This Was The Most Expensive Food Fight Ever Filmed
There's always been a specific enticement tied to food fights, much like the urge to slam a "do not press" button with all your might. After being constantly told not to play with our food growing up — good dining etiquette, after all — the thought of breaking the rules has always felt extra appealing. There have been nearly endless examples of food fights and pies to the face on screen, but when it comes to truly epic cinematic food fights, one movie takes the cake, so to speak. Director Blake Edwards believed that an elaborate food fight scene was absolutely critical for the success of his 1965 film "The Great Race," according to Movies TV Network.
The movie follows a competitive crowd in a heated race from New York to Paris in the early 20th century. They won't let anyone or anything stand in their way of winning, even a food fight.
According to the cast, being in a pie brawl wasn't all it's cracked up to be. One food fight may be a blast, but a five-day food fight must be exhausting. The epic scene lasts a total of four minutes, but it took a full work week to get all the footage needed. Not only was this scene the biggest pie fight in movie history, but the priciest.
Director Edwards believed pie was priceless when it came to his film
The budget that studio manager Jack Warner established somehow kept increasing, thanks to Edwards' charm, reveals Movies TV Network. Initially set to be $6 million, Edwards managed to double the budget which allowed him to create the pie fight scene of his dreams. The cast utilized a variety of edible weapons in the extensive dessert battle. All within the pastry family, characters hucked pies stuffed with fruit, custard, and even whipped cream, shares IMDB, making a real mess of chaos.
More than 4,000 pies were involved in the fight, and the sequence cost enough to buy a small house. The pies set them back $18,000, which with inflation would be around $150,000 today (via Dollar Times). That may sound like a hefty payment, but that's only a small sliver of the grand total. The scene itself cost $200,000, pushing the five-minute scene to cost over $1.5 million in today's currency. A food fight is expected to be messy, but dangerous is another factor that may not come to mind. Cast members were getting pies to the face repeatedly, and if the pie isn't thrown just like, getting hit feels like "a ton of cement" according to Jack Lemmon. It turns out there really can be too much of a good thing, pies included.