FILM 1990: HEARTBURN

FILM 1990: HEARTBURN 

TRIVIA: Meryl Streep's daughter Mamie Gummer was used as Annie the baby.

The film doesn't make this explicit, but in real-life, Writer Nora Ephron had been so upset by her husband's infidelity that she went into labor prematurely.

Meryl Streep was pregnant in real life during the making of the movie.

Tony Shalhoub's first feature film role. Shalhoub had a love scene with Meryl Streep, but nearly all of his scenes were cut. Shalhoub can still be seen, though, as a passenger on a plane sitting behind Jack Nicholson.

The movie is based on Nora Ephron's real-life marriage to, and divorce from, Carl Bernstein, and the birth of their two sons. The woman with whom Bernstein had an affair was Margaret Jay, who was the wife of the British Ambassador to the United States, and daughter of British Prime Minister James Callaghan. Jay became a Baroness in 1992, and rose to become the first female Leader of the House of Lords between 1998 and 2001.

Jack Nicholson replaced Mandy Patinkin as Mark Forman. Patinkin was originally cast as the male lead, but was suddenly replaced by Nicholson after two days of shooting when Director Mike Nichols realized there was no chemistry between Patinkin and Meryl Streep.

Jack Nicholson's performance of "Soliloquy" ("My Boy Bill"), from Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel", is a nod to Writer Nora Ephron's parents, Henry Ephron and Phoebe Ephron, who wrote the screenplay for the musical film Carousel (1956), which was also produced by Henry Ephron.

In Everything Is Copy (2015), Jacob Bernstein's documentary about his mother Nora Ephron's life and career, he reveals that contentious negotiations over the movie adaptation of her novel "Heartburn" extended his parents' divorce for several years longer than most divorces take. Eventually, their divorce agreement included a stipulation that the movie was not allowed to depict the "Mark Forman" (Carl Bernstein) character as anything but a good, loving, and conscientious father (whatever his failings as a faithful husband were), and Mike Nichols had to be named as a legal signatory to the divorce.

FILM 1685: KNOCK KNOCK

TRIVIA: Colleen Camp and Sondra Locke, two of the producers of this movie, starred in Death Game (1977), the original movie, on which "Knock Knock" is based.

Eli Roth's wife Lorenza Izzo portrays Genesis.

The Taiwan Chinese title translates to "When Babes Come Knocking".

At some point in the movie, Genesis writes "it was NOT a dream" on a mirror, but the colored shirt she wears reads: "it was all a dream".

FILM 1670: BODY HEAT

TRIVIA: The picture was shot in freezing cold temperatures. The production had to simulate the heatwave of the film's story, the actors having to act hot in cold conditions. For example, the thesps had to suck ice cubes before speaking to eliminate foggy breath and had water sprayed on their skin and shirts to simulate body sweat.

The Matty Walker character was modeled on film noir legend Lauren Bacall. Kathleen Turner was cast in the role due to her similarities to Bacall, including a distinctive husky voice and distinguishable long, shapely legs.

Debut theatrical feature film of actress Kathleen Turner.

The picture is included in film critic Roger Ebert's "10 Best List" for 1981.

Directorial debut of Lawrence Kasdan. Prior to this film, Kasdan had written Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) for George Lucas, and was in the process of writing Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). Lucas returned the favor by serving as Kasdan's sponsor for the Ladd Company studio as well as acting as an uncredited executive producer on this film.

The movie features Mickey Rourke in a very early screen role as an arsonist.

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