SCREENS
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THE BICYCLE THIEF ‘Francis Buxton’ Reminisces About Riding Pee-wee’s Bike
Ivan Drago from Rocky IV might’ve been the toughest movie nemesis to hit the big screen in 1985, but pound-for-pound, no one can reach archenemy status quite like Francis Buxton (Mark Holton), the chubby, spoiled man-child who covets Pee-wee Herman’s bicycle in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. The Current interviewed Holton for the 30th anniversary of the film. Did you get to ride the bike on set since we never see you ride it in the movie? I was on that damn bike three times! Two of those times I thought I was going to die. [Director] Tim [Burton] had me in a bear suit that was made from a real bear and incredibly heavy. I was on an elevated platform with a track the bike followed. To my left was a straight drop to a concrete floor. The weight was taking me over the edge. Two brave crew members grabbed
ALL ABOUT THAT BASEMENT Contrary To Popular Belief, There Are Two Lower Levels At The Alamo It comes as a crushing blow to Pee-wee Herman in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure when Tina, the Alamo tour guide (the late Jan Hooks), delivered six devastating words that brought the journey to find his bike to a complete standstill. “There’s no basement at the Alamo,” Tina tells him, chuckling before the rest of the tour group joined in to mock an embarrassed Pee-wee. Tina was correct. The Alamo doesn’t have a basement — it actually has two. That’s the case now, at least. “One is underneath the gift shop of the visitor’s center,” said Becky Dinnin, director of the Alamo, who has held the position since February. “The other is underneath Alamo Hall, which is now used as a reception venue that we rent out.” 26 CURRENT • August 5–11, 2015 • sacurrent.com
me. If they hadn’t, it would have been ugly. The second time, I was rigged with wires to a telescoping crane. The crane would rocket me up. Sheer terror! I would then be lowered screaming obscenities much to delight of [cowriter and actor] Phil Hartman, who would dissolve into laughter. How much underwater wrestling did you actually have to do with Pee-wee during your bathtub scene? Also, why does Francis bathe in swim shorts? The underwater shots didn’t take that long. We just rolled as I screamed under water. What you don’t see on film are the miles of electrical cables and boxes outside the pool. When my butler, Professor Tanaka, dove in, great waves of water crashed down on the cables. When you are standing barefoot in water with electrical cables around your feet, it’s a little frightening. Why does Francis wear swim shorts? Well, the Buxtons are a very modest family.
In the basement below the gift shop, which was added at least four years after Pee-wee came up empty in his search, there is an employee break room, restrooms, storage areas for gift shop items, staff lockers and a resource library for tour guides. During a tour of the basement last week, Dinnin showed the Current a room where fudge is made to sell in the gift shop above. Boxes of Mexican dark chocolate and pecan praline line the hallway. Pee-wee Herman himself was given the same tour in 2011 when he visited San Antonio to shoot an episode of Top Chef. The Current wasn’t given access to the basement under Alamo Hall, but Dinnin assured us there are no bicycles down there — just a place to store paperwork and old records. Alamo Hall used to be a fire station, which came under state control in the late 1930s. Details on the building are hard to come by. Madam Ruby was lying to Pee-wee when she told him his beloved bicycle was in the Alamo basement, but sending him on a wild goose chase in San Antonio to search inside the lower levels of the mission probably shouldn’t have ended in so much humiliation. What would an official Alamo tour guide tell a visitor if he or she asked to see the basement today? “Neither basement can be accessed by the public,” Dinnin said. “It’s not very magical down here anyway.”
Did you get to keep anything from the set? Your customized baby blue jumpsuit, perhaps? I have one of Paul Reubens’ cheese sandwiches in my freezer. It’s probably time to list it on eBay. You have a scene at the end of the film with the late Hartman. What was it like to work with him? Phil was on the set most of the time and my time with him was filled with laughter. We fed off each other and I knew how extremely gifted and talented he was on many levels before the rest of the world did. He had an endless list of great ideas and characters. I miss him. What do you think Francis Buxton would be doing today? A life sentence for a series of white-collar crimes. For our full interview with Mark Holton, visit sacurrent.com
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