Billy Crystal looks back at 'City Slickers' 30 years later

Billy Crystal, the star of City Slickers, talks to Yahoo Entertainment about the film 30 years later.

Video Transcript

- Ma'am.

- That is the toughest man I've ever seen in my life.

ETHAN ALTER: City Slickers, which turns 30. I know you wrote this in your autobiography, but I was really fascinated to learn that Charles Bronson almost played the Jack Palance role.

BILLY CRYSTAL: Curly, yeah, yeah.

ETHAN ALTER: Yeah, how did that come about? What's the story behind it?

BILLY CRYSTAL: Well, we had a-- Jack, at the time, wasn't sure he could do the part. And he was by far our first choice, and he had a conflict with this other movie he didn't think he could get out of. So we were going to start shooting. We had a start date and everything. So we got a call from Mr. Bronson's agent that he was available, and give him a call.

So we sent him the script, and we waited, like, a day. Because that's pretty much all we had to get an answer from him, and they said, he's going to call you exactly at 12 o'clock. So I'm in my office at Castle Rock, and the producers were around. And it's on a speakerphone, and assistant yells out, Mr. Bronson, on your private life.

So I picked it up. I go, hello, Mr. Bronson? And he just went-- he cursed me out. And he F bombed me four or five times, thinking, what? And I'm thinking he's going to say, F you, what a great script. And said, he says, I'm dead.

I'm dead on page 53. How could you do this? Nobody kills Charles Bronson. Didn't you see my death wish movies? I don't die. Charles Bronson, how could you, you know? You're insulting me by killing me off.

I said, well, that's the key part of the story in that he has to die, so the three guys bring in the herd themselves. And you and I would have these really lovely scenes together. And because of you, I'm able to find myself and help bring in the herd.

F you. I'm dead. He hangs up, and we were just, like, shocked. And maybe a few minutes later, we get a call from Jack, saying, he worked it out. He's in, and we were able to do the film.

So we make the movie. It does very well in initial screenings and everything, so we take the movie to the Cannes Film Festival. And we're having this big party, and it was honoring Jack, and his career.

So it was just very grand, so we come back afterwards to the Hotel Du Cop was where everybody was staying. And the lobby became, like, this phenomenal bar. Everybody who was there hung out in the lobby. Jack and I walked in.

He's got his arm around me as people, paparazzi, paparazzi. And then who do I see sitting on a couch, but Charles Bronson? He's there with Sean Penn, and I just looked at him and just nodded my head. And he got up and walked out, and I had great respect for him. He was a fantastic actor, and then Jack went on to win the Oscar.

ETHAN ALTER: speaking of the Oscars, and Jack, I mean, that was a memorable Oscar speech. He introduced himself by saying, I crap bigger than him, and then did one arm push ups.

BILLY CRYSTAL: Well, I crap bigger than him was from the movie.

ETHAN ALTER: Right.

BILLY CRYSTAL: And people didn't know that, and people thought he was dissing me. But he was-- it was very-- he meant it very affectionately. And he said a couple other things under his breath, watching him going, like one of the Little Rascals, if he saw a ghost. When we were writing the script with Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, who were fantastic, and I had written this the story.

When I met with them, I said, here, and pitched this story. And then they went off and wrote a great script. But many times in the office when we were polishing it, I would be the voice of Jack, and I would act out and give lines.

And Jack was in the first movie that I ever saw, which was Shane, and he was the bad guy, Wilson. So to be able to act with him, you know, when seeing him and Shane, with Alan Ladd, and Van Heflin, and Jean Arthur, and this great-- you know, I wanted to be in the movies. Because I saw this Brandon deWilde in the movie. Shane, Shane, come back, Shane.

To act with him was just really one of the really high moments in my acting career, because I've acted with some-- I had the privilege to work with some really great people. But there was such a feeling of, wow, now, I'm in this place, working with Jack. And he was so stunning in the movie, and you know, he's only in the movie 12 minutes. I mean, it's like, really, 12, 14 minutes of screen time, but it's packed with wonderful work.

And our scenes together make the whole movie work with the essence of Curley's one thing, this one thing. If you stick to that, everything else don't matter.

Five years ago, we had a 25th anniversary screening at a great theater out here in Santa Monica called The Arrow, which shows vintage films. And it was packed.

Whoever was in town from the original cast was there, and the movie played, like it did 25, now, 30 years ago. Huge laughs, a lot of sentiment of the best kind. It was really emotional in the best way.

ETHAN ALTER: I do have to ask really quickly about another famous co-star from that movie, Norman the calf. What happened to him? What career did he go on to have after?

BILLY CRYSTAL: Well, fortunately, and I have to say, we protected-- there were, like, 20 Normans. Because they grew so fast, and the little, little one was, like, a little deer. And that's the one that's sort of in the last scene when he comes to me, and I realize, I got to get home, and what the one thing really is. And I can't let him become veal parmesan, and the last two went to Rutgers University had a dairy farm at the time. I hope they still do, so he went into retirement there. Happy anniversary, City Slickers. Jeez.