Hey, I never noticed that before....

I never knew that James Doohan had lost a finger on D-Day, and didn't know until after he died, when a blogger that I used to follow wrote about it. I certainly never noticed in any Trek episode, but now of course I notice that he was almost always making a fist with that
hand when it was visible in a scene.

 

I read, but sorry I don't remember where, that he was embarrassed by it and didn't want anyone to see it and he hid it really well.

The only scene where you can almost see it is when he's holding the phaser in Catspaw and there's only two fingers on the grip, rather than three. (the index finger is on the trigger).

 

We got an impressive "close up" in the third season "That Which Survives" when Scotty uses a "magnetic" wrench to somehow cut back the flow of anti-matter to the engines. When his first attempt almost triggers the anti-matter, he realizes he has to reverse the polarity of the device. To do so, he struggles to remove a "clip" from the tool's handle and then insert it again after twisting it. Doohan's hand missing the "bird" finger fills something like 20 to 25 percent of the screen area. Here's a link to the TrekCore screen capture.

http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/3x17hd/thatwhichsurviveshd1275.jpg

Sincerely,

Bill

 

Back in the 80s, when I attended cons, I used to shake the actor's hand as well as getting a signature. I shook Doohan's hand in Baltimore; he didn't flinch when I stuck my hand out, and he shook.

It wasn't until a few years later that I learned he was missing a finger on that hand. I then tried to remember if anything felt odd, but it didn't.

 

In "Friday's Child," we see Scotty being handed a clipboard while making a log entry. There is some elaborate choreography and blocking involved that makes no sense, unless the point was to disguise Doohan's missing finger. My private theory was that Pevney and Doohan took this opportunity to spice up a mundane bit of exposition.

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/2x11/Fridays_Child_125.JPG

 

Cushman says it was to hide the finger.

(ducks and runs away)

 

I never noticed that while watching the episode. In action, the prop itself draws the eye. Still, I'm stunned that they didn't use a double for the hands close-up. Either of these two guys could have done it:

http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/3x17hd/thatwhichsurviveshd1011.jpg

There's another hand shot here that you never notice in motion:

http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/2x11hd/fridayschildhd0590.jpg

 

What may (or may not) be the best view of James Doohan's hand, sans finger, is when Scotty walks into the rec room with an armload of tribbles in TTWT. His right hand is higher up, and right there for all to see.

Beyond that, the best view of same would be in TSFS, when Scotty hands Dr. McCoy the parts from Excelsior's transwarp computer. And then when he opens the bag of "dinner" that Uhura gave him at the beginning of TFF.

 

My first thought on that was 'Of course he's having trouble with it! He's missing a bloody finger!"

 

Me, too, Zap. I can't believe I didn't see that in all of the repeat viewings of that episode.

 

If it's any consolation, I never noticed it either when watching endless reruns on TV over the deacdes. I didn't even know about Doohan's "deleted" digit until maybe 10 years ago or more recent. I finally noticed the shot in question when either I read someone else's obsevation on the matter (and then popped to TrekCore to see for myself) or when I was reading a page at Nyrath's "Atomic Rockets" site. Honestly, I'm not sure which. If the latter, I was reading Nyrath's entries about personal gear. I reach a section about pocket sized "tools" ans Nyrath presented examples like the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, Gary Seven's "servo", and the tuning fork inspired gizmos from "Fantastic Journey" and the TV version of "Logan's Run". Nyrath also presented a series of frames of SCotty's "magnetic wrench". Having finally heard about Doohan's finger by this time, I noticed one particular frame and realized, "Whoa! There it is! Or rather, isn't!"

Now, I understand Doohan tried "hide" the injury, either for personal reasons or possibly at the request of the production (I'm not sure which). But looking back, I kinda' wish he hadn't. Something like that could have actually worked in the character's favor, a "hint" of his past. Oh, no real need to draw attention to it like any on camera exposition or backstory, just don't make an active effort to hide it. I rather like the notion Scotty suffered an occupational accident when he younger and not as experienced or cautious.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

It could have also helped the occasional cliffhanger ...

KIRK: I think that we can make it! Err, Scotty, you did set the destruct timer for ten munutes, right?

SCOTT: But of course, sir! I even counted 'em off in mah fingers. Hmmm, on mah ... Uh-oh!"

KIRK: Out! Double-time!

 

Ironic, then, that it was Scotty who played the bagpipes at Spock's funeral. I'm a piper: that missing finger is rather important!

 

For all we know, 23rd-century medical technology may make it possible to regenerate a lost finger, the way a lizard can grow a new tail!

 

Yeah, I can't really argue that.

But... Maybe it was a deliberate choice Scotty made, a frank reminder to be more careful.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

I like that idea, Redfern.

 

I've been slowly rewatching TOS on Netflix this year. Still in season 1, but one thing that has really jumped out at me is the terrible quality of some of the uniforms. McCoy and Kirk in particular. One of them had this crazy triangular seam/patch on their shoulder in one early episode. The other's collar was clearly coming undone from the rest of the shirt. Neither due to any onscreen fisticuffs.

The other thing I noticed (and this is a little off-color, and noticed less because of format and more because I'm an adult now) is the giant phallic rock that Kirk wields in the caves during What Are Little Girls Made Of. I mean I honestly cried out with delight when I watched that episode a few months ago.

 

The earliest first season episodes show us the uniform design was in flux and wouldn't be settled until about five episodes or so into the season (production wise). The uniforms of the first two seasons also suffered because of the choice of using velour for the uniform shirts. That materiel was notorious for shrinking when washed and hence we can clearly see the shirt hem and the sleeves getting shorter particularly on Shatner as the season progressed.


It can still bemuse one how the phallic shaped rock got past the network censors. It's a wonderful gag.

 

don't summon the dickrock, guys

 

Much like Gary Burghoff, of the feature film and television show M*A*SH, who's left hand never developed fully yet he was able to keep it out of view, most of the time ..

http://web-images.chacha.com/images...formities1335130418-jun-30-2014-1-600x400.jpg