In the mid-1970s, Toho Studios released its all-star actioner Conflagration (1975), whose extensive special effects sequences made it a shoo-in for international distribution. Shortly thereafter, Cinema Producers Alliance, Inc., Americanized the Japanese film as High Seas Hijack (1977), starring Peter Graves and Gigi Perreau. Little has been know about the Americanized version since its release, despite the presence of its high-caliber American stars. In August 2023, Ms. Perreau spoke to Brett Homenick about her recollections of High Seas Hijack, as well as the low-budget cult classic Journey to the Center of Time (1967), in the following interview.

Gigi Perreau: It was a hundred years ago – not really – but I would say it was almost 60 years ago when I did the film [High Seas Hijack (1977)]. I don’t even remember the name of the producer. I know that you’re up on it since this is what you’re about. So you can help fill me in as I [recall] some memories. What was the name of the producer?

Brett Homenick: Oh, boy. Let me see if I can pull that up really fast [on the IMDb].

GP: I remember it was someone who was quite well known as a producer of B-films, basically. I mean, he did a lot of – I’m not going to call them junk films – he did a lot of films that were not big-time, high-budget films. But he was very well known. Anyway, I got an appointment to see him, and that’s how it all started. But ask the questions that you have in mind, and then I can fill in from there.

BH: Certainly. Actually, I did find the producer [listed on the IMDb]. It’s William C. Thomas, is what it says here.

GP: Bill Thomas – that could be. Bill Thomas. Yeah, that could be; that could be correct.

BH: Well, let’s get started at the very beginning. Usually, I like to start with how people got started in the film industry, but you’re [in] a very unique situation in the sense that it wasn’t your choice, essentially, to get started. So what could you tell me about how you actually did get started with the film business?

GP: I also have to mention to you that I am in the process of writing a memoir, so in my memoir is going to be, of course, the whole story of how I got started at two years of age at MGM Studios. So it was just a chance meeting with an agent who approached my mother about taking my older brother on an interview, and she finally thought, “OK, if I take Gerald” – my brother [who worked professionally under the name Peter Miles] – “on an interview, and he doesn’t get it, then the agent will give up, and we’ll get on with our lives.”

And it so happened that she didn’t have anyone to leave me with, so my brother and I both went with her to MGM Studios where [film producer and director] Mervyn LeRoy spotted me, as he was looking for the baby to play Eve Curie in the film Madame Curie (1943). So that was the beginning, and from there it just took off.

My brother did quite a few films. I think I probably worked a little more than he did, but basically it was just something that happened. I guess it was meant to be.

BH: As you were acting throughout your childhood – we hear recently about child actors and how they find it very difficult to adjust – how was your feeling generally as you were growing up in the film industry?

GP: I had a great time. I loved it. If something conflicted at school with a film that I was offered or whatever, it was always my choice to either do the film or [not]. I went to Catholic school, and I remember a big film – I don’t remember the name that was offered to me – and it conflicted with my confirmation at the time. So I very happily said no; I wasn’t available to do the film because I was going through training and all the stuff you go through for confirmation.

So I had a great childhood; I loved it. I had two very supportive, wonderful, wonderful parents. I just lost my mother a year and a half ago; she was almost 105. So I’ve just been very blessed – very blessed, indeed. And I feel very sad for the kids that did have such a difficult time, growing up in the business – those that were pushed, those that really didn’t like doing what they were doing. I do think that’s a very sad thing.

I don’t think it’s only in films or TV. I don’t think it’s just child actors. I think a lot of children are also pushed into sports activities that perhaps they’re not that personally thrilled about being pushed into. So I think it happens, and I think the most successful people in life are those who’ve been raised with unconditional love and with that kind of a guiding hand but certainly no pressure to do what the parent wants them to do, but to encourage the child to do what they want to do. So I was very lucky – very, very lucky.

BH: During this time, what kind of hobbies did you have while you were acting at the same time?

GP: There wasn’t a lot of time for hobbies. I mean, you’re very busy at school, and so, when I wasn’t acting in a film, I was at my regular school – and, of course, [there were] always the school activities. I enjoyed watching tennis. We were members of the L.A. Tennis Club. I never played, but I took my swimming lessons there, and I watched my dad and friends play tennis, and so on.

But I really didn’t have any hobbies per se. I did learn to knit and crochet on the set because that’s what a lot of actresses did at that time. So, yeah, I just did what I did and loved doing it.

BH: Obviously, you got started [in acting] very early, so around what age would you say that you took control of your acting career and were able to say yes and no?

