History Trivia / MyraBreckinridge

** Rex Reed went as far to say that the movie would never even be released.

** Michael Sarne complained to the film's producers that Rex Reed was being "faggy, prissy and unpleasant" on the set. He repeatedly insulted and belittled the cast, in particular calling Welch "old raccoon" and constantly telling her to her face that she was so ugly he could barely stand to look at her. He also called Creator/JohnHuston a "decrepit old hack" among other things, and slammed his entire career in a magazine interview conducted during filming. He also encouraged bickering among his castmembers.

* StuntCasting: Film critic Rex Reed as Myra's pre-op counterpart Myron.

* HostilityOnTheSet: Much like Creator/PeterSellers and Creator/OrsonWelles on ''Film/CasinoRoyale1967'', Creator/RaquelWelch and Creator/MaeWest got on so badly that they weren't on the set at the same time. According to the 1978 book ''Flesh and Fantasy'', West had stipulated in her contract that only she would be allowed to dress in black and white in the film. Welch showed up to shoot their first scene together in a black dress with an enormous white ruffle, and West threw a fit. When the film's producers sided with West, Welch had the ruffle on the dress dyed a very, very pale blue...which photographed as white.

* WagTheDirector: One of the conditions that Creator/MaeWest insisted on be met before she would appear in the film was that she have a couple of musical numbers. She also had full approval on all wardrobe decisions for not just her but for Raquel Welch, too. For their one scene together, Welch was supposed to have been wearing a black dress with white trim to counterpoint West's own white dress. On the day of filming Welch arrived on set, eager to wear her sumptuous Theadora Van Runkle creation, only to be informed that West had insisted that it be confiscated. Welch was so outraged she stormed off set and would only return when the dress had been given back. Then she insisted that her character's name (Leticia) be spelled differently than it was in the book (Letitia) citing "the obvious reasons".

** Creator/AudreyHepburn could have been Myra but she turned it down. Ditto for Creator/VanessaRedgrave. It's unclear as to if they were ever offered the role but, Creator/ElizabethTaylor, Creator/AnneBancroft, and ''Creator/AngelaLansbury'' were all considered for the role.

** Creator/LeeMajors got his girlfriend Creator/FarrahFawcett in the movie. He was offered the role of Rusty, but turned it down.

* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget: $5.385 million. Box Office: $4 million.

* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: In the novel, [[spoiler:Myra is injured in a car accident, has to have her breasts removed, and ends up reverting to her life as Myron and living in a SexlessMarriage with Mary Ann.]] Actor Reed refused to portray this ending and it changed to the AllJustADream resolution of the film.

* TroubledProduction: The film had a notoriously fraught production, due to director Michael Sarne obtaining ProtectionFromEditors in his contract and then by all accounts '''deliberately''' trying to make the worst film he possibly could. Examples of his behavior include:
** Bizarre casting decisions such as casting film critic Rex Reed as Myra's pre-op counterpart Myron, and bringing Mae West, who was 77 years old and hadn't acted in a film for the better part of three decades, out of retirement.
** Repeatedly insulting and belittling the cast, in particular calling star Raquel Welch "old raccoon" and constantly telling her to her face that she was so ugly he could barely stand to look at her. Creator/JohnHuston didn't fare much better, as Sarne called him a "decrepit old hack" among other things, and slammed his entire career in a magazine interview conducted during filming.
** Ending the day's filming eight hours early so that he could spend the rest of the day "thinking."
** Spending the better part of a week shooting hours of footage featuring ''plates of food'' and nothing else. Needless to say, this footage didn't get into the finished product.
** Constantly rewriting the script, adding bizarre and completely irrelevant scenes and deviating further and further from Creator/GoreVidal's original novel.
** Welch and Creator/MaeWest hated each other so much that they refused to be onset together, resulting in them not being in the same shot.
** After the film's release, some actors featured in the movie clips were horrified to be associated with the film (particularly the rape scene) and sued to have their images removed. At one point no less than the ''White House'' stepped in to have clips of Creator/ShirleyTemple removed, as at that time the adult Shirley Temple Black was serving as a U.S. ambassador.

" WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: Michael Sarne constantly rewrote the script, adding bizarre and completely irrelevant scenes that deviated further from the original novel.

** Creator/LeeMajors got his girlfriend Creator/FarrafFawcett in the movie. He was offered the role of Rusty, but turned it down.

** In an interview with Creator/HowardStern, Creator/FarrahFawcett described Welch as "mean-spirited".

* CreatorCameo: Director Michael Sarne is one of the students in a film class.

