Sometime ago I wrote a post about the special bond Audrey Hepburn shared with a little deer. Now, for Page's Horseathon, I decided to investigate a bit more about The Unforgiven (1960) and the serious accident Audrey --29 years old at the time-- had while riding a horse for the movie.
This process taught me basically two awesome things:
a) The Unforgiven is a good movie: I always remind it as one of the weakest films from Audrey, but it's a fine (and her only) western. I know even John Huston, the director, named it as his least favorite film, but I completely changed my mind after this second screening. And my parents loved it.
b) Audrey was gracious and brave even in the worst moments in her life: we all know what a kind human being was she, and I love the fact that I've never found anything mean coming from her. On the contrary, all the details in this story are inspiring.
I'm gonna tell the events based on the stories that appeared in different newspapers at the time.
THE MOVIE
Reluctantly directed by John Huston, based on a novel by Alan LeMay, starring Burt Lancaster (who also co-produced), Audrey Hepburn and Lillian Gish, The Unforgiven tells the story of a frontier family, the Zacharys. They have to deal with a suddenly unfolded secret: the adopted girl (Audrey) was a survivor of a Kiowa tribe massacre. It shows how racist people can be and how vulnerable are affections when such matters arise.
The movie was filmed in Durango, Mexico. The place, as described by St. Petersburg Times in 1959:
"The site is ideal, except that occasional winds sometimes carry the sounds from the home radios, miles across the bowl-like valley. These sounds interfere with the film shooting. Producer James Hill therefore purchased a series of time spots on the local station XEDU, guaranteeing two hours of daily silence during which Huston directs Lancaster and Miss Hepburn in the tender love scenes"
And indeed the movie has great sequences in desertic lands, especially one on which Burt Lancaster and one of his brothers are looking for a mysterious man during a sand storm. Even when the portrayal of Native Americans is not very accurate, the confrontation scenes are exciting and memorable. For example, I really like the moment in which, during a tense recess of the fight, the natives start playing their magic music and Burt makes Lillian play their piano. This is more than guns and arrows, this is a cultural clash.
For a stampede scene, Huston requested 2000 head of cattle, coming from different parts of Mexico. The Southeast Missourian informed that the stampede - that occurs over the top of the family's cabin- left no injury to one head of cattle, despite the fact that some of them caved in through the roof of the house.
But the crew didn't have the same luck. Three people were killed in a plane crash and another person almost drown.
But the crew didn't have the same luck. Three people were killed in a plane crash and another person almost drown.
Sadly, serious complications were going to keep happening.
THE HORSE
In the film, Audrey owns a beautiful horse, Guipago. Mel Ferrer, Audrey's husband at the time, described the animal this way:
"It's a good horse. It's a beautiful little Arabian stud that got out of Cuba just ahead of Batista"
According to the Schenectady Gazette, the stallion's real name was Diablo, which means devil in Spanish. The horse has three important scenes: at the beginning Audrey Hepburn rides it through the lands, jumping a fence, and meeting a mysterious man that comes from far away to tell the secret. Then, she rides it to meet Burt Lancaster, her ""brother"". Later, the animal is stolen by the mysterious man and ridden to escape from the Zacharys.
While filming the movie, Audrey insisted in riding it herself and that was a brave decision: she had developed a fear at the age of 11 after a horse threw her. Ernest Anderson, spokesman for the film's producer told the Sarasota Journal:
"She had conquered her fear of horses, and she insisted on doing it despite the fact that we had a double to do all the riding scenes for her"
Mel Ferrer later explained that:
"Audrey had an accident on a horse when she was 11. She broke her collarbone. When we were living in Rome making War and Peace I got her to ride again and she got completely over her fear"
But she was going to relive that experience. And this time it would be worse: she was several months pregnant.
THE ACCIDENT
On Wednesday, January 28, 1959, Audrey was galloping the Arabian stallion along a river bank. Because a camera trouble developed, someone yelled "Cut!". The horse stopped abruptly and Audrey pitched over its head onto hard ground. Ernest Anderson, the spokesman, said she seemed to bounce two or three times and landed on her back. She was unconscious for five minutes and doctors wouldn't permit her to be moved for two hours.
The media all over the world started to inform about the accident. There are different versions of the injuries Audrey had, because there were many exams. The first information was that she suffered two fractured vertebrae; then, they informed that she had fractured four bones in her back, and described the injuries as "severe" and "painful". Doctors said she was unable to rest, sleep or eat.
Her personal doctor, Howard Mendelson, was called to check her and was accompanied by Mel Ferrer. A few days later, Audrey flew back to to their Beverly Hills home on an ambulance plane. The Miami News added that Audrey had a special nurse: Sister Luke, the religious woman she portrayed (and met) in The Nun's Story decided to take of her in Los Angeles.
The filming of the movie was postponed a month, until March 6.
JUST BEING AUDREY
There are so many details that show what a great person she was, that I'm dedicating a whole section to this point. Here we go:
- The Evening Independent reported that the first thing she said when she recovered consciousness after the fall was "What did I do wrong?".
- Her doctor said she seemed to be worried about others members of the cast and technicians (because of the cancellation of the shooting).
- She kept saying she was "perfectly all right". But Mel Ferrer noted "She's in pain every minute. She won't say it and won't admit it".
- She never blamed the horse or the crew:
"It wasn't the horse's fault. I was riding bareback and had nothing to hang onto except his mane - not even a bridle" she explained. She also said she had "fallen in love with the horse".
- She always maintained her high spirits: besides always assuring she was fine and that it only hurt when she laughed ("So don't say anything funny!"), she was kind with the people around and the press. She waved and smiled from her stretcher; vowed that she was going to ride the horse again (but she couldn't because of insurance regulations) and even sent a note to the Casa Blanca Hotel, the Mexican place where she gathered with the other actors:
THE MISCARRIAGE
And just as scheduled, the filming started again in March. Audrey had started taking her first steps two weeks after the accident and was almost recovered.
Sadly, on May 28, shortly after shooting was completed, Mel Ferrer told the press in Switzerland --where they had moved-- that Audrey had suffered a miscarriage and was confined to bed. There had been reports on the subject two weeks before that date and Mel confirmed them:
"I regret it is true. Audrey has been in the hospital and came home last Friday"The doctors ordered the actress to stay quiet for another two months. The accident she had in Durango was always cited as the cause of the miscarriage. Audrey was devastated and blamed herself.
SEAN
But before 1959 ended, Mel and Audrey were happy to announce they were expecting a child. The couple decided to take all the possible measures so everything went fine. Audrey gave up her film work until after the child's birth on the advice of a physician.
Sean Hepburn Ferrer was born on July 17, 1960.
"I'm sure it's wonderful to have a baby the first year you are married. But when you want a baby so much and wait years...then lose a child....the joy is impossible to describe when one does arrive" Audrey would say years later.
With that happy note, I end this story about Audrey, Guipago and The Unforgiven. Be sure to check the other posts written for this Horseathon over My Love of Old Hollywood.
