Two scenes from Trog 1970. Directed by Freddie Francis, starring Joan Crawford, Michael Gough and Joe Cornelius.
Freddie Francis later referred to Trog as "a terrible film" and as one he regretted directing:[12]
"I did it because of Joan Crawford, and poor Joan by this time was a very sad old lady. We had to have idiot cards all over the place because she couldn't remember her lines. It was the last thing she ever did and she shouldn’t have done it. Neither should I... She had no friends, and she kept writing sad letters to my wife and I [sic] until she died."
Joe Cornelius, who plays the feature's title character, provides a quite different perspective on Crawford's actions and demeanor during filming. As a professional wrestler in England, Cornelius performed in the ring for 20 years as "The Dazzler" and was chosen to portray Trog due to his physique and athletic abilities.[13]
Cornelius' role provided him with numerous opportunities to observe Crawford both on and off camera. Forty-five years after the film's release, in an interview arranged and video-recorded by the British Film Institute (BFI), he shared publicly for the first time his experiences working on the production and more specifically with the veteran actress.[14] That interview occurred in September 2015, just prior to a screening of Trog by BFI in one of its film retrospectives. It was conducted by the American director and writer John Waters, a notable promoter and creator of underground or "transgressive cult films", as well as a fan of many other types of low-budget, more mainstream productions like Trog.[15][16]
In his interview with Waters, Cornelius takes exception to reports that Crawford used "idiot cards" and was periodically drunk during filming. The former wrestler says he saw no use of such cards by her, and he described Crawford as "great" to work with, consistently on time and "lovely" on the set, as generous in giving gifts to the crew, and how for years after completing Trog she sent him a personal card every Christmas.[13] While he concedes that Crawford "possibly" had vodka in her Pepsi-Cola container, he stated that he never saw her drunk or unable to perform for any reason during the film's production.
From wikipedia entry.