Behind the Scenes: All-Time Top 20

The “Behind the Scenes” articles have become increasingly popular in the Blog. This used to go out under the more generic title of “Other Stuff” but now, whoopee, is a category of its own. As regular readers will  know I am fascinated about the problems incurred in making certain movies. In many instances, a “Behind the Scenes” story was backed up by another article on how the book was adapted into a movie or how the film was released. In the Blog, these stories run one after the other, but in the book I wrote I put them all together to make access easier.

Perhaps one of the more interesting aspects of this category is that every now and there is out of nowhere massive interest in the making of a particular movie and it shoots up the all-time tree. Most of the material has come from my own digging, and sources are always quoted at the end of each article, but occasionally I have turned to books written on the subject of the making of a specific film.  

1. (5) The Girl on a Motorcycle (1968). Cult classic starring Marianne Faithful and Alain Delon had a rocky road to release, especially in the U.S. where the censor was not happy.
2. (3) The Satan Bug (1965). The problems facing director John Sturges in adapting the Alistair MacLean pandemic classic for the big screen. One of four Alistair MacLean titles in the top 20.
3. (1) The Guns of Navarone (1961). The ultimate template for the men-on-a-mission war picture with an all-star cast and enough jeopardy to qualify for a movie of its own.
4. (NE) Waterloo (1970). Massive flop but intriguing reading, based on a book on the subject.
5. (NE) Ice Station Zebra (1968). A complete cast overhaul and ground-breaking  special effects are at the core of this tale.
6. (NE) Cast a Giant Shadow (1965). Producer Melville Shavelson wrote a book about his experiences and this and other material relating the arduous task of bringing the Kirk Douglas-starrer to the screen are related here.
7. (2) Spartacus (1961).Not so much about the making of theStanley Kubrick epic, but about the rival Yul Brynner version.
8. (NE) Secret Ceremony (1969). Quite how director Joseph Losey persuaded uber glam-queen Elizabeth Taylor to go dowdy in this creepy drama.
9. (NE) Cincinnati Kid (1965). Sam Peckinpah sacked as director, nudity controversy, Sharon Tate and Steve McQueen, what a combination.
10. (NE) The Ipcress File (1965). The other iconic 1960s spy picture that brought Michael Caine fame.
11. (NE) In Harm’s Way (1965). Otto Preminger black-and-white epic about Pearl Harbor and after.
12. (19) Genghis Khan (1965). A venture into epic European filmmaking with an all-star cast led by Omar Sharif.
13. (NE) The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968). Raquel Welch, release delay controversy.
14. (NE) Battle of the Bulge (1965). There were going to be two versions, so the race was on to get this one to the public first.
15. (NE) Valley of the Dolls (1968). Sensational story behind the sensational adaptation of the sensational bestseller.
16. (NE) The Secret Ways (1961). A family affair – star Richard Widmark was producer and sometime director, his wife wrote the script. Not necessarily what author Alistair MacLean intended.
17. (NE) The Wicker Man (1973). Cult film and its release problems.
18. (NE) The Birds (1963). The most controversial film Alfred Hitchcock ever made.
19. (NE) Once Upon a Time in the West (1969). How Sergio Leone put together what is now acclaimed as the greatest western ever made.
20. (NE) Hour of the Gun (1967). Complicated story behind the re-telling of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Author: Brian Hannan

I am a published author of books about film - over a dozen to my name, the latest being "When Women Ruled Hollywood." As the title of the blog suggests, this is a site devoted to movies of the 1960s but since I go to the movies twice a week - an old-fashioned double-bill of my own choosing - I might occasionally slip in a review of a contemporary picture. View all posts by Brian Hannan