# Film Scenes Where Cast Is Unaware Of Plot **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476 "2007-12-01T19:07:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/61 "2007-12-03T13:16:25Z")
In **The Turning Point** , the scene where one actress throws her drink into the face of the other (resulting in a great look of surprise on the throwee. Anne Bancroft and Shirley MacLaine, IIRC) was apparently really a surprise. As rehearsed, there was no drink-throwing, and Herberet Ross, the dire ctor, instructed only the thrower about what was to happen. I’ve seen a rehearsal take with the same actors without the throwing. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/62 "2007-12-03T15:14:39Z")
Almost the entire film **Beat the Devil** was written as it was shot; the actors had no idea of the plot or even what the next day’s scene would entail, since it was being written (by Truman Capote) as they were doing the current day’s scene. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/63 "2007-12-03T16:01:29Z")
Same thing with **Blair Witch Project**. There was no script, IIRC, and the actors were told what to do by the director, without informing the others. So, when one of the actors admitted to throwing away the map, the reaction of the others was genuine. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/64 "2007-12-03T16:13:35Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] But I have heard that Richard Hooker, the author of the original novel, was pretty pissed at his character being killed without his permission. [/QUOTE] From what I hear, Richard Hooker was in a perpetual state of pissed-offness at the tv-series. I bet he still cashed his checks, though. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/65 "2007-12-03T17:02:52Z")
In one of the first scenes between Kermit and Miss Piggy, she was annoyed and the script said for her to gently hit him. Frank Oz improvised Miss Piggy’s karate chop, and a great character was born. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/66 "2007-12-03T18:05:30Z")
Re: who said what in _The Empire Strikes Back_: Director Irvin Kerschner says [_he_ actually spoke the line.](http://www.salon.com/ent/col/srag/1999/05/13/kershner/) In _Conan_, they used plastic trash bags full of sheep guts to simulate the gore being sprayed everywhere during sword fights. But Arnold really didn’t expect one such bag to be REALLY packed with violently erupting viscera, and his expression was so priceless, they kept in the movie. Not a movie, but in the _Babylon 5_ DVD extras, Bruce Boxleitner and other cast members are providing commentary, and apparently they don’t always watch the completed episodes. A lot of scenes are filmed out of sequence, then put together in the right order after filming. There was one scene where Sheridan is talking with his father in a kid of dream setting, and Boxleitner remarked, “You know, I had no idea what that scene was all about during filimg. I didn’t realize Chance Howard (his father) was actually Kosh until now!” ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/67 "2007-12-03T18:23:25Z")
There are loads of ‘free form’ sort of film making. In Apocalypse Now, actors were frequently just give some note cards with a few instructions and suggestions. The end of the movie with Brando was largely imporvised. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/68 "2007-12-03T18:28:06Z")
[QUOTE=Saltire] I saw an interview with Ron Howard around the release of _Far and Away_. There was a scene in which Tom Cruise is unconscious and naked, with something covering his privates (I think it was a chamber pot, but may have been a hat or something like that). Nicole Kidman is supposed to sneak a peak under that item. Ron said that they did a couple of takes with a washcloth protecting Tom’s dignity, under the pot. Then Ron told Tom to do it without the cloth, and not tell Nicole. Her genuine expression from that take was the one used in the film. [/QUOTE] That _would_ be shocking, since Tom is apparently built like a Ken doll. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/69 "2007-12-03T18:54:22Z")
In **There’s Something About Mary** there’s a scene where Ben Stiller is fighting with Mary’s dog, the dog laps at Ben, he jumps out of the way, and the dog flies out a second story window. Mary and Magda run to the window to look down and are supposed to act horrified. To get the reaction one of the Farley brothers was down below mooning them. In **Bladerunner** Ridley Scott has said it was his intention that Dekar was a replicant. Harrison Ford however never assumed this or was told this and said he played the entire role as human. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/70 "2007-12-03T21:33:43Z")
According to the audio commentary on [The Goonies](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089218/) the final set(the pirate ship) was kept under wraps from all the kids and they had not seen it until they came up from the waterslide and turned around to see the ship. The reactions were supposed to all be genuine. On the commentary track Corey Feldman says he and Sean Austin had sneaked onto the set and seen it beforehand and faked the suprise, but the rest of the cast said they were genuinely suprised when they saw it for the first time and it was captured on film. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/71 "2007-12-03T22:10:06Z")
