FILM 1977: THE WEDDING PLANNER

FILM 1977: THE WEDDING PLANNER

TRIVIA: Jennifer Love Hewitt was developing a separate film with the same premise for her to star in but was forced to cancel the project when this film was released.

Brendan Fraser was set to play the role of Dr. Steve/Eddie, but scheduling conflicts with filming the movie Bedazzled (2000) prevented him.

In an early scene in Matthew McConaughey's office, he indicates a framed picture of his "sister". The prop is actually a picture of associate producer and choreographer Anne Fletcher, who had a scene in the movie that was cut.

Franny's Mother, played by Joanna Gleason, sings very badly in the movie and is asked numerous times by her daughter not to sing. In fact, Gleason has a very good singing voice and has appeared in several Broadway musicals, including "Into the Woods" for which she won the 1988 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. 

FILM 1934: SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER

FILM 1934: SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER

TRIVIA: The movie was originally called "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night", the title of the New York Magazine article that inspired it. The film's title was ultimately shortened to "Saturday Night", as a direct reference to the fact that Tony (John Travolta) and his friends inhabited 2001 Odyssey on Saturday nights. However, when The Bee Gees submitted the soundtrack, one of the songs, "Night Fever", was thought to embody the film's spirit better than the original. Director John Badham added the word "Saturday" and it replaced the original title.

John Travolta ran two miles a day and danced for three hours daily to get in shape for this film. In the end, he dropped 20 pounds.

When Tony's dad hit him in the back of the head the third time during dinner, his retort of "Just watch the hair!" and then his complaint about being hit on the hair after he had worked on it for so long was John Travolta's own reaction and not scripted, but since it was so in character for Tony Manero to say, it was left in.

John Travolta had worked hard on the "You Should Be Dancing" sequence and threatened to quit the film when the studio suggested it should be shot in close up instead of full-body.

The white polyester suit worn by John Travolta sold at auction for $145,000 and purchased by movie critic Gene Siskel. Siskel often said that this was his favorite film and that he had watched it 17 times.

According to the DVD commentary, John Travolta used two suits in the climax of the film, he had to switch suits between takes because one would become heavily soaked with sweat and had to be dried while he was wearing the other one for subsequent takes.

John Travolta's sister Ann Travolta appears as the pizza lady, and his mother Helen Travolta appears as the woman for whom he gets the paint.

This was the first mainstream Hollywood movie in which the term "blow job" was used. Interestingly, John Travolta had previously starred in Carrie (1976), which features a scene of him receiving one.

When they shot the first bridge scene, director John Badham kept secret from Donna Pescow the fact that when the guys "fell off" the bridge, they actually landed on a platform a few feet below. Badham and the other actors did not tell her about the platform because they wanted a genuine look of horror and anger on Annette's face when Tony, Double J. and Joey appeared to fall off. Therefore, Donna's reaction to them falling, and her facial expressions turning from horror and shock to outright anger, were real, and her next line, "You fuckers!", was not scripted.

The soundtrack album sold over 20 million copies, and it was the top selling album in history until it was topped by Michael Jackson's album "Thriller" six years later.

In Tony (John Travolta)'s bedroom, there's a poster for Rocky (1976), a film directed by John G. Avildsen. The sequel to this film, Staying Alive (1983), was written and directed by the star of Rocky, Sylvester Stallone. In fact, Avildsen was the original director of this film but was fired by producer Robert Stigwood shortly before principal photography began due to "creative differences". John Badham was approached to fill in at the last minute. Tony also has a poster for Serpico (1973) on his wall. Avildsen was originally considered to direct that film as well, but left the project due to "creative differences". 

Norman Wexler's screenplay was adapted from the "non-fiction" magazine article written by Nik Cohn. Years later, Cohn admitted that the story, supposedly a fact-based account detailing the lives of Brooklyn teenagers in the early days of the disco craze, was a complete fabrication.

In the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, "maneiro" is a widely-used word, meaning "cool", taken from the character name, Tony Manero.

The film had the best-selling film soundtrack until The Bodyguard (1992).

Filming was frequently halted on the streets of New York City because teenage girl fans of John Travolta would scream when they saw him due to his popularity from the ABC sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter (1975).

Actress Nina Hansen, who played the grandmother in the film,improvised all her lines in the dinner table scene. Originally not given any speaking parts,this didn't sit well with her and according to director John Badham,she decided to utter "Basta! Mangia! Mangia! ,which translates to English as "Enough! Eat!Eat!" He decided to leave it in the final cut.

