The Princess Bride Behind The Scenes

It has been alleged that "The Princess Bride" screenplay is, in fact, a version of the original Princess Bride by the author S. Morgenstern. The version that Goldman wrote was apparently structured the way that Goldman's own father had read to him when he was sick as a boy. Goldman, much later in life as an adult, tracked down the book in New York and upon reading it himself he realized that his father cut out hundreds of pages, including an entire chapter detailing what exactly happened to Buttercup in the three years between Westley's departure and his return as the Dread Pirate Roberts (much of that chapter involved her being taught how to be a princess and Goldman agreed with his father's omission of it because of it's sheer boredom). You can find more details on all of this if you pick up the 25th anniversary edition of the book "The Princess Bride".

However, the S. Morgenstern story may have been made up by author William Goldman, presumably to give the book/movie a more genuine fairy tale feel to it. Goldman has admitted publicly in one of his screenplay books that every word in the novel and screenplay were his and he made the whole Morgenstern thing up.

During the opening scenes of the movie, a grandfather (Peter Falk) begins reading the Princess Bride story to his sick grandson (Fred Savage) in the boy's bedroom. You will catch a glimpse of the boy's baseball cap hanging near his bed. This cap was placed there by the movie's director, Rob Reiner, to fulfill a request by Mark Knopfler, who composed the music for the movie. Knopfler, former frontman for Dire Straits, agreed to write and perform the music for the movie, if Reiner would place somewhere in the movie a cap he had worn in the movie "Spinal Tap".

Director Rob Reiner had auditioned over 500 women for the role of Buttercup before hiring Robin Wright Penn for the role. This was also her major film debut.

In the scene where Cary Elwes jumps on Andre the Giant's back, a body double was used for some of the shots. Andre's back was unable to support more than about 100 pounds. In the closeup shots, Cary Elwes is actually walking along a raised platform behind Andre. Also, when Andre catches Buttercup at the end, Robin Wright Penn is being supported by cables.

When Goldman was trying to get the movie made in the 1970's, several problems with every studio he took it to occurred. At any rate, at the time, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was an unknown bodybuilder at the time, wanted to play Fezzik. Goldman was considering him strongly because he could never get his first choice, Andre the Giant, to read for it because he was always wrestling. By the time the film was made in '85-86, Schwarzenegger was such a big star they couldn't afford him, Andre was cast after all and Schwarzenegger presumably held no grudges since Andre had a part in the second Conan movie during which the pair became friends.

When the Count whaps Westley over the head, the actor playing Westley (Cary Elwes) told the Count (Christopher Guest) to really go all out and and hit him. Well, he did and production had to be shut down for a day while Elwes made an unscheduled trip to the hospital!

My Mother claims this is true whenever I watch the movie. Goldman asked his two daughters what his next book should be about. One answered "A princess," the other answered, "Brides.". Hence, The Princess Bride.

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