100 Fun Facts About Comedy Movies

Which line ends Some Like It Hot, after Jack Lemmon's character pulls off his wig?

'Well, nobody's perfect!' was only a placeholder: Billy Wilder and co-writer I.A.L. Diamond meant to find a better closing line and never did.

In Some Like It Hot, what names do Curtis and Lemmon adopt in the all-female band?

Curtis becomes Josephine and Lemmon becomes Daphne, who tangos until dawn with the millionaire Osgood and accepts his proposal, hoping for a divorce settlement.

Airplane! (1980) borrows its plot from which 1957 Paramount disaster film?

Zero Hour! turned up by accident: the Zuckers and Jim Abrahams were taping late-night TV to collect commercials to spoof, and found a deadly serious drama that begged for parody.

Which NBA legend plays co-pilot Roger Murdock in Airplane!?

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar finally breaks character to snap at the kid about dragging Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.

In Airplane!, what is the name of Leslie Nielsen's deadpan doctor who does not want to be called Shirley?

Dr. Rumack ('I am serious, and don't call me Shirley') relaunched Leslie Nielsen, until then a dramatic actor, as a comic star and led to Police Squad! and The Naked Gun.

Which comedian was offered the role of Louis Tully in Ghostbusters (1984) before Rick Moranis took it?

John Candy wanted to play Louis with a German accent and a pack of German Shepherds; the filmmakers felt the film already had enough dogs, and the part went to Moranis.

The Ghostbusters' firehouse stands in which Manhattan neighborhood, also home to a film festival Robert De Niro co-founded?

Tribeca's Hook & Ladder 8 supplied only the exterior: the crew couldn't take over a working fire station for long, so the interiors were shot in Los Angeles, partly in a disused firehouse.

Huey Lewis turned down writing the Ghostbusters theme because he was already committed to which 1985 film?

Back to the Future had his commitment, so Ray Parker Jr. wrote the Ghostbusters theme instead, and Lewis later sued over its resemblance to his hit 'I Want a New Drug'.

Which town stood in for Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, in Groundhog Day (1993)?

Woodstock, Illinois hosted the shoot from March to June 1992; its town square played Punxsutawney's, and the town began an annual Groundhog Days celebration for fans.

Which song does Bill Murray's Phil Connors wake up to on the radio every morning in Groundhog Day?

'I Got You Babe' was screenwriter Danny Rubin's pick: he liked that its lines keep repeating and that it is a song about love.

What happened to Bill Murray while filming his scenes with the groundhog in Groundhog Day?

It bit his hand during the scene where Phil drives off with it, breaking the skin through his glove, then bit him again on a later take.

What is the name of Ron Burgundy's beloved dog in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy?

Baxter is punted off the San Diego-Coronado Bridge by an angry motorcyclist, somehow survives, and later talks a bear out of attacking the news team.

What was the straight-to-DVD film assembled from Anchorman's outtakes and abandoned subplots called?

Wake Up, Ron Burgundy was built from the original plot about bank robbers called The Alarm Clock, which tested so badly that much of Anchorman was rewritten and reshot.

In The Hangover, at which Las Vegas hotel do the friends book their suite for the bachelor party?

Caesars Palace is where they book a suite; Phil, Stu and Alan wake in its wreckage to a tiger in the bathroom and a baby in the closet, with the groom nowhere to be found.

The Hangover took the record for highest-grossing R-rated comedy in US history from which Eddie Murphy film?

Beverly Hills Cop had held the record since 1984, though once ticket-price inflation is counted The Hangover earned less than half as much.

Which Bridesmaids cast member earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress?

Melissa McCarthy beat rivals for Megan including Rebel Wilson, whose hour of improvising at the audition so impressed the filmmakers that they gave her the part of Brynn.

In Bridesmaids, what failed business did Kristen Wiig's Annie run?

A bakery, Cake Baby, went under in the recession; Officer Rhodes, once a regular customer, spends the film urging Annie to bake again.

