MovieChat Forums > The War Lord (1965) Discussion > Interesting studio sets and props trivia

Interesting studio sets and props trivia

posted 15 years ago by jeffyoung1
5 replies | jump to latest

This is trivia stuff for you fans of THE WAR LORD

1) During the scene of the Frisian fighting tower ramp being lowered on to the Norman tower, you see arrows bouncing off the wooden drop ramp. Obviously these are blunt safety stunt arrows. Using real, iron or steel tipped arrows while stunt men are running about nearby was probably too dangerous to risk.

2) The Frisian warrior stunt men are all wearing obvious blonde wigs.

3) The Norman tower was later utilized in the later movie, THE CRUSADES. Workmen filled in the moat for the crusader movie.
The tower was part of the UNIVERSAL STUDIOS tour tram ride attractions. Since I am a big fan of "The War Lord", I got a thrill out of seeing the studio set tower just a stone's throw distance from my tram. I'm not certain of the date but some time in the early to mid-1980s, the Norman tower was torn down as part of a colossal renovation and rebuild of the Universal Studios tour attraction. Too bad the studio couldn't keep the tower. I'm aware that no studio set is build to last. Constructed of cheap materials just for looks, these sets deteriorate rapidly and become unsafe.

4) Towards the end you see Norman men-at-arms triggering catapults to hurl stones and flaming balls at the Frisian tower. Bors calls the catapults by a strange name. To me it sounded like, "funnels or thunnels". Bors shouts to Sir Chrysagon (Heston), "It's Draco! With thunnels!"

[–] wmarkley 15 years ago

I thought Bors says "Thunderbolts", but I could be wrong.

Wow, that would have been fun to see the tower used in the movie, but like you said, they can't save everything.

[–] dennis nicoll 15 years ago

I think that the term used by Bors in describing the artillery pieces is in fact "Thunder Bows."

This would be an apt description of these torsion catapults, though whether such heavy siege engines could have actually been transported or deployed over the marshy terrain (and arrive in such a comparatively short space of time) without being spotted or intercepted by the Frisians, is questionable.

[–] janks46 15 years ago

What later "crusades" movie was the tower used for?
The only "crusades" i know is Cecil B DeMille's 1936 film.

[–] lexyladyjax 13 years ago

According to the closed captioning the line is:

'It's Draco with thunderbolts!' but it doesn't sound like the proper word to me.

[–] GJValent 12 years ago

My sister took the Universal studio tour back in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Her souvenir book had a few pages, with photos, of the stone(?) tower repainted etc. for a new movie to be called, The Tower. I subsequently never heard of its release. Possibly a different title ?