Showbiz Circle
The entertainment
industry is very very weird.
It is also riddled
with coincidences and peculiarities.
Here are a few of the
A-L ones:
"What must one do to receive an Oscar?
Play Biblical characters, priests and
victims of sad tragic disabilities."
–
Marlene Dietrich
The
(fictional) Benthic Petroleum company who employ the rig workers in James
Cameron’s ‘The Abyss’ (1989) also have a place in the director’s 
‘Terminator 2’ (1991). Their logo is to
be seen on the garage-hideout petrol pumps.
‘Almost
Famous’ is the first Cameron Crowe film to be lacking an appearance by Eric
Stoltz. (He was going to be David Bowie. Fleetingly.) Stoltz was 3rd
billing in Crowe’s ‘The Wild Life’ (1984), but also had cameos in ‘Fast Times
at Ridgemont High’ (1982), ‘Say Anything’ (1989), as a mime in ‘Singles’
(1992), and ‘Jerry Maguire’ (1996). His name, however, is mentioned in the rock
biopic.
The
town over-run by spiders in ‘Arachnaphobia’ (1990) is called Canaima. This is
also the moniker taken by the avenging spirit of the Guyana Indians, and is the
name of the Venezuelan location where film begins.
The
plot of ‘The Astronaut’s Wife’ (1999) is not the only element reminiscent of
‘Rosemary’s Baby’ (1968) – the shorn-blond haircut sported by mother-to-be
Charlize Theron is markedly similar to that of Mia Farrow.
The
chess moves in ‘The Avengers’ (1998) game played by Emma Peel (Thurman) and
John Steed (Fiennes) are the same as in the ‘Blade Runner’ (1982) match between
Roy Batty and Tyrell.
Mercedes McNab, who plays Harmony on ‘Buffy’ – Spike’s whiny blond
Season#4 girlfriend who proved so infuriating a companion he staked her – has
also been irritating elsewhere. In ‘The Addams Family’ (1991), she’s an
annoying blond girl scout selling cookies (“are they made from real girl
scouts?”) at Wednesday & Pugsley’s lemonade stand. And in the film’s 1993
sequel, she’s an annoying blond summer-camper. Who Christina Ricci gets to tie
to a stake and burn as the Indian’s revenge segment of their Thanksgiving
Celebrations. (There’s an ever-growing theme 
here…)
In
‘The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’ (1994), there’s a prominent
poster for the ‘93 movie ‘Frauds’ in the video store. A movie also directed by
Stephan Elliot, and also starring Hugo Weaving. Though involving substantially
less Pat Butcher eye-shadow.
In
‘All the President’s Men’ (1976) Watergate security guard Frank Mills got to
play himself.
Rather
than re-dub or add subtitles to the movie for foreign audiences, the film unit
behind ‘Al-Risalah’ (1976) decided to shoot two versions of it. So.
Scene-by-scene, an English version - released as ‘The Message’ - and the Arabic
version were shot on the same set, by the same crew, using two different sets
of actors.
While
Jasmine’s appearance was based on a combination of Jennifer Connelly and her
animator’s 
sister, in the early drawings for
Disney’s Aladdin (1992), the male lead resembled Michael J. Fox. However.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, worried that such a hero might not have enough ‘appeal to
women’ (how rude to Mickey J), asked that the hero be ‘beefed up’ so as to look
more like Tom Cruise. (Who is, like, a real guy. And even though he’s happily
married to (um, now dating) someone extremely foxy, is still more likely to be
available to his audience for general fornication purposes, than is a
two-dimensional character trapped in paints on a animator’s cell. And there’s
me thinking we’re supposed to want to see a cartoon for its plot or jokes, not
the attractiveness of its stars...) They removed Aladdin’s nipples from the
film anyway - a Disney audience wouldn’t want to see nipples - which seems a
perplexingly deliberate de-sexualisation of a character they’ve tried to make
more sexy.
Oh,
and in the film you can alsospot a toy versions of the Beast, Sebastian and
Pinocchio – from ‘Beauty and The Beast’ (1991), ‘The Little Mermaid’ (1989) and
‘Pinocchio’ (1940), respectively.
An
early draft of the 1979 film ‘Alien’ had a male Ripley (urgh), while director
Ridley Scott 
apparently wanted a much darker ending to
the film; the alien would bite off Ripley's head in the escape shuttle, sit in
her chair, and then start speaking with her voice in a message to Earth. 20th Century
Fox wasn't too happy with this plan. Just like they weren’t too happy with some
of conceptual artist H. R. Geiger's early designs, which under-went several
revisions because of their blatant sexuality: the top of the eggs looked a
leetle too much like labia for the comfort of the Powers That Be. That the face
of the alien (costume’s) head is made from a real human skull though, oh,
that’s fine...
Those
viewers out there who can – hey – read, might also have noticed that ‘Salako’,
the name of the ship in ‘Aliens’ (1986) is the name of the town in Joseph
Conrad's book ‘Nostromo’. Whose 
name was used for the ship in ‘Alien’.
It
should also be known that Jeanette Goldstein – who played ‘Aliens’’ Vasquez,
had thought the film was to be about ‘illegal aliens’, and so had arrived at
the audition with waist long hair and a lot of make-up, only to find everyone
else in military fatigues.
The
improbably proficient basketball shot that Sigourney Weaver makes in ‘Alien:
Resurrection’ (1997) – the flip from behind across half the court without even
looking – was made by an improbably proficient Sigourney Weaver.
The
TV movie ‘Alien Attack’ (1976) was entirely made from neatly spliced scenes of two
episodes (‘Breakaway’ and ‘War Games’) of ‘Space: 1999’ (1975).
The delightful & ever-realistic (ha)
film ‘Alligator’ (1980) contains a nice couple of movie-in-jokes about, um, the
sewers and their inhabitants. A sewer worker character called Edward Noron from
‘The Honeymooners’ was named as one of the victims on a blackboard seen in the
background of a press conference, while graffiti on a sewer-wall reads ‘Harry
Lime Lives’, a reference to the ‘The Third Man’ (1949) character who was killed
in a sewer.
The
script for ‘American Pie’ (1999) was submitted to studios under a different
moniker to that which we now know & cherish so – screenwriter Adam Herz
snappily named it ‘Untitled Teenage Sex Comedy That Can Be Made For Under $10
Million That Most Readers Will Probably Hate But I Think You Will Love’.
Long before the part of Patrick Bateman
had been cast for the 1999 film adaptation of ‘American Psycho’, Bret Easton
Ellis wrote Christian Bale into his novel ‘Glamorama’, as a bit-player
Hollywood star of a recurring character.
Alan
Arkin plays John Cusack’s “Wellness Guide” in ‘America’s Sweethearts’ (2001);
in ‘Grosse Pointe Blank’ (1997) he also played Cusack’s therapist.
‘Amores
Perros’ (2000), unlike most movies (though most don’t linger on dogfighting…),
is prefaced with a disclaimer that no animals were harmed in the making
of the film.
For ‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979), Dennis
Hopper had been intended to play Willard's predecessor, but had a part as a
crazy photo-journalist written in for him by Coppola when it became apparent
that he was ‘too affected by drugs to play a military type’. During filming,
Hopper and Coppola often argued over whether it was possible to forget your
lines when you didn't learn them in the first place.
In
the 1993 TV-movie version of ‘Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman’, the film showing at
the drive-in when Nancy goes on her rampage is the 1958 ‘Attack of the 50 Foot
Woman’.
