very angry when he is fired from his job
C. Max, a character in the film, is in very low spirits when he loses his job
D. Jackie Gleason writes the play of the film Nothing in Common
65. The underlined part “The Great One” (in Paragraph 3) refers to __________.
A. Gleason B. the director himself C. Max D. Max’s boss
66. Why did Gleason call the director over and smile at him?
A. Gleason thought his wonderful idea was accepted by the director.
B. Gleason succeeded in hitting upon a wonderful idea.
C. Gleason was confident about his work the next day.
D. Gleason appreciated the director’s way of directing films.
