Movie Gaffe 975: ‘I’ll Do Anything’ Gets Lost in Time

“I’ll Do Anything,” the James L. Brooks musical-turned-romantic-comedy that opens Feb. 4, is set in Hollywood, so it’s not surprising that the picture abounds in movie references.

Within the first few minutes of the film, for example, Matt Hobbs, a character actor portrayed by Nick Nolte, assures his wife, Beth (Tracey Ullman), that he’s going to beat out Raul Julia for a part in “Kiss of the Spiderwoman.” Audiences, of course, are likely to recall that Julia got the role.

The year, we are told, is 1987, six years before the main action in “I’ll Do Anything” begins.

Mention of the well-known movie helps establish for the audience that Hobbs is an actor of considerable stature. The only trouble is, “Kiss of the Spiderwoman” came out in 1985.

Somewhat sheepish after being informed of the gaffe, Brooks, who wrote and directed “Anything,” said flashing the date on the screen was a last-minute decision. Given that Jeannie, the Hobbses’ daughter, is 6 months old when we first see her in 1987 and 6 years old when she is portrayed by Whittni Wright, the reference to a movie made before she was born would have been a mistake in any case, Brooks acknowledged. But, he contended, “naming the year is a different deal.”

“I loved ‘Kiss of the Spiderwoman’ because it was such a famous acting picture, with two great parts and two actors (William Hurt, in addition to Julia) who had a great time working together,” Brooks said. “There’s things I’ve read about the making of that movie that I’ve used in rehearsals since.”

For example, he said, Hurt and Julia switched roles while rehearsing their movie. “I had Whittni and Nick switch roles in rehearsals--which really helped (their performance).”

In part, “Anything” is a tribute to character actors who dedicate themselves to their craft. Julia’s “Spiderwoman” role as Valentin, a political activist locked into a South American prison with a gay window dresser who is obsessed with tacky Hollywood movies, “just always was the part that you really want, for all the right reasons,” Brooks said. “So I guess I was swayed more by that than the date (that the film was released).

“And,” he added, “the names were fun.” When Ullman’s character castigates her husband for putting his not-so-lucrative career ahead of his parental responsibilities, the name of “Spiderwoman’s” director rolls sneeringly from her tongue. “I’ve got a baby girl in there sleeping in a used crib who couldn’t care less what a director named Hector Babenco thinks,” she shouts.

Gaffes like the one in “Anything” recur with regularity in the movies. The 1981 “Pennies From Heaven,” for example, is set in 1934, yet the characters go to see a movie, “Follow the Fleet” starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and eventually join the action. That movie wasn’t released until 1936.

During the “Be Our Guest” number in the animated 1991 Disney version of “Beauty and the Beast,” the singing dinnerware form the shape of the Eiffel Tower. But the story is set well before the tower was constructed in 1889.

In Warner Bros.’ current release “The Pelican Brief,” newlywed Julia Roberts plays law student Darby Shaw, a single woman whose lover has just been killed. But in one scene we get a glimpse of Mrs. Lyle Lovett’s wedding band.

Gaffes, in fact, are such a tradition in Hollywood, that one recent movie, “Last Action Hero,” spoofed the practice with dozens of intentional mistakes, according to Premiere magazine. Looking through the window from Jack Slater’s (Arnold Schwarzenegger) apartment, to mention just one instance, rain is falling. In the same scene, from the outside, the weather is sunny and dry.