The late actor and musician Scatman Crothers famously starred in Clint Eastwood’s 1980 film Bronco Billy, but did you know that he broke down and cried at the movie set? Yes, and it was one of the director’s decisions that made Crothers weep… for joy.
Remember when Crothers starred in Stanley Kubrick’s horror movie The Shining as Dick Halloran? His experience in that film was quite intense and strenuous, enough to traumatize him for life.
Scatman Crothers Wept After Filming A Scene In Clint Eastwood’s Movie
Stanley Kubrick’s perfectionism was not a secret for movie aficionados, and his attention to detail sometimes got so crazy that he would require actors to do at least 100 takes before he feels satisfied.
During the filming for The Shining, Kubrick wanted to shoot up to a hundred takes on the scene where Jack Nicholson’s Jack Torrance kills Scatman Crothers’ Dick Halloran with an axe. Nicholson protested because he was concerned about Crothers’ health so Kubrick had to trim it down to 40 takes.
Crothers could not help but break down on the set of The Shining because of too much stress. He reached the point where he asked, “What do you want, Mr. Kubrick?”
For his role in Clint Eastwood’s Bronco Billy, Crothers had an entirely different experience. His opening introduction speech was filmed with just one take. After he ended his line, the director called cut and moved on to the next scene. The actor could not believe it, and Eastwood confirmed that he was very happy about it.
Crothers just burst and cried out of happiness. He thought the veteran filmmaker would make him deliver his lines again, just like what he did in The Shining. But, Eastwood is not the director who would waste time on a single scene.
It’s only fair to note that Crothers still loved working with Kubrick despite what happened. He said in a Reddit video about The Shining:
“It was beautiful. If you see tears, they will be tears of joy, because I thank the Lord that I was able to work with such beautiful people. I’ll never forget this.”
Crothers did not let the traumatizing experience get in his way of appreciating the movie. He was still grateful for the opportunity regardless of the hardships he faced.
Bronco Billy Is The Definitive Clint Eastwood Film
Clint Eastwood has made a lot of incredible movies over the course of his career, and fans may be wondering which of these films was his ultimate favorite. According to the book Aim for the Heart: The Films of Clint Eastwood, he prefers Bronco Billy:
“But if, as a film director, I ever wanted to say something, you’ll find it in Bronco Billy.”
When asked about which movie he thinks is the “definitive Clint Eastwood film,” he told Barbara Walters via TelevisionVanguard:
“I would say either Unforgiven or maybe a little bit of Bronco Billy because Bronco Billy is about a dreamer who made dreams come true.”
Bronco Billy was a massive box office success, and it was praised highly by fans and critics. Unfortunately, it is also one of Eastwood’s forgotten works.