Movies at Mechanics' Presents: The Princess Bride (1987)

Movies at Mechanics' has welcomed film enthusiasts for classic cinema screenings and salons on Friday evenings for over 20 years. Join us for fresh popcorn, lively discourse, and your favorite films the first three Fridays of the month. Hosted by Lara Gabrielle, film writer and author of Captain of Her Soul: The Life of Marion Davies.

Our tribute to Rob Reiner comes to a close this month with The Princess Bride. Filled to the brim with quotable lines and memorable characters, The Princess Bride has become an integral part of American pop culture, and one of the most universally loved films of the past 40 years.

A young boy, sick in bed, receives an unexpected gift from his grandfather: a book entitled The Princess Bride. The boy is skeptical and uninterested at first, but his grandfather opens the book and begins the story. It tells of a young woman, Buttercup, who falls in love with a dashing farmhand named Westley. After Westley sets out to seek his fortune on a pirate ship, Buttercup is forced to marry to the hateful Prince Humperdinck. When Westley returns, daring adventures ensue. Westley and Buttercup pursue their love, and attempt to thwart Buttercup's upcoming marriage to Prince Humperdinck. As the tale evolves, so does the relationship between the boy and his grandfather–and we are witness to the power of a story to change a child's outlook.

William Goldman wrote The Princess Bride in 1973, and several attempts had been made to bring the complex novel to the screen. Norman Jewison, Francois Truffaut, and Robert Redford had all tried to make film versions of the story, but no studio could envision a successful adaptation. Finally, Rob Reiner convinced 20th Century Fox to let him try. He was met with strict guidelines: make it a comedy, and don’t be upset if it doesn’t make a profit at the box office. The studio didn’t want a quick moneymaker–it wanted a classic.

A classic it got. Reiner cast a diverse array of stars and non-stars, including his longtime friend Billy Crystal, and the wrestling star Andre the Giant. Cary Elwes was chosen as Westley, due to his “Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn quality,” according to Reiner. To play Buttercup, Reiner tested over 500 actresses, and landed on the virtually unknown Robin Wright. Production was happy, and it shows. Though initially only a modest box office success, as 20th Century Fox predicted, many cast members continue to cite The Princess Bride as a landmark achievement in their careers.

The Princess Bride has become a cult film, one that stands the test of time nearly four decades after its release. Mandy Patinkin (Inigo Montoya), recalls the premiere, and his realization that The Princess Bride would become a modern classic. “I sat with my wife watching the film,” he remembers, “and at the end I was crying. My wife said, ‘What’s the matter?’ I said, ‘I never dreamed I would get to be in anything like this.’”
Join us for Rob Reiner’s inconceivably delightful The Princess Bride, part of our tribute to the beloved late director here at Movies at Mechanics’.

Members: $5

Non-Members: $10