Fandango movie: Fan Stories

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Stories from fans who have buried their own bottle of Dom (or cheaper substitute) or gone on a filming-locations road trip. Plus stories from crew members who worked on the film.

"We're gonna have to dig up JACK..."

I wanted to let you know that my college roommates and I buried a bottle of Jack Daniels at the border of Mexico. We painted "Jack" on a large rock near Larado, Texas (which you could see from a distance), and returned three years later to dig up our buddy.

(Photos of them burying and digging up the bottle). The cool thing is the word "Jack" is faded from nature on the return picture...

Fandango UK

Alex (this site's author) and flatmates Scott Snowden and James Brown (no, not that one) did their own version of the DOM burying in Coventry, England. Not nearly as cool as Texas, admittedly. Making as much of a road trip as possible in suburban middle England, we blacked-up and headed out at 2am armed with shovels and a bottle of plonk.

Extra in the wedding scene

Great site! I was actually an extra in the movie for the wedding scene. I was only 16 at the time but it was a great experience. Most people look at me strange when I try to explain the movie I was in but I think it really did make for a good movie. I really wish the soundtrack had come out but you can't have everything. I gave away most of the souvenir items I had from the movie but I'll search the archives to see if there is anything of use for your site ...too bad digital cameras weren't made then.

All I can say is Chuck Bush was a hell of a guy to have around the set. Judd Nelson was the best actor to hang out with since he wasn't stuck up yet at the time. Costner was a prima dona even back then as I remember, flying home every weekend and not really hanging out with the crew. Oh, and I made a whopping $48 for my entire week, which judging by the movie revenue I guess I did alright.

An email from Brian 'Lester' Cesak

Hey Alex, My name is Brian Cesak (aka: Lester Griffith). Just found your website and found it very interesting. One day when I get a scanner, I will send you some behind the scenes pics. If you're interested send me an email and I will try and fill you in on anything you'd like to know about the movie, behind the scenes etc... On the credits page you don't mention Lester's last name nor Dorman's. I'll see if I can find out if Dorman even had a last name and send it to you if he does.

Thanks for the info and for giving me Chuck's email address. I haven't talked to him in quite a while. I got your other two emails last week. I'm going to be busy for the next several months opening up my new Chiropractic clinic in Houston. I'll send you some pics I have as soon as I get a scanner or have access to one. I'll try and send some stories from the movie set as well as time permits.. I love your website. Keep up the great work.

Looking for the site of the McLean Massacre

Hi, I'm Jessica, I think you've been talking to my dad, Buzz. Fandango is my all time favorite movie too. Yesterday we went to the site of the McLean massacre. He found its location through the state of Texas website. Instead of being anywhere on the Fandango route, the website gave the location as being eight miles south of Palestine, TX. (East TX, about three hours down and to the right from Dallas which is fortunate because that's where we live.) We found the street where the marker is supposed to be fairly easily but, unfortunately, right at sunset.

The website said it would be on the corner of the second street on the left. We hiked around but found nothing. Then we decided to drive very slowly up and down the street (Anderson County Road 185, for those who'd like to go.) and examine every opening in the brush on both sides of the street. Nothing. (They seem to abandon a lot of furniture and appliances on the sides of the road out there, however.)

In desperation, my dad stopped at a small frame house where an old man sat on his porch swing chewing tobacco. He knew right where the marker was (turns out it was on the other side of the street, a bit further west than the website had said.) and directed us to a house with a red pickup truck and a hay barn that had recently been redone. We headed back up the street and there, lo and behold, in someone's front yard, literally twenty feet from their front door and right next to their mailbox, a bright, white granite structure taller than both of us, is the marker. It's not like in the movie; there are no railroad tracks, no dirt, it isn't a low concrete square that you read from the top - it actually looks like a giant tombstone, but the text is the same.

So now, we're full of questions... why would you choose to import a historical marker to a part of Texas that is inaccurate? How did it get there? Why that marker? My theory is this: on the TX gov't website, it said that repairs had been made on the marker and I believe that they're recent. The marker in Slocum looks brand new but the date it became a marker is 1936. I think that they replaced it with the granite one out there now and took the one that you see in the movie away. I don't know how it got into the hands of anyone in the movie, maybe they sell old markers or maybe they just throw them away and someone happened to go through the state of Texas' dumpster. If anyone has any info, please let me know.

