The Princess Bride: Facets of Filmmaking

By the year 1987, director Rob Reiner had already been fairly well established in the film world.

The son of the late Carl Reiner, (who directed films such as The Jerk, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, Summer Rental, and Summer School, as well as acting in many others) Rob Reiner had started in Hollywood as an actor before settling into directing himself.  After having earned two primetime Emmy awards as his role of Michael Stivic on All in the Family, Reiner turned his focus to behind the camera, turning out films such as mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap in 1984, and Stephen King coming-of-age adaptation Stand By Me in 1986.

By the time The Princess Bride was released in 1987, Reiner was already enough of a name that had produced decent work that it wasn’t a total shock that this film would be as good as it was, with critics (notably Roger Ebert, Gene Siskel, and Janet Maslin) praising the film for it’s tone and clever writing.  It seemed a natural win for Reiner, another classic knocked out of the park (albeit one without commercial success).

And yet, the road to The Princess Bride and it’s eventual ‘cult classic’ status was not an easy one.  In fact, there were several bumps in the road before Reiner ever took the reins on the project.

The rights to the novel The Princess Bride (by William Goldman) had been snapped up for $500,000 by Twentieth Century Fox in 1973, the year the book was published.  A movie was obviously intended, meant to be directed by Richard Lester, but after the studio head got axed, the idea was dropped.

This was going to become a common theme.  Other intended directors included Robert Redford, Norman Jewison, and François Truffaut, but obviously, it never went anywhere.  Frustrated, Goldman bought the rights to the film back with his own cash, and right about now is where Rob Reiner comes in.

Rob Reiner had loved the book The Princess Bride since his father had given it to him as a gift.  After filming This is Spinal Tap, Reiner had the idea to adapt the book, now that he’d proven himself as a capable filmmaker, and during production of Stand By Me, he approached an executive at Paramount, suggesting an adaptation of The Princess Bride as his next project.  After an explanation of the situation regarding the rights to a film adaptation, in short, Reiner was told: ‘we can’t’.

With the financial support of Normal Lear, whom Reiner had known from All in the Family and who had previously helped fund This is Spinal Tap, Reiner managed to get the rights to the book adaptation, and got to work.

Throughout production, Reiner worked very closely with Goldman, so closely that Goldman actually got to write the screenplay to the film adaptation.  Thankfully, the author was no stranger to screenwriting, having already written the script for both Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President’s Men, winning two Oscars in the process.  Reiner’s respect for Goldman’s original story combined with the author’s ability to convey the necessary tone and style in the script ensured that the integrity of the book was kept, even if changes had to be made to the story and characters along the way.

Once Reiner was securely in the director’s chair and Goldman’s screenplay underway, the chief order of business was to find the cast for this fairy-tale.  Reiner had wanted Cary Elwes for Westley after seeing his performance in Lady Jane, but during the casting period, Elwes was unavailable, in Germany working on the film Maschenka, forcing Reiner to fly to Berlin to ensure his suitability for the role.  Elwes, for his part, had read the book when he was younger, and always identified with Westley.  As a result, he was more than happy to jump at the opportunity to play the character in the film adaptation.

On the other hand, the titular Princess Bride herself proved to be a bit more difficult.

Robin Wright wasn’t selected as Buttercup until a week before it was time to start shooting.  Reiner and Jane Jenkins, the casting director, had already auditioned multiple actresses for the role, with none of them fitting the bill.  Wright’s agent, hearing about the casting call, encouraged her to audition.  Wright auditioned, and impressed Jenkins and Reiner so much that they invited Wright to meet Goldman at his house.  Wright’s first impression, backlit by the doorway, was so impressive, that Goldman looked at her once and said: ‘Well, that’s what I wrote’.

Other choices were easier: Mandy Patinkin was an early decision for Inigo Montoya, and Wallace Shawn was a shoo-in for Vizzini after Danny DeVito was unavailable. For Fezzik, Goldman had always had André the Giant in mind, even back in the 1970s when the novel was first written.  At the time, however, André was at the height of his wrestling career, with a schedule that left him unavailable to film.  The runner-up was actually Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, by 1973, was merely a bodybuilder and little-known actor.  By the time The Princess Bride project had been greenlit, Schwarzenegger had already starred in films like The Terminator and Commando, and was a major film star, too expensive for the studio to hire.  Now without a ‘giant’, Jenkins contacted the World Wrestling Federation to look into hiring André, but was told that he would be busy with a wrestling match in Tokyo that would pay him $5 million.  As it turned out, the match was cancelled, and André ended up in the role after all.

With a cast assembled, it was time to start filming.  However, it was quickly decided that The Princess Bride was not going to work if shot on backlots and soundstages at a studio, so the production team went location hunting.  Most of the sets, as I mentioned in the Facets article, were actually locations in the UK, with the filming taking place over the latter half of the year 1986.  During filming, Reiner rented a house, and frequently invited the cast over for dinners and visits, which many of the actors felt strengthened their performances in the final film.

Once filming started, the adventure was by no means over.

Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin were both trained to fence, (both right and left handed) in order to complete the duel without the assistance of stunt doubles (aside from the gymnastics).  Brought in to teach the actors was fencing instructor Bob Anderson (who had worked on Star Wars and Highlander, and would go on to work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and stunt arranger Peter Diamond, (who had also worked on Star Wars and Highlander) who trained the actors for three weeks before shooting.  Patinkin and Elwes continued to practice in their off-camera free time, and were encouraged by Anderson to learn one another’s choreography to avoid any accidents.  The pair also watched plenty of fencing scenes from older films in order to get a feel for the movements.

There were a few challenges: after years of damage from wrestling, André the Giant had recently undergone back surgery, and, although being incredibly strong, was unable to support the weight of either Cary Elwes or Robin Wright in those respective scenes, requiring the use of ramps, cables, stunt-doubles and harnesses in order to protect his back while filming the shots used in the film.  

Thankfully, though, the production remained untroubled (aside from minor injuries like Cary Elwes’s broken toe and being knocked unconscious on-screen, or Mandy Patinkin’s bruised rib from holding in laughter at Billy Crystal and Carole Kane’s ad-libbing during the Miracle Max sequence) and the film was released in October of 1987 to a modest performance in the box office, and rave reviews from critics, only to become largely forgotten amongst the other box-office smashes of the blockbuster-heavy latter half of the 1980s.

As time went by, The Princess Bride resurfaced, becoming the leader of the cult-classic phenomenon as fans discovered the film, and interest in the movie spiked, with plenty of people realizing the worth of this forgotten gem.  To this day, it stands as one of the best known films of the 1980s, ironic, considering it’s initial reception, and has been well-loved, and much-quoted, for over thirty years, and will continue to be for years ahead.

Well, it’s almost time to close on our analysis of The Princess Bride.  Join me next time as we take one last look at this classic film: combining the facts with the feelings for a sum-up.  Stay tuned, and thanks so much for reading!  I hope to see you in the next article.