Movie Trivia & Tid Bits

[Poppa Giorgio]

The thread about fan commentaries got me thinkn... I dunno how many other film buffs/freaks are out there like myself, but I always love some good interesting movie trivia and tid bits. Some might be well known, others are not.

To start off, I've got one thats just mind boggling, some weird forces of Earth are at work...



In "Back to the Future" Eric Stoltz, for 2 weeks, played Marty McFly but then was let go. Eric Stoltz later played a character named Martin (Marty) in the movie "The Fly" sequel.

[med]

Apperantly Terry Gilliam got so stressed during the making of Brazil that he temporarily lost the use of his legs.

[AnonomusBob15]

Robert DeNiro's "cure" when he sticks his head in a tub full of ice to cure his hangover while on the job, is done by professional police officers for the same problem.

[Poppa Giorgio]

What DeNiro movie is that?

[smurdleman2000]

The worst edits, and the musical choice of Tangerine Dream, on the movie Legend were done by Ridley Scott. He even admitted it ( can't remember where though)

[Underpants]

John Lithgow filmed his part in Terms of Endearment during a 3 day break from filming 'Footloose'. He was brought in to replace another (unknown) actor.

[Marty McFly]

Originally posted by Poppa Giorgio
In "Back to the Future" Eric Stoltz, for 2 weeks, played Marty McFly but then was let go. Eric Stoltz later played a character named Martin (Marty) in the movie "The Fly" sequel.

To add to BTTF, the original time vehicle was not originally the DeLorean, but a refridgerator. Zemeckis and Gale changed that after trhey realized it made the film seem too "kiddy".

Marty was also an older teenager, who was mostly known as a "bootleger". In the original scipt, he was selling bootlegs of Superman II and some other films.

BTTF Parts II & III were originally one film entitled "Paradox", but was broken up into two parts after realizing the film was over 3 hours long.

------
Ghostbusters was originally a film set in space in the future, and was going to be a film for Aykroyd and John Belushi. However Belushi passed a year earlier, and Harold Ramis came in and retooled it into what it's known as today.

The character of Winston was originally going to be a valet, but was changed after Aykroyd thought of Eddie Murphy for the role. Murphy turned down the role, and Ernie Hudson took over.

The character of Louis was originally going to be for John Candy (you can see premise storyboards on the DVD where Louis is large), but Candy was filming another movie at the time and the role was given to Rick Moranis.

Janine was originally played by Sandra Bernhard, but left the set a few weeks after filming. There are scenes with her lying around somewhere, but Annie Potts took over immediately.

Gozer (played by Slovitza Jovan) was originally going to be played by Paul "Pee-Wee Herman" Reubens, but was decided that he wouldn't fit the role.

Ghostbusters II wasn't even going to be GB2 at first. It was going to be a completely different film, but starring Murray, Aykroyd, Ramis, & Hudson (info on this can be seen in the DVD insert).

[dvds'r'us]

Originally posted by AnonomusBob15
Robert DeNiro's "cure" when he sticks his head in a tub full of ice to cure his hangover while on the job, is done by professional police officers for the same problem.

That would be 15 Minutes.

[AnonomusBob15]

Whoops, dvds"r"us got it.

[Poppa Giorgio]

Originally posted by Marty McFly
To add to BTTF, the original time vehicle was not originally the DeLorean, but a refridgerator. Zemeckis and Gale changed that after trhey realized it made the film seem too "kiddy".

I read that they changed from a refridgerator because Spielberg was afraid kids would lock themselves in and die immatating it.

Also, in one of the last drafts of the scipt, Marty was supposed to drive the DeLorean into a Atomic Bomb test. Althought not mentioned, it is my belief that is why there is so much emphasis of the nuclear technology used in the beggining.

Also, if you look closely, the Marty driving the car when the Libians attack is Eric Stoltz. I guess maybe they were cheap and didn't want to reshoot.

[Chris in OC]

One of my favorite bits of movie trivia is in Singin' In The Rain.

As you know, the film's main plot point is that Kathy Selden dubs all of Lena Lamont's speaking and singing parts in "The Dancing Cavalier," but although Debbie Reynolds sings with her own voice for "Singin' in the Rain," "Good Mornin'," and "All I Do is Dream of You," that's not her voice on "Would You?" and "You Are My Lucky Star." Her parts for those songs were dubbed by someone else, and that someone else was Jean Hagen, who played Lena!