GP: Well, I mean, “taking control” is not the word I would use, but sharing in the decisions. As I said, for my confirmation, I think I was 12 or 13 at that time. But even before that it was something that I shared with my parents. And, of course, you don’t have complete control; you have agents that advise you and help you decide if this is a good move or not.

So I don’t think I really took “control” solely of my career probably until I got married.

BH: I see. And when did you get married?

GP: I got married when I was 19, and [I] thought I was all grown up and so on, and it turned out not to be the greatest choice that I’ve made in my life. But I had two wonderful children with that marriage. And then, after that, I was remarried to someone I had known for just about my whole life – it was the son of a director that I had worked with. We were married for 26 years. He has now passed away, and I have two more children. So I have four children, and I’m very grateful for that experience.

BH: [For] the next part of the interview, I’d like to ask about three different actors who are especially connected with Japanese films. They all went on to star in their own Japanese films in the sixties through the eighties, I believe. You guest-starred on a couple of episodes of The Rebel (1959-61) TV show, so what do you remember about working with Nick Adams?

GP: Oh, Nick – and Carol, his wife, was a child actress. We were good friends. I got together with them several times, and my kids would go over and play with Carol and Nick’s kids on occasion. We weren’t totally like an everyday kind of friend; I don’t even think we lived that close in L.A. But Nick was lovely to work with; he was great.

BH: Do you have any specific memories, even if they’re just small things – any details that you could share, like a fun memory of Nick Adams, for example?

GP: I do remember that Nick and Carol invited all of us over for lunch. We went to their house, and we were all having lunch. My kids got a big glass of milk, and both of my kids said to me, “Mom, how come you don’t get this kind of milk? This milk just tastes so good!” I said, “Oh, my gosh!” I said, “Carol, what milk do you have?” She said, “Well, Carnation. They deliver milk every day.”

I said, “Isn’t that funny?” That’s exactly the milk that I had! So that was my kids’ and my first real tangible experience with [the concept of] the grass is always greener on the other side. (laughs) It was very funny to have them absolutely adore the milk that they served, and it was exactly the same thing we got at home. So [we] got a good laugh about that; the grownups got a good laugh about that.

BH: (laughs) How about on the set? What was Nick Adams like on the set?

GP: He was just good. He was always on top of things – very professional. I mean, it was basically his show. So he had a lot of responsibilities. The people that I worked with in those days were just very professional – they knew their lines, they were on time, they were ready for the next scene. And Nick was absolutely a top professional.

He was very easy to work with and no temperament – just, “This is what I do.” [For] most of the actors in those days, it was their job, and the money was nothing like it is today. So it was really a job that they did that they loved doing. It wasn’t just about the bucks; it was about the work and the professionalism involved.

BH: Another TV series on which you appeared was Perry Mason (1957-66). So do you have any memories of Raymond Burr that you could share?

GP: He didn’t interact too much with the guests on the show. He was very nice but kept to himself mostly because he had such enormous amounts of dialogue to learn. Most of the time, he was in his dressing room with his personal dialogue coach, working on those incredibly long speeches he had. So he was always very, very busy on the set.

BH: Additionally, you acted in a couple of episodes of The Rifleman (1958-63). So could you share what you remember about working with Chuck Connors?

GP: Oh, he was wonderful – absolutely loved him. I was 16 when I did the episode “Heller” and, of course, had a crush on him because he was just so nice and so lovely and so tall. But, no, he was absolutely a delight. One of my favorite photos that people often send for me to autograph is a picture of me with Chuck, standing in front of him, and looking way up [from] my little five-foot-tall frame up to his six-foot-six – or whatever the heck he was – [frame].

As I said, I think – because I haven’t worked that much in the last 20 years – that [in] those days people were much more professional about doing the job. And they were real people and went home after the day’s work and were with their family and didn’t have their work home with them all the time. Except someone like Raymond Burr – I mean, he’d go home with the same dialogue coach and work and work and work on his lines for the next day.

People weren’t followed around by the paparazzi. We’d go somewhere, and the only times that there were tons of photographers were if we went to a premiere or a special charity event, and then they were all lined up as you arrived. “Ms. Perreau, can we take your picture?” – very polite, very nice. So it was a different era; it was a different time. And I’m quite grateful that that was the time that I was working and successful and so on.

BH: Could you share any specific memories with Chuck Connors, or would that be about it?

GP: Nothing specific. Just as I said, very friendly on the set. He was very nice. At the end of our thing, he had a little – not really a party, but he had brought in some soft drinks and cookies and stuff, and we celebrated. He thanked me very much and said, “You did a phenomenal job.” And it is one of my favorite shows, “Heller.” That particular one that I did is, I think, one of my best performances and one of the pieces of work that I’m the most proud of.

