The Bat (1926) is a silent film based on the 1920 hit Broadway play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood, directed by Roland West and starring Jack Pickford and Louise Fazenda. The story takes place in an old mansion, where people look for hidden loot while a caped killer (nicknamed “The Bat”) murders them one by one. The film was rediscovered after being thought to have been a lost film for many years.
One of Batman’s greatest trademarks is the bat signal. In the 1926 film, “the Bat” can be seen using the bat signal, although in the film, he uses it to frighten his enemies before he attacks. In later Batman comics, films, etc., the police use it to contact Batman, although modern innovation has taken the signal back to its roots in using it to remind and possibly terrify criminals as to the reality of Batman’s existence.
Trivia:
For many years this was regarded as a “lost film” with no known prints or elements existing.
This film was highly regarded for its visuals, especially for its cinematography, elaborate sets and special effects. Roland West could only top it by remaking it four years later as The Bat Whispers (1930) with sound and in an early 70mm process.
Children of the Corn (also known as Stephen King’s Children of the Corn) is a 1984 horror film based upon the 1978 short story of the same name by Stephen King. Directed by Fritz Kiersch, the film stars Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton. Set in the fictional rural town of Gatlin, Nebraska, the film tells the story of a demonic entity referred to as “He Who Walks Behind The Rows” which entices the children of the town to ritualistically murder all the adults to ensure a successful corn harvest. Stephen King wrote the original draft of the screenplay, which focused more on the characters of Burt and Vicky and depicted more backstory on the uprising of the children in Gatlin. This script was disregarded in favor of George Goldsmith’s screenplay, which featured more violence and a more conventional narrative structure. To date the film has spawned six sequels with a television remake.
Taglines:
And a child shall lead them…
An Adult Nightmare.
The Children Rise…..
Trivia:
On the dashboard of Burt and Vicki’s car is a copy of Night Shift, the Stephen King short story collection in which Children of the Corn originally appeared.
In the original theatrical trailer, Stephen King’s name is misspelled as “Steven”.
In the original ending of the story Linda Hamilton’s character Vicki was killed by the children. She joined “the blue man” on a cross and had her eyes cut out.
Though real corn was used for most of filming, polyurethane corn had to be used for the more difficult action sequences.
R.G. Armstrong filmed his scenes in one day.
Michael and Corey Frizzell, the nephews of legendary country music stars Lefty & David Frizzell and Sons of Country Gospel great Allen Frizzell (once married to country star Shelly West), played extras at the age of 8 and 9. Michael was also Robby Kiger (Job) stunt double. Corey who is now an artist to country music stars was also a stand in actor for Robby Kiger (Job).
In the original story, Isaac and Malachai’s names were William Renfrew and Craig Boardman, respectively.
The tagline “And a child shall lead them” comes from Isaiah 11:6 in the Old Testament, which reads, “And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”
Cannibal Holocaust (1980) is a controversial exploitation film directed by Ruggero Deodato from a screenplay by Gianfranco Clerici. Filmed in the Amazon Rainforest, the movie tells the story of four documentarians who journey deep into the jungle to film indigenous tribes. Two months later, after they fail to return, famous anthropologist Harold Monroe travels on a rescue mission to find the group. Eventually, he recovers and views their lost cans of film, which reveal the missing filmmakers’ fate. The film stars Robert Kerman as Monroe, Carl Gabriel Yorke as director Alan Yates, Francesca Ciardi as Alan’s girlfriend Faye, Perry Pirkanen as cameraman Jack Anders, and Luca Barbareschi as fellow cameraman Mark Tomaso.
Cannibal Holocaust is a well known exploitation film because of the controversy following its release. After premiering in Italy, the film was seized by a local magistrate, and Deodato was arrested on obscenity charges. He was later accused of making a snuff film due to rumors which claimed that certain actors were killed on camera. Although Deodato was later cleared of these charges, the film was banned in Italy, the UK, Australia, and several other countries due to its graphic depiction of gore, sexual violence, and the inclusion of six genuine animal deaths. Many nations have since revoked the ban, yet the film is still barred in several countries. This notoriety notwithstanding, some critics view Cannibal Holocaust as a social commentary about civilized society.
Trivia:
The film caused some scandal in Italy at the time of its release. Ten days after premiering in Milan, the film was seized by the courts, and the director, Ruggero Deodato, was arrested and charged with obscenity. He was later charged with murder and faced life in prison on the belief that several of the actors were murdered for the camera. Deodato contacted Luca Barbareschi and told him to contact the three other actors who played the missing film team. He presented the actors, alive and well, to the courts, and thus, the murder charges were dropped. The film remained banned in Italy for another three years.
The animal slaughterings in the movie were real, which ultimately resulted in the movie’s being banned in its native Italy after the snuff film rumors were proved false. The killed animals were a coatimundi (erroneously referred to as a muskrat in the film), a turtle, a snake, a tarantula, a spider monkey, and a pig.
The in-film-documentary, “The Last Road To Hell”, which features several executions, consists of authentic footage supposedly from Nigeria and South East Asia.
