| While shooting Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) in Tunisia, Harrison Ford developed an uncomfortable case of Montezuma’s Revenge. When the time came to film an impressively choreographed fight scene with an intimidating swordsman, Ford didn’t feel up to it and began questioning the logic of the scene. "Why don’t I just shoot him?" he asked, and director Steven Spielberg agreed. The resulting "battle" is so refreshingly anticlimactic that it became one of the film’s funniest and most famous scenes. It’s also a fine example of how unexpected events can really change a motion picture for the better.
Sometimes it happens even faster than that. An accident might occur right there in front of a rolling camera and wind up in the finished film. If the actors stay in character, a few clever ad-libs can turn a mistake into usable footage, sometimes with delightful results.
· Zoolander (2001) – In this agreeably daffy comedy, director Ben Stiller plays a dimwitted male model caught up in a shadowy conspiracy to assassinate the Prime Minister of Malaysia. The sinister plot is explained to him by a twitchy hand model (David Duchovny), who insists that this kind of skullduggery happens all the time. Male models, he explains, are ideal subjects to be made into brainwashed killers. "But why male models?" asks Zoolander. Duchovny stares at him amazed, because it’s the second time the question has been asked in a row. "Are you serious? I just finished explaining that to you!"
This was actually a flubbed line. Stiller had lost track of where he was in the script, and accidentally asked the same question twice. Duchovny stayed in character, and ad-libbed his response. The exchange fit perfectly with the tone of the film, so it wound up in the final cut.
· Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) – While in the inner sanctum of his top-secret lair, Dr. Evil (Mike Myers) sits in a swivel chair that promptly rolls backwards several feet. As his amused cohorts look on, he awkwardly wheels himself back into position at the head of the table. Yes, this was an accident and it was too funny not to include.
· Midnight Cowboy (1969) – This Oscar winner contains one of the most famous filmed "accidents," as Dustin Hoffman is almost hit by a car at a crosswalk. Staying in character, Hoffman pounds on the car’s hood, shouting "I’m walking here!" For years, audiences have marvelled at Hoffman’s close call, but producer Jerome Hellman recently claimed that the whole thing was actually planned in advance and scripted. Still, that car does come awfully close.
· Cockfighter (1974) – Animal lovers be warned: there are plenty of scenes of actual cockfighting in this worthwhile adaptation of Charles Willeford’s novel. An early scene filmed at a genuine cockfight accidentally captures a strikingly poetic image — a young boy, disturbed by the avian carnage, hides his eyes with a dollar bill.
· Within the Woods (1978) – Before making The Evil Dead (1981), director Sam Raimi and star Bruce Campbell practiced their craft with this short (half hour) film, which was then used to attract investors. Campbell plays a vicious zombie and had to spend most of the film covered in red syrup and latex. At one point, a victim’s arm is supposed to be chopped off, but the fake arm was only severed part way. Campbell knew that they didn’t have a second fake arm for retakes, so he gnawed off the arm with his teeth, saving the shot. The scene worked so well, Raimi recreated it in The Evil Dead.
· The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) – While filming for 36 hours straight in 100 degree heat, surrounded by rotting animal carcasses, some of the cast and crew of this movie started to get a little twitchy. The scene in which Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) cuts a victim’s thumb to draw a drop of blood was being shot over and over again, because the tube carrying the fake blood wasn’t working. Finally, Hansen decided that he’d had enough. While nobody was looking, he stripped the protective tape off the knife and cut the thumb for real. That’s what you see in the actual movie.
· Mortal Kombat (1995) – I have no proof that the funniest moment in this dumb video game movie is an ad-lib, but it sure feels like it. The movie is filled with stilted dialogue that no real person would ever say – expect for one hilarious little line. After Rayden (Christopher Lambert) recites the usual shit about how the fate of humanity rests in your hands, etc., Lambert attempts an evil chuckle and fails miserably. The best he can manage is a supremely forced "Heh heh heh." Then his expression becomes hilariously self-conscious, and he mutters "Sorry."
The audience always cracks up at this unexpected moment of sincerity. Was it scripted, or was Lambert apologizing for his lame delivery, and the smartass editor decided to leave it in? |
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