Universal Behind-the-Scenes Attraction Brings Studio Alive in Hollywood, Calif.

By Tony Castro, Daily News, Los Angeles

Jul. 1–In the original “Back to the Future” script, Marty McFly was supposed to travel to the past not in a fancy DeLorean but in a refrigerator.

And if a Universal Studios exec had had his way, the film would have been titled “Spaceman from Pluto.”

Instead, screenwriters Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale listened to the master of the studio lot, who happened to be executive producer of the film.

“I believe it was Steven Spielberg who pointed out to them that that wasn’t the wisest idea because you would basically be encouraging children to jump inside refrigerators to go back in time,” says John Murdy, Universal’s resident historian and creative director of the theme park’s attractions.

As for changing the title of the Oscar-winning film?

“Steven Spielberg decided he would write a memo back to this particular executive and say, ‘Wow, that’s a great practical joke. That was so funny, so witty,’ and the guy basically was so embarrassed that he just let it drop.”

That archived piece of trivia is among Universal Studios Hollywood’s newest attraction — “The Universal Experience: Behind the Scenes of Universal Pictures” — which officially debuts today and will include an evolving collection of never-before-seen props, costumes, wardrobe and artifacts highlighting the magic of Hollywood.

Already during previews, one of the biggest fan attractions is the emerald green, size 2 backless dress worn by actress Keira Knightley in “Atonement,” which earned costume designer Jacqueline Durran an Academy Award nomination.

“I think a lot of people are drawn to that because it’s such a stunning gown,” said Murdy, who designed the attraction. “It was a popular fashion hit when the movie came out, causing a lot of stir.”

And it could be destined to become one of those classic Hollywood costume items with claims as to which is the original — like Judy Garland’s ruby red slippers in “The Wizard of Oz,” of which several pairs were made.

In March, a dress billed as the original worn by Knightley in “Atonement” — and authenticated by Durran in an auction listing — sold for $46,000 at a ClothesOffOurBack.org sale. The proceeds went to Variety’s Children’s Charity of Southern California.

According to the auction listing, the “dress was taken directly from the production’s archives and is one of a handful that was made specifically for Ms. Knightley to wear during filming. Multiples were fashioned because of the fragility of the dress.”

Universal spokeswoman Audrey Eig acknowledged that, as often is the case, several copies of the dress were made for the film. But she said the gown on display at the new attraction is what is known in the industry as “the hero costume” — the actual costume worn by Knightley.

The World War II uniform and nurse costume worn by Knightley’s co-stars, James McAvoy and Romola Garai, are also on display, and, like Knightley’s gown, are enclosed in climate-controlled conditions behind glass and illuminated by a state-of-the-art LED-powered system designed to protect the items.

They are joined by the royal period gown worn by Cate Blanchett in the Oscar-winning film “Elizabeth,” Toby Maguire’s red-and-white silk jockey outfit from “Seabiscuit” and the astronaut suit Kevin Bacon donned in “Apollo 13.”

Nearby is the brown leather briefcase Gregory Peck used in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the original set designs created for the Bates house in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” the miniatures of the DeLorean and the railroad engine used in the third “Back to the Future” installment and the Best Picture Oscar statuette from “The Sting” awarded to Universal Pictures in 1973.

Murdy and other studio archivists came up with the attraction after combing through thousands of props, costumes, artifacts and special effects — along with a library of more than 6,000 titles dating back to Universal’s beginnings in 1913 when it charged fans 25 cents to sit in bleachers and watch silent-film productions.

Some of the items are actually more than props. The German Enigma machine used in the 2000 film “U-571″ is an actual ciphering device used to encrypt and decrypt secret messages, Murdy said.

The Speak and Spell transmitter from “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” is a contraption that he said was capable of transmitting messages into outer space.

A gas mask on display from “All Quiet on the Western Front” was actually used by soldiers in World War I.

“It is impossible to put a price tag on all of this,” Murdy said. “You can’t.”

Unfortunately, Murdy, 41, himself doesn’t come as a guided tour for the attraction. A native of Whittier, he is a former Universal Studios tour guide and walking encyclopedia of Hollywood trivia.

“I was a teenager when they were filming ‘Back to the Future’ there in Whittier,” he said, “and I used to sneak onto the set to watch them making it.”

Today, he has a film buff’s dream job.

“I’ve been sort of the de facto historian of this studio for many years,” he said. “Going through our archives to put this attraction together was really like detective work.

“And researching these movies endlessly, I found out a lot of things that were fascinating to me — and I thought I knew everything about this place.”

Some of that trivia is available to visitors through interactive components at six kiosks throughout the attraction.

“While these things are famous for the movie they’re in, the specific item is a window into a larger story of what they were doing when they were trying to make this movie,” he said.

Invariably, many of the studio’s historical anecdotes lead back to the filmmaker who serves as Universal’s favorite son, Spielberg.

One section includes detailed mechanical drawings for the shark in “Jaws” — which Murdy said was nicknamed Bruce after Spielberg’s lawyer at that time — as well as a photograph of Spielberg in the jaws of his shark.

Bruce actually was almost Spielberg’s undoing, Murdy said. Spielberg was 27 at the time, a young, up-and-coming filmmaker with his future riding on a project in which the shark was the star.

“When they tested the mechanical shark in ‘Jaws,’ they tested it out here on the West Coast, and they tested it in normal water,” Murdy said. “And then they took this thing off to the coast off Martha’s Vineyard in saltwater.”

The first time they actually put the shark in the water — with a bunch of executives from Universal having flown out for the occasion — the shark sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

“You can imagine that moment. The shark was an absolute nightmare. The film went three times over schedule. Endless, endless delays,” Murdy said. “But what it did was it forced Steven to rethink his movie on the fly.”

Spielberg improvised by shooting early scenes through the shark’s point of view, using his camera as the shark’s eyes at water level, moving menacingly toward its victim.

“That whole first scene in the movie where the girl gets attacked, you never see the shark once,” Murdy said. “It doesn’t show up for 45 minutes into the movie.

“It was really the stroke of genius, and so we have all these original drawings and these plans and you see the intent, and now we know what the end result was.”

Today, of course, Spielberg is the filmmaker most closely associated with Universal.

And the big-shot studio executive who wanted to change the name of “Back to the Future”?

“He’s no longer at Universal,” Murdy said. “He’s nameless.”

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