Deodato was inspired to make the movie after seeing his son watching the violent news on TV and noticed how the journalists focus on the violence. He also believed that some news angles were actually staged to capture more sensational footage, hence the similar angle seen in the film.
This movie has gained the title of the most notorious movie of all-time, and is often claimed to be banned in over 50 countries worldwide. If true, it would easily hold the world record for the most heavily banned film.
Deodato wanted a scene in which the natives fed an enemy tribesman to piranhas but he didn’t have a working underwater camera. Only still shots of that scene exist.
The iconic image for the film shows a “cannibal” girl impaled on a stick. Upon being summoned to court in order to assert that no actors were harmed during production, Deodato explained that the girl simply sat on a bicycle seat attached to the pole’s base, while holding a small pointed balsa wood piece in her mouth. The fake blood was then added. Deodato commented that the girl had an unusually calm temperament to be able to remain so still during the filming.
According to a 2005 interview with Carl Gabriel Yorke (Alan Yates), Yorke said that when rehearsing for the sex scene with Francesca Ciardi (Faye Daniels), she suggested that the two go out in the middle of the jungle and “actually do it”. Yorke declined, stating that he was with somebody back in New York. As a result, Ciardi was very upset with him during the entire shoot
When Carl Gabriel Yorke (Alan Yates) arrived in the Amazon for shooting, he wasn’t given a script or an idea of what the movie was about. As soon as he arrived, director Ruggero Deodato shouted “That’s my star! Get him into makeup!” Almost immediately, the first scene they shot was the amputation of one of the character’s leg. Yorke later in an interview said while staying there in the jungle, he didn’t know whether this film was a Hollywood production or simply a snuff film.
A large advertisement for Dracula (1979) is visible in the opening shots of the streets of New York City.
Immediately after a pig was shot and killed in the movie, Carl Gabriel Yorke botched a long monologue Deodato very much wanted to be included in the movie. After rehearsing the line several times and doing fine, Yorke says he screwed up during filming because he heard the pig squeal and die. Retakes weren’t possible because they had no access to any more pigs, which they would only use to shoot and kill.
Originally, Deodato had a fake monkey head with fake brains in it to have the natives eat instead of actually killing and eating a monkey. The natives talked him out of it, however, as monkey brains were a delicacy to them.
The pistol used by Robert Kerman in the movie was a Smith and Wesson .32
Director Cameo: [Ruggero Deodato] A man sitting on a blanket outside of the NYU university.
The scene where an actor kills a monkey was shot twice, so two monkeys were killed for that scene.
Though uncaring towards the nature of his film during shooting, Ruggero Deodato now regrets everything he did, mostly the actual animal killings. He said once that he wishes now that he never made the movie.
Robert Kerman’s character had to be dubbed, but all other actors’ real voices were used.
Claims of this being a snuff film are still rampant. Even as recently as 1993, authorities at a Birmingham comic fair seized the film on this belief.
There have been six unofficial sequels to Cannibal Holocaust. Natura contro (1988) was the first movie to call itself Cannibal Holocaust II (in Italy, Turkey, and the UK). Other movies that tried to incorporate themselves with Cannibal Holocaust were Schiave bianche: violenza in Amazzonia (1985) (Cannibal Holocaust 2: The Catherine Miles Story on European DVD), Mangiati vivi! (1980) (Cannibal Holocausto 2 on Argentinian DVD), Mondo cannibale (2003) (V) (known as Cannibal Holocaust 2: The Beginning in Japan), and Nella terra dei cannibali (2003) (V) (also known as Cannibal Holocaust 3: Cannibal vs. Commando in Japan). If all these movies were considered actual sequels, Cannibal Holocaust would have four “part two”s in its series.
Second part of Ruggero Deodato’s “Cannibal Trilogy” also including Ultimo mondo cannibale (1977) and Inferno in diretta (1985).
The turtle killed in the turtle killing scene was a Yellow-spotted river turtle or Podocnemis unifilis.
In ten days after its release, the movie grossed approximately $1.9 million in February 1980 (what would be about $5 million dollars today) before the film was seized by the courts and Deodato arrested. Because of its infamy and several subsequent re-releases, it is claimed that the film has grossed $200 million worldwide (inflation not adjusted), though this has never been verified.
Despite his character’s behavior during filming, Perry Pirkanen cried after filming the infamous turtle scene.
Cannibal Holocaust (1980) was the second highest grossing film in Japan in 1983, behind only E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
A small segment of music from Non si sevizia un paperino (1972) was reused by Riz Ortolani in this film.
The actresses used in the scene in which the professor bathes naked in a river were hired from a local brothel.
The actress in the adulteress punishment was actually the head of wardrobe, Lucia Costantini. Apparently, the production team was unable to find any local women to agree to be in the scene. Costantini was completely covered in mud to give the appearance that she was a native.
The father of the actor who played Miguel was murdered during filming. Production was delayed slightly as the actor went home for the funeral. He can be seen crying over his father’s death in the scene in which Professor Monroe, Chaco, and Miguel are sitting outside the Yanomamo village immediately following the discovery of the bone shrine.
The tribe names in the film, Yanomamo and Shamatari, are actual native tribes in South America. Neither tribe is accurately portrayed in the film.