John Travolta has said in interviews that he thought this was a retro/nostalgia type spoof of the disco craze. He said most of his friends assumed the disco craze was from 1974 until about 1976 when it ended. He assumed this movie was supposed to be a humorous look back at the craze after it was over. He said once the movie came out that kind of reignited the craze again. He said "the movie came out, and it was if it was all starting for the first time again, as if it all had never happened. "

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

FILM 1824: SINGIN' IN THE RAIN

FILM 1824: SINGIN' IN THE RAIN

TRIVIA: Gene Kelly was a taskmaster with Debbie Reynolds, who had never danced to this degree before rehearsals started. Fred Astaire, who was in an adjacent dance studio, found her crying under a piano and reassured her that all of her hard work was worth the effort.

For the "Make 'em Laugh" number, Gene Kelly asked Donald O'Connor to revive a trick he had done as a young dancer: running up a wall and completing a somersault. The number was so physically taxing that O'Connor, who smoked four packs of cigarettes a day at the time, ended up in a hospital bed for a week after its completion. He suffered from exhaustion and painful carpet burns. Unfortunately, an accident ruined all of the initial footage, so after a brief rest O'Connor--ever the professional--agreed to do the difficult number all over again.

Only 19 when cast to play the film, Debbie Reynolds lived with her parents and commuted to the set. She had to wake up at 4:00 a.m. and ride three different buses to the studio; sometimes, to avoid the commute, she would just sleep on the set.

A microphone was hidden in Debbie Reynolds' blouse so her lines could be heard more clearly. During one of the dance numbers, her heartbeat can be heard, mirroring what happens to Lina Lamont in the movie itself.

In the looping sequence, Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) is seen dubbing the dialogue for Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) because Lina's voice is shrill and screechy. However, it's not Reynolds who is speaking, it's Jean Hagen herself, who actually had a beautiful deep, rich voice. So you have Jean Hagen dubbing Debbie Reynolds dubbing Jean Hagen. And when Debbie is supposedly dubbing Jean's singing of "Would You?" the voice you hear singing actually belongs to Betty Noyes, who had a much richer singing voice than Debbie.

The "Singing in the Rain" number took all day to set up--and Gene Kelly was very ill (some say with a fever over 101). When it was all set up, Kelly insisted on doing a take--even though the blocking was only rudimentary (starting and ending positions only), and co-director Stanley Donen was ready to send him home. He ad-libbed most of it and it only took one take, which is what you see on film.

At the 1972 Academy Awards, Gene Kelly deliberately ignored Malcolm McDowell because he was so offended by the graphic rape scene in A Clockwork Orange (1971) being performed to Kelly's original vocal of "Singin' in the Rain."

The screenwriters bought a house in Hollywood from a former silent film star who lost his wealth when the innovation of sound film killed his career. This was part of the inspiration for the film.

In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #5 Greatest Movie of All Time.

According to supplemental information on the DVD, the first time they tried to film the "Singin' In The Rain" sequence they shot it in the late afternoon. Unfortunately the homeowners in the area had just come home from work and had turned on their lawn sprinklers so there was not enough water pressure for the "rain" to work. They finally filmed the sequence the next day, early enough so that everyone was at work and the water pressure was adequate for the shot.

Milk was added to the water for the title number to make the rain appear more visible.

Gene Kelly choreographed his dance scenes with Cyd Charisse to hide the fact that she was taller than he was. To keep the height difference from being obvious, Kelly staged the routine so that the two were rarely upright when standing next to each other, always bending toward or away from one another instead.

The soundstage used for the signature "Singin' In The Rain" scene is used for the street scenes for the quintessential 80's & 90's hit TV series sit-com Seinfeld (1989).

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

FILM 1823: SWING TIME

FILM 1823: SWING TIME

TRIVIA: The climax of "Never Gonna Dance" took 47 takes in a single day and required many demanding spins of Ginger Rogers; her feet bled.

This was Ginger Rogers' favorite of her films with Fred Astaire.

In "The Way You Look Tonight", Ginger Rogers is seen to be washing her hair. The crew tried various soaps, shampoos, and even egg white, but it always ran down her face too quickly. They achieved success with whipped cream.

In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #90 Greatest Movie of All Time. It was the first inclusion of this film on the list.

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

The film is included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.

The quarter that Penny and Lucky argue about is worth $4.50 in 2018; the $25,000 Lucky needs is worth $450,622.

FILM 1744: CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

FILM 1744: CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

TRIVIA: Timothée Chalamet learned to speak Italian and to play the piano for the role of Elio.

On its premiere night, Call Me By Your Name (2017) received a ten-minute standing ovation, which was the longest standing ovation ever at the New York Film Festival.

The entire film (including the opening credits) was shot with a single 35mm lens.

There was only one rehearsal before shooting. In multiple interviews, Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer said that director Luca Guadagnino asked them one day to come outside to do a rehearsal in the backyard of the villa. They walked to a patch of grass and flipped their scripts to a randomly selected scene to practice. When they opened the script, the page only read, "Elio and Oliver roll around in the grass making out." Chalamet and Hammer looked at each other and said, "Alright, let's go!" Just seconds into the making out scene, however, Guadagnino stepped in and directed them to act more "passionately." So they started making out and continued to do so, and no one told them to stop. Eventually, the two actors stopped, looked around and realized Guadagnino had just walked away, leaving them rolling around in the grass. This was their only rehearsal.

