Almost everything was done in one take." Jackie Chan on working as a stuntman: Then you would throw a punch, do a block, and then he would say ready, lights, action, and we would do it. "We never really rehearsed it, we just talked about it. I was embellishing the script because some of it was a bit comic booky." Sammo Hung on his fight with Bruce Lee: From then on, the work was somewhat improvisatory. But we talked about embellishing the character and the lines. I was sincere - I said that there wasn't enough acting in it. I even called the producers and told them that I didn't want to do it. "I really didn't want to do at the start, as the script was very thin. He treated the whole project with a certain amount of disdain which carried over into production in Hong Kong." John Saxon on the script: "John Saxon let me know from the start that it was his feeling that he had been hired to give the picture 'some class'. Then they said, 'OK, you got the part.'" Robert Clouse on John Saxon, who played Roper: When I came back, they said, 'Do you know Bruce Lee?' I said I'd heard of him. They said, Do you know karate? So I started jumping around showing them all the moves, and they gave me a script and told me to go out and check the part of Williams. "I went out there to Hollywood and met with Fred Weintraub and Paul Heller, not expecting to get the role as my agent said it had already been cast. So Bill, for all his fine attributes, was set aside." The late Jim Kelly, who played Williams: Bruce didn't want to go through the picture standing on a box or being overshadowed by Bill.
After Bruce saw the film, he noticed that Bill Smith was six feet, six inches (198cm) tall with shoulders a yard wide. They needed to find a good actor who could handle the demanding physical requirements of the story and they were considering Bill Smith, who starred in Darker Than Amber. "The part of Roper, later to be played by John Saxon, was difficult to cast. In this case, Bruce was completely right and I was completely wrong." Director Robert Clouse, in his book The Making of Enter the Dragon : I said, 'Bruce, that's a title for a kids' movie.' So he called Ted Ashley, and Ted said to give it to him if he wanted it.
It was only later when Bruce started seeing it get put together that he said he wanted it to be called Enter the Dragon. Producer Fred Weintraub talking to Black Belt magazine: Lee had liked Clouse's film Darker than Amber, and suggested that Clouse come on board as director.īelow, those involved in the production tell their stories. Lee felt the dialogue did not represent Chinese people in the best light, but the writer refused to take Lee's suggestions for changes to the script seriously.Įnter the Dragon was the brainchild of producer Fred Weintraub, who had originally suggested Lee for the lead role in the Kung Fu television series, a part that ultimately went to David Carradine. Problems initially flared up when Lee demanded the firing of screenwriter Michael Allin. Lee realised that he was on the cusp of international stardom, and although he considered the film to be something of a B-movie, he felt that it would act as his calling card in Hollywood.Ĭonsequently, Lee wanted things to be done his way - and that didn't always go down well with the film's American producers. The film was shot in Hong Kong by American director Robert Clouse using a part-American, part Hong Kong crew, and there was initially friction between the two groups, although this dissipated as the production progressed. The production of Enter the Dragon, the 1973 smash hit that posthumously made Bruce Lee an international superstar, was fraught with problems.Ī low budget of US$500,000 (S$710,000) - half of which came from Warner Brothers in the US and half from Golden Harvest - meant that the producers had to scrimp on everything from equipment costs to cast and crew salaries.
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