I wonder if they left the other marker out there by the railroad tracks. I wonder if Kevin Reynolds keeps it in his backyard. I wonder if he had it made for the movie. Oh, I'm just so full of questions now! But it was a great experience, we saw an armadillo scurry off the road away from our car on the way back and I think my dad will be sending you pictures soon.

Meeting Chuck Bush

Ever since becoming familiar with the net, I have wondered if I could locate anything regarding this great movie. I actually had the pleasure of meeting and knowing Chuck "Tank" Bush right after filming. I was introduced to him by my aunt and uncle. He even visited my house once. A photo taken with him is one of my best memories and most prized possessions. He was even nicer than the character he played.

It's been several years since I've spoken with him, but Fandango remains truly one of my all-time favorites for too many reasons to list here. Congratulations on a wonderful site! Keep up the good work.

There is a Dairy Queen in Marfa (and that is about it!), but no Sonic. That reminds me: Why did the gas station attendee in the movie say that there is a "Dairy Queen" down the road (in Marfa) when the Groovers ended up going to a Sonic? Sonic did not open until the mid-1980's. We also traveled to Presidio. What a hot, dry hell-hole. It was 112 degrees in the shade. None of the streets were paved and the only thing living there was cactus.

The sign says the base was open in 1942 and housed up to 2000 aircraft. It was one of the best training facilities in the nations, had some of the best pilots, and actually housed the Enola Gay for some time.

Chico State University 'Bury the Bottle'

My brother and his fraternity friends watched Fandango back in their days at Chico State University (1986). To this day, they have a select group of guys that come together once a year to dig up a bottle of liquor - the first year it was a bottle of DOM (only the guys that were included in the original group back in 1986 are allowed to attend each year's get together). They call it "Bury The Bottle", and my brother has been there every year for the past 16 years. It was inspired by their favorite film, Fandango. Because the film came out in 1984, maybe we should petition Warner Brothers to re-release the film in theatres in commemoration of its 20th anniversary. I can't, for the life of me, understand why this film wasn't one of the biggest films of its generation. I guess it's a reflection of the common person's mentality/taste when I can easily get "American Pie" and "Dude, Who Stole My Car" on DVD, but not a movie like "Fandango".

Working on the Fandango set

What a great site! Just spent two fun hours enjoying it, and will spend more perusing the rest. Somewhere I have the original 8x10 of the 'Complimentary' polaroid Truman shot of the Groovers with the laundry falling out of the sky. We made it from a frame from the film then from that into the prop polaroid Philip looks at later on. Next time I come across it I'll be sure to send you the image. It needs to be framed and hung in a special spot here at home as well as on your site.

Fandango was my first feature film. I'd been paying my dues at Warner Bros. and moving up to Assistant Editor for years, ending up on The Dukes of Hazzard, when they needed a 'Contact Man' for Fandango because editor Artie Schmidt and his staff were on location with Kevin Reynolds rather than here on the lot as was usually the case. The exposed camera negative was shipped to Technicolor and the sound to Warners Sound Transfer at the end of each shooting day. My job was to retrieve picture and sound, sync 'em up and prepare dailies, screen them for the Warner executives, take screening notes then ship the lot back to location each day.

At the time I didn't realize I was working on one of the two favorite films of my 27-year career. It was my first feature after all, and I was thrilled to be on a feature schedule of months to deliver a 2-hour project rather than the 3-weeks we had to deliver a 1-hour 'Dukes' episode. The quality of performance, photography and editing is just so much better when the artists have some time to ply their craft. And we had a really cool story.

I'd read the script and loved it but was truly unprepared for the magical material that unfolded in the darkness of the executive screening room. The first day of the shoot at the parachute school was hysterical! Nobody expected that kind of art direction and imagery let alone the Truman character. And the mechanic's performance was truly mystical. The execs hadn't seen that kind of thing before and weren't sure what to make of it. I think that's why Kevin Reynolds took everything on location with him - so the studio wouldn't interfere. Orson Welles did that a lot but I'm not trying to imply any comparisons. Had the Warners execs been more courageous they would have given the picture the advertising hype it deserved which would have made it a financial and critical success. After all, most of the cast turned out to be major stars and the editor won an Oscar for Who Framed Roger Rabbit, among others.