I’d
like to think that if the drivers of the cars on the poster for the original
‘Attack of the 50 Foot Woman’ (1958) are going to die, they’ll die happy, delirious
with their view.
During
rehearsals for ‘Awakenings’ (1990), Robin Williams managed to break Robert De
Niro's nose. Accidentally. Of course. (Well I wouldn’t want to break it on
purpose. Would you?)
The main street in ‘Back to the Future’ (1985) is the same one
used for Bedford Falls in ‘Gremlins’ (1984), and the cinema in both films is
showing the same movies; ‘A Boy’s Life’, which was the working title for ‘E.T.’
(1982), and ‘Watch The Skies’, the working title 
for ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’
(1977). Their directors, Steven Spielberg, actually pops up in the film as
well, playing the part of the pick-up truck driver that gives Marty a lift to
school. Huey Lewis - bizarrely - also makes a cameo in the film, as the
high-school band judge.
Robert
Zemeckis & screenwriter Bob Gale also managed to get one of their
long-standing traditions into the script for ‘Back To The Future 2’ (1989) -
the two police officers who take Jennifer home are called Reese and Foley,
which is what all the two-some’s police or government agents are called.
The
‘Back To The Future’ script never called for Marty to repeatedly bang his head
on the gull-wing door of the Delorean - as the door mechanism became
progressively more temperamental during filming, this running joke was the
improvised result of several headaches. It obviously destroyed a few brain
cells in the process - in the inbetween 5 years since filming ‘Back To The
Future’ and its sequel, Michael J. Fox managed to forget how to ride a
skateboard. But then he still managed, over the course of the two sequels, to
play himself, his great(?)-grandfather, his son and his daughter. Wigs and
make-up are truly wonderful things.
In
‘Bandits’ (2001) and ‘Sling Blade’ (1996), the characters Billy Bob Thornton plays
are both afraid of antique furniture. Billy Bob Thornton really does have a
fear of antique furniture. (“I get creeped out and I can't breathe and
I can't eat around it. But it's only certain kinds of antique furniture… I've had friends tell me that maybe I was
beaten to death with an antique chair in a former life.”)
‘Barney
and Friends’, the CTV show which features a suspiciously un-terrifying
dinosaur, was denounced, attacked and boycotted by the Ku Klux Klan in 1994.
Who were ‘outraged’ that the friendly purple one was played by – SHOCK – a
black man. And that he – SHOCK – was beloved of their children.
Bob
Kane, creator of the original Batman comic strip, was scheduled to 
make a cameo appearance in the 1989 ‘Batman’
movie, but he couldn't make the shoot. However. The drawing that the newspaper
reporter holds up of the ``Bat-Man'' was drawn by Kane. Even sketching from the
new cast, the picture is still not entirely Michael Keaton - most shots of
Batman in costume show a stunt double instead.
In
the film’s 1992 sequel, ‘Batman Returns’, Christopher Walken plays a 
nasty man called Max Schreck – this is
the name of the actor who played the vampire lead in ‘Nosferatu, eine Symphonie
des Grauens’ (1922). This sequel was branded as ‘anti-Semitic’ by one writer
for the ‘New York Times’, because the Penguin, Batman’s nemesis, was seen to
have Jewish characteristics. For example… He has a big nose, and likes
herrings. (Rather like, um, penguins do.) He was discovered floating down the
underground river in a basket, much like Moses was. (The bible says nothing of
his parents being circus freaks, however.) And like Christ, he is 33, and
carries his umbrella into the graveyard as Christ carried his cross. (Or would
have done, had it had more of a stick shape to it.) I personally think that the
opinion piece itself was, very probably, the more offensive, and am yet again
boggled by the imagination of film critics. (I read one piece in ‘The Face’
magazine which suggested ‘Stuart Little’ endorsed paedophilia. Not, um,
fostering.)
In
one scene of the (frankly appalling despite the cast & lingering crotch/bum
shots in the opening credits) fourth sequel ‘Batman & Robin’ (1997) of the
franchise, Batman and Robin bid against each other for the chance to date
Poison Ivy. The credit card Batman wields as his ultimate weapon has an
expiration date of ‘FOREVER’.
In
Alex Garland’s novel, ‘The Beach’, the lead character of Richard simply
obsesses over 
Françoise from afar, she never leaving
her boyfriend. In the film, Richard is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. It would
have been inconceivable to an audience that he would not get the girl.
Particularly when all that was standing in his way was a Frenchman. Pshaw.
The
title role of ‘Beetlejuice’ (1988) was originally penned for Sammy Davis Jr.
…Also,
when Barbara and Adam are in their Afterlife case worker's office, through the
blinds in the window we can see... Elwood and Jake from ‘The Blues Brothers’
(1980).
That
LesterCorp is on floor 7½ is discovered 7½ minutes into ‘Being John Malkovich’
(1999).
While
Kate Chapshaw’s character is waiting in a pick-up truck in the film ‘Best
Defense’ (1984), she 
is humming the theme song from ‘Indiana
Jones and the Temple of Doom’ (1984), which is a delightful piece of
self-promotion, as she was in that one too.
Some
of the lightning seen in ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ (1986) forms a Chinese
symbol as it disappears, which translates ‘carpenter’. ‘Big Trouble In Little
China’ was directed by John Carpenter. This is not a coincidence.
The
advance poster for Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ (1963) proclaimed ‘THE BIRDS
IS COMING!’, which grammatical discordance did much to irritate English
teachers the world over.
Two
Millennium Falcons (seemingly stalking Harrison Ford through time as well as
space) appear in ‘Blade Runner’ (1982). The first is in tattoo form, on the
forehead of the snake merchant in the street. The second is as a model
incorporated into an actual building. It can be seen in the bottom left of the
screen, in the scene where Deckard and Gaff approach police headquarters in a
spinner.
When
Richie gets arrested in ‘Blown Away’ (1992), a police radio can be heard
announcing the capture of Dr. Richard Kimble from the TV programme ‘The
Fugitive’.
‘The Blues Brothers’ (1980) holds the
world record for the number of cars crashed, far exceeding the 93 cars in the
97 minutes running time of ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’ (1974).
The
wood-cut in the vampire tome Van Helsing is reading, in ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’
(1992), when he realises the identity of his undead enemy is of Vlad Tepes, the
15th-century Impaler prince of Wallachia. This genocidal monarch was
also known as Vlad Dracula, meaning Vlad son of Dracul, of the Order of the
Dragon.
Several
of the major battle scenes in ‘Braveheart’ (1995) had to be re-shot, as the
extras were clearly & somewhat anachronistically seen to be wearing
sunglasses and wristwatches.
Some of the cloud footage used in
‘Brazil’ (1985) was left-over stock from ‘The Never Ending Story’ (1985) …just
as extraneous footage from Kubrick’s mountain soaring which begins ‘The
Shining’ (1980) was used in the dreamy-end to ‘Blade Runner’ (1982) …just as
Disney’s ‘Bambi’ (1942) uses some ‘footage’ of woodland animals and a forest
fire created for ‘Pinocchio’ (1940) but never used.
