Hasitha Fernando delves into the story behind Dead Poets Society as the film celebrates its 35th anniversary…
To stand out in a filmography that is as impressive as Robin Williams’ makes it a very special movie, and Dead Poets Society is just that and then some. One of the most memorable coming-of-age dramas to ever be conceived, the film continues to make an impact and connect with audiences even 35 years later. In this article we detail what when on behind-the-scenes during the making of this unforgettable effort…
The story was based on the writer’s experiences during his school years
Before getting his big break with Dead Poets Society writer Tom Schulman’s efforts were mostly centered around TV movies. Schulman based the character of the ever-inspirational John Keating played by Robin Williams on one of his own teachers, Samuel Pickering. The writer penned the screenplay for Dead Poets Society in 1985, based on his experiences as a student at the Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, but it took another four years for his script to become a reality. During this time period Schulman was sent several suggestions by Touchstone Picture to make his story appeal to a broader audience. One of these suggestions were to make the boys’ passion dancing instead of poetry and to have the movie be titled as “Sultans of Swing”, shifting focus to Mr. Keating instead of the younger cast members. Fortunately, Schulman vetoed these scandalous ideas immediately.
Liam Neeson, Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks, & Mickey Rourke were all considered for Mr. Keating
When one talks about Dead Poets Society now it would be impossible not to mention the astounding performance dished out by Robin Williams. Because the actor simply took the material and elevated it to such a dizzying level of awesomeness that one cannot help highlighting his contribution. Widely regarded as one of the greatest comedians of all time, Williams was well-known for his mind-blowing improvisational skills and the depth he brought to his characters with his well-timed levity. Naturally, the legendary performer ended up garnering numerous accolades including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, five Grammy Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards during his career due to his innate talent. But before Robin Williams took the role of Mr. Keating, Liam Neeson was the original director Jeff Kanew’s preferred choice. Among the other actors who were in discussions for the role were Dustin Hoffman, Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks and Mickey Rourke.
Robin Williams was not a fan of the film’s original director
Before being hired to helm Dead Poets Society Jeff Kanew’s efforts were mostly confined to comedy fares like Revenge of the Nerds (1984), Gotcha! (1985) and Tough Guys (1986). And it was he who was pushing for Liam Neeson to be cast as Mr. Keating in the movie as well. Robin Williams was Touchstone Pictures’ preferred choice from the get-go but the actor never communicated to the studio the reason as to why he was hesitant to join the project. So, when he ultimately got cast the way he expressed his dissatisfaction of Kanew was by not showing up to work on the first day of shooting. Suffice it to say, the studio had no way of going forwards without Williams, so they fired Kanew, burned down the already-built sets and hired another director. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out either so the project was temporarily put on hiatus until Peter Weir came along.
Peter Weir’s involvement with the film came about quite by accident
Peter Weir was at the forefront of the Australian New Wave cinema movement with efforts such as the mystery drama Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), supernatural chiller The Last Wave (1977) and historical war piece Gallipoli (1981), all stories transpiring in his native Australia. However, the 1982 romantic drama The Year of Living Dangerously brought Weir the worldwide recognition he needed in a big way. In late 1988, the filmmaker met with then CEO of Touchstone Pictures Jefferey Katzenberg and was suggested by the latter to read Schulman’s script. Weir was simply captivated by what he read and six weeks later the guy signed on the dotted line and was back in Los Angeles to cast the principal characters of the movie. Weir had previously planned to film Green Card (1990) with Gérard Depardieu but his unavailability and Schulman’s terrific script prompted him to pursue Dead Poets Society next.
The young cast members were given books about life in the 1950s
Peter Weir was quite particular that the young cast members should bond with each other properly. So, in order to build up their camaraderie Weir had them all room together. The filmmaker also took the unique creative decision to shoot the movie in chronological order so as to accurately capture the development of the relationships between the boys and their growing respect towards their teacher and inspiration Mr. Keating. To get the actors into the right mindset Weir also gave his young ensemble books that detailed what kids of the 1950s era saw at the movies, listened to on the radio and so on. He also strictly instructed them not to use modern swear words even off camera.
