2. Robert Evans essentially tricked Polanski into directing the film by luring him with the prospect of letting him helm the ski film “Downhill Racer.”
As Polanski was a ski buff, Evans hooked him under the false pretense of letting him direct “Downhill Racer.” But Evans told Polanski, before he should do anything, he should read this other script first, “Rosemary’s Baby.”
It struck Polanski like a like a syrupy Doris Day number at first. “I went to the hotel and started reading and it looked to like a kitchen melodrama for television,” Polanski said on the DVD extras, “But as I read, I got deeper and deeper into it and the suspense was such that i didn’t stop until 4 in the morning and the next day I came back to the studio and I said, ‘Ok, let’s do this first.’ ” Of course, “Downhill Racer” would eventually be directed by Michael Ritchie and star Robert Redford (also on The Criterion Collection), but Polanski didn’t seem to care after the creepy mood horror launched his career.
3. Roman Polanski got some much-needed advice from Otto Preminger while filming.
During production, one day William Castle called Robert Evans and complained that Polanski was ten days behind schedule and if this continued he was going to cost Paramount a fortune. Evans said the producer’s suggestion was to “get rid of him.” Evans quickly flew to New York and told Polanski to pick up the pace or said he’d get shipped back to Poland. But the producers were thrilled with the dailies and what they were seeing thus far.
Worried, Polanski ran into filmmaker Otto Preminger in L.A., and the elder director asked Roman why he was so visibly concerned and gloomy. Polanski explained his situation, that he was behind schedule and he was worried that Evans and Paramount were going to fire him. Preminger said, “What about the rushes? Do they like them?” And Polanski said, “They’re delighted with them!” Preminger, countered, “So what do you care then? They never fired anyone because of schedule, but if they don’t like the rushes, you’d be out very soon.” And soon after, Polanski regained his confidence and stopped fretting.
While Polanski concurs with Evans and Paramount was making him “miserable” during the production, the director gave him a big compliment. “Robert Evans trusts talent very much,” he said. “He was a great enthusiast of motion pictures. He loved a good movie and he was trying to inject new blood into the system and it paid off.”
4. The Church of Satan had nothing to do with “Rosemary’s Baby,” but that didn’t stop a urban legend from growing.
Movie folklore insists that Church of Satan leader Anton LaVey not only served as a “technical consultant” on the film, but he “donned the hairy devil suit for the film’s notorious rape scene.” Needless to say, this is false.
