http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2015/february/tales-of-witchcraft-and-wonder-from-nick-knight/

FILM 1560: SUICIDE SQUAD

TRIVIA: The majority of the cast and crew got the tattoo "SKWAD" in honor of this film. The tattoos were even applied by some of the cast members, Margot Robbie and Will Smith.

Tom Hardy was originally cast as Rick Flag but dropped out to due The Revenant (2015). Hardy had previously played Bane in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), who was a former member of the Suicide Squad in the comic books. Hardy later expressed his regret at leaving the role, given he did not want to lose the work.

To try and find the perfect Joker laugh, Jared Leto publicly tried different laughs in New York City and Toronto to see which ones made people the most uncomfortable.

In May 2016, Warner Bros. announced that Margot Robbie would be producing and reprising her role as Harley Quinn in an upcoming Untitled Harley Quinn Project. Not much has been revealed about the project, but it is rumored to be focused on the female heroes and villains of the DC Universe.

Jared Leto got so immersed in playing The Joker that he wouldn't break out of character on set even when he wasn't filming. He even sent his fellow cast members "Joker-like" presents: a live rat to Margot Robbie and bullets to Will Smith, a soiled Playboy magazine to Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and a dead hog, anal beads and used condoms for the whole crew. Scott Eastwood commented that Leto frightened him at times with his behavior, and Smith mentioned that he actually never met the real Leto.

Ryan Gosling was sought out first for the role of The Joker. He reportedly turned down the role because he did not want to sign on for a multi-picture deal that the studio was requiring.

Ben Affleck is the first actor to portray Batman in two movies helmed by different directors. He is also the first actor to portray Batman in two different movies within the same year.

Viola Davis read M.E. Thomas' autobiography "Confessions of a Sociopath" to prepare for her role as Amanda Waller.

FILM 1485: THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD

TRIVIA: Horror movie star Paul Henderson (Jon Pertwee) says that he misses the "old," "great" horror movies, and mentions Dracula (1931). He then adds: "the one with Bela Lugosi of course, not this new fellow," obviously referring to Christopher Lee, who played John Reid in the film.

Christopher Lee (John Reid) can be seen reading his favourite book, "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien, 30 years before he would play Saruman in the three films based upon it: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).

The classical music that Philip Grayson (Peter Cushing) listens to at the beginning of the "Waxworks" segment is the first movement ("Allegro")of the Franz Schubert String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, nicknamed "Death and the Maiden."

Among the photographs in the frame of Paul Henderson's mirror is one of Jon Pertwee driving "Bessie," the car he drove as the Doctor in Doctor Who (1963). When Pertwee made this film, he was still playing the Doctor.

When Paul Henderson (Jon Pertwee) examines his prop cloak late in the film, the tag on it reads "Property of Shepperton Studios." Shepperton Studios is where the film was actually produced.

FILM 1266: THE WIZARD OF OZ

TRIVIA: Many of the Wicked Witch of the West's scenes were either trimmed or deleted entirely, as Margaret Hamilton's performance was thought too frightening for audiences.

When the wardrobe department was looking for a coat for Frank Morgan (Professor Marvel / The Wizard), they decided they wanted one that looked like it had once been elegant but had since "gone to seed". They visited a second-hand store and purchased an entire rack of coats, from which Morgan, the head of the wardrobe department, and director Victor Fleming chose one they felt gave off the perfect appearance of "shabby gentility". One day, while he was on set in the coat, Morgan idly turned out one of the pockets and discovered a label indicating that the coat had been made for L. Frank Baum. Mary Mayer, a unit publicist for the film, contacted the tailor and Baum's widow, who both verified that the coat had at one time been owned by the author of the original "Wizard of Oz" books. After the filming was completed, the coat was presented to Mrs. Baum.

Judy Garland had to wear a painful corset-style device around her torso so that she would appear younger and flat-chested.

The Scarecrow face makeup that Ray Bolger wore consisted, in part, of a rubber prosthetic with a woven pattern to suggest cloth. By the time the film was finished the prosthetic had left a pattern of lines on his face that took more than a year to vanish.

The Munchkins are portrayed by the Singer Midgets, named not for their musical abilities, but rather for Leo Singer, their manager. The troupe came from Europe, and a number of the Munchkins took advantage of the trip to immigrate and escape the Nazis. Professional singers dubbed most of their voices as many of the Midgets couldn't speak English and/or sing well. Only two are heard speaking with their real-life voices - the ones who give Dorothy flowers after she has climbed into the carriage.

In the famous "Poppy Field" scene (in which Dorothy fell asleep) the "snow" used in those camera shots was made from 100% industrial grade chrysotile asbestos - despite the fact that the health hazards of asbestos had been known for several years.

The horses in Emerald City palace were colored with Jell-O crystals. The relevant scenes had to be shot quickly, before the horses started to lick it off.

In the first take of the scene when the Wicked Witch of the West leaves Munchkinland, the smoke that was supposed to go up around her came early, and started forming before she stepped on the platform she was supposed to be on. On the second take, part of Margaret Hamilton's cape became caught in the platform when the burst of fire appeared. Her make-up heated up causing second- and third-degree burns on her hands and face, and it was later discovered that one of the key components in her make-up was copper. The producers used the first take. You'll notice the early appearance of the red smoke.

A recent study claimed that this is the most watched movie in film history, largely due to the number of television screenings each year as well as video which has enabled children of every generation to see it.

