Off The Record
No One Noticed These Bloopers In The Iconic Pretty Woman
One of those films that I can watch over and over again is Pretty Woman; it never grows old or dull.
However, given how many times I’ve seen it, I find it quite strange that I haven’t seen these errors and blunders that provide a distinct perspective on the movie.
Disney changed everything
The romantic comedy Pretty Woman captured the hearts of millions and made Richard Gere and Julia Roberts famous.
However, that was not the intended outcome. J.F. Lawton, a struggling screenwriter at the time, wrote the initial script, which was named 3,000. Much darker topics of corporate greed and societal inequality were addressed in the early text.
However, when Disney came over, everything was different. Class and sex labor in Los Angeles were elements that the firm wished to minimize. Rather, Disney made it more of a romantic comedy and gave it a big budget.
Al Pacino turned down the lead role
Richard Gere’s portrayal of Edward Lewis, the ultra-wealthy New York businessman who employs Vivian (Julia Roberts) to be his escort for a week, is the only actor I can imagine playing the part.
Al Pacino was first in the running for the part of Lewis in Pretty Woman, but the casting process took longer than anticipated. Before ultimately declining the role, the renowned actor even went so far as to participate in a casting reading with Julia Roberts.
Pacino never said why he turned down the part, despite liking the script. In retrospect, he has said that he admires Roberts, who was a little-known actress at the time.
“I mean, you could tell at the reading, this is going to be good, this is going to be a hit picture. You just knew it,” Pacino shared.
He went on to say, “And this girl was phenomenal. I mean, I said to Gary, ‘Where did you get this girl?’” (Gary being Gary Marshall, the film’s director). Pacino’s instincts were accurate, as Roberts’s exceptional performance would shape her career and the legacy of the film.
The croissant becomes a pancake
You might not have seen this amusing small touch in the scene where Richard Gere’s character wants breakfast to be brought to the room. Vivian is shown eating a croissant and conversing with Edward at the beginning.
However, the croissant magically changes into a pancake in an instant.
How did that occur? Director Garry Marshall said that they saved the video because he liked Roberts’ portrayal in the later takes when she was eating a pancake rather than a croissant.
But this led to a problem with continuity. Vivian takes a second bite of the pancake in the first frame, but just one bite is missing from the pancake in the second shot, and the biting pattern is clearly different.
Obviously, it’s a different pancake!
Truth behind the iconic dress
The typical moviegoer may not notice the meticulous attention to outfit design. But whether you’re a fashionista or not, you can’t help but notice the movie’s famous red dress worn by Julia Roberts’ character.
In a “transformative” scene in the movie where Roberts’ character goes to the opera with her Edward Lewis, the red dress represents Vivan’s metamorphosis and empowerment.
Vogue described the dress as ”eye-catching, incredibly sexy without losing an ounce of elegance.” The genius behind that stunning dress? None other than the award-winning costume designer Marilyn Vance.
She was the inspiration behind Richard Gere’s stylish looks and created six amazing ensembles for Julia Roberts’ Vivian Ward.
Consider Roberts’ adorable attire with brown and white polka dots that she wore to the horse racing. Talk about recycling in style! That little gem was made from ancient silk that was discovered in a little Los Angeles antique fabric store! And those stylish shoes? Yes, Chanel made these.
Richard Gere’s tie
The suits that Gere wore were all created by Vance and included brown, navy, and blue-gray hues, making it a masterwork of color coordination.
What about the well-known tie that Roberts stole from a storeperson? Vance claimed that it was “nothing special” and most definitely not designer.
She paid a cool $48 for it at a store in Los Angeles.
Throughout the movie, the tie appears multiple times, and if you pay great attention, you may see that it occasionally changes knots in an enigmatic manner.
Edward wears a straight-collar shirt and the half-Windsor knotted tie that Vivian gave him during the polo match. However, a later scene reveals a minor change: the tie is now in a full-Windsor knot, and Edward’s collar has mysteriously changed into a spread style.
‘Obscene’ shopping spree
Richard Gere takes Julia Roberts’ character on a crazy shopping spree down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills to introduce her to the glitzy world of the wealthy.
That shopping excursion in the afternoon? Designer Marilyn Vance said it would have cost Gere’s character at least $30,000.
What a supercharged retail therapy session! Vivian was in a trance, which makes sense given that they appeared to be using Monopoly money to shop.
The ruby-and-diamond necklace was real
The heart-shaped necklace made of diamonds and rubies that Julia Roberts wore with her gorgeous red ball gown was worth an incredible quarter million dollars. Yes, you heard correctly.
Movie trivia websites claim that this ruby-and-diamond marvel was authentic. Actually, the jewelry business that made this ostentatious necklace employed an armed security guard to stand watchfully behind the director while filming.
The jewelry box scene was a practical joke
In addition to being one of the most romantic and memorable scenes in film history, the scene in which Richard Gere gives Julia Roberts the expensive necklace also has a humorous backstory.
