Cannes Film Festival has Pike connection

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By BETH ZUMWALT

The Cannes Film Festival is one of the most prestigious festivals in the film making industry. Held yearly in Cannes France, the festival was once known as the International Film Festival.

Every year, the exclusive event hosts screenings for filmmakers, actors, critics, and industry insiders. Top honors at the festival are given out by a special jury of internationally recognized filmmakers and critics.

This year, a name familiar in Pike County was being talked about at the festival.
Joseph Miller, a 1964 graduate of Pittsfield High School, was in a film that was featured in the New Wave division of the festival. His production won second place, edging out 100 other films in the first round and gaining second in the final round of seven.

“New Wave just means it has new names, new faces, not many, if any, recognized or household names,” Miller said. “We made it to the final seven and edged out a film that featured Bill Murray by taking second.”

Miller said he is the star of the show, “Eddie”, an old codger who takes his last dime and buys a gas station in the desert.

“A beautiful girl keeps coming in and buying items and Eddie and her strike up a friendship,” Miller said. “During one of their conversations, she mentions she would like to go to Paris and Brussels.”

According to Miller, Eddie was trying to figure out a way to get the money to take her on the trip of her dreams when a young man comes in and buys a lottery ticket.

“Eddie can tell by the reaction of the customer that he has won big money on the ticket, so Eddie shoots him,” Miller said. “He immediately panics when he realizes what he has done and calls 9-1-1, but hangs up. Knowing 9-1-1 will send an officer to check on the hang-up call, Eddie has to dispose of the body quickly.”

It is illegal in the state for an owner of a store selling lottery tickets to cash in a big one so Eddie hires a local ne’er-do-well to cash in the ticket for him.

“Once he has the money in hand, he tells the beautiful girl he has the money and they can go on their big adventure,” Miller said. “To his surprise, she says ‘You old coot, I’m married and have two kids.’”

She storms out of the station, never to return.

“The show is on the Cannes Circuit now,” Miller said. “It will most likely end up on one of the streaming services, HBO, Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime once it is finished with the circuit.’

The show is not a one-and-done for Miller. He also has a spot in an upcoming film about a lonely old man, who owns a drive-in theatre and employs Miller as his assistant. After much back and forth, the old man gives Miller the drive in. Miller and his film wife, run the drive in until it ceases to exist. Miller’s wife starts showing signs of dementia and the only place she comes back to present times is when they are at the deserted, weed-covered, well worn, drive-in.

“I wanted them to film it in Pike County and use the old Clark Drive-In at Summer Hill for location,” Miller said. “I showed by director pictures and he agreed it was perfect, but said the crew and cast were already in Texas. I almost got Pike County into the movies.”

Miller graduated from high school in 1964 and attended Illinois College working on his degree in theater arts.
“I’d been doing plays since I was 14,” Miller said. “Jon Robb cast me in all of his plays.”

Miller went to Indiana University at South Bend, Ind. and then back to IC.

“I was friends with Tucker Jones and Bob Schadel,” Miller said. “Tucker was an expert tool and die maker and was in California working with Offenhauser Racing. He had a studio apartment in Los Angeles and he said Schadel and I could come out there and sleep on his floor. We did and I started at UCLA.”

It was shortly after starting school in California, that Miller auditioned as a saxophonist for an Asian Tour with Ike and Tina Turner. He got the part.

“It was quite the vacation for me,” Miller said. “ But, by that time Vietnam began to wear on me. I went into the real estate business and still manage a few properties. It was when I retired a little more than three years ago, I decided to try acting, music and entertainment again.”

Miller said he bought a magazine that featured opportunities for jobs in the acting industry.

“It cost $19.50,” he said. “I said if I got an offer that would pay for the next month, I’d buy it again.”

Within 10 days, Miller was the face and voice of a bank in the Los Angeles area.

Since then he has appeared in 102 productions with more in the queue.

Miller credits a lot of Pike County people with his success.

“My dad, Paul Miller, played in a country band and he gave me lot of tips, I played in a band with John and Neal Clark every weekend while I was in high school and college. We played the BlackHawk in Jacksonville, in Hannibal and the Barn in Quincy. We played a lot of what was called pop music then- James Brown, the Isley Brothers, anything that would make people get up and dance and have fun.”

Miller also points to Jon Robb for his start in theatre and to Paul Rosene who very subtly, guided him into taking his saxophone seriously.

“I was just doodling around in class one day and Mr. Rosene said I was pretty good and I should get a record by Stan Goetz. I did and it was the start of my love of the saxophone. In just a few seconds he really influenced me.”

Miller’s step mother, Kay Miller, still lives in Pittsfield as does his half-sister, Jackie. He says he tries to talk to his stepmother once a week and she keeps him up-to-date on Pike County happenings.