99 Fun Facts About Famous Movie

Who directed the 1960 horror film Psycho, with its celebrated shower scene?

Alfred Hitchcock directed and produced Psycho (1960), shooting it cheaply in black and white with the crew from his television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

In Citizen Kane, Rosebud is revealed as a trade name printed on which object?

Rosebud is the trade name on Kane's childhood sled; as his possessions are burned in the final scene, the name shows through the flames.

In L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy's magic shoes are which colour, changed for the 1939 film?

Silver Shoes became ruby slippers because red showed off the new Technicolor process better; Glinda magically transfers them onto Dorothy's feet.

The malfunctioning mechanical sharks built for Jaws were nicknamed what by the film crew?

Three full-size pneumatic props were built and named after Spielberg's lawyer, Bruce Ramer. Because they kept failing, Spielberg largely suggested the shark with John Williams's score instead of showing it.

Who directed The Godfather (1972)?

Francis Ford Coppola directed The Godfather (1972) and co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, adapting Puzo's 1969 novel.

Titanic (1997) tied Ben-Hur's record for most Oscars won by one film. How many?

It also tied All About Eve (1950) for the most nominations, making it the most successful individual film in Academy Award history at the time.

Who wrote and directed the original 1977 Star Wars film?

George Lucas wrote and directed Star Wars (1977), later retitled Episode IV – A New Hope; it was his third feature after THX 1138 and American Graffiti.

Jurassic Park (1993) was adapted from a 1990 novel by whom?

Michael Crichton wrote the 1990 novel Jurassic Park and co-wrote the screenplay with David Koepp for Steven Spielberg's 1993 film.

The Shawshank Redemption was adapted from a 1982 novella by which author?

Stephen King's novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption appeared in his 1982 collection Different Seasons; Frank Darabont wrote and directed the 1994 film.

Which 1994 Quentin Tarantino film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes?

Pulp Fiction premiered at Cannes that May and went on to be a major critical and commercial hit, with an Oscar for its screenplay.

The Matrix (1999) was written and directed by which pair of siblings?

The Wachowskis followed it with two sequels in 2003, Reloaded and Revolutions, and the film's 'bullet time' effect became the most imitated shot of its decade.

Casablanca (1942) is set in December 1941 in a port city then under French control in which North African country?

Morocco's Casablanca was French-controlled in December 1941, when Humphrey Bogart's Rick Blaine runs his nightclub and gambling den there.

In E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Elliott lures the alien back to the house with a trail of which sweet?

Reese's Pieces got the placement after Mars, Incorporated refused to let M&M's appear in the 1982 film; the Hershey candy's sales rose sharply afterwards.

Hattie McDaniel became the first African American Oscar winner for which 1939 film?

Hattie McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress for playing Mammy in Gone with the Wind, the first Black performer both nominated for and awarded an Oscar.

Which sentient computer runs the Discovery One in 2001: A Space Odyssey?

HAL 9000 (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) controls Discovery One; Mother is the ship's computer in Alien and Skynet belongs to The Terminator.

How much did Paramount pay for The Godfather film rights before the novel took off?

Paramount secured the rights in 1967 for $80,000 in total, before Mario Puzo's novel became a bestseller; Puzo, owing gambling debts, accepted readily.

Warner Bros. paid a then-record sum for which unproduced stage play, which became the screenplay for Casablanca?

Everybody Comes to Rick's, by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison, had not been staged when Warner Bros. bought it.

In Casablanca, which song does Ilsa ask the pianist Sam to play?

"As Time Goes By" was a 1931 Herman Hupfeld tune before the film made it immortal; hearing it again is the first sign for Rick that Ilsa is back.

Roughly how many unknown actresses were interviewed for the role of Scarlett O'Hara?

Selznick's two-year search interviewed about 1,400 unknown actresses for Scarlett O'Hara before the British actress Vivien Leigh won the part late in 1938.

How much did David O. Selznick pay Margaret Mitchell for the film rights to her Civil War novel in 1936?

Selznick paid Margaret Mitchell $50,000 in July 1936, a month after publication and a record for a first novel, having initially passed on the book.

