Captain Grose's R. Lee Ermey pages

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SLEEPING WITH THE SMOKEY

 

 
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The last scene in the first half of the movie called for a sleeping Gunnery SergeantHartman to be awakened by Private Pyle and Private Joker who were in the head. When they filmed that last scene, Lee was to report to wardrobe and get dressed in boxer shorts, flip flops, and a sweatshirt without sleeves. When he got to the scene, he had taken it upon himself to wear his DI cover, the famed smoky bear. Kubrick looked at him and asked why the hell he was wearing a hat if the scene asked for him to come out of his duty hut, presumably right out of bed.

Lee explained to him that the cover was his symbol of authority and that any drill instructor would put it on when he came out of his hut, regardless of his attire or time of night. I found this funny because he brought this up himself and until he mentioned it, it had not even occurred to me that this was strange. Of course the DI would have his cover on. Wasn't it a part of his head?

Lee also pointed out that the only time you see him without his cover is when he is laying dead at the end of the last scene when Pyle had shot him in the chest. Again, this had never occurred to me and I guess you can make some symbolic statement about it if you are into the analytical aspects of a movie. I just thought it was an intense end to an intense movie, or at least half of it.

Chance Encounter
In The Beginning...
The Fear Was Real
He Even Scared Me
Who Were Those Privates, Anyway?
Sleeping with the Smokey
What Have You Done To Me?
All Good Things Must Come to An End


Email -- jdgrose115@polyglut.net
Web -- https://members.tripod.com/~jdgrose115/

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