How the film "Ghost" was filmed: footage from the filming and 19 interesting facts about the film (24 photos)

The film became a real hit among audiences of both sexes and all ages.





1. Initially, the main roles were offered to such actors as Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer, but both of them refused this role, which they later greatly regretted, because the film became a real hit.

And the most interesting thing is that 10 years later, Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer played husband and wife in Robert Zemeckis’ film “What Lies Beneath.” By the way, the film is also associated with ghosts, or rather with spirits.

2. The idea for the film "Ghost" came to screenwriter Bruce Rubin in 1984 after he watched the film "Hamlet", namely the scene with the shadow of Hamlet's father, who asked his son to avenge him.



Bruce Rubin decided to tell his story about a ghost who must avenge his murder. But this time he should not ask anyone for this, but personally go through this entire difficult path.

Rubin began wandering around to studios that would take his script into production, but he was rejected everywhere. Many believed that this film would be a children's fairy tale that would not recoup the money spent on filming.

When Rubin came to the Paramount Pictures studio, the bosses liked this script, and they gave the green light to shoot this film, allocating $22 million to the project.





And Jerry Zucker was chosen as the director. This was a rather strange choice, given that Jerry Zucker and his brother specialized mainly in comedies and parodies such as Airplane, The Naked Gun, Ruthless People, etc. Nevertheless, the film turned out to be simply great, but not without comedic touches.



But initially, screenwriter Bruce Rubin was simply shocked by this choice, because he planned that this film would be directed by someone like Stanley Kubrick, and not a comedy director.

3. Rubin's original script was too dark, which the director did not really like. He planned to make some kind of fantastic tragicomedy melodrama, and not a simple thriller. Therefore, the script was rewritten as many as 19 times until the desired result was achieved.



Bruce Rubin and Jerry Zucker

4. Actors such as Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Michael J. Fox and even Bruce Willis auditioned for the role of Sam. But in the end, the role went to Patrick Swayze, since Bruce Wheelis did not understand the script and said that the film was doomed to failure. How wrong he was. But a few years later, Bruce Willis still played a ghost, but in the film “The Sixth Sense.”

Screenwriter Bruce Rubin wanted to cast Swayze as Sam after he saw an interview with him where he cried on camera while remembering his deceased father. He immediately saw in him someone who would definitely pull off this role.



And as Patrick himself later admitted, in the final scene, when Sam, before being sent to Paradise, confesses his love to Molly, shedding a tear, he remembered his father, whom he loved very much.

But still, initially Jerry Zucker refused to take Patrick Swayze for this role. The fact is that he was literally forced to watch the film "Road House", where Swayze played the main role. Seeing the long-haired guy waving his fists, Jerry flatly refused to take him for the role of Sam, because he simply did not see a dramatic and romantic character in this actor.



But Patrick Swayze was very persistent. He wanted the role so badly that Zucker gave the go-ahead for the audition. And it was at this very audition that Jerry Zucker realized that he was wrong, because after Patrick read the final scene of the script, Zucker literally cried, as he was simply overwhelmed with emotion.



5. They originally wanted to cast Oprah Winfrey for the role of Oda Mae Brown. But by the time filming began, she had lost a lot of weight, and according to the idea, Oda Mae Brown was supposed to be a woman in a body. In the end, Whoopi Goldberg got the role. And it was really the right choice. How great she played in this film.



Whoopi Goldberg and Patrick Swayze

There were even rumors (including in the media) that Patrick Swayze set the condition that he would not film without Whoopi Goldberg. But it seems to me that all this turned out to be just gossip. And it’s unlikely that Patrick would have refused the role that he barely managed to get for himself. Although, at the Oscars, Goldberg thanked Patrick Swayze.

6. Nicole Kidman, Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts auditioned for the role of Molly, but Demi Moore performed best, who, unlike her husband Bruce Willis, still received the main role. In many ways, she got the role thanks to the fact that she could cry at any moment with a snap of her fingers.



Jerry Zucker and Demi Muo

But the most interesting thing is that Demi came to the audition with long hair, while she came to the shooting with a short haircut. Jerry Zucker did not like this unplanned change of image. He thought that this might affect the film, which the director took very seriously, because it was his first independent work, not a comedy, but a dramatic one.



But during filming, Zucker realized that Moore looked just perfect with her new hairstyle. Later, he even thanked her, telling her thanks for cutting her hair without asking his permission.

