The Wind and The Lion - Production

Production

Milius originally wanted Omar Sharif to play Raisuli, and Faye Dunaway as Eden Perdicaris, but Sharif refused the part and Dunaway became ill, having to be replaced at short notice by Bergen. Anthony Quinn was also considered for Raisuli. Milius said he wrote the part of Eden with Julie Christie in mind, although she may not have actually been approached for the role.

Filming was done in Spain, with the towns of Seville, Almeria, and Madrid all doubling for Tangier and Fez, and the "Washington" scenes being filmed in and around Madrid. For the deserts of Morocco, Milius used many locations in the Almeria region, some of which had been previously used in historical epics such as Lawrence of Arabia and El Cid, as well as several Spaghetti Westerns, though he claims to have discovered the beach where Raisuli rescues the Perdicaris family after their escape. The scene at Yellowstone National Park (where Roosevelt gives his famous grizzly bear speech) was filmed in the Meseta Central, north of Madrid. These latter two locations would each re-appear in Milius's Conan the Barbarian. The U.S. Marines and sailors used in the Tangier attack scene were Spanish special forces troops, along with a handful of USMC advisors, who marched with precision through the streets of Seville and Almeria en route to the Bashaw's palace. According to Milius (on the DVD commentary), the US Marine Corps actually shows this scene to its advanced infantry classes for midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy.

According to John Milius, virtually all of the film's stunts were performed by Terry Leonard, - Terry Leonard was the stunt gaffer and did some of the stunts - who also has a minor part as Roosevelt's boxing opponent early in the film. Milius claims that only four American stunt men were used in the entire final battle scene -the number of Spanish stunt men were close to twenty througthout the filming-, and he and Leonard have defended the film against criticism for alleged "animal cruelty", claiming that not a single horse was seriously hurt during filming. While filming this scene, Antoine Saint-John revealed himself to be terrified of horses, and would often hide somewhere on the set when his sword fight with Sean Connery was to be filmed.

Several the film's crew are cast in the movie, most notably the cinematographer, Billy Williams (perhaps best known for Ken Russell's film of Women of Love), plays the gun-shooting, white-suited Englishman Sir Joshua Smith in the opening scenes of the attack at the Pedecaris villa. The special effects supervisor Alex Weldon appears as Roosevelt's Secretary of War, Elihu Root, and Milius himself cameos as the one-armed German officer who gives the Sultan his Maxim gun to test-fire ("Herr Sultan is displeased?").