At
the start of ‘The Breakfast Club’ (1985), the photograph of a one-time Shermer
High School student ‘Man of the Year’ depicts the janitor’s younger self. And
for added realism & general tidiness, the mother and younger
sister of Anthony Michael 
Hall (aka Brian) play his
character’s mother and sister. John Hughes, the director, plays Andrew’s
dad; the film was actually partly shot at his old high school in Illinois. The
football oval seen at the end is owned by Glenbrook North High School, where
Hughes graduated; this school was used as Shermer High in Hughes’ ‘Ferris
Bueller’s Day Off’ (1986). The interior scenes of ‘The Breakfast Club’ were
shot at the Maine North High School (which has since become the Illinois State
Police Station). The library was actually built in the school gym.
The
‘naked blonde walks into a bar…’ joke told by Bender does not have a punchline,
by the way. Beyond “I forgot my pencil.” Irritatingly, John Hughes has said
that ‘that was the point’.
The
circus train in ‘A Bug’s Life’ (1998) is made from boxes of Casey Jr. animal
crackers. The circus train in ‘Dumbo’ (1941) has the same name.
‘Can’t
Hardly Wait’ (1998) was supposed to feature Tara Benson as a Stoned Girl. With
more to do on screen than simply be intrigued in a banana. Almost all of her
scenes hit the cutting room floor. As did ones involving a Drunk Girl so wasted
she was unintelligible. The original plan had been for her slurring garble to
be subtitled. (But this could be seen as glamorising drinking? Making it
Swedish?) Her scenes were cut. And a glass of tequila was digitally changed (in
post-production) to be a lemon slice. Thus the film was awarded a PG-13 rating.
Phew.
Oh,
and for those folks curious as to the details of William Lichter's scrolling
credentials – but not sufficiently interested to watch the film with the Pause
facility – here they are:
Valedictorian, National Merit Scholar,
Captain - State Physics Bowl Team, Captain - State Math Olympics Team, State
Math Champion, State Spelling Bee Champion, National Human Spirit Award, State
Science Fair First Prize, Honor Roll Recipient, Perpetual Motion Award (Space
Camp), Soap Box Derby Champion, Eagle Scout, Rotary Club, French Club, Spanish
Club, Mandarin Chinese Club, German Club, Dead Romance Languages Club, Large
Wooden Club, Math Club, Spelling Bee Club, Debate Team, Computer Club, Brighter
Minds Society, Inventors Club, Anti-Athletic Club, Klingon Language Club, Kite
Club, WWW.COM Club, Bill Gates Society, Classical Music Club, Stone Cutters,
Dungeons and Dragons Club (Founder), Magic The Gathering Club (Founder), Secret
Society, Junior Harvard Club (Founder), Megabyte Club, Physics Club, Latin
Club, Math Olympics, Academic Decathlon, and Chess Club (…My favourite is
the ‘Large Wooden Club’).
Carrie Fisher was originally cast in the
title role of Stephen King’s ‘Carrie’ (1976), but refused to do the nude
scenes, and eventually swapped roles with Sissy Spacek, who had been cast as
Princess Leia in ‘Star Wars’ (1977). Apparently. Spacek then proved so
dedicated to the film that she slept in the “pig’s blood” (actually syrup and
food colouring) for two nights, so as to minimise continuity errors.
The
budget for ‘Casablanca’ (1942) was so small they couldn't afford to use a real
plane in the background at the airport. Instead, it
was a small cardboard cut-out, with midgets to portray the crew preparing it for
take-off, so as to give the illusion that the plane was, well, plane-sized.
Ever
one for thinking ahead, Martin Scorsese planned the ‘head in a vice’ torture
scene in ‘Casino’ (1995) as a bargaining chip for the ratings board. He was
certain the MPAA would insist he lose
the scene, and that by protesting, the rest of the film’s 
violent scenes could be retained. But the
MPAA made no objection to it. And so the vide scene remained. (The version we
see is slightly edited though. Leaving one to wonder how much ‘fun’ the
original one was…)
In
‘Chaplin’ (1992), Geraldine Chaplin plays her own grandmother.
The
‘male’ military band in ‘Chariots of Fire’ (1981) features several women
cunningly disguised with false moustaches.
In
the high-falutin 2000 reworking of ‘Charlie’s Angels’, Drew Barrymore’s
character “drops in” on two kids playing video games, in the house where ‘E.T.’
was filmed. (A clue to which is the prominent E.T. poster over the television…)
Forward-planning
and Attention-to-detail awards go to… the production designer (Rat-Face) on
‘Chasing Amy’ (1997) left two tickets clearly sticking out of Jay’s top pocket
in his & Silent Bob’s diner scene. Tickets to Illinois, home of ‘The
Breakfast Club’, and host state to the start of ‘Dogma’, their next film…
Alyssa
(Joey Lauren Adams), the whiny-voiced but-I’m-gay! madam from ‘Chasing Amy’,
tells Holden (Ben Affleck) that her previous sexual partners 
include Gwen Turner and Shannon Hamilton.
These are characters from Kevin Smith’s ‘Mallrats’ (1995); Gwen was played by
Adams, and Shannon by Affleck. Just to complicate / tie-up matters even
further, Alyssa’s sisters are Heather – ‘Clerks’ – and Tricia – ‘Mallrats’ –
and her best friend is Caitlin Bree, also in ‘Clerks’. Adams was dating the
director while this film was being shot, and Kevin Smith’s sister got to play
the girlfriend Alyssa takes to the comic convention at the movie’s end.
Meanwhile, Jason Lee’s then wife, Carmen Llywellyn, played Kim, a step up from
being the poster-girl Silent Bob crashes through in ‘Mallrats’. And possibly
also from playing the Scooby Gang’s Daphne in ‘Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back’
(2001). (It’s all just too much for me…)
In
‘Christine’ (1983), the filmic adaptation of Stephen King’s fright-night tale
of a demonic car, the character of Dennis pulls a copy of Stephen King’s
fright-night tale of a demonic car from a library shelf, right before he asks
Leigh for a date.
‘Citizen Kane’ (1941) contains shots of
pterodactyls in flight. Setting off for the beach from Xanadu, what appear to
be large birds can be seen flying behind Kane and his entourage; to reduce costs,
this background had been montaged in from a science fiction film. Hence the
anachronistic flying monstrosities.
‘Class’
(1983) is the first movie John and Joan Cusack made together. Since, they’ve
also been co-stars in ‘Sixteen Candles’ (1984), ‘Grandview USA’ (1984),
‘Broadcast News’ (1987), ‘Cradle Will Rock’ (1999), ‘High Fidelity’ (2000). In
‘Say 
Anything’ (1989) and ‘Grosse Pointe
Blank’ (1997) they get to play brother and sister. But that isn’t the only
6-degrees-of-thefamily-Cusack connection. Oho no. Their father, Dick Cusack,
pops up in ‘Class’ and ‘High Fidelity’ too, as does another of his daughters,
Susie. Joan’s dad was in her first film, ‘My Bodyguard’, as the high school
principal. Dick was also in John’s ‘Eight Men Out’ (1988), and stars alongside
both John and his brother Bill in ‘The Jack Bull’ (1999). But that’s not all.
Bill Cusack also appears with John in ‘Elvis Stories’ (1989) as a doctor, as a
paramedic in ‘Con Air’ (1997), and as a waiter in ‘Grosse Pointe Blank’, a film
which also stars their sister Ann. Ann is also in John’s ‘Midnight In The
Garden Of Good And Evil’ (1997), and ‘America’s Sweethearts’ (2001), as Billy
Crystal’s assistant. Susie Cusack, one of Charlie’s party guests (& John’s
real life sister) in ‘High Fidelity’ also appears with Joan in ‘Accidental
Hero’ (1992). An acting family as prolific as the Baldwins, yet infinitely more
talented. Marvellous…
It
cost around $27,000 for Kevin Smith to get the rights to the songs on the
‘Clerks’ (1994) soundtrack, a far higher figure than the entire production cost
to film ($22,000ish). This is very much a filmic first.