Tina Fey's screenplay for Mean Girls was based on which non-fiction parenting book by Rosalind Wiseman?

Queen Bees and Wannabes is a parenting guide with no story, so Fey wrote the plot from scratch, drawing on her own school days at Upper Darby High.

Which Mean Girls role was Lindsay Lohan first set to play before moving to Cady Heron?

Regina George was Lohan's first assignment, but executives feared a mean-girl role would alienate her fans, so she took the lead and the part went to Rachel McAdams.

Where was Mean Girls' Cady Heron homeschooled for years before transferring to an American high school?

Africa had been Cady's home for twelve years before North Shore High, and her schooling mattered enough to the story that the film was first going to be called Homeschooled.

In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, what do the knights use instead of real horses?

Servants banging coconut shells stand in for horses because the small budget ruled out real ones, and Germany even released the film as 'The Knights of the Coconut'.

Which pair of rock bands helped finance Monty Python and the Holy Grail?

Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin were among the rock acts who invested; with Britain's top income tax near 90%, Terry Gilliam said, the film looked like a good write-off.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail shot most of its castle scenes at which Scottish castle, later Outlander's Castle Leoch?

Doune Castle played nearly every castle in the film, shot from different angles, after officials refused permission for the others just before filming began.

Which former Beatle arranged funding for Monty Python's Life of Brian through his new company, HandMade Films?

George Harrison mortgaged his home to fund it through HandMade Films, reportedly because he wanted to see the movie; the Pythons called it the most anyone ever paid for a cinema ticket.

Life of Brian reused the sets of Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth in which country, where Star Wars filmed Tatooine?

Tunisia's Monastir still had the sets, and local extras who had worked on Jesus of Nazareth kept telling Terry Jones how Mr Zeffirelli would have done it.

Life of Brian's Swedish posters boasted it was so funny it had been banned in which neighboring country?

Norway banned it for a year and Ireland for eight, so Swedish posters called it 'the film so funny it was banned in Norway', all over a film ending with a sing-along at a crucifixion.

Which comedian was Mel Brooks's original choice for Sheriff Bart in Blazing Saddles, but stayed on only as co-writer?

Richard Pryor co-wrote the script, but accounts differ on why he didn't star, and Cleavon Little got the badge. Brooks, who had final cut, later refused studio demands to trim the campfire scene.

Which actor took over as Blazing Saddles' Waco Kid after Gig Young collapsed on his first day of shooting?

Gene Wilder was flown in after Young, cast as the shaky gunslinger, collapsed during his first scene from what proved to be alcohol withdrawal.

Where had the original 1931 Frankenstein lab props been stored before Young Frankenstein reused them?

A home garage: Kenneth Strickfaden had kept his 1931 gear there, and for Mel Brooks he reassembled it, built new devices and earned a thank-you in the opening credits.

How did Mel Brooks insist on shooting Young Frankenstein, a rarity for a 1974 studio comedy?

Entirely in black and white was Brooks's condition: Columbia balked at that and at his budget, so he took the film to 20th Century Fox.

Which comedian plays loud developer Al Czervik in Caddyshack?

Rodney Dangerfield's part began small, but he ad-libbed so well, as did Chevy Chase and Bill Murray, that their roles kept growing during the shoot.

In Dumb and Dumber, Lloyd and Harry drive cross-country to return a briefcase to which resort town?

Aspen is where Mary Swanson is flying when she leaves the ransom-filled briefcase behind, though the film's 'Aspen' was really shot in Breckenridge, Colorado, and in Utah.

Jim Carrey earned $7 million for Dumb and Dumber; roughly how much was co-star Jeff Daniels paid?

$50,000 was a deliberate lowball: the studio hoped it would put Daniels off a part the filmmakers wanted him for, but he signed anyway.

Which future Oscar winner made her feature film debut as Jules in Superbad (2007)?

