Spectre of the Gun---Deleted scene

[Grant]

I've read for years about a deleted scene from Spectre, where after Kirk & co. encounter thr force field preventing them from leaving town-- they observe a rider on horseback (played by actor Richard Anthony), pass thru where the force field is.
Then Kirk jumps on a horse and tried to go thru and is knocked off the horse as the horse passes thru.
According to Memory Alpha and other sources it was filmed and cut.
It seems odd to cut a rather elaborate scene requiring a stunt horseman to fall off the horse--if it had been filmed. And after encounting the force field would Kirk assume that he could get thru by simply being on horseback?
Anybody ev hear or read about this and does it seem real?

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Maybe it was in an early draft and never filmed.

Although they could cheat by using a single horse to play both horses, it's still a large and obvious item to cross out of the script, saving money as well as time in the shooting schedule.

 

[Christopher Miles]

Ok, it's here -

http://www.thesearethevoyagesbooks.com/spectre-of-the-gun.html

But- Take every single thing claimed by Cushman with a more than a few grains of Salt.

Maybe Salt Monster sized salt tablets.

 

[telerites]

I'm glad they changed the title. "The Last Gunfight" doesn't really resonate as much as Spectre.

 

[Maurice]

Ok, it's here -

http://www.thesearethevoyagesbooks.com/spectre-of-the-gun.html

But- Take every single thing claimed by Cushman with a more than a few grains of Salt.

Maybe Salt Monster sized salt tablets.

Even the webpage is sloppy. Towards the end two paragraphs are duplicated. The narrative there never even mentions that perhaps McEvety wasn't invited back to direct because he finished a full day behind schedule.

And then there's this howler at at bottom of the page:

Jacobs Brown Press
"Where truth is better than fiction"​

Should read "Where fact-checking is too much work."

 

[Kor]

I've heard negative things about the quality of Cushman's reporting, when it comes to Trek.

Kor

 

[Nebusj]

Maybe it was in an early draft and never filmed.

Although they could cheat by using a single horse to play both horses, it's still a large and obvious item to cross out of the script, saving money as well as time in the shooting schedule.

I'd have to imagine this as well. Being knocked off a horse that rides through the barrier would be a great scene --- a logical thing to try, a nice visually punchy action scene, and something to underscore the unreal illogic of the predicament --- but it would also be so compelling a budget cut.

I mean, they were so short on money they didn't even finish all of the buildings. And it'd look gruesome to have Kirk trying to ride a horse made up of a torso and two hooves.

 

[Harvey]

The daily production reports for this episode are at UCLA. It should be relatively easy to put this nonsense to bed with them (or to corroborate Cushman and Osborn's version; I have no idea in this case).

 

[The Old Mixer]

I mean, they were so short on money they didn't even finish all of the buildings. And it'd look gruesome to have Kirk trying to ride a horse made up of a torso and two hooves.

They could have had Kirk riding into a force field on a hobby horse. That wouldn't have looked the least bit silly.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

They could have had Kirk riding into a force field on a hobby horse. That wouldn't have looked the least bit silly.

Don't laugh. Lost in Space did an episode, "West of Mars," in which Will and Smith go to a surreal western town, shot entirely on a soundstage. When they make their escape from an angry mob, they do so riding mechanical hobby horses.

 

[Myko]

The daily production reports for this episode are at UCLA. It should be relatively easy to put this nonsense to bed with them (or to corroborate Cushman and Osborn's version; I have no idea in this case).

Richard Anthony is probably on the call sheet (his name was in the Concordance) so that's a place to start.

 

[Kor]

So... who here lives near UCLA?

Kor

 

[Harvey]

The daily production reports for this episode are at UCLA. It should be relatively easy to put this nonsense to bed with them (or to corroborate Cushman and Osborn's version; I have no idea in this case).

Richard Anthony is probably on the call sheet (his name was in the Concordance) so that's a place to start.

The call sheets, alas, do not survive at UCLA, but the daily production reports will cover (a) what actors were on set each day, (b) what scenes were shot each day, and (c) what sets were used each day. Unfortunately, the shooting schedule doesn't seem to exist in the public record for this one, but I should be able to drum up a shooting script (which will have scene numbers).

So... who here lives near UCLA?

Kor

*Runs and hides.*

 

[Christopher Miles]

So... who here lives near UCLA?

Kor

*Runs and hides.*

@Harvey-

I'd hoped you'd have this info without having to go over there and check. I suppose it's one of the many things that will have to one day make it to your blog.

I can't imagine Freiberger and his overseer/ beancounter(s) at Paramount letting a live horse line item slip by. I mean - the planet set was so spartan that I consider it a near bottle show. No extra money spent there. This is a runner up to the cheapest set ever- The Empath's spiral stairwell!

If I wasn't on the other side of the country, I'd actually bother to get on over to UCLA to research content for a blog like yours- solely dedicated fixing Cushman's conflagrations, and oddly organized collection of memories and somewhat tall tales. I'd call it: "Those Weren't The Voyages.com"

 

[Harvey]

What part of the country are you in? There are tons of Star Trek related archival collections that aren't in southern California.

 

[Stevil2001]

What part of the country are you in? There are tons of Star Trek related archival collections that aren't in southern California.

Any good lists of these? I'd be really curious to know!

 

[Tim Walker]

Kor

*

- the planet set was so spartan that I consider it a near bottle show. No extra money spent there. This is a runner up to the cheapest set ever- The Empath's spiral stairwell!

However,Spectre was an example of doing more with less. The minimalism of the set was skillfully used to create a surreal quality. Which went very well the story.

 

[Harvey]

What part of the country are you in? There are tons of Star Trek related archival collections that aren't in southern California.

Any good lists of these? I'd be really curious to know!

UK: James Blish

Wyoming: Gene L. Coon

Indiana: Jeri Taylor

North Carolina: Michael Piller

Iowa: Nicholas Meyer

Kansas: Theodore Sturgeon

New York: Alexander Courage

Florida: Pan Am (contains files related to the Pan Am plane crash Roddenberry survived)

I spent a day in the Nicholas Meyer papers -- they're fantastic. I haven't been able to visit anything else on the list, although I'd love to (especially the Gene L. Coon, James Blish, and Pan Am papers).

 

[scotpens]

Maybe it was in an early draft and never filmed.

Although they could cheat by using a single horse to play both horses . . .

That would probably have gotten them in hot water with the horses' union.

 

[M'Sharak]

Maybe it was in an early draft and never filmed.

Although they could cheat by using a single horse to play both horses . . .

That would probably have gotten them in hot water with the horses' union.

Nah. Just pay the horse double scale.