FILM 1870: SULLY: MIRACLE ON THE HUDSON

FILM 1870: SULLY: MIRACLE ON THE HUDSON

TRIVIA: Ferry Captain Vincent Lombardi, who was the Captain of the first ferry to reach the plane, played himself in the movie.

Chesley Sullenberger was present at the studio. He supported the movie and helped it to reflect reality.

Clint Eastwood deliberately filmed the escape onto the life raft without rehearsal to capture the physical difficulty of releasing the raft. Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart's actions were unscripted.

The actual Airbus A320 involved in the incident was recovered from the Hudson and placed on display at the Carolina's Aviation Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina. Charlotte was the original destination for this flight. Footage shown during the credits, with the actual passengers and crew, was shot at the museum.

"Cactus" was the air traffic control name for America West Airlines, so named because it was based in Phoenix and needed to sound distinct from American Airlines. America West later became part of US Airways. That's why the flight is identified as "Cactus 1549."

During the in-flight emergency, Sully asks his co-pilot Jeff Skiles to "get the QRH." The Quick Reference Handbook (QRH) contains all the procedures applicable for abnormal and emergency conditions in an easy-to-use format. In addition, performance data corrections are also provided for specific conditions. The aviation acronym "QRH" is never explained or defined anywhere in the movie.

At 96 minutes, this is the shortest film Clint Eastwood has directed.

This is the first collaboration between Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks.

The song "A Real Hero" by French electronica artist College, in collaboration with Electric Youth, released in 2010, is about Captain Chesley Sullenberger and the U.S. Airways Flight 1549 water landing incident. Electric Youth frontman Austin Garrick was inspired to write the song by a quote from his grandfather, who spoke of Sullenberger and the incident. Garrick's grandfather referred to Sullenberger as "a real human being and a real hero," which became the song's refrain. The song has been featured in films including Drive (2011) and Taken 2 (2012).

FILM 1651: DIRTY HARRY

TRIVIA: In 1972, a copycat crime took place in the state of Victoria in Australia, in which two men kidnapped a teacher and six pupils at gunpoint and demanded a 1 million dollar ransom. The state government agreed to pay, but the children managed to escape and the kidnappers were subsequently jailed. One of them was called Eastwood.

After Clint Eastwood and Don Siegel came on board the project, they hired writer Dean Riesner to work on the script. In his first rewrite, the bank robbery scene ends with Harry not pointing the gun at the robber, but placing it against his own temple. He pulls the trigger, laughs and then walks away. Eastwood and Siegel both felt this was too extreme, even for Harry Callahan.

The movie's line "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?" was voted as the #51 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

Serial killer Scorpio was loosely based on the Zodiac killer, who used to taunt police and media with notes about his crimes, in one of which he threatened to hijack a school bus full of children. The role of Harry Callahan was loosely based on real life detective David Toschi who was the chief investigator in the Zodiac case.

When Clint Eastwood approached Don Siegel to offer him the directing job, Eastwood gave Siegel four drafts of the script, one of which was written by Terrence Malick. In Malick's script, he had altered Scorpio from being a mindless psychopath killing only because he likes it, to being a vigilante who killed wealthy criminals who had escaped justice. Siegel didn't like Malick's script, but Eastwood did, and Malick's ideas formed the basis for the sequel, Magnum Force (1973).

In September 1981, a case occurred in Germany, under circumstances quite similar to the Barbara Jane Mackle case: A ten-year-old girl, Ursula Hermann, was buried alive in a box fitted with ventilation, lighting and sanitary systems to be held for ransom. The girl suffocated in her prison within 48 hours of her abduction because autumn leaves had clogged up the ventilation duct. Twenty seven years later, a couple was arrested and tried for kidnapping and murder on circumstantial evidence. According to the Daily Mail, the couple were inspired by the scene in which Scorpio kidnaps a girl and places her in an underground box.

In a 2009 poll for MTV News, the character of Harry Callahan was voted the "Greatest Movie Badass of All-Time." Dirty Harry beat other movie icons like Rambo, Ellen Ripley and John McClane to the top spot.

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

FILM 1287: FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE

TRIVIA: Sergio Leone broke many 1960s Hollywood rules with this film, although he did not know any of them at the time. Among them: showing the shooter and the victim in the same shot, a horse being gunned down, marijuana use, and a rape scene.

The Man With No Name (Clint Eastwood) calls himself Monco in this film. "Manco" is Spanish for "lame of one hand", "one handed" or "one armed", which is pretty appropriate considering his habit of fighting, drinking, etc with his left hand only. His right hand always remains on his gun underneath his trademark poncho.

Cameo: Sergio Leone:  The whistling heard in the background before the opening credits.

FILM 1180: UNFORGIVEN

TRIVIA: Clint Eastwood's mother toiled through an uncomfortable day (wearing a heavy dress) as an extra, filming a scene where she boards a train; but the scene was eventually cut, with her son apologizing that the film was "too long and something had to go." All was forgiven when he brought her to the Academy Awards and thanked her prominently in his acceptance speech.

The script floated around Hollywood for nearly 20 years, during which time Gene Hackman read and rejected it, only to be later convinced by Clint Eastwood (who had owned the rights to the script for some time) to play a role.

To maintain the authentic atmosphere, no motor vehicles were allowed on the Big Whiskey set.

Film 1038: Play Misty for Me

Trivia: Clint Eastwood's directorial debut.

Given complete freedom by Universal Pictures, Clint Eastwood finished shooting four days ahead of schedule and $50,000 under budget.

Set in Carmel, CA, where Clint Eastwood lived and became mayor in 1986.

The first scene Clint Eastwood shot was his former director Don Siegel's cameo as Murph the bartender. As a joke, Eastwood made Siegel do 11 takes - then told the cameraman to put the film in the camera.

Jean Shepherd claimed that "Play Misty for Me" was based on a real-life incident in which he was stalked by a female fan, which culminated in her trying to stab him.