The Wizard of Oz won two Academy Awards, one for its score. What was the other?

'Over the Rainbow' took the prize, and Judy Garland received a special Juvenile Award.

In The Wizard of Oz, who reveals the Wizard to be an ordinary man by pulling back a curtain?

Toto tugs the curtain aside to expose the humbug Wizard; the dog was played by Terry, a female Cairn terrier.

Jaws was shot mostly on location on which Massachusetts island?

Martha's Vineyard stood in for the fictional Amity Island; shooting on the open ocean there sent the film wildly over budget and schedule.

In Jaws, how much does the shark hunter Quint demand to kill the shark?

Quint demands $10,000 — 'for that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing' — after the $3,000 Kintner bounty drew a chaotic amateur hunt.

Which actor was originally cast as Marty McFly in Back to the Future before Michael J. Fox replaced him?

Eric Stoltz shot for several weeks before being replaced; Michael J. Fox had been the first choice but was tied up with Family Ties.

In Back to the Future, the DeLorean must reach what speed to travel through time?

88 miles per hour is the magic number, along with 1.21 gigawatts, which in 1955 only a lightning bolt can supply.

In The Shining, Hallorann warns Danny to stay out of which number at the Overlook Hotel?

Room 237 replaced the novel's 217 at the request of Oregon's Timberline Lodge, which supplied the exteriors and did not want a real room stigmatised.

The Shining's final shot settles on a 1921 photograph of a ball at the Overlook Hotel, held on which date?

'Overlook Hotel – July 4th Ball – 1921' reads the caption, with Jack Torrance front and centre, grinning.

How long did Sylvester Stallone reportedly take to write the screenplay for Rocky?

Stallone reportedly wrote Rocky in about three days in 1975, then refused to sell the script unless he starred, rejecting offers said to reach $350,000.

What was the approximate production budget of Rocky (1976)?

About $1 million bought a Best Picture winner from ten nominations, and Rocky popularised the rags-to-riches theme of the sports drama.

Forrest Gump was adapted from a 1986 novel by which author?

Winston Groom's 1986 novel Forrest Gump was adapted by Eric Roth, who kept mostly its early chapters and dropped the book's spaceflight and cannibal episodes.

In Forrest Gump, a feather lands at a bus stop in which city as the film opens?

The feather drifts down at a bench in Chippewa Square, Savannah, Georgia, where Forrest tells his story to strangers waiting for the bus.

Which award is NOT one of the Oscars' 'Big Five' that The Silence of the Lambs swept?

The Big Five are Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay, not Best Original Score; only It Happened One Night and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest had swept them before.

Catherine seizes Buffalo Bill's dog as leverage in The Silence of the Lambs — named what?

Catherine lures the poodle Precious into the dry well where Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) keeps her, then threatens the dog to force her release.

Toy Story was Pixar's first feature. Which 1988 Pixar short's success led Disney to approach the studio?

Disney wanted a computer-animated feature told from a small toy's point of view.

In Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear first arrives as a present at whose birthday party?

Andy's toys, Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Rex, Hamm and Bo Peep among them, fear the new arrival will replace one of them.

In Fight Club, what does Tyler Durden sell for a living?

Tyler Durden sells luxury soap, rendered from fat stolen from liposuction clinics, back to department stores; the film adapts Chuck Palahniuk's 1996 novel.

Goodfellas was adapted from which 1985 nonfiction book by Nicholas Pileggi?

Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family (1985) told Henry Hill's story; the film's title was changed partly to avoid confusion with the 1987 TV series Wiseguy.

In Goodfellas, Jimmy's crew raids the vault of which airline at JFK Airport?

The Lufthansa heist of December 1978 took about $5 million in cash and nearly $1 million in jewels from the airline's cargo terminal at JFK.

In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Gestapo agent Toht ends up with the image of what burned into his hand?

The headpiece of the Staff of Ra, a bronze medallion, scorches Toht's palm; the Nazis copy only that one side and so dig in the wrong place.

What is the name of the commercial space tug in Alien (1979)?

The Nostromo's seven-member crew wakes from stasis to answer what turns out to be a warning beacon; Sulaco is the ship in Aliens.

