Trivia

Among the directors in attendance during the film's screening at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival was a young man who sat directly behind Ted Kotcheff . The director noted that throughout the screening, the man excitedly made commentary on the onscreen action, such as "Wow. Wow, what a scene. Boy, I didn't expect that. This is great". His remarks reached their zenith during John and Doc's homosexual encounter, during which he said "This director, he's going to go all the way. He's going to go all the way. He's going all the way! Oh my God! He went all the way!" Pleased by his reaction, Kotcheff asked the film's PR manager to identify the eager young man for him: Martin Scorsese , an unknown in the industry whose only film, Wer klopft denn da an meine Tür? (1967), had flopped (ironically, Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), which premiered at Cannes five years later, would win the Palme d'Or, the prize this film was in competition for and lost). Scorsese championed the film during the restored version's screening at the Cannes Classics program (which he curated) during the 2009 Festival; part of his laudatory quote on the film - "It left me speechless" - was used in much of the advertising campaign for its re-release, as well as for several the trailers of the TV miniseries remake ( Wake in Fright (2017)). See more