I remember shooting a scene which was not included in the film, nor does it appear in the early draft of the shooting script which I have. In this scene, Cort, chained to the fountain in the center of the town square, makes a speech to the townspeople. He tells them how Herod is oppressing them and how they should stand up to him. At the end of this scene, before he's really finished with his speech, a brick is thrown from off-camera, hitting Cort in the head.

In the saloon, after Cort is initially flung inside and is being taunted by Herod, there's a point at which Herod throws a shotglass at Cort. A typically Raimi-esque shot was done, but it wasn't used in the final cut of the movie.

An image of a shotglass on a transparency was mounted right in front of the camera lens in such a way that it could rotate through 360 degrees. The camera was on a dolly on tracks leading up to where Cort was standing. The camera dollied quickly with the lens ending right in Russell Crowe's face, while the image of the shotglass rotated. As you can imagine, it would have been the shotglass-eye-view of the incident.

The Bordello was known as "The Pigeon's Nest". The set decorators had included the detail (not seen in the movie) of putting a roost of pigeons in the attic of the building. This attracted the largest red-tailed hawk that I've ever seen (they're common in Southern Arizona). This hawk tended to perch on the chimney of Herod's house. What a sight this made! This very large bird of prey perched on the chimney of that Gothic mansion! On two different occasions, I personally witnessed them shooting film of this bird in that place, but not a frame was used in the movie.

The full character, brilliantly portrayed by Tobin Bell, doesn't come out in the movie. In fact, he's only referred to as "Kelly". Here's his story:

"Dog" Kelly had been a successful prospector. He had dug up quite a bit of gold and had buried it in various places in the desert for safe keeping. Only problem was, it was years later and he couldn't remember all his hiding places. So he and his faithful dog spent years wandering the desert looking for his own buried gold. One time he became lost. When he ran out of food, he ended up eating his dog. From then on, he was called "Dog" Kelly, but never to his face.

At one point in the script, Ellen, knowing his story, taunts him with it:

INTERIOR - NELLY WEITZ'S HOTEL - DAY

PITKIN THE HOTEL CLERK is collecting money in the casino. Like in the saloon there's a blackboard with every hour marked from midday to seven o'clock for all eight gunfights, with betting odds on each fight.

ELLEN walks into the hotel. She looks at the blackboard and her heart sinks as she sees she is 10-1 to lose her fight against DOG KELLY.

DOG KELLY: Well, well, look what the whorehouse turned down.

ELLEN turns around to see Kelly staring at her, crunching and spitting out nuts obsessively. EUGENE DRED, SCARS and the other town hard men are sitting with him, drinking heavily. EUGENE DRED and SCARS join in with KELLY'S laughter.

DOG KELLY: Maybe I'll just shoot off one of her titties. I probably won't kill her.

SCARS: No, kill her - I'll have her while she's still warm!

DOG KELLY spits another nut shell out, this time at ELLEN'S feet.

ELLEN: Kelly, now we're friends and all, do you mind if I call you by your nickname?

His left eye starts to twitch.

DOG KELLY: I ain't got no nickname.

PITKIN THE HOTEL CLERK stops the roulette wheel in mid-spin and the whole hotel is silenced. Everyone in the room stops and looks at KELLY. The twitch has now spread across DOG KELLY's face and down his entire body. He looks like he's going to implode.

ELLEN: Sure you have. Someone told me. No what was it? Was it 'Cat' Kelly, maybe? Or 'Horse' Kelly? No, that's not it.

DOG KELLY's left eye starts to twitch violently.

DOG KELLY: I AINT GOT NO NICKNAME!

ELLEN: Maybe it was 'Roast Dog and Potatoes' Kelly?

DOG KELLY: NOW I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! YOU'RE DEAD MEAT, BITCH!

DOG KELLY lunges at ELLEN as half the hotel try to hold him back.

The above scene would have come after the gunfight montage and before Cort is taken to Kid Fee's Gunshop, where Herod buys him a $5 pistol.

Tobin Bell really made this character come alive. He received spontaneous ovations from cast and crew at times. Some of his lines became catch-phrases around the set. I was very disappointed that this performance just didn't come across in the final edit of the film.

Incidentally, there was a real "Dog" Kelly. James "Dog" Kelly (aka "Hound Dog" Kelly) was the mayor of Dodge City, Kansas in the 1870s.

