TV - Movies
Wild Stories
From Classic
Hollywood Films
That Are
Actually True
By PAUL GAITA
“The Conqueror” is an extremely problematic film for many reasons, but one of the most troubling things to come from it is that filming took place next to a nuclear testing site. A total of 91 cast and crew members contracted cancer while filming and over half of them died.
The Conqueror
Debbie Reynolds reported that she “had three months to learn what Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor had been doing for years” for “Singin’ in the Rain” and filming was a nightmare. Reynolds said Kelly “criticized everything [she] did” and she eventually fled during rehearsal.
Singin’ In The Rain
Harold Lloyd lost two of his fingers in a prop accident and carefully hid the missing digits from the public by keeping his injured hand in his pocket during pictures. The only evidence of his injury came from his wonky handprints on the cement outside Grauman's Chinese Theater.
Harold Lloyd
Director Marcel Carne was under Nazi surveillance while filming “Children of the Paradise,” but he helped hide his Jewish crewmates to protect them during production. Carne found clever ways to work around the Germans and said he felt “it was [his] responsibility" to defy the Nazis.
Marcel Carne
Actor Rex Harrison made filming the 1967 version of “Doctor Dolittle” difficult by butting heads with the cast and crew. There were also tons of production mishaps, like cast members sustaining injuries from the animals on set and a constant downpour of rain while shooting.
Doctor Dolittle (1967)