Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow months before Conran made the movie with his actors, he shot it entirely with stand-ins in Los Angeles and then created the whole movie in animatics so that the actors had an idea of what the film would look like and where to move on the soundstage. To prepare for the film, Conran had his cast watch old movies, such as Lauren Bacall in "To Have and Have Not" (1944) for Paltrow's performance and "The Thin Man" (1934) for the relationship between Nick and Nora that was to be echoed in the one between Joe and Polly. Avnet constantly pushed
Lauren Bacall early great days with Humphrey Bogart and Howard Hawks 35 years ago" and "Variety" observing, "Lauren Bacall makes the film [from a novel by Bob Randall] work with a solid performance as a stage star pursued by a psychotic fan whose adoration turns to hatred. To be sure, the part doesn't test the broadest range of Bacall's abilities, but she and director Edward Bianchi achieve the essential element: They make the audience care what happens to her." Bacall also was featured in Robert Altman's "Health" (1980) and Michael Winner's "Appointment with Death" (1988). In 1990, she had a small role