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Rain Man
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==Production== ===Development=== [[File:Cogar Kelly.jpg|thumb|A now-abandoned gas station and [[general store]] in [[Cogar, Oklahoma]], was used in a scene from the film. The Colvert sign has since been removed, revealing the full name of the business.]] In drafting the story for ''Rain Man'', Barry Morrow decided to base Raymond Babbitt on his experiences with both Kim Peek and Bill Sackter, two men who had gained notoriety and fame for their intellectual disabilities and, in Peek's case, for his abilities as a savant that were evident in high speed reading and extremely detailed memory. Prior to the conception of ''Rain Man'', Morrow had formed a friendship with the intellectually disabled Sackter, and, in doing so, ended up taking some situational aspects from his friendship and using them to help craft the relationship between Charlie and Raymond. Following the success of ''[[Bill (1981 film)|Bill]]'', the made-for-TV movie he had written about Sackter, Morrow met Kim Peek and was wildly intrigued by his savant syndrome. Going into the creation of the film, Morrow was still essentially unaware of the intricacies of the condition, as well as of autism itself; instead deciding that the movie was less about Raymond's intellectual disability, and more about the relationship formed between Raymond and Charlie.<ref name=":24">{{Cite web |date=2018-12-13 |title=Rain Man at 30: damaging stereotype or 'the best thing that happened to autism'? |url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/dec/13/rain-man-at-30-autism-hoffman-cruise-levinson |access-date=2022-05-09 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref> [[Roger Birnbaum]] was the first studio executive to give the film a [[green-light|green light]]; he did so immediately after Barry Morrow pitched the story. Birnbaum received "special thanks" in the film's credits.<ref name="afi" /> Real-life brothers [[Dennis Quaid|Dennis]] and [[Randy Quaid]] were considered for the roles of Raymond Babbitt and Charles Babbitt.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1SqXAAAAQBAJ&q=randy+quaid+rainman+dennis+quaid+google+books&pg=PA197|title = Casting Might-Have-Beens: A Film by Film Directory of Actors Considered for Roles Given to Others|isbn = 9781476609768|last1 = Mell|first1 = Eila|date = January 24, 2015| publisher=McFarland }}</ref> Agents at [[Creative Artists Agency]] sent the script to Dustin Hoffman and [[Bill Murray]], envisioning Murray in the title role, and Hoffman in the role eventually portrayed by Tom Cruise.<ref name="DVD" /><ref name="Patches 2014">{{cite web |last=Patches |first=Matt |title=Remembering 'Rain Man': The $350 Million Movie That Hollywood Wouldn't Touch Today |website=Grantland |date=2014-01-09 |url=https://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/remembering-rain-man-the-350-million-movie-that-hollywood-wouldnt-touch-today/ |access-date=2023-06-09}}</ref> [[Martin Brest]], [[Steven Spielberg]] and [[Sydney Pollack]] were directors also involved in the film.<ref name="DVDBass">Bass' audio commentary for ''Rain Man'' from the DVD release.</ref> Spielberg was attached to the film for five months, until he left to direct ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]'', and he would later regret the decision.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/watch-36-minute-1990-interview-with-steven-spielberg-regrets-passing-on-rain-man-for-indy-3-more-97112/|title=Watch: 36-Minute 1990 Interview With Steven Spielberg, Regrets Passing On 'Rain Man' For 'Indy 3' & More|first=Ken|last=Guidry|date=June 11, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/old-interview-footage-shows-spielberg-regretted-skipping-rain-man-to-do-last-crusade/ | title=Β» Old Interview Footage Shows Spielberg Regretted Skipping Rain Man to do Last Crusade }}</ref> [[Mickey Rourke]] was also offered a role, but he turned it down.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mickey Rourke: a life in film |url=https://www.timeout.com/london/film/mickey-rourke-a-life-in-film-1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509151146/https://www.timeout.com/london/film/mickey-rourke-a-life-in-film-1 |archive-date=May 9, 2018 |access-date=10 September 2015 |work=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]}}</ref> [[Mel Gibson]] was also offered the role of Raymond, but he turned it down.