"Finally, on our last day of shooting, I’d saved for us the campfire scene. Sitting on a Paramount soundstage made up to look like the forest basin at Yosemite, Leonard, DeForest and I spent our last ten hours together laughing, singing and making fun of each other, both in and out of the script. With nothing ahead of us, we could really relax and enjoy the scene, playing it out at our leisure with plenty of time to experiment. It was great fun, with Leonard loudly humming “Home on the Range” between takes while pitifully trying to cover the song on Spock’s lute.
Later, when De Kelley finally opened his mouth, spewing forth one of the most vile “Row Row Row Your Boat’s” ever emitted by a human being, we couldn’t help getting hysterical. Not only was this guy tone-deaf, he was thoroughly arrhythmic as well, and getting him to jump in as the third leg or our ear splitting round was all but impossible. Finally, after spending the day with two men whom I admire as much as any in the world, amid smiles, warm feelings and genuine camaraderie that we’d built up over the years, we cut and printed out last take. With that, after a quick glass of champagne, and a long group hug, they were gone, and although I’d see them again at our official wrap party later in the week, I couldn’t help but feel a real loss."