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Spoilers (4)
A story circulated for a long time that Dustin Hoffman (being a "method actor") stayed up all night to play a character who has stayed up all night. Arriving on the set, Laurence Olivier asked Hoffman why he looked the way he did. Hoffman told him, to which Olivier replied in jest, "Why not try acting? It's much easier." Hoffman repeatedly denied the story, and finally cleared up the matter in 2004. The torture scene was filmed early in the morning, Hoffman was going through a divorce from his first wife and was depressed, and had spent the previous two nights partying hard. Hoffman told Olivier this and his comment related to his lifestyle and not his "method" style of acting.
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On the last day of shooting, Laurence Olivier visited Dustin Hoffman at his home, bringing with him 'The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" as a gift. He then proceeded to read scenes from several of the plays, much to Hoffman's delight. The actor credits the story about his conflict with Olivier to general malice on the part of writer William Goldman, who didn't take kindly to the fact that Hoffman had persuaded director John Schlesinger to change the ending of Goldman's book.
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Laurence Olivier was so afraid that he would accidentally hurt Dustin Hoffman while filming the torture scene that he would constantly ask Hoffman if he was all right after shooting a take. As a joke, Hoffman tried to make Olivier think that he had really hurt him by screaming in a very convincing and unexpected manner.
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Dr. Szell is based on the real Dr. Josef Mengele, head SS Doctor of Auschwitz, who was in hiding in South America when the movie was produced.
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Although not particularly a fan of William Goldman's original novel, Dustin Hoffman took the part so that he could work with John Schlesinger again (the two had previously collaborated on Midnight Cowboy). He had also heard that Al Pacino was interested in the part and wanted to beat him to it.
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Although the film takes place in New York, at least two sequences were filmed in Los Angeles: the scene where Roy Scheider meets Laurence Olivier was filmed in front of the red steps statue in downtown Los Angeles in the Arco Plaza; and the library scene where Dustin Hoffman meets Marthe Keller was filmed at the Doheny Library on the University of Southern California campus. Coincidentally, Hoffman filmed scenes on the same campus ten years earlier in the landmark The Graduate.
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During the scene where the heavies try to drown Dustin Hoffman in the bathtub, Hoffman (always the method actor) insisted upon being made to stay underwater as long as possible to make it real. Several takes were done and Hoffman insisted on being kept down longer in the water. By the end of the scene, he had to be given oxygen. In his own words, "I said, 'Don't press on my Adam's apple, but try to really hold me under. Let me see how long I can stay under. Let me see if I can fight you. Let me see what happens.'"
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Dustin Hoffman lost 15 pounds for this role. He ran up to four miles a day to get into shape for playing the part. He would never come into a scene and fake the breathing. According to producer Robert Evans, Hoffman "would run, just for a take, he would run for a half-mile so he came into the scene, he'd actually be out of breath."
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John Schlesinger envisioned a cast of Al Pacino, Julie Christie and Laurence Olivier. Pacino has said that the only actress he had ever wanted to work with was Christie, who he claimed was "the most poetic of actresses". Producer Robert Evans, who disparaged Pacino as "The Midget" when Francis Ford Coppola wanted him for The Godfather and had thought of firing him during the early shooting of the now-classic film, vetoed Pacino for the lead. Instead, Evans insisted on the casting of the even shorter Dustin Hoffman. Christie, who was notoriously finicky about accepting parts, even in prestigious, sure-fire material, turned down the female lead, which was then taken by Marthe Keller. Of his dream cast, Schlesinger only got Olivier, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
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When Babe comes in from a run, you can see a book titled "Corbitt" on his table. Corbitt was an American marathoner in the 1950s who was also from NYC and who also taught at Columbia U., which Babe attends in the movie.
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According to "Adventures in the Screen Trade", at one point in rehearsal Laurence Olivier asked William Goldman if he could change a line slightly, and called Goldman "Bill" while doing so. Goldman describes it as the high point of his career.
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The movie's line "Is it safe?" was voted as the #70 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).
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Laurence Olivier plays the character of Dr. Christian Szell, based on Dr. Josef Mengele. Two years later, in 1978, Laurence Olivier acted in The Boys from Brazil, a story about Dr. Mengele (played by Gregory Peck).
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Producer Robert Evans was set upon getting Laurence Olivier to play the part of Szell. However, because Olivier at the time was riddled with cancer, he was uninsurable so Paramount refused to use him. In desperation, Evans called his friends Merle Oberon and David Niven to arrange a meeting with the House of Lords (the upper body of the UK's parliament). There, he urged them to put pressure on Lloyds of London to insure Britain's greatest living actor. The ploy succeeded and a frail Olivier started working on the film. In the end, not only did he net an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, but his cancer also went into remission. Olivier lived on for another 13 years.
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Although he was playing a graduate student, Dustin Hoffman was actually 38 at the time of filming.
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There are two photos of long-distance runner legends in Babe's room: one is of Abebe Bikila, who is also seen running in the beginning of the film. The other is of Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi, a nine-time Olympic gold medalist.
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According to producer Robert Evans, in a rare twist, all his first choices for the film's leads--Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, William Devane and Marthe Keller--were all cast in the roles they were envisioned for.
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Dr Szell was ranked as villain #34 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains" list. The film itself was ranked #50 on the "100 Years...100 Thrills List." The torture scene was named #65 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
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An 8 minutes and 30 second sequence was shot with Doc fighting some men who kill a spy colleague of his. It was later cut. William Goldman speculated it was cut because it was violent. He felt it was a grievous excision, one to the detriment of the film. With the scene missing, Doc's character seems less flawed than he really is.
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The film changes the novel's ending, and Goldman thought the new ending was "shit." He felt the way the film ended, it left out two important plot clarifications. In the novel, Babe led Szell by gunpoint to Central Park, and shoots him multiple times, subsequently lecturing him. He then threw the diamonds away and is quietly led away by a policeman.
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Although William Goldman adapted the script from his own novel, Robert Towne did an uncredited rewrite for the film's climax (see "Spoilers" below).
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This film marks the only ever Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Laurence Olivier. All his other Academy Award acting nominations were for Best Actor.
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Spoilers
Outtakes reveal a couple of things. First, Laurence Olivier had trouble using the large switchblade made for his character. Often, he would try to activate it and the blade would not come out. Second, several actors enjoyed imitating the unique speech patterns of producer Robert Evans. Years later, Dustin Hoffman used that imitation for his performance in Wag the Dog.
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Screenwriter Robert Towne did an uncredited rewrite on the ending climactic waterworks scene between Babe and Szell. Towne's rewrite had Babe force Szell to eat the diamonds. Towne also changed Szell's death to self-inflicted.
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Roy Scheider received the book while filming Jaws. He finished the book in one night. The next day he told the man who had given him the book that it was a great book, and would make a great film, though he was disappointed that the character he found most interesting, Henry Levy, died halfway through the book. Only a year later, he was playing the part.
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Body count: 11. (In chronological order: Szell's brother, Rosenbaum, Le Clerc, Shen, Doc, Karl, Erhard, Elsa, Janeway, the jeweler, and finally Szell himself).
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