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1. The year: 1955. The place: Cholame, California. The ruins of a car and a life lie strewn across the road. The driver of the Porsche had, just the day before, finished shooting his scenes on his third feature film, "Giant". The problem for director George Stevens was that the dialogue in the last scene was mumbled and, being a perfectionist, he wanted to re-shoot. Cue the hiring of a stand-in, the use of a long shot and overdubbed dialogue. Who was the young film star who perished on Route 466?
2. It takes a special kind of director to carry on with the same cast in your movie when your lead actor dies before you've even started filming. Edward Wood Jr. was special. His legendary film, "Plan 9 from Outer Space", suffered such a fate but Wood was not deterred. Instead of re-casting, Wood decided to proceed with a stand-in who covered his face with a cape, some home movie footage of the star and even a cardboard cut-out figure to replace the dead actor. Which Hungarian star, renowned for his horror movies, was the much-missed actor listed as "Almost starring" in the movie?
3. Employing an actor who is known as a bit of a party animal is a risky move. When that actor goes on a drinking binge and collapses in a bar whilst on location, then you have a problem. Ridley Scott's response was to throw money at the problem. A CGI reproduction of his dead star completed the movie in the absence of flesh and blood. Which renowned drinker and rabble rouser was recreated to such great effect in "Gladiator" that he received a posthumous BAFTA nomination?
4. There are times when to carry in the face of extreme adversity is admirable. There are other times when it seems somewhat disrespectful. One such example involves one of Hollywood's most shameful moments. During the filming of one of the segments of the portmanteau film "Twilight Zone: The Movie", a catastrophic misjudgment involving a helicopter and some stunt explosives led to a crash that killed star Vic Morrow and two child actors. Despite this tragedy, the segment was completed, with the scene that caused the deaths excised. Who was the director of this segment, who was put on trial for involuntary manslaughter for his part in the deaths?
5. If an actor dies when you are still in the early days of filming then you can simply replace him and re-shoot. There will, however, always come a point when it's too late to start over and the only option left is to re-write the rest of the movie. Such was the case with "The Night They Raided Minsky's". A substantial part for the man most famous for playing the cowardly lion in "The Wizard of Oz", had to be re-shaped into a more minor role after the actor passed away suddenly. Who was the actor?
6. Has an actor died before your movie has been completed? Are you too far into shooting to re-cast? Do you lack the budget for a CGI version? Then just use the existing footage in several scenes! This was the choice taken by "Wagons East" director, Peter Markle, when his star passed away with a significant chunk of the film's scenes still outstanding. Which larger than life Canadian comedian could not be replaced?
7. Sometimes, it does a movie a great service when its star dies. Not that anyone would wish for that. MGM's greatest hit of 1937 came from a movie that received extra publicity when the blonde bombshell that was its headliner, collapsed on set and died a few days later. Knowing that he had a hit on his hands, director Jack Conway dismissed any ideas of abandonment. He hired two lookalikes, one soundalike and a writer to re-work the script. Who was the platinum blonde who spent a large part of the film only being seen from the rear?
8. When one of the principal characters of the sci-fi pic, "Brainstorm", died with the crucial climactic scene of the film still unshot, the production company tried to shut down the production and claim the insurance payout. Fortunately, the tenacious director fought them all the way. Even though it took two years to get the final shots, with the help of look- and soundalikes, the film did finally get a release. For which actress, who drowned in unexplained circumstances at Thanksgiving, was this her final film?
9. For a director, taking a long break in filming can be risky, as actors' schedules soon fill up. But when the star of your film is yourself, you can at least rely on him coming back, can't you? Sadly, not this man, who delayed the production of his film, "Game of Death", in order to take the role for which he became best known. Before he could return to his own film, he died of swelling of the brain, caused by either an allergic reaction to headache medicine or being struck by a "death touch" blow. Who was this martial arts legend?
10. If your leading man dies with just a third of your film completed and a significant part of your budget spent, what can you do? Hire a replacement? Re-write the script? In Terry Gilliam's case, he decided to do both. When "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" lost its star to an accidental overdose, Gilliam hired not one, but three replacements and re-worked the script so that the character transformed physically whenever he entered the Imaginarium. Which Oscar-winning star's last performance was saved for posterity by his quick-witted director?
Source: Author
Snowman
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skunkee before going online.
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