The mistake in Goodfellas that cost $20,000
It’s easy to forget today, but Martin Scorsese wasn’t exactly known for making hit movies during the biggest part of his career. He certainly made proactive movies, ones that consistently achieved critical acclaim and were often within the cultural conversation when they came out, but his penchant for violence and darkness ostracised Scorsese when it came to mainstream popularity.
Just look at some of the budgets for his most famous films: $500,000 for Mean Streets, $2 million for Taxi Driver. Even when he was established, Scorsese had a short leash on budget and only moderate box office returns. Beloved classics like Raging Bull and The Color of Money were made on the cheap and weren’t major box office successes. Scorsese didn’t have the luxury of just throwing money around (at least not until the Wolf of Wall Street era), so expensive mistakes could easily derail some of his films.
Goodfellas is the perfect example of a film whose legacy far outreaches its initial returns. Made for $25 million back in 1990, Goodfellas saw a return of less than $50 million, despite being one of Scorsese’s masterworks. During one of the legendary longshots that Scorsese favoured during the film, a missed cue led to a pricey reshoot.
After the Lufthansa heist towards the back half of the film, most of the major characters gather for a round of drinks to celebrate Christmas. The scene is probably best remembered for Robert De Niro’s command of the screen, including a hilarious repudiation of everyone who spent their share of the money immediately.
We see just about everyone at the bar, including actress Illeana Douglas, who plays one of Joe Pesci’s girlfriends. Douglas’ pivotal line is “If I even look at anyone else, he’ll kill me,” referring to Pesci’s murderous Tommy. While tracking the shot, Douglas initially downed the drink in front of her, but the second she did, Scorsese called cut.
Scorsese told everyone else that it was a technical problem, but Douglas recalls that Scorsese later told her that her mess-up was a costly one. “$20,000 mistake, Marty later told me,” Douglas wrote in her memoir. “He never let anyone know but me, but he cared enough that he wanted every actor in the frame to be perfect.”
It’s not exactly clear what cost $20,000. It could have been the amount of film they were using to try and capture the shot, and I certainly hope that it wasn’t the drink she downed that cost $20,000. Either way, all parties involved eventually got themselves together to make the shot one of the film’s iconic long takes.