BH: Excellent! So let’s move on to Journey to the Center of Time (1967). How did you get cast in this cult classic?

GP: Oh, God!

BH: (laughs)

GP: It was very funny. I’m not going to get too much into this because I do have an amusing chapter in my memoir about it. But it was very, very low-budget. I think I was fairly newly married at the time, and it was something like, “Oh, do you want to do this? It’s five days’ work,” and so on.

It was a very [cheesy] set, as evident in the film with Reynolds Wrap tinfoil on the wall of the spaceship and little flashing-red light bulbs – regular old light bulbs.

No, it was pretty hysterical. But that I did strictly because it was a cash-upfront deal, which came in very handy at that time!

BH: (laughs) I see! How about working with David L. Hewitt? What memories do you have of the writer-director?

GP: He was the director of Journey?

BH: According to the credits, yes. Did somebody else direct it?

GP: That name doesn’t ring a bell. Yeah, there was someone else who directed it, but I don’t have a name. If I come up with it, I’ll let you know. (laughs) But I don’t.

BH: Wow, interesting! In terms of the person who did direct it, do you have any memories of working with him or how you were directed or anything like that?

GP: Not really. There were some really lovely people on it. For some reason, because it was so low-budget, and such a short shooting time, we just made do. If the scene went well, it was, “That’s a print,” and on to the next one. I think I was working five days on the entire show, and I think maybe it was a 10-day shoot or something. Very low-budget, very low-budget, and very just let’s-quick[ly]-get-it-done type of attitude.

BH: On this film, there’s Scott Brady, Anthony Eisley…

GP: Tony Eisley – yeah, he was great.

BH: … and Abraham Sofaer, and the last name is Lyle Waggoner, sort of before he became famous on television. What could you tell us about working with any of these actors?

GP: Great. We were all kind of laughing that we were doing this thing. I don’t remember whether there had been a strike, but I think everybody sort of was happy about grabbing $5,000 or whatever we were all paid to do the film. But they were all, as I said, even then, and even with a film like that, they were extraordinarily professional. Everyone knew their lines, everyone was helpful, and just working. The feeling was, “Let’s do this. We’re committed; let’s do our best and make it work.”

But it really is kind of funny to see it now when people talk about it because you used the word “cult film,” and it sort of is. I mean, I get funny little comments about it, but the thing that just amuses me the most working on that set was the foil walls, supposedly the inside of a spacecraft, which was very amusing. We had fun doing it, I must say.

BH: Do you have any other memories that stick out? Obviously, you’re writing your memoirs, and you don’t want to share everything, but could you share anything else about Journey to the Center of Time?

GP: Not really. We did it, and it came out. I don’t even know if it was released in theaters or what. And that was the thing – I was trying to think more about High Seas Hijack – is that that film again was a very low-budget film, and this producer had already bought the Japanese film, and then he interviewed us and said what he wanted to do was to cut in scenes from these two Americans – me and Peter Graves.

And he [Peter Graves] was wonderful, wonderful to work with. We both felt it [was] just very amusing. And I do remember, when the film was finished, I don’t think it ever was released in theaters. I remember the producer telling me something like – this was maybe a little bit later – the film is being “four-walled.” And I have no idea what that meant, or I don’t know what that means. But it seems that it’s not released to [the] general public or something.

BH: Let’s backtrack a little bit before that. How did you actually get cast in High Seas Hijack?

GP: As I said, I had an interview. I remember it very well because it was at the corner of Santa Monica and another little street – nice little corner office. Went upstairs, and here was this producer – whoever we discovered it is – and he said that he had hired Peter Graves, and he was looking for someone to be his secretary, lady-in-waiting, right-hand assistant, for a film that he had bought, a finished film from Japan.

And what he wanted to do was to make it available or palatable to American audiences. So he had hired writers and so on, and they had written I don’t know how many scenes – three or four or five scenes – that would be interspersed within the film to explain the story line, I guess.

So, anyway, it was convenient for me to do it, and I thought OK. As I said, I was married at the time and an adult, and I thought, “Well, that’s OK. One more old film under my belt would be just fine.” I always loved acting, and I still do. So that was it. He hired me on the spot, and I think we started the scenes relatively soon after that day.

BH: Were you shown the original Japanese version of the movie at any time?

GP: Nope.

BH: (laughs) I see. At that time, what did you think about being cast in a production that would be edited into an already-existing Japanese movie?

