25 Things You Didn't Know About 'Straw Dogs'

You'd never know from the way this past September's 'Straw Dogs' opened and closed with so little fanfare that it was a remake of a movie whose unflinching depiction of graphic violence created a controversy that has never fully abated. Nor would you know that the original 'Straw Dogs' (released exactly 40 years ago, on December 29, 1971) was a landmark film that gave Dustin Hoffman one of his meatiest roles, made a star of Susan George, solidified Sam Peckinpah's reputation (fairly or not) as Hollywood's most macho and bloodthirsty director, and influenced countless filmmakers who followed (most notably, Quentin Tarantino and Edgar Wright, who wear their 'Straw Dogs' fandom on their sleeves). As notorious as 'Straw Dogs' was in its day, you may not know the story behind the making of the film -- a tale of mismatched lovers, alcohol, rage, and bloodshed that seemed to echo what ended up on the screen. 1. The movie's title comes from a passage in the Tao Te Ching. It refers to the Chinese ceremonial objects used in sacrifices and then casually discarded. In the 2011 remake, the protagonist makes clear the analogy between the disposable canines and the men in the town. 2. The movie was based on novel 'The Siege of Trencher's Farm' (1969) by Gordon Williams. Aside from different character names, there are a number of key plot differences. In the book, the couple have a daughter, there's no rape, and the attackers are not killed but seriously injured and left alive to face charges. 3. 'Straw Dogs' was Peckinpah's first movie that wasn't a Western. The director had scored in 1969 with 'The Wild Bunch,' a revisionist Western whose extravagantly bloody finale had revolutionized the way violence was portrayed on screen. But he'd become a pariah in Hollywood with his follow-up, the gentler 'Ballad of Cable Hogue,' on which he'd run 19 days over schedule and $3 million over budget, only to see the film flop at the box office. The director felt forced to make a change and work in England. "I'm like a good whore," Peckinpah said at the time. "I go where I'm kicked." 4. Peckinpah adapted the novel along with screenwriter David Zelag Goodman, a recent Oscar nominee for his script for 'Lovers and Other Strangers' (1970). Peckinpah's rewrite of Goodman's script was informed by his reading of Robert Ardrey's books 'African Genesis,' 'The Social Contract,' and The Territorial Imperative,' drawing from them the idea that man is instinctively a carnivore who is prone to turf wars. It was also informed by the real-world violence of the Vietnam War and the Kent State shootings. Early in the film, young wife Amy criticizes mathematician David for fleeing campus life (and, it's implied, faculty and students engaged in anti-war protests) and for refusing to take a stand, but by the end of the film, he'll be forced to take a stand and defend his home. 5. For the role of David, the filmmakers considered Beau Bridges, Stacy Keach, Jack Nicholson, Donald Sutherland, and (most interestingly) Sidney Poitier, before 'Midnight Cowboy' star Dustin Hoffman agreed to take the part. 6. Up for Amy were such young British actresses as Judy Geeson, Jacqueline Bisset, Diana Rigg, Helen Mirren, Charlotte Rampling, and Hayley Mills, before 20-year-old Susan George, a former child actress, landed the role. 7. Peckinpah wanted Richard Harris to play Charlie Venner, Amy's ex-boyfriend-turned-rapist. The role eventually went to Irish TV actor Del Henney. 8. Cast as village idiot Henry Niles, whom the couple first injures and then protects, David Warner had already established himself as a character actor. He'd co-starred as the villain in 'Tom Jones' (1963) and had played a preacher in Peckinpah's previous movie, 'The Ballad of Cable Hogue.' 9. The movie was filmed in the ancient Cornish village of St. Buryan, whose most famous resident (then and now) is spy novelist John Le Carré. 10. Shooting the scene where Hoffman's newcomer first visits the pub, Peckinpah wasn't getting the hostile, suspicious reaction he wanted from the actors playing the locals. So he did another take in which he had Hoffman enter with no pants on. That did the trick. 11. Peckinpah used alcohol to bond with the actors playing the violent villagers. The actors would frequently get into brawls; during one rehearsal, T.P. McKenna (who played the Major) broke his arm in a fight and had to wear a sling throughout the shoot. Ken Hutchison (who played Scutt, the second rapist) cut his arm while smashing some bar glasses; George had to take him to the hospital. Another time, Peckinpah and Hutchison spent the pre-dawn hours drinking tequila at the shore in a winter rainstorm. 