[Sam_Lowry]

Malcom McDowell sang Singin In The Rain in A Clockwork Orange (my favorite film of all time, seen it 15 times) because he told Stanley Kubrick it is the only song he knew all of the words to.

Jack Nicholson acutually took ECT therapy before making One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

Requiem For A Dream acutually has over 1000 edits.

There is a longer cut of Apocalypse Now.

Casino Royale was the first Bond film.

Robert De Niro was going to play Jesus in The Last Teptation Of Christ.

Star Wars was origanlly going to be one film.

^
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That's about as useless a :jawa:.

[Laughing Gravy]

A minor (?) point: CASINO ROYALE was the first Bond book; it was adapted for television, but was not a "film" in the theatrical sense (in fact, isn't wasn't filmed at all, although it is available on kinoscope).

[Triple HHH]

And for those that didn't know (regarding Singin in the Rain), Debbie Reynold's is Princess Leia's mom (well, Carrie Fisher's actually). Sorry if you did know, just in case you didn't.

Gone With The Wind: From a book:

The folks in charge of keeping indecent material out of the movies initally balked Rhett's (Clark Gable) immortal closing line, "Frankyl, my dear, I don't give a damn." They asked that it be replaced with "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a hoot." Other alternatives included "It has become of no concern to me," "My indifference is boundless," and "It makes my gorge rise." David O. Selznick (the producer), got to keep the spicy language, but it cost him a fine of $5000.

Raging Bull:

LaMotta said of Raging Bull: "When I first saw the film I was upset, I kind of look bad in it. Then I realized it was true. I was a no-good bastard."

Lawrence of Arabia:

Marlon Brando and Anthony Perkins were up for the role of T.E. Lawrence.

E.T.:

The script originally called for E.T. to take a shine to M&M's, but Mars didn't want to be involved with the film. Hershey, however, agreed to allow Reese's Pieces to be used in the film, and sales of the candy tripled within two weeks of E.T.'s release.

Buster Keaton:

Not a movie, but the comic genius himself. Regarding his name: After he fell unharmed down a flight of stairs as a toddler, Keaton was nicknamed "Buster" by his father.

[Laughing Gravy]

When Charlie Chaplin first came to America with Fred Karno's vaudeville show (called "A Night in an English Music Hall), his understudy in the show was a young man named Stanley Jefferson, who later changed his name to Stan Laurel.

Shortly after WWII, Stan was still doing vaudeville and appearing from time to time in short film comedies. In one of them, THE LUCKY DOG, he is accosted by a large holdup man bearing a gun and a sneer. That man was Mr. Oliver Hardy, who would loom large in the future career of Mr. Laurel.

A few years later, Stan was working for Hal Roach as a writer and director, and was about to begin work on a short which featured Oliver Hardy as a butler. Hardy badly burned himself cooking the night before shooting, and Laurel replaced him in the cast. As the money was better, Stan stayed in front of the cameras, and from time to time worked with Hardy. It was George Stevens, who later went on to be an Academy Award winning director, who suggested that Laurel & Hardy be featured as a permanent team.

One note on the above Buster Keaton story: Keaton himself always said that it was Harry Houdini who said "What a buster!" when Buster fell down the stairs, suggesting the nickname that stuck with him. (Buster worked with his father and mother in a vaudeville act practically from the time he could crawl.)

[manigrasso]

Citizen Kane: "Rosebud" was what William Randolph Hearst called his second wife's sugar walls. Of course, try making a movie about THAT.

This isn't film but I always liked it...

During the first season of Saturday Night Live, producer Lorne Michaels went on-camera and tried to entice the Beatles to reunite on his show for the princely sum of...three thousand dollars. "You can divide the money any you want; if you want to give Ringo less, it's up to you." A few weeks later, he sweetened the pit to $3,200.