Emma Stone had talked her parents into moving her to Los Angeles at 15 with a PowerPoint pitch she called 'Project Hollywood'; Superbad was her first film.

Which comedy legend plays Papa Elf, Buddy's adoptive father at the North Pole, in Jon Favreau's Elf (2003)?

Bob Newhart looks tiny beside Will Ferrell because Favreau used forced perspective, two sets of different sizes filmed as one, and all but did without computer effects.

In Step Brothers, Brennan insists on running which major client event for Derek's helicopter-leasing company?

The Catalina Wine Mixer is the big event; the film began as a single image of bunk beds that came to Adam McKay and editor Brent White during post-production on Talladega Nights.

How much does Dr. Evil finally demand to hold the world ransom in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery?

$100 billion is his revised demand after Number Two laughs off his first instinct of one million dollars, since the Virtucon front company already makes more than that.

Which fictional country does Charlie Chaplin's dictator Adenoid Hynkel rule in The Great Dictator (1940)?

Tomainia was Chaplin's stand-in for Nazi Germany; he later wrote that had he known the true horrors of the concentration camps, he could not have made the film.

Buster Keaton's 1926 silent comedy The General is named after what?

A locomotive, the real engine General that Union raiders stole in 1862, gives the film its name; Keaton's crew arrived on location with eighteen freight cars of period cannons, wagons and props.

In Home Alone, where is the McCallister family flying for Christmas when they leave Kevin behind?

Paris is where the family is headed when high winds knock out the power overnight, resetting the alarm clocks, so everyone oversleeps and bolts for the airport.

In Duck Soup (1933), Groucho Marx's wisecracking Firefly becomes president of which fictional country?

Freedonia sounded so much like Fredonia, New York, that the village complained about the film; Mussolini is said to have banned it in Italy as an insult.

Which Marx brother made his final screen appearance with his siblings in Duck Soup?

Zeppo, the straight man, left performing after Duck Soup to become a talent agent, leaving Groucho, Chico and Harpo to carry on as a trio.

Tootsie earned ten Oscar nominations but won only one, for which actress as soap star Julie Nichols?

Jessica Lange took the part as 'something light' after the gruelling Frances, then won Best Supporting Actress for it in a year when Frances had her up for Best Actress too.

National Lampoon's Animal House was filmed on which real college campus in late 1977?

The University of Oregon said yes because its president had once turned away The Graduate at Berkeley and didn't want to repeat the mistake; he even lent his office for Dean Wormer's.

Which 1934 comedy was first to sweep all of the 'Big Five' Oscars?

It Happened One Night won Claudette Colbert an Oscar she was so sure of losing that she was boarding a train for New York when she learned she had won.

Which pub do Shaun and his friends choose as their zombie-apocalypse refuge in Shaun of the Dead?

The Winchester, their local, is the refuge; the film grew from an episode of the sitcom Spaced, which Pegg co-wrote and Wright directed, where his character hallucinates zombies.

Annie Hall's working title, Anhedonia, names the inability to feel what?

Pleasure: Woody Allen said nothing gives his hero Alvy any, but hardly anyone knew the word, so he tried other titles at test screenings before settling on Annie Hall.

In The Naked Gun, which baseball star plays the hypnotized would-be assassin of Queen Elizabeth II?

Reggie Jackson plays an Angels outfielder hypnotically programmed to shoot the Queen; Frank Drebin knocks out the home-plate umpire and takes his place to frisk the players.

Which make of car does Cameron's father own, and Ferris borrow, in Ferris Bueller's Day Off?

A Ferrari, a 1961 250 GT California Spyder, meets a bad end after the odometer-reversing scheme fails, in a film John Hughes wrote in less than a week.

Which stapler maker began selling a red model only after Office Space fans kept asking for Milton's?

Swingline made no red stapler when the film was shot, so Milton's was a standard model spray-painted red; fan demand led the company to add one in 2002.

Which rock anthem do Wayne, Garth and friends headbang along to in an AMC Pacer in Wayne's World?

