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(Provided by Ropeofsilicon.com) Pre-1900 Golden age of movies: 1900-1949 Modern age: 1950-Present 
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Movie-Rentals-Online.netMovie Trivia: A-BThe movie trivia on these pages has been gathered by word of mouth, heard stated on television or among the extra features on a DVD, and from other sources. Therefore, it is not certain in many cases that they are in fact true. In those cases where I have taken the information from someone actually involved in the situation (such as a director discussing his film in the extra features on a DVD) or seen it myself, The word "Fact", in parentheses, has been attached to the end of the piece of trivia. You can assign however much value you choose to all other trivia given on these pages. This will be an ongoing work in progress and so you may want to check back often to see what new movie trivia has been added or simply bookmark this page. Visitors to Movie-Rentals-Online.net are also invited to submit their own movie trivia and have it posted on this site. Click here to submit your own piece of movie trivia. All but about three minutes of 12 Angry Men (1957) takes place within a single room (the jury room) and only two of the twelve characters composing the jury are ever identified by name rather than just number.
In 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), as Hal the computer is being shut down, he sings "A Bicycle Built for Two". This was in fact the first song ever sung by a computer, a IBM 7094 computer at Bell Labs in 1961.
In 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), if you replace each of the letters in the name of the computer, Hal, with the next letter of the alphabet, you get IBM. Arthur C. Clarke has claimed that this is merely coincidence and was not done intentionally. (Fact)
3:10 to Yuma (2007) is actually a remake of a 1957 film with the same name and which starred Glenn Ford as Ben Wade (Russell Crowe's character in the 2007 movie). Both films are based on a 1953 short story in Dime Western Magazine. (Fact)
Ed O'Neill had some scenes in A Few Good Men (1992), as a marine testifying in court. However, his scenes were cut from the film due to test audiences laughing when he appeared on screen. At the time O'Neill was starring in the TV sitcom, Married... with Children.
Michael Palin played the role of Ken Pile, a man with a severe stutter, in A Fish Called Wanda (1988). Because Michael's father stuttered, he was able to use his real life experience in playing the part. He later founded the London Centre for Stammering Children.
Clint Eastwood wore the same poncho in all three of his "Man with No Name" movies: A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966). Reportedly, this was done without replacement or cleaning.
The Beatles' producer George Martin received an Academy Award nomination for his musical score in A Hard Day's Night (1964), yet The Beatles themselves were not nominated for their music.
All the cuts, bruises and scratches the actresses have on camera in A League of Their Own (1992) were all real injuries they got while filming the movie.
In the Marx brothers' A Night in Casablanca (1946), Harpo was offered $50,000 to utter the word "murder". This would have marked the first time he ever spoke in a Marx brothers film, but he turned the offer down. He never did speak in any of their movies.
The interracial kissing scenes between Sidney Poitier (Gordon) and Elizabeth Hartman (Rose-Ann) were removed from A Patch of Blue (1965) when it was originally shown in theaters in the southern United States.
The boat used in The African Queen (1951) was a working steam boat for 40 years before it was used in the movie and was actually named the "LS Livingston".
Airplane (1980) was Leslie Nielsen's first comedic role. He had previously always played dramatic roles.
After learning that the character of "Officer Obie" in Alice's Restaurant (1969) was going to be based on him, Stockbridge MA Sheriff William Obanhein insisted that he be allowed to play the role himself. He said, "If anyone is going to make a fool out of me, it might as well be me!"
The original designs for the face-hugger creature used in Alien (1979) were held by U.S. customs officials who were alarmed by it.
The grid-like flooring on the Nostromo spaceship in Alien (1979) was made of painted milk crates turned upside down.
Sigourney Weaver (Ripley) was reportedly paid $11 million for her role in Alien: Resurrection (1997), which was as much as the total estimated $11 million production cost of the original Alien (1979).
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), which won the best picture Oscar, was easily the most violent movie of its time. The film was banned in Italy until 1956.
During the filming of Altered States (1980) many of the actors and crew experimented with trying out the isolation tank that was so central to the movie's plot.
William Hurt (Professor Eddie Jessup) landed the lead role in Altered States (1980) despite it being the first time he had appeared in a movie. He had previously only appeared a few times on television.