The following season, around Thanksgiving time, Paul Simon was the host, but George Harrison was also there as a musical guest. Actually, George's numbers were shot ahead of time, he wasn't there live, but they integrated an important bit during the opening sketch. When Paul SImon walks past Lorne Michaels & George Harrison, Lorne is trying to explain to George that the money was only if ALL the Beatles would come on the show. George complains about Lorne being chintzy, but is willing to say "Live From New York, It's Saturday Night!" when Lorne tells him he'd get Union scale for reading the line.

Now fast forward...God, I don't even know, maybe 17, 18 years. Alec Baldwin is the host, Paul McCartney is the musical guest. During the cold opening, Baldwin walks past Lorne, patiently explaining to Paul that he gave George the money; the offer was no longer valid. Nice little treat for fans paying attention all this time.

[Volcane666]

I heard (or at least thought I did) that eighties rocker Billy Idol was due to play the part of the T1000 in Terminator 2 but couldn't take part due to breaking his leg in a motorcycle accident.

As I can find no info on this now I'm beginning to think I dreamed it all up!!

[Chris in OC]

Originally posted by Laughing Gravy
Shortly after WWII, Stan was still doing vaudeville and appearing from time to time in short film comedies. In one of them, THE LUCKY DOG, he is accosted by a large holdup man bearing a gun and a sneer. That man was Mr. Oliver Hardy, who would loom large in the future career of Mr. Laurel.

Gravy, shouldn't that be WWI? Laurel and Hardy were already a team in the 1920s, and made many silent films before talkies came about.

BTW, the producers of It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World approached Laurel about being in that film, and he declined saying that he hadn't been in movies in a long time and looked a lot older, and didn't want to disappoint fans who would be looking for the younger Stan. I don't think this was a case of vanity, however; word is that he was one of the nicest, most gracious people in show business.

[DrDetroit]

Originally posted by manigrasso
During the first season of Saturday Night Live, producer Lorne Michaels went on-camera and tried to entice the Beatles to reunite on his show for the princely sum of...three thousand dollars. "You can divide the money any you want; if you want to give Ringo less, it's up to you." A few weeks later, he sweetened the pit to $3,200.

The following season, around Thanksgiving time, Paul Simon was the host, but George Harrison was also there as a musical guest. Actually, George's numbers were shot ahead of time, he wasn't there live, but they integrated an important bit during the opening sketch. When Paul SImon walks past Lorne Michaels & George Harrison, Lorne is trying to explain to George that the money was only if ALL the Beatles would come on the show. George complains about Lorne being chintzy, but is willing to say "Live From New York, It's Saturday Night!" when Lorne tells him he'd get Union scale for reading the line.

I read the John Lennon playboy interviews that he did before he was shot, and he said he was watching that episode with Paul in New York at his house and they were thinking of taxiing down there, but they were too tired or something so they didn't do it. But man, that would've been sweet... especially if I was born then and was watching.

[Rogue]

The great scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, where Indy non-chalantly shoots the sword wielding turk (or whatever he was) was improvised. Harrison Ford was very sick and felt very weak and just wanted to get the scene over with. Spielberg wisely decided to keep the scene in the movie.

More on Raiders: Tom Selleck turned down the role of Indiana Jones. Not the smartest career move...

[Laughing Gravy]

Whoops! I meant WWI. And yes, he was asked to appear in MAD MAD WORLD!

[Rouge 2]

Selleck didn't turn down Indy, he was contractually connected with Magnum P.I.

Same thing happened to Pierce Brosnan when he was to do Living Daylights and couldn't becuase he was bound to a tv show.

Anyone ever hear of the Jerry Lewis film The Day the Clown Cried about a Jewish clown who entertained children in concentration camps before they were killed. Lewis shelved the film and the only person, to my knowledge, who has seen has been Harry Shearer, I don't know why him, but that's it. I don't know if it even exists anymore.

The film Pearl Harbor is connected to the WWII classic The Purple Heart. These two would make a great double feature because the mission they go on at the end of PH is the one that is aftermathed in The Purple Heart. neat, huh. I'm sure the Ben and Josh fans didn't know that one.

This is also an easy one, but if you play Pink Flloyd's Dark Side of the Moon album as you watch Wizard of Oz, if done right, the music will fit perfectly to the image. Start the album at the third lion roar and prepare to be amazed.

David Prowse told me the suit was hot but comfortable but he couldn't see a thing. How the hell did he do those fights in Empire?

