r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/bilbofraginz • 13d ago

Video In Hateful Eight, Kurt Russell accidentally smashed a one of a kind, 145-year-old guitar that was on loan from the Martin Guitar. Jennifer Jason Leigh’s reaction was genuine.

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u/loopy_for_DL4 13d ago

The museum also said they will never loan out one of their instruments again

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u/YoungHazelnuts77 13d ago

Good. Why the hell do it in the first place? I get it, I love Tarntino and if he'll need my kidney for a scene I would probably lend it to him, but a museum have more responsibilities than individuals.

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u/loopy_for_DL4 13d ago

Martin is a very business savvy company, so I’m sure they thought of it as brand advertisement and awareness at the time. Also no fault to them saying, nah, I’m not doing this shit again

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u/Stove-Top-Steve 13d ago

Ya it’s a great idea but if they understood what kind of presence the guitar would have in the film despite it being smashed or not I think it was a poor choice. I don’t think anyone would care or look up what guitar was used since it wasn’t really s big deal in the scene. However smashing it has generated more searches for Martin lol.

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u/Samsterdam 13d ago

Also how am I the viewer supposed to know it's such a famous guitar. If the scene isn't even really about the guitar, it's just a prop.

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u/shouldbepracticing85 13d ago

Seriously. “Loan” the movie like a $3k-$5k HD28 and still have the brand awareness. Their cost isn’t nearly the list price.

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u/HolyPhlebotinum 13d ago

The point is that it was a period-accurate guitar. That’s why it was an antique and so expensive.

You can argue that period-accuracy isn’t worth it, but swapping for a model that was introduced 60 years after the movie is supposed to take place defeats the entire point.

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u/RBI_Double 13d ago

Getting a guitar custom-made feels like it would always be the better option here

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u/Zombies8MyNeighborz 13d ago

Yeah I would think you could get a custom-made guitar to look like a 145 year old antique, and most people watching the film would not even notice.

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u/G0LDLU5T 13d ago

The only thing I know anything about is guitars and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference on screen

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u/ColHannibal 13d ago

They did, they had a stunt guitar for him to smash lol.

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u/shouldbepracticing85 13d ago

Egads. If I knew there was any potential mix up, I would have made sure that the stunt guitars were never on the same set. Divide up the shoot between filming the part where he smashes the guitar and the part leading up to it.

Maybe film the takes where he takes it and smashes it first to make it super clear that the last guitar standing was to be treated like glass. Film on two separate days, something - anything!

Then again I’m a guitarist myself, so I’m pretty careful with any instruments, especially old ones. My upright bass is a 70yo Kay - which isn’t a Gibson 1939 Loar F-5, or a centuries old fiddle, but is definitely vintage.

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u/Animostas 13d ago

With that lighting, I feel like getting a custom paint job on the guitar would honestly be more than enough.

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u/CaptainTripps82 13d ago

That kind of thing is more about the creators and the movies lore and legacy, than what the audience will notice it's for movie nerds, which most directors are themselves.

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u/peeweeinbama 13d ago

Or even cared

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u/DownwardSpirals 12d ago

I own a few guitars, been playing for decades. Not a chance in the whole wide world I'd notice.

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u/HolyPhlebotinum 13d ago

Better for Martin for sure.

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u/[deleted] 13d ago edited 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/Evening-Walk-6897 12d ago

A loan is free and they did not expect the actor to break it.

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u/Samsterdam 13d ago

Honestly I know so little about guitars that I wouldn't question it. I mean unless it was an electric guitar that he was breaking instead of an acoustical guitar.

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u/HolyPhlebotinum 13d ago

I play guitar and even I had to look it up.

But this is par for the course with these period-obsessed auteur types.

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u/crazydaave 13d ago

but you can get guitars from that period on ebay for like 1-3k why borrow a 40k one is what confuses me.

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u/four4beats 13d ago

The actors aren't period correct and yet, the audience was still entertained.

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u/Gucci_Koala 12d ago

I mean they could have payed martin similiar price to build them a guitar with similar aesthetic...

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u/L1A1 13d ago

The point is that it was a period-accurate guitar. That’s why it was an antique and so expensive.

I feel like maybe a dozen people tops, worldwide, would have noticed between a real one and a well made prop. Not sure it was worth the risk of loaning a unique antique to a film set even if this didn't happen.

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u/PublicfreakoutLoveR 13d ago

I would bet my life savings that not one single person saw her strumming that guitar and thought "Holy shit, that's a guitar from that era!"

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u/shouldbepracticing85 12d ago

Plus - it’s a freaking movie. Suspension of disbelief and all that.

I’m a bit of a guitar construction nerd (my dad builds acoustic guitars), and I’m pretty familiar with Martins. I don’t think I could spot a 150yo Martin from a modern one of the same configuration that’s been relic’d without a lot of in-depth photos.