In [Fight Club](http://imdb.com/title/tt0137523/), during the scene at the end where Tyler Durdan has a pistol in The Narrator’s mouth, the rehearsals were done with a fake pistol… however, in the final take, they replaced the fake with a real pistol; so that when Edward Norton pulls the trigger, he really does shoot himself through the throat! Lending a great deal of realism to the scene. OK, I made that up. But I got nothing and it would make a great story! ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/72 "2007-12-03T22:52:51Z")
[QUOTE=crowmanyclouds] It was the dining table in the ships mess. Legend has it that Veronica Cartwright was so shocked by being sprayed by the blood she fainted. If you listen to the scene it sounds like Cartwright’s scream was added in in post. CMC +fnord! [/QUOTE] if you watch hurt closely during that scene, you’ll see him blink – after he’s supposed to be good and dead. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/73 "2007-12-03T23:20:35Z")
In _The Godfather_, nobody knew from one day to the next what Marlon Brando was going to say, and neither did he, apparently. He constantly forgot dialogue and didn’t respond well to being corrected or prompted. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/74 "2007-12-03T23:31:38Z")
[QUOTE=j666] In the scene in Tommy DeVito’s (Joe Pesci) mother’s kitchen in **Goodfellas** , Catherine Scorsese had no idea what was in the trunk or where everyone was going after they ate. [/QUOTE] Wasn’t the scene with the “clown” joke ad-libbed too? Is this what the OPs after? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/75 "2007-12-03T23:46:50Z")
In another scene from **Alien** , related on the DVD cast commentary: just after Kane is brought back aboard the Nostromo(despite Ripley’s refusal to let him on board). When Ripley enters the sick bay and Lambert attacks her, Veronica Cartwright wasn’t supposed to actually slap Sigourney Weaver, and ‘Ripley’s’ surprise is genuine when she gets smacked. In the infamous film [Cruising](http://imdb.com/title/tt0080569/), Karen Allen swears that she only received only pages of the script that specifically dealt with her character, and had no idea what the subject matter of the film was all about until well after all her shots were filmed. Director William Friedkin has heatedly disputed this, but given his own defensiveness about this film, I kind of lean toward believing Allen. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/76 "2007-12-04T00:24:07Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] D’oh. I skimmed through the thread, and missed it. Don’t think so, I never heard that. But I have heard that Richard Hooker, the author of the original novel, was pretty pissed at his character being killed without his permission. [/QUOTE] Stevenson appeared on the Tonight Show several times right after this, and he was clearly pissed about it. It was his desire to leave the show, but he seemed to think they were getting back at him by killing the character and making it final. I saw that with my own eyes. I believe it about Hooker, though. If you’ve read his subsequent MASH books (as opposed to the books written by someone more based on the series) you can see his Hawkeye is nothing like the guy Alda played. In the clinic in Maine where they set up a clinic and bait shop, “Democrat” is used as a mild curse. In a trial in the final book Hawkeye tells a hilarious fable about meeting up with a dragon, and convincing the dragon to torch Hiroshima when the first A-bomb is a dud. Not exactly PC, and much harsher than even the first season Hawkeye. I don’t recall Blake ever showing up in Hooker’s novels, but I think he did in the ghost-written novels. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/77 "2007-12-04T00:44:06Z")
In _The Shining_, the little kid didn’t know it was supposed to be a horror movie until years after it was shot. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/78 "2007-12-04T01:00:17Z")
I find that one hard to believe. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/79 "2007-12-04T01:35:15Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] I find that one hard to believe. [/QUOTE] From [here](http://imdb.com/title/tt0081505/trivia) > [@](#): > > In the scene where Danny Lloyd rides his bike through the hall and encounters the Grady daughters, he never actually sees them. The scene was accomplished by Stanley Kubrick directing Lloyd to turn the corner into an empty hall. Kubrick then directed Danny to stop, look scared, cover his eyes, and so on. At a different time Kubrick filmed the girls by themselves in the hall standing together. In post-production, he took the film from the two scenes and spliced them together to make it look like it was all happening at the same time - hence giving the illusion that Lloyd (who didn’t realize until years later that he was in a horror movie) was actually seeing the two girls. > > … > > Because Danny Lloyd was so young and since it was his first acting job, Stanley Kubrick was highly protective of the child. Through clever and creative directing, Danny didn’t know he was working on a horror movie until after it was released. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2007, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476/80 "2007-12-04T01:49:25Z")
Huh, no shit. I thought that the scenes of him trying to escape from his daddy would have given it away- plus all those screaming reaction shots… But maybe not. ETA- at six or seven, he might have guessed it… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/film-scenes-where-cast-is-unaware-of-plot/428476.md?page=5)