Happy mistakes/accidents on film and TV.

I see what you did there.

 

Also in The Wanderers which takes place in the early 1960s, at the end when the guys leave the city, they go though the Holland Tunnel to the NJ Turnpike (ext.)
and pass this sign.
Nice try, but Liberty State Park didn't exist until 1976.

 

LOL...I'll bet there's more...all in all a fun movie.

 

reminds me of the bob newhart show opening where if bob really took all the trains etc in the shots he would've ended up somewhere else

 

If that was truly a goof on Martin’s part, he pulled off the scene with aplomb. Flawless. It made me laugh out loud!

 

The first example I thought of was Tatiana Maslany cutting herself when trying to break open a briefcase early into the first season of Orphan Black... Because the show was on such a tight schedule (partly due to the large number of characters she played), it was decided to hide her injury with inventive wardrobe choices, though a few shots remain where you can see the resulting damage. Incredibly, she carried on for quite a considerable amount of time after without breaking character.

Another "happy accident" that comes to mind is when Takeshi Kitano slipped during a rainy outdoor scene in the first Battle Royale - he checks the floor behind him, yet continues with the take like an absolute pro!

 

I think it's a real goof and he just handled it like a pro.

Goldie gives a little smirk and kinda looks at the camera after it happens, like she's waiting for the director to call "cut"!

 

IMDB cites the goof as Martin’s feet hitting the table instead of the actual stumble and fall. I choose to believe the whole thing is a goof as I’m still chuckling over it.

 

Doesn't really make sense that such a minor part of the bit would be viewed as a goof . Who cares if his feet hit the table?

We'll probably never know for sure, but I'm in the camp that views the whole thing as a probable goof, and I really do think Goldie's reaction adds credence to that belief...

 

Has anyone associated with the film ever said this was a mistake? You guys think Steve accidentally stumbled, but was able to recover by executing a complex pratfall over a couch with no practice or rehearsal? And he was able to time this unrehearsed bit so perfectly that he ended up on his feet in the exact spot he needed to be, at the very moment he needed to speak his next line? And that this accident (by complete coincidence) fortuitously adds to the joke about him not being familiar with the new furniture? And most improbably of all, that Frank Oz had just happened to set up that wide shot of the room so that Steve's accidental fall ended up front and center and fully captured on film? All that seems pretty unlikely to me.

 

Great bit, but a minor continuity error 20 seconds later.

 

I think martin maybe planned some sort of pratfall but it did seem awkward and kind of off (and steve is usually very graceful) and he clanked the table, maybe why goldie glanced at the camera.

 

I've always wondered whether the "Mr. McGregor... ehr... Mr. Dahlberg" line that Redford speaks at 6:40 in this clip was intentional or not. It adds to the sense of tension a neophyte reporter would experience coming across an unexpected revelation, so if it was unintentional on Redford's part and they left it in, is sure works.

 

I agree. The whole new furniture line seems to set up the fall. As I said, the ‘goof’ was supposedly that his feet hit the table. Goldie does smirk at the camera which makes me think he may have botched the fall several times before and they just used this take.

Certainly makes the scene much less funny knowing it wasn’t a gaffe.

 

I just watched the clip again a few times. Watching closely, it appears to me his feet do not even hit the table. The loud clanking noise begins while his feet are in their downward arc and still a few inches away from the table, so it must have been deliberately added by the foley artist. I don't think there's any mistake in this shot. If the noise had been a mistake, they would have removed it in post-production.

 

no the clanking sound occurs when his left hand hits the table, watch it again, it matches up. the blocking is def set up for a pratfall or something with the furniture but I think it went sideways and they kept it in (who knew housesitter would be movie we'd need more answers for )

 

Aha, you are right that his hand hits the table, since the ashtray jumps at that point. I still think it's a foley sound though, since the clank sounds jangly and almost metallic and there's nothing metal being jostled on the table. And I'm sure that if the noise was a mistake and/or unwanted, it would have been easy to remove it in post-production. Either that, or they would have done a retake. It's a big-budget major studio movie, so there's no reason they would have felt they had to use a take with a mistake in it.

 

Not familiar with this?

 

theres something behind the ashtray, maybe keys? my theory, steve was supposed to do a pratfall and mistimed it, swung over and clanked the table but still nailed his line, they might've tried other takes but this one worked too well (happy accident!)

 

I never thought about it but you may be right. I think the "is there any place you don't smoke" might've been an adlib, I think I read that somewhere. ps great flick

 

I still think that if Martin had caused the clanking noise and they didn't want it in there, it would have been easy to remove. Since it wasn't removed and doesn't interfere with any lines, it seems the most likely scenario is that they wanted it there. Why wouldn't they remove the noise if it was perceived as a mistake? And why would it be perceived as a mistake anyway? You'd kind of expect someone falling like that to make some noise. I still think the noise was most likely foleyed in.

Generally, it seems to me that if we don't have any evidence something in a big budget major studio film is a mistake, it probably isn't.

 

when it starts "snowing", Lahr ad libbed "funny weather we're having, ain't it?" (that's not the exact words). Script people were WTF, but everyone else thought it was purrfect.

 

Yes, its a mistake as in it wasn't planned but it worked so they kept it in. Robert Altman was big on the happy accidents, I cant think of any but im sure hes had a bunch

 

Why do you think it's a mistake, though? What evidence is there? To my knowledge no one associated with the film has ever said it was a mistake.

 

I hearby submit evidence
A steve is usually very graceful and this trip / fall looked very un-steve like. off balance, maybe mistimed. or maybe he was supposed to trip but not completely fall over
B when steve blurts out his line he looked almost shocked how well it turned out
C the clanking. my god , the clanking. if he was supposed to somersault over the sofa why have the table there loaded with loud potential clanking noises.
D .......why have a table there at all if steve was supposed to land inches away. watch the clip again, there is very little room for his feet to land in between the sofa and table
and the most damning of all
E Goldie the seasoned pro, who been around since Laugh In, couldn't help but grimace and look at the camera. no way goldie breaks the 4th wall unless a 'mistake' hs occurred.....I rest my case!