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] Date Posted:10:49:19 09/18/02 Wed In reply to:
Michelle
's message, "Will there be any booze?" on 21:07:17 09/17/02 Tue
Yeah, I know what you mean. I get bummed out by seeing that over and over in almost every film he did after 1940! He was well known for his drinking, and that may have influenced the way some of the characters were written--or, more likely, the decision to hire him for those roles. By 1944 (in this Happy Breed) it had been written into his contract that he would lose a certain amount of his pay for every day he came to the set "under the influence." And it's not that he didn't *try* many times to give up the booze. He was on the wagon for the filming of the Beachcomber, and considering the amount of emphasis on alcohol in that film, I imagine it must have been very difficult for him. I wonder if playing those kinds of roles helped to reinforce his addiction. It's sad that alcoholism was not recognized as a disease back then. Smoking (which he also did, I believe) and drinking were like rites of passage and apparently made you seem more "fashionable." Just check out the cigarette ads from those days! You just weren't cool unless you smoked--and I'm sure it was the same way with booze.
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It's doubtful that real booze was used in those films, typical substitutes include cold tea for whisky, water and food colouring for brandy etc.
As Susan says, RN was on the wagon for certain periods.
However, John Mills tells a story of real beer being used for the final scene in "Ice Cold In Alex", and being the worse for wear after drinking five beers straight down for the required five takes.
Also Richard Burton told of using real whisky on a final shot one day in a film, and that scene requiring 43 takes.
