Steve McQueen

On the heels of Columbia Pictures’ 1965 filming here of ALVAREZ KELLY another epic was arriving …. Paramount Pictures’ NEVADA SMITH starring Steve McQueen, Karl Malden, Arthur Kennedy, Pat Hingle, Howard Da Silva, Martin Landau, Brian Keith and Suzanne Pleshette. Wheeeew! Let me catch my breath…. one of the most star-studded casts to appear here ever. 

Directed by Henry Hathaway, this script called for three prison compounds to be constructed over the Amite River near Port Vincent. Hathaway had selected his locations from pictures sent him by a location consultant.

Because of the construction requirements, Bob Carter was once again pressed into service. Hathaway wanted the compounds built on pilings over the water. Permission to do this was forthcoming from Bob LaFleur, the Director of Louisiana’s Stream Control Commission. No problem.  Carter had the compounds built according to specifications, up and ready for production.

THEN … Hurricane Betsy visited us. 

The day following Hurricane Betsy was a beautiful early fall day. Hathaway was now in town ready to start shooting. We all met on the banks of the Amite at the prison compound location. Hathaway’s first comment was “What happened to my f****** slime?” Bob said “Sir, we had a Hurricane that cleared out the slime.” Hathaway said “I wasn’t asking for any excuses. I need slime. I was sent pictures that showed slime.” Bob gulped and Hathaway said “I don’t care what it costs. I want my f****** slime.” Then he said “Also the river is too high.” Bob reminded him that we had just suffered a hurricane and Hathaway again reminded Bob that money was no object. Bob asked “When do you need these changes?” Hathaway said “We start shooting at 7 AM tomorrow morning.” Bob gulped again even though he knew that money was no object.

Then Hathaway dropped the real zinger. He said, “I want this one moved over 3 feet to the left” indicating one of the building compounds. Bob said “Sir these are erected on pilings that were driven into the river.” Hathaway said “Are you saying it can’t be moved?” To which Bob said “Well, no I’m not saying that,. …” But he was cut off by Hathaway who said “Then do it. Also I want about 3 hundred wood roaches. These will be set loose onto the sleeping prisoners.” 

Bob had his marching orders. The easiest task was the roaches. He dispatched a couple of his laborers to gather as many as they could. They would get fifty cents per roach. 

He then contacted La Fleur to determine if anything could be safely used on the river to produce the effect of slime and if the up river locks could be dropped to dam water coming down river. La Fleur contacted the Corps of Engineers and the locks were lowered. He then had an idea for the slime. La Fleur said he could get several truck loads of sawdust from a mill and, combining that with a tank truck full of deactivated chlorine, the two could be sprayed in a flocking fashion onto the river to produce the slime effect.When the river had been sufficiently lowered by the up river Darlington dam, the flocking was begun and it worked like a charm.

Bob Carter in the meantime had recruited a housemover. He had more pilings driven into the area where Hathaway wanted the one building moved. Then the building was elevated while crews cut off the pilings that were no longer needed. The building was then gently lowered into its new position. All of these tasks were being accomplished over a 24 hour period. Needless to say Bob got no sleep that night. 

The following morning the crew began setting up base camp for the start of the shoot. Bob asked Hathaway if he was satisfied now. Hathaway looked at his watch and said “It is now 8 AM. I wanted to get started by 7.” Bob was about to punch him when Hathaway grinned and said “Good job. Let’s start shooting.”



Many of you may remember Bob Earle. He was the owner/operator of WIBR AM radio in Baton Rouge and was one of my dearest friends. Bob died in 1992, creating a huge vacuum in Baton Rouge’s theater community. I shared the stage with Bob in many BRLT productions and we also appeared in several movies together.

Anyway, Bob agreed to work as an extra in this film. He would be one of the inmates. Back in 1965 local extras got $25 per day. But Bob was able to get his rate up to $75 since he agreed to wade waist deep in water in the company of Bob Hoy, the stunt coordinator. 

One evening when the prison extras were tucking themselves in for the night, Hathaway’s set dresser, Bob Benton, explained that, while they will be “sleeping”, cockroachs will be crawling on them. SAY WHAT!!! That’s when Bob Earle “lost it”. He said “F… that shit. You can take your f…… $75 and cram it.” Benton got Bob off to the side and said he (Bob Earle) would not have to be subjected to the roaches. Bob said “make sure your prop master knows this. If one roach comes within a 5 feet of me, I am outta here.” Benton was true to his word and Bob was spared the company of any roaches. And he still got his $75.

Do you realize how many “Bobs” there are in this story? Bob Carter, Bob LaFleur, Bob Earle, Bob Hoy, Bob Benton. Even I’m confused.

“So what about Steve McQueen?” you may ask? Well, he kept pretty much to himself. When he was not on the shooting schedule, he would seek the company of local motorcyclists who would join him on riding jaunts along parish back roads. He had his own bike with him. He especially enjoyed getting ahead of the pack, and when animal poops would appear just ahead of him on the road, he would do a quick spin over it, spraying his fellow riders behind him. While this little stunt greatly amused Steve, it generally pissed off his fellow riders.

And in case you might have been concerned about the fate of the several hundred cockroaches, they were released back into the woods from whence they came. Just one little footnote here: when the film was finally released, only one cockroach appeared crawling on an “inmate”, stunt coordinator Bob Hoy. Bob Earle was not the only extra that protested "having to keep company with cockroaches."

And finally – there was a bar scene in which a 20 year old uncredited saloon girl appeared. Her name – Loni Anderson.

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