No Deposit, No Return

Production Notes

Director: Randall Jahnson
Camera: John Hart
Editor: Ted Levy

Shot Sunday, February 24, 1985 inside a stairwell at Melnitz Hall, the film school at UCLA

Jahnson: "I always liked the acoustics inside this stairwell that I'd trudged up and down so many times while attending school there. Plus, it was a safe haven. I knew we could shoot there without the cops or anyone else hassling us.

"The piece was far less provocative than Henry's usual material, so I wanted his delivery to be subdued, introspective; let his tattoos do the talking as the camera crawled up his arm. Look closely at the symbol for Einsturzende Neubauten, the German industrial band. The tat's so fresh it's still scabbed over.

"This billiard ball was Henry's. He kept it as a kind of talisman, always within reach when he was writing."