After seeing the film, director Sergio Leone wrote a letter to Ruggero Deodato, which stated, “Dear Ruggero, what a movie! The second part is a masterpiece of cinematographic realism, but everything seems so real that I think you will get in trouble with all the world.”
Baby Blood (aka The Evil Within) is a 1990 French horror film directed by Alain Robak.
A glutton extraterrestrial parasite has spent several decades in the past to culminate its only dearest wish: To be born of a human (it is very interested in human nature and behavior). In order to kindle the evil plan, the wicked being deliberately bends on chasing a plump human body just for fulfilling the insatiable thirst of – human blood. Here-to-fore, the story incidentally takes an uncouth turn.
A voluptuous circus acrobat named Yanka (Emmanuelle Escourrou) has been tormented and abused by her husband for years who is an owner of the circus where she works and there is no love lost between the two. But one day when a leopard is demanded and caged in the circus zoo, its life inexplicably comes to an end soon. However, in the mean time, the surviving extraterrestrial parasite casts the body off the carcass, raids Yanka’s original fetus, and stealthily slips into her womb unseen. The aftermath goads a reluctant and helpless Yanka into the hideous act of endless carnage just only on to pamper the evil fetus with gallons of blood and the ultimate mother’s milk is Baby Blood.
Trivia:
There is a sign for “Baby Blood 2″ outside one of the buildings in the movie.
The titular canine star of the hit French comedy Baxter (1989) makes a cameo appearance in the film.
Freejack is a 1992 science fiction film directed by Geoff Murphy. It stars Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger, Rene Russo, Jonathan Banks, and Anthony Hopkins. Upon its release in the United States, the film received mostly negative reviews. The story was adapted from a 1959 novel titled Immortality, Inc. by Robert Sheckley. Aside from the most basic elements, however — the journey of a modern man into a future where everything is for sale, and the presence of a “spiritual switchboard” in which souls are suspended — the cyberpunk plot bears little resemblance either in tone or content to Sheckley’s story, which depicts a world of zombies.
Trivia:
The racing footage was filmed at Road Atlanta using Formula Atlantic cars.
In the note on Albert Einstien’s picture in the diner is a quote, “Imagination is more Important than Knowledge” attributed to Kia Ora. “Kia ora” is actually a phrase used as an informal greeting in Maori, the indigenous language of New Zealand. Director Geoff Murphy was born in New Zealand and in this particular instance, most Maori people would regard the greeting as very tongue-in-cheek.
Actor Vincent Schiavelli was slated to play an unscrupulous “insurance salesman” who sold life insurance policies to Freejacks.
Linda Fiorentino was originally cast as Julie but was replaced by Rene Russo.
Edward Scissorhands is a 1990 comedy-drama fantasy film directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. The film tells the story of an artificial man named Edward, an unfinished creation, who has scissors for hands. Edward is taken in by a suburban family and falls in love with their teenage daughter Kim. Supporting roles are portrayed by Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall, Kathy Baker, Alan Arkin and Vincent Price.
Burton conceived the idea for Edward Scissorhands from his childhood upbringing in suburban Burbank, California. During pre-production of Beetlejuice, Caroline Thompson was hired to adapt Burton’s story into a screenplay, and the film began development at 20th Century Fox, after Warner Bros. passed on the project. Edward Scissorhands was then fast tracked after Burton’s success with Batman. Before Depp’s casting, the leading role of Edward had been connected to Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Robert Downey, Jr. and William Hurt, while the role of The Inventor was written specifically for Vincent Price.
The majority of filming took place in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida, which generated over $6 million for the local economy. Edward’s scissor hands were created and designed by Stan Winston. The film is also the fourth feature collaboration between Burton and film score composer Danny Elfman. Edward Scissorhands was released with positive feedback from critics, and was a financial success. The film received numerous nominations at the Academy Awards, British Academy Film Awards, Saturn Awards, as well as winning the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. Both Burton and Elfman consider Edward Scissorhands their most personal and favorite work.
Trivia:
The houses used in the film were a real community in Florida, completely unchanged except for their garish exterior paint.
This was Vincent Price’s last screen appearance and his last moment ever on screen is a death scene. He actually fainted on the set as it was filmed. Tim Burton decided the take was fine and kept it for the morbidity of it.
The first draft of the film was written as a musical.
Johnny Depp had to lose a reported 25 pounds for the role of Edward Scissorhands.
Johnny Depp said only 169 words in this film.
Director Trademark: [Tim Burton] [music] music by Danny Elfman
The idea for the movie was inspired by a drawing Tim Burton had done when he was a teenager.
For her role as the religious zealot Esmeralda, O-Lan Jones also arranged and actually played the organ music her character performs on-screen.
Some of the topiary that Edward makes in the movie can be seen permanently at the New York City restaurant Tavern On the Green.
When Edward goes to have his hands sharpened, the storefront was that of an actual hardware store called Crowder Brothers in Southgate Shopping Center. At the time of the filming, they did offer a sharpening service, and they did have a giant motorized Victorinox in the window.
