Top 10 Classic Hollywood Sets Where Everything Went Wrong

#10: The African Queen (1951)

Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart co-starred in this adventure film about a mismatched pair sailing up a river in Africa. Back in the old days, if a movie was set in the wilderness, it was usually shot on a set dressed up to look like the wilderness. The African Queen was a novel production. They shot on location in Uganda and what is now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This proved to be problematic for a lot of reasons. Many members of the production got sick with malaria. During one scene, Hepburn had to keep a bucket off-screen in case she got sick mid-take. Meanwhile, native insects wreaked havoc, and the title ship even capsized in the mud.

#9: Cleopatra (1963)

Few movies ever had as big a budget and as many problems as this Elizabeth Taylor vehicle. It took over two years to film Cleopatra. In that time, the script was constantly rewritten, the first director, Rouben Mamoulian, left the project after going way over budget, and Taylors illnesses held up production in Rome. Her on-set affair with co-star Richard Burton brought even more press attention to the troubled production. Even after it was shot, the movie went through so many edits and was so long that 20th Century Fox stepped in. The studio tried to have director Joseph L. Mankiewicz removed from the project, too. Cleopatra became the highest-grossing film of 1963, and still almost bankrupted the studio.

#8: Jaws (1975)

Steven Spielbergs creature feature was the first Hollywood movie shot on the ocean. Maybe there was a reason. The first problem was the shark animatronic, nicknamed Bruce, kept breaking down. This ended up being a happy accident. Spielberg couldnt use many shots of the shark because of these issues. So, the horror of the creature is only caught in tantalizing glimpses that make the movie even scarier. Tension between the actors and the crew heightened the sense of claustrophobia. Spielberg actually left the set while the last shot was captured, as he was afraid the crew would throw him in the water in revenge for such a rough shoot.

#7: The Exorcist (1973)

Some of the events that occurred while shooting this groundbreaking horror blockbuster have led many to believe it was haunted. For example, several deaths happened while the film was being shot. The entire set burned down one night, with only the pivotal bedroom set left standing. Other crazy happenings had more earthbound explanations. The bedroom set was refrigerated to get the effect of actors visible breaths, making the shoot uncomfortable. Director William Friedkin was a renegade. He was known to shoot guns or even hit actors to get what he felt were the proper reactions out of them. One scene saw him directing a stunt coordinator to yank actress Ellen Burstyn off her feet, severely injuring her back.

#6: Apocalypse Now (1979)

From animal cruelty violations to heart attacks, the filming of Francis Ford Coppolas masterpiece has gone down in history as an all-time chaotic set. The directors approach to making the movie can only be described as zealous. Every time a setback would occur, he simply pushed through, expecting his cast and crew to push through as well. As a result, the shoot was notorious for going over time and budget. Actor Martin Sheen replaced Harvey Keitel after a few days of shooting in the Philippines. Sheen later had a heart attack after filming his characters demanding breakdown scene.

#5: Gone with the Wind (1939)

MGM poured nearly $4 million into bringing Margaret Mitchells Civil War epic to the screen. At least three directors worked on the movie. After disagreements with producer David O. Selznick and star Clark Gable, director George Cukor was replaced by Victor Fleming. Meanwhile, cinematographer Lee Garmes was replaced by Ernest Haller. The scene where Atlanta is set on fire required precise stunt work, and few chances to get it right, as once the set was burned, it couldnt very well be rebuilt for another take. It was a grueling shoot, and many of the actors didnt want to be in it. Despite its success, there were times when Gone with the Wind seemed like Hollywoods biggest white whale.

#4: Noahs Ark (1928)

Before stronger regulations on movie stunts, movie sets sometimes looked like a free-for-all. Over a decade before he directed the classic Hollywood masterpiece Casablanca, Michael Curtiz was the demanding and negligent director of this late, partially-silent epic. Instead of hiring stunt people, Curtiz cast thousands of regular actors and even some animals in the Great Flood scene, which sees thousands of gallons of water unleashed on them. The chaos you see on screen is very real. Though its said that some of the actors actually died, the confirmed facts are that dozens of ambulances had to be called to the scene to care for the wounded.

#3: Hells Angels (1930)

Howard Hughes is remembered most for his wealth, eccentricity, and fondness for outrageous stunts. His directorial debut was well-regarded, but its innovative sequences came at a great cost. With the early sound film Hells Angels, he sought to recreate the violence and mayhem of a real dogfight. The only way to do that was through actual violence and mayhem. Full of dangerous aerial stunts, there were several crashes during the production. In fact, multiple people died while making it. But Hughes wasnt just calling the shots from the ground. He was one of the pilots and ended up in a near-fatal accident of his own.

#2: Ben-Hur (1959)

This midcentury epic didnt just inherit the same story as the 1925 silent film. It also inherited its problems. The original Ben-Hur saw the deaths of several horses during its climactic chariot race. The 1959 remake was a troubled production from the start. It was extensively rewritten as the shoot began. The chariot race action sequence took a year to plan and execute. Urban legends still exist that a man died during the scene. What we do know is that the race was incredibly dangerous despite all the planning. At the end of it all, there was over a million feet of film and a legendary behind-the-scenes story to show for it.

#1: The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Where do we even start with this one? The days on The Wizard of Oz were grueling, with an overheated and exhausted cast and crew working 16-hour days to make movie magic. At least two actors suffered debilitating, near-fatal injuries. Buddy Ebsen, the original actor who played the Tin Man, had to quit the film after a toxic reaction to the makeup for his character. A fire stunt gone wrong almost melted Wicked Witch actress Margaret Hamiltons face. Judy Garlands time was not much better. If she wasnt being plied with pills by the studio, the director, Victor Fleming, was abusive between takes. He even slapped the star at one point.

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