Bohemian Rhapsody made the cut only because Mike Myers threatened to quit; the studio wanted a Guns N' Roses song. The scene sent the old single back up the US chart to No. 2.

Which star's white dress billows up over a New York subway grate in The Seven Year Itch?

Marilyn Monroe filmed the scene on Lexington Avenue in front of a crowd of onlookers and photographers, which reportedly angered her husband, baseball star Joe DiMaggio, who was on set.

Sacha Baron Cohen's hapless TV reporter Borat Sagdiyev says he is from which Central Asian country?

Kazakhstan's government denounced the film at first, then changed its mind: it later embraced Borat in its tourism campaigns.

In Legally Blonde, Elle Woods follows her ex-boyfriend Warner to which university's law school?

Harvard is where the film sends Elle, but author Amanda Brown based the story on her own experiences as a fashion-obsessed blonde at Stanford Law School.

Which soul legend belts out Think in a soul food restaurant scene in The Blues Brothers?

Aretha Franklin was cast at Dan Aykroyd's demand, along with James Brown, Ray Charles and Cab Calloway, each in a speaking part built around a musical number.

What kind of animal is Snowflake, the stolen team mascot in Jim Carrey's Ace Ventura: Pet Detective?

A dolphin named Snowflake is stolen from the Miami Dolphins' stadium before the Super Bowl, and the team's real quarterback, Dan Marino, co-stars in the film.

Before finding golf, Adam Sandler's hot-headed Happy Gilmore dreams of a career in which sport?

Ice hockey follows Happy onto the golf course: his coach Chubbs gives him a custom putter in the shape of a hockey stick.

In which California city does Robin Williams pose as an elderly British nanny in Mrs. Doubtfire?

San Francisco saw a lot of the nanny: Robin Williams later recounted walking through the city in full makeup and costume as Mrs. Doubtfire.

What everyday object is the time machine in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, starring Keanu Reeves?

A phone booth replaced the van of the first draft, a spec script called Bill & Ted's Time Van; contrary to common belief, it was not meant as a nod to Doctor Who's TARDIS.

Which country star made her screen debut beside Jane Fonda in 9 to 5 and sang the theme song?

Dolly Parton saw that theme song nominated for an Academy Award; on screen she, Fonda and Lily Tomlin play office workers who take revenge on their sexist boss.

In Harvey, James Stewart's Elwood P. Dowd has an invisible best friend who is what kind of animal?

A rabbit more than six feet tall, Harvey alarms Elwood's sister so much that she tries to have her brother committed to a sanatorium.

Which actor plays three roles in Dr. Strangelove, including the US president and the title character?

Peter Sellers was meant to play a fourth part too: Columbia agreed to finance the film only if he took at least four major roles, but a sprained ankle kept him out of the cramped bomber set.

Which folk-rock duo's songs, including Mrs. Robinson, fill the soundtrack of The Graduate?

Simon & Garfunkel's existing songs were first used only as a pacing device in the edit; director Mike Nichols then chose to keep them on the soundtrack, an unusual move at the time.

Which fictional theme park are Clark Griswold and family driving to in National Lampoon's Vacation?

Walley World stood in for Disneyland, the destination in the John Hughes short story behind the film; the names were changed to sound-alikes to avoid legal trouble.

Which professional wrestler plays Fezzik, the hired strongman, in The Princess Bride?

André the Giant was author William Goldman's first choice from the early 1970s, and nearly missed out again: filming clashed with a Tokyo match that would have paid him $5 million.

In Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Steve Martin's Neal Page is racing home for which holiday?

Thanksgiving is two days away when Neal leaves New York, and the film's cult following has since tied it closely to the holiday in the United States.

Which director followed Pee-wee's Big Adventure with Beetlejuice, about a sleazy freelance bio-exorcist?

Tim Burton had never seen his eventual star's work: David Geffen suggested Michael Keaton after the producers had considered Dudley Moore and Sam Kinison, and the director was quickly convinced.