12. As a result of that incident, the director came down with pneumonia, and producer Daniel Melnick (who had resisted warnings from others in Hollywood that Peckinpah's drinking made him an unreliable hire) was forced to close down the movie for a few days until Peckinpah agreed to dry out. Peckinpah didn't go on the wagon, but he cut back on his drinking and was able to finish the movie with speed and clarity. The shoot ran five days over schedule -- hardly any time at all, compared to some of Peckinpah's other overruns. 'Straw Dogs' (1971) - Trailer 13. The film's most controversial sequence comes when Venner rapes ex-girlfriend Amy, then holds her down while Scutt does the same. Critics thought Amy seemed to enjoy the assault (though it's clear later in flashbacks how traumatized she is) and that the film seemed to celebrate, or at least exploit, violence against women. In fact, the sequence as Peckinpah wanted to shoot it would have been even more graphic, but George talked him out of it, persuading him that the complicated play of emotions on her face was all he needed to show. 14. Part of the controversy over the rape had to do with the editing necessary to earn the film an R rating. By trimming some of the most horrific moments from the scene, the resulting sequence seemed to eroticize the rape and make it look like Amy was taking pleasure in the attack. So argued the British Board of Film Classification, which initially banned the film's home video release in the U.K. when it was first made available on VHS in 1984. The BBFC's remarks accompanied the release of the uncut version on DVD in 2002. 15. Defending the rape sequence, Peckinpah suggested that the film was a way to work out personal demons over his own violent temper and four failed marriages (three of them to the same woman). "In a film, you lay yourself out, whoever you are. The one nice thing is that my own problems seem to involve other people as well," he said. "'Straw Dogs' is about a guy who finds out a few nasty secrets about himself, about his marriage, about where he is, about the world around him ... It's about the violence within all of us. The violence which is reflecting on the political condition of the world today." He did not deny the cathartic effect of the scene but added that it doesn't let the viewer off the hook for his own voyeurism. "Someone may feel a strange sick exultation at the violence," Peckinpah said, "but he should then ask himself, 'What is going on in my heart?'" 16. In fact, some critics thought the film too fond of violence overall, calling it sadistic, as if it endorsed David's descent into savagery. (Pauline Kael called it "the first American film that is a fascist work of art.") Peckinpah insisted he wasn't endorsing violence, merely exploring it. Indeed, he thought, you could consider David the villain, not just for his violent behavior, but for indirectly provoking (through his refusal to act) all the terror directed at the couple in the first place. He explained, I am not saying that violence is what makes a man a man. I'm saying that when violence comes, you can't run from it. You have to recognize its true nature, in yourself as well as in others, and stand up to it. If you run, you're dead or you might as well be. 17. The film came out at a time, just three years after the end of the Production Code, when movies seemed to be pushing new boundaries in the portrayal of violence. Released around the same time were 'The French Connection,' 'Dirty Harry,' and 'A Clockwork Orange' (whose director, Stanley Kubrick, was also a fan of Robert Ardrey's books). Still, 'Straw Dogs' seemed to stand out; at a test preview screening, a third of the audience walked out in revulsion. 18. Peckinpah followed the movie with an about-face, going to work on rodeo tale 'Junior Bonner' within weeks of wrapping 'Straw Dogs.' The low-key Steve McQueen picture didn't deliver on the action that the star's fans expected, and the film flopped. Peckinpah complained, "I made a film where nobody got shot, and nobody went to see it." Thereafter, he returned to the violent movies that had made his reputation, making films like 'The Getaway,' 'Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid,' and 'Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.' He continued making thoughtful, idiosyncratic action films for another decade, until his death in 1984 at age 59. 19. Peckinpah met crew member Joie Gould on the set of 'Straw Dogs.' They married in April 1972, during the shoot of 'The Getaway,' but his alcoholism and abusive behavior proved too much for her, and the marriage ended after just four months. 