One of the fascinating pieces of trivia below is true*, the other is false. Do YOU know which is which?

The Swimmer (1968)

1) According to multiple biographies of Burt Lancaster, Barbara Loden’s scene with Lancaster was reshot with Janice Rule as Loden’s performance had overpowered him in the scene. Using Rule, whose performance was less powerful than that of Loden, restored balance to the scene.

2) This movie was made for the sole reason that Burt Lancaster wanted to show everyone that he had learned how to swim. However, on the first day of filming it was revealed that Lancaster had taken a child’s “Introduction to Water” class at the YMCA, and the only way he could swim was by having his mother hold him by the torso and float him around in the water, telling him what a brave boy he was. As expected, the director was angered and the film crew ridiculed Lancaster incessantly, until he killed one of the grips by shooting him in the gut with a harpoon gun. After that incident, it was deemed that filming should continue, with all swimming scenes shot in extreme close up so that Lancaster’s mother wouldn’t appear on camera. A stunt double handled more far away shots, but after filming was completed Lancaster had him drowned out of jealousy.

Posted at the request of Eric from The IPC.

*true trivia courtesy of IMDB.com