FILM 1745: GROUNDHOG DAY
TRIVIA: According to Director Harold Ramis, most
of the time, when he tried to explain a scene to Bill Murray, Murray
would interrupt and ask, "Just tell me - good Phil or bad Phil?"
All the clocks in the diner are
stopped, mirroring Phil's predicament.
On the DVD, Harold Ramis states
that the original idea was for him to live February 2nd for about ten thousand
years. Later, he says that Phil probably lived the same day for about ten
years. A breakdown of this day count and Ramis' thoughts can be found here:
youtu.be/swJ-kNdtrdQ
Harold Ramis originally
wanted Tom Hanks for the lead role, but decided against it,
saying that Hanks was "too nice".
Not filmed in Punxsutawney,
Pennsylvania, but actually in Woodstock, Illinois (just fifty miles from Bill Murray's
hometown of Wilmette, Illinois). There is a small plaque that reads "Bill
Murray stepped here" on the curb where Murray continually steps into a
puddle. There is another plaque on the building wall at the corner that says
"Ned's Corner" where Bill Murray was continually accosted by
insurance salesman Ned Ryerson (Stephen Tobolowsky).
Bill Murray was
undergoing a divorce at the time of filming, and was obsessing about the film.
He would ring Harold Ramis constantly, often in the early hours of the
morning. Ramis eventually sent Writer Danny Rubin to
sit with Murray, and iron out all his anxieties, one of the reasons why Murray
stopped speaking to Ramis for several years.
When Phil takes the elderly man to
the hospital, and talks to the nurse, a boy with a broken leg can be seen in
the background. This is the same boy who falls out of a tree later on in the
film, only this time, Phil catches him.
Harold Ramis makes
a cameo in the film as the neurologist that assures Phil that he is okay, but
should perhaps talk to a psychiatrist.
Since the film's release, the town
of Punxsutawney has now become a major tourist attraction.
Danny Rubin said
that one of the inspirational moments in the creation of the story, came after
reading "Interview with the Vampire", which got him thinking about
what it would be like to live forever.
Brian Doyle-Murray (Buster
Green) is the elder brother of Bill Murray (Phil Connors).
The two radio announcers heard at
the beginning of each day were played by Harold Ramis and Brian Doyle-Murray.
Included among the "1001
Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.
Fred and Debbie, the young couple
who are supposed to get married that day, are played by Michael Shannon and Hynden Walch. Both
would later go on to be better known for playing characters from DC Comics. In
both cases, they played superstrong aliens from another planet. Walch voiced
Starfire from the planet Tamaran in Teen Titans (2003),
while Shannon played General Zod from the planet Krypton in Man of Steel (2013)
and Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016).
