Weird Lights in "Bagdad Cafe"

[coco...@yahoo.com]

Was driving just east of Barstow the other day, near where Bagdad Cafe was
filmed, when I saw a strange pattern of lights low in the sky during a dust
storm. I realized that they were the same lights depicted in the painting
hanging in Jasmin's motel room and painted by Jack Palance's character. They
were also the lights that Jasmin saw when she was wandering the desert.

These lights appeared to be caused by dust drifting past reflected sunbeams.
The beams converged in an area of the sky next to a solar power plant that
apparently uses mirrors to focus sunlight towards a tower to generate energy.

Does anyone know if the phenomenon I saw inspired the weird lights in the
movie? This is probably so obscure that I'll never find the answer--although
I hear Jack Palance will be in Flagstaff on Friday at a movie premier and I
could annoy him then if I can meet him.

Steve in Flag

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[Jbcorner2]

Gee, was that the only "weird" thing you noticed about this delightfully
offbeat movie.

jb

[David J. Hays]

I would suggest following up your question with Percy Adlon, the
director. I recollect similar visual eefects in one of his earlier
German language films, "Sugarbaby".
On Sat, 14 Nov 1998 coco...@yahoo.com
wrote:

[coco...@yahoo.com]

In article <72ki6q$lr3$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>,

For anyone following this thread, I found the answer to my question. Jack
Palance walked right past me last week in Flagstaff, but I wasn't able to ask
him. Instead, I stopped off in the cafe on the way home for Thanksgiving and
asked the waitress. Apparently the lights did come from the power plant, and
the director saw them as an omen to film in the area. Thanks to the other
poster for the helpful clue. By the way, the cafe served good cheap food and
looks just like it did in the movie.

Steve