Trivia / Captain America (1990)

• Acting for Two:
  • Kim Gillingham plays both of Captain America's girlfriends: Bernice Stewart in 1943, and her daughter Sharon Cooperman in 1993.
  • Also, Scott Paulin (who plays the Red Skull) appears sans-makeup as the army doctor who treats Steve's gunshot wounds in the 40's.
• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $3 million. Box office, $10,173. Was pushed back from a 1990 release date and eventually into a Direct to Video slot.
• California Doubling: The entire film was shot in Yugoslavia to cut costs; so it doubles for Rome, Alaska, the United States, AND Canada.
• Deleted Role: Stan Lee had a cameo that was cut.
• Disowned Adaptation: In the documentary Marvel 75 Years: From Pulp to Pop!, it is mentioned that several staff members at Marvel were very disappointed with the movie, and felt that the 2011 film was a massive improvement.
• No Budget: The movie was produced on a budget of just $3 million.
• Playing Against Type: Ronny Cox, well known for his villainous Smug Snake roles, plays the good-guy President.
• Real-Life Relative: Ned Beatty's son, Thomas Beatty, plays the younger version of his character.
• Saved from Development Hell: Cannon purchased the rights to Captain America in 1984. Michael Winner was attached to direct a script by James Silke. However, in 1986 Winner scrapped the Silke script and recruited British television writer Stan Hey. According to Hey, this version involved a stolen Statue of Liberty plot by an elderly Red Skull, aided by a female death cult, and Steve Rogers working as an artist. Later, after some negative feedback for this version, Winner started over, working alongside Stan Lee and Lawrence Block, with an advertisement released with their names listed. By 1987 Winner was off the project and actor-director John Stockwell came aboard with a script by Stephen Tolkin.
• The Shelf of Movie Languishment: According to Albert Pyun, the film was shelved for two years because "it wasn't the movie the studio wanted, plus the producing studio was undergoing financial issues."
• Troubled Production: The studio's financial troubles meant the budget was slashed after filming had already started. The script was constantly be rewritten, sets had to be moved from Italy to Yugoslavia, several planned action and special effects sequences had to be scaled down or cut. In an interview with the publication Retro Junk, Ronny Cox said the original script "...remains to this day the finest script I have ever read... how those guys messed that film up, I will never know".
• Underage Casting: Scott Paulin was barely 40 when he played the Red Skull, who (in the present day of the early 1990s) would logically be in his mid to late 60s, though the makeup used to convey his plastic surgery does make him look older. Also doubles as Dawson Casting for his one scene in 1943, where the character would have been around 19.
• What Could Have Been:
  • When the movie was in production at Cannon, before the feud and split of Golan-Globus, Michael Winner was slated to direct. When he dropped out and Golan-Globus split, John Stockwell would direct before being replaced by final director Albert Pyun.
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dolph Lundgren were considered to play Cap. Arnie's accent cost him the role and Lundgren was busy filming The Punisher. Val Kilmer was also considered, but he was busy starring in The Doors.
  • According to the documentary on the Blu-Ray, Cap was originally intended to be played by two different people: one pre-transformation and one post-transformation. Matt Salinger was hired to play Steve pre-transformation, and Howie Long was considered to play him post-transformation. However, it was later decided that one actor should play both, and Salinger played both roles.
  • The film was supposed to shoot on-location in Italy, but when the budget was slashed the production hastily moved to Yugoslavia.

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