5D Conference : Bigger Bang Pt 4 - J. Michael Riva from Dave Blass on Vimeo.
A few weeks ago, I watched the above video, whose views have skyrocketed after reports of J. Michael Riva's passing began circulating yesterday. In it, the talented Mr. Riva discussed production design and his career as a production designer, and he even shared some personal stories. He described his family as "theatrical," "dreamers," and "nutty as fruitcakes," yet he was understated enough not to name his grandmother, Marlene Dietrich, only calling her "an actress."
You know what? Even though Riva had a creative pedigree, his own professional achievements spoke for themselves. Most recently, Riva has worked on CGI-heavy superhero films with extraordinary visuals, such as the Iron Man and Spider-Man franchises. Although I have seen some of these movies, my vision's probably too jaded to appreciate them with the childlike wonder that Riva's work so successfully inspires. In fact, my favorite sets of Riva's are from movies that I watched countless times during my childhood--The Color Purple, The Goonies, and Radio Flyer. Riva played many other behind-the-scenes roles during his career, too, and I remember the Tales from the Crypt episode that he directed when it aired ("The Secret"), even though I certainly didn't know anything about Riva at the time. Some of its dark sets lit in blue reminded me of Beetlejuice, another one of my juvenile favorites. I find hypothetical situations trivial, but I now wonder what magic Riva could have conjured up had he collaborated with Tim Burton.
RIP J. Michael Riva.
Also, RIP Ray Bradbury, another man with quite an impressive imagination. I learned that he was photographed during his teenage years with Dietrich in 1935, which you can see in this slideshow.
So sorry to learn of Mr. Riva's passing. I imagine grandma must've taken some pride in him.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've seen and read, he's the one grandson who hasn't spoken about Marlene, yet he was her much-discussed first grandson. The photo I often see online of Dietrich-as-Massy features him and Peter hailing a taxi. I'm not sure who took it, but I've got a book called Marlene: An Intimate Photographic Memoir by her friend and Cavalier, Alexander Liberman, which features two alternate shots of Dietrich and her two oldest grandsons in the cab. Liberman is credited for taking those, so he probably took that linked photo as well. I'm surprised the Liberman photos aren't all over Tumblr. There are other ones with Michael and also Peter, and the photos of Dietrich holding a Howdy Doody doll are beautiful.
DeleteI thought Michael's remark that his grandmother was "an actress" reflected great aplomb - and class - on his part. I'll have to search for the photos of Dietrich with her grandsons.
DeleteJohn Michael avait fait de Marlene "la grand-mère la plus glamour du monde"... Je comprends que Marlene n'aimait pas ce titre, il est très réducteur. Elle a affirmé qu'elle était contente de céder son titre à Elizabeth Taylor quand elle est devenue grand-mère à son tour. Je la crois, surtout quand on sait combien elle aimait peu Liz...
ReplyDeleteVery sad news, must be horrible time for his family and friends.
ReplyDeleteMichael didn't talk much about MD in public. I've seen only two interviews where he shares his memories about his late Grandmother.
I'm a newspaper copy editor, and the obit the AP ran on Mr. Riva had no reference whatsoever to his relation to Dietrich. (So I added it.)
ReplyDeleteI don't know whether Riva avoided being in his grandmother's shadow, but his lineage is certainly newsworthy. If it weren't for copy editors like you, online readers would have to sort out that information in the comments section.
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