This scene was part of the Day of the Dead Festival in the streets of Redemption and Ellen's walk through town that night. It would have taken place right after Ellen saw, and seemed to recognize, Doc Watson along the street:

ELLEN turns away quickly and walks down the street, avoiding him. About forty people are crowded around one stall, and she pushes forward through the crowd to watch. It's a crude mechanical shooting range, showing a painted river scene, with a wagon train being attacked by gaudy red metal indians waving bows and arrows. There is a wind-up spring which makes the indians constantly move from side to side, disappearing momentarily behind metal bushes, making a hit much harder.

People stand eight feet away and shoot six times with a handgun, trying to hit as many as possible.

CHARLES MOONLIGHT: Three out of six! Not bad at all, but no cigar! What about you sir? - Take a shot.

A shadowy figure moves up to the stand.

CHARLES MOONLIGHT: What about you sir, you look like you can handle a gun. Or you sir, come on, kill those savage in-j-u-n-s...

- the words die on his lips. Above him is a six foot five indian, dressed in a dusty black suit but still wearing two feathers in his hair: SPOTTED HORSE. CHARLES MOONLIGHT turns quickly to the other side of the crowd and offers the gun -

CHARLES MOONLIGHT: Only a quarter to enter - ah, Eugene, Mr. Dred, sir, nice to see you sir -

EUGENE DRED: Shut your mouth.

EUGENE DRED is the whorehouse owner we saw earlier. His fine elegant clothes somehow make him even more frightening. EUGENE ignores the crude pistol he is being offered and opens his coat to reveal two gleaming six guns. A few people in the crowd applaud very loudly: EUGENE is very popular with some people.

He looks at the shooting range, watching the indians bobbing in and out of the woods for a moment. Then he fires in quick succession with both guns, three shots from each gun, in a beautiful flowing movement.

All six indians go down. The crowd applauds wildly.

EUGENE DRED: Cigar.

He plucks a big cigar out of CHARLES MOONLIGHT's hands. He bites off the end and strikes a match and is about to light it when -

KID: Good shooting, Eugene. If I was a metal injun, I'd be shittin' in my pants.

EUGENE DRED stops in the middle of lighting his cigar and turns around slowly. The KID is a very good looking young man with charm and endless cheek. A young reckless outlaw who believes he is immortal.

KID: Your draw is slow and you're pulling to the left. You were lucky to nick that last injun up there.

EUGENE DRED lights his cigar. The crowd laughs nervously. EUGENE DRED violently punches the metal lever that brings the six indians back up again.

EUGENE DRED: Come here. If you miss a single one of them, Kid, I'm going to put a bullet in you.

KID is standing twenty feet from the range, legs apart. The indians bob backwards and forwards.

KID: Maybe I'll try from back here.

The KID opens his coat. He's wearing two beautiful Smith and Wesson Schofield .45's, silver-plated, scroll-engraved, with ivory grips. He suddenly quickdraws with his left hand, shoots five indians down and shoots the cigar in EUGENE DRED's mouth with his sixth bullet, blowing the end off it.

KID: Damn I missed that last one! I was pulling to the left as well!

The final indian is still moving backwards and forwards, waving his flaming arrow provocatively.

People back off quickly, suddenly clearing a path between the two men. There's going to be a gunfight. Both men reload their guns, silently and quickly, then reholster them.

ELLEN watches as the two men face each other. The KID stands where he is, mock trembling his knees and grinning. EUGENE's hand is starting to move towards his holster, very slowly, and so is the KID's, when suddenly - BLAM!!!

The KID's hat is blown off.

EUGENE looks dumbfounded at the KID - he hasn't drawn yet. Everyone slowly turns around to see who has fired.

Another bullet BLASTS the remaining tiny stub of the cigar out of EUGENE's mouth.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! - the indians are smashed down - six with six bullets.

By this time everyone except KID and EUGENE have scattered or are lying on the ground.

BLAM-BLAM! - the two side struts of the sideshow are shot and the canopy slams down like someone's decided it's shutting up early for the night. The whole town is silent for a moment. Scared.

ELLEN looks back up the street to the big house, where she can see the veranda doors open on the first floor, and a high-powered rifle sticking out. It has solid silver engraving on the barrel. Unusual and very expensive. It slowly disappears.

This scene was shot (I was a torch-bearer near the shooting gallery), but cut. I returned the next day with my camera to get a photo of the shooting gallery (after all, it was "Indian Bob's"), but it was gone. I never saw it again.