CINEMA: HOT PLANES, CRASHING CARS AND BURLY GUYS

The cons in Con Air could almost have landed their plane on it. We speak of The Desk, the 20-ft.-long, T-shaped mahogany table once shared by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. From this monolith the two producers launched enough script-to-screen missiles to become Hollywood's premier action faction. Their two-hour commercials for American machismo (Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, Bad Boys, Crimson Tide) made stars of their young actors and quillions for S. and B. Then in January of last year, Simpson died at 52 of a drug overdose. The industry asked, Whither--or wither--Jerry?

The Desk is in mothballs now, and so...

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