I was extremely disappointed when I saw Four Rooms, a ’90s hipster anthology comedy that opened 28 and 1/3 years ago (12.25.95). It consisted of four episodes directed by four directors — Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Tim Roth‘s performance as Ted the bellboy provided the narrative follow-through and connective tissue.
Tarantino’s episode was titled “The Man From Hollywood” — very twisted and perverse but not especially funny. It was based upon Roald Dahl‘s “Man From The South” and more particularly a 1960 Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode costarring Steve McQueen, Neilie Adams (who had married McQueen in ’56) and Peter Lorre.
L.M. Kit Carson passed me the Four Rooms script before it began shooting, and I was floored by some of it. I was convinced that it would almost certainly work as a hip black comedy. Carson and I visited the Raleigh Studios set during filming (in either late ’94 or early ’95). Slender Quentin was there, quietly strolling around. I saw it once in late November or early December of ’95, and whoo boy…that was the last time.
