During my collecting-- I have recieved a folder with two packets in it from the Columbia Pictures Publicity and Promotion Dept.  One explains all of the credits from the movie.  The other gives Biographies about important people that have to do with the movie-- such as Keith Gordon, Alexandra Paul, John Stockwell, etc.  It tells their backgrounds and their views about acting in the movie Christine.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

" The first movie (my parents) ever took me to was 'The African Queen,' and what I remember most is Humphrey Bogart coming out of the water covered with leeches.  But my monumental experience with film was in 1953, when I was 5.  My parents took me to 'It Came From Outer Space,' in 3-D.  You had to wear special glasses.  The first shot was of the meteor.  It came right off the screen and exploded in my face.  I couldn't believe it! It was everything I'd ever wanted! After that, I was addicted to films.  I made movies in my head.  When I was 8, my dad gave me an 8mm movie camera.  I got my friends from school together, and we made a movie called 'Gorgon the Space Monster.'  I kept telling my parents that I was going to Hollywood to be a film director." - John Carpenter

Those are the words of John Carpenter, who, in 1968, came to California and enrolled in USC's highly acclaimed film school, thus fulfilling his promise to go to Hollywood to make movies.

"In 1968 the country was in turmoil," Carpenter says.  "I could have gotten into political action, music, drugs...anything... but I started film school and for four years, 24 hours a day, all I did was learn about film."

John Carpenter, director of Columbia Pictures' "Christine," is also the director of "The Thing," director and co-author of "Escape From New York" and the co-producer and co-author of "Halloween II."  These followed the back-to-back successes of his films "Halloween" and "The Fog."

"I was raised in Bowling Green, Kentucky," offers Carpenter, of his early years, adding, "My father taught music history and theory at Western Kentucky University there.  We lived in a log cabin on the grounds of the university museum.  There wasn't much call for a kid who wanted to direct movies back home, so I convinced my parents to let me come to California and attend film school."

It was at USC that he became involved with the short film, "The Resurrection of Bronco Billy," which went on to win the Academy Award as best live action short subject of 1970.  It was also while at USC that Carpenter began directing his first feature film, "Dark Star," which he finished on a Hollywood sound stage four years later.

Carpenter followed this with "Assault on Precinct 13," another genre classic, which garnered tremendous critical acclaim in its European release.  Carpenter not only directed the film but also wrote, edited and scored it.

Carpenter wrote the original screenplay for "Eyes," which, after extensive rewrites by other screen writers, became the film, "The Eyes of Laura Mars."

Then came the phenomenon known as "Halloween."  Directed, scored and co-written by Carpenter (along with his partner, writer-producer Debra Hill), the film has ultimately become the most successful independent movie ever made, and firmly established the team of Carpenter and Hill.

Moving to television, Carpenter wrote and directed the television movie thriller, "Somebody's Watching Me," which was produced by Richard Kobritz, who produced "Christine".  With this film, Carpenter met actress Adrienne Barbeau, perhaps most recognizable at that time for her role as Carol in the hit television series "Maude," and a relationship developed that led to their eventual marriage in January 1979.

Carpenter next undertook the critically acclaimed television biographical picture "Elvis."  The three-hour ratings blockbuster enabled Carpenter to work with actor Kurt Russell, who went on to star for Carpenter in "Escape from New York" and "The Thing".

Returning to feature films, and because of the success of "Halloween," Carpenter and Hill were free to make the ghost story, "The Fog".  Carpenter and Hill co-wrote the film, with HIll producing and Carpenter and Hill co-wrote the film, with Hill producing and Carpenter directing and scoring.  "Escape from New York" marked the team's third collaboration.  They followed with "Halloween II".

Why does Carpenter feel that horror is such a popular genre?  "It has been throughout history.  It is human nature to be fascinated by the horrible, the forbidden.  We seek it out, and we challenge it.  The horror film is unique because it is a shared investment; the audience feels common emotions.  Ultimately, it's a test of ourselves".

