Lou Lumenick

Lou Lumenick

Movies

Son of ‘Roar’ director: ‘He was a f—ing a–hole’ for making us do the movie

Almost everybody knows that director Alfred Hitchcock had live birds thrown at terrified actress Tippi Hedren so they would attack her for real in “The Birds.”

Few are aware, though, that Hedren and her family (including daughter Melanie Griffith) chose to work for years with more than 150 untrained lions, tigers, cougars and elephants for the most dangerous movie in history — which is finally making its US theatrical debut on Friday, some 35 years after it was completed.

It was amazing to live through that. I should have died many times. But I kind of want to do it again.

 - John Marshall

“Roar” was the mad brainstorm of Hedren’s then-husband Noel Marshall, the executive producer of “The Exorcist” as well as “The Harrad Experiment,” which starred Hedren and (Griffith’s future husband) Don Johnson.

“Dad was a f–king a–hole to do that to his family,” says John Marshall, who as a teenager agreed to star with his father, younger brother, stepmother and stepsister in a bizarre project that dragged on for 11 years and caused dozens of brutal injuries to them and the crew.

“It seemed like a really cool idea at the beginning, but it was dangerous,” he notes.

Marshall says the family spent years preparing for the film by living with the big cats at a ranch 40 miles north of L.A. where animal rights activist Hedren now runs a preserve.

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Hank (Noel Marshall) receives a “kiss” from one of the lions in Drafthouse Films’ Roar.
Hank (Noel Marshall) receives a “kiss” from one of the lions in the film "Roar."Drafthouse Films
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Tippi Hederen wrestling with pet lion named Neil.Getty Images
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Jan de Bont was scalped while filming Roar.
Jan de Bont was scalped while filming "Roar." Drafthouse Films
Melanie Griffith was mauled during filming, which required her to receive facial reconstructive surgery and numerous stitches.
Melanie Griffith was mauled during filming, which required her to receive facial reconstructive surgery and numerous stitches.Drafthouse Films
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Tippi Hedren attempts to pull a lion off daughter Melanie Griffith as a lion bites her head.Drafthouse Films
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A lion after a fight during filming.
A lion after a fight during filming. Drafthouse Films
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The problems began when production commenced at the ranch in 1976 on the film, which opens with a conservationist’s family arriving at his home in Africa — he’s away on business — only to discover it’s filled with ferocious lions and tigers.

Tippi Hedren and son John MarshallWireImage

“You’re fine with lions and tigers as long as you don’t show any fear,” Marshall recalls. “The problem is that the plot required us to show fear. These animals who had learned to respect us were totally confused when we started acting terrified.”

There were more than 70 bloody attacks on the stars and crew. As Hedren recounts in a 1988 memoir, when John Marshall tripped on a rock and landed face down in high grass, a lion he was walking with jumped on him, “his big mouth closing over the back of John’s head.”

Marshall recalls: “I looked up and there was blood on his teeth. It took six guys to pull him off me and I got 56 stitches. I had to work with that lion on and off for five years because we kept running out of money.”

Following a clash between two lions, Melanie Griffith quit the production — Hedren quotes her as saying, “Mother, I don’t want to come out of this with half a face.”

Tippi Hederen wrestling with pet lion named Neil.Getty Images

Griffith later returned, only to be mauled by a cat so severely she required dozens of stitches and plastic surgery.

“It’s amazing no one was killed,” Hedren once said of the film, which left her with a broken leg after she was bucked off the back of an elephant.

Soon after production finally wrapped, she split with Noel, who reportedly took years to recover from injuries and complications, including gangrene. (He died in 2010.)

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The animals were also spooked by the film’s frightened crew, who frequently quit en masse as casualties mounted. Director of photography Jan de Bont (who later directed “Speed”) had his scalp ripped off by a lion and required 120 stitches.

Marshall says “Roar” was never theatrically distributed in the United States because of suits brought by creditors.

With less than $2 million in worldwide ticket sales versus a budget that swelled to $17 million, it’s considered one of the most disastrous indie productions in Hollywood history.

Owned for the last five years by Marshall’s daughter Stephanie, “Roar” will make its Blu-ray debut this summer following a run in around 40 theaters.

Neither Hedren nor Griffith are promoting the film, and Marshall doesn’t blame them.

“Tippi and Melanie kind of want to forget about the whole thing,” says Marshall, who is still in touch with them. “I still get nightmares when I watch ‘Roar,’ so I don’t see it too often.”

That said, Marshall doesn’t regret the experience. “It was amazing to live through that,” he says. “I should have died many times. But I kind of want to do it again.”