Behind-the-Scenes Facts About the Classic Coming of Age Stephen King Adaptation STAND BY ME
One of my favorite movies of all time is the classic 1986 coming of age drama Stand By Me. The story was written as a novella by the great Stephen King, and was directed by one of my favorite directors, Rob Reiner. The film stars Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, Kiefer Sutherland, and Richard Dreyfuss, and follows four young best friends as they go on a journey to find the body of a boy who was killed by a train.
This movie is so nostalgic for me. I have watched it my whole life. It makes me laugh and cry and feel pangs of sentiment for my own youth and the deep friendships I made as a young teen. My best friend Amanda and I would watch this movie a lot, and she would look away when they showed the body of Ray Brower, because she would get nightmares, but I would get close up to check it out, even pausing it on the shot, because I was a morbid little murderino and I thought it was fascinating, even though it wasn’t real.
The movie still holds up after 34 years, and I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it or it’s been a while. For now, check out some of these cool facts from the film, and let us know how much you love the movie Stand By Me, which was named by Reiner after the classic 1961 song by Ben E. King.
The Train Scene:
The train scene took a full week of shooting, making use of four small adult female stunt doubles with closely cropped hair, made up to look like the film's protagonists. Plywood planks were laid across the trestles to provide a safer surface on which the stunt doubles could run.
In the shot where Gordie and Vern are running towards the camera with the train right behind them, the train was actually at the far end of the trestle with the two actors on the opposite end. The crew used a 600mm long-focus lens that, when shot at the telephoto end, compressed the image so much that it made it look like the train was right behind them.
The Stephen King Universe Connections:
When the boys add up all their money, they come up with $2.37. The number 237 appears in quite a few of Stephen King's stories, including Red’s cell number in The Shawshank Redemption, as well as the infamous room number in The Shining.
As with most of Stephen King's stories, this one originally contained connections to other books he has written. Ace Merrill later re-appeared in the book Needful Things (1993), although he does not appear in the film. The dog Chopper is compared to Cujo (1983). Characters are familiar with Shawshank Prison, from The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Teddy Duchamp was actually first mentioned in King's first book, Carrie (1976), in which Carrie destroys a gas station he once worked at.
The Trouble the Young Cast Got Into While Filming:
River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Wil Wheaton and Jerry O'Connell got up to much mischief in the hotel they were staying in during filming. This included throwing all the poolside furniture into the pool, Wheaton fixing video games in the lobby so they could play them for free and Phoenix (spurred on by the other boys) unknowingly covering Kiefer Sutherland's car in mud, only discovering whose car it was when Sutherland confronted a scared and nervous Phoenix about it later.
Kiefer Sutherland claimed in an interview that in one of the locations of the film, a Renaissance Fair was being held and the cast and crew attended and bought some cookies. Unfortunately, the cookies turned out to be pot cookies and two hours later, the crew found Jerry O'Connell crying and high on the cookies somewhere in the park.
The Total Barf-O-Rama:
The vomit used in the "Lardass" story was made from cottage cheese and blueberry mix.
According to Andy Lindberg, the actor who played “Lardass” Hogan, a child extra actually threw up for real during the filming of the "barf-o-rama."
And the impact of the film on its creators:
Rob Reiner considers this the best film he has ever made. This is pretty big, considering he has directed some of my favorite movies, including The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, This is Spinal Tap, and A Few Good Men. But he’s not the only one who is proud of the film. King, who has been a vocal critic of many of his adaptations, also praised the movie. (See below)
After director Rob Reiner screened the movie for Stephen King, he noticed that King was visibly shaking and wasn't speaking. He left the room and upon his return, told Reiner that the movie was the best adaptation of his work he had ever seen.
So there you have it. Hopefully there were a few fun facts in there you hadn’t heard before. Check out Stand By Me sometime soon, since you’re probably quarantined and have the time.
Source: IMDB