In the 1984 Splash, there’s a brilliant scene where a very hung over John Candy is playing squash with Tom Hanks. Candy serves the ball which comes straight back at him and smacks him in the head, knocking him down. I wondered how many takes that took and then years later, listening to a commentary track heard that a) he really was hung over b) that was a complete fluke but, pro that he was, he went with it and they kept the scene.
It was no doubt intended to be funny but not THAT funny so I think this counts.
The horse itself didn’t matter. It was Rosemary’s character’s way of telling him that he was her “knight in shining armor” again (referencing earlier dialogue when they were falling in love), and that she loved him.
In When Harry Met Sally, the “Waiter, there is too much pepper in my paprikash” scene was completely ad-libbed by Billy Crystal, with Meg Ryan following along as best she could. At one point she actually breaks character, laughs and looks off-screen towards director Rob Reiner, who motioned for her to keep going.
There are a few of these with Gandalf in the LotR movies, the two I remember are when his eyes light up slightly both before Frodo sees the writing on The Ring after it’s been in a fire, and when the party hears drums in the deep.
Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, when he shot the bad guy twirling the scimitar. He was supposed to use his whip, but Harrison Ford had dysentery and needed to run to the bathroom and was disgusted with the long shooting time of the scene, so he pulled out his gun and “shot” the guy. Not a spur of the moment thing, but a change to the shooting schedule based on need.
In The Usual Suspects, there’s a scene where the usual suspects meet with some sleazy fences in a parking garage. At the conclusion of their conversation, the lead sleazebag (Peter Greene) flicks his cigarette at McManus (Stephen Baldwin), and hits him in the eye. Baldwin goes to take a swing at him, and gets restrained by the rest of the team.
The director’s commentary says that they had filmed this scene a number of times, and each time Greene hit Baldwin in the chest with the cigarette, and it was pissing him off. On the last take, Greene unintentionally hit him in the eye, and that was the last straw for Baldwin, who honestly wanted to punch him out.
The first example makes sense. Gandalf is already 99% certain that Bilbo’s ring is The One Ring, and as soon as Frodo notices the writing, his worst fears are confirmed.
I don’t recall the drums in the deep scene. Perhaps it’s Gandalf’s spidey-sense? He is a freakin’ wizard, after all…
