Caffeinated Clint
Gay or straight, Fat or thin, Good or Evil, Prince or Pirate, Fast or Slow, Energetic or Flat… there’s nobody out there who doesn’t love a bit of “Princess Bride” in the morning; or, for that matter, anytime she fancies a roll in the Phillips. One of the more innocent, family-friendly films of the late ’80s, Rob Reiner’s follow-up to “Stand By Me” was like a love-letter to, well, love… surrounding that of its thumping heart syndrome matter with an infectiously fun adventure story. Many smoochy-woochy fantasy films came before and after – like “Legend”, “Willow”, er, “Seed of Chucky” – but it’s “The Princess Bride” that people most think of when someone screams at them from the other end of the street ‘Fairy!’.
In all seriousness, I remember going to see this movie for the first time and I was absolutely blown away by its gentle innocence and delightful yarn. My 4-year-old daughter now counts herself a fan. I can’t say many films from my era have lasted the test of time, but this truly is one.
25 years after the release of the film, stars Robin Wright, Cary Elwes, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane and Chris Sarandon regrouped for a little video interview with EW (or rather GMA who are plugging the EW issue that features the reunion); there’s also a new photo spread that features all of the cast members, including Mandy Patinkin and Christopher Guest, in the mag.
Firstly, here are some quotes from the actors as per the article :
Wallace Shawn, Vizzini: I was not the first person they wanted [for the part]. Unfortunately, my agent at that time believed that it would be helpful for me to know who they actually wanted, so he told me — it was Danny DeVito. Looking back on it, it didn’t help. Danny is inimitable. Each scene we did, I pictured how he would have done it and I knew I could never possibly have done it the way he could have done it. It made it challenging. I’ve mentioned it to Danny since. I said, “You know, of everything that I have ever done since birth, the thing that is most well-known is a part I had because you were unavailable.” He might have laughed nervously when I said that.
Billy Crystal, Miracle Max: We ad libbed a lot of stuff: “Have fun storming the castle.” “Don’t go swimming for an hour — a good hour.” There was a lot of really funny stuff that never made it into the movie: “Don’t bother me, sonny. I had a bad day — I found my nephew with a sheep.” “True love is the greatest thing in the world — except for a good BM.” I remember the only trouble with the scene was Cary trying not to laugh while he was laying on the slab, because he’s supposed to be mostly dead but slightly alive.
Christopher Guest, Count Rugen: I don’t know if you know this about [André the Giant], but he was very large. I couldn’t wait every morning to shake his hand because that feeling was like a guy with five catcher’s mitts. Your hand would just disappear into his.
Robin Wright, Princess Buttercup: Cary was gorgeous! He was the blond Zorro. We hit it off right away. We had the same sense of humor. I was the baby and the novice around all the veterans. Inside I was trembling, of course: “Can I pull this off?”
What are your first memories of “The Princess Bride”?
