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According to James Curtis, there were a couple of thousand spectators on hand to watch the shot, eagerly awaiting its completion despite numerous setbacks. Even besides the flames that Buster Keaton rejected, another take had to be prematurely stopped when two boys were spotted swimming in the river.
The cost of the shot, the spectacle of it, and the danger of it seemed to make everybody a little anxious. Even the soldiers ruined one shot by charging into the water a little too soon. Before long, the production would lose its light, meaning the shot would have to wait another day.
But Keaton got the shot. As he called for the upriver dam to open, with water flowing again through the river, he called for the bridge to be set on fire, and, finally, called action on the shot. Dummies were flung from the train as it fell successfully and beautifully through the bridge, which collapsed with perfect timing. Some spectators may have reportedly fainted, and the extra water from the dam opening may have almost led to some of the soldiers drowning, but they got the shot.
The movie ended up being a flop, but it made for a cinematic achievement now rarely matched, and a modern reputation as one of the all-time greats. If it really was the most expensive shot any movie had produced to that point, it was worth it, creating a genuinely spectacular moment that almost certainly would be illegal to make today.
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