Frank Herbert died a year after Dune(1985) was released and Bob Kane died a year after Batman and Robin (1997) was released. Lynch and Schumacher have yet to be charged with wrongful death suits. :violin:

S.O.B. was loosley based on how Blake Edwards was treated in Hollywood during parts of the 70's. The film also contains, to my knowledge, Julie Andrews only nude scene.

Anthony Mann was fired on Spartacus and replaced by Stanley Kubrick who had to build the film from the ground up and actually write battle scenes which were absent from the script. Blake Edwards was the intended director for Planet of the Apes, Sam Peckinpah was considered for Superman, Spielberg was supposed to do Poltergiest, George Lucas was offered Tommy and Hair, David Lynch was up for Return of the Jedi, James Cameron was involved with Spiderman for almost eight years, and Martin Scorsese was offered Schindler's List and Dick Tracy in the 80's.

Brilliant director Irvin Kershner can be unfortunately referred to as sequel boy. Return of a Man Called Horse, Empire Strikes Back, Never say Never Again, and Robocop 2!

The most played parts in film are Dracula and Sherlock Holmes. Christopher Lee played both.

Any questions class?

[DrDetroit]

Originally posted by Rouge 2
David Prowse told me the suit was hot but comfortable but he couldn't see a thing. How the hell did he do those fights in Empire?

I read somewhere that it was another guy, one with more duelling experience, that is in the big suit in the ESB fight scenes. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Laughing Gravy]

In 1934, Mascot Pictures head Nat Levine pegged cowboy actor Ken Maynard to be his next superstar after John Wayne got too big for the studio, and, like Wayne, started Maynard out with a serial, MYSTERY MOUNTAIN. Maynard was to follow up with THE PHANTOM EMPIRE, but he was such a temperamental jerk that he was replaced by a guy who had a bit part in MOUNTAIN, Gene Autry.

Autry went on to become one of the biggest and richest stars in the movies, and has five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Ken Maynard drank himself to death in a one-room trailer.

The lesson? Try not to be a temperamental jerk.

P.S. That Pink Floyd/Wizard of Oz story is fascinating, but bunk.

[Chris in OC]

Robert Zemeckis was the first choice to direct Cocoon, but he backed out when Back to the Future came together.

In Coming Home, Jon Voight was originally cast in the part that Bruce Dern played. Jack Nicholson and Sylvester Stallone both turned down the role Voight eventually played.

Dustin Hoffman was originally cast to play Popeye in the Robert Altman film but backed out because of disagreements with Jules Pfeiffer, who wrote the screenplay. Robin Williams was pretty much a last-minute substitution.

Jerry Goldsmith was Richard Donner's first choice to score Superman, but he wasn't available. If I remember right, this was actually more convoluted because of the time it took to make the film, with Goldsmith on board, then John Williams, then Goldsmith, then Williams again, all because of availability at various points in time. Curiously, John Williams was Donner's first choice for The Omen, but he wasn't available, so the job went to Goldsmith.

A couple other Superman bits: One of the people considered for the lead was Bruce Jenner(!). Before Keenan Wynn (who backed out because of illness), Jack Klugman and Eddie Albert had each been signed to play Perry White, but changed their minds.

[Rouge 2]

The Pink Flyod/OZ thing isn't bunk if you do it right. On my double VCR I copied Wizard of Oz from one deck to another and kept the audio input on auxiliary. The audio inputs were hooked into my dvd/cd player and now I have a version of Oz with the music of Pink Floyd. It is hard to get it right but it does work. There's even a theater in the village here in NY that used to show the movie that way Saturdays at midnight.

The scary part is that the album ends 40min into the movie with the heartbeat, then you start it again and the heartbeat kicks in when the tinman shows up. His swaying back in forth goes in snyc with the slide guitar.

Ever notice that the first side of the album is the same length as the early black and white scenes.

And by the way, no midget hanged himself, that was Margret Hamilton's shadow jerking back while she stood on the roof top.

[Laughing Gravy]

And how did Pink Floyd synchronize this back in the pre-VHS days? Did they have a 16mm copy of the film in the recording studio? Not according to anybody who was there. In fact, everybody who was there just laughs at the folks who take this seriously. Hell of a story, though.