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barfield |first=Charles |date=2018-06-29 |title=Mel Gibson Wishes He Would Have Said Yes To Dustin Hoffman's Role In 'Rain Man' |url=https://theplaylist.net/mel-gibson-rain-man-20180629/ |website=The Playlist}}</ref> For a year prior to playing Raymond Babbitt, Hoffman prepared to portray Raymond's autism by seeking out and educating himself on other autistic people, particularly those with savant syndrome. Hoffman had some experience with disabled individuals prior to filming, having worked at the [[New York State Psychiatric Institute|New York Psychiatric Institute]] when he was younger. Inspiration for the portrayal of Raymond Babbitt's mannerisms was drawn from a multitude of sources, but he thanked three men in his Oscar acceptance speech.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aaspeechesdb.oscars.org/link/061-1#:~:text=I%20thank%20all%20the%20producers,doctors%20and%20all%20their%20help.|title=Dustin Hoffman acceptance speech for Actor in a Leading Role 1988 Academy Award|date=March 29, 1989|website=Academy Awards Acceptance Speech Database|access-date=January 14, 2024}}</ref> One was Peter Guthrie, the autistic brother of Kevin Guthrie, a Princeton football player with whom Hoffman was in touch at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lamag.com/news/autism-d-u-s-t-i-n|title=Autism: D-U-S-T-I-N|date=September 1, 2010|website=Los Angeles Magazine|access-date=January 14, 2024}}</ref> Another was autistic savant Joseph Sullivan, who was the subject of two documentary films<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.autismservicescenter.org/about/josephs_story|title=Joseph's Story|website=Autism Services Center|access-date=January 14, 2024}}</ref> and whose mother, Dr. [[Ruth Sullivan]], was the founding president of the Autism Society of America and served as a consultant on the film. The third was savant Kim Peek, with whom Hoffman met as part of his research of the role, wherein he would observe and mimic Peek's actions, attempting to give an accurate portrayal of what an individual with savant syndrome might act like. His mimicry of Peek's savant syndrome was deemed a poor fit for the character by Hoffman, resulting in Hoffman's decision to make Babbitt not only a man with savant syndrome, but also with autism.<ref name=":24"/> ===Filming=== [[Principal photography]] included nine weeks of [[filming location|filming on location]] in [[Cincinnati]] and throughout northern [[Kentucky]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wcpo.com/entertainment/local-a-e/rain-man-then-and-now-a-look-back-at-rain-man-in-cincinnati-and-northern-kentucky |title= Then and Now: A look back at 'Rain Man' in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky |author1=Alter, Maxim |author2=Maxwell, Emily |work=WCPO |date=February 28, 2014 |access-date=January 10, 2022}}</ref> Other portions were shot in the desert near [[Palm Springs, California]].<ref name="Niemann">{{Cite book| last = Niemann| first = Greg| title = Palm Springs Legends: creation of a desert oasis| publisher = [[Sunbelt Publications]]| year = 2006| location = San Diego, CA| pages = 286| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=RwXQGTuL1M0C&q=palm+springs+film+locations&pg=PA169| isbn = 978-0-932653-74-1| oclc = 61211290}}<!-- {{LCC|F869 P18 N45 2006}} {{ASIN|093265374X}}--> ([http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0516/2005021837.html here for Table of Contents] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304111950/http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0516/2005021837.html |date=March 4, 2016 }})</ref>{{rp|168β71}} There was originally a different ending to the movie drafted by Morrow that differed from Raymond's going back to the institution. Morrow ultimately decided to drop this ending in favor of Raymond's returning to the institution, as he felt the original ending would not have stuck with the viewers as effectively as the revised ending did.<ref name=":24"/> Almost all of the principal photography occurred during the [[1988 Writers Guild of America strike]]; one key scene that was affected by the lack of writers was the film's final scene.<ref name="DVD" /> Bass delivered his last draft of the script only hours before the strike started and spent no time on the set.<ref name="DVDBass" />
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