Punk band Anti-Heroes sued New Line Cinema over a Nazi character's tattoo of the band's logo in American History X (1998). The band did not want to be identified with Nazis in any way, even if the Nazi was a fictional character. Anti-Heroes won the lawsuit.
The 17-minute dance scene at the end of An American in Paris (1951), reportedly took a month to film and cost half a million dollars to produce.
Animal House (1978) was at least partially derived from co-writer Chris Miller's experiences at Dartmouth's Alpha Delta Phi fraternity.
Animal House (1978) was filmed at the University of Oregon, although the movie supposedly takes place in Pennsylvania.
The movie rights for Annie (1982), which was based on the Little Orphan Annie comic strip, were sold in 1978 for $9.5 million. As of 2007, this is still the most ever paid for the rights to a film.
Apocalypse Now (1979) took 16 months to film. It had originally been scheduled to take only 6 weeks. It took Francis Ford Coppola nearly three years to edit the footage to produce the final film.
Armageddon (1998) was the first movie in which the actors were allowed to use actual NASA spacesuits.
The word "cameo", meaning a small part by a famous person, was popularized at least in part by the large number of cameo appearances (over 40) in Around the World in Eighty Days (1956).
In As Good as It Gets (1997), the answer given by Melvin (Jack Nicholson) to the question of how he writes women was an actual response given by author John Updike when he was asked the same question.
Animal rights activist Betty White was offered the the role of Beverly Connelly (Shirley Knight) in As Good as It Gets (1997), but turned it down after she learned how the dog would be treated in the movie.
In the Marx brothers' At the Circus (1939), there is a scene in which Harpo Marx sneezes. Not only is this the closest Harpo ever came to talking in a Marx brothers' film, but it is the only time Harpo is heard to make any sound in any of their films.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) created and popularized the word "shagadelic". The term is now officially a word, as the Oxford English Dictionary added it to the dictionary's list of new words for 2007 and defined it as: "Shagadelic, adj. slang: Sexy, esp. in a psychedelic or `retro' way. Also as a general term of approval..." (Fact)
Cate Blanchett won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing the role of Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator (2004). This made Cate the first actress to ever win an Oscar for portraying a multiple Oscar winner (Hepburn had a total of four Oscars).
The role of Babe, the talking pig, in Babe (1995) was played by a total of 48 Yorkshire pigs and an animatronic one.
Back to the Future (1985) was filmed mostly at night due to Michael J. Fox (Marty McFly) having contractual obligations to filming the TV series, Family Ties.
Michael J. Fox (Marty McFly) is actually 9 days older than Lea Thompson who played his mother (Lorraine McFly) in Back to the Future (1985) and he is nearly three years older than Crispin Glover who played his father (George McFly).
In Back to the Future Part III (1990), Marty (Michael J. Fox) calls himself Clint Eastwood, while in 1885. Clint Eastwood was asked his permission for Marty to use his name in the movie and he was reportedly pleased and felt honored by the idea.
The animated Disney classic, Bambi (1942), was initially considered a failure and actually lost money in its initial release despite glowing reviews.
The medical tools used on the Joker (Jack Nicholson) by the plastic surgeon in
Batman (1989) are the same ones used as dental tools by Orin (Steve Martin) in
Little Shop of Horrors (1986).
Beetle Juice (Michael Keaton) is certainly a central character in the film Beetle Juice (1988), yet the character only appears for a total of 17.5 minutes in the entire film.
Behind Enemy Lines (2001) is loosely based on the events that happened to USAF Captain Scott O'Grady when he was shot down over Bosnia. O'Grady sued 20th Century Fox for damages to his character, claiming he did not curse that much and never disobeyed his orders.
For the first time in 104 years, Slovakia did not get any snow during the filming of Behind Enemy Lines (2001) on location there. Consequently, all the snow seen in the movie had to be created with special effects.
Ben-Hur (1959) is one of only three movies to have won 11 oscars. The other two movies are Titanic (1997) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).
Ben-Hur (1959) was one of the first movies to use large marketing tie-ins such as toys.
While filming a scene for Bicentennial Man (1999) in the brand new San Francisco City Hall building, the film crew accidentally set off the sprinkler system which flooded hallways and caused serious damage to the building.
