Childhood Inspirations
If you remember, the character Sheriff Bart wasn’t the most popular figure. And in order to be let free by the villagers, he held a gun to his head to make his point. In fact, Brooks got the idea from something that happened in his childhood. As a kid, he once tried to steal a water gun and a pack of gum from a store. When the sales clerk tried to stop him, the young Mel pointed the “gun” at him, threatening to pull the trigger!
Source: WSJ
Warner Brothers knew Brooks was capable of recapturing the kind of magic he made in the movie ‘The Producers.’ In the early viewings of the film, however, the movie was poorly received, and the studio executives were worried the movie wouldn’t do well. Yet, Brooks was sure the movie would do well – that they just needed to show it to the masses. Warner Brothers still agreed to release the movie, and they were eventually proven wrong based on audience reactions.
But Brooks had to do some convincing at first…