John Saxon was in attendance for the first night of the Palm Springs Film Noir Fest, screening his 1959 film Cry Tough. He was quite game for a barrage of questions and was very personable when leading the conversation.
What’s in a name? When Saxon hit it big, his agent told him to pick a name that stuck out in the front of a rolodex, so he chose Cody Bennett. Hollywood didn’t agree, and he ultimately chose the last name Saxon after his favorite rollerhockey street team. His first name was to be Rand, but that didn’t fly in the UK. There was some other unknown named Rip, so they let him keep that. John was the one that stuck.
He dished the dirt on his beginnings as a true romance magazine model, studio contracts, working with Brando, Stella Adler and Bruce Lee. The latter he met in Hong Kong, and Lee asked to see Saxon’s side kick. Good enough, but Bruce offered to show him the goods, and knocked Saxon back 10 feet in the process. Landing on a chair, it instantly shattered. Lee squealed in concern for the chair, because as he had pulled this stunt before on visitors, but this was the first time the chair broke.
Comments (2)
I have tried and tried to find a copy of the movie of Mr, Saxon, my favorite of his films, he played a Puerto Rican and I being one thought that he put Puerto Rico on the map. I can not find a copy VHS or DVD, I looked in leonard Maltins movie book once and it had the symbol for VHS,they must have been wrong I did not find it. I have even called Eddie Brants Saturday Matinee in colifornia and they do not have it either, Please is there any way of getting a copy. Sincerely, Samuel Jusino
I saw Mr. Saxon in California in the theater production of The Tenth Man, that was the first time I had ever seen him in person, I was staring so hard that I believe he took pity on me and gave me a wink, that was when the actors all stood up at the end of the play to take thier bows,Hey,I'm from brooklyn, one of our own made it big ,I am very proud of Mr. Saxon.
Posted by samuel jusino | January 16, 2008 12:47 PM
Posted on January 16, 2008 12:47
Unfortunately this fest often obtains rare prints to screen. You might try contacting the festival to see if they have suggestions. They have a link page that might be helpful.
Good luck!
Posted by Deborah | January 18, 2008 12:30 AM
Posted on January 18, 2008 00:30