Columbia Pictures presents a Polar Film, John Carpenter's "Christine," a Richard Kobritz Production.  Based upon the novel by Stephen King, "Christine" stars Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, Robert Prosky, and Harry Dean Stanton.  John Carpenter directs from a screenplay by Bill Phillips.

Producer Richard Kobritz left Warner Bros. TV after eight years of senior vice president of production to produce John Carpenter's "Christine" for Columbia Pictures.  Undoubtedly, only a project of extrordinary promise and unique opportunity would have had the power to coax him away from the corporate structure out into the world of the independent filmmaker.  Stephen King's hottest and newest best-seller, "Christine," had just that power from Kobritz, who bought the project from manuscript, hired John Carpenter to direct, and made a studio deal which allowed him to be rolling cameras at the same time the book was topping all the best-seller charts around the country.  According to Kobritz, "It was as clean and as swift and as easy a deal as is possible.  I think we all knew-John, myself, the studio -- that if we could put this picture out while, in fact, it was a top-10 best-selling book, it would be something really special.  That seldom occurs, and that was the something we were after".

A native of San Francisco, Kobritz received his B.A. from Santa Clara University and his master's at San Francisco State, majoring in communication.  He has worked in all areas of production since 1965 and has been associated with such films as "Hello, Dolly!," "Caprice," "Valley of the Dolls," "The Cheyenne Social Club," "Conrack" and "Lifeguard".

When he was at Warner Bros., Kobritz's unique contract allowed him to produce features for television, which resulted in two productions, "Somebody's Watching Me" and the mini-series "Salem's Lot" based on the Stephen King novel.  For both projects, he selected two then-unknown directors, John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper ("Poltergeist").

Kobritz first became involved with "Christine" while at Warner Bros.  "I had done 'Salem's Lot' which was a Stephen King book, and as a result of that picture we became friends.  Last summer I got the 760-page manuscript of 'Christine' and read it over the weekend.  And all the time I was reading it, I knew that, no matter what, it would be a best-seller, because it is, after all, Stephen King".

Kobritz notes that he enjoys working in the thriller genre: "It seems to me that one should never forget that film is a visual medium.  A story must be told in pictures, not dialogue.  The camera and not the actors should tell the story.  I suppose that's why I enjoy working with the subjects of intrigue and suspense".

But what is so attractive about the King book that Kobritz fel would translate into an exciting and successful motion picture?  "It's an entertainment that deals in three things: teenagers, rock music, and America's love affair with the automobile.  And that's something by which we measure our sexuality, expecially as teenagers, when our looks and our ability to attract the opposite sex are tremendously important.  And those three things, merging together in one novel, seem to be highly attractive and Vital elements in a successful entertainment."

Then it says the same last paragraph as under John Carpenter.

Screenwrite Bill Phillips has been writing since 1965, when his first play, "To Be Or Not," was produced on Cape Cod.  His second comedy, "The Madison Avenue Muse", was the only original production in the 1966 Massachusetts Drama Festival.

His interest in film developed at Dartmouth College, which had no formal film program at the time.  Encouraged by visiting professors such as Arthur Mayer and Joseph Losey, he designed the school's first film major and graduated with a Senior Fellowship (a year of independent study) in 1971.

After producing an independent film for the National Park Service, Phillips enrolled in the UNiversity of Southern California Cinema Department M.F.A. program in writing and directing.  His thesis film, a psychological thriller entitled "Deadlock," was the next film after John Carpenter's "Dark Star" to be shot on USC's ancient sound stage.  But it wasn't until eight years later that he and Carpenter first met.

A native New Englander, Phillips returned there for siz years as an independent filmmaker and formed a small film production company.  His first original screenplay, "Summer Solstice," starred Henry Fonda and Myrna Loy. Produced by a Boston television station, it became the first independently produced drama to air on network prime time and was one of Mr. Fonda's last films.

Phillips has had a brief but continuous association with John Carpenter that encompasses three film projects.  He has also written an original romance/adventure, "Sea Story," for Carpenter and his wife/partner Adrienne Barbeau.