Ethan Hawke thought director Peter Weir “spoke funny”
From his breakout role in Dead Poets Society Ethan Hawke has gone on to become one of Hollywood’s most versatile working actors. He drew much acclaim for the critically lauded Before trilogy crafted by indie filmmaker Richard Linklater and of course for his Academy Award nominated performances on Training Day (2001) and Boyhood (2014). Hawke was already two months into college over at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh when he won the part of Todd Anderson in Dead Poets Society and his first impression of director Peter Weir was that he “spoke funny”. That was because Weir was the first Australian that the young Ethan Hawke had ever come across. Whoops.
Robin Williams would do anything to get a laugh out of Ethan Hawke
Even from a very young age Ethan Hawke was the consummate professional. Since Dead Poets Society was, for the most part, a serious coming-of-age drama he kept very much in character without loosening up. This naturally didn’t sit well with the jovial Robin Williams who, in between takes, tried his utmost to get Hawke to laugh. However, the young actor didn’t want to lose his focus on what he was doing and even found Williams’s attempts to make him laugh rather irritating. Because of this Hawke assumed that Williams didn’t like him as a person but he was surprised to find out that Williams recommended the young performer to his first acting agent who told him, “Robin Williams said you’re going far in the business,” and boy, he wasn’t that wrong was he?
A tragic scene was ommited by the director who deemed in unnecessary
It’s unknown to what extent screenwriter Tom Schulman agreed with Peter Weir’s decision to exclude a pivotal scene featured in his script but it happened, nevertheless. In Schulman’s original manuscript there is a tragic scene involving Mr. Keating which has him on his deathbed slowly dying of Hodgkins Lymphoma. Weir deemed this an unnecessary scene because it would shift the audiences focus to Mr. Keating’s illness and not what the inspiring individual stood for. So, on Weir’s suggestion that particular scene was removed from the story.
Box-office winnings, critical acclaim, awards glory & legacy
Made on a modest budget of $16.4 million Dead Poets Society managed to rake in an impressive $235.9 million worldwide with the film’s global receipts being the fifth highest for 1989. The movie fared quite well with the critics as well and as of writing holds an approval rating of 84% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 61 reviews, with an average score of 7.2/10. The website’s critical consensus reads: “Affecting performances from the young cast and a genuinely inspirational turn from Robin Williams grant Peter Weir’s prep school drama top honors.”
The Washington Post’s reviewer called it “solid, smart entertainment”, and praised Robin Williams for giving a “nicely restrained acting performance”. Vincent Canby of The New York Times also praised Williams’ “exceptionally fine performance”, while writing that “Dead Poets Society… is far less about Keating than about a handful of impressionable boys”. The movie also nabbed the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 62nd Oscars ceremony whilst being nominated for Best Picture and Best Director, and at that year’s BAFTAs the movie walked away with Best Film and Best Original Score and received further nominations at the Golden Globe Awards as well.
Since its release Dead Poets Society has taken on a life of its own, appearing in a multitude of retrospective movie lists like AFI’s 100 years…100 Cheers where it was voted #52 in the top 100 most inspiring films of all time. The movie’s very famous line, “Carpe Diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary”, was voted the 95th greatest movie quote by the American Film Institute (AFI). Following Robin Williams’s untimely and tragic demise in August 2014, fans of his efforts used social media to pay tribute to the late actor using the film’s iconic “O Captain! My Captain!” scene.
Due to the flicks enduring popularity multiple stage plays were conceived over the years, with most receiving respectable reviews. A sequel to the film, which followed the journey of Ethan Hawke’s Todd Anderson, was planned at one point but sometimes certain things ought to be left alone because they are just too beautiful and precious to quantify.
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Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.