Originally, when the guys are sleeping at the Giant set ruins, there was a long montage panning over the Groovers; as the camera lingers on each Groover we see their dreams - which sort of still remains in the movie - but at the end is Lester and he's dreaming... A TV TEST PATTERN! The one with the Indian. It was really hard to find that image for the film since we had no Internet back then. I wish it made the final cut because after Gardner's beautiful and serious dream it's a helluva punchline.

I also remember how Kevin Costner called the cutting room late one night wanting to talk to Mr. Schmidt and I was the only one there. Although it's never happened again we talked over an hour, mostly about tossing Dom over the cliff above the Rio Grande. Apparently he was on dangerous footing and when the bottle went down it spun, the champagne vaporized and the canyon winds blew the vapor back up in his face. He thought that was mystical. I think it was too. Fandango is a very special, if small, film.

I gotta stop this stroll down memory lane. Right now. Thanks again for the thoughtful, wonderful, enjoyable and entertaining website. These days especially we need more positive stuff in our lives.

Watching the movie... with a special guest

Hello - I just stumbled upon your site after a dozen click-thrus trying to find a copy of Kevin Reynolds' student film, Proof (so far I'm unsuccessful. Maybe it'll be included on the DVD). I'm impressed with your site. Lots of information and great pieces of trivia - although I can't tell you how disappointed I am that the DOM rock isn't on the border of Mexico at the conclusion of a long hike through the wilderness but, rather, sitting on the edge of a road.

Fandango still ranks as one of my favorite films. I'm one of probably less than 1,000 people to see it in the theatre. I saw it in NYC in 1985. Interesting story about that. It was a Sunday afternoon and I had just flown back to New Jersey from a two week visit in Boca Raton, Florida, visiting my parents. Down in Boca Raton, the movie choices are slim; the theatres only play films in wide release. Not being a big fan of such films, and living only 15 minutes outside of NYC where I often would go to satisfy my eclectic taste in films, I was going through serious withdrawals by the end of my two weeks in Florida.

A buddy picked me up at the airport and on the way home we stopped and got the New York Times so I could see what movies were playing in the City. We walk into my apartment and I open the movie section and the first movie ad I see is a full-page ad for Fandango. I'd never heard of it nor any of the actors, but I loved the ad: the photo of the graduation cap hanging off the fin of the Caddy, etc. Also, if I remember correctly, the tagline in the ad wasn't just 'It's the privilege of youth.' It was something like, 'Most species find their way shortly after being born. For human beings, it's shortly after graduating from college. It's the privilege of youth.' Something like that.

I knew this was the movie I had to see and NOW. I looked at the start times and the movie started in 20 minutes! DAMN! My buddy and I gathered up a few other friends, we all piled into my car, and raced into the city as fast as we could. We parked across the street from the theatre (I think it was the Loew's on 3rd and 59th), buy our tickets and we go charging into the theatre. The instant we sit down, the movie begins. I remember, as the opening credits were rolling (still the best opening credits I've ever seen), I looked at my friends and we were all bouncing in our seats to 'Saturday's Alright for Fighting.' The quick trip into the city jacked us up and we were rocking! Man, was I glad to be home.

Needless to say, we all were totally loving the movie. There were only maybe 50 people in the theatre, but everybody was having a great time. But no one more than the stranger sitting to my left, separated by two seats. He was having a helluva time! So much so that I kept looking over at him. So I go back to watching the movie, and this one guy onscreen looks so familiar to me. I turned to my friend and asked, 'You recognize this guy?' 'Nope,' he says. Hmmm....maybe he looks like an old friend or something. Nevermind... Finally, the waterskiing scene hits its climax and we're practically falling out of our seats. This stranger sitting two seats away was loving it more than anyone. I look over at him again, and then looked at the screen, and then looked at him, and realized it was the same guy. It was Judd Nelson. Judging by his reaction to the movie, I'm guessing this was his first opportunity to see the final cut.