Nikko, the name of the head winged monkey, is the name of the Japanese town which houses the shrine featuring the famous Hear No Evil/See No Evil/Speak No Evil monkeys.

Ray Bolger was originally cast as the Tin Man. However, he insisted that he would rather play the Scarecrow - his childhood idol, Fred Stone had originated that role on stage in 1902. Buddy Ebsen had been cast as the Scarecrow, and now switched roles with Bolger. Unbeknownst to him, however, the make-up for the Tin Man contained aluminum dust, which ended up coating Ebsen's lungs. He also had an allergic reaction to it. One day he was physically unable to breathe and had to be rushed to hospital. The part was immediately recast and MGM gave no public reason why Ebsen was being replaced. The actor considered this the biggest humiliation he ever endured and a personal affront. When Jack Haley took over the part of the Tin Man, he wasn't told why Ebsen had dropped out (and in the meantime, the Tin Man make-up had changed from aluminum dust to aluminum paste as one of its key components). However, his vocals remain whenever the song "We're off to see the Wizard" is played. Jack Haley's vocals were never used during the song, but were used for "If I Only Had a Heart" and "If I Only Had the Nerve." Ebsen's vocals are also heard in the extended version of "If I were King of the Forest," though the spoken segment has Jack Haley. Although no Ebsen footage from the film has ever been released, surviving still photos show him taking part in the Wicked Witch's castle sequence.

When the Witch tries to get off the ruby slippers, fire strikes her hands. This "fire" was actually dark apple juice spewing out of the shoes. The film was sped up to make it look like fire.

The "tornado" was a 35-foot-long muslin stocking, spun around among miniatures of a Kansas farm and fields in a dusty atmosphere.

At the end of the sequence in which Dorothy and the Scarecrow first meet the Tin Man, as the three march off singing "We're Off to See the Wizard", there is a disturbance in the trees off to the right. This was long rumored to be one of the crew (or, by some accounts, one of the dwarf actors) committing suicide by hanging himself, but it is in fact a large bird stretching its wings.

Rick Polito of the Marin Independent Journal printed in Northern California is locally famous for his droll, single-sentence summations of television programs and movies which the newspaper reports will be broadcast. For the Wizard of Oz, he wrote, "Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she meets and then teams up with three strangers to kill again."

MGM had originally planned to incorporate a "stencil printing" process when Dorothy runs to open the farmhouse door before the film switches to Technicolor; each frame was to be hand-tinted to keep the inside of the door in sepia tone. This process-cumbersome, expensive, and ineffective-was abandoned in favor of a simpler and more clever alternative (a variation of this process was used, however, in 1939 release prints of The Women (1939)). The inside of the farmhouse was painted sepia, and the Dorothy who opens the door from the inside is not Judy Garland but her stand-in wearing a sepia-rinsed version of the famous gingham dress. Once the door is opened and the camera advances through it, Garland (wearing her bright blue dress) walks through the door and the audience is none the wiser. This effect does not work on older video/TV prints where the Kansas scenes appear in true black and white, as the changeover to color is all too apparent. With the Kansas scenes returned to their original sepia tints, however, they closely match the magical opening door and the effect is powerful.

The original concept for the Wicked Witch of the West was to have her resemble a strikingly beautiful woman much in the same way the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was conceived. Producer Mervyn LeRoy originally cast MGM beauty Gale Sondergaard in the role as a sleek, sexy Wicked Witch of the West. However, the presence of a sexy Wicked Witch left a large plot hole within the script, for it played against the idea that bad witches were ugly. Convinced that the point was important, LeRoy retested Sondergaard as an ugly witch. Looking hideous in the make-up, she immediately declined the role and was replaced with Margaret Hamilton.

The chant of the Wicked Witch of the West's Palace Guards was later incorporated into the song "Jungle Love" by Morris Day and The Time.

The original ending called for the final shot to be camera panning down to reveal Dorothy was still wearing the ruby slippers, but the studio believed that audiences were too sophisticated for that. In the books, Oz is a real place, as opposed to a dream.

Ogden Nash wrote an unused screenplay.

FILM 1247: SUSPIRIA

TRIVIA: Director Dario Argento's original idea was that the ballet school would accommodate young girls not older than 12. However, the studio and producer Salvatore Argento (his father) denied his request because a film this violent involving children would almost certainly be banned. Dario raised the age limit of the girls to 20 but didn't rewrite the script, hence the naiveté of the characters and the occasionally childlike dialogue. He also put all the doorknobs at about the same height as the actress' heads, so they would have to raise their arms in order to open the doors, just like children.

The woman playing Helna Markos is not credited. According to Jessica Harper, she was a 90-year-old ex-hooker who director Dario Argento found on the streets of Rome.

Dario Argento was inspired to make this film by stories of Daria Nicolodi's grandmother, who claimed to have fled from a German music academy because witchcraft was being secretly practiced there.

Director Dario Argento composed the creepy music with the band Goblin and played it at full blast on set to unnerve the actors and elicit a truly scared performance.

According to Jessica Harper, since the film was going to be dubbed after principal photography, sound was rarely recorded during shooting. Harper remarked that it was strange to her to be in the middle of shooting a scene and hearing the background sound of a stagehand hammering away on another set in the studio.

Director trademark: [Dario Argento] Murder victim crashes through window.

Dario Argento had cinematographer Luciano Tovoli watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to have him model the color scheme of that film for this one.

Dario Argento cast Joan Bennett as Madame Blanc because of her association with director Fritz Lang, of whom Argento was a great admirer.