Trivia / My Favorite Year

• Inspiration for the Work: Mel Brooks was a writer for the Sid Caesar variety program Your Show of Shows early in his career. Errol Flynn was a guest on one episode, and this real-life occurrence inspired Dennis Palumbo's largely fictional screenplay.
• No Stunt Double: Peter O'Toole did most of his own stunts and really wanted to do as much as he could stunt-wise. He talked the producers into paying for a fencing instructor to get him in shape for the fight sequence. He said that the great thing about swashbuckler actors like Errol Flynn was that they did many or most of their own stunts, so when the audience saw the action sequence, they knew it was really the star in the scene, and not some faked double in a cutaway. This realism gave authenticity and believability to a sequence which would be lost by faked sequences with doubles.
• Write Who You Know: According to Mel Brooks, the character of Rookie Carroca also was based on a real person, a Filipino sailor in the U. S. Navy who was his neighbor in Brooklyn. Much like Alan Brady on The Dick Van Dyke Show, King Kaiser represented Sid Caesar ("Kaiser" is the German equivalent of the Roman title Caesar).
• What Could Have Been: Albert Finney was originally offered the role of Alan Swann, but declined as he didn't think he was right for the role and recommended Peter O'Toole.

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