The movie ends, I hit the john and who's in the urinal next to me, but Judd Nelson again. (This guy must think I'm stalking him or something.) I finish my business, walk out to the lobby and as soon as Judd walks out my buddy says to him, 'Hey, nice job in the movie.' Nelson thanks us and walks off. (My buddy later pointed out that the coat he was wearing that night was the same coat he wore in 'The Breakfast Club.') On my way out of the theatre, I asked the guy working the ticket concession if I could buy the movie poster. He told me they're obligated to send the one-sheets back and they can't sell them. 20 years later, I'm still trying to find that damn poster! (Although the image on the latest VHS release is practically the same artwork as the original poster.)

For weeks afterwards I'm raving about 'Fandango' to other friends, but none of them have ever heard of it. I tell them they have to see it. But the next time I check the New York Times, I notice it's not playing any longer. (Years later I would find out that it only grossed $50,000 in theatrical release, meaning it probably played at one theatre in NYC and one in L.A., and only for a weekend - the weekend I saw it. How lucky was I?) I was convinced that I would be one of only a few lucky people to ever see Fandango. And then I found your site and realized just how much of a cult classic Fandango had become.

Six years later, in 1991, I'm driving across country with my girlfriend on our way back from L.A., and we're driving through Texas on Interstate 20. I look out the window and I yell out, 'Holy shit, it's Chata Ortega's!' We get out of the car, hop the fence and walk over to the building. What a treat! It looked exactly the same. (Except for all the pigeon crap that was absolutely everywhere.) Funny thing is, as soon as got close to the building, a slew of pigeons took off towards the sky simultaneously. It scared the hell out of us. When we got back to Jersey, I popped Fandango into the VCR and went right to the Chata Ortega scene. In the scene, you can see a slew pigeons take off, just like they did when we made our unscheduled visit.

Once again, congrats on a great site. It's nice to see that there's a legion of 'Fandango' fans.

Denmark Fandango

As drunken fools on a pilgrimage to find all of the places you mention on your wonderful site, three of us buried a six pack of Shiner Bock inside the front doorway of Chata Ortega's in 1987. That would make it a very fine 18-year-old 6 pack of bock. The plan was to retrieve it when we were 50. We also took the address off the doorway and it is in a closet at home. We found DOM as well but after almost plummeting over the edge, we gave up on burying anything there.

Watching the filming

I was in Little League Baseball in Fort Davis when Fandango was filming in and around the area. I recall the actors being there and the director was also visible. Of course at that time we did not know who Kevin Costner and anyone else was. I do now. My biggest recollection is when the local newspaper had placed a notice for all the town folk to have there porch lights on one evening, a plane would be flying over for use in the film. I recall the plane flying over that night. I also have 3 great grandparents buried in the Marfa cemetary used in the film.This movie is dear to me due to my childhood experience with it.

Laguna Mountains Dom

Its been how many years since the film came out? I got out of High School in San Diego and saw the movie on Bravo or A&E or something like that. I remember laughing a lot and loved the music and it gave me chills all over. Well, I fell in love with Pat Metheney, started flying lessons (now I'm a professional Corporate Pilot), went to college and I still own the video. I made all my pilot buddies watch the movie and all loved it. When I was 18, me and my buddies went up to the local mountains to bury a bottle of Champaign and while on the way up, we were in the back of a pickup truck and my buddy flew out of the truck on the freeway at 70 mph. We pulled over and he was laying in the freeway, then got up and got in the truck and we continued the trip. We buried the bottle in a spot by a bench in the Laguna Mountains. We went there a year after when one buddy got out of boot camp and we dug all night and could not find it. We know its close but no luck. Its been 20 years and we go up sometimes and just look around but have not tried to dig DOM up, so its still there. We always wondered where the movie took place and all kinds of other questions which were answered tonight. Thanks and I just might take a trip out to the spots. This movie really made an impact in my life. I work with abused children part time and fly for a living. I appreciate what life has to offer and give back and live my life like the Groovers would have. Thanks again, "here's to the privalges of youth; here's to us and what we'll be".

