Okay, it's been 49 years since the filming of the movie. So where is the cannon today? What was it made of? I am a propmaker here in Hollywood and would love to find this old relic. There might even be a little interest becuase of it's 50 year anniversary next year. People, WHERE IS THE GUN?
shareI do not know where the gun is now, but my 2 Uncles, and Father worked on the Special effects for the movie, I acctually played on the gun in my Uncles drive way at his home in Hollywood Hills. I will ask my father if he knows what happened to the gun, and what it was made of. In the movie,the people you see firing the gun are my father, and uncles.
sharespoke with my father he said the gun is maybe in moth balls at the studio, but thinks it is probally long gone. It was made of fiberglass with a steel inner sleeve, and they would set off black powder charges in it.
sharewas there ever a small model replica made from the cannon? It would have been a big seller I think. any blueprints, specs, etc. and which studio warehouse would it be in if be still around?
Thanks Steve
I"m reading a lot of interesting stuff on the cannon. The majority of the movie was filmed in Spain. My father was stationed in Madrid from 57-60. We live very close to Charmatin Studios where many of the "classics" were films. Our neighbor and landlord was the props man for movies made at this studio. This movie had many props stored around, and one prop that was put into our basement were the large wheels from the cannon. I used to go down there and stand beside them and they were huge. Why the landlord wanted them in our basement I don't know. He had a very large propr building at the studio and he had a 2 or 3 story building in his back yard with all kinds of neat stuff. His daughter and I were the same age (13-15) and would wander around in the prop area as I found all that old stuff really cool. Saw stuff used from many movies. We used to also be able to go to the studios during filming.
So, there appears to be many wheels for this cannon, but one thing is for sure....we had 2 of the wheels stored in our basement in Madrid during 1957-58, so I'm not sure about the validity of all these other "sightings".
"The Gun" is a tourist attraction at St. Augustine, Florida.
Mike Gerschefski
North Pole, Alaska
[deleted]
There is some mention of the cannon here http://forums.staugustine.com/cgi-bin/bb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=207191 where a poster to that board says:
"any of yall remember that big cannon in St. Augustine back around '57? It was used in the film, 'Pride and the Passion' with Cary Grant and Sophia Loren...it was in a parking lot near that fort for awhile..."
But why, oh, why St. Augustine, FL???
According to this article there were THREE cannons. Still no word on current location though.
http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=88979&mainArticleId=196837
They who give up liberty to
obtain a temporary safety deserve
neither liberty or safety
[deleted]
I once saw it near the main plaza in St. Augustine...this was in 1957. It was setup as a tourist display. I have been to St.Augustine recently several times and have not seen it...so I would also be interested in knowing where it is currently located.
shareThe cannon in the movie is based on a real-life gun cast in India in 1720:http://www.gunhistoryindia.com/2009/02/jaivana-worlds-largest-cannon.html
shareI had to read that twice. So the story i based on a gun cast in India.
But the gun in the movie was made of fibreglass...
[deleted]