20. After 'Straw Dogs,' Monty Python memorably parodied Peckinpah's fondness for extreme bloodletting and slow-motion death scenes in a sketch called 'Sam Peckinpah's Salad Days.' The extremely gory sketch earned the BBC some complaints from disgusted 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' viewers, but Peckinpah himself reportedly found it hilarious. 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' - 'Sam Peckinpah's Salad Days' (NSFW) 21. Today, it's hard to imagine the usually cerebral, nerdy Dustin Hoffman as a man of action, but there was a period in the '70s where he played several such roles -- not just 'Straw Dogs' but also 'Little Big Man,' 'Papillon,' and 'Marathon Man.' He'd go on to win Oscars for his regular-guy role in 'Kramer vs. Kramer' and his autistic genius in 'Rain Man,' but he did have one more action role (sort of) in 1995's 'Outbreak,' made when he was 58, in which he played a military epidemiologist who does a lot of running and jumping out of aircraft. 22. George went on to play similarly provocative roles in such 1970s features as 'Dirty Mary Crazy Larry' and 'Mandingo.' She remains active as a producer and a character actress. 23. Warner played a sympathetic character for Peckinpah again in 1977's 'Cross of Iron.' Otherwise, he has continued to specialize in villainous roles, including memorable turns in 'Time After Time' (1978), 'Time Bandits' (1981), 'Tron' (1982), and 'Titanic' (1997). 24. Colin Weiland, who played the vicar, went on to win an Oscar as the screenwriter of 1981's 'Chariots of Fire.' 25. David Goodman went on to write such memorable films as 'Logan's Run' and 'The Eyes of Laura Mars.' He was a script doctor on another movie involving a murdered housepet and a couple in a country home who are besieged by a crazed attacker, 'Fatal Attraction.' In fact, he claimed it was his idea that Glenn Close's character ought to be killed at the end. He died at 81 on September 26, 2011, less than two weeks after the release of the remake of 'Straw Dogs.' [Photos: MGM] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook Follow Gary Susman on Twitter: @garysusman

Report: Bradley Cooper Dating Zoe Saldana

First Released: December 28, 2011 5:50 PM EST Credit: Getty Images Caption Bradley Cooper, Zoe SaldanaLOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Peoples Most sexy Guy Alive is apparently no more single. Sources told E! News that Bradley Cooper is associated with Star Wars beauty Zoe Saldana. Although a repetition for Zoe ignored romance gossips recently between your pair, one source told the web site the two are actually totally dating. The origin also stated that a week ago the 2 were telling buddies they'd intends to go skiing together within the Rockies within the holiday period. Bradley and Zoe are co-stars within the Words, a thriller also starring Olivia Wilde, Dennis Quaid and Jeremy Irons, going to be out in 2012. Zoe and Keith Britton, whom she dated for over a decade and was engaged to, revealed their breakup in November. Bradley was briefly associated with Jennifer Lopez in October. Reps for Bradley and Zoe didn't immediately react to demands from E! News for comment. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Rooney Mara's 'Girl While using Dragon Tattoo' Training Made Her Attack a married relationship Guest

Sometimes, stars go so deep into character, the role will all of a sudden appear inside their actual lives -- or, according to Rooney Mara, regardless of the film has finished shooting. Mara, who got a Golden Globe nomination on her behalf portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in 'The Girl While using Dragon Tattoo' -- employment that involved moments of torture, rape and nudity -- revealed to David Letterman the intensity she place in Salander all of a sudden showed up in this area inside a friend's wedding, carrying out a drunk guest got too frisky while using actress. Sadly for him, that was a terrible idea. "It absolutely was very difficult to leave [character]," she mentioned. "Right once we finished, my nearest friend got married which i visited her wedding, and one of the site visitors there's quite inebriated. He found me which he was trying to bop with me at night which he selected me up, which i suppose I used to be still type of in character which i simply immediately clicked up his throat, and was like 'Put me lower. I'll hurt you,'" mentioned Mara. A clip in the interview, because of Vulture, is below. For Mara's Lisbeth Salander, you can examine her in 'The Girl While using Dragon Tattoo,' if the hits theaters 12 ,. 20. Best Performances of 2011 11. Uggie, 'The Artistཆ. Corey Stoll, 'Midnight in ParisƏ. Ryan Gosling, 'DriveƎ. Kristen Wiig, 'Bridesmaidsƍ. Michelle Williams, 'My Week With Marilynƌ. Meryl Streep, 'The Iron LadyƋ. Michael Fassbender, 'ShameƊ. Albert Brooks, 'DriveƉ. Charlize Theron, 'Young Adultƈ. Kaira Pitt, 'MoneyballƇ. Rooney Mara, 'The Girl While using Dragon Tattoo' See All Moviefone Galleries » [via Vulture] [Photo: AP] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Reese Witherspoon Attached to West Memphis Three Movie 'Devil's Knot'

Prashant Gupta / FX FX and Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter have prevailed in a lawsuit filed by an ex-Hell's Angel biker who claimed the idea for the hit drama series was stolen.our editor recommends'Glee,' 'Sons of Anarchy' Added to Amazon Prime Instant Video Streaming Service'Sons of Anarchy' Creator Kurt Sutter on Season 4's Bold Finale and Season 5 PlansFurious 'Sons of Anarchy' Creator Tells DirecTV Viewers 'You're Getting F---ed Over'; Reveals Banned Script Chuck Zito sued FX for $5 million in June 2010 claiming he had developed a show called Nomads (later The Wild Angels) and had agents at ICM set up a pitch meeting in 2004 with FX chief John Landgraf, during which Zito says he discussed ideas for a show about a motorcycle club. FX passed on the project but later developed Sutter's Sons, which ICM packaged and which recently concluded its 4th season as a big hit for the network. "FX was obligated to pay Zito the reasonable value of his ideas, hire him to work on the series and afford him screen credit as creator," the lawsuit alleged. "Defendants breached an implied-in-fact contract with defendant." VIDEO: 'Sons of Anarchy': Ron Perlman Says Season 4 Was a Challenge At the time, Sutter took to his twitter account to blast the lawsuit, saying: "HAVING THE F***ING IDEA IS NOT THE SHOW. THERE HAVE BEEN DOZENS OF OUTLAW MOTORCYCLE TV DRAMAS PITCHED IN THE LAST TEN YEARS. NONE OF THEM HAS MADE IT TO SERIES, EXCEPT SOA. BECAUSE THEY SUCKED." STORY: 'Sons of Anarchy' Creator Kurt Sutter on Season 4's Bold Finale and Season 5 Plans Today a Los Angeles Superior Court judge agreed, ruling on summary judgment that Sons was independently created and Zito doesn't have a case. The judge relied on declarations submitted by Sutter, Landgraf and talent agent Matt Solo (now with WME), among others, showing Sutter's development process and the fact that Sons was pitched to several networks, including HBO and AMC, before arriving at FX, which bought the project in a bidding war. The judge saw no reason for the case to continue past the summary judgment phase. We've reached out to Zito's attorneys for comment. FX is represented by Scott Edelman at LA's Gibson Dunn firm and Rick Stone at Jenner & Block. Email: Matthew.Belloni@thr.com Twitter: @THRMattBelloni PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery 'Sons of Anarchy' Red Carpet Premiere

Hammond: From Tinker Tailor To Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt, Oscar Talk Is Everywhere

‘Tis the season. Studios and distributors are pulling out all the stops tobring attention to their big awards contenders.The drumbeat has been so loudsince Thanksgiving that it’snot uncommon to be invited to 4 or 5 sceenings, parties, events, and Q&As in a single night. I get the feeling everyone ispushing a lot harder this year than ever beforebecause of relaxed pre-nomination Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences rules and the feeling that the race is wide open.And with ballots due bySunday for LA Film Critics, Critics Choice, and Golden Globe awards,AFI Top 10, and others, the crush washeavy this week. Witness Focus Features’push for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Gary Oldman and cast including Colin Firthand key crewhave been in town doing one screening after another to packed Industry crowds for the likes of SAG, BAFTA, DGA guild awards. A post-premiere party Tuesday night drew swarms of Academy members while Oldman and company held court.At a Sundaycocktail party attended by members of the Los Angeles Film Critics, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and other groups, I ran into the film’s directorTomas Alfredson (Let The Right One In) who is new to the Hollywood awards scene but doesn’t seem fazed by it. When I asked if he was upset by his very British film’s inexplicableloss to the lower profile minor film Tyrannosaur at that day’s eccentricBritish Independent Film Awards, he said, “I don’t think they consider Working Title and Universal too independent.”Still, how a movie on the level ofTinker Tailor could lose to a dreary thing like Tyrannosaur is one of the quirks of critics awards. In fact theTinker Tailor contingent is pretty thrilledabout their ownreviews and current 86% fresh score at Rotten Tomatoes plus the industry