GP: Well, it was interesting. I mean, I had not really ever thought of a possibility like that, but that’s what could be done. I don’t know how often it’s been done, or if it’s been done before or after or whatever.

No, it was an interesting concept, and I just thought, “What the heck?” [There was] nothing that I didn’t want to do in the film. I mean, if there had been scenes that I was supposed to do that I would not have done, then I would’ve never accepted the film. I was always very concerned. I never wanted to do anything that, years later, I couldn’t be happy to let my grandkids see. So that was a very important part of my career.

As I got older, some of the roles that I was offered that I turned down were a lot of druggie, nudity kind of things, and I said, “No, that’s not what I’m about, and that’s not what my career is about.”

Even though it’s kind of funny to have a film like High Seas Hijack and Journey to the Center of Time – which I consider personally rather a dreadful film – it’s a dreadful film, but it’s not embarrassing. You know what I mean?

BH: Of course. Yes, it’s not sleazy.

GP: Right, it’s just kind of crazy. And people enjoy it, which is what’s really funny! They say, “Oh, my God, I’ve seen it three times, and I really love it. Could you send me a picture?” To this day, I still do get some fan mail, and what amuses me is very often some younger people – people in their 20s, 30s, film students, film buffs, young people – they sort of enjoy the old films.  

And then of course I get the people that say, “Oh, my grandfather had such a crush on you!” (laughs) Sometimes I’ll meet people, even to this day, and we’ll be talking, and, when they discover my name and who I was and that I have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, everybody gets very excited. And then, the next time I see them, they’ll say, “Oh, I mentioned [you] to my grandmother, and she said that her mother cut her hair just like yours! She wanted to be just like you, and I had no idea!” So it’s really funny to get some cute stories like that.

BH: What do you remember, if anything, about director John A. Bushelman?

GP: I don’t know, but I have a feeling he was rather new because occasionally we’d be shooting something, and we’d be doing the closeup between Peter Graves and me – his closeup and my closeup – and a couple of times the director would say, “All right, time for your closeup,” and Peter’s over here, camera right. I’d say, “No, if I look camera right, we’re going to be looking away from each other.”   

He didn’t seem to have editing experience. By the time I was 20 [or] 21, I’d been in the business for my whole life, and I was pretty savvy about lights and lighting and camera angles, and, when you’re shooting a two-person scene – two people talking to each other – one person has to look camera right, and then, when they do the other person’s scenes or shots, they have to look camera left so that when it edits together they’re looking at each other. So I do remember that, thinking occasionally I had to say, “Uh, no, I think I would be looking camera right because Peter just did his closeup, and he was looking camera left.”

I don’t know – it just seemed a little interesting to me. But I do remember that, and I remember the producer, whoever it was, because that was the last day of shooting. I actually had to mention to him that I was told to look at the wrong side of camera, and the director came down and said, “Thank you so much.” [He] took me aside and said, “Otherwise, we would have had to reshoot – bring everybody back and reshoot.” So it helps to know more than just the acting part of filmmaking.

It’s not just the emotional and the acting part; it’s the technical part – it’s the hitting-the-mark-exactly [part]. If you don’t hit your mark, they cut. In the old days, with the cameras and so on, they actually measured from the camera lens to your nose when you had to come into a shot and stop at a certain mark, and that’s how your films were in focus. It was all a technicality.

You can’t just stand up quickly. You have to get up slower than you normally would, or – boom – the cameras in those days, or the camera operator, couldn’t pan up with you as quickly. You couldn’t jump up on any kind of a closeup. So it always helps to know a little bit about the technical aspects of filmmaking. Now everything is digital. So, really, it’s another world in the world of filmmaking now.

When I was a grownup, and I was doing something or a TV show, I very often asked if I could go to the editing room and just watch, observe, because I always loved directing. When I started teaching after my kids grew, and I was teaching high school theater, I found it very interesting to have had the experiences that I’ve had, to be able to share those. But film editing and observing that was very, very interesting to me. I loved the technical aspects, as well.

BH: One more question about John Bushelman: Do you remember how he would direct you in your scenes?

GP: You know, most directors, when they’ve dealt with experienced actors, let us go with our gut instinct. And then, once that was something contrary to a vision they had or what they wanted you to do, very seldom – especially [on] a film like that – did they give you specific direction, if you know what I mean.

Chuck Connors didn’t need to be directed when he did The Rifleman. He did what that character did, and he did it for years. So the director just worked on the interaction or whoever was working with you, but they really were more guiding the reins rather than pulling them up and changing them.

BH: The movie stars Peter Graves in the lead role, so what was he like?