Big Bend road trip 1974

You've got a great site. I've always been a fan of Fandango. It reminds me of a road trip my buddies and I took to Big Bend in 1974. We had a bad car, no money and terrible judgement. Despite several fights and a couple of near-death experiences we survived, are still buddies and look back on it with a lot of fondness.

I'll be taking my kids there next week. We'll go see Chata Ortega's, where Dom was buried and where we were almost T-boned by a copdoing over 100 mph just as we decided to hang a U in the middle of the highway (that bad judgement thing). Everyone should have atleast one trip like this in their life.

Big Bend National Park - locations hunt 2005

The past week, I set out by M/C to find locations on my way to Big Bend National Park. I was pleasantly surprised that most are still around. I had also found (by happenstance) the rest area where Truman drops the girl off for the wedding. Though the buildings are no longer there, the mountains and ditch in the background give it away. It is off of Texas Hwy 20, between Fort Hancock and San Elizario.

Fandango Stunt Pilot

I was one of the stunt pilots on Fandango. Marvin McIntyre and I used to keep in touch, however over the years we've lost contact with each other. I'd like to get in touch with him again. Can someone pass this message along to him, or send me Marvin's E-mail address, phone number, etc.
Bill Warren
- Note: I put Bill in touch with Marvin, who was delighted to hear from him - Alex

I ran across your great “Fandango” site while trying to place the “Giant” mansion remnants in an attempt to locate them via Google Earth. In doing so, I also checked out your on “Fandango’s” location info and I thought you might find this interesting.

The plane/helicopter chase scene was, indeed, filmed in Tulsa, OK, and I say this only because I was a member of the local stagehands union (IATSE Local 354) and was recruited as an “extra” crew member to augment the Hollywood guys for this filming sequence. We worked only one day, a Saturday, and the filming was completed in a single take as the intersecting highways had to be temporarily closed during the sequence. The specific location was the intersection of Highway 169 and US412/I-244 on the northeast side of Tulsa and just southeast of Tulsa International Airport.

I was selected to work as a gaffer on the shoot and assisted in digging out and camouflaging a camera location, which sat immediately adjacent to the westbound I-244 lanes and looked east, in a position to film the aircraft approaching the overpass. After locating a camera position and digging out the underbrush and grass to create a flat position, I was instructed to cut down a small tree underneath the overpass, remove individual branches and return up the embankment to create a foliage blind for the camera. At the same time, another gaffer was stretching out a brightly colored plastic tape (similar to crime scene tape), to create an east-west alignment line, which the aircraft and helicopter pilots could use to guide them underneath the underpass. Shortly thereafter the highways were shut down and were immediately followed by a “rehearsal” run and moments later, the actual run itself. I seem to recall this took around 15 minutes.

I have attached an overview from Google Maps, which I have added to provide some clarity on the location. The red line denotes the flight path underneath the overpass and my particular camera position is marked with a yellow asterisk. I should note that for obvious reasons, there were, as I recall, 1 or 2 other camera positions but I cannot recall where they were.

I will add that following filming, we were bused to lunch at a nearby La Quinta motel, where we were served an unforgettable buffet-style lunch. (This is common on movie shoots as craft services folks take very good care of the Hollywood and local crews!) While I do not specifically recall what it was to be, some additional scenes were scheduled in the afternoon and were to be shot in the general area. However shortly before our call back time, a really nasty severe thunderstorm formed, which nixed further shooting for the day.

I just wanted to write and say how much I love your website. Fandango has been one of my favorite movies since I first saw it on VHS around 1985 or 1986. I've watched it countless times since then and I just cannot tell you enough how much Fandango means to me, but I'm sure you know. While it is not my very favorite movie, it's close. It also puts me in a frame of mind when I watch it (especially when I used to drink quite a bit of beer watching it) that is unlike any other movie I've seen. Thanks for starting and keeping up such a great website. I sure hope to join the group on the Ultimate Fandango next summer. Take care,

I feel like an idiot because every time I mention this movie to anyone they tell me they never seen it, let alone heard of it. FANDANGO without doubt is my all time favorite movie and to come across a website dedicated to it is simply UNBELIEVABLE!!
I found your website by trying to research the locations of some of the more popular scenes as I was planning a road trip next year to each destination in honor of it's 25th anniversary only to come across your link for the JULY 2010 planned adventure by fans and members related to the movie already in motion.
I was only 13 when the movie was released and when I first saw in the theatre, and though I totally didn't understand it all, The more I watched it on cable/VCR tapes and finally DVD hundreds of time, The more I loved it. At first because it was just a bunch of guys going on a crazy road trip. As I watched it more and more and as I got older everything I didn't understand at first became clear over the years creating a deeper appreciation for this movie.
Thanks so much for this website.............

