Kirk Douglas appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson - pt. 1 - 10/24/1973

Kirk Douglas visits the show wearing a wooden leg, to promote his upcoming movie, Scalawag. Air date: 10/24/1973.

Video Script:

would you would you please welcome a good friend and a fine actor what's left of Kirk Douglas good that is weird you know I'm standing out there on one leg you're going on I'm showing the whole movie I've known you for a long time that's weird when you walk out like that they didn't remove it for the picture today no this is what happened it's man I've heard of method actors but this is exactly it I got involved the Actors Studio method acting and I really give my performance that is really incredible job yeah weird this guy is that that's not comfortable to wear oh I love wearing it though as a matter of fact when we're making the picture I could only wear this about 5 to 6 minutes at a time right how would they can conceal the rest of you well I don't have I mean come on you're not coming to the house for Sunday dinner you could have sterilized the leg with what he's got in a glass there when they amputated but you know John I did when I was watching I never realized how many movies I have done that's I'm always losing an eye or another more than this you've been maimed another picture oh yeah I've lost listen scalawag doesn't do well I might lose my [Laughter] I don't for only five minutes at a time [Laughter] no I uh I taught us our review of the picture and you know people talk about motion pictures nowadays and parents are having trouble you know they keep saying we can't find pictures you can take the family to or see without the sexual overtones and so forth and this is a picture that the family can go to and I don't know if you mind if I read this is kind of nice it says I don't know Greg Douglas is rare among the superstars of acting he's be able to sustain his career over nearly three decades that long doesn't seem so to me continuing to making movies that entertain and lightning are filled with elements that light all sorts of film doors this is a rip-roaring story of pirates hidden treasure pursuing dragoons the talkative parrot and those the location of the treasure it's the sort of family type entertainment they don't seem to make anymore nowadays well there seems to be in himself indulge it will be making no you know I had been thinking for quite a while and you learn a lot by what you decide to direct as well as what you decide to act in and I thought that you know I've made so many movies that maybe parents couldn't take their children see that I thought I'd like to make one movie that they might be able to take their children see which I haven't done since I did 20,000 leave them to see so I did I played a robber Lewis Stevenson character of sort of a mixture of Long John Silver and Jesse James and Ron a kid like Mark Lester put a put all the mixtures together with an alcoholic parrot that you directed this right yeah now besides the parrot you had what rattlesnake somebody said vultures donkey I ran our own dog was in the picture it's difficult working with actors I think the most difficult was the donkey because he was sort of a smartass we're gonna come back that is huh it's never really good to show people how you do that is it takes away from almost the illusion of it but obviously you have don't doesn't look like I mean you have your right leg curled Donna when Jimmy Cagney made lon chaney story here was in some rather incredible type of things that are a Hunchback of Notre Dame they say it was very very difficult things to learn how to do I danced with a girl on it you know danced around and then to ride a horse the first time I got on a horse I fell down you see because your weight is shift did you forget you're standing so you have to lean more more that way so that was really the tough part we're gonna take a break so you can go back in the okay put your real leg on be funny if you put this on all these years and he's really got the wooden leg and you get picks for the other pictures instead that's wild take a break we have a word here about the 1974 American Motors Matador [Applause]