While presently concentrating on feature film scripts, Phillips developed movie-of-the-week projects for CBS and ABC, including an adaptation of "Going My Own Way" by Gary Crosby and Ross Firestone.  He is currently working on an orignal love story, "Captive Hearts".

***Conclusion pragraph is the same as the others***

"Breathtankingly brilliant."  "Extraordinary!" "First rate." "Savage, funny and altogether remarkable."  "Nearly prefect... a galvanizing performance."  "Particularly impressive." These are but a few of the superlatives used to describe a variety of performances by Keith Gordon, an astonishingly gifted 22-year-old New York actor who plays the pivotal role of Arnie Cunningham in John Carpenter's "Christine."

Keith Gordon has been fortunate enough to have worked with some of the best directors in theater and film today.  He's played a wide range of roles, from the computer whiz in Brian Depalma's "Dressed to Kill" to Bob Fosse's young tap-dancing alter-ego in "All That Jazz" to the violent British punk hero of "Gimmie Shelter" and the lower-class ladies' man of "Third Avenue."

Born in the Bronx, New York, Gordon grew up mostly on Manhattan's Upper West Side.  He never considered acting professionally until he was 13.  His first professional job was in the summer of 1976 at the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut.  That winter he was cast in "Jaws 2" which took almost a full year to film.  Of his experience on that film, Gordon says, "It wasnt a great film, and I didn't have a huge part, but I ended up spending about 40 weeks on location.  So it became an education in filmmaking.  I sat in the editing room and had a tremendous opportunity to watch a film being made.  And when that was over, I was able to get back to New York, and back to the theater".

Back In New York, Gordon had his only opportunity to work with his father, an actor/teacher/director, who directed him in "A Traveling Companion" at New York's Ensemble Studio Theatre.  He followed this with a featured role in the mini-series "Studs Lonigan," and then with a role in Brian DePalma's low-budget comedy, "Home Movie."

In the fall of 1978, Gordon played the lead in "Gimmie Shelter" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and simultaneously filmed Bob Fosse's "All that Jazz".  He followed that with an appearance on Broadway, playing the Prince of Wales to Al Pacino's "Richard III."

Next came "Dressed to Kill," a stage production of "Album," directed by Joan Micklin Silver.  During its run, Gordon played the role of one of four slain students in the NBC-TV movie "Kent State".

Since "Album," Gordon did a film for the PBS American Playhouse series, "My Palikari," and had leading roles off-Broadway in "Back to Back" and "The Buddy System" as well as a return to the National Playwrights Conference.  Most recently, he worked with Micheal Bennett on "Third Street" part of the Circle Repertory Theatre's Young Playwrights Festival.

Gordon will soon begin filming "Necessities," a feature he co-wrote with director Mark Romonek.  Ultimately he hopes to direct borth films and stage pieces, ascontinuing his acting career.

He has nothing but enthusiasm for his experience on "Christine".  "I fell in love with the part, and knew I had to play Arnie.  I would have killed for the role."

According to Gordon, "John Carpenter is a wonderful, wonderful director.  He's really easy to work with and his marvelous sense of humor, which has a lot to do with the way in which he approaches his work.  Many directors are serious all the time.  There's something unique about John.  He's got a child-like enjoyment of making movies, which is great because it infects everyone on the set-- the cast, the crew-- and it makes things go fast and with a kind of joy that you don't find on most movie sets."

What else about John Carpenter and his "Christine" experience really made an impact on Gordon?  "Arnie goes through a lot of changes throughout the film,"  he says, "and to that end, John allowed me to try various things.  And he'd allow me to try different variations, very much with a spirit of collaboration, and then later he'd pick the one which he felt worked best.  The point however, is that he'd allow each of us to have a substantial amount of imput insofar as interpretation and characterization are concerned.  That's generous, and it's terrific to experience."

Gordon is generous with his praise of "the real star" of the film: Christine, the car.  "She (Christine) does just about all the hard work in the film.  It's as much her film as anybody's, and she's been amazing to watch."