The Southgate Shopping Center is located in Lakeland, FL while the neighborhood was filmed at the Carpenter’s Run subdivision in Lutz, FL.
The neighborhood is based on Burton’s hometown, Burbank.
Tom Cruise, Jim Carrey and Robert Downey Jr. were all considered for the role of Edward Scissorhands.
Composer Danny Elfman said of all the films he’s composed music for, Edward Scissorhands is his favourite.
Edward Scissorhands is Tim Burton’s favourite of all his films.
Director Trademark: [Tim Burton] [Black and white stripes] Jim’s shirt collar at dinner.
The restaurant that the family eats at was, at one time, a real restaurant; a national chain diner called “Sambo’s”. It was located directly across the street from Southgate Shopping Center, as appears in the movie. Due to the controversial nature of the name and interior design, the diner (and entire chain) closed sometime in the late 70′s/early 80′s. It remained an abandoned building for many years, until Tim Burton came to town to film “Edward Scissorhands”. Burton’s crew unboarded the doors and windows and redressed the interior to look like a working restaurant again.
John Carpenter’s Starman is a 1984 science fiction-fantasy film directed by John Carpenter which tells the story of an alien (Jeff Bridges) who has come to Earth in response to the invitation found on the gold phonograph record installed on one of the Voyager space probes.
The screenplay was written by Bruce A. Evans, Raynold Gideon and Dean Riesner (uncredited). Bridges was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film inspired a short-lived, 1986 television series of the same name which starred Robert Hays and Christopher Daniel Barnes.
Trivia:
Producer Michael Douglas considered several directors, including Mark Rydell, Adrian Lyne, John Badham and Tony Scott, before settling on John Carpenter.
Jeff Bridges’ character (Starman) walks in and buys a Cadillac “cash”. In the film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), Bridges character (Lightfoot) exclaims that one day he would like to walk up and buy a Cadillac with cash.
This script was being developed at Columbia at the same time as another script about an alien visitation. The studio did not want to make both, so the head of the studio had to choose which film to make; he decided to make this one and let the other script go to a rival studio. The other script was for _E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)_.
The only John Carpenter film to have an Academy Award nomination (Jeff Bridges, Best Actor).
The role of Starman originally went to Kevin Bacon.
When Jeff Bridges walks outside the house naked and uses a ‘marble’ his hair seems to stand on end. This effect was actually created by shooting Bridges hanging upside-down and then matting the shot onto the background the right way up to give him a surreal look.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is a 1986 motion picture released by Paramount Studios. It is the fourth feature film based on the Star Trek science fiction television series. It completes the story begun in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and continued in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Intent on returning home to Earth to face trial for their crimes, the former crew of the USS Enterprise travels to Earth’s past in order to save their present from a probe attempting to communicate with long-dead humpback whales.
After directing The Search for Spock, cast member Leonard Nimoy was asked to direct the next feature, and given greater freedom to the film’s content. Nimoy and producer Harve Bennett conceived a story with an environmental message. After dissatisfaction with the first script produced by Steeve Meerson and Peter Krikes, Paramount hired The Wrath of Khan writer and director Nicholas Meyer, who collaborated with Bennett to rewrite the script.
James Horner, the composer for the previous two films, declined to return; Nimoy’s friend Leonard Rosenman was given the job instead.
The film earned four Academy Award nominations, for Best Cinematography, Best Effects, Best Music and Best Sound.
Trivia:
The device Dr. McCoy uses to heal Chekov’s head injury is part of a model kit of an AMT movie version Klingon Battlecruiser.
The punk on the bus is played by associate producer Kirk R. Thatcher. He also wrote the song that is playing on the boom box during his scene.
Some shots of the whales were in fact four foot long animatronics models. Four models were created, and were so realistic that after release of the film, US fishing authorities publicly criticized the film makers for getting too close to whales in the wild. The scenes involving these whales were shot in a pool underneath a Paramount parking lot. The shot of the whales swimming past the Golden Gate Bridge were filmed on location, and nearly ended in disaster when a cable got snagged on a nuclear submarine and the whales were towed out to sea.
The film was originally supposed to have Eddie Murphy instead of Catherine Hicks. Murphy was supposed to have played a professor concerned with UFO’s who spots the de-cloaking Klingon ship at the Super Bowl. Apparently, all others are convinced the ship is a half-time special effect while Murphy believes it is real. Paramount declined this script for two reasons: Paramount didn’t want to combine their two most profitable franchises (“Star Trek” (1966) and Beverly Hills Cop (1984)), and Murphy had signed on to do The Golden Child (1986) instead.
According to George Takei, when McCoy, Scotty and Sulu are standing in front of the building with Yellow Pages advertisement, a door opens and an Asian woman appears. The scene in the movie ends at this point but originally this woman was to begin shouting for a young boy named Hikaru, who would run into Sulu. Sulu would realize that this boy was his great-great-(etc.) grandfather. The young boy hired for this scene began to cry on the set before the shot and they were unable to get him to do the scene. With no one to replace him, the scene was never shot.
