The lioness

Jean-Paul Goude intended to use a taxidermy lion to film the face-to-face scene with the actress. After several days of filming, though, the maestro declared the scene not realistic enough – a real lion was called for. The lion and actress were filmed separately, then spliced face to face in a Paris special effects studio – with excellent results. Filming the panoramic view of the lion’s mouth took patience – the film crew had to wait for naptime to catch the king of beasts yawning wide.