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FILM 1649: THE BLUES BROTHERS

TRIVIA: A world-record--at that time--103 cars were wrecked during filming. This feat was exceeded two years later, when 150 cars (and a plane) were crashed for H.B. Halicki's The Junkman (1982). That record in turn held for two decades, until over 300 cars were wrecked during the filming of The Matrix Reloaded (2003).

During filming one of the night scenes, John Belushi disappeared and could not be located. Dan Aykroyd looked around and saw a single house with its lights on. He went to the house and was prepared to identify himself, the movie and that they were looking for Belushi. Before he could, the homeowner looked at him, smiled and said, "You're here for John Belushi, aren't you?" The homeowner then told them Belushi had entered their house, asked if he could have a glass of milk and a sandwich and then crashed on their couch. Situations like this prompted Aykroyd to affectionately dub Belushi "America's Guest."

John Belushi was nicknamed "The Black Hole" on the set, as he went through hundreds of pairs of sunglasses during production. He would do a scene and then lose the pair before filming the next one.

Carrie Fisher became engaged to co-star Dan Aykroyd during this shoot shortly after he saved her from choking by applying the Heimlich maneuver.

Some of the performers were not used to lip-syncing to their pre-recorded songs, the standard procedure for movie musicals. James Brown ended up singing his number live with a recorded backing (the rest of his choir was lip-syncing). John Lee Hooker's performance of "Boom Boom" was recorded live at Chicago's Maxwell Street Market. Aretha Franklin's performance is cut together from many, many takes, using the parts where her lip-syncing was actually in sync.

When recording the soundtrack for the movie, Cab Calloway was needed to record his hit "Minnie the Moocher" in better quality than his original album. When he came into the studios he was prepared to do his new disco version that was just released. Of course, the filmmakers wanted nothing to do with this and asked for the original version, which Calloway reluctantly gave them.

The young woman in the choir at The Triple Rock Church is R & B singer Chaka Khan.

At the Bob's Country Bunker gig, Jake introduces "Stand By Your Man" by saying it's a favorite of the horn section. The horn section doesn't play in the song.

DIRECTOR CAMEO: John Landis: the state trooper driving the second car, the one that shows up after the first car calls for backup, that chases the Bluesmobile through the shopping mall.

DIRECTOR TRADEMARK: John Landis: [filmmakers] Appearances by directors Frank Oz and Steven Spielberg.

DIRECTOR TRADEMARK: John Landis: [SYNW] a billboard advertising the fictional horror movie "See You Next Wednesday" is seen during the Good Ole Boys chase.