FAQ

Apparently Candice Bergen made two statements during filming that would probably have upset Steve McQueen if he ever heard about them. In one she was supposedly critical of the entire cast, in the other it was a claim about what the men going wild when not working. If she did say such things it may have been out of frustration as she was pretty much left on her own when not filming, although McQueen did invite her to dinner with his wife while on location. At one location they were restricted to a hotel when not filming. Once they returned to the states Candice's comments were all favorable with admiration for everyone involved. The film was expected to take nine weeks, but ended up requiring seven months and Robert Wise said it was the most difficult movie he was ever involved with. There were the delays, like when the ship had to wait for high water to advance up a river, only to be followed by three more weeks of rainy weather. One aspect of McQueen was he was demanding on many projects and was quick to anger so he would avoid a person if possible, or simply refuse to talk to them, which he did with Wise for a few days - he would listen, perform, but refused to say a word. Wise even shot scenes twice, one being what he wanted, the other what McQueen wanted, until McQueen realized Wise's scenes were superior (none of McQueen's were used.) It was also filmed at a time when a racing film (Grand Prix) starring James Garner was released, and having wanted the role before refusing to do the film, witnesses spoke of McQueen's anger and Garner later mentioned a period when he was being ignored after the film was released. Of course McQueen later had his own with Le Mans. It's possible that having cast approval for later movies was similar to demanding additional scenes and dialogue for his character in The Great Escape, which turned out well for the completed film. Unless new evidence is found, my guess is we'll never know if his remark to Johnny Carson was based on hostility to an individual or merely his desire to control as many aspects of his career as possible (I favor it being the need for control.)