Re: Scenic and the C&TS, an Oral History, Part 5A: 1974, Biting the Bullet

Hi Kelly, I'm afraid that was me - one of the scenes where I became "the face on the cutting room floor." Although they did keep me in it for a VERY brief moment, there was originally somewhat more to the scene.


The director told me that I was to see Gene Hackman's character arriving from out of the darkness, then show an expression of recognition (he was leading the newspaper owner's own entry, and the owner was getting worried that his horse wouldn't show up in time for the race). As the locomotive came to a stop, I was to quickly climb down and run off to tell the owner that the horse had arrived. They even installed special lights in the cab to make me more visible.

We did the scene as I was instructed, but the only thing left after editing was that brief flash of my face. It's so brief that you have to approach it frame by frame and freeze it to even know it's me. You couldn't really tell at all on the video tape version!

But that's not even the scene I was referring to before. I had a much longer, more elaborate scene that mysteriously disappeared in the final cut, as well. If anyone is interested, I would be glad to tell the tale.