Eddie Murphy's Prince Akeem looks for a bride in which New York City borough in Coming to America?

Queens is where Akeem and his aide Semmi rent a squalid tenement and take entry-level jobs at McDowell's, a McDonald's knockoff whose owner is dodging trademark accusations.

In Big, Tom Hanks and his toy-company boss dance out a duet on an oversized floor piano in which store?

FAO Schwarz's Walking Piano took practice: Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia rehearsed at home on two cardboard pianos, and the studio hired doubles in case they got it wrong.

Which item of clothing does Charlie Chaplin's starving prospector boil and eat in The Gold Rush?

His shoe had a grim real-life model: Chaplin took the idea from the story of the Donner Party, snowbound pioneers driven to eating the leather from their shoes.

What is silent star Harold Lloyd clinging to as he dangles from a skyscraper in Safety Last!?

A clock gave Lloyd his defining image, and he did some of the climbing himself despite having lost a thumb and forefinger four years earlier, when a bomb he took for a prop exploded at a photo shoot.

In Bringing Up Baby, what kind of animal is Baby, sent from Brazil to Katharine Hepburn's heiress?

A leopard named Nissa played Baby, and her trainer stood off-screen with a whip for every one of her scenes.

Which actor plays slob Oscar Madison opposite Jack Lemmon's Felix in the film of The Odd Couple?

Walter Matthau had already played Oscar on Broadway, opposite Art Carney's Felix; three decades later he and Lemmon reprised the roles in a sequel that failed with critics and audiences.

Jerry Lewis's The Nutty Professor, about a meek scientist's serum, parodies which classic horror story?

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde gets a makeover: Julius Kelp's serum turns him not into a monster but into Buddy Love, a charismatic and narcissistic ladies' man.

In Mel Brooks's The Producers, two crooks stage a tasteless musical about which dictator, hoping it flops?

Adolf Hitler is the hero of Springtime for Hitler, a show the pair oversell to investors expecting it to close at once; instead it is declared a hit, and they end up in the state penitentiary.

Which actor plays eight members of the D'Ascoyne family in Kind Hearts and Coronets?

Alec Guinness was at first offered only four of the parts; in one shot he appears as six of his characters at once in a single frame.

In Smokey and the Bandit, Burt Reynolds helps smuggle a truckload of which beer from Texas to Atlanta?

Coors was unavailable for sale east of Texas in 1977, and with no preservatives it could spoil in a week without refrigeration, which explains the film's 28-hour deadline.

Which director plays documentary maker Marty Di Bergi in This Is Spinal Tap, his first feature?

Rob Reiner shares the writing credit with his three stars, yet virtually all of the dialogue was improvised, and dozens of hours of footage were filmed.

Which actor plays perpetually stoned surfer Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High?

Sean Penn led a cast full of future stars: Nicolas Cage and Eric Stoltz made their feature-film debuts in it, and Forest Whitaker appears early in his career.

Which New York eatery hosts Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan's famous lunch scene in When Harry Met Sally?

Katz's Deli hangs a sign above the table where the scene was filmed, and the customer who delivers its punchline is played by the director's own mother, Estelle.

Which actress plays Deloris, a lounge singer hiding from a gangster in a convent, in Sister Act?

Whoopi Goldberg signed on after Bette Midler, for whom the script had been pitched, turned the part down, fearing her fans would not want to see her play a nun.

Which actress won an Oscar as Mona Lisa Vito, Joe Pesci's sharp-tongued fiancée, in My Cousin Vinny?

Marisa Tomei took Best Supporting Actress for the role, opposite Pesci as a lawyer newly admitted to the bar who must defend his cousin on a murder charge in Alabama.

Which veteran actor won an Oscar as Curly, the gruff trail boss in City Slickers?

Jack Palance won Best Supporting Actor as Curly Washburn, whose death leaves Billy Crystal's inexperienced cowboys to press on with the drive; the actor still came back for the 1994 sequel.

