Steven Spielberg’s Comedy Gamble: The Film That Nearly Broke Him
Steven Spielberg opened up about the emotional toll of directing the comedy 1941, admitting the project was outside his comfort zone and not a passion piece. He reflected on the challenges of making a film that didn’t play to his strengths.
For a bloke whose films have raked in more cash than anyone else’s, and who’s bagged three Oscars along the way, you’d reckon Steven Spielberg could handle just about anything thrown his way. Turns out, even the best can hit a wall. After all, he’s the same director who delivered back-to-back hits with Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but when it came to 1941, things didn’t quite go to plan.
Pressure at the Top
Every new project brings its own set of headaches, but when you’re operating at Spielberg’s level, the stakes are sky-high. If something flops, there’s always someone ready to call time on your career. That moment nearly arrived after his meteoric rise, with 1941 looming as a potential disaster from the get-go. The war comedy didn’t exactly tank, but it was a far cry from the runaway success of his previous blockbusters. The production blew out the budget, the set became a bit of a circus, and even John Wayne took offence at the whole idea.
Comedy: A Tough Nut to Crack
Reflecting on the experience a year after the film’s release, Spielberg was pretty candid about what went wrong.
“A comedy is an elusive, chameleon-like beast,”
he mused.
“It’s really an area of film that I’m not going to make a habit of. It’s too fucking tough, panhandling for your supper. Reaching for laughs. Sometimes, stretching the credibility of the storyline beyond all recognisable shape for a simple yuk.”
He knew he could slip a bit of humour into his usual work, but building an entire feature around laughs just wasn’t his strong suit.
“I’m comically courageous when comedy isn’t the home plate,”
he admitted, adding that he’s
“much better when I’m playing shortstop and I can add comedy, for instance, to Jaws.”
Out of His Depth
With 1941, Spielberg felt the pressure to keep things light throughout.
“There better not be a serious moment in the entire film or I’m in trouble.”
Inevitably, a few serious bits crept in, and trouble followed—not just because of the tone, but because he felt out of his depth for the first time. He wasn’t as emotionally invested as he’d been with his earlier hits.
“It wasn’t a film from my heart,”
he confessed.
“It wasn’t a project that I initiated, dreamed about for ten years, although I have shed blood over it as if it were my own. Rather than a bastard adoption, I like to think of it at times as if it were a project I was forced to take because of my own state of mind.”
Lessons Learnt
Nearly 45 years on from 1941’s release, Spielberg hasn’t returned to straight-up comedy. Safe to say, he took the lesson to heart and stuck to what he does best.