Name: Behind-the-scenes disasters.
Age: Eternal. As old as art itself. Prehistoric man (and, of course, woman) probably came to blows about what colour the bison on the cave walls should be.
Anything more recent? There’s Gladiator, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Ah, what a film. Wasn’t Russell Crowe wonderful? Indeed. But it was also one of those movies where the off-camera battles were almost as bloody as the on-camera ones.
The script? Indeed, or rather the lack of one. Three different writers worked on it and it was still being rewritten during filming. Crowe reportedly had to improvise lines as he went along.
“At my signal, unleash hell!” Yes, that was one of his. And hell was unleashed at times. “We were dodging bullets on a daily basis,” he told Variety about his experience on set.
Oliver Reed’s death halfway through filming can’t have helped. You really are a fan. Reed, who was playing gladiator trainer Proximo, died of a heart attack after challenging a group of sailors to a drinking contest. He won and then collapsed. His role had to be completed by a digital body double.
Yet the film was a huge success. Second highest grossing film of 2000 after Mission: Impossible 2. Oscars for best film and best actor for Crowe (though not best director for Ridley Scott). Singlehandedly reawakened Hollywood’s interest in swords-and-sandals epics.
Who says creative tension is a bad thing? Yes, there are lots of examples in cinema history of hellish movie-making producing heavenly results. Gone with the Wind is a prime example. A two-year delay in filming, numerous writers and three different directors. The result? An all-time Oscar-garlanded money-spinner.
Frankly, my dear ... And then there was The Wizard of Oz. A dozen writers, often competing with each other, along with four different directors, hired and fired at will. The original Tin Man ended up in hospital after being poisoned by his aluminium powder makeup and had to be replaced. Then there was the Wicked Witch of the West, who caught fire while making a dramatic, smoke-filled exit from Munchkinland.
Health and safety was evidently not the watchword in cinema’s golden age. Actors always have to suffer for their art. Poor Kate Winslet has said she got hypothermia while filming Titanic.
Was it worth it? Worldwide earnings for the film of $2 billion say it was.
Not to be confused with: Heaven’s Gate, which had an infamously troubled birth and was a box-office catastrophe.
Do say: “Take 367.”
Don’t say: “It’s a wrap.”
