Image Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
In the first five minutes of the classic film The Princess Bride, a very young Fred Savage is playing a 1980s baseball video game. I hadn’t seen the movie since the advent of Playstation, Xbox, and Wii, and it never struck me as something that might stand out. But this week, sitting in a theater of mega Princess Bride fans — including some who were in costume for the occasion and many who had brought youngsters with them for their first big-screen experience of the film — that beginning moment got one of the biggest laughs of the night. That was even before Cary Elwes showed up afterward to share some secrets from the long-ago set, and what it was like being in such a beloved film. All this nostalgia is in honor of the Arclight movie theaters’ 10th anniversary, which are hosting a series of surprise fan Q&A sessions and screenings with stars of classic films.
While Elwes hasn’t had the massive on-screen career that some people predicted back in 1987, he’s worked consistently, most recently appearing on TV in Psych and on the big screen as the hot doctor competing with Ashton Kutcher for Natalie Portman’s affection in No Strings Attached. At the Q&A, his golden locks were still floppy and he was good humored about taking some ridiculous questions from fans. He’s fine with being Westley forever, and joked that his tombstone will probably say “As you wish.”
