'The Princess Bride'
The Ringer's Juliet Litman and David Shoemaker celebrate the release of Ringer Films' 'Andre the Giant' documentary on HBO by revisiting the 1987 classic fairy-tale adventure 'The Princess Bride,' starring Andre The Giant, Cary Elwes, and Robin Wright and directed by Rob Reiner.
Cast
Cary Elwes as Wesley
Robin Wright as Princess Buttercup
Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya
Wallace Shawn as Vizzini
André the Giant as Fezzik
Chris Sarandon as Prince Humperdinck
Billy Crystal as Miracle Max
Christopher Guest as Count Rugen
Peter Falk as The Grandfather
Fred Savage as The Grandson
Directed by: Rob Reiner
Written by: William Goldman
Notes
- This episode was timed to the premiere of the HBO documentary 'Andre the Giant,' executive produced by Bill Simmons.
- The movie was based on William Goldman's 1973 novel. 20th Century Fox paid Goldman $500,000 for the rights in 1973 (about $2.8 million in 2017 dollars), but never made the movie. Goldman bought back the rights and Rob Reiner ultimately directed.
- Norman Lear, the godfather of TV comedy, was one of the producers. Cary Elwes credits Lear with giving him a career.
- Robin Wright was cast at the '11th hour.' Goldman looked at her backlit by the sun in a white summer dress and said: 'Well, that's what I wrote.'
- Before Andre the Giant was available, they went to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lou Ferrigno, a Scottish strongman, and the giant from Twin Peaks. Andre was initially unavailable because he was supposed to fight in Tokyo for $5 million, but that deal fell through.
- Andre had back surgery and couldn't do physicality during filming. Robin Wright had to be put on a rig so Andre wouldn't absorb any impact when catching her. The fight scene with Wesley used a stunt double in a mask for wide shots, and Cary Elwes stood on a box for close-ups.
- Rob Reiner recorded all of Andre's lines on a cassette tape, and Andre walked around with a Walkman listening to them before scenes because his speech was difficult to understand.
- Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin spent weeks learning to sword fight for real. The gymnastic flip uses a stuntman, but everything else in their fight is really them.
- Juliet nearly drowned in Mandy Patinkin's pool as a child – her dad jumped in and saved her. One of her earliest memories.
- Cary Elwes wrote a book about making 'The Princess Bride' and has been dining out on the role ever since.
- The hosts discuss why this hasn't been remade as a TV series – could easily be 10 episodes, with adventures in the world of the Dread Pirate Roberts.
Categories
- The stretch from Wesley climbing the Cliffs of Insanity and meeting Inigo Montoya through Wallace Shawn's death – the three showdowns with the three 'bad guys' are the heart of the movie.
- The Inigo Montoya showdown with the six-fingered man at the end.
- Robin Wright, 100%. Literally aged the best – beautiful then, beautiful now.
- The fact that it looks like a play works to its benefit. If you wanted to remake it with the same state of mind, it would look exactly the same. No outdated technology to worry about.
- The roughness of the movie – you can tell some of it is improvised, people walk through scenes, things happen that would be CGI'd out today. It gives the film more life.
- The small, tight cast that feels like a play and puts everyone's acting chops on display.
- The outdoor sets look like a live TV musical – the rocks are clearly Styrofoam.
- The lack of diversity. The only non-white person mentioned in connection to the movie is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and he wasn't even cast. If remade today, the cast would certainly be more inclusive.
- William Goldman was paid $500,000 for the novel rights in 1973 – equivalent to $2.8 million in 2017.
- The giant from Twin Peaks was apparently considered for the Fezzik role.
- Christopher Guest is actually a lord in real life, which people on the internet have written about many times.
Chris Sarandon as Prince Humperdinck – 'not worried at all about just playing the biggest prick in the world.' Does a beautiful job of 'showing ass' (wrestling term for when a bad guy embarrasses himself to the delight of the audience).
Cary Elwes – it never got better for him than being Wesley. He wrote a book about making the movie and has been dining out on it ever since. 'He will be Wesley forever.'
- Buttercup is the hardest role to recast – finding the perfect Helen of Troy that everything revolves around.
- Wallace Shawn's role would be very hard to fill – he's such a scene stealer with a huge presence despite dying early in the movie.
- Matthew Goode is definitely Wesley.
- Danny Trejo as Fezzik – seems scary but is actually a great teddy bear, just like the character.
Danny Trejo as Fezzik – he would be sort of perfect because he seems scary but he's actually not, just like Andre the Giant in the role.
- Shoemaker: Andre the Giant – because of the documentary timing, his personal connection to Andre, and Andre being the bridge between the movie and wider pop culture.
- Juliet: Wallace Shawn – 'so much personality in such a plot-heavy movie. He delivers his lines impeccably.'