Despite various sexual scenes in the film, Armie Hammer stated in an interview that the most uncomfortable he ever felt during filming was when he was filming the dance scenes.

In the book, Elio is 17 years old and Oliver is 24. Timothée Chalamet was 20 years old when the film was shot, while Armie Hammer was 29. The film is set in Italy, and the age of consent in the country is 14.

The film is dedicated to actor Bill Paxton, who died in February 2017. Brian Swardson, the husband of one of the film's producers, Peter Spears, was Bill Paxton's best friend and agent. He is also the agent for Timothée Chalamet. Paxton visited the set in Italy and became friends with director Luca Guadagnino. Guadagnino decided to honor Paxton by dedicating the film to him.

Based on the book "Call me by your name" written by André Aciman, the author himself appears in the movie as Mounir.

BOOK 140: STEPPENWOLF: HERMANN HESSE

Steppenwolf (orig. German Der Steppenwolf) is the tenth novel by German-Swiss author Hermann Hesse. Originally published in Germany in 1927, it was first translated into English in 1929. Combining autobiographical and psychoanalytic elements, the novel was named after the lonesome wolf of the steppes. The story in large part reflects a profound crisis in Hesse's spiritual world during the 1920s while memorably portraying the protagonist's split between his humanity and his wolf-like aggression and homelessness. Hesse would later assert that the book was largely misunderstood.

From the very beginning, reception was harsh. American novelist Jack Kerouac dismissed it in Big Sur (1962) and it has had a long history of mixed critical reception and opinion at large, Already upset with Hesse's novel Siddhartha, political activists and patriots railed against him, and against the book, seeing an opportunity to discredit Hesse. Even close friends and longtime readers criticized the novel for its perceived lack of morality in its open depiction of sex and drug use, a criticism that indeed remained the primary rebuff of the novel for many years. However as society changed and formerly taboo topics such as sex and drugs became more openly discussed, critics came to attack the book for other reasons; mainly that it was too pessimistic, and that it was a journey in the footsteps of a psychotic and showed humanity through his warped and unstable viewpoint, a fact that Hesse did not dispute, although he did respond to critics by noting the novel ends on a theme of new hope.

Popular interest in the novel was renewed in the 1960s – specifically in the psychedelic movement – primarily because it was seen as a counterculture book, and because of its depiction of free love and explicit drug usage. It was also introduced in many new colleges for study, and interest in the book and in Hermann Hesse was feted in America for more than a decade afterwards.

Hesse's 1928 short story "Harry, the Steppenwolf" forms a companion piece to the novel. It is about a wolf named Harry who is kept in a zoo, and who entertains crowds by destroying images of German cultural icons like Goethe and Mozart.

The name Steppenwolf has become notable in popular culture for various organizations and establishments. In 1967, the band Steppenwolf, headed by German-born singer John Kay, took their name from the novel. The Belgian band DAAU (Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung) is named after one of the advertising slogans of the novel's magical theatre. The innovative Magic Theatre Company, founded in 1967 in Berkeley and which later became resident in San Francisco, takes its name from the "Magic Theatre" of the novel, and the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, founded in 1974 by actors Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise, took its name from the novel. The lengthy track "Steppenwolf" appears on English rock band Hawkwind's album Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music and is directly inspired by the novel, including references to the magic theatre and the dual nature of the wolfman-manwolf (lutocost). Robert Calvert had initially written and performed the lyrics on 'Distances Between Us' by Adrian Wagner in 1974. The song also appears on later, live Hawkwind CD's and DVDs. Danish acid rock band Steppeulvene (1967-68) also took their name from this novel.

"Be Here Now"(1971), by author and spiritual teacher Richard Alpert (Ram Dass) contains an illustration of a door bearing a sign that reads "Magic Theatre - For Madmen Only - Price of Admission - Your Mind." This references an invitation that Steppenwolf's Harry Haller receives to attend an "Anarchist Evening at the Magic Theatre, For Madmen Only, Price of Admission Your Mind."

The Black Ice, by Michael Connelly, has J. Michael Haller making a reference to the author when he mentioned that, if his illegitimate son took his surname, he'd be "Harry Haller" instead of Harry Bosch.

Paula Cole references the concept of the steppenwolf in her song 'Pearl' on her 1999 album Amen.

Steppenwolf was also referenced in the film Mall (2014).

Lobo da Estepe by the brazilian band Os Cascavelletes was also inspired by the book.

(Information taken from Wikipedia)

FILM 1189: TEENAGE

Teenagers did not always exist. In this living collage of rare archival material, filmed portraits, and voices lifted from early 20th Century diary entries, a struggle erupts between adults and adolescents to define a new idea of youth.