Trivia / Shane

• Beam Me Up, Scotty!: The famous closing line from the movie was thought by some to be "Come back, Shane!". It's actually the reverse ("Shane! Come back!").
• Completely Different Title: The film's Brazilian title was "The Brutes Also Love".
• The Danza: Jack Palance as Jack Wilson. Perhaps to defy this trope, he is credited as Walter Jack Palance.
• Dueling Dubs: The film was dubbed to Japanese about seven times, which is a really unusual amount of dubbed versions for a single film with no sequels, reboots or spin-offs, and defeating the previous Japanese champions on dubbed versions, Star Wars and Gone with the Wind, at 2019.^note A record later broken at 2022 with Roman Holiday, with nine dubbed versions.
• Hypothetical Casting: In 1989, Jack Schaefer told the Oberlin alumni magazine that Shane was supposed to be a "dark, deadly person" who he had hoped would be played by George Raft. He was unhappy with Alan Ladd's casting, referring to him as "that runt".
• Never Work with Children or Animals:
  • In the funeral scene, the dog consistently refused to look into the grave. Finally, George Stevens had the dog's trainer lie down in the bottom of the grave, and the dog played his part ably. The coffin (loaded with rocks for appropriate effect) was then lowered into the grave, but when the harmonica player began to play "Dixie" spontaneously, the crew was so moved by the scene that they began shoveling dirt into the grave before remembering the dog's trainer was still there.
  • Brandon DeWilde was a terror onset. He would jump in mud when others walked past, make faces at Alan Ladd if the two were playing a tender scene and wander off when his scene was called. He was egged on by Jean Arthur, who had taken a liking to him. For the final scene, every time Ladd spoke his lines of farewell, DeWilde crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue. Finally, Ladd called to the boy's father, "Make that kid stop or I'll beat him over the head with a brick". DeWilde behaved.
• Recycled: The Series: In 1966, there was a single season of the Shane television series. Starring David Carradine as Shane!
• Referenced by...: Has its own page.
• Scully Box: Alan Ladd was only 5'6", and this had to be compensated for. When he is in scenes with Van Heflin the two are about the same height, although Heflin was far taller. When Ladd is shown with Jean Arthur he is perhaps a bit taller than she. When Heflin is shown with her, Heflin is far taller than she.
• Serendipity Writes the Plot: Wilson's entrance was written as a dramatic gallop into town, but it was changed to a walk due to Jack Palance's inexperience with horse riding. This has the result of making him look like a guy who doesn't need to show off, heading down the street like he owns it, and George Stevens later admitted that the result was far more menacing than what he'd originally planned.
• The Shelf of Movie Languishment: The film was completed in 1951, but it wasn't released until two years later due to extensive re-editing.
• What Could Have Been:
  • George Stevens originally cast Montgomery Clift as Shane and William Holden as Joe Starrett. When both decided to do other films instead, the film was nearly abandoned before Stevens asked studio head Y. Frank Freeman who was available. Upon seeing a list of actors under contract to the studio, Stevens cast Alan Ladd, Van Heflin and Jean Arthur within three minutes.
  • Ray Milland was considered for Shane.
  • Joel McCrea turned down the role of Joe Starrett, because he didn't want people to think he couldn't carry a film on his own.
  • Katharine Hepburn was the original choice for Marian.
  • Jack Elam told David Letterman that he turned down the role of Jack Wilson, a decision he regretted.

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