Prior to the involvement of Stanley
Kubrick, Alex and his malenky droogs in ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1971) were
suggested to have been portrayed by mini-skirted young girls, OAPs, and The
Rolling Stones.
The
film (and book) gets its title from the opus which Frank Alexander is working
on when Alex and his droogs break into his home, an abbreviation of the phrase
‘Queer As A Clockwork Orange’.
The
attack on Alexander’s wife was based on an attack on Anthony Burgess' wife by
four American GIs during WWII, which caused her to miscarry.
Immediately before Alexander realises Alex’s
identity, as he sings to himself in the bath, Kubrick deliberately made
continuity errors in the film’s editing; in order to disorientate and unsettle
the film’s audience (so as our experience is akin to that of the author), the
dishes on the table move around and the level of wine in the glasses change
between shots, 
so as to give a feeling of disorientation
to the viewer.
It’s
Dave Prowse - country yokel body to Darth Vader - who acts as Alexender’s
strong-man & nurse in the later part of the film. Though here he really
doesn’t have many lines either...
The film, while remaining truer to its source
than Kubrick’s (re-) working of ‘The Shining’, leaves out Chapter 21 of the
book, which features a maturer Alex deciding on a more stable future. Burgess
said of the change: ``A vindication of free will had become an exaltation of
the urge to sin. I was worried. The British version of the book shows Alex
growing up and putting violence by as a childish toy; Kubrick confessed that he
did not know this version: an American, though settled in England, he had
followed the only version that Americans were permitted to 
know. I cursed Eric Swenson [the US
publisher] of W. W. Norton.''
In
‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ (1977), you can see an upside down R2-D2
embedded in part of the large space-ship which flies over Devil's Mountain,
included along with a shark from Spielberg’s ‘Jaws’ (1975) because the SFX
people needed more detail in the model...
Three
endings were shot to the big-screen version of Cluedo, Tim Curry’s ‘Clue’
(1985), and a random one shown at each theatre. (You can find all three,
apparently, on the video.)
Given
that Professor Plum works for the World Health Organization, which is a part of
the United Nations Organization, as he indicates at dinner, his employers are
UNO WHO.
Airport
scenes in the films ‘Coming to America’ (1988) and ‘Into the Night’ (1985)
include a call over the PA system for a ‘Mr Frank Ozkerwitz’ - Frank Oz’s real
name - to pick up the white courtesy phone.
Oh,
and the bums that pick up Eddie Murphy’s money in this film are the ‘Duke Brothers’
from ‘Trading Places’ (1983) - also directed by John Landis - who were
financially ruined by Murphy’s character in that movie.
The
fake blood in ‘Conan the Barbarian’ (1981) came in the form of a concentrate,
which needed to be mixed with water prior to use. Filming in cold weather, the
blood would freeze, and so they mixed the concentrate with vodka instead (as it
has a far lower 
freezing point). This proved popular with
the actors. For some reason. And in the scenes which called for them to spit
the blood, they would swallow it instead, and then go back to the special
effects department man for more.
The
quotes around the word ‘crocodile’ in the title of the film ‘'Crocodile'
Dundee’ (1986) were added for the benefit of its the American release, so as
people didn't think that Dundee himself was a croc.
Sam
Raimi’s ‘Crimewave’ (1985) features Odegard-Trend Security – this same outfit
is called out to the convenience store in ‘Raising Arizona’ (1987).
Each
25 minute episode of ‘Crossroads’ was, for many years, recorded in a single
take. With no editing, any mistakes that were made during the end of the shoot
would be left in, rather than re-filming.
‘The
Crow’ (1994) is not usually remembered as a film which features a cameo from a
stage-diving Trent Reznor, or one which Cameron Diaz turned down the chance to
appear in... but the one 
where Brandon Lee died in an on-set
accident. One scene required a gun to be loaded, cocked, and then pointed at
the camera - because it was filmed in close-up, the bullets which were loaded
had real brass caps, but no powder. Scene over, the props-master - the
arms-master having left the set for the day - dry-fired the gun to get the cock
off, and in so doing knocking an empty cartridge into the barrel of the gun.
For the next scene filmed with that gun, it was loaded with blanks, which
usually contain double or triple the powder of a normal bullet, so as to make a
loud noise when fired. The script called for Draven, Lee’s character, to be
shot as he entered the set, which would trigger the explosion of a blood pack
in the bag of groceries which he was carrying. But. When the gun was fired, the
cartridge stuck in the barrel of the gun was blasted at Lee through the bag he
was carrying, killing him. The footage of his death was destroyed without being
developed.
Lee
died before the filming ended, and ‘The Crow’ - which was released in his
memory - contains several scenes involving his character which were completed
without him. These include:
the scene where Draven first enters the
apartment after digging himself out of his grave was completed by digitally
compsiting footage of Lee 
walking through an alley in the rain into
the set. So as his wet appearance did not seem incongruous, post-production
computer manipulation of the footage added drops of water to the door frame.
the shot of Draven falling from the window was
created by digitally compositing Lee's face, complete with simulated blood,
onto a falling body double.
the scene where Draven puts on his white
make-up was filmed using a double.
the shot of Draven walking towards the window
with the crow on his shoulder was composed of old footage from another scene,
to which a computer-generated crow was added.
the scene when Sarah visits the apartment
never allows Draven's face to be revealed, as he is being played by a double.
The
Best Supporting Role By An Item Of Underwear Award, as bestowed by these very
pages, is currently tied jointly between Sarah Michelle Gellar for ‘Cruel
Intentions’ (1999), and Julia Roberts for ‘Erin Brockovich’ (2000):
‘The
Cure For Insomnia’ (1985) is the longest film ever made, clocking in at an
astonishing 85 hours. It was intended to ‘reprogram’ the biological clocks of
its insomniac viewers, so as they could sleep. Although it features a 4,080
page poem read by its author, L.D. Groban, I don’t believe the intention was to
bore viewers to sleep.
The
dog in ‘The Dambusters’ (1954) was called Nigger. (Except when the film is
shown on TV now.) For American audiences in the 50’s – more sensitive to racial
abuse than we Brits – his name was overdubbed, and became Trigger. When the dog
is referred to in morse code, mind, it is as -. .. --. --. . .-. (Nigger)
not - .-. .. --. --. . .-. (Trigger).
Graham Greene, who plays Kicking Bird in
‘Dances With Wolves’ (1990), once used his part as Edgar Montrose in ‘The Red
Green Show’ to talk himself up. In one episode, he mentions the movie, and
expresses the opinion that Kicking Bird (“the native guy”) should have been
given the Oscar.
(In
order to fully comprehend the next trivia snippet, you must already be aware
that ‘Cruel Intentions’ is a teen-rewrite of ‘Les Liasons Dangereuses’. That in
itself is not the news.)
In
‘Dangerous Liaisons’ (1988), Swoosie Kurtz plays Madame de Volange, whose
daughter is seduced by Valmont. In ‘Cruel Intentions’ (1999), she plays Dr.
Greenbaum, whose daughter is seduced by Valmont.
