One of the more interesting “shorts” that were shown frequently on Saturday Night Live back in the late 1970’s and throughout the 1980’s were titled “Schillers Reel” ….which were short films produced by Tom Schiller….who was part of the original 1975 writing team when Saturday Night Live debuted on NBC. Notable films included “La Dolce Gilda” featuring Gilda Radner…..and “Don’t Look Back in Anger”… which depicted an elderly John Belushi as the last living “Not Ready For Primetime Player” and dancing on the graves of his deceased cast members….to which ironically, Belushi would be the first SNL cast member to die, four years after the film first aired. Another favorite was “Java Junkie”, a send-up of a 1950’s-style cautionary film about a coffee addict….which was played by Peter Aykroyd. Schiller wrote and directed the short film “Love Is a Dream” for SNL….with producer/cinematographer Neal Marshad and starring Phil Hartman and Jan Hooks…..and he wrote and directed a feature film, Nothing Lasts Forever in 1984. The film, which has never been officially released theatrically or for home media….which featured Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Zach Galligan, Sam Jaffe, Mort Sahl, Lauren Tom, Imogene Coca, Apollonia van Ravenstein and Eddie Fisher…and has gained a cult following and influenced a number of young directors. This Sushi By The Pool film is an indication of just how avant garde Schiller really was.
