Apocalypse Now with Harvey Keitel

There have been many stories told about the making of Apocalypse Now... Martin Sheen's heart attack, the Typhoon, Brando showing up overweight without having read the script, Dennis Hopper high on everything, The helicopters being called away to fight insurgents in the middle of filming. However, I'm going to focus solely on what would have happened had Harvey Keitel remained as Captain Ben Willard.

The Setup

Fresh off of The Godfather Part 2 and The Conversation, Francis Ford Coppola attempts to make an adaptation of Heart of Darkness, set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. He chooses to shoot in the Philippines and plans on a four-month shoot. After offering the lead role to Steve McQueen and Al Pacino, who both passed, Nicholson, Redford, and Caan were all offered parts of either Kurtz or Willard. When they passed, Coppola's first choice for the role of Captain Willard is Martin Sheen (who'd originally auditioned for the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather) but he'd been attached to another project, so they cast Harvey Keitel in the role, based on his work in Mean Streets.

The Execution

Coppola shot for a few weeks with Keitel but didn't like the way that Keitel was playing the part. He felt that Willard's role should be more of a passive onlooker, and Keitel had not been playing it that way. (I believe on Inside the Actor's Studio, Keitel mentioned that he and Coppola had friction over this point because Keitel had been in the Marine Corps and felt the part should be played a certain way). Differences in the film would have been the scene where Keitel steals Duvall's surfboard and brains him with it. Also different, the scene where he bash's Kurtz's nose with the butt of his gun then begins cutting off his fingers starting with the little one. He was let go, and Sheen came aboard to take the part of Willard.

What Might Have Been

The change of one Willard to the next didn't really do much, as the film itself is really the star. Sheen's stock didn't soar with the release of the film in terms of catapulting him to leading man status, and he continued to work throughout the years with memorable turns in the films The Dead Zone, Wall Street, and The American President, before putting in a performance as the President on The West Wing. In a twist, Keitel's career is probably elevated by not continuing as Willard. Instead of having to spend a whole year shooting in the Philippines. (Filming started in March of '76 and concluded in May of '77, and wasn't released to theaters until August of '79) he is able to shoot and release: The Duellists, Blue Collar, and Fingers, all great films which help advance his career.

Like a Rhinestone Cowboy...

So, let's say that Keitel doesn't get fired. Instead, Stallone, deciding he doesn't want to continue the Rocky franchise, branches out and gets the lead role in Fingers. This precludes him from writing, directing, and starring in Paradise Alley, and the world never gets to hear Terry Funk as Frankie the Thumper tells Lee Canalito: SHUT YOUR HOLE PUKE. That would have been a tragedy.

Also great is when Terry Funk tells Sam Elliott "Mind your own business dad." In Roadhouse

Back to the Future with Eric Stoltz

In honor of my friend Short Round's former blog entitled Alternate 1985, I'm going to have the inaugural post discuss what would have happened to the movie Back to the Future had Eric Stoltz been kept as Marty McFly. Also, here is another take had a director other than Robert Zemekis been at the helm: http://www.decompmagazine.com/alternate85.htm

You're not thinking 4th dimensionally motherf%$ker

The Setup

Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis had written Back to the Future, and were greenlit by Sid Sheinberg, with Steven Spielberg producing. Originally, they wanted Michael J. Fox for the role of Marty McFly, but Gary David Goldberg, the showrunner of Family Ties, wouldn't allow Fox to take the part. The next two choices for the role were C. Thomas Howell¹ and Eric Stoltz. Based on the strength of his ability in the film Mask, which hadn't been released, they chose Stoltz.

The Execution

They shot for four weeks with Stoltz as Marty McFly, when Zemeckis realized he was miscast. The consensus is that he was giving too dramatic of a performance, and was unlike the character, whereas Fox simply was McFly. Similarly, Stoltz was uncomfortable riding a skateboard, and Fox was not. At one point Stoltz spoke to Peter Bogdanovich and said that he feared he was miscast and thought his time on the movie was short². His foresight proved correct as Zemekis made the bold move to fire Stoltz and made a plea to get Fox again, knowing that it would add another few million to an already stretched budget. This time around Goldberg relented, and Fox would do film Family Ties and Back to the Future at the same time.

What might have been?

A lot of people were affected by this. First of all, the film would have had a darker overtone, centered more on the oedipal relationship between Lea Thompson and Eric Stoltz³. Similarly, the skateboard craze of the eighties would have taken a hit, because, after much deliberation, it was decided to scrap the skateboarding scenes altogether due to them not working. Fox would have remained in television since Back to the Future was what propelled him into superstardom as a film actor. Teen Wolf, The Secret of my Success, Casualties of War⁴, and Bright Lights, Big City would have been dealt out to members of the brat pack.

"When Penn demands his two dollars... it's breathtaking" - NY Times review

Stoltz would have joined the A-list and been seen as a go-to guy from the brat pack, although the film itself wouldn't have been the hit that it was. Stoltz would have carved himself out a nice little niche as a reliable lead actor. His trajectory may not have suffered as much as it could have.

Most importantly, J.J. Cohen was initially cast as Biff but wasn't intimidating enough to Stoltz since they were the same size. Therefore, Biff was recast with Thomas F. Wilson. However, if Fox had been cast, J.J. Cohen would have remained Biff and gone on to play Benjamin Bratt's partner in Blood In, Blood Out: Bound By Honor... he's the biggest casualty in this case.

1955 Zabka fingerless gloves: .35¢

1 Ponyboy would not stay gold this time.
2 A similar thing would happen when Gene Hackman was cast as Mr. Robinson in The Graduate and predicated to Dustin Hoffman that he'd get fired any day. He was right, but was quickly cast as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde and went on to be one of the greatest actors of his generation
3 Some kind of Wonderful territory... "This is what my girlfriend would look like with no skin."
4 Cusack does Casualties of War, in an effort to do more serious roles... he misses the chance to be Lloyd Dobler and affects the lives of millions of young women everywhere. Kirk Cameron gets the part instead and Lloyd plays The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choirs "We Are Rejoicing" on the boom box.

Some information in the post acquired from: "The making of Back to the Future". Ian Freer (January 2003. pp. 183–187.)