One of the press-conference reporters in ‘Dave’ (1993) is
from the Clamp Cable Network, which so memorably kept broadcasting while under siege in ‘Gremlins
2: The New Batch’ (1990), using Dracula as an anchorman.
‘Dead
Man On Campus’ (1998) – like ‘Dead Man’s Curve’ (1998), but with jokes &
Alyson Hannigan & substantially less attempted-murder – features TV’s
‘Freaks & Geeks’s Jason Segal (Nick) as the faintly alarming ex-Catholic
school-boy room-mate, who soon finds a lovely ex-Catholic school-girl to help
with his sexual repression. A school-girl played by his one-time ‘Freaks &
Geeks’ girlfriend, Linda Cardellini (Lindsay).
‘Deep
Blue Sea’ (1999), the film which (as Ed Byrne has noted) included a plot of
scientific-experimentation to increase sharks’ brain-size but only a mid-plot
realisation that this had caused 
them to become smarter, contains several
nice in-jokes (as further reason to watch the movie over and over…). The
license plate which emerges from the shark's mouth is the same one which was
found inside the tiger shark in ‘Jaws’ (1975). The sharks are also killed in
the same style (and order) as the three jawses; the first is blown up by
compressed gas (a la ‘Jaws’ (1975)), the second bites into a electric wire (a
la ‘Jaws 2’ (1978)), and the third is bomb-blasted (a la ‘Jaws 3-D’ (1983)).
The little orange mini-sub in the wet-entry area is the one used in ‘Sphere’
(1998), which also starred Samuel L. Jackson. And his character is one who
spent time in Leavenworth prison for smuggling – this is the jail he tells
people he had escaped from in ‘Out Of Sight’ (1998).
The only colours used in ‘Dick Tracy’ (1990) are those that the
original comic strip appeared in: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple,
black and white
Jay and Silent Bob owe their place in
‘Dogma’ (1999) to John Hughes and a love of Ally Sheedy. But had they
researched the setting of ‘The Breakfast Club’ (1985), they might not have been
so disappointed when they finally reached Illinois. Even if there is no Shermer
High School, the film was shot in Northbrook, which used to be called
Shermerville. There’s even a main street called Shermer Road that runs through
town. (Just no red-headed girls looking for love, or a high-school in need of a
dealer now Bender’s left…)
The
Japanese office of United Artists initially mis-translated the title of ‘Dr.
No’ (1962) as ‘We don't want a doctor’, and though the mistake was discovered
at the last minute, they had had posters printed with that title.
If
you freeze-frame ‘Election (1999) so as to read the newspaper article, you will
be confronted with the following text: ‘If you've paused the film in order to
read this entire article, your time would be better spent renting Citizen Ruth
from your local video store. Do you know how hard it is to write these fake few
stories for newspaper movie props? I've got better things to do.’
Unlike Julia Roberts in ‘Erin Brokovich’
(2000), who resorted to prominently displaying the cups of her bras in every
outfit, the real life eponymous heroine is well enough endowed to make a
low-cut top something of a distraction in the work-place. Without the brassiere
itself catching the eye.
The U.S. TV series "Emergency" (1972) featured
paramedics Gage and Desoto, who sometimes crossed paths with Reed and Malloy
from "Adam-12" (1968), at Rampart Hospital.
The
communicator in ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’ (1982) actually worked, and was
constructed by Henry Feinberg, a man described as ‘an expert in science and
technology interpretation for the public’. The triffid in E.T.’s plant
collection, cheerily, did not ‘work’…
The
actor playing the ex-med school pianist in ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ (1999) is Todd
Field, who had played a medical-school dropout ten years earlier in ‘Gross
Anatomy’ (1989).
In
‘The Faculty’ (1998), the school principal suggests to the other teachers that
money could be saved for the drama department by their re-using the set from an
earlier performance of ‘Our Town’. This the Thornton Wilder play which has no
set.
‘Fargo’
(1996) is not based on a true story. The Coen brothers lied… or, to put it
another way, chose to preface their
film (a fiction) with 
another fiction which was believed by an
audience trusting of the validity of a type-face promise.
For
her role in ‘Fargo’, Frances McDormand won the Best Actress Oscar in 1996, and
thus became the first person to win for a film which their spouse (Joel Coen)
had directed. And which their brother-in-law (Ethan Coen) had produced…
(Other
people had previously been up for just such a keep-it-in-the-family Best-Acting
Oscar privilege; Gena Rowlands was directed by husband John
Cassavetes in ‘A Woman Under the Influence’ (1974), Melina Mercouri by her
husband Jules Dassin in ‘Never on Sunday’ (1960), and Julie Andrews by her
husband Blake Edwards in ‘Victor, Victoria’ (1982).)
‘Fast
Times At Ridgemont High’ (1982) is the only film where Nicholas Cage – who
plays ‘Brad’s Bud’ is credited under his real name of Nicholas Coppola.
The
Spanish comedian Angel Garó did every single voice for the Spanish over-dub of
the 1992 movie ‘Ferngully: The Last
Rainforest.’
It is thought that ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day
Off’ (1986) is the first film to have named an actor in the end credits before
they have even appeared on screen. Polly Noonan is that very actor. She is seen
on the school bus, offering Ed Rooney some sweets, after her name has scrolled
upwards.
The
driving seat cop waiting at a 23rd century McDonald's eatery in ‘The
Fifth Element’ (1997), is played by an actor named Mac McDonald.
Archie Leach’s daughter in ‘A Fish Called Wanda’ (1988) is
played by Cleese’s actual daughter Cynthia. Who’s no doubt much much nicer to
her daddy.
The multi-talented Kristin Scott Thomas dubbed her own voice
for the French version of ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ (1994).
Beverly
Bonner pops up in ‘Frankenhooker’ (1990) as Casey, a role she also plays in
‘Basket Case’ (1982), ‘Brain Damage’ (1988), and ‘Basket Case 2’ (1999); all
four were directed by Frank Henenlotter. The only other film she’s made was
‘Basket Case 3: The Progeny’, in which she plays a Fast Food Manager. Possibly
called Casey.
Kelsey Grammar has been Emmy-nominated
for playing 
Frasier in three different TV series –
‘Frasier’, ‘Cheers’, and a ‘Wings’ guest appearance. Many of his patients are
just as award-friendly. Grammar’s radio-psychiatrist character has given advice
to a torrent of celebrities. (None of whom I recognised at the time.)
Including; Art Garfunkel, Ben Stiller, Billy Crystal, Carrie Fisher,
Cindy Crawford, David Duchovny, Eddie Van Halen, Ed Harris, Elijah Wood, Eric
Idle, Eric Stoltz, Gillian Anderson, Gloria Estefan, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen,
Jodie Foster, John Cusack, John Lithgow, John McEnroe, Kevin Bacon, Laura Dern,
Lily Tomlin, Linda Hamilton, Macaulay Culkin (and little Kieran), Mary
Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Matthew Broderick, Mel Brooks, Ron Howard, Sandra Dee,
Shelley Duvall, Tommy Hilfiger, William H. Macy…
One
of Johnny Depp’s first onscreen roles was in ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’
(1984), where he was swallowed by his bed (I think - death is certain though).
In ‘Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare’ (1991) he makes a cameo appearance in a
TV commercial.
In
1956, for his role in ‘Giant’, James Dean became the first actor to be
post-humously nominated for an Oscar. (In the event, however, Yul Brynner won
Best Actor for his part in ‘The King And I’…)
‘Glen or Glenda’ (1953), Ed Wood’s paen to transvestism, was entirely
financed by a Mormon church.