reaction.At a KCET/American Cinematheque post-screening Q&A Saturday, Oldman was presented witha career achievement Lumiere award. The actoris known forportrayingfar less restrainedcharacters. But hetold me playing George Smiley and walking in Alec Guiness’footsteps was a career highlight and he is hoping to do another turn based on John LeCarre’s Smiley’s People. Tinker Tailor opens in the U.S. today so box officeand perhaps awards attention may figure in that decision to go forward with another Smiley project. Angelina Jolie also has been busy promoting her writing and directorial debut, the Bosnian war drama In The Land of Blood and Honey which is getting attention from news shows likeNightline, 60 Minutes, and This Week With Christiane Amanpour. Jolie uses a virtually unknown cast of local actors and shot the film in both English and the native Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian language – but it is releasing in the latter, complete with English subtitles. At least for now.Thursday night’s Los Angeles premiere party at Boulevard 3 swarming withwell-wishers, Jolietold meshe wanted the pic to betrue to the events that happened and did what was best for the film. An HFPA officer in charge ofeligibilityfor the Golden Globes confirmed to me that Jolie’smovie will be considered for their Best Foreign Language Film prize. In fact, if you did not know who directed this movie, you might think it is the work of a great European auteur.It is not eligible, however,for the AcademyAwards’ Foreign Languagecategory due to more complicated rules. It is, of course, eligible in regular categories for the Oscars. One ofthe manyoffering congratulations was former Presidential candidate General Wesley Clark who introducedJolie to his son, a budding filmmaker himself. Clark told me he thought the movie, about a war he knew very well, was just “incredible”. That’s the exact word Jolie’s proudfather, Jon Voight, also used to describeher uncompromisingfilm which opens on December 23rd. GK Films and Film Districttoppers Graham King and Peter Schlessel also weresinging the star’s praises. I suggested to King that he personally could be nominated in an unprecented 3 picture categories when next week’s Golden Globe nominations are unveiled: Best Picture Drama for Hugo, Best Animated Feature for Rango, and Best Foreign Language Film for In The Land Of Blood And Honey. “Iwould be happy just to get one,” he said with a smile. Meanwhile, in another corner of the room stoodBrad Pitt, who could nab a couple of those nominations for himself for Moneyball and The Tree of Life. Pittseemed alternately fascinated and amused as wetalked aboutthe whole circus and strategiesof awards season.He couldn’t believe guys like me cover this thingyearround now. (“You should write a book in a few years,”he laughed.)He told me hewas very happy about his Best Actor award from the NY Film Critics and also very proud of Jolie’s movie. The Academy’s relaxed rules mean the food and wine are flowing at these screening/party events. And Academy members I have seen on the circuit seem to be enjoying it more with studios sending out the invites directly to them for the first time. There are Q&As everywhere and, for the likes of The Iron Lady’s Meryl Streep and War Horse’s Steven Spielberg in just past week, they arewebcast live around the world, too, to give studios the biggest bang for their campaign bucks. So far no webcasts of thenumerous parties aimed at attracting voters: like the post-screening fete for Drive Wednesdayat the Andaz Hotel on the Sunset Strip that drew Supporting Actor hopeful Albert Brooks and Cannes-winning director Nicolas Winding Refn among others. Earlier that night there was a packedreception at Spagofor the Chinese Foreign Language entry, The Flowers of War that had Academy and HFPA members mingling withdirector Zhang Yimou and stars Christian Bale and Ni Ni just before all of them had to catch a plane for the movie’s world premiere in Beijing. Some of those attendees then headed over to ICM for a special screening event of Cuba’s entry Habanasation hosted by Michael Moore which drew Sean Penn among others to offer support. Meanwhile, Warner Bros was showing off its late-inning release, Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, at an industry screening and reception at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, similar to an event they did for J. Edgar there a few weeks earlier. Not to be outdone, Dreamworks did their industry screening of War Horse the night before at the Academy. And all of this is just a small sample of goings on out on the circuit all week. This non-stop awards train is enough to drive you insane this time of year.

