Michael Jackson's Jimmy Cagney Dream; "Billie Jean" Cimematographer Daniel Pearl; Mike Medavoy

“He really wanted a film career,”
Rusty tells us of Michael (above in 1999).

Michael Jackson:
The Film Career That Wasn’t

Unlike his idol Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson never established himself as a movie star – namely in a musical remake of James Cagney’s Angels with Dirty Faces – and it’s a reget he took to his grave. That, according to the King of Pop’s Captain EO collaborator, and friend of 25 years, Rusty Lemorande. In an exclusive interview, Rusty – who produced and co-wrote the EO – recounts how Michael came to sign on for Angels and another feature during the early ‘90s.

“One [project] was to remake 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, which was a Tony Randall film… and the other was to remake Angels,” says Rusty. “Michael was a huge James Cagney fan. Michael loved both projects. And everything was going great. And then the first scandal hit. Suddenly, nobody wanted to touch him. It was quite sad that it never happened, because it was very important for Michael to be in movies. He used to talk about Elvis Presley’s career and say, ‘If Elvis hadn’t made all those films, he wouldn’t be as remembered as he was.’”

Also on the show is cinematographer Daniel Pearl, who discusses his most famous creation: Michael’s Billie Jean video. Plus, Phoenix Pictures Chairman Mike Medavoy chats about his new book American Idol After Iraq.