Sulu (George Takei) was supposed to leap into the Huey helicopter when the pilot was outside, looking the other way, and make off with it. Takei had just run the San Francisco marathon when they were supposed to shoot this scene, and was too sore to leap into the helicopter. They tried having a grip throw him in, but couldn’t get it to look realistic, so the scene was cut. In the final edit, Sulu is shown talking to the pilot, then shows up flying the helicopter a few minutes later.
Cameo: [Bob Sarlatte] The waiter in the restaurant.
The Cetacean Institute is actually the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California. The Institute’s logo also belongs to the Aquarium.
When Kirk, McCoy, and Gillian first enter the hospital and are walking around trying to locate Chekov, a voice on a loudspeaker in the background says “Paging Dr. Zober… Dr. Sandy Zober.” Sandra Zober was director/star Leonard Nimoy’s wife at the time.
The officer on the Saratoga who announces that the thruster controls are offline is of the same alien race as the Federation President in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). This race has never been officially named, but some promotional materials identify the race as the Efrosians (named after Mel Efros, unit production manager for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)).
During Spock’s memory tests, the computer speaks very rapidly, almost too rapidly to discern. The first question it asks Spock is, “Who said ‘Logic is the cement of our civilization, with which we ascend from chaos, using reason as our guide’?”
The time-travel method used in the film comes from the “Star Trek” (1966) episode ‘Tomorrow is Yesterday’.
A scene written for but cut from the film explained why Saavik stays on Vulcan: she is pregnant with Spock’s child, stemming from an event in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984). This was the character’s final appearance in a Star Trek film.
Jane Wyatt’s final cinematic appearance.
The computer graphic consoles that became standard on the 24th century Star Trek bridges and also called “Okudagrams” (named for designer Michael Okuda), make their first appearance on the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-A. It is also the final appearance of the entire original Star Trek movie bridge set as only small parts were reused for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989).
Scenes of the Enterprise’s final moments and its self-destruct were reused from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).
During the film’s 1 hour 59 minute runtime, there’s only a total of about 1 minute 13 seconds worth of shots of the Enterprise – the shortest amount of time the Enterprise is seen on screen in any Star Trek movie. The first 33 seconds of it during the beginning courtroom scene was stock footage of the Enterprise’s destruction from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984). The other 40 seconds of it were shots of the Enterprise-A towards the end.
One early draft script was subtitled ‘The Trial of James T. Kirk’. This script involved Kirk being ‘court-martial’ed at the request of the Klingons, who were indignant about the events in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984). One particularly interesting facet of this script is that it included the character of Harry Mudd (Roger C. Carmel)as a character witness. When the time-travel script was approved instead, the trial was included as a minor sequence. The trial-by-Klingons idea (and portions of the dialogue) was later re-used in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).
Cameo: [Jane Wiedlin] The Go-Go’s rhythm guitarist appears as the captain of a ship rendered powerless by the Probe. She is seen on the right of three huge video screens amid a chaotic control room on Earth. Her line: ‘The condition remains the same. The Probe has neutralized all power supplies. We are functioning on reserves only’.
The captain of the USS Saratoga, seen at the start of the film, was the first female captain ever seen in a Star Trek story. The success of this film led to offers by several US TV networks to produce a new Trek TV series with the original cast. Instead, Paramount gave the green light to produce the syndicated “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) starring an all new cast. A woman (Kate Mulgrew) was cast as ship’s captain in the Star Trek series Star Trek series ‘Star Trek: Voyager (1995)’.
The miniature of the Spacedock interior (some fifteen feet across) had been destroyed at the end of production on the previous film and had to be rebuilt from scratch.
As part of a deal with reincarnating Spock in the previous film, Leonard Nimoy took the director’s chair.
When Chekov is running through the Enterprise (the aircraft carrier), trying to get away from the Marines, the words “Escape Route” and an arrow can be seen on the bulkhead walls.
The ‘USS Enterprise CVN-65′ was actually The USS Ranger CV-61. The Enterprise was out to sea during filming.
According to Spock’s computer on Vulcan, Kiri-Kin-Tha’s First Law of Metaphysics states that “Nothing unreal exists”.
Kirk R. Thatcher did such extensive work on the film that he was promoted from “Production Assistant/Visual Effects” to “Associate Producer” by the end of the film.
Scenes filmed on location in San Francisco marked the first time any Star Trek installment had been filmed outside the Los Angeles region.
When Nicholas Meyer was asked to help with the script, the first thing he wanted to do was change the location from San Francisco to Paris because he had previously written and directed a movie about time travel involving San Francisco called Time After Time (1979). But since Starfleet is supposed to be located in San Francisco, he was overruled. Oddly enough, scenes in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), as well as scenes from “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993) depict the Office of the Federation President to be in Paris.
The scene with the punk music on the bus was written by Nicholas Meyer to revive a scene that was cut from his movie Time After Time (1979), that had H.G. Wells encountering a teenager with music blaring from a boom box.
The scene with Chekov and Uhura kneeling on rocks looking at the Aircraft Carriers was shot in San Diego at North Island Naval Air Station.
It is often claimed that this is the only Star Trek film where no weapons are fired. This is incorrect, as Kirk uses his phaser to weld a door shut, and the whaler fires its harpoon. Chekov also tries to use his phaser, though it doesn’t work. It is also one which no cast member from this film is killed, as the only deaths were from the reused footage from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).