"And," adds Gordon, "She's a real femme fatale, a very jealous woman.  Whe have a real loving relationship, but when she gets jealous there's no stopping her rage."

**Conclusion the same as the others**

John Stockwell, who plays Dennis Guilder, the hero of Columbia Pictures' "Christine", was born in Galveston, Texas.  He grew up there, and in New York City, went to Harvard University, and has now decided to settle down in California to pursue a career as an actor, director, and even perhaps a producer.  Stockwell credits his years in Galveston for his love of crazy times and country music, and the slight twinge of a Southern accent that creeps into his voice every once in a while.

Prior to "Christine", Stockwell's biggest professional job was as co-star (with Tom Cruise, Jackie Earle Haley, and Shelley Long) in the comedy, "Losin' It." In addition, his numerous theater appearances have included roles in Shakespearean and contemporary pieces, among them Lobo in "Camino Real" at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and Hal in Joe Orton's "Loot".  He also played at the Houston Shakespearean Festival and at the Brighton Festival in England and was a regular on the long-running TV soap opera, "The Guiding Light."

"Christine" is really Stockwell's first job since he's been free and clear of any school commitments.  It felt great for him to be doing it, especially "...since I'm a great fan of both Stephen King and John Carpenter.  I even dragged my 68-year-old grandmother to see 'Halloween' for my third time.  I'm just grateful that I made it through the filming of 'Christine' without any scars or injuries," the latter comment a reflection on the subject matter, not the production itself.

As a fan of King's and Carpenter's, Stockwell was thrilled to have gotten a call to read for the role in "Christine".  "As soon as I knew I was being considered, I ran out and got the book, so I could read it first.  Then the producer, Richard Kobritz, gave me the script.  And I read it in one sitting, because it is one of those rare scripts that you get an opportunity to read where you can't wait to see what happens next".

But what about the character he plays in "Christine"?  He's really the hero of the film, and Stockwell sheds some insights into this guy:  "I play a guy who's 17 years old.  On the surface I'm a pretty well-adjusted guy... I'm on the football team... I get the girls... that sort of stuff.  But I have this strange friend, Arnie Cunningham, and everyone gives me a lot of trouble because of our friendship, since the other guys think he's a real nerd, a loser.  All along, I find him funny and wonderful to be with... that is, until things get real wierd.  But you'll have to see the film to know what I'm talking about."

Stockwell's reaction to Christine the car is somewhat different from that expressed by Keith Gordon.  After all, Stockwell is from a rural community, and Gordon is a New Yorker.

"I'm from Texas, and in Texas, like in Los Angeles, the car is king, and you spend so much of your time in and around your car that your car takes on your personality, especially out here (Los Angeles), where you're judged by the kind of car you drive.  So a story like this one makes a lot of sense... one that focuses on a character who takes on the personality of his car, and soon becomes possessed by it.  That's what happens to Arnie.  He changes the minute he gets inside the ca.  I think millions of Americans are certainly able to relate to this, though not to the same degree, but certainly to the feeling of ownership, closeness, obsession even".

**Conclusion the same as the others**

Alexandra Paul, who plays the role of Leigh Cabot, the "other woman" is making her theatrical motion picture debut in Colimbia Pictures' "Christine".  Just 19 years old, Miss Paul has "Paper Dolls," a movie of the week, to her credit.  In it, she played a young model vying for stardom in the wonderful worled of high fashion, driven by an ambitious mother.

Born in New York, Miss Paul moved with her family to France when she was in the third grade.  Two years later they returned to the States and settled in Connecticut, where she grew up.  A graduate of Groton School, she never really considered an acting career.  At the age of 16, Miss Paul decided that she needed to get a summer job, so she went to New York, got an agent, and modeled for two summers (through her junior and senior years in high school).  After graduation, she spent a few months in Italy, decided a modeling career wasn't for her, returned to New York and began doing commercials and studying acting.  A Whole new world was opening up. 

Miss Paul met casting agent Lynn Stalmaster through her commercial agent and was cast as on of the leads in "Paper Dolls".  Then came a move to Los Angeles, which turned out to be a terrific place for her, since she is very athletic and takes to the outdoor lifestyle easily.  She's also a vegetarian, and finds that compatible with California living.