Which actor became the breakout star of Dazed and Confused in the small role of Wooderson?

Matthew McConaughey was not originally cast at all: Wooderson was a minor part meant to be filled locally for budget reasons, and the director at first thought him too handsome.

Which actress plays Julia, the new waitress befriended by Adam Sandler's Robbie, in The Wedding Singer?

Drew Barrymore found a regular screen partner here: she and Sandler reunited for 50 First Dates and again for Blended.

Which cocktail is the drink of choice for Jeff Bridges's The Dude throughout The Big Lebowski?

White Russian fortunes turned on the film: the cocktail saw a surge in popularity after The Big Lebowski came out in 1998.

The Full Monty follows six unemployed men who form a striptease act in which northern English city?

Sheffield is first seen in clips from City on the Move, a 1972 promotional film made to sell it as a thriving modern city, before the story jumps to the shut-down steel mills of the 1990s.

The teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You, with Heath Ledger, updates which Shakespeare play?

The Taming of the Shrew was the writers' pick when they went looking for a classic play or myth to turn into a modern high-school movie; the film became a breakthrough for Ledger and Julia Stiles.

In Notting Hill, what kind of shop does Hugh Grant's William Thacker run when a film star walks in?

A bookshop devoted to travel books, it stood on Portobello Road, and the director feared the two stars would draw crowds and paparazzi big enough to stop the shoot there.

Which Saturday Night Live alumnus stars opposite his close friend Chris Farley in Tommy Boy?

David Spade rides along as Farley's Tommy tries to sell 500,000 brake pads to save the family auto parts plant; the film was shot under the working title Rocky Road.

Which ancient epic do the Coen brothers retell with three escaped convicts in O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The Odyssey lends the film its Sirens and a Cyclops, and the hero's first name, Ulysses, is the Roman name for Odysseus.

In Meet the Parents, Greg Focker's suspicious future father-in-law is critical of his career as what?

A nurse from Chicago, Greg plans to propose to his girlfriend Pam at her sister's wedding, and wants her father's blessing first, which is where the trouble starts.

Which grape does Paul Giamatti's Miles praise throughout Sideways while running down Merlot?

Pinot noir sales rose 16% in the western United States after the film's release, while Merlot sales dropped 2%.

In My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which household cleaner is treated as a cure-all for skin complaints?

Windex is the film's comic folk remedy for everything from pimples to warts; the script, written by its star Nia Vardalos, was nominated for an Academy Award.

Napoleon Dynamite's awkward teenage hero lives with his grandmother in Preston, in which state?

Idaho is home ground for director Jared Hess, who grew up in Preston in a family of six boys and built Napoleon from the most awkward parts of himself and his brothers.

What kind of vehicle carries the Hoover family 800 miles to a beauty pageant in Little Miss Sunshine?

A Volkswagen van suited the screenwriter, who picked the Microbus from his own experience of it and its practicality for filming; five of them were used, some modified for particular shots.

Which screenwriter won an Oscar for Juno, the comedy about a pregnant teenager choosing adoption?

Diablo Cody based much of the script on her own high-school years: she dated a boy who loved Tic Tacs, like Juno's Paulie, and was best friends with a cheerleader.

Which director set The Grand Budapest Hotel, starring Ralph Fiennes, in the fictional country of Zubrowka?

Wes Anderson shaped the story after sightseeing in Europe and researching the Austrian novelist Stefan Zweig; the film went on to win four of its nine Academy Award nominations.

Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World's End form a trilogy named after which ice cream?

Cornetto cones get a passing mention in all three films; director Edgar Wright wrote one into the first as a hangover cure, a remedy he had used himself.

Which director made Barbie, co-writing the screenplay with her husband Noah Baumbach?

Greta Gerwig was approached by star Margot Robbie, who admired her Little Women, and took the assignment on the condition that Baumbach write the script with her.