The whale hunters speak Finnish. The older Finnish hunter says “What the hell was it, that hit the harpoon?”
The film bore the dedication, “The cast and crew of Star Trek wish to dedicate this film to the men and women of the spaceship Challenger whose courageous spirit shall live to the 23rd century and beyond…”
The computer that Scotty uses to show transparent aluminum was originally going to be an Amiga, but Commodore would only provide a computer if they bought it. Apple was willing to loan them the Mac.
When the alien ship is approaching Earth at the beginning to look for the humpback whales, there were originally subtitles saying things like “Where are you? Can you hear us?”. The studio wanted to keep them despite Leonard Nimoy’s objections. In the first test screening, however, test audiences indicated the subtitles were unnecessary so they were cut.
For the shot of Sulu flying the helicopter over San Francisco bay, the filmmakers tried to get a pilot to fly a Huey, but they were unable to. The long shot was accomplished using a radio controlled model from Japan.
The Probe is modelled after Rama from Arthur C. Clarke’s “Rendezvous with Rama”.
While attempting to escape from the security agents aboard the USS Enterprise, Chekov tosses his phaser to one of the agents; although it is representative of twenty-third century technology, it is never retrieved.
After Leonard Nimoy allowed Kirk R. Thatcher to play the punk on the bus, Thatcher expressed displeasure at the music chosen for his boom box on the bus scene. He then asked to write and perform a song that he felt would be more representative of his character than the pre-selected music that was to appear. The result was the song “I Hate You”.
The original script called for the whales to be intercepted during aerial transport over the Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco Mayor Diane Feinstein objected, saying that the city already had enough trouble with jumpers on the bridge, and that the scene would only encourage more. This led to the scene showing capture of the whales in Alaska.
One of the questions Spock is asked by the Computer on Vulcan asks about the major historical events of 1987. We never see or hear the answer to that question as the film was made in 1986.
The sounds of static from the computers heard in the background when the Bird of Prey comes out of timewarp are the loading sounds of a Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer.
The location where Dr. Gillian Taylor picks up Kirk and Spock is not an actual street. It’s a parking lot that runs alongside the main road.
In order to find the best actress to play Dr. Gillian Taylor, two prospective actresses were brought out to William Shatner’s ranch by Leonard Nimoy to meet with the man himself. It was Shatner who personally chose Catherine Hicks saying that she was “spunky” (According to Shatner and Nimoy in the DVD Commentary).
The idea of having Spock give the Vulcan nerve pinch to the punk rocker was inspired by Leonard Nimoy who was walking down the street in New York when a punk came out of a store with his boombox blaring, disturbing everyone around him. Annoyed, Nimoy thought “If I was REALLY Spock, I’d pinch his head off!” (According to Nimoy in the DVD Commentary).
This film features the only instance in which Kirk says “Scotty, Beam me up”
During the final scene of the movie, where the Enterprise crew is in the shuttle Sulu says “with all due respect I hope we get Excelsior”. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), Sulu is the Captain of the Excelsior.
The scene where Chekov and Uhura are asking a woman about “nuclear wessels” was almost completely improvised. Her line about them being in Alameda was ad-libbed by her, and although she wasn’t supposed to say very much, Leonard Nimoy enjoyed the spontaneity of the scene so much he left it the way it was.
The sound the probe makes is taken from the sound of baby’s heartbeat during a sonogram, slowed down and digitalized.
Final cinema film of Robert Ellenstein.
The antique glasses that Kirk sells to make some cash are the pair that was given to him by McCoy for his birthday in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982). It’s suggested that once sold in the antiques store, those glasses hang around until they’re bought by McCoy, in the future, and then Kirk takes them back in time, and so on, in which case one has to wonder where the glasses “originally” came from. This constitutes an “ontological paradox”, an old favorite of science fiction writers, and raises too many questions to discuss here. (It is possible that these glasses existed in two places simultaneously, like characters in the “Back to the Future” films, rather than being caught in a causal loop.) The same paradox arises when Scotty explains how to make transparent aluminum. If the formula is “found” for the first time in the 20th century, but only because Scotty took the information back, then it was never invented in the first place! (This may not be a paradox if Scotty only gave Doctor Nichols the chemical formula but not the manufacturing process.)
Scotty provided the formula for transparent aluminum in this movie. Interestingly, this state of matter was discovered in 2009.
According to Leonard Nimoy, about 95% of the Humpback Whale footage in the final cut of the film was man-made.
Susan Sarandon was among performers that were considered for the main guest lead of Dr.Gillian Taylor.
Phantom of the Paradise is a 1974 musical film written and directed by Brian De Palma. The story is a loosely adapted mixture of The Phantom of the Opera, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Faust and also briefly references Frankenstein and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. Initially, it had box office failure and was panned by some critics, but it was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe and has since acquired a cult following.
The character Philbin, who is the chief henchman of the villain Swan, borrows his last name from Mary Philbin, star of The Phantom of the Opera (1925).
