As You Wish

Elwes, Cary and Layden, Joe. As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride. New York:Touchstone. 2014. Print.

First Sentences:

The note simply read: IMPORTANT.

Description:

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride is what I call a "bridge book." Good, solid content and writing, to be sure, but offers a bit more. You read a bridge book because you are interested in the subject matter, which is enough to propel you forward to the last pages, but discover something else. 

A bridge book also peaks one's interest to pursue the topic further via other resources. The original book is so captivating in depicting a mood or arousing curiosity that it makes you hungry to keep exploring, whether to read another book on this subject, watch a film, or dive into other media. 

Written by Cary Elwes (along with author Joe Layden), As You Wish is a compilation of memories from Elwes and other cast members about background, incidents, and conversations that occurred during the filming of the classic movie, The Princess Bride in 1987 (27 years ago - can that be possible?). This bridge book makes me drool to re-read The Princess Bride, one of my all-time favorites for plot and writing style (much, much better than the movie), and also re-watch the film itself, still a masterpiece of humor, style, and character. For creating those bridges to my fond book and film friends, As You Wish is a rousing success for me.

Elwes starts us off with a very brief intro to his previous acting experience, including his role in Lady Jane, a small historical drama with Helena Bonham Carter that was filmed at the same sprawling location later used as the castle in The Princess Bride. Elwes talks about meeting with PB director Rob Reiner while Elwes was working on another film in Berlin just after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, a meeting that was almost postponed due to shifting of winds that threatened to blow radioactive fallout over the meeting site.

Reiner was at the top of his game then, having just completed the box-office successes of This Is Spinal Tap and Stand by Me. Columbia Pictures, out of gratitude, said he could next film anything he wanted. But when he asked to shoot his "favorite book," The Princess Bride, written by William Goldman, they said "Anything but that!" It had been planned and eventually dropped by many before Rekiner, including Norman Jewison (to star then unknown Arnold Schwarzenegger in the giant's role), John Boorman, Robert Redford, and even French director Francois Truffaut.

Reiner persevered and eventually landed Columbia's permission and a marvelous cast consisting of Mandy Patinkin, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, Carol Kane, and all 7', 500 pounds of Andre the Giant.

The plot, a story of derring-do, kidnapping, sword-fighting, pirates, royalty, torture, and true love, all held together by Goldman's strong screenplay and the humorous dialogue. However, the film proved difficult to market. As Fred Savage, the boy who listens to grandfather Peter Falk read the story to him, remembers:

Is it an adventure? Is it romance? Is it funny? Is it moving? Is it thrilling? Is it a children's story? Is it an adult's story? And the answer is...yes! I think any audience can find something in the film that speaks to them, because it does have its toes in so many styles, genres, and tones.

The cast has a ball with the material and each other. Stories abound from all cast members, with in-depth quotes from everyone sprinkled into the narrative as sidebars. By all accounts, it was a great experience, starting with the overall tone of encouragement and the firm vision of director Rob Reiner. Elwes states,

All kids like to play dress-up, whether it's cowboys and Indians or knights and princesses. When it gets to be both fun and work at the same time, it can be a truly wonderful, rewarding experience, as it was on this movie.

 So what insider info do we learn? Well, here's some of my favorites:

• When Count Rugen hit The Masked Man (Elwes) on the head with his sword, he actually knocked Elwes out cold who awakened in the Emergency Room. Of course, that was the take they used in the film;

• In the Fire Swamp, it was Elwes who proposed diving head-first into the Snow Sand (quicksand) and even did the stunt himself as did Robin Wright, the princess. This was after the first day of shooting where her dress and part of her hear actually did catch on fire, and writer Goldman's panicked shouts for someone to help her, ruined the shot which was completely under control;

• The 4' stunt man (who worked inside the Rodent Of Unusual Size), almost delayed shooting because he got thrown into jail for drunk driving the night before his scene where he wrestles with Elwes;

• Andre, the Giant was driven to the set by playwright Samuel Beckett because Beckett had the only convertible car in the area, a feature needed to fit Andre's huge body;

• Elwes and Mandy Patinkin spent four months learning and practicing intense sword-fighting skills before the first scene was shot. Once filming started, they were forced to practice between every take. Unfortunately, when they finally performed their perfected routine in front of Reiner, it was almost two minutes short of the time needed on screen, so they had to completely re-learn new moves and staging;

• Elwes drove Andre's super-charged ATV for the first time and promptly lost control, fell off, and broke his toe, causing him to limp through various scenes throughout the movie;

• Andre loosened one of his typically epic farts, larger than anything in Blazing Saddles, ruining several scenes as no one could stop laughing;

• Billy Crystal ad-libbed all his "thirteenth-century jokes," many too blue to use in the film, but created his character and the film's highlight in only three days of shooting. He based his make-up of Miracle Max on photos of his grandmother and Casey Stengel, the baseball manager. His performance was so funny that Patinkin actually bruised a rib trying to suppress his laughter and both Elwes and Reiner had to be removed from the set because they couldn't stop giggling and ruining takes;

• Wallace Shawn, already living in constant fear (unjustified) every day that he would be fired from the film, also was terrified of heights. Special rigging, cranes, pulleys and camera angles were needed, along with Andre's gentle assurance that he would take good care of him, to bring Shawn up the steep Cliffs of Insanity;

• When Elwes met with Pope John Paul II and later Bill Clinton in the White House, he learned that both the Pope and the President were fans of the movie and knew who Elwes was.

The film was not a success when it opened mainly due to the lackluster marketing campaign. But it became a mega-hit with the introduction of videotape (yes, it's that long ago). Word of mouth gave it new legs and it became one of the most purchased, rented, and watched videotapes in this new media. 

Currently, there are PB screenings that, like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, encourage audiences to dress up, climb up on the stage, and act out the lines and actions. Of course, everyone knows certain catch phrases like, "Inconceivable," "As you wish," and "Have fun storming the castle." The last was a line used by Billy Crystal, but Elwes learned it was adapted by the commanding officer of a US squadron in Iraq who yelled it to all his troops as they headed out on yet another a dangerous mission.

The film is indeed magical. It makes you feel many different things upon every viewing. As Billy Crystal has said, it makes you feel good. It makes you miss you childhood. It makes you want to have someone read stories to you again. It makes you want to kiss your sweetheart, fight a duel, or ride a white horse into the sunset...all in the name of love. In short, it's the perfect fairy tale.

If this bridge book doesn't make you want to immediately go out and grab the original novel or at least sit down and watch the film, you must be "mostly dead" yourself and really need the services of both Miracle Max and True Love.

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Goldman, William. The Princess Bride

One of my favorite books, Bride retells a story of true love, pirates, sword-fighting, and a giant, will all the boring parts left out to keep the interest of a young boy (and us). Delightfully written and outright funny in its sharp wit and satire.