of Broadway musicals such as Godspell and they agreed to executive produce. Lansbury thought the poem was so "wildly unconventional" it was only worth making with a budget of $200,000, "as an experiment in which the risks were minimised". Marks' brother Peter introduced Marks to director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant, who had just made Savages. As fans, Lansbury and Beruh hired Ivory and Merchant. After Ivory became involved, the film stopped being a musical and became a drama with music. Fatty Arbuckle was an inspiration for the main character. Lansbury says "as we worked on it, the project sort of gathered momentum." Raquel Welch agreed to play the female lead and the budget expanded. The film was financed by American International Pictures which normally specialised in exploitation films. Studio president Samuel Z. Arkoff said AIP usually made movies for the "Woolworths line" but admitted with this film, the company was "going to add a higher line" and that it was a "wildly artistic film". Casting James Coco was cast in the lead. "There isn't anything I don't get to do and that's terribly appealing to any actor", said Coco. "It's full, fleshed out. And part of it is silent. I get to do love scenes with Raquel, I don't get that opportunity too often. I usually get the mule. She isn't what I expected. She's small. She's very serious, an organic actor and I love that. We have a marvelous relationship." Filming Filming started on 29 April 1974 at the Riverside Mission Inn in California. Shooting took five weeks. Ivory said the inn was chosen because "it's typical of the palatial, beautifully rocco architecture of the period." "Raquel Welch was a very, very difficult actress to work with", said Ivory. "She fired the cameraman, she fired Ismail, she would have fired [co-star] Perry King...and it was our film!... I did not enjoy making The Wild Party." Welch demanded that the cinematographer Walter Lassally be fired after he made an "impertinent" remark to her. She also wanted Ivory fired and replaced as director by her then boyfriend Ron Talsky. The Directors Guild became involved and threatening letters were sent to Welch. Filming continued. "She's very insecure when she's working", said Lansbury. Ivory later said "the egos and temper tantrums in the heat of May and June, the large crowds of extras, the festering atmosphere reminded me of working among