The Sound of Music was shot in Los Angeles and which Austrian city, the von Trapps' real-life home?

Salzburg, where the real von Trapps lived, supplied locations such as Mirabell Gardens and Nonnberg Abbey; the 1965 film won five Oscars including Best Picture.

How many von Trapp children does Maria become governess to in The Sound of Music?

Seven: Liesl, Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt, Brigitta, Marta and Gretl; the real Maria von Trapp eventually helped raise ten children.

Which Gladiator actor died before production was finished, complicating the shoot?

Oliver Reed, playing the gladiator trainer Proximo, died in Malta in May 1999; his remaining scenes were completed with a body double and digital effects.

Before Heath Ledger, who was the only performer to win an Academy Award posthumously?

Peter Finch won Best Actor for Network in March 1977, two months after his death; Heath Ledger's Dark Knight win in 2009 was the second posthumous acting Oscar.

In which Polish city was Schindler's List shot over 72 days in 1993?

Kraków, where Schindler's real enamelware factory stood, hosted the 72-day shoot; Spielberg filmed in black and white and Itzhak Perlman played the main theme.

Apocalypse Now transplants which 1899 novella from the Congo to the Vietnam War?

Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness supplies Kurtz and the river journey; Brando's Kurtz even recites T. S. Eliot's 'The Hollow Men', whose epigraph quotes the novella.

Blade Runner is set in a dystopian Los Angeles of which year?

Blade Runner opens in Los Angeles in November 2019; Ridley Scott's film adapts Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Which Saturday Night Live star did Dan Aykroyd write Ghostbusters for before his death in 1982?

John Belushi died in March 1982 while Aykroyd was drafting the script with him in mind; Bill Murray took the Peter Venkman role instead.

Which film was the first sequel ever to win the Academy Award for Best Picture?

The Godfather Part II won Best Picture in 1975; Robert De Niro took Best Supporting Actor as young Vito Corleone, the role Marlon Brando had won Best Actor for two years earlier.

Which Hitchcock film displaced Citizen Kane atop Sight & Sound's 2012 greatest-films poll?

Vertigo (1958) ended Citizen Kane's 50-year reign atop the critics' poll in 2012, then slipped to second behind Jeanne Dielman in the 2022 edition.

Singin' in the Rain depicts Hollywood stars caught up in which industry transition?

Set in the late 1920s as silent films gave way to talkies, the 1952 musical recycles songs from MGM pictures of that era, including the 1929 title number.

Which 1959 comedy closes with the line "Well, nobody's perfect!"?

Some Like It Hot ends with Osgood shrugging it off after Jerry (Jack Lemmon) pulls off his wig; Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond reportedly wrote the line as a placeholder.

In Rear Window, James Stewart's L.B. Jefferies, laid up with a broken leg from an assignment, has which profession?

A photojournalist with a cast from groin to foot, Jeff spends the Greenwich Village heatwave watching neighbours through a telephoto lens.

Chinatown's plot about 1930s Los Angeles is loosely inspired by conflicts over which resource?

The real California water wars let Los Angeles drain the Owens Valley. Jake Gittes discovers a reservoir being emptied at night during a drought.

Who wrote the screenplay for Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976)?

Paul Schrader wrote Taxi Driver after Brian De Palma introduced him to Scorsese; he later co-wrote Raging Bull and scripted The Last Temptation of Christ.

Which 1973 film was the first horror movie nominated for the Best Picture Oscar?

The Exorcist drew ten nominations in all and won two, for Sound and for William Peter Blatty's adapted screenplay of his own novel.

Die Hard (1988) was shot almost entirely at which then-new Los Angeles skyscraper?

Fox Plaza in Century City, completed in 1987, housed 20th Century Fox's own headquarters, so the studio essentially blew up its own offices as Nakatomi Plaza.

Who played the liquid-metal T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day?

Robert Patrick played the shape-shifting T-1000, earning an MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Villain, and reprised the role in a cameo in Wayne's World 2.

In Inception, Cobb tests whether he is dreaming with which object as his totem?

Cobb's totem is a spinning top that once belonged to his wife Mal; the film cuts to black before showing whether it topples.