The “Death Records” secretary’s card index includes files on Alice Cooper, David Geffen, Bette Midler, Peter Fonda, Dick Clark and Kris Kristofferson.
On Phoenix’s mirror after the concert in which she becomes a star is a magazine ad with the headline “I’m a Harper’s Freak”. Phoenix was played by ‘Jessica Harper (I)’.
At the airport when Beef is introduced, the “Death Records” logo on the lectern was superimposed over the original logo for “Swan Song” records to avoid conflict with Led Zeppelin’s record label, which had sued. Although the film’s producers were certain they would win due to the fact that the phrase was common long before, they decided to make the change in order to get the film finished quickly rather than go through a prolonged court fight.
The Death Records logo is optically printed over the originally planned “Swan Song” label at several points in the film
Cameo: [Rod Serling] introductory voiceover.
Phantom was a box office flop the year it came out. The only place in North America where the film had lasting power was in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada where it stayed on the screens for months.
Sissy Spacek is credited as “set dresser” for this film. As she was already an established actor when this film was made, one can assume that she took the job to assist her boyfriend, Jack Fisk, who was the film’s production designer.
William Finley came up with the bird motif of the Phantom costume, a collaboration with costume designer Rosanna Norton.
According to William Finley, the record press in which his Winslow character was disfigured was a real pressing plant (it was an injection-molding press at an Ideal Toy Co. plant). He was worried about whether the machine would be safe, and the crew assured that it was. The press was fitted with foam pads (which resemble the casting molds in the press), and there were chocks put in the center to stop it from closing completely. Unfortunately, the machine was powerful enough to crush the chocks that it gradually kept closing. It was Finley’s speed and timing that saved him from truly being hurt, as he got his head out just in time. Incidentally, his scream in the scene was real.
Gerrit Graham has talked about the infamous “musical chairs” casting, where William Finley almost wound up with no part to play. The studio considered casting Paul Williams as Winslow, Graham as Swan and Peter Boyle as Beef. Williams turned down the role of Winslow not only because he didn’t feel physically fit or menacing for the role, but he didn’t want to use the role of Winslow as a message against the recording industry. Somehow, Boyle was unavailable, Graham took the Beef role, and Finley ultimately took the Winslow role. In fact, director Brian De Palma actually wrote the part with his colleague Finley in mind. William Finley said in a recent interview that Jon Voight was at one time considered for the role of Swan.
The character of Winslow Leach (the Phantom) was named after director Brian De Palma’s mentor, Wilford Leach.
The single-edit, “time bomb in the car trunk” sequence is an homage to Orson Welles’ famous opening for Touch of Evil (1958).
Gerrit Graham’s singing voice was dubbed by Ray Kennedy.
When Swan (Paul Williams) is adjusting Winslow’s voice, the singer is not William Finley but Paul Williams. This makes it a little in-joke when Swan announces that the voice is “perfect”.
The “electronic room” in which Winslow composes his cantata (and where Swan restores his voice) is in fact the real-life recording studio, The Record Plant. Also, the walls covered with knobs are in reality a huge, custom-built Moog electronic synthesizer. Dubbed TONTO, this instrument was featured on several albums by the pioneering electronica duo T.O.N.T.O.’s Expanding Head Band, and it still exists to this day.
During Beef’s introductory scene at the airport, on of the gathered reporters is named “Mr Pizer”. This is probably a reference to the film’s director of photography, Larry Pizer.
In addition to Leroux’s “Phantom of the Opera” and Goethe’s (et al) “Faust”, the film also references Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, and Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” for a total of at least five citations of classical horror stories.
Gerrit Graham was so sick the day that the “Life at Last” scene was filmed that he could hardly walk.
Director Brian De Palma originally considered the popular group Sha-Na-Na for the roles of the Juicy Fruits, but the group was not only very big at the time, but he found them too difficult to work with.
Jessica Harper beat out Linda Ronstadt for the part of Phoenix.
Much of the movie deals with birds: The names Phoenix and Swan, the Phantom’s bird-like costume, Phoenix’s dress after her first appearance, her feather jacket, Swan’s bird vest, Beef’s bird tail during his number. Even the logo for Death Records is a bird.
According to Danny Peary in the book Cult Movies 2, originally this film would have had the title “The Phantom” but King Features Syndicate, producers of the Phantom comic strip, demanded that this film have a longer title.
This film homages the 1943 remake of the Phantom of the Opera, not the original novel; the 1943 film had the Phantom as a man disfigured by acid (similar to the 1939 origin of the Tonny Quinn, the Black Bat and the 1942 origin of Two-Face). In Leroux’s novel, the Phantom lived with his deformity from birth.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) is an American psychological horror film produced and directed by Robert Aldrich. The screenplay by Lukas Heller is based on the novel of the same name by Henry Farrell. In 2003, the character of Baby Jane Hudson was ranked #44 on the American Film Institute’s list of the 50 Best Villains of American Cinema.
Tagline: Sister, sister, oh so fair, why is there blood all over your hair?
The curious teenager who lives next door to the Hudson sisters is none other than Barbara Merrill, Bette Davis’s real-life daughter.