Within ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ (1992), the
word ‘shit’ and its derivatives are uttered a neat 50 times, while ‘fuck’ and its derivatives clock in
at a mildly astonishing 137 times. In ‘Magnolia’ (1999), ‘fuck’ is used 190
times in a 188 minute film. In ‘Casino’ (1995) meanwhile, ‘fuck’ is uttered 362
times; this (apparently) averages out as 2.05 naughty-swears every minute. ‘Nil
By Mouth’ (1997) tops both, however, with ‘fuck’ and its variants spat out at
least 470 times; this ups the swear average to 3.9 a minute. (Too much time on
your hands, counting-people. There’s always a world just outside of your front
door…)
It’s a real horse’s head in ‘The
Godfather’ (1972). Oh, and in all three films, the presence of an orange
indicates imminent carnage, for those eager for a visual Look Away Now
pointer.)
It might seem as though some of the
people crushed by the mutant lizard in ‘Godzilla’ (1998) were simply in the
wrong place at the wrong time. But one was killed just for his looks. The extra
who dies in his car, when the scaly beast first reaches Manhattan, was cast
because of his resemblance to J.D. Lees. The latter, editor of G-Fan magazine,
had written nasty things about the film when details were leaked in
pre-production. This was the crew’s revenge.
The
shoes which (an exceedingly hungry) Charlie Chaplin eats in ‘The Gold Rush’
(1925) were made of liquorice. Not leather. (Though maybe if de Niro does a
remake…)
On
‘Gone With The Wind’ (1939), Vivien Leigh worked for 125 days and received
about $25,000. Clark Gable worked for 71 
days and received over $120,000. Which
more than compensated him for the fact that the script called for him to cry
(and him a man!) over his daughter’s death (something which he nearly quit
over). His most famous line was also dangerously close to never making the
final cut. The Hollywood Production Code, which still had dictatorial powers
over what could and could not be said or depicted on screen, took umbrage over
the cuss word ‘damn’. Amongst their suggested alternatives for Rhett Butler
were: “Frankly my dear... I just don't care,” “...it makes my gorge rise,”
“...my indifference is boundless,” “...nothing could interest me less” and (my
personal favourite) “...I don't give a hoot,” The film’s producer David O.
Selznick eventually elected to pay the $5,000 fine and retain “Frankly my dear,
I just don't give a damn.”
If
you gauge the film’s time-span by Civil Wars battles fought, Melanie (Olivia de
Havilland) is pregnant for 21 months.
Hattie
McDaniel, who played Mammie, was the first African-American to be nominated for
an Academy Award – and to win, for Best Supporting Actress – because she was
coloured, she was barred from attending the film’s Atlanta premiere.
In
Goodfellas (1990) former U.S. Attorney Edward McDonald gets to play himself, in
the scene where Henry and Karen Hill are negotiating their entry into Witness
Protection Program. Spider, who wasn’t playing himself, did get to play up to
his role in ‘The Sopranos’ almost a decade later. In the film, Michael
Imperioli’s character is shot in the foot for being too slow with his
drinks-distribution. In the TV show, his character gets to exact the same punishment
on a bakery employee for making him
wait.
‘Good
Girls Go to Paris’ (1939) was originally titled ‘Good Girls Go To Paris, Too’,
but the censors objected. Presumably on behalf of their ever so genteel female
family members.
‘Good
Will Hunting’ (1997) is related to ‘Chasing Amy’ (1997) by more’n a co-star.
Ben Affleck, who 
played Holden McNeil in the latter movie,
goes for a job interview in the former movie at a company called Holden &
McNeil. This would be the same actor who appears in ‘Jay And Silent Bob Strike
Back’ (2001) as Holden McNeil, who sends the two lead characters to Hollywood
where they meet a frosted-haired Ben Affleck, on set for ‘Good Will Hunting 2’
(and bickering with Matt Damon over ‘Dogma’…)
The
McCordle estate, which provides the country house setting for ‘Gosford Park’
(2001), was also used in ‘Peter’s Friends’. So Stephen Fry at least will have
been alright for directions…
Think
the long-haired rugged biking star of late-night Ch5 all-action TV show
‘Renegade’ looks familiar? You’d be right. Lorenzo Lamas cut his acting teeth
(?) playing Sandy’s grinning jock boyfriend/dolt in ‘Grease’ (1978).
‘The
Great Escape’ (1963) actor Donald Pleasance was actually a POW during WWII.
Fearing
for middle-America (who’d had such trouble with that Michael Caine), ‘Gregory’s
Girl’ (1981) was re-dubbed with milder Scottish accents before it was released
in the U.S.
The Inventors Convention scenes in
‘Gremlins’ (1984) contain several cameo appearances, from both humans – George
Lucas rides past on a bicycle, and Steven Spielberg is the man in the electric
wheelchair with a TV monitor – and from one or two other, um, creations. Such
as Robby the Robot, who appears in a phone booth wearing a hat, and talking
(about booze!) to the C57-D’s Cookie from ‘Forbidden Planet’ (1956), from which
his actual lines are taken. While Mr Peltzer is talking in another booth, the
time machine from – hey – ‘The Time Machine’ (1960) can be seen in the
background, winding up to full power. The scene cuts to the Peltzer home, and
when we return to the Convention end of the conversation, the machine has gone,
leaving only a wisp of coloured smoke.
Oh,
and the Bedford Falls medical man is called Dr. Moreau. Hee-hee.
Bill Murray was bitten twice by the
groundhog during the filming of ‘Groundhog Day’ (1993). Some might say this was
natural retribution for making the creature play second fiddle to Andie
MacDowell, a woman so infuriating her voice was dubbed over by Glenn Close in
‘Greystoke’ (1984).
The horror ‘Halloween’ (1978) was made with a pitiful budget,
which meant the props department were stuck with the cheapest mask they had
been able to find in a costume store. What we see on screen is actually a
hairless spray-painted ‘William Shatner’, from the movie ‘The Devil’s Rain’
(1975).
The apartment owned by Mia Farrow’s
character (Hannah) in ‘Hannah and her Sisters’ (1986) was Farrow’s own.
Don
Most, the former irritant Ralph Malph from ‘Happy Days’, was the voice of extreme
irritant Eric (‘Cavalier’) in the ‘83 cartoon classic ‘Dungeons and Dragons’.
Exceedingly
sharp-eyed viewers of ‘Hard Rock Logo’ (1996) will be gratified to note the
Band-Aid clearly visible on Billy Talent's finger. In an earlier film directed
by Bruce McDonald, ‘Highway 61’ (1991), characters made a Faustian pact with
the devil. In return for their souls, Satan gave them what they desired. And
then (bless him) a Band-Aid (for der poorly widdle fingers) – the contracts
were signed in blood. Thus neatly implying that Billy sold his soul to Satan so
as to achieve fame with Jennifer.
‘Harry
Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone’ (2001) retains its original title in both
the UK and Canada, but in America, the film – as with the book – became ‘Harry
Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’. Accordingly, every scene which mentioned the
“philosopher’s 
stone” had to be re-recorded with the
actors using the word “sorcerer”. Without this change, executives feared they
would alienate an overly large section of their potential audience. People who
would decide that tales about the most famous boy-wizard in the world were
actually concentrating on musty old Aristotle.
And his rocks.
