Screenplay Games: Movie Quote: Newsletter Vol. 20

This is volume 20 of what we hope will be interesting bits of motion picture trivia, legend and other useless stuff brought to you by Movie Time! the board game of memorable movie quotes. This information is compiled from numerous sources and is offered to customers and supporters of Movie Time! to make their game playing more enjoyable.

If you like receiving this information, please forward it to your e-mail friends . If you prefer not to receive these offerings, just send a reply message and ask to be taken off the list.

Since we have been sending these tidbits, we have added many names to the mailing list. Therefore, we have decided to recycle some of the earlier bits of movie trivia along with the new stuff so we will include several older items with the new stuff.

Online Movie Question

Remember the old westerns where the cowboys had great fights, tumbled around, and never lost their hats? The simple reason is that the hats were used to disguise the faces of the stuntmen staging the fight.

The song and dance routine to Putting on the Ritz performed by Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle was one of the many memorable scenes of the 1974 film "Young Frankenstein". That classic scene might never have been in the movie if Gene Wilder had not convinced director Mel Brooks to keep it. Brooks wanted to cut it along with many other scenes because the original film was nearly four hours long. It turned out to be one of the movie's defining moments.

Proper English speaking John Hillerman (Magnum P.I., Blazing Saddles) was born in Dennison , TX and attended The University of Texas at Austin .

Movie Trivia

I do not know who decides these things but the American Film Institute's list of 100 best comedies does not include 1978's sleeper blockbuster "Animal House". This irreverent look at campus life would have to be included in my to ten comedies. Here's a little trivia about this low budget, high return movie:

The movie was based in part on stories written by National Lampoon writer Chris Miller III's stories of the antics of his college fraternity. The screenplay by Harold Ramis and Douglas Kenney also included some of Ramis' pranks, specifically, the hitting golf balls into ROTC cadets as they practiced close order drill.

The college campus used for fictional Faber College was actually University of Oregon , Eugene . The company was allowed to film there but had to complete the filming in 30 days. Working six day weeks, filming was completed in 28 days, a very accelerated schedule.

Even though it is never stated, Faber College was probably located in Pennsylvania based on dialog like, "His brother is a legacy from Harrisburg." and yellow and blue license plates similar to those of 1962 Pennsylvania on many of the cars and the road trip to Dickinson College . However, the state flag hanging in the courtroom is from Tennessee . The set decorator could not find a Pennsylvania flag large enough and could not use Oregon 's flag because it could not be displayed without seeing "State of Oregon " on the flag.

Prior to signing Donald Sutherland, John Belushi was the highest paid actor, receiving $40,000. Sutherland was offered either the same $40,000 up front or a percent of the gross. He didn't see much commercial appeal, so Sutherland took the upfront. Had he taken the % offered, he would have received somewhere between $30-$40 million.

Prior to the film's release, toga parties were unheard of on colleges. After the release, they were all the rage.

John Vernon and Verna Bloom played Dean Vernon and Mrs. Marion Wormer. You will never guess who the producers wanted for the roles; Jack Webb and Kim Novak. "Animal House" is also the movie debut of Kevin Bacon as the snotty freshman, Chip Diller. I wonder what ever happened to him?

John Belushi wanted his character Bluto to go on the road trip with his frat buddies but Director Landis believed the Bluto should be used sparingly.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the film's release, a parade featuring the actors and floats recreated from the movie parade rolled down Hollywood Blvd.  

Movie Lines

        In what movie will you hear Linda Hart say, "You're not one of those women who try to fix men, I hope. Men cannot be fixed."?

        In what movie will you hear Robert Redford ask, "That day in Chicago , why did you stand up?" and Glenn Close reply, "I didn't want to see you fail."?

        In what movie will you hear Paul Newman say, "It ain't about pool. It ain't about sex. It ain't about love. It's about money!"?

          In what movie will you hear Fred Ward say, "No bucks, no Buck Rogers."?

To get the answers to these and other lines go to www.screenplaygames.com . Have fun!