PAPILLON!

Considered by many to be McQueen's best performance!

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Now comes the famous film adaptation of author Henri Charriere's worldwide best seller, "PAPILLON" (French word for "the butterfly"). This film paired Steve McQueen with Dustin Hoffman in 1973. Set in the notorious Devil's Island penal colony of French Guiana, this is the true-life story of the atrocities Charriere endures during a life-sentence after being framed for the murder of a pimp. According to author Marshall Terrill, publisher Robert Laffont sold the rights to European producer Robert Dorfman for $600,000. Dorfman's first thought was to cast Europe's Jean-Paul Belmondo for the lead role. However, when it became apparent to Dorfman that he could attract a larger audience with a huge U.S. star with a European and Asian following, he approached director Franklin Schaffner and Steve McQueen. Dorfman and Schaffner struggled through two scripts before veteran writer Dalton Trumbo was enlisted to start a third script from scratch. The film's budget ballooned from an initially projected $4 million to $14 million dollars in February. This became the highest budgeted film of 1973. Financing was cobbled together on the condition that a December release would follow to profitably exploit the Christmas holidays. In the ensuing nine months, locations were scouted and the film was shot sequentially in Spain and Jamaica.

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The film initiated a "first" by paying Steve McQueen $2 million in up front money to secure his contract--the first actor to be paid such a large advance. Dustin Hoffman expressed interest with some trepidation in playing the role of Dega, the counterfeiter. According to author Marshall Terrill's book, "Steve McQueen: Portrait of An American Rebel", Hoffman stipulated: "I knew that I wouldn't be interested in doing the film if it was going to be one of those buddy prison pictures, where McQueen and I would be required to play charismatic head to head". The pairing of McQueen with Hoffman produced a mixture of tension, mutual respect and flare ups. In the midst of this complicated relationship, delays in the actors receiving their per diem's led McQueen to halt production on the film for five days in protest over the issue at a cost of $50,000 per day resulting in an expensive $250,000 lesson for Allied Artists. Then the real-life Papillon Henri Charriere visited the set. Seeing the prison set construction, he experienced feeling haunted from his incarceration 40 years earlier. Sadly, Charriere died before filming was completed. Conditions for McQueen and Hoffman were demanding.

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Whether eating from a plate with his hands chained behind his back, or wrestling an alligator in the swamps, McQueen according to co-actor Don Gordon completed the most physically wrenching work of his career. " All of that work for him was very tough. He just busted his ass. He worked. That's what he did. Forget about him being a star, he was an actor. He did his part better than any actor in the world who could have done Papillon. He brought it to another dimension". The film includes a five-year period where Papillon endures a five-year solitary confinement for an escape attempt. Both Papillon and Dega age considerably throughout the film. By the end of the film, McQueen came to respect Hoffman both as an actor and a person. But the relationship was strained. Hoffman felt bitter, however McQueen genuinely respected him and painfully deliberated calling him several times after filming wrapped. Eventually, both actors came to respect one another in friendship. A demanding Method actor, Hoffman's dedication to the role of Dega found him starving himself with a diet of one coconut a day to achieve his gaunt look. The ultimate escape film became a great adventure. However, politics entered the fray.

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It is permissible to wonder whether McQueen's refusal to attend The Golden Globes Awards in-person to collect his award for "Best Actor" in Papillon later cost him an Oscar. Never one who gravitated to glamour and award ceremonies, McQueen expressed deep appreciation when The Golden Globes committee contacted him. Yet, he stated that he would not be able to attend and Robert Redford was chosen instead as "Best Actor" for "The Sting". Reviews for Papillon were largely negative, despite the film becoming a box office success (and in subsequent years, it was hailed as a "Classic"). Box Office magazine went against the tide and opined: "McQueen has never done finer work and will doubtless be remembered come Oscar time". At the 1974 Academy Awards, Jack Lemmon won Best Male Actor for "Save the Tiger". Dustin Hoffman was nominated as "Best Supporting Actor". Angered after the ceremonies, Hoffman told the press: "Not only should Steve McQueen have been nominated for Papillon, he should have won". The duo, clearly, brought out the best in each other. The Cast: Steve McQueen is Henri 'Papillon' Charriere; Dustin Hoffman is Louis Dega; Victor Jory is the Indian Chief; Don Gordon is Julot; and Anthony Zerbe is Toussaint. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner; Produced by Robert Dorfman and Franklin J. Schaffner; Executive Producer: Ted Richmond. This one is a true tour de force!