One
of the Hogwarts portraits is of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII
and the mother of Queen Elizabeth I. Gossip abounded in the 16th
century that Anne Boleyn was a witch. (The basis for this was a large mole,
rumours of an extra digit, and her bewitching of the King. Though the
accusations may easily have been false; Boleyn was an unpopular choice of
bride. In 1530 the Abbot of Whitby described her as a ‘common stewed whore.’)
The
train scenes were filmed at London’s Kings Cross, but platforms 4 and 5 were
substituted for Platform 9 ¾. As yet, there have been no reports of concussed
children – or adults – lying prone 
near solid walls on the station
concourse.
Warwick Davis plays two corporeal parts in the film; Professor Filius Flitwick and the Gringotts Goblin who takes Harry & Hagrid to their vaults. He also voiced the part of Griphook who was physically portrayed by the American actor Verne Troyer. Although he played two characters in televisual Narnia adaptations – Reepicheep in ‘Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989), and Glimfeather in ‘The Silver Chair’ (1990) – ‘Harry Potter…’ has been his only double-role gig. Geraldine Somerville plays Lily Potter, one of Hagrid’s old school-mates. Robbie Coltrane’s Fitz, in the TV series ‘Cracker’, was also notably fond of Somerville (as D.S. Jane Penhaligon).
Richard Bremmer, the actor who provided the voice and face for Lord Voldemort, has an end-credits name-check as playing ‘He Who Must Not Be Named’.
For the scenes in Gringott’s bank, the makers of ‘Harry Potter and
the Philosopher’s Stone’ (2001) ACTUALLY MINTED THEIR OWN MONEY. (As pictured
above. The large gold coin is a Galleon, the silver is a Sickle and the goat
bronze is a Knut.) This might seem expensive and foolhardy, but I am assured it
was a cost-effective venture, considering the numbers of coins that were
needed. CGI still being that bit costlier than money itself…
In ‘Heathers’ (1989), (once) bosom
buddies Veronica Sawyer and Betty Finn are named after other fictional friends;
Veronica and Betty from the comic strip ‘Archie’, and Tom Sawyer and
Huckleberry Finn.
Stan Laurel gives out (what was then) his
real home phone-number in ‘Helpmates’ (1932).
Conor Macloud, the ‘Highlander’ (1986)
lived in the same Scottish castle the Monty Python team used for ‘The Holy
Grail’ (1975). The latter film however, made on a somewhat smaller budget
(ahem), had Duune Castle double up as Camelot and Swamp Castle (interiors), and
Castle Anthrax, the French castle and the opening one (exteriors).
The engagement ring worn by Grace Kelly’s
character in ‘High Society’ (1956) is the actress’ own, given to her by Prince
Rainier of Monaco.
In ‘His Girl Friday’ (1940), Cary Grant’s
character tries - and fails - to adequately describe the appearance of a
character played by Ralph Bellamy, ending up simply saying that he ‘looks like 
that film actor, Ralph Bellamy’. Grant
also refers to a horrible fate suffered by the last man to cross him - one
Archie Leach. Which is his own real name. And which is also the name of John
Cleese’s character in ‘A Fish Called Wanda’ (1988). Which is nice.
The McAllisters’ house in ‘Home Alone’
(1990) was previously seen (occupied by slightly nicer people) in another John
Hughes movie, ‘Planes, Trains, and Automobiles’ (1987). There it’s the home of Neal
Page (Steve Martin) – he, like Kevin’s mother (Catherine O’Hara), arrived in
the company of John Candy.
The Tool Time studio-audience sometimes
seen on camera in ‘Home Improvement’ are the show’s actual
studio-audience.
Inside the government warehouse in ‘Honey
I Blew Up The Kid’ (1992) are stored Rosebud from ‘Citizen Kane’ (1941) and the
Ark of the Covenant fought over in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (1981).
Disregarding the ever-persistent rumour
that Michael Jackson appears fleetingly somewhere in ‘Hook’ (1991), a positive
I.D. has been made on the pirate shut in the chest with the scorpion - Ms.
Glenn Close. And the kissing couple levitating with pixie dust are Carrie
Fisher and George Lucas. 
And it’s Steven Spielberg, the film
director, who leads the pirate march on Hook’s ship, proudly bearing Michael’s
watch on a pillow. Dustin Hoffman, somewhat unfairly, gets two chances to play
a captain in the film – he also provides the voice of the pilot on the
Bannings’ plane (“this is your captain speaking…”).
Also of note from this film – Julia
Roberts had an assistant whose sole responsibility was cleaning her feet, a
leetle luxury explained as a necessity because her character Tinkerbell was so
often in the air. And who ever heard of a dirty faery? (If they have to touch
ground, they’ll only ever land in the washing powder of the same name, you
know… Kidding…As though you needed to be told…)
In ‘The Wizard Of Oz’ (1939), only when
Dorothy got to Oz did the film become one of Glorious Technicolour. In ‘The
Horse Whisperer’ (1998), a similar – if less notable – ploy was used. Only when
Annie & Grace set out for the lush landscapes of Montana does the film lose
its ‘television aspect’ and become a Widescreen affair.
‘Hot Shots! Part Deux’ (1993), the savvy
political staire which suggests Saddam Hussein likes wearing a bra, features
Richard Crenna sending up his ‘Rambo’ role of Colonel Trautman, AND Martin
Sheen on a riverboat, a la ‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979). I guess it’s all about
connections… (And how good your agent is / how much you love your kids…)
Tori Amos wanted to be in ‘Howard The
Duck’ (1986).
The gargoyles in ‘The Hunchback of Notre
Dame’ (1996) are called Victor and Hugo. This, for Disney, is a tribute.
$20,000 was spent in the making of ‘The Hunt for Red October’
(1990) JUST on ‘Sean Connery’s hairpiece. (But then Richard E. Grant claims
Bruce Willis demanded extra hair be airbrushed onto his balding pate in
post-production for ‘Hudson Hawk’, which can’t have been cheap. And on a
Willis-riddled train of thought...) The teddy bear that Jack Ryan carries with
him on a plane at the very end of the film is the same one that Bruce Willis’
John McClane character is carrying with him on the plane at the start of ‘Die
Hard’ (1988), a film which was also directed by John McTiernan. The end credits
list him as ‘Stanley (as Himself)’. Triple bless.
One of the buildings destroyed in
‘Independence Day’ (1996) is a cinema clearly advertising "Coming Soon:
Independence Day".
In the scene where he chases the tank on horse-back,
‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ (1989), Harrison Ford found he was unable
to keep his hat on, despite the aid of glue, tape, and newspaper wedges, and,
according to a Making Of documentary,
eventually just stapled the hat to 
his head.
There are numerous 007 actors popping up
in this film. Not only is there a former James Bond (Sean Connery), and a
former Bond ally (John Rhys-Davies), but there’s also a former Bond girl
(Alison Doody), two former Bond commanding officers (Michael Byrne and Billy J.
Mitchell), a former Bond nightclub owner (Vernon Dobtcheff), and three former
Bond villains (Julian Glover, Stefan Kalipha and Pat Roach). It also features
two previous enemies of Harrison Ford –
Julian Glover (who played Walter Donovan) was in ‘The Empire Strikes
Back’ (1980) as General Veers, while Michael Sheard, who played Hitler in ‘The Last Crusade’
was Vader’s Admiral Ozzel. Who you children of the BBC may remember him Mr
Bronson from ‘Grange Hill’. (An obvious choice for the 20th
Century’s most reviled figure…)
…P.S. Indiana is the name of family dog
of the director - George Lucas.