The wig Bette Davis wears throughout the film had, unbeknownst to both leads, been worn by Joan Crawford in an earlier MGM movie. Because it had been re-groomed, Crawford didn’t recognize it.
During production, Bette Davis had a Coca-Cola machine installed on the set to anger Joan Crawford, whose late husband had been CEO of rival Pepsi-Cola and who herself was on the board of directors of that company.
During the kicking scene, Bette Davis kicked Joan Crawford in the head, and the resulting wound required stitches. In retaliation, Crawford put weights in her pockets so that when Davis had to drag Crawford’s near-lifeless body, she strained her back.
While touring the talk show circuit to promote the movie, Bette Davis told one interviewer that when she and Joan Crawford were first suggested for the leads in this film, Warner Bros. studio head Jack L. Warner replied: “I wouldn’t give a plugged nickel for either one of those two old broads.” Recalling the story, Davis laughed at her own expense. The following day, she reportedly received a telegram from Crawford: “In future, please do not refer to me as an old broad!”
The final scene at the beach was filmed in Malibu, California at the same spot where director Robert Aldrich filmed the final scene of Kiss Me Deadly (1955). When Blanche confesses the truth to “Baby Jane”, you can see in the background that same house that was “blown up” by a mysterious box containing radioactive material in “Kiss Me Deadly”.
The producers originally wanted Peter Lawford to play Edwin Flagg. Bette Davis also originally objected to Victor Buono’s casting but eventually came around.
Because she was then a member of the Pepsi-Cola board of directors, Joan Crawford managed to see that product placement shots of the soft drinks appeared in all of her later films. Although nearly imperceptible, Pepsi does show up in this one. During the last sequence, a guy runs up to the refreshment stand on the beach and tries to collect the deposit on some empty Pepsi bottles – a transaction that actually only happened in stores.
Cracked head of Baby Jane doll featured prominently in ad campaign was a completely different doll than that used in movie – probably because movie was filmed and released so quickly that ad staff had to devise campaign while film was still in production.
In addition to her trademark number “I’ve Written a Letter to Daddy”, the young Baby Jane apparently had other hit songs in her act. When Edwin prepares to play the piano for their rehearsal, we see Jane’s picture featured on old sheet music for songs entitled “Fly the Flag of Freedom”, “She’s Somebody’s Little Girl”, and “I Wouldn’t Trade My Daddy”.
The scenes from Jane’s early films that show her to be a flop as an actress are scenes from Parachute Jumper (1933) and Ex-Lady (1933). When Bette Davis heard that the crew was looking for poor footage of her from that time, she (half-jokingly) suggested that any of her films from the period would do.
Joan Crawford was an avid collector of Margaret and Walter Keane’s “sad eyes” paintings and befriended the couple and tried to incorporate their work into her films. In the film, during the interior scenes of the neighbor’s (Mrs. Bates) house, several Keene paintings can be seen displayed on the walls.
Early in the film, actor Bert Freed playing a film director can be seen wearing a necktie that’s not tied in a knot, but is instead crossed over held on by a tie clasp. That was a trademark look of the movie’s director Robert Aldrich, and was placed there as an inside gag.
A freeze-frame just as the car enters the driveway in the prologue reveals the secret of who was driving the car the night Blanche was paralyzed.
Bette Davis had been nominated for Best Actress in her film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), which also starring Joan Crawford. If Bette had won, it would have set a record number of wins for an actress. According to the book “Bette & Joan – The Divine Feud” by Shaun Considine, the two had a life long mutual hatred, and a jealous Joan Crawford actively campaigned against Bette Davis for winning Best Actress, and even told Anne Bancroft that if Anne won and was unable to accept the Award, Joan would be happy to accept it on her behalf. According to the book – and this may or may not be 100% true, but it makes a good anecdote – on Oscar night, Bette Davis was standing in the wings of the theatre waiting to hear the name of the winner. When it was announced that Anne Bancroft had won Best Actress for The Miracle Worker (1962), Bette Davis felt an icy hand on her shoulder as Joan Crawford said “Excuse me, I have an Oscar to accept”.
According to Bette Davis in her book This N’ That, this film was originally going to be shot in color. Bette opposed this, saying that it would just make a sad story look pretty.
This film can be seen as a tragic continuation of the story of the film Gypsy (1962). The sibling rivalry of the blond child star Baby Jane (Baby June in Gypsy) and the brunette sister, who has a Hollywood career as an adult.
In scenes where Jane imitates Blanche’s voice, the voice heard is actually Joan Crawford’s voice, and not Bette Davis’, as Bette could not master Joan’s voice properly.
This film is considered by many as Joan Crawford’s last important picture. After this film, Joan was typecast in some lesser horror pictures until her last picture in 1970 and her last TV appearance in 1972.
In 1962, this film was a smash hit, grossing nine million dollars initially. In 2009 dollars, this amount would adjust to approximately $64,279,370.86.
In her book, “This N’ That”, Bette Davis said she had a lot of control over how her makeup should be done for the film. She imagined the older Jane as someone who would never wash her face, just put on another layer of makeup. When her daughter, B.D. first saw her in full “Jane” makeup, she said, “Oh, mother, this time you’ve gone too far”
