PAPILLON - Trivia and Other Fun Stuff
Franklin J. Schaffner is generally considered one of the best directors of TV's "Golden Age" - the period of superlative live drama in the 1950s. He won Emmys for his work on the original broadcasts of
Twelve Angry Men (1954) and
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1955), both of which were later turned into feature films, and a special Emmy for directing Jacqueline Kennedy's
Tour of the White House (1962).
Despite his beginnings in intimate TV drama, Schaffner's films have tended to be big budget, epic stories of adventure and historical sweep, among them
The War Lord (1965),
Planet of the Apes (1968),
Patton (1970), for which he won his only Oscar®, and
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971).
Dalton Trumbo began his screenwriting career in 1936 and contributed many successful and acclaimed scripts until the late 1940s, when he became a victim of the Red Scare witch-hunts. He went to prison as one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of film industry people accused of being Communists, who refused to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee. Although blacklisted, he continued to write under pseudonyms and using "fronts" throughout the 1950s, even winning an Academy Award® for
The Brave One (1957) under the closely guarded false name "Robert Rich." His career was revived when Kirk Douglas and Otto Preminger defied the blacklist and gave him full credit for, respectively,
Spartacus (1960) and
Exodus (1960). In 1992 Trumbo was posthumously acknowledged by the Academy for his original story for
Roman Holiday (1953), which had won an Oscar¿ for his front, Ian McLellan Hunter.
Look closely for TV stars Bill Mumy (Will Robinson of
Lost in Space) as the doomed young prisoner Lariot and Vic Tayback (Mel of the sitcom
Alice) as the sergeant.
Dustin Hoffman's then-wife, former dancer Anne Byrne, makes a brief appearance at the beginning as Dega's well-heeled wife. Also doing uncredited bits are screenwriter Dalton Trumbo as the official who sends the prisoners off to South America at the beginning of the movie and future Oscar® nominee Richard Farnsworth as a bounty hunter.
A dispute over the film's TV rights arose in September 1974 between CBS, which announced it had negotiated the rights with producers Dorfmann and Richmond, and ABC, which claimed to have bought the rights from Allied Artists for $3.75 million. CBS finally aired the picture in October 1977, despite a clause in original contracts that said it couldn't be broadcast before December 1978.
Two cast members were veterans of dozens of films, and this wasn't their first time associated with Devil's Island. Victor Jory (the chief of the nomadic tribe) started in motion pictures in 1930 and was in
Escape from Devil's Island (1935). One of his most famous roles was as the "white trash" overseer in
Gone with the Wind (1939). George Coulouris (Dr. Chatal) made his film debut in 1933. Audiences will likely best remember him as the harried Mr. Thatcher in
Citizen Kane (1941). He also played in
I Accuse! (1958), the story of Devil's Island's other most famous real-life prisoner, Alfred Dreyfus.
Jerry Goldsmith is one of Hollywood's most successful composers of film scores. He has been nominated for Academy Awards 17 times, winning once for
The Omen (1976). He wrote the music for the Steve McQueen film
The Sand Pebbles (1966) as well as the theme from the 1950s TV series that gave McQueen his first big break,
Wanted: Dead or Alive. He also scored six other Franklin J. Schaffner films:
The Stripper (1963),
Planet of the Apes (1968),
Patton (1970),
Lionheart (1987),
Islands in the Stream (1977) and
The Boys from Brazil (1978). The association between the two began years earlier when Schaffner was directing and Goldsmith composed for live television drama on
Playhouse 90 and
Studio One.
The film's premiere benefited cancer research in memory of Henri Charriere, who died of lung cancer five months before its release.
Although many considered this McQueen's best performance to date, he was overlooked by the Academy. Some say that was because McQueen had "stolen" Ali McGraw (who became his second wife) from her husband Robert Evans, who was a powerful studio executive at the time. McQueen was also rumored to have slept with many other Hollywood wives. Others say McQueen's Oscar snub was because the actor, in rather coarse language, once told the Golden Globes committee he would accept an award if he won but would never consider going to the ceremony. He did, however, receive a Golden Globe Best Actor nomination for
Papillon.
The movie was originally given an R rating by the MPAA because of its violence, but Allied Artists argued for and won a PG rating. An Illinois father sued after taking his young son to see the movie. A judge threw the case out, reasoning that the "Parental Guidance" rating implies a warning to parents.
Famous Quotes from PAPILLON
PRISON OFFICIAL (Dalton Trumbo): As for France, the nation has disposed of you. France has rid herself of you altogether. Forget France. And put your clothes on.
PAPILLON (Steve McQueen): We're really something, aren't we? The only animals who shove something up their ass for survival.
DEGA (Dustin Hoffman): You got life for killing a pimp and then you had the bad taste to tell the prosecutor you were going to escape and kill him, too.
DEGA: You remember what the chicken said to the weasel?
PAPILLON: Well, if he was a healthy weasel, the chicken didn't have a chance to say anything. Think about that.
WARDEN (William Smithers): We make no pretense at rehabilitation here. We're not priests, we're processors.
PRISONER (Uncredited): I know you, you're Dega. You're a very intelligent man!
DEGA: Thank you. I seem to be known in all the wrong places.
SOLITARY PRISONER (Uncredited): How do I look? I feel pretty good but I need somebody to tell me how I look.
DEGA: Blame is for God and small children.
PAPILLON: Me, they can kill. You, they own.
PAPILLON: I'm still here, you bastards!
Compiled by Rob Nixon