Chuck Jones, Bugs Bunny’s animator, is in
‘Innerspace’ (1987); in the supermarket queue, he can 
be seen eating carrots.
In the pilot episode of ‘The Invisible
Man’ TV series, Fawkes’ doctors include “Baker, McGann, Hartnell, and
Troughton”; these surnames belong to four of the actors who have played Dr. Who
over the years.
The Hays office tried to delete the words
‘god’, ‘hell’, ‘damn’, and ‘bastard’ from the American release of ‘In Which We
Serve’ (1942). There was uproar from England. They backed down, on everything
except ‘bastard’.
Jack Nicholson’s contract for ‘Ironweed’
(1987) included a clause which allowed him to leave the shooting location to
attend all the L.A. Lakers' basketball games.
During filming of ‘The Island of Dr.
Moreau’ (1996), Marlon Brando wore a small radio-receiver as a prompt for his lines.
The director David Thewlis has noted; ‘He'd be in the middle of a scene and
suddenly he'd be picking up police messages and Marlon would repeat, `There's a
robbery at Woolworths'.’
Seth Green, who you may know as Dr Evil’s
son Scott from ‘Austin Powers’, was in the lengthy TV-movie adaptation of
Stephen King’s ‘It’ (1990), as a little ginger entertainer. The biggest fear of
his character is werewolves… fast-forward a decade, and Seth is playing the
werewolf Oz on ‘Buffy’…
All of Roger Moore's James Bond contracts
include an unlimited supply of hand rolled Monte Cristo cigars; for one 007
movie, the cigar bill came to £3,176.50. (Though maybe if he hadn’t been kept
quite so happy with this kind of pampering some sort of emotion might have been
betrayed in his portrayal of Bond. Maybe.)
Pierce Brosnan's contract to play James Bond specifies that until
he is replaced, he is not permitted to appear in any other film wearing a
tuxedo.
Of the fighting skeletons in Tim Burton’s ‘James and the Giant
Peach’ (1996), one is of an evil Donald Duck, and another is Jack Skellington,
the ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ (1993) pumpkin king. (And in the latter film,
Donald Duck’s ghost appears, as Jack sings ‘This Is Hallowe’en’…)
Liz Purr (Charlotte Ayana) in
‘Jawbreaker’ (1999) also had a part in ‘The Rage: Carrie 2’ (1999). Liz Purr’s
parents (P.J. Soles & William Katt) both featured in ‘Carrie’ (1976), as
Norma & Tommy. Tidy, isn’t it?
Apparently, technicians lost control of
one of the mechanical sharks used to film ‘Jaws’ (1975), and it was lost
at sea. To the intense puzzlement of the aquatic life there. Presumably.
Behold, my favourite self-referential
moments in the inordinately self-referential (reverential) ‘Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back’ (2001):
1) Carrie
Fisher having a Buddy Christ figurine on her dashboard.
2) The
Where-Are-They-Now? File revealing Dante and
Randal still working their shitty jobs, Brodie having ditched the chat-show
life to run his own comic-book store (Brodie’s Secret Stash!), Trish still way
smart (and much more culturally aware’n her sister) and Banky possibly
romantically entwined with Hooper.
3) Silent Bob’s Jedi powers finally
coming through. And for him to then get to light-saber duel against Mark
Hamill. An actor of such importance (and in a disguise so impressive) that he
had his very own introductory caption. (Happy happy Kevin Smith…)
4) Shannon
Elizabeth (Nadia from ‘American Pie’) playing Jay’s love Justice, and Jay
asking Jason Biggs whether he’d ever slept with Shannon Elizabeth…
5) The Baby Silent Bob. The child IS
actually Baby Silent Bob. She’s played by the alarmingly-monikered Harley Quinn
Smith, daughter of the film’s director & Silent star.
6) The online critic known as ‘Magnolia
Fan’, who Kevin Smith gets to kick the shit out of. The (Kevin Smith World) View
Askew website's message board was swamped with irate fans of ‘Magnolia’ (1999)
after Smith posted a ‘strongly negative review’ of the movie. (Stands to reason
such a ‘Magnolia Fan’ would be
disparaging about a Jay & Silent Bob project. And that Kevin Smith’d want
to kick the shit out of him.)
…Being of a ‘Buffy’ frame of mind, I was
also most taken with the appearance of someone else capable of kicking Eliza
Dushku’s LittleMsTrouble ass… and that Marc Blucas, Buffy’s dead-wood Season5
boyfriend (and part-time member of the Sunnydale ‘Scooby Gang’), appears in the
movie (badly-wigged) as Fred, Daphne’s dead-wood boyfriend. Here his girlfriend
was played by Sason Lee’s ex-wife. In the upcoming film version of ‘Scooby
Doo’, Sarah Michelle Gellar is playing Daphne.
Filmed on a piffling budget, the makers
of ‘Julius Caesar’ (1950) could only afford to hire one horse each day. So.
They filmed different coloured horses each day, and then montaged and edited
the footage so as to create the seemingly horse-filled battle scenes.
In Michael Crichton’s novel ‘Jurassic
Park’, the pre-recorded narration playing in the park-tour jeeps was done by
Richard Kiley, who was then hired for this very role in the 1992 movie. Also in
the novel, but on the silver screen, were the deaths of Ian Malcolm and Dr.
Hammond – Jeff Goldbum’s character even survived the film’s 1997 sequel.
For the
TV-movie-spectacular that was ‘KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park’ (1978), Peter Criss’ voice was dubbed, and so as to
allow the film a lower rating (in 
order to cater for the younger KISS fans), the production team
added cartoon-y music to the fight sequences. Rather than cut the fight
sequences. Because, as well all know, blood and violence become unrealistic if
under-scored with a rollicking tune the likes of which Daffy Duck would be
proud...
In his initial design sketches for
‘Labyrinth’ (1986), Brian Froud imagined a blond-haired little boy as Sarah’s
brother. A baby who looked remarkably like his own son, born months later. Baby
Toby was eventually cast in the role
of, um, baby Toby, thus getting to play the part not only in his father’s
imagination, but also onscreen.
Terry Jones (in a
voice only role, for those fearful of ageing Pepperpots) played Sara’s mother
in 
‘L.A. Story’ (1991).
The author John O'Brien, on whose
autobiography ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ (1995) was based, committed suicide two weeks
after the film went into production - although the director (Mike Figgis)
contemplated abandoning the production, it was decided that to film it in his
memory would be a better tribute.
At the hotel in ‘Léon’ (1994), Mathilda
registers herself and her assassin protector as Mr. McGuffin. To Alfred
Hitchcock, a McGuffin was something of paramount importance to the film’s
characters, but was an incidental plot element to its audience.
Monty Python’s ‘The Life Of Brian’ wasn't
released in Norway until 1980, because it was deemed blasphemous. This led to
it being marketed in Sweden as “The film that is so funny that it was banned in
Norway!”
‘The Lion King’ (1994)’s James Earl-Jones
(King Mufasa) and Madge Sinclair (Queen Sarabi) also played married royalty in
‘Coming To America’ (1988).
The tools used by dentist Orin Scrivello
in ‘The Little Shop Of Horrors’ (1986) also appears in other Warner Bros.
films, including ‘Dead Ringers’ (1988), as Jeremy Irons' gynaecology tools, and
in ‘Batman’ (1989), as the Joker's plastic surgeon's tools.
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Last revised: 09/03/02