I'd Walk a Mile

In 1970 I was doing location shooting for my film The Martlet's Tale in Tunisia. I was told that every Wednesday there was a camel market in the vast main square in Hammamet, and decided it would be a wonderfully unusual backdrop for a scene between the two young protagonists. We scheduled the scene for Wednesday and moved the entire company to Hammamet. Sure enough it was an amazing sight, right out of the Arabian Nights, a vast sea of camels stretching for acres. At the crack of dawn we were there setting up cameras and equipment while the hairdressers prepared the actress, later to be my wife. And waited, and waited, and waited. And watched the market slowly disperse until late in the morning when we had to bribe the last remaining camel owner not to leave with his single beast. So we wound up shooting the scene of the two young lovers walking down a street past.... a camel. That's what in the film biz is called local color.