For many people, Deliverance was/is THE canoeing movie. Turns out this summer marked the 40th anniversary of the film's release. Found some photos of the actors doing a sort of reunion at the Burt Reynolds Museum in Florida posing next to one of the canoes apparently used in the shoot.
The midsection of the canoe looks to have undergone some amateur repair and the whole thing is obviously much shorter than a real tripping canoe...what happened to the seats?
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| Canoe used in the film (Burt Reynolds Museum) |
Anyway, found out on the WCHA forums that the canoe was an Old Town 16' Guide. In the "Disaster Scene", John Voight's character takes the canoe backwards down a rapid and the canoe splits in half after getting hung up in the rock, thereby reinforcing the old myth that wooden canoes are fragile. This scene always puzzled me by how easily the cedar hull and canvas split apart so easily when it would seem that a gunnel break would be more likely. Turns out the special effects guys literally sawed the canoe in half at the mid point from gunnel to gunnel for the scene and that explained how the boat dramatically broke apart. Supposed the salvaged bits where re-connected to form the canoe in the Burt Reynolds Museum.
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| The Disaster Scene - split occuring at the midpoint |
Wonder if any of the actors ever went real canoe tripping after filming wrapped up?
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