It started off as a lighthearted joke for the gag reel in the movie.
As you may remember, Julia Roberts’ fingertips cause the jewelry box to snap shut, evoking one of the most sincere and endearing chuckles ever seen on camera.
Director Garry Marshall gave the true backstory of the sequence, explaining why he and Gere chose to deceive the young girl.
Marshall claims that after a late night out, Roberts, who was only 23 at the time, would occasionally show up on set a little drowsy.
“I said, ‘Richard, you gotta wake her up a little, so when she reaches for the box, slam it.’ It was a soft box. I would never hurt her,” Marshall explained.
It wasn’t until the final stages of editing that they chose to keep the scene in the movie. “We put it in, and it became like the trademark of the movie,” Marshall said.
Suddenly, an unplanned joke became a work of cinematic genius.
Edward’s disappearing shoes
As we previously discussed, Pretty Woman contains a few errors that are difficult to see on first watching, but some astute viewers have nevertheless pointed them out.
For instance, Vivian removes Edward’s shoes as they leave the opera and make their way to the park. But the shoes magically return as he starts to lie down.
Money in the boot
Speaking of items on (or in) your feet, you may have overlooked the small mystery surrounding Vivian’s footwear.
She immediately tucks the $100 Edward gives her in the penthouse inside her boot to keep it safe. However, the money has inexplicably vanished after the room service with champagne arrives and she removes her boots.
Is Vivian an expert at concealing things, or did the money just disappear? Perhaps the $100 decided it didn’t want to stay for the remainder of the movie, or maybe those boots have a hidden compartment.
Four colored condoms
Vivian presents Edward with a variety of vibrant condoms, demonstrating their independence.
With the exception of that elegant gold circle option, Vivian begins with four selections that are placed neatly. However, the order has magically shifted in the following shot.
Richard Gere didn’t like his character
Richard Gere has certainly benefited from the success of Pretty Woman—both in terms of his career and his bank account. But he hasn’t always been entirely positive about the film, especially when it comes to his character, Edward. At a film festival in Venice, Gere described Edward as “criminally underwritten.” He added, “Basically, he’s just a suit and a good haircut.”
Gere was particularly annoyed by a scene where Edward was playing the piano and Vivian was getting closer. Reflecting on it, Gere sarcastically remarked, “I mean, no chemistry. This actor and this actress obviously had no chemistry between them. I haven’t seen that in a long time. That’s a sexy scene.”
Director Garry Marshall came up with the idea for the scene after asking Gere what he usually does late at night in a hotel. Gere recalled, “And I said, ‘Well, I’m usually jet lagged; [that] would be the time I’m in a hotel. So I’m up all night and usually there’s a ballroom somewhere or a bar, and I’ll find a piano and I’ll play the piano.’” Marshall then suggested, “Well, let’s do something with that.”
So, the scene was essentially improvised, with Gere explaining: “He said, ‘Play something moody.’ I just started playing something moody that was this character’s interior life.”
In the third shot, they revert to the initial lineup in an equally enigmatic manner. Behind the scenes, the condoms appear to be performing a little dance routine of their own.
More than just onscreen lovers
The chemistry between Gere and Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman was undeniable, in my opinion. They developed a strong bond off-screen as well, so the sparks weren’t limited to when the cameras were rolling.
Gere revealed in 2017 that he still speaks with Roberts “all the time” and that they used to call “three or four times a day.”
In a good way, you could say it was love at first sight.
”Yeah, we loved each other immediately. So it was a nice thing,” Gere admitted.
The link between them was immediately apparent, even to filmmaker Garry Marshall.
He recounted a time during the first meeting when he left the performers alone to acquaint themselves while he went to the bathroom.
”I came out and saw the two of them at the end of a hall, just looking at each other,” Marshall said. ”And right there, I thought, look at that chemistry. They don’t know each other, and yet they’re doing great.”
Roberts convinced Gere to star in Pretty Woman
Despite the fact that Al Pacino nearly got the part, it appears Julia Roberts was adamant about having Richard Gere as her on-screen companion.
She essentially begged Richard Gere in a very sincere manner.
”He’s a very serious actor and he had very specific thoughts about the movie and the part and what worked and didn’t work for him,” she told SiriusXM in 2017.
”I think I just nodded and smiled a lot and agreed with everything he said. I said, ‘You have to do this movie, If you don’t do this movie and it falls apart and I lose this job, it’ll just be terrible.’”
And according to Richard Gere, this is how it all transpired:
“I still didn’t know if I was doing this movie. We’re getting to know each other; we’re flirty. nice, nice… She’s across the desk; she takes a piece of paper, and she’s writing something on it and she turns it around and pushes it to me. ‘Please say yes’”.
Things don’t always go according to plan, even in a romantic fairy tale. Perhaps that’s precisely what makes this film so charming—and why we keep returning year after year for another viewing.
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