* HostilityOnTheSet: Much like Creator/PeterSellers and Creator/OrsonWelles on ''Film/CasinoRoyale1967'', Creator/RaquelWelch and Creator/MaeWest got on so badly that they weren't on the set at the same time. According to the 1978 book ''Flesh and Fantasy'', West had stipulated in her contract that only she would be allowed to dress in black and white in the film. Welch showed up to shoot their first scene together in a black dress with an enormous white ruffle, and West threw a fit. When the film's producers sided with West, Welch had the ruffle on the dress dyed a very, very pale blue . . . which photographed as white.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Given how bad things went upon release, 20th Century Fox apparently thought so little of ''Myra Breckinridge'' that, aside from a brief early '80s VHS release, it was unavailable on the home video market until 2004.
* OneBookAuthor: It is the only movie of Roger Herren, who played Rusty.

** After the film's release, some actors featured in the movie clips were horrified to be associated with the film (particularly the rape scene) and sued to have their images removed. At one point no less than the ''White House'' stepped in to have clips of Shirley Temple removed, as at that time the adult Shirley Temple Black was serving as a U.S. ambassador.
* TypeCasting: Creator/MaeWest was known for playing characters that seemed to speak only in double entendres. Her character in this, Leticia Van Allen, was no different.

* StarDerailingRole: The film killed the career of actor Roger Herren, who played Rusty — it was his first and last film appearance. 20th Century Fox apparently thought so little of it that, aside from a brief early '80s VHS release, it was unavailable on the home video market until 2004.

** Creator/RaquelWelch and Creator/FarrahFawcett also went on record to say that the movie was terrible.

* DisownedAdaptation: Creator/GoreVidal disowned this screen version of his novel.
* HostilityOnTheSet: Much like Creator/PeterSellers and Creator/OrsonWelles on ''Film/CasinoRoyale1967'', Creator/RaquelWelch and Creator/MaeWest got on so badly that they weren't on the set at the same time.

** Creator/AudreyHepburn could have been Myra but she turned it down. Ditto for Creator/VanessaRedgrave.
** It's unclear as to if they were ever offered the role but, Creator/ElizabethTaylor, Creator/AnneBancroft, and ''Creator/AngelaLansbury'' were all considered for the role of Myra.
** Creator/BetteDavis turned down Leticia Van Allen.

** Creator/RaquelWelch and Farrah Fawcett also went on record to say that the movie was terrible.

** After completing his scenes, John Houston shrugged that Michael Sarne will never be able to "cut this mess together."

** Raquel Welch and Farrah Fawcett also went on record to say that the movie was terrible.

* HostilityOnTheSet: Much like Creator/PeterSellers and Creator/OrsonWelles on ''Film/CasinoRoyale1967'', Raquel Welch and Creator/MaeWest got on so badly that they weren't on the set at the same time.

** Michael Sarne originally wanted Creator/MickeyRooney to play Buck Loner.

* WagTheDirector: One of the conditions that Creator/MaeWest insisted on be met before she would appear in the film was that she have a couple of musical numbers. She also had full approval on all wardrobe decisions for not just her but for Raquel Welch, too. For their one scene together, Welch was supposed to have been wearing a black dress with white trim to counterpoint West's own white dress. On the day of filming Welch arrived on set, eager to wear her sumptuous Theadora Van Runkle creation, only to be informed that West had insisted that it be confiscated. Welch was so outraged she stormed off set and would only return when the dress had been given back. The she insisted that her character's name (Leticia) be spelled differently than it was in the book (Letitia) citing "the obvious reasons".

* DisownedApaptation: Creator/GoreVidal disowned this screen version of his novel.

** It's unclear as to if they were ever offered the role but, Creator/ElizabethTaylor, Anne Bancroft, and ''Creator/AngelaLansbury'' were all considered for the role of Myra.

* TroubledProduction: Director Michael Sarne went over budget, rewrote the script several times, and frequently disrespected the cast members.

** Creator/BetteDavis turned down Leticia Van Allen.

* CreatorBacklash: Most people in the involved ended up disliking it.

** Creator/BetteDavis turned down Leticia Van Allen.

** GoreVidal hated the movie and said it was one the worst he'd ever seen.

* TypeCasting: MaeWest was known for playing characters that seemed to speak only in double entendres. Her character in this, Leticia Van Allen, was no different.

** AudreyHepburn could have been Myra (but both she and VanessaRedgrave turned it down).
** It's unclear as to if they were ever offered the role but, ElizabethTaylor, Anne Bancroft, and ''AngelaLansbury'' were all considered for the role of Myra.
** BetteDavis turned down Leticia Van Allen.

* TypeCasting: MaeWest was known for playing characters that seemed to speak only in double entendres, her character in Myra Breckinridge was no different.

* CreatorBacklash: GoreVidal hated the movie and said it was one the worst he'd ever seen. Raquel Welch and Farrah Fawcett also went on record to say that the movie was terrible.

* What Could Have Been