After all, that film launched fine futures for them, even if the moniker stung.
Blum also unwittingly etched into permanent Hollywood history the memory of those actors when they were young and gorgeous.
Who wants to be forgotten?
(L-R) Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson and Mare Winningham and Andrew McCarthy in ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection
Surreal, considering that decades earlier, I was at that studio for the filming ofSt.
Elmos Fire, a movie which I co-wrote with director Joel Schumacher.
The article portrayed these actors as spoiled privileged celebrities who cared more about partying than their craft.
(L-R) Mare Winningham, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy and Judd Nelson in ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection
A year later, I became Joels assistant while he was directingD.C.
Cabwith Mr. T. When that stalled at the box office, Joel read theSt.
Part of the quest of Andrews movie is to get past the regrets of his youth.
They say those who lived through the 60s cant remember them.
Then a supermodel, Andie MacDowell would play the role inspired by the St. Elmo waitress.
I always thought Andrew was perfect for the part but being inSt.
Elmossparked the Brat Pack phenomenon which Andrew has spent years trying to free himself from.
The Real Jules
On theSt.
I actually recall running after her a block on the backlot.
Demi had shown up for a costume fitting drunk and high, at nine in the morning.
He gave Demi an ultimatum to get sober or to go kill yourself on someone elses movie.
She went on to star in some of the biggest hits of the 80s includingA Few Good MenandGhost.
We were not the Beatles, but…
Though she and Andrew never dated, their chemistry was electric in the scene inSt.
Elmos, when Kevin finally confesses his feelings for his best friend Alecs girlfriend Leslie.
Youre f*cking!
at the young actors.
It became a great moment in the film.
When Andrew jokes to Rob that they were not The Beatles, Rob smiles coyly.
I was in the station wagon with him when a Teamster drove us onto the quad of College Park.
Like me, Robs roots were in Ohio, and he took this all with a sense of humor.
Rob began acting in homemade films Emilio directed with his brother Charlie and neighbor Sean Penn.
The university could not condone that.
I always thought wed be friends forever.
Forever just got a lot shorter.
Kevin, looking in at the St. Elmo bar where a new gang has taken over the gangs table.
Initially, the article was supposed to profile Emilio and his budding director career.
He had already adapted and co-starred inThat Was Then, This Is Now, the novel byThe Outsidersauthor S.E.
This new one, which would be released under the titleWisdom, would be his directorial debut.
And it would make him one of the youngest writer-director-actors since Orson Welles.
And Joel Schumacher told Blum how Emilio was the best friend of everyone in the cast.
But it also included some embarrassing moments.
And worst, ditching Jay McInerney so that Rob, Judd and he could check out an after-hours club.
Today none of this would even merit a blog post on TMZ.
It also included Tim Hutton as the one with the Oscar.
Andrew seeks out Hutton for the film, calling him The Godfather of The Brat Pack.
Perhaps that is a clue why Judd does not appear in the documentary.
The damage done by the article is apparent from Andrews perspective as well as other actors he talked to.
It marginalized them as not dedicated to their craft and discouraged them from working with each other.
One is left with the question, was this a real obstacle or something of their own creation?
(This was, as Andrew points out, the 80s.)
John Parr had written that anthem without seeing the movie.
Joel used to almost proudly brag that when it came out,St.
Elmos Firedid not receive one positive review in the United States of America.
This was particularly painful for me.
Many of the characters came from people I knew and still feel great affection for.
1 on the Billboard charts.
People continue to get married to and apparently buried to David Fosters Love Theme from the movie.
As Demi says to Andrew, you have to not listen to that negativity.
Elmos Fire.Where Demi Moores character is trying to freeze herself.
When they saw St. Elmos fire, sailors took it as an omen that they would be okay.
Jules has locked herself into the apartment, all the windows open.
Dressed only in a thin white T-shirt, she was trying to freeze herself to death.
I understood her point artistically but told her I thought it might be a bit distracting.
Electric flashes of light that appear in dark skies out of nowhere.
Sailors would guide entire journeys by it, but the joke was on them… there was no fire.
There wasnt even a St. Elmo.
They made it up.
Just like youre making all this up.
I wonder, is this also true about The Brat Pack?
Andrew and the other actors throughout theBratsdocumentary insist that there never was a Brat Pack.
Was The Brat Pack just a mythological creation playing into our fantasies about the lives of celebrities?
Someone recently told me who had seenSt.
Elmos Firewas like Altamont messy and full of drama both on and off-screen.
After Andrews documentary ended, I asked my students if it resonated with them.
But one question remains: Why, after 40 years and despite all its flaws, doesSt.
Elmos Firestill burn brightly?
Perhaps it is because in the end, the movie is about friendship and being there for each other.
Or as Rob Lowes character says in the movie, …
Were all going through this… .
This is our time on the edge.
