Great 12 Second Scene

Hey folks,

Did anyone else notice the great scene where Aldo Ray throws six dinner plates onto the dinner table in the gazebo from a distance of perhaps five or six feet, and without breaking any? He throws the six plates fairly close to the six different positions of the final place settings. His first three tosses are simple flips, much as one would toss a Frisbee. He adds a flair to his fourth toss by reversing the direction of the tossed plate under his wrist instead of the normal Frisbee toss straight out from his wrist. For the fifth plate, he returns to a regular Frisbee toss, but his sixth toss is his piece de resistance. While tossing the first five plates with his right hand, he finishes his performance by tossing the last plate onto the table with a behind-his-back toss - and with his left hand!

The scene takes place about 38 minutes into the film. While all six plates did not end up in perfect alignment on the round dinner table, five were very close to their intended places, and the last plate tossed behind his back stopped closer to the middle of the table.

I thought this was a pretty good trick and wondered how many times it had to be done before it was a successful take. Having the film on my DVR, I ran and re-ran the scene quite a few times trying to figure out how they managed to shoot this scene. Perhaps the "trick" was that Aldo Ray was alone in the shot, and the actual shot between film cuts may have only been about 12 seconds. As you watch the scene play out, Peter Ustinov exits the scene as Ray turns to place an armload of dishes on a small serving table. The scene includes multiple support posts for the gazebo, and as Ray turns from the serving table to the dining table with he six dinner plates, a vertical post is between the camera and Ray and the serving table. As Ray turns toward the dinner table and the camera holding the six plates, there is a bit of a shift as he passes the support post. I suspect the film was cut here, and that this is the actual beginning of the plate toss scene. When he has successfully tossed all six dishes, the film cuts to a new shot of the daughter in the next room sneaking out of the house.

If I am correct in my suspicion that the scene actually begins with a film cut where Ray turns with the gazebo post between himself and the camera, that would make the actual plate toss scene about 12 seconds in length. I would also guess the dinner plates were unbreakable rather than real china, and I would guess it may have taken quite a few tries before they got a successful take for the finished film.

In any case, the film shows a most magnificent picture where Aldo Ray makes the most clever "setting the table" scene I have ever seen. After tossing his plates, Ray hears the daughter in the other room trying to run away, and he goes to talk her out of her rash decision.

This scene was just one of many that makes this a delightful film that I have enjoyed watching for nearly sixty years now.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile