10 Things to Know About 'Bolero' (1984)

10 Things to Know About Bolero

10 Casting Nightmare

Finding a leading man to deflower Bo Derek’s 23 year old virgin in Bolero proved to be quite a challenge. An unnamed actor hired first for the role had to be fired when it was revealed that the actor could not ride a horse. But it was worse for actor Fabio Testi. Testi had been hired by Cannon Films for the role with a significant contract.

Testi was soon fired after what appeared to be a cold sore on his lip was determined by John Derek to be Herpes. This wasn’t true, Testi did not have herpes but that didn’t stop the Derek’s from claiming this was true in effort to justify firing Testi. Cannon films heads, Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus had to settle financially with Testi and hire him for a different movie to keep him from suing everyone involved.

9 Not a Remake of the 1934 Film Bolero

Some entertainment writers in 1984 mistakenly guessed that Bolero was a remake of a 1934 hit called Bolero. That film starred George Raft and Carole Lombard in the story of nightclub dance performers. Somehow, I doubt Raft’s character was trying to lose his virginity to an Arab Sheik or a Bullfighter.

8 The Bullfighting Was Faked

Say what you will about Bo Derek the actress, Bo Derek the person was kind. Though Bolero features a significant plot involving bullfighting, Bo assured reporters that no bulls or any animals were harmed in the making of the film. According to Bo, the bulls in the scene were padded and thus were not pierced by the various swords used by herself and her fellow bullfighters.

7 Bo Wasn’t Ready for Bolero

In an interview 8 months before the release of Bolero, Bo Derek told reporters that though she thought she was ready for Bolero, her husband and director, John, told her that she wasn’t. According to Bo, speaking in third person, her husband was right…

“Well the cameras started turning and I knew he was right. Bo wasn’t ready – so Bo got into trouble. And Bo deserved it.”

What trouble and what she deserved? We don’t know.

6 Originally Scheduled for May 1984

Bolero was first scheduled for release in May of 1984. Showbeat Reporter John Kiely reported in January 1984 that Bolero was supposed to open on May 25th, 1984. The same weekend as Indiana Jones as The Temple of Doom. The film was delayed to August 31st, 1984 following a fallout between Cannon Films, John and Bo Derek, and MGM which dropped the film distribution after finding the film was to be released unrated.

5 MGM Declared Bolero Unreleasable after a Disastrous Test Screening

In January of 1984 Bolero was tested in front of a California audience and the reaction was stunningly bad. The audience at this test screening openly booed the film. This led MGM executives to fire off a telegram to John and Bo Derek to inform them that Bolero was “Unreleasable” in its current form.

4 Completely Insufferable and a Total Embarrassment

Cannon Films executives joined MGM executives at that disastrous test screening in January of 1984 and also sent a message to John and Bo calling the film “Completely insufferable and a total embarrassment.” Coming from the men who made The Apple, that’s saying something.

3 Cannon Films Leaked Word of the Disastrous Screening to Get John Derek’s Attention

Though Cannon Films had given John Derek the final cut on Bolero, along with a layout of somewhere between $7 and $20 million dollars to make Bolero, that didn’t mean they were comfortable with what Derek was doing. Indeed, they appeared quite well aware that they had a real turkey on their hands but they knew John Derek was not going to change anything unless they could convince him to change it.

Thus, it’s claimed by Hollywood gossip columnist Jack Matthews that Golan and Globus leaked word of the disastrous test screening that included uncontrollable laughter and jeers from the audience. They also included in the leaked memo from Golan and Globus calling the film insufferable and a total embarrassment.

2 Menahem Golan Still Tried to Pump Up the Film Even After Having Trashed It.

Golan and Globus are legends in Hollywood for many things but one identity above all else that emerged was one of being carnival barkers always on the make. Nowhere is this reputation more evidence and odd than with Bolero. Even as they were trading insults in court over Bolero, Menachem Golan kept selling the movie:

“We have what we think to be the hottest movie of the decade. What Bo promised in 10, she delivers here. Everyone wants to see Bo doing it. Although you see frontal nudity and she makes sex, it’s not pornographic. You do not see penetration but it’s hot. And it became hotter and hotter due to a very publicized feud between us and the Derek’s, not intentional, I swear.”

1 Ravel’s Bolero is Not in Bolero

While Bo had shown herself fully to Dudley Moore in 10 to the strains of Ravel’s Bolero, that legendary musical composition is not in the movie Bolero. Indeed, it appears the title was selected simply to remind audiences of 10, a film many people actually liked. Oh, and because Bo's name is in the word Bolero.