Jeannie Out of the Bottle - Barbara Eden [30]
I might have started feeling a bit despondent if Wilt hadn’t called with a wonderful offer: a part in Flaming Star, a cowboy movie starring Elvis Presley, the hottest male sex symbol in the universe. I’d first seen Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show after my mother excitedly called me and insisted that I had to switch on the television and watch his performance. I did and was struck by his intense star quality and sex appeal.
In the movie, Elvis played Pacer Burton, the son of an Indian mother (Dolores del Rio) and a white father, born in Texas and torn between opposing worlds. Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando were originally cast in the parts that Elvis and Steve Forrest would eventually play, but they backed out. Elvis had liked the script and thought the role a good one to play for his comeback after two years with the U.S. Army in Germany.
My role in the movie was originally cast with actress Barbara Steele, but at the last moment her accent was judged to be too British for the part. I was to play Ros, a rough-and-ready cowgirl who wore trousers and kept her hair in a long braid. I found it refreshing not to have to fuss so much about my clothes, hair, and makeup in the movie.
Elvis and I first met when preproduction of Flaming Star began on August 1, 1960. Shooting was scheduled to begin on August 16 at the Canejo Movie Ranch in Thousand Oaks. Exteriors were to be shot in Utah.
By now, I’d met countless stars, but the prospect of meeting the great Elvis Presley and working alongside him was still daunting. Luckily for me, he happened to be a big fan of Michael’s—he loved Broken Arrow and in particular the character of Cochise—so that broke the ice between us.
I was surprised that Elvis even knew Michael, and I asked him how he’d managed to catch Broken Arrow, given his frenetic work schedule. He told me that he couldn’t leave his hotel room at night for fear of being mobbed, so he stayed locked inside and watched TV for most of the night. That answer afforded me a poignant insight into Elvis’s world, one that surprised me.
It was immediately clear to me, though, that Elvis cared passionately about acting and that he had his heart set on Flaming Star becoming a critical as well as a commercial success.
Before shooting began, Elvis had two weeks of riding lessons. He was the star of the movie, so I didn’t question why no one suggested I have riding lessons as well. Surprising, really, in light of what happened next.
By the time shooting began on August 16, Elvis could ride extremely well, whereas I had never ridden a horse before in my life. Although a couple of ranchers gave me one basic lesson, I was happy when the wrangler assured me that they would be using a stunt double for any scenes in which my character was supposed to be riding a horse.
There was one particular scene in which Steve Forrest was at the top of a hill on his horse and my stunt double was supposed to ride up the hill screaming out my lines. However, at the very last moment she was nowhere to be found, and without giving me any advance warning, the wrangler put me on the horse after all.
“Don’t worry, the horse knows what to do,” was all he said, and off the horse galloped up the hill, with me hanging on for dear life.
To my horror, I saw that we were heading straight for an irrigation ditch. My heart was pounding so loudly that I felt as if it were about to bust out of my chest, but to my everlasting relief, the horse made the jump.
I was just beginning to relax when my horse suddenly reared and then raced straight toward a tree with a great big hanging limb that swung threateningly in the wind.
“Duck!” yelled the wrangler.
I ducked, just in the nick of time.
As I did, the director blared, “Say your line, Barbara, say your line!”
Shaking from head to foot, I blurted out the line. Then the horse was off again, racing down the hill, while I hung on for dear life. Finally he skidded to