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We’ve had a blast getting so much great feedback from you guys on a few of our recent posts. The Big Idea and Lady Macbeth responses were especially helpful. It made me think that you guys might actually be pretty smart. But I thought I’d test you first. Here’s the idea. I’m going to give you a topic (insert your Mike Myers “Coffee Talk” joke here) and your job is to respond in the Comments section with the most interesting fact you know (or can find) that’s related to the topic. So for example, if I said the topic was automobiles, Mangesh would probably respond with a fact he loves about cruise control being invented by a blind guy (true story – Ralph Teetor).
The mental_floss crew will select our favorite facts from the list and share them in a post on Friday.
If this works, we’ll all end up making each other so incredibly smart the world won’t know what to do with us. But one last note before giving you this week’s topic. Please reply with real facts. Don’t reply with something you just think is funny but false. Your facts can be funny but please make sure they’re facts.
Okay, so the topic for today: Movies
Now show off your brain power and make the rest of us smarter!
Comments (29)
Comment
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Hi all-
While writing something for Mental Floss, I decided to a little classic procrastination by reading some blog posts. The topic is Movies? Wow. Uh I am going to go with the first half-decent movie fact that pops into my head. Make that two, ’cause I just remembered a great one.
1) Do you like film noir? The frequently used lighting effect of light coming through the slats of venetian blinds (often through smoke) popularized by film noir and German Expressionism led to the invention of a device called a ‘cookie’ or a ‘cucalorus’ which is a metal or wood frame with slits in it placed over an ellipsoidal light. Now you aspiring filmmakers can have venetian blind lighting effects anywhere, even outside.
2) Another set related useful piece of information is that when lighting the very, very bright lights on set a crew member will yell “Striking” so people know to look away and not lose their night vision or just be temporarily blinded. Unfortunately for me, and I suspect many others initially, every time I heard someone shout “striking” I would turn to look at them and what they were doing. Come on, they are shouting ’striking’… there is something, uh, striking about that. So it is the movie opposite of shouting “fore!”
posted by Xander on 11-1-2006 at 12:10 pm
All them Hollywood movies! How many are made there anyways?
Actually, none. The Nestor Film Company apparently made the last movie to be made in Hollywood in 1911. The town fathers were upset with crews, sloppy sets and hordes of actors, etc. so they introduced an ordinance forbidding the construction of any future studios in Hollywood. That didn’t stop the evolution of the ‘Hollywood’ movie industry still thriving today but built on the successes of the various moguls and companies that operated out of places like Culver City, Burbank and Santa Monica BUT, not Hollywood!
posted by Scott on 11-1-2006 at 12:11 pm
The gentleman who played the role of “Sam” in Casablanca, Dooley Wilson was a musician, but not a pianist. Mr. Wilson was actually a drummer. The piano was played by a staff musician (whose name evades me) off screen while Dooley pantomimed. Alas, “Sam” could not play it for Rick after all.
posted by Ed on 11-1-2006 at 12:24 pm
The license plate number 2GAT123 is reserved exclusively for use on fictional plates in movies and TV shows. The number can be seen in a variety of popular films and programs, including Mulholland Dr., Beverly Hills Cop II, Traffic, The X-Files, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Typically placed on a California tag, the number is used by propmasters to avoid any confusion with plate numbers in real life.
posted by Papageno on 11-1-2006 at 12:56 pm
6 of the 9 women who won an oscar for best actress in the past 10 years (Hilary Swank won twice) have split from the husband or boyfriend they thanked in their speech.
posted by Emily on 11-1-2006 at 1:04 pm
great stuff, folks. keep ‘em coming!
posted by Will on 11-1-2006 at 1:06 pm
The first commercial filmed was for Dewar’s whiskey in 1899.
posted by john on 11-1-2006 at 1:28 pm
You know that freaky, the-world-is-twisting-outta-control effect you see sometimes? Like in Poltergeist, when the Mom is running down the hall which keeps elongating in an impossible way? That’s called a reverse zoom, and you can accomplish a version of it on your camcorder. You just need to have a wheeled mount, and a good sense of framing. The effect is created by either zooming out as you dolly toward your subject, or zooming in whilst dollying away! Cool!
posted by Johnny Cat on 11-1-2006 at 1:34 pm
I’ve got ton of these. The one I tell everyone: “AI: Artificial Intelligence” was originally just going to be called “A.I.,” but a public survey revealed that people thought it was “A1,” and so they changed it so people wouldn’t think it was a movie about steak sauce. (”Movies About Steak Sauce” would be a good name for a movie.)
I’ll share more when I get the time.
posted by Sillstaw on 11-1-2006 at 2:15 pm
Can anyone verify that it was indeed Margaret Herrick’s ‘Uncle Oscar’ Pierce (a wheat farmer!) who was the original inspiration for the peculiar name for the little statuettes given out by the Academy of Motion Pic Arts & Sciences, beginning in 1928 (but so-nicknamed in 1931)? Maragaret happened to be a secretary at the Academy at the time.
posted by Scott on 11-1-2006 at 2:36 pm
To John of comment 7:
This piqued my curiosity. After a brief search found it referenced on Dewar’s website.
http://www.dewars.com/history/timeline.aspx
according to the website the year was 1898, but you were damn close!
posted by panzyfaust on 11-1-2006 at 2:39 pm
Speaking of Casablanca…
Rick never says “Play it again, Sam.” He says: “You played it for her, you can play it for me. Play it!”. Ilsa says “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By”‘. The line “Play it again, Sam” appears in the Marx Brothers’ A Night in Casablanca (1946)
posted by Jess on 11-1-2006 at 2:55 pm
Persistence of vision is debatable and, in my opinion, not the basis of apparent cinematic motion.
http://www.grand-illusions.com/percept.htm
http://www.uca.edu/org/ccsmi/ccsmi/classicwork/Myth%20Revisited.htm
posted by john on 11-1-2006 at 3:31 pm
The blood in the shower scene in “Psycho” is actually Bosco chocolate syrup (not Hershey’s).
posted by KJ on 11-1-2006 at 3:52 pm
The cafe in ‘50 First Dates” is actually a composite of 2 or 3 different restaraunts in Hawaii. The counter area I think is the Hukilau Cafe on the island of Oahu. It’s in a residential area instead of nestled in the mountians like in the movie.
posted by Heather on 11-1-2006 at 4:40 pm
One of the fathers of cinema and photography, Eadweard Muybridge(not his birth name) was an eccentric chap that used to give showings of animated nudes and once killed a man. The events around the killing inspired an opera by Glass.
posted by john on 11-1-2006 at 4:46 pm
My favourite movie story of all time:
During the making of “the Wizard of Oz”, the costume department brought in used clothing from charity shops. A jacket worn by Frank Morgan as Professor Marvel was discovered to have belonged to L. Frank Baum (author of the book. I always thought it was one of those myriad “oz” myths, but I’ve researched it and its true! That, my friends, is the very definition of irony!
posted by allison on 11-1-2006 at 4:53 pm
Everyone probably knows this one, but the Wilhelm scream (said to be named for Pvt. Wilhelm, a minor character in “The Charge at Feather River”) is a familiar sound to most movie-goers, though you might not recognize it. It’s the short, high-pitched yelp that often accompanies a moment of surprise or pain. It was first used in the movie “Distant Drums,” and is believed to have been ‘born’ from the throat of Sheb Wooley (yes, the Sheb Wooley that later went on to record “Purple-People Eater”). Since then, it has been used in over 132 films.
Some you may never have seen or heard of, such as “The Command,” or “The Sea Chase,” but others, such as all six “Star Wars” films