Kevin Costner played the role of Alex in The Big Chill (1983). Alex is the dead friend whose funeral is being held in the beginning of the film. However, you never actually see Costner's face in the film.
The Banjo Man in Big Fish (2003) was played by Billy Redden, whose only previous movie role was as the banjo playing boy in the famous Dueling Banjos scene in Deliverance (1972).
In a 2004 survey conducted by the Britsh newspaper, The Gardian, 60 scientists selected Blade Runner (1982) as the best science fiction movie of all time, even beating out 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
Although it originally bombed at the box office, Blade Runner (1982) has gained a lot of fans and respect over the years and has even been said to have influenced every science fiction movie made since its release.
The Blair Witch Project (1999) took only eight days to film and $22,000 to produce, but made over $240 million.
The Blair Witch Project (1999) was filmed almost entirely by its three main actors, Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams (each of which played themselves).
One of the video cameras used by the actors in The Blair Witch Project (1999) was bought at Circuit City and was returned for a refund after filming was completed.
During the filming of Blowup (1966), director Michelangelo Antonioni was unhappy with the color of the grass in Maryon Park (London) and so had the grass spray painted green.
Warner Brothers was so certain Bonnie and Clyde (1967) would be a failure that they offered Warren Beatty 40% of the gross instead of a minimal fee to produce it. It was the first film Warren Beatty ever produced and was a major success.
Faye Dunaway, who played Bonnie Parker in Bonnie and Clyde (1967) is nine inches taller than the real life Bonnie Parker, who was only four feet and ten inches tall.
The character of Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006), was originally viewed as an insult by the government of Kazahkstan. However, they later changed their mind and decided to view it as good natured fun and has even invited "Borat" to visit Kazakhstan.
The Kazakh language that Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) supposedly speaks in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006), is mostly Hebrew with a fake thick East European accent.
The Bounty (1984), with Mel Gibson as Fletcher Christian and Anthony Hopkins as Captain Bligh, is at least the 4th movie made about the real-life mutiny on the Bounty and is generally regarded as the movie version that is most historically accurate.
When director Mel Gibson was asked by a local why the Battle of Stirling Bridge was filmed on an open plain in Braveheart (1995), Gibson said that "the bridge got in the way". The local reportedly replied: "Aye, That's what the English found."
The song "Moon River" in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), was specially written for Audrey Hepburn, since she had no training as a singer.
Audrey Hepburn said the scene in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), in which her character Holly Golightly throws her cat into the rainy street was the most distasteful thing she ever had to do on film.
Breaking Away (1979), which was filmed on location in Bloomington, Indiana, makes numerous references to "Cutters". Cutters is a nickname created by I.U. students for the town's local residents and is derived from Bloomington's limestone (cutting) industry. The swimming hole scene was filmed at one of the old limestone quarries. (Fact)
The Little 500 bicycle race in Breaking Away (1979) is based on an actually bicycle race held every spring on the Indiana University campus and which is modeled after the annual Indy 500 motor race in Indianapolis.
In The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), it takes prisoners of war two months to build the bridge, but it took eight months, with 500 workers and 35 elephants to build the bridge for the movie.
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) was loosely based on a real WWII event, but the real bridge took 8 months to build instead of the movie's 2 months and it was actually used for 2 years before it was destroyed.
On the first take of blowing up the bridge in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), the explosives didn't detonate. The train safely crossed the bridge, but then crashed down a hill on the other side."
During WWII, the Japanese would show the drill scene from Abbott and Costello's Buck Privates (1941) to demonstrate how stupid the U.S. Army was.
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 Why let Roger Ebert and others have all the fun? Submit your own movie review(s) to Movie-Rentals-Online.net Sigourney Weaver (Ripley) was reportedly paid $11 million for her role in Alien: Resurrection (1997), which was as much as the total estimated $11 million production cost of the original Alien (1979). Webmasters: place our "Movie Trivia of the Day" on your site Submit your own movie trivia to Movie-Rentals-Online.net (Provided by Ropeofsilicon.com) Cagles Mill Loki Fire Reorder Checks Reorder Checks Online Sporting Goods Online Sunset Spectrum
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