Blood River Lake Disaster

During filming for The Pirates of Blood River in 1961, the stunt professionals refused to perform a scene that required the pirate actors to wade through a lake. Director John Gilling pushed ahead anyway, so the actors did the scene themselves. Christopher Lee later said Michael Ripper nearly drowned, that he survived only because his 6-foot-4 height kept him above the water, and that Oliver Reed ended up hospitalized with an eye infection.

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