CNN
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We are just now learning that the 1980 movie “Popeye” had more going on during filming than has previously been revealed.
Barry Diller, chairman of IAC, shared some tea about the film during a recent conversation at New York City’s 92nd Street Y with interviewer and CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. Diller, who was the chief executive officer of Paramount Pictures from 1974 to 1984, was asked by Cooper what was the “most coked-up film set” that he’d ever visited, according to Entertainment Weekly.
“Coked-up film set? Oh, Popeye,” Diller reportedly said. “By the way, you can watch it. If you watch ‘Popeye,’ you’re watching a movie that — you think of it in the thing that they used to do about record speeds, 33 [RPM], whatever. This is a movie that runs at 78 RPM and 33 speed.”
The musical comedy starred Robin Williams in the title role of the cartoon character and Shelley Duvall as that character’s famous love interest, Olive Oyl.
When Cooper asked Diller if he “instantly knew” about the drug use, the executive responded, “Knew it? You couldn’t escape it.”
“They were actually shipping in film cans at the time. Film cans would be sent back to LA for daily processing film,” Diller said. “This was shot in Malta. And we found out that the film cans were actually being used to ship cocaine back and forth to this set. Everyone was stoned.”
Williams died at the age of 63 in 2014. Duvall died last year at the age of 75.
CNN has reached out to Paramount Pictures for comment.
