Everybody loves to be the smartest person in the room about something. Well, anyone who knows me, knows that I love to give people movie facts.
So, here are 9 movie facts you probably didn’t know.
9. PSYCHO IS THE FIRST MOVIE TO SHOW A TOILET FLUSHING
The 1960 horror classic is the first movie to show a toilet flushing.
At that time, it was considered “rude” and “inappropriate” to show a toilet on screen, but this movie decided to go against that very strange rule and not only show one, but have it flush.
8. NOBODY HAD LESS FAITH IN STAR WARS’ SUCCESS THAN GEORGE LUCAS
While very few involved had tons of faith, it was its creator, George Lucas, who was convinced that the now classic space opera would be a disaster, and the possible end of his career.
He was so anxious about it, he didn’t even attend the premiere. He went on vacation with his friend and fellow film director, Steven Spielberg.
It was on that trip that he got a call from an executive at FOX to “turn on the news”, to see just how successful his independent movie was.
BONUS FACT: It was also on this trip where Lucas and Spielberg came up with the idea for their next project: Raiders of the Lost Ark.
7. JAWS BECAME THE FIRST SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER BY ACCIDENT
While it’s now commonplace for big budget action movies to be released in the summer, back in the 70’s those movies were released during the fall and winter months, because in the summer audiences were in that magical place called outside. This was before Xbox.
This movie was no exception. It was originally slated for a Christmas 1974 release, but constant production problems, and I do mean constant, caused the movie to go overschedule and the release date to be pushed back to June 20, 1975.
The movie was such a huge hit that it started the new trend we now all know as the “Hollywood Summer Blockbuster.”
6. STEPHEN KING SELLS HIS SHORT STORIES TO FILM MAKERS FOR $1 EACH
As if Stephen King couldn’t be any more awesome, he has created something called the “Dollar Baby” program, where he is willing to sell any of his countless short stories to aspiring directors for only $1.
In 1983, then up and coming filmmaker Frank Darabont, used the program to adapt one of King’s short stories, The Woman in the Room. A decade later, Darabont, with the help of that project, a few other films he had made, and a $5000 check, was able to buy the rights to another King short story, which became the classic film The Shawshank Redemption.
BONUS FACT: King never cashed the $5,000 check from Darabont. He framed it and sent it back to Darabont with a note that said, "In case you ever need bail money. Love, Steve."
5. THERE WAS A REAL J. DAWSON THAT DIED ON THE ACTUAL TITANIC
As we all know, or at least most of us, Leonardo DiCaprio played Jack Dawson in the 1997 film Titanic.
While history buffs would be the first to tell you that Jack & Rose did not really exist (sorry ladies), it turns out that in a strange twist of fate, there was an actual J. Dawson, though it was a Joseph, not Jack, who worked on the ship and died during the sinking on April 15th, 1912.
Like the character in the movie, he also survived the initial sinking, was left out in the freezing water, eventually died of hypothermia, and was discovered by a rescue boat the next day.
Real J. Dawson:
James Cameron claims he never heard of this real J. Dawson, which makes this whole thing even more interesting, especially to those who didn’t even know Titanic was a real event. Oh, I’m not making that up, there are people who really didn’t know that, google it!!!
4. THE COMPOSER OF TAXI DRIVER DIED ONE DAY AFTER FINISHING THE MUSIC
Composer Bernard Herrmann composed the haunting score for Martin Scorsese’s 1976 classic Taxi Driver.
He completed the soundtrack on December 23, 1975, went out to dinner, went to bed and died in his sleep at 64 years old.
The score was used in the film and earned Herrmann a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Music.
3. THE STUDIO FOR THE GODFATHER TRIED TO GET AL PACINO FIRED
The producers of The Godfather had no interest in casting the then unknown Al Pacino in their film and wanted him off the project.
They were constantly overseeing him and were unhappy with his work. They attempted to get him fired on more than one occasion, and replace him with a known star: Robert Redford.
The director, Francis Ford Coppola, refused to listen, stuck to his gut and left Pacino in his breakout role.
2. HOWARD THE DUCK IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PIXAR
That’s right, the studio behind classics like A Bug’s Life, Monsters, Inc., The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall E & Up, have one film to thank.
While I don’t condone it, if you were to ever see the movie Howard the Duck (the cinematic equivalent of The Hindenburg Disaster), you would never believe that it was indirectly responsible for some the greatest movies ever made.
The film’s producer, George Lucas, lost so much money in this box office mess that he was forced to sell off many of his assets, including The Graphics Group at Lucasfilm.
Apple CEO, Steve Jobs bought them, and worked with an animation team that would later be known as Pixar, after they released their first film Toy Story.
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... take as much time as you need with that fact.
1. EVERY QUENTIN TARANTINO MOVIE IS CONNECTED
I love Quentin Tarantino. Anyone who knows Tarantino, knows all of his movies are connected and belong in the same universe.
While it’s never blatantly said, little subtleties in each film share something that no other films do, including the fictional Red Apple cigarette brand, characters being related, and events in certain character’s lives which affect those in his other films.
Talking about the genius of Tarantino is time consuming and detailed so if you’ll join me next week, I’d love to take a deeper look at this crazy man and brilliant filmmaker.
So, there you have 9 movies facts. Hope you found these were interesting and if you know or want to hear of any others, feel free to comment below.