Line #7 Trivia/BeingThere


1	* BannedInChina: Because it was potentially offensive to Christians, the original South African cut dropped the final scene.
2	* CaliforniaDoubling: While the film is set in Washington, DC and there are outdoor scenes filmed on location there, the interior scenes for the Old Man's house were shot in Pasadena, while the Rand mansion is played by the massive [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biltmore_Estate Biltmore Estate]] in Asheville, North Carolina.
3	* CompletelyDifferentTitle:
4	** Because the title doesn't translate well, non-English-speaking territories changed it, usually into a ProtagonistTitle. ''Chance the Gardener'' was probably the most popular of these, but there were others: ''Bienvenue Mister Chance'' (French) and ''Chance'' (Japanese; also a DoubleMeaningTitle); ''In The Garden'' was utilized in some South American countries. Italy used ''Oltre il giardino'', or "Beyond the Garden".
5	** On the other hand Poland's translators have opted for what roughly translates to ''It's Enough To Be'', Czechoslovakia has gone with ''I Was There'', and Russia decided to go with literal translation of title, so in Slavic territories it was partially averted.
6	* {{Corpsing}}: The outtakes in the closing credits include several attempts to film the X-ray scene with Peter Sellers unable to speak his lines without bursting out laughing, made worse by the fact that the absurd questions had to be given with a deadpan, flat delivery by the character
7	* CreativeDifferences: Even though he's credited as the sole screenwriter, Jerzy Kosinski had almost no involvement with the film, since he and Creator/HalAshby had a different vision for the story, and Kosinski was busy with other work. Kosinski submitted a screenplay draft, but it wound up being largely rewritten by Ashby associate Robert C. Jones. The shooting script credited Kosinski and Jones, but Kosinski appealed to the Writers Guild for a full credit on the finished film and got it.
8	* CreatorsFavorite: Peter Sellers went on record multiple times before his death declaring Chance the Gardener as his favorite role.
9	* DyeingForYourArt: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with.]] Creator/PeterSellers let his gray hair show, unlike in most of his later films, but he did have it cut. Creator/PeterSellers also gained weight to play Chance despite chronic and worsening heart problems -- and he hated how he looked this way -- solely because he thought Chance would be overweight given his sedentary lifestyle. He lost the weight as fast as he could after filming, which may or may not have been a contributing factor to his death.
10	* FakeAmerican: Creator/PeterSellers, a Brit, as Chance. In the film, Chance lives in Washington, D.C., but Sellers intentionally plays him without any kind of specific regional dialect/accent as per a description in the book. To pull this off, Sellers took (British) Stan Laurel's voice and gave it a generic "American" accent. Sellers was a huge fan of Creator/LaurelAndHardy and openly admitted to using Laurel's screen persona to inform his performance as Chance, which makes this a big ShoutOut of sorts.
11	* FakeRussian: Creator/RichardBasehart, an American, as the Russian ambassador.
12	* MethodActing: According to Creator/ShirleyMacLaine, "(Peter) believed he was Chauncey. He never had lunch with me... He was Chauncey Gardiner the whole shoot, but believing he was having a love affair with me."
13	* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/PeterSellers had such range that saying he had one type isn't accurate, but audiences knew him best as LargeHam FunnyForeigner [[Franchise/ThePinkPanther Inspector Jacques Clouseau]] by 1979 due to the role dominating his career comeback. This ''much'' more serene character and story certainly was a change of pace.
14	* RealitySubtext: Creator/PeterSellers never hid his motivations for wanting to play Chance. He even had business cards made up with Chance's name in place of his own, and was known to occasionally confuse people by suddenly assuming Chance's persona -- and this was ''before'' the film was greenlit.
15	* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: It took a long time getting the rights from Kosinski (he wanted to make a film version on his own; he did co-write the film that was made), as well as getting financial backing.
16	* TechnologyMarchesOn: That complex speech-to-text computer that Ben Rand uses to dictate his will. It was still a highly experimental technology in 1979, and only an extremely wealthy man like Ben would've been able to afford it for his private use. Now anyone can use it on a phone.
17	* WhatCouldHaveBeen
18	** Solely because of the "I like to watch" scene, Creator/LaurenceOlivier turned down the role of Ben Rand, the role which Creator/MelvynDouglas won a Supporting Actor Oscar for. Creator/BurtLancaster was also considered for the part.
19	** At one point in the mid-'70s, it was announced that Creator/GoreVidal was going to write the screenplay.
20	** The filming script's ending was significantly different than what was ultimately conceived and used. [[spoiler: Eve follows Chance after he wanders away and they head back together. He leaves his umbrella behind to shield a small tree -- that would have been the highly symbolic final shot.]] This ending ''was'' shot, and [[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078841/mediaviewer/rm1042979329/ a publicity still from the press kit]] was drawn from it, but the actual scene didn't surface until the 2009 Blu-Ray disc.
21	* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: The ending came about because of a comment that Creator/HalAshby made to a friend about how impressive Peter Sellers was in his performance and his willingness to try new things: [[spoiler:"I could have this guy walking on water at the end of the film!"]]

Context Trivia / BeingThere