Trivia / Images

• Actor-Inspired Element: Susannah York mentioned to Robert Altman during one of the films pre-shooting sessions how she was writing a children's book called In Search of Unicorns. Altman asked to read it. By the time he had finished the tale, Altman had decided to make York's character in the film a writer of children's' tales and asked York to quote parts of the fairy-tale in the movie. York received a writing credit for the film as the text was from her book. As such, the film represents actress York's film debut as a writer.
• The Danza: A notable case of playing with this trope. Susannah York is Cathryn, Cathryn Harrison is Susannah, Marcel Bozzuffi is René, René Auberjonois is Hugh, and Hugh Millais is Marcel. This adds an extra layer to the film's "perception versus reality" theme, though it must have been confusing for the actors sometimes. In fact, in one scene Hugh Millais seems like he has to stop himself from responding when Cathryn calls out "Hugh".
• Playing Against Type: Robert Altman as a director. There are just five principal characters instead of his usual large cast, and the story focuses squarely on Cathryn instead of being a Hyperlink Story.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Julie Christie, Faye Dunaway, Sophia Loren, Vanessa Redgrave and Natalie Wood were considered for Cathryn.
  • Robert Altman offered Robert Duvall the role of Marcel, but he turned it down. Altman said: "Maybe you don’t get it. Maybe your need your wife to explain it". "Bullshit", Duvall retorted. "I did not need my wife to explain it. I got it. I just didn’t like it."
• Writing by the Seat of Your Pants: Robert Altman had a shooting script, but he revised it every day of the shoot, with input from the actors.

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