While Brian De Palma was making Carrie ( as a part of his Alfred Hitchcock imitation films ), Alfred Hitchcock himself was making his last picture Family Plot, where he used the composer from Steven Spielberg’s Jaws John Williams for the score. De Palma, probably knowing Williams through Spielberg, decided to mess around with Hitchcock himself, making a sort of yet another Carrie ( a film about people with superpowers ) but this time hiring John Williams himself for the score. And weirdly enough ( while Spielberg was finishing Close Encounters and starting 1941 where his camera sexually obsessed over De Palma’s GF at the time Nancy Allen ) De Palma hires Spielberg’s girlfriend at the time Amy Irving for the lead role.
DO A LITTLE RESEARCH!
Frank Yablins produced The Fury. He was a big time movie executive in the 60s and 70s who made movies such as The Godfather and the Godfather II and Chinatown. He was as corrupt as the come but he had and enormous amount of power in Hollywood for decades.
DePalma didn’t hire Speilberg’s friend. Yablins produced a movie and did what he did, which is pull in top tier assets to make the movie.
DePalma had a huge break out hit called Carrie so he was tapped as the director
The Fury starred:
Williams first movie with Spielberg was Sugarland Express in 1974. Long before doing that movie John Williams was one of the most sought after composers working.
Prior to 1974 John Williams had been nominated eight times for Academy awards for best scores for movies such as The Fiddler on the Roof, Good Bye Mr Chips, The Poseidon Adventure, The Valley of the Dolls and others.
In 1974 Williams got his ninth academy award nomination for a movie called The Towering Inferno.
Yablins got one of the most famous and revered composers in Hollywood to work on his movie.
I said “probably” which allows me to bullshit. And the thing I wrote sounds a bit more interesting if it was true.
The thing is, the story associated with Yablins is way more interesting than De Palma knew Speilberg’s buddy.
Hollywood in the 1970s experienced a number of massive changes. The studio system was collapsing under its the weight of its monopolies and new breed of movie makers rose.
It is in that environment that Lucas, Spielberg, De Palma and Milius grew up and made the movies they did.
Check out this documentary to get insight:
“Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘N’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood”