As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Let me start out by saying I wasn’t a huge fan of the The Princess Bride.   Oh, I didn’t dislike it; I’d just never seen the whole thing, just bits and pieces I’d catch while channel flipping.  It looked okay, maybe sort of silly.  I didn’t think it was something I’d enjoy, but since so many people seemed to really love it I decided I’d give it a try. 

I was underwhelmed.  I don’t know what I had expected, but that wasn’t it.  However, over the next few weeks I would suddenly remember this or that scene and smile.  I decided I really wanted to see it again.  This time, I think I saw what everyone else had already seen:  this movie was just pure fun.  The actors all seemed to be having the time of their lives, playing dress-up and asking the audience to join in.

I wondered if it could possibly have been as much fun as it looked. I decided to find out.

And that’s what led me to pick up As You Wish by Westley himself, Cary Elwes. I’ll cut straight to the point:  making the movie was a blast.  It was a magical experience, a once-in-a-lifetime fusion of talent and heart. 

Like several in the cast, Elwes was at the beginning of his acting career, having a few roles under his belt, and already a fan of the novel The Princess Bride by William Goldman. Robin Wright was known primarily for her role in the soap opera Santa Barbara; Mandy Patinkin was known more for his stage work; Andre the Giant was more famous as a wrestler than as an actor.  With Rob Reiner as director and backed by some classic comedy actors including Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, Wallace Shawn, and Peter Cook, they set out to make a movie based on a book that was considered by many to be “unfilmable.”  Reiner wasn’t the first to try:  the book had been optioned several times before, but how to capture the book’s tone had baffled everyone else. To add to the pressure, the book was author William Goldman’s personal favorite of all the books he’d written and the author’s angst at having his book turned into film was nearly palpable. 

Elwes’ stories of the behind the scenes action is just as endearing and funny as the movie itself.  From Wallace Shawn’s terror of being fired at any moment and continually asking himself WWDDVD?* to Chris Sarandon’s daughters’ ill-fated meeting with Andre, the book flows along like a burbling brook.  It also made me want to watch the whole thing again, now knowing the story behind the story.  I especially want to see the epic swordfight.  As a rule, I believe if you’ve seen one car chase/ explosion/ swordfight, you’ve seen them all so I really have very little memory of it.  For Cary and Mandy, the intense training for this scene started before the movie began filming and continued right up until the scene was shot—and then it was too short, so they had to add more.

The book is filled with asides—direct comments from those involved—giving their personal perspectives on the film.  Robin Wright, Rob Reiner (who also provided a preface), Christopher Guest, Chris Sarandon, Mandy Patinkin, and many of the cast and crew provided their own personal takes.  Alas, Andre the Giant had passed away six years after the film, at the age of 46. I would have loved to known his thoughts.

If you’re a fan of the film, this is the book for you.  If you’re a casual viewer, this is the book for you.  If you’ve never seen the movie but wonder what all the fuss is about, this is the book for you.  If you hate movies and fun—well, okay, this is probably not the book for you. 

Have fun storming the castle!

 

*Shawn had been told that Reiner had wanted Danny DeVito for the role, so for many scenes he kept trying to figure out how Danny DeVito would have played the character.