Taming a Flamboyant Actor
an extract from Robert Cettl's book Film Tales: Movie Trivia in the Age of DVD (on sale now in print and soon in e-book)
Former acrobat Burt Lancaster was known for his flamboyance as an actor, for the sheer physicality of many of his roles and the exuberance he brought to his performances. On the film The Young Savages, Lancaster was anxious to get the shoot over with and on set repeatedly fought with the director John Frankenheimer. By both of their recollection, they did not get along at all well. It was Frankenheimer’s second feature film, after a troubled first feature some years before, and he was adamant that he would get to make the film his way all the way this time. When the film was completed, he and Lancaster parted ways. Still, despite their disagreements, something about Frankenheimer’s approach stayed with the actor. Thus, when a film he was working on, Birdman of Alcatraz, ran into trouble with the film’s original scheduled director, Lancaster thought of Frankenheimer and called him in to take over. The director shut down production, had the script re-written and correspondingly shaped what many felt was the most restrained performance in Lancaster’s career. It was the confirmation of a creative partnership between actor and director that would see them further collaborate on such classics as The Train, Seven Days in May and The Gypsy Moths.