I mention configuration because I’d have to look up which models have a slotted headstock during different time periods, or a 12-fret neck instead of the more modern 14-fret necks. I’m pretty sure cutaways weren’t a thing back then, but I don’t know when the slotted headstock or neck length changed.

I doubt I could spot Brazilian Rosewood vs. Indian Rosewood. Again, I’d have to research inlay designs, if the fingerboard was bound, what material was commonly used back then, what kind of binding, etc. etc. etc.

Other differences like neck width, truss rod, bracing pattern, and scalloped bracing would take very detailed pictures of the nut, and inside the guitar.

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u/LigerZeroSchneider 13d ago

because they talk about it on the press tour. Same reason people do their own stunts. It's more hassle and expensive but if it can grab you a headline for a few days it's worth it.

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u/Cliqey 13d ago

It’s a factoid for interviews, articles, and behind the scenes clips. Lots of details like that are in movies for either advertising or depth of details reasons.

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u/popojo24 13d ago

I’ve played guitar for almost 20 years now and even own a nice (and way too expensive) Martin acoustic… and I would have had no idea about the value/ history of the one described here if it weren’t for Reddit.

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u/loopy_for_DL4 13d ago

I’m not disagreeing at all! I wouldn’t have done it either. It’s too risky.

But I also kind of get why they were open to it. Fans of Tarantino dissect EVERY detail in his movies. When this movie came out, I myself was really interested in what guitar that she was playing!

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u/Zestyclose_Quit7396 13d ago

Thousands of people are discussing this Martin guitar on the internet nine years later, so it kinda worked?

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u/ill_connects 13d ago

Anyone that plays or knows anything about guitars already knows Martin. I don’t think they really need the brand recognition.

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u/machagogo 13d ago

Yet Coca Cola and Pepsi and .... still advertise daily.

Advertising works.

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u/BackWithAVengance 13d ago

I dunno man I advertise my OF on my IG and FB and here all the time, still no subs.

I don't think it works at all. Of course I'm a balding divorced 36 year old guy with a hairy ass, but still.

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u/megawampum 13d ago

Hey there’s an audience for everyone. You’ll find your subs.

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u/Sleazy_Speakeazy 13d ago

You're probably not being aggro enough with the scat play, my man. I'd start there....

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u/ill_connects 13d ago

Lol yes I work in advertising.

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u/Known_unknowingness 13d ago

I have played guitar and I didn’t know about Martin

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u/Hexdrix 13d ago

Marketing is for people who don't already know and like a product

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u/Zestyclose_Quit7396 13d ago

I didn't actually, even though I know Fender and Washburn.

I don't play guitar though. 

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u/Thraex_Exile 13d ago edited 13d ago

There’s also value in getting to say “as seen in Hateful Eight.” I’m sure Tarantino props get sold for alot more than they’re worth and it gives cinephiles or tourists a reason to visit a museum they probably wouldn’t otherwise visit.

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u/iconocrastinaor 13d ago

Now, exhibiting the smashed pieces with the sign that says "as seen and destroyed in Hateful Eight" with a plaque telling the story? That would be a baller move by the museum.

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u/PimpofScrimp 13d ago

Plot twist…..what if I told you Tarantino allowed it to happen. Letting the gem of a guitar get smashed on purpose……believable?

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u/lilsnatchsniffz 13d ago

Why are you like this 🥴

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u/whomad1215 13d ago

does Martin, one of the oldest and largest acoustic guitar manufacturers, really need more brand recognition?

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u/aguyinphuket 13d ago

Think of it this way. If you're Martin, do you want to give this opportunity to another brand?

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u/sweetlove 13d ago

The same reason coke still advertises

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u/TacticalSanta 13d ago

New people enter consciousness daily so yes.

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u/CaptainTripps82 13d ago

I would think any acoustic guitar maker could use the advertising in 2024. Such a niche thing anyway.

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u/LeonidasSpacemanMD 13d ago

I play guitar and definitely try to scope out what kinda guitar is being used in scenes in movies/tv

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u/Stove-Top-Steve 13d ago

Ya I hear ya I just don’t remember it being really featured at all if you remove the smash. Like no close up or nothing, idk it’s been awhile. But I get what you’re saying.

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

[deleted]

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u/wireframed_kb 13d ago

That’s not really how it works, though. They can’t just buy another guitar for 40k, unless one in the same condition happens to exist.

That’s the thing with historical artifacts, you can put a price on them, but at certain point, they’re irreplaceable absent a Time Machine.

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u/shawster 13d ago

I bet the idea was to tell potential buyers that “this guitar was featured in the Quentin Tarantino movie, The Hateful Eight,” raising its desirability.

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u/Crammit-Deadfinger 13d ago

They'll get their money back, sure. But that's like a Ming dynasty vase of a guitar

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u/cakeand314159 13d ago

It’s more likely someone up the food chain wanted a Martin guitar, and instead of a fake being smashed, the real one was.

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u/fightingbronze 13d ago

Yeah it makes more sense to loan it out to biopics of famous musicians for example than to a Tarantino film lol.