Miss Paul has always been conservation-minded and to that end has begun to get involved with the nuclear freeze initiative and programs promoting the preservation of our natural resources.

How does she feel about working with John Carpenter?  "John is terrific and I really liked working with him.  I had never seen any of his films before because I don't like scary movies.  When I learned I was going to be in a John Carpenter film, I tried to see some of his movies, but they wern't playing here in Los Angeles.  But I absolutely will see them, because I really respect his work".

What does she think about her cometition in the film? "This car (Christine) is the kind of 'girl' that all the guys want but are afraid to have because there's something very untouchable about her.  That's the kind of aura which makes her seem almost human.  That's what the film is all about.  Now, after having done this film, when I'm driving on a freeway, cars seem to have their very own personalities.  I've begun to look at them differently."

The thing about "Christine" that most excited Miss Paul is having had the opportunity to work with John Carpenter.  "He's got a great imagination and he absolutely knows the car's personality, as if she were another cast member.  He gladlyt shared all his knowledge of Christine with me and made what was a somewhat awkward relationship with the other woman, very real and always interesting."

For Miss Paul, working on "Christine" has most definitely been instructive.  And working with John Carpenter has been the highlight of her career.  "John's given me a confidence that I think I lacked before this film.  He has consistently been able to restore my self-confidence by a comment on my work, or with a reassuring gesture.  He gives so much.  And you can't help but grow, and get better and better.  And finally you just stop worrying about all that stuff".

**Conclusion paragraph the same**

"She's the kind of girl all the guys want but are afraid to have because there's something very untouchable about her." "She's a real femme fatale, a very jealous woman.  We have a real loving relationship but when she gets jealous, there's no stopping her rage."  "She's a beauty."

The subject of these fitting accolades, surprisingly, is not the town beatuy or prom queen.  "She" is a sleek and sexy, firm and rounded young creature.  Her name is Christine and she's a blazing red, 1958 Plymouth Fury who's got the whole town talking.

The "star" of Columbia Pictures' "Christine' has received plaudits from everyone who has worked with her and is certain to make quite an impression on film audiences.

Keith Gordon, who plays the teenagre possessed by Christine, is generous with his praise of his "leading lady," commenting, "She does just about all the hard work in the film.  It's as much her film as anybody's and she's amazing to watch.  We have a very loving relationship, which is synergistic at the same time.  Arnie (his character) gives Christine a new life and she gives him a sense of self, a seonse of doing something important, of creating something, of loving something.  She protects him.  The bottom line is that they give one another love".

Co-star Alexandra Paul comments on Christine, "She has a sort of untouchable aura when you just see her driving, and it's that aura which makes her seem almost human.  That's what the film is all about.  After having done this film, when I'm driving on a freeway now, cars seem to have their very own personalities.  I've begun to look at them differently because of Christine."

John Stockwell plays Arnie's best (and only) friend, who advises him against buying Chrisitne.  He comments, "In a certain sense, the car is the star, but that's not to suggest that the film is a mechanical movie.  But she's just this incredible thing that goes from being a piece of junk to this incredibly perfect car.  There was so much attention paid to her, expecially on the set, where she really did get the 'star treatment'.  Sometimes when I looked at her, I got a real uneasy feeling that she was really not just an ordinary car".

Stockwell adds that people, expecially in places such as Los Angeles and his home state of Texas, "Spend so much time in and around their car that it takes on their personality, expecially out here (Los Angeles), where they are judged by the kind of car they drive.  So a story like this one, which focuses on a character who taks on the personality of his car, makes a lot of sense.  Arnie becomes possessed by the car and its personality".

And finally, producer Richard Kobritz comments on the general reaction to Christine during production.  "The entire cast and crew would refer to her as 'Christine'.  Not 'the car' not 'the Plymouth' not 'bring it onto the set' It was always 'Christine'; it was always 'her'.

**Conclusion is the same**