Trivia / Barry Lyndon

• California Doubling: Many of the exteriors were shot in Ireland, playing "itself, England, and Prussia during the Seven Years' War."
• Deleted Role: BRIAN BLESSED!!!!! was cut out of the final print. Miriam Karlin was also cut.
• Deleted Scene: A lovemaking scene between Barry and Lady Lyndon was filmed, but cut out.
• Executive Meddling: Warner Bros. would only finance the film on the condition that Stanley Kubrick cast a Top 10 Box Office Star (from the annual Quigley Poll of Top Money-Making Stars) in the lead. Hence why Ryan O'Neal is the star. O'Neal was chosen in the one and only year he made the Top 10 (1973).
• The Other Marty: Hardy Kruger replaced Oscar Werner after a few weeks of shooting. It has been alleged that Stanley Kubrick recast at least 50 UK actors while working on this film.
• Pop-Culture Urban Legends:
  • Contrary to legend, this film did use artificial lighting in some scenes (for example, when Brian learns he's getting a horse). However, it is true that no electronic lighting was used for the candle-lit scenes. A lens built by the Carl Zeiss; Co. for NASA, a 50mm Zeiss lens modified with the Kollmorgen adaptor used in still cameras, was used to shoot scenes lit only by candle. This lens had the largest aperture of any ever built for movie use (f/0.7).
  • A myth grew that the Academy Award-winning costumes used in the film were genuine antique clothes, but this is only partly correct. Some of the costumes were genuine antiques bought at auction by costume designer Milena Canonero, while others were custom-made specifically for the film and were based on clothing of the period and costumes seen in period paintings. (Many of the costumes bought and rented for the movie didn't fit since people in the twientieth century are on average taller and bulkier than two centuries before, so they had to be carefully dismantled to pieces, each piece copied in a slightly larger size, then assembled again.)
• Real-Life Relative: The young girl sitting behind Lady Lyndon's left shoulder during the magic show is Stanley Kubrick's daughter Vivian.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Stanley Kubrick wanted Robert Redford for the lead role, but he turned it down.
  • The title role, in the early pre-production stages, was originally intended for Richard Harris.
  • Had the film been cast in any year other than 1973, Ryan O'Neal would not have been cast, because that was the only year he made the list of Top 10 Money-Making Stars.

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