GP: Very, very nice and, again, very professional. We were there, we did what we had to do, and we went home. I keep saying this, and I don’t mean to be redundant, but it was a job. It was our job, and his job was to do the role of this – he wasn’t an attorney, but [there were] some kind of business dealings he had with the Japanese in the film or something, supposedly.

But, no, Peter was very professional, and these people were wonderful to work with.

BH: Maybe this is kind of an obscure question, but do you remember how you approached your role?

GP: I think, once you get the script, you look at it, you see what you have to do, and you figure out a little something to make the character not just a very basic, bland character but something – even [if] they’re a little quirky or a little smart aleck, or they have a certain attitude. So, once I figured out that I felt protective of my boss, Peter Graves, [I was] looking out for him, as well.

You know, I don’t think I ever saw the film, to be perfectly honest. But I know that, once I figured out the attitude that I had toward him and my relationship with him and memorized the lines and went in the next day and did whatever scene we were doing that day – or scenes – [I] just did it.

BH: Did you have any freedom with your dialogue, or did you just follow the script closely?

GP: No, you don’t have much [freedom in] any film you do. I suppose a big star would have a lot more freedom, but not really. The producers pay big bucks to get the scripts, and some changes you could make by saying, “’The temperature’s really blah,’ doesn’t quite flow; it doesn’t work for me. Can I say this instead? Can I change this one word or this one line?” And then it would be the director’s choice to say, “No, do it as written. We’ll just work it out,” or they’ll say, “Yeah, let me see it.” And then you do it, and they go, “Yeah, you’re right. That’ll work. OK, we’re going with that,” and then on you go.

But very seldom do you want to mess with the words of the writer.

BH: How long were you on set each day?

GP: Hm… God, I don’t know. Arrive for hair at seven, eight for makeup, and you’re there usually till six, seven in the evening.       

BH: So from eight o’clock in the morning?

GP: Yeah.

BH: Do you remember how long shooting lasted?

GP: It was only, like, a five-day shoot for me.  

BH: Do you remember any of the locations used?

GP: I don’t, but I think it was mostly office kind of dealings that I had with Peter. Now I think he had several scenes where he interacted with whatever it was he was supposed to be doing with the Japanese people in the film, but I remember that our relationship was more office[-bound].

BH: And would you say it was a smooth production, or were there any issues that came up?

GP: I think it was smooth. We just did what we had to do. I don’t think anyone had delusions of grandeur that this was going to be something earthshaking or amazing. But I think it was a concept that the producer had, and he was paying us to make that a reality, and that’s what we did.

BH: Do you have any other memories or anecdotes from the set of the film that you could share?

GP: You know, I wish I did, but I don’t, except I remember working with Peter and that one incident that I had with the director about which side of camera to look at. That stood out because it was surprising.

Not really. When you’re doing a low-budget and small film like that – [during] a big film that took a month or six weeks of a shoot, you had much more time on the set. When you weren’t actually in the scene, [you could] talk to some of the other actors or do whatever. But that only happened once I was 18 and didn’t have to have a welfare worker and be at school three hours a day of the whole day.

So, when I was an adult, there were some nice times that you had talking to some of the other actors and so on. But, basically, it wasn’t a social job per se; it was doing what you had to do. And the times that you weren’t on the set, it was lovely, and that’s when you learned to knit or crochet or do something. Hard to read a book because, if you’re reading a book, and you sat down for five [or] 10 minutes, you couldn’t really get into it.

But you could pick up and do a couple of rows of knitting or crocheting. For instance, working with Katharine Hepburn, when I did a film with her, she was crocheting on the set all the time. And so was Linda Darnell when I did a film with her. Her stand-in/personal assistant was always off-camera and working with Linda. Her assistant was always crocheting, and she was the one, when I was a kid, that taught me how to crochet. So, when I did have free time, we were working on that. So that was about it.

I would love to have gone to Japan. My mother’s brother, Richard Child, lived in Japan after the war. He was there, and he married a Japanese woman and lived there for most of his life, and then they had a home in Hawaii and so on. But he was an American citizen who lived in Japan, and evidently he was quite wealthy.

He had the BMW distributorship, and my grandfather was responsible for bringing Harley-Davidson motorcycles to Japan in the early ‘20s, I think. The Japanese then made copies, and that’s how the whole Japanese motorcycle industry really started, as a result of my grandfather’s imports and so on.

So I have a lot of history in Japan, but I never actually went there. I had an aunt – they’ve both passed away – that was Japanese. So I always thought that made me part Japanese when I was little. (laughs) It was very funny!