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I just said to myself as i was walking through my kitchen, "Gimme 3 Chili Dogs and a Malt." Then it occurred to me to look up Fandango and here I am. I can't believe how many other people did their own "Doms". I loved the movie so much that back in 1990 I made my fraternity (Sigma Nu, Southern Utah) brothers watch the film during pledge week. They've been doing so twice a year for nearly 20 years.
It impacted me and 4 of my closest brothers to such a degree that in 1993 we buried our own 'Dom' high up in the rockies where we camped during our college years. We too named it Dom but had Crazy Horse Malt Liquor in it instead (along with other things that were meaningful). We pledged we would come back 7 years later and dig that ol' rascal up. That no matter where we were or what we were doing that we would know that on that very date seven years hence we would be back at that site. Well, 4 of us made it back to dig it up in 2000. It was an awesome experience. So good that we buried another one in 2001 and 7 years from that date we all returned and dug it up too. We haven't put DOM III in the ground, but are planning on it later this Fall.
Knowing that a DOM is in the ground can get you through some tough times and never fails to bring a smile to your face when you think about what's waiting for you. I'll rustle up some pics of our Doms and send. Look forward to meeting you all.

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I just noticed today that there was a fansite for the movie Fandango and thought I would
share my story:

10 years ago, me and 5 friends travel out to west Texas and buried a bottle of Dom. The
idea coming from the movie, I thought this was a way to keep us together as friends. This group
of guys would take one last trip before going on their separate ways (married, kids, moving, etc.)
We would go back 10 years later and uncover the bottle. Well that time is this weekend. We
have still stayed in touch all these years and it we couldn’t be more excited..........

It’s out by Fort Davis in the Davis Mountains. We are all meeting up tomorrow (a few of the
guys are flying in) and then driving out on Friday. We are making a whole weekend of it,
stopping along some dive bars along the way. It’s funny that all this time has gone by and not
once did I think to look on the internet to see if anyone else had done this. I was just looking for
some “Fandango” pics to forward out to the guys for some fun, and I happened upon your
website. I will send updates when I get back. Keep the Fandango spirit alive….

The whole trip was a success and we all had a great time. There was a moment that it
didn’t look like we would ever find the bottle, but my good friend Shawn used his intuition and
tracked right to it. Everything had overgrown so much in 10 years that nothing looked the same
when we arrived. When we buried it, we move a big rock over it to make it easier to find, but it
was completely covered with grass and weeds. It looked like the right spot, so we move the rock
and started digging. Not until I saw the orange of the bucket we placed the bottle in, did I think
this was it. After pulling it out and taking pictures we decided to keep the old bottle closed and
open up the new one to drink. We were all on a high driving out of that place. It’s still hard to
believe it had been 10 years. Attached are some photos from the trip including one from 10 years
ago. My buddy is putting together a album, so I’ll send more as they come in. Feel free to share
our story and let me know if you have any questions.

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I saw fandango in I guess 1985, and loved the skydiving part, so I looked up a drop

zone a few years later and began skydiving… I was jumping in Oregon and was at a

“Boogie” skydiving event and meet a lady who became a good friend Becky Livingston

who worked on the fandango set and showed the actor how to do a first jump

course, then about a year later my wife and I sold our house in Oregon to Bill Warren

the stunt pilot in the movie, I’ve been jumping for over 25 years and have thousands

One for process shots with the front end cut off, one with the roof cut off,

metal removed for the International truck front clip and two running, complete cars.

The color was picked, by the director, from the cap on a tube of lip balm. Really!!

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