Globe nods have boosted film B.O.

It ain't like with the Oscars, but a Golden Globes win (or even nomination) still can boost a film's box office potential.Most often the biggest beneficiaries come from the specialty market, especially pics in the musical or comedy category, where the Globes rep their best shot at kudos glory.Last year, Sony Pictures Classics' comedy "Barney's Version," which won acting honors for Paul Giamatti, saw considerable expansion in the weeks following the Globes ceremony. The film grossed $7.5 million Stateside and wound up playing in a few hundred locations through the Oscars, even though it scored just one nomination (best makeup) with the Academy.Fox Searchlight's 2009 specialty B.O. hit "Crazy Heart" nabbed two trophies at the Globes, including a win for Jeff Bridges. The studio added just 46 locations the weekend following the ceremony, but that weekend the pic saw a massive 109% uptick vs. the previous frame, earning more than $1 million for the first time in one weekend."Crazy Heart" went on to cume a stellar $39.5 million domestically -- primarily a result of its eventual winning Oscar run.Also in 2009, "Precious" had a significant push after winning the Globes award for supporting actress. The film had been in theaters for more than a month, with almost $40 million already in the till the weekend of the Globes. But Lionsgate decided to capitalize on Mo'Nique's supporting actress win by expanding "Precious" the following Friday to its widest location count. Pic grossed in total $47.6 million.Indies aren't the only films to see B.O. boosts from the Globes, however.Paramount timed its nationwide expansion of "The Fighter" to benefit from possible Globes recognition in 2010. The film went out at more than 2,000 locations on Dec. 17, just three days after the film received six nominations, including drama picture.As a result, "The Fighter" scored more than $12 million that weekend, during which the film faced heavyweight studio entries like "Tron: Legacy" and "Yogi Bear."But like with most major awards groups, the Globes sometimes doesn't provide much B.O. benefit, as some nominees or winners already have been released on homevideo.Such was the case last year with both Globes pic winners, Sony's "The Social Network" and Focus Features' "The Kids Are All Right." In fact, both films hit DVD shelves just the week before Globes noms were announced. ("Social Network" received six bids and won four; "Kids" scored four noms, winning two.)"Social Network," which cumed a solid $97 million, lost almost 800 playdates of its total 1,088 count the Friday following the Globes ceremony, while "Kids" -- 2010's best specialty player with $20 million -- had exited theaters by mid-October, after having first launched in early July.Even though the Globes isn't the Oscars when it comes to B.O. traction, the former kudos org certainly has the potential to kickstart a golden B.O. run.GOLDEN GLOBE UPDATE Nixing the hijinx jinx | Contemporary directors: Stylists or shape-shifters? | Stateside sitcoms mixed overseas | Awards aren't goal of HFPA giving | TV biz buys into backseat Globes role | Memorable moments at the Globes Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com