7. Jerry Zucker's mother played a cameo role in the film as a bank employee who served Oda Mae.



Charlotte Zucker - Jerry Zucker's mother

By the way, screenwriter Bruce Rubin's mother also played a small role in the film. It was she who played the old nun who faints when she reveals the check that Oda Mae barely gave her.



8. Scenes where Sam passes through objects were shot separately on a blue background (chromakey), and only then the background was removed, and Swayze himself was superimposed on the main frames.



9. Remember those same shadows that took ghosts to hell? This is hard to forget. Do you remember those vile sounds they made? In fact, these cries belong to babies. But to make the cry creepier, the baby's cry was played backwards and then slowed down.



10. It was quite cold outside during filming, but since Sam was killed wearing a shirt, he had to wear that same shirt throughout the entire film.

Poor Patrick Swayze was already incredibly cold, and they also forced him to chew ice cubes to stop the steam from coming out of his mouth. He’s still a ghost, which means he shouldn’t have any breathing. It is clear that the creators took this issue seriously, although not entirely.



Even though Sam is not breathing, we can still hear his footsteps, sometimes see his reflection, he casts a shadow, etc. And in general, it is not clear how it stays on the surface if it passes through objects. He even miraculously climbs the stairs, although this should not be the case.

11. David Zucker (Jerry's brother) directed the 1991 film "The Naked Gun 2 1/2", in which one of the scenes parodied the scene from the film "Ghost" in a pottery workshop.



Still from the movie "The Naked Gun 2 1/2"

12. The film "Ghost" was nominated for an Oscar in five categories, including "Best Picture", but in the end it took 2 statuettes. Bruce Rubin won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and Whoopi Goldberg won for Best Supporting Actress.

Moreover, Woope Goldberg became the second black actress to win an Oscar. The first black actress to win an Oscar was Hattie McDaniel for the film Gone with the Wind, where she played the role of Mammy. The difference between these Oscars was 50 years.



Whoopi Goldbear at the Oscars (1991)

13. Famous critic Roger Ebert did not like the scene when Sam possessed Molly and then hugged her. He wanted to see two women hugging in this scene, because heIn his opinion, this would be more logical, because at that moment Sam was in the body of Oda Mae, which means the viewer should see everything as it is. It would be more spiritual and touching. In general, this elderly uncle apparently likes to play pranks.



Critic Roger Ebert

14. With a budget of $22 million, the film "Ghost" earned $505.7 million at the worldwide box office, which was an incredible success. And I’m already silent about the fact that the film “Ghost” was most often rented at video rental stores in 1991. This film surpassed even “Home Alone” and “Total Recall” at the box office.



Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Tony Goldwyn and Whoopi Goldberg

On this wave, studio bosses decided to make a sequel, but Jerry Zucker, Bruce Rubin and the main actors refused to work on the second part.

Then the studio bosses decided to do without them. They received a lot of scripts for approval, but apparently they didn’t like any of them, since since then there has been no talk of filming a sequel.

15. It was originally planned that Oda Mae would be a real psychic, but the producers decided that it would be much funnier if Oda Mae turned out to be a charlatan and would be horrified herself when she learned that she could really hear ghosts and even let them into her body .



16. In that very iconic scene in the pottery workshop, something went wrong. We are talking about the pot itself. According to the plot, it should not have fallen apart. But the actors, as if nothing had happened, continued to play and improvise, which made this scene only brighter.



Swayze himself admitted that this scene was the sexiest of his entire acting career. Moreover, this was not some banal lovemaking. In this scene, the audience felt the relationship between the characters.

17. In the scene when the servants of hell carry away Carl and Willie, the roles of the demons were played by stuntmen who were wearing roller skates to glide, since the demons were not supposed to run. Well, then the animated servants of the Devil were superimposed on the stuntmen.

18. Director Jerry Zucker and screenwriter Bruce Rubin did not believe that such a handsome man as Tony Goldwyn could play the villain Carl, but nevertheless, during the auditions he showed the highest class, thanks to which the authors realized that they were wrong.



Demi Moore, Tony Goldwyn, Whoopi Goldberg, Jerry Zucker and Bruce Rubin

By the way, Tony Goldwyn's wife worked as a production designer on this film.

Tony managed to portray a greedy family friend so well that one day, when he came to have lunch at a cafe, the waitress looked at him with a withering look, and even refused to serve him when she found out who was sitting in front of her.

19. Alex Noth and Hai Zaret wrote the song Unchained Melody 35 years before the release of "Ghost" specifically for the prison drama "Unchained", where it was performed. But at that time she was little known. But 35 years later it became a real hit, and today it is associated exclusively with the film “Ghost”.