The Lion King's story of a murdered king and a usurping uncle draws on which Shakespeare play?

Hamlet supplies the murdered king, the usurping uncle and the father's ghost; the filmmakers also drew on the biblical stories of Joseph and Moses.

Disney's Frozen (2013) is loosely inspired by which Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale?

Andersen published The Snow Queen in 1844; Disney had considered adapting it since the late 1930s and only cracked it by making Elsa a sympathetic sister rather than a villain.

In Avatar (2009), humans mine unobtanium on which lush habitable moon?

Pandora, a moon of the gas giant Polyphemus, is mined in 2154; 'unobtanium' is an old engineering joke for any material too perfect to actually exist.

Who directed The Empire Strikes Back (1980)?

Lucas hired his former USC film professor, who was 56 at the time; Kasdan and Leigh Brackett wrote the screenplay.

Star Wars Episode VI was briefly marketed under which title before its 1983 release?

The teaser trailer and early posters read Revenge of the Jedi; Lucas changed it, reasoning a Jedi would never seek revenge, and the leftover posters became collectibles.

Who co-stars as Indiana Jones's father in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?

Sean Connery, only 12 years older than Harrison Ford, was cast partly because the Indiana Jones series had been Spielberg's answer to the James Bond films.

Who adapted The Princess Bride (1987) for the screen from his own novel?

William Goldman adapted his own 1973 novel; he had won screenplay Oscars for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President's Men.

The five teenagers in The Breakfast Club serve their detention on which day of the week?

The detention takes place on Saturday, March 24, 1984, at fictional Shermer High School; Brian writes the one shared essay to Vice Principal Vernon.

In Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which make of car does Ferris borrow from Cameron's father?

Cameron's father's Ferrari, a 1961 250 GT California Spyder, was so valuable that replicas were used for filming, including the one that crashes through the garage window.

In Gremlins, a mogwai must never be fed after which time?

Midnight is the line Stripe and his gang get around by sabotaging Billy's bedside clock, and the hatched gremlins take over Kingston Falls.

Dirty Dancing is set at Kellerman's, a 1963 resort in which mountain region?

Kellerman's is a fictional Catskills 'Borscht Belt' resort, though the film was actually shot at lakes in Virginia and North Carolina.

In Top Gun, what is the callsign of Maverick's radar intercept officer, played by Anthony Edwards?

Goose, Nick Bradshaw, dies in a flat spin, the film's turning point; his son Rooster became a central character in the 2022 sequel.

Which Se7en actor asked to be left out of the opening credits to keep the killer's identity secret?

Kevin Spacey's name was kept out of the opening credits and marketing; in return it appears first in the closing credits, which famously roll from top to bottom.

The Usual Suspects revolves around a mysterious crime lord known by what name?

Keyser Söze is the unseen crime lord whose legend Verbal Kint spins; McQuarrie took the name from Keyser Sume, a lawyer he had once worked for.

Which two actors shared the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Good Will Hunting?

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, then 25 and 27, won for their own script; Robin Williams took Best Supporting Actor the same night for playing therapist Sean Maguire.

Which film beat Saving Private Ryan to Best Picture in one of the Oscars' biggest upsets?

Shakespeare in Love took Best Picture in March 1999 while Spielberg won Best Director; DreamWorks accused Miramax of overly aggressive campaigning, a charge that reshaped Oscar lobbying.

American Beauty (1999) was the feature-film directorial debut of which theatre director?

Sam Mendes, then running London's Donmar Warehouse theatre, won Best Director for his first feature; he later directed Skyfall and the single-take-style war film 1917.

Which Studio Ghibli film won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards?

Spirited Away was the first hand-drawn and first non-English-language winner of the category, and had shared Berlin's Golden Bear with Bloody Sunday the year before.

Which 2019 film became the first non-English-language Best Picture winner?

Parasite, Bong Joon-ho's thriller, also took Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature at the February 2020 ceremony.

Slumdog Millionaire was loosely based on the 2005 novel Q & A by which Indian author?

Vikas Swarup wrote Q & A while serving as an Indian diplomat; Danny Boyle's 2008 adaptation won eight Oscars including Best Picture.

Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Best Director Oscar for which Iraq War bomb-disposal drama?

The Hurt Locker beat Avatar, directed by Bigelow's ex-husband James Cameron, the same night, taking six Oscars on a budget of about $15 million.

In No Country for Old Men, Anton Chigurh kills a driver with what unusual weapon?

The captive bolt pistol, a slaughterhouse tool powered by a compressed-air tank, also lets Chigurh blow out door locks; Javier Bardem won Best Supporting Actor for the role.

There Will Be Blood is loosely based on which 1927 Upton Sinclair novel?

Oil! supplied only its first 150 or so pages to Paul Thomas Anderson's script; Daniel Day-Lewis won his second Best Actor Oscar as oilman Daniel Plainview.

Principal photography for Mad Max: Fury Road took place mainly in which country?

Unexpected rains turned the planned Broken Hill, Australia location green with wildflowers, so the shoot moved to Namibia's Dorob National Park desert near Swakopmund.

Which film was wrongly announced as Best Picture at the 2017 Oscars before Moonlight?

La La Land's producers were mid-speech when Jordan Horowitz corrected the error; Faye Dunaway had read from a duplicate Best Actress envelope handed to Warren Beatty.

The 2017 horror hit Get Out was the directorial debut of which comedian?

Jordan Peele won Best Original Screenplay, the first Black writer to take that award, for a film made on a budget of about $4.5 million.

Which was the first superhero film to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture?

Black Panther won three Oscars in 2019 — costume design, production design and score — the first wins for any Marvel Cinematic Universe film.

In Close Encounters of the Third Kind, coordinates point to which Wyoming landmark?

Devils Tower, the volcanic butte in northeastern Wyoming, is what Roy Neary sculpts in mashed potatoes and then builds in his living room before he understands it.

Raging Bull (1980) adapts the memoir of which middleweight boxer?

Robert De Niro gained about 60 pounds to play the older Jake LaMotta and won Best Actor; Scorsese shot the film in black and white.

How many different characters does Peter Sellers play in Dr. Strangelove?

Three: Group Captain Mandrake, President Muffley and Strangelove himself; a fourth role, Major Kong, went to Slim Pickens after Sellers injured his ankle.

Roughly how long does the famous chariot race run in Ben-Hur (1959)?

The sequence took weeks to film on an 18-acre set at Cinecittà in Rome. Charlton Heston drove his own chariot after training for the role.

Which 1937 Disney film was the first cel-animated feature ever produced?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was dubbed 'Disney's Folly' during production, then briefly became the highest-grossing sound film ever made until Gone with the Wind.

What names do the POWs give the three escape tunnels in The Great Escape?

Tom, Dick and Harry were the real code names at Stalag Luft III; Tom was discovered by the guards, and the March 1944 breakout went out through Harry.

Julie Andrews won which Academy Award for her film debut in Mary Poppins (1964)?

Julie Andrews took Best Actress at the 1965 ceremony after losing the My Fair Lady film role to Audrey Hepburn, who was not even nominated that year.

Who played the chocolatier in 1971's Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory?

Gene Wilder wanted the limp-and-somersault entrance so audiences would never know whether Wonka was lying; Johnny Depp took the role in 2005.

In Home Alone, where does Kevin's family fly for Christmas when they leave him behind?

Paris is the destination; the sequel sends Kevin to New York instead, while the burglars Harry and Marv call themselves the Wet Bandits.

In Speed (1994), the bomb is triggered if the bus drops below what speed?

Once armed above 50 mph, the bomb detonates if the bus drops below 50 mph; villain Howard Payne is played by Dennis Hopper, and the gap jump used an unfinished stretch of Los Angeles freeway.

Bill Murray's weatherman is trapped reliving February 2 in which Pennsylvania town in Groundhog Day?

Punxsutawney was played by Woodstock, Illinois, whose town square hosts the film's festivities; Murray was bitten twice by the groundhog during filming.

What is the name of Truman Burbank's hometown in The Truman Show?

Seahaven is an island town built inside a giant domed soundstage; filming took place in the real planned community of Seaside, Florida.