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Chinatown (1974) TRIVIA

Director Cameo: [Roman Polanski] the hood who slits Jake's nose.

The scene where Polanski slits Jack Nicholson's nose was extremely complex to film, and the two men involved got so tired of explaining how it was done that they began to claim Nicholson's nose was actually cut.

Jake Gittes was named after Jack Nicholson's friend, producer Harry Gittes.

The original script was over 300 pages.

Shortly after Hollis Mulwray's body is recovered, the original script included an omitted scene in which Lieutenant Escobar reveals to Gittes that he has limited sympathy for the victim, because a cousin of his was killed in the Van Der Lip dam disaster. From Faber and Faber script published UK 1998.

At one point, Roman Polanski and Jack Nicholson got into such a heated argument that Polanski smashed Nicholson's portable TV with a mop. Nicholson used the TV to watch L.A. Lakers basketball games and kept stalling shooting.

Because this film was the first of a planned trilogy, Jack Nicholson turned down all detective roles he was offered so that the only detective he played would be Jake Gittes.

Roman Polanski eliminated Jake Gittes' voiceover narration, which was written in the script, and filmed the movie so that the audience discovered the clues at the same time Gittes did.

The last movie Roman Polanski filmed in the US.

According to Roman Polanski's autobiography, he was outraged when he got the first batch of dailies back from the lab; due to the success of The Godfather (1972), producer Robert Evans had ordered the lab to give this movie a reddish look. Polanski demanded that the film be corrected.

Among the items in Ida Sessions' pocketbook, which Jake Gittes rummages through, are a $2 bill and a Screen Actors Guild membership card.

The name of Water and Power engineer Hollis Mulwray is likely a play on the real-life head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, William Mulholland (1855-1935). A man obsessed with an engineering challenge of epic proportions, Mulholland brought the Owens River to Los Angeles--which turned the previously lush Owens Valley into a virtual desert--through a combination of determination and deceit.

The movie's line "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown." was voted as the #74 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #21 Greatest Movie of All Time.

The movie's line "Foget it, Jake, it's Chinatown!" was voted as the #71 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007.

The movie's line "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown!" was voted as the #71 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007.

Rance Howard plays the role of an angry farmer at the council meeting. Rance is the father of famed actor and director Ron Howard.

The first part of a planned trilogy written by Robert Towne about J.J. Gittes and L.A. The second part, The Two Jakes (1990), was directed by Jack Nicholson in 1990.

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Screenwriter Robert Towne based his famous exchange--Evelyn: "What did you do in Chinatown?" Jake:"As little as possible."--on a joke a LAPD officer friend told him. This was because there were so many different Chinese dialects floating around that an Anglo cop would only get himself into trouble by misinterpreting anything said by the Chinese residents.

Faye Dunaway and Roman Polanski were notorious for their on-set arguments; during filming, Polanski pulled out some strands of Dunaway's hair.

The role of Evelyn Mulwray was originally intended for the producer's wife, Ali MacGraw, but she lost the role when she divorced him for Steve McQueen.

After several takes that never looked quite right, Faye Dunaway told Jack Nicholson to actually slap her. He did, and the scene made it into the movie.

Writer Robert Towne was originally offered $125,000 to write a screenplay for The Great Gatsby (1974), but Towne felt he couldn't better the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, and accepted $25,000 to write his own story, "Chinatown," instead.

The prop knife used to cut Jack Nicholson's nose had a special hinged blade that would only bend in one direction. If it were inserted the wrong way, it would have really cut Nicholson who was understandably nervous during the filming of that scene.

Jack Nicholson had the name "Jake Gittes" written on the shirts he used in the movie. Though this is not shown, it was done so Nicholson could enter in character more easily.

Cameo: [C.O. Erickson] the banker in the barbershop who starts an argument with Jake.

Phillip Lambro was originally hired to write the film's music score but it was rejected at the last minute by producer Robert Evans, leaving Jerry Goldsmith only ten days to write and record the new score.

Roman Polanski forced Robert Towne to sit and re-write the script with him. Towne was so opposed to this idea that he would argue with Polanski non-stop.

Faye Dunaway's distinctive look was inspired by Roman Polanski's memories of his mother, who in the pre-WWII era would fashionably wear penciled-on eyebrows, and have her lipstick shaped in the form of a Cupid's bow.

Producer Robert Evans was pushing for Jane Fonda for the part of Evelyn Mulwray but Roman Polanski insisted upon Faye Dunaway.

Was voted the 4th Greatest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

This was the first film of a planned trilogy about corruption in the development of Los Angeles. "Chinatown" was set in the 1930s and was about the water department. The second film called "The Two Jakes", which was completed and released. It was set in the 1940s, and was about the gas company. The third film of the trilogy was about the building of the massive freeway system and was to be called "Cloverleaf", named after the famous interchange in downtown, but it was never filmed.

Peter Bogdanovich turned down the chance to direct. He later regretted his decision.

The haunting trumpet solos are by respected Hollywood studio musician, Uan Rasey.

After Ali MacGraw left the project, Robert Evans approached Jane Fonda for the role of Evelyn Mulwray. Fonda turned it down without discussion.

"El Macondo" Hotel is named after the imaginary city in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude".

source: imdb.com

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Evil Dead (1981) TRIVIA

Sam Raimi originally wanted to title this film "Book of the Dead," but producer Irvin Shapiro changed the title to "The Evil Dead" for fear that kids would be turned off seeing a movie with a literary reference.

After completing principal photography in the winter of 1979-1980, most of the actors left the production. However, there was still much of the film to be completed. Most of the second half of the film features Bruce Campbell and various stand-ins (or "shemps") to replace the actors who left.

Filmed in a real-life abandoned cabin.

Creamed corn dyed green was used as zombie guts.

There is a ripped poster of The Hills Have Eyes (1977) visible. Ostensibly, this was in reference to a ripped poster for Jaws that appeared in said film; Sam and the others interpreted that as Wes Craven suggesting that Hills was much more frightening than Jaws, thus they showed a ripped Hills poster because their film was to be even scarier yet. See also: The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985), _Nightmare On Elm Street, A (1984)_ .

Director Sam Raimi and star Bruce Campbell were friends from high school, where they made many super-8 films together. They would often collaborate with Sam's brother Ted Raimi. Campbell became the "actor" of the group, as "he was the one that girls wanted to look at."
The voice of the professor on the tape recording is that of American Movie Classics host Bob Dorian.

Director Trademark: [Sam Raimi] [3-stooges]

Most of the demon POVs that glide across the ground were shot by mounting the camera to a 2X4 while Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell ran along holding either side

The pieces of wood that fall from the bridge at the beginning and the log used to fight off Ash's possessed girlfriend in the woods are made from a foam substance and were recycled props from an early Sam Raimi movie entitled It's Murder! (1977)

A closet is opened and a T-shirt with the word "Tamakwa" is visible. Director Sam Raimi went to camp Tamakwa as a child (see trivia for Indian Summer (1993)).

The white liquid that often emits from the possessed after injured or maimed is 2% milk that Sam Raimi chose to incorporate, not to show how these aren't normal beings, but also to mix it up so the MPAA wouldn't give it an X rating.

Bruce Campbell twisted his ankle on a root while running down a steep hill, and Sam Raimi and Robert G. Tapert decided to tease him by poking his injury with sticks, thus causing Campbell to have an obvious limp in some scenes.

Andy Grainger, a friend of Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi, gave them the advice: "Fellas, no matter what you do, keep the blood running down the screen." They included the scene in the finished film where the blood runs down the projector screen as a tribute to him.

As the car is driving up to the cabin at the beginning of the movie, instead of Theresa Tilly it's Sam Raimi you see from "Shelly's" window.

The cabin was located in Morristown, Tennessee. In Bruce Campbell's biography he says that it was later burned down. No one knows for sure what happened (Raimi says that he burnt it down himself after filming). Also, no one will give out complete directions because the only remaining part of the cabin is the brick chimney and everyone was stealing a piece of it.
The cabin did not actually have a cellar. Most of the cellar scenes were filmed the stone cellar of a farmhouse owned by producer Robert G. Tapert's family in Marshall, Michigan. The last room of the cellar was actually Raimi's garage. The hanging gourds and bones are a tribute to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). For the scene where the students descend into the cellar, a hole was cut into the floor, a shallow hole was dug, and a ladder was placed into the pit.
On the tape, in which the demon resurrection passages are read aloud, some of the words spoken (which sound like genuine Latin) and that sound like 'Sam and Rob, Das ist Hikers Dan dee Roadsa' actually mean 'Sam and Rob are the Hikers on the road' as it was actually Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert who play the fisherman that wave to the car as it passes them near the start of the film.

The opening sequence of the evil moving over the pond, is actually Bruce Campbell pushing Sam Raimi in a dingy whilst he films the shot.

Ash's last name is never mentioned throughout the entire Evil Dead trilogy, though Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell did toy around with calling him "Ashley J Williams" and "Ash Holt," the latter revealing how Sam viewed the character...

Was one of the first films to be labeled as a "Video Nasty" in the UK.

One of the sketches in the Book of the Dead comes from William Blake's painting "The Great Red Dragon And The Woman Clothed With The Sun".

During the scene where the possessed Linda attempts to stab Ash with the dagger, Betsy Baker actually had no idea where he was. With her heavy, white contact lenses preventing her from seeing Bruce Campbell, he was literally battling a blind actress.

Director Trademark: [Sam Raimi] [Oldsmobile Delta 88]

During the scene when Linda was possessed, the make-up artist actually first wanted to make her look like a snake-like creature, as can be seen when Ash is dragging her outside (filmed before the scene indoors with her singing the creepy song). Her make-up was dark and a little more greenish, but eventually they changed the make-up to an evil doll-face look.

Betsy Baker lost her eye lashes in the process of removing her facial mold.

The scene where Cheryl is brutally raped by the possessed weeds was banned in some countries.

The original script called for all the characters to be smoking marijuana when they are first listening to the tape. The actors decided to try this for real, and the entire scene had to be later re-shot due to their uncontrollable behavior.

When Ash and Cheryl return to the cabin (after the failed attempt to drive into town due to the destroyed bridge), Scott goes to say something and then suddenly stops, throws his head back and steps out of the shot. This was due to the actor ('Hal Delrich' ) blowing his line.

In Germany the movie was released to the theaters and on video the same day to avoid problems with the censorship boards. It was banned shortly afterward but dominated the top ten in the few weeks of his release. The movie is still banned theatrically in Germany.

The blood is a combination of Karo syrup, non-dairy creamer, and red food coloring.

The magnifying glass necklace was originally intended to be a plot point by focusing the sunlight to burn the Book of the Dead, but it was decided after shooting began that this wasn't going to work, so its actual use in the film was a desperate attempt to keep it relevant since so much film time had been spent on it already.

After Scott says "they know, they're not gonna let us go" Scott screams higher than his voice, this was actually Sam Ramie voice meshed in with Scott's scream.

During Ash's fighting scene with the possessed Scott, after gouging out Scotts eyeballs, Ash yanks something out of the jeans and blood flows out. Many have believed that Ash was yanking out a "reproductive organ" based on it's shape and position. However, what Ash pulled out was a small branch gouged into Scott's leg after the fact that Scott was beaten savagely by the trees.

When Ash and Linda are admiring the necklace you can see flecks of paint brush off onto Linda’s hand this is because the original necklace was gold but spray painted silver.

Source: imdb.com

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X-Files (1998) TRIVIA

The working title "Blackwood" came from the works of English writer Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951), a member of the Golden Dawn Society, about a race of intelligent beings who predated humans. The fire trucks arriving to rescue Stevie ('Lucas Black' ) have "Blackwood County" printed on the doors


The final scene takes place in Foum Tatouine, which is an actual place, used for filming the scenes on the planet Tatooine in Star Wars (1977) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983).


In the original trailer, the shot with Mulder & Scully running from the bees was used, albeit minus the SFX bees.


After consuming much alcohol and finding the bar's bathroom locked, Mulder relieves himself on a movie poster for Independence Day (1996). A line in Independence Day, spoken just after the first shot of the cable station, is "Yeah, I love X-Files too. I hardly get to see it."


Conrad Strughold (Armin Mueller-Stahl) was named for the real Strughold, a Nazi scientist who conducted experiments on prisoners during World War II.


Stevie ('Lucas Black' ) is named after one of the original series creator Chris Carter's boyhood friends. Carter says that he and the real Stevie used to dig holes a lot, just like in the movie.


Former LAPD bomb squad officer Herb Williams and former FBI agent William O. Heaton acted as advisors for the bomb sequence - and appeared in the movie as agents in a scene with Scully.


The newspaper article Mulder reads at the end of the film (titled "Fatal Hanta Virus Outbreak in Northern Texas Reported Contained") was written by reporter Howard Dimsdale. The real Howard Dimsdale taught X-Files writers Frank Spotnitz and John Shiban at the American Film Institute, and was blacklisted during the McCarthy era, when he wrote under the name Arthur Dales, which was used as a name for the characters played in the series by Darren McGavin, M. Emmet Walsh and Fredric Lehne.


619 - the number on the "Office of Professional Review" door (where Scully is interrogated by the Assistant Directors). 06/19 is the date that the movie opened.


11:21 - the time Mulder goes to the Dallas Field Office, where Scully joins him and analyses the fossils. 11/21 is the birthdate of Chris Carter's wife.


Ten Thirteen Productions produced the film and the television series. On the last track of the movie soundtrack, if you let it play until 10:13, Chris Carter gives a description of some of the various conspiracies in the series and the movie. 10/13 is also the date in which the film came onto VHS in 1998.


In the chronology of the series, the movie takes place between the fifth season finale, episode #5.20 "The End" (with the CSM torching Mulder's office) and the sixth season premiere episode #6.1 "The Beginning" (which deals with the gestating-breed of aliens in the movie).


The scene in which Scully and Mulder are chased through a cornfield by helicopters is a reference to the famous "crop duster" scene in North by Northwest (1959). Martin Landau was in both movies.


As is the case with many 20th Century Fox Films, the film cans for the advance screening prints and show prints had a code name. The The X Files (1998) was "Nuts and Bolts."

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