There was a shot in the beginning of the movie where Fates plane crashes into a barn and it briefly shows a farmer throwing down some feed...that man was my grandfather and he has told me some great stories about the filming of that movie...let me know if there is any interest...thanks!
shareI would love to know more. He was a truly great punctuation to this set of scenes. What was his name?
shareHis name was Robert Turner...he was a property master for Warner Bros until his retirement in 1971...he passed away in May of 2000 at the age of 96.
One funny story he told me was that Keenan Wynn was sort of a moody guy and on his birthday the cast was fed up with his moods and unloaded on him with pies they had brought in that actually rivaled the famous pie throwing scene.
He was also in 2 more scenes...he was one of the monks marching by the castle before Peter Falk clubs one with a pipe and when Fate and Max were high above in the bicycle type balloon trying to drop the bomb on Leslies car...the distance shots are my grandfather up in the bicycle.
He also worked on Rebel without a Cause and many other movies...I could go on and on but I hope I havent bored you with any of this.
The opening scene in The Great Race was filmed in Kentucky.
I would be more than happy to share more stories and info...just let me know...and thanks for your interest!
Great to know these little facts! :)
Thank you for sharing them with us.
Do you have more, please?
The actor who played Frisbee ( in the office where Vivian Vance's husband worked ) was actually petrified of heights...when he had to go out on the ledge to retrieve the pics that the homing pigeon of Natalie Wood had brought, he was really only about 6 feet off of the ground and had to do the scene several times because he was so frightened to be out on that ledge.
In the town of Boracho when the fight breaks out in the bar, if you look closely you will see Blake Edwards himself slugging some guy in the face that bumps him at the bar.
In the town of Boracho when the fight breaks out in the bar, if you look closely you will see Blake Edwards himself slugging some guy in the face that bumps him at the bar.
This is great! Thanks for sharing!
shareBaldy007
Just read your post on the Great Race board regarding the Farmer. You indicate his name is Robert Turner. Actually the farmer was my uncle, Albert O'Nan from Frankfort, Ky. Blake Edwards saw him on a street in Frankfort and asked him to be an extra. For the shooting of the opening scene, which actually took place at Merewood Farm in Versailles, Ky., my dad and I actually took Albert to the farm and watched the entire process. Albert is in 3 scenes. 2 when he is tossing corn to the pigs in front of the barn and one as a reporter in the scene when Fate is on the railrod track in that land rocket that went airborne. Albert O'Nan died in 1982. If you need any additional information you can contact me at [email protected] I would appreciate it if you would enter the correction on the message board.
I haven’t used this forum in forever but just saw this and had to reply. You are incorrect. I had the screename baldy007 at one time and I have pictures of my grandfather in that role. Let’s see if you can provide the same with your uncle. Also have pics of my grandfather with the cast in his property master role. Can you provide any proof?
shareA thread over a 16 year period (at least) and we got a real mystery here:
"Robert Turner" or "Albert O'Nan"
...which WAS The Farmer in The Great Race?
In any event, I like all the stories about both of these men and I didn't realize the opening scenes were shot in Kentucky. I must admit, the terrain doesn't look anything like California....
Yes I hated to reply this late and had completely forgotten about this post until I did a search recently and it popped up. Happy to share pics of my grandfather in the role and in his occupation at Warner Bros as head Property Master. If anyone is interested in seeing them and others that celebrities of yesteryear autographed to Robert “Red” Turner, please hit me up at [email protected]. I would be more than happy to provide them.
shareThat's great, I like to hear little sidelines like that. Thanks!
shareThey are fascinating stories, thanks for sharing, please dont think you are boring anyone with them, they are all great, keep them coming!
So what I told you was true... From a certain point of view
Great to hear 'bout the location of the opening shot being in Kentucy. I know that it was supposed to be Trenton, NJ at the turn of the century, and we all know that Trenton just doesn't look like that anymore.
I did notice that the trees were from the East, but knowing Blakes Edwards, it could have been shot in the one forest in France that bares the same resemblance. That's for the stories and my brother and I happen to be BIG fans of the Farmer,(and Texas Jack) so your tale did not get typed in vane.
"I'm Mad as Hell and I'm Not Going to Take it Anymore!" - Network
The opening scene in The Great Race was filmed in Kentucky.
Cool! I was just watching this today, and I thought it looked a lot like Kentucky. I lived there twice; once as a kid, and again when I was stationed at Ft. Knox.
Speaking of Frisbee being afraid of heights and shooting on a smaller rig...
Like many of you, I have watched this great film hundreds of times, and then one time I noticed this:
If you watch Frisbee hanging out of the window (the shot from the street looking up at him dangling there), for one or two brief frames, you can see his dangling legs briefly disappear. This is where he inadvertently swings his legs out of the matte that was created to insert the small rig he was on into the image of the multi-storied building.
I see that it's been a while since this post, but I want to thank you for the anecdotes from the making of "The Great Race"; it's one of my all-time favourite movies.
Was the speedboat scene filmed at Arrowhead?
"I love corn!"