"You're the only director who's survived two movies with me," Kirk Douglas said to Richard Fleischer who directed him in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea & The Vikings.
That's Douglas & Fleischer in above photo at the Egyptian Theater a for Hollywood screening of both movies.
Fleischer wrote, "Kirk was right. You don't make a movie with him, you survive it. Kirk could even start an argument about which arm looked better crossed over the other. However, I admire his unbound, boyish enthusiasm for making movies."
On The Vikings, Fleischer's 8-year-old son Mark got to wear a Viking costume made especially to his size by the customer department. When the cast and crew were waiting for the bus to take everyone to the set, Mark in costume turned to Kirk Douglas who was in costume, and said, "Odin must have sent you. Where is Morgana?"
It was Kirk's first line of the scene he shot with Tony Curtis the day before. The crew went silent and watched as little Mark's eyes locked on Douglas.
Douglas turned, glared back at Mark and said Tony's line, "In Aella's castle."
Mark replied, "You dare to come back here just to tell me this?" (Kirk's line in the movie.)
Richard Fleischer said,
"Kirk performed the long scene with my son with sincerity, and without the slightest hint of condensation. It was actor to actor, professional to professional. When the scene ended, they shook hands and the crew applauded warmly. I really liked Kirk for doing that."
And I like him even better as a human being for that wonderful letter that he wrote to the New York Times when he was 100, debunking the nonsense of the Trump administration and why they were leading the whole country astray, especially when it came to immigration. He came as an immigrant from Russia and was proud of what America offered him and so many others.
Ron