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Legend (1985)The background: The late Seventies: Having made The Duellists, Ridley Scott had wanted to make a version of Tristan and Isolde, the basis for many of today's finest stories - the love tryst. However, he saw Star Wars and realised movies were going in a different direction to the classic myth he wanted to re-tell. The script for Alien landed on his doormat and within 18 hours of reading it, he was in Hollywood. While Alien was a huge hit, his follow-up, Blade Runner was a critical success but a commercial failure - at least on its initial release. After Blade Runner was so poorly received, Scott suffered a crisis of confidence. The critics had not been kind to his 1982 movie so after years of working on Legend, he made some dubious choices in the film originally known as Legend of Darkness Scott made the film because he was largely inspired by Jean Cocteau's version of Beauty and the Beast and partly because he wanted to make a more family oriented flick. The story The virginal princess Lily has fallen for wild man of the woods Jack O the Green. However, she becomes the bait in a plan by the demonic Darkness to bring a shroud of eternal night to this magical forest kingdom. When Darkness' minions seize a fabled unicorn horn and the glade is turned to winter, Jack must save the girl, and the forest from the clutches of evil. This is one of the best looking fantasies ever made but there are some very dodgy touches. * The day glo ski paint favoured in the opening titles of A View To A Kill may have been all the rage in 1985 but scuppers the chances of this being a timeless fairytale. * Jerry Goldsmith's perfectly fine soundtrack was rescored by German mood merchants Tangerine Dream, much to the anger of the Oscar-winning composer who never worked with Scott again. * Having worked with Vangelis on his previous movie Blade Runner, Scott turned to the Greek maestro's chart partner Jon Anderson (of Yes fame) for this project. Alas, he provided an insipid closing song called Loved By The Sun. No matter how strong your teeth may be, they are bound to suffer a cavity after this assault on the ears.
*During the first test screening, a group of potheads are believed to have ruined the movie in the eyes of the suits. Scott smelled marijuana during the screening and wasn't happy with the result. He was tempted to bring the lights up and throw them out. In retrospect, it's a pity he didn't as Scott spent a fortune re-cutting the movie into the American mess that resulted. *The movie was written by William Hjortsberg who had also penned Fallen Angel, the inspiration for Alan Parker's 1987 Faustian tale, Angel Heart. *One of England's most unusual fans of the film was Dave Lee Travis who spent a morning on his radio show in the mid-Eighties plugging the film like it was going out of fashion. *Choreography for the dance scene was provided by Arelene Phillips, the woman behind notorious Seventies dance troupe, Hot Gossip. *Geoff Capes, one of Britain's strongest men at the time, played one of the guards. *As ever, Scott's casting was impeccable. A year before his career went through the roof in Top Gun (directed by Ridley's brother Tony), Tom Cruise played the hero, Jack. He gives a fine performance as the wild man and still maintains this is one of his favourite films. *Mia Sara made her movie debut with Legend. She went on to play the love interest in seminal Eighties teen flick, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and has gone on to carve a career for herself in the low budget world of TV movies. Occasionally she made a return to big genre projects, such as the enjoyable Jean Claude Van Damme offering Timecop. But on the whole, is usually wasted in offerings such as Stuart Gordon's lame horror thriller Daughter of Darkness, in which she starred with Anthony Perkins. *Tim Curry had been a jobbing actor for years until The Rocky Horror Picture Show thrust him into the mainstream. Although a mere slip of an actor, he was made to look far taller by make-up artist Rob Bottin who made him wear stilt-like leg attachments. Curry went on to star in a string of hit and miss vehicles including The Hunt For Red October and Roseanne.
*The movie was first shown on British TV on BBC2 - the American release. In fact, to this day, the original UK version has never been seen on British TV. The differences are many, but in the American version, Darkness' face isn't seen until he walks through the mirror (a far better version in the UK release as Mia Sara's mouth is open when he steps through and a second later, it's closed.) There is one advantage to the US version: Bryan Ferry's sublime closing track, Is Your Love Strong Enough, gets a welcome airing. *Many of the special effects were provided by Terry Gilliam's Peerless company. Gilliam made many enemies in Hollywood at the time of production. While his movie, Brazil, was deemed uncommercial, studio boss Sid Sheinberg fought a media war with the American director, superbly catalogued in Jack Matthews The Battle of Brazil. Conversely, Scott states Sheinberg as an ally during Legend's production. However, there's no denying that Legend is the weaker of the two films. *The set, a huge stage used to house many of the 007 movies, burnt down one lunchtime in 1984. Many of the doves featured in the film were roasted. *Darkness was inspired by Disney's over-rated film, Fantasia and the demon featured in the Night on Bald Mountain sequence. *Scott has for many years refused to talk about the project. During the 1992 BBC documentary Ridley Scott: Eye of the Storm, there was no mention of the film. *Further reading: There's very little published material on the movie but you could do worse than track down Ridley Scott - The Making of His Movies by Paul M Sammon.
*The best material on the net has to be Geoff Wright's invaluable guide at: Legend FAQ
© 2000 Roger Crow
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