So true.
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

Noir-It-All; Also unnecessary and not good business.

Thank you. I am all too aware of this. It's a shame.
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

Noir-It-All; Not that they 'animals' are as important, but useless cruelty is senseless. Many a animal died in these productions. This trend still occurs in some nations filmings particularly with Horses. You see a Horse fall forward then you know a 'running W' is being used.

If people died, imagine how poorly the animals fared.
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

Actual Michael Curtiz was far more cavalier in regards to the safety of his people. Just check5b4 out NOAHS ARK and THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE. People REALLY died in the making of those.

I always thought it referred specifically to "The Ten Commandments" due to the unprecedented number of onscreen deaths in that film. Especially the scene where Pharoah's soldiers drown in the Red Sea.

He did a number of epic adventures where the casts would number sometimes into 5 figures. Being that general safety standards were not as stringent and no CGI and that stuntwork was done somewhat more off the cuff than in the present day, accidents would happen. When chariots crashed they would crash for real and in such uncontrolled situations people died. His was not the only set people died on, but since he was very famous, especially for these epics, he became the one who got the reputation and hence the butt of some jokes over it. So it came from on the set accidents and not any sort of Arbuckle type incident.

He practically invented the Hollywood epic. Look at all the big picutres he directed in the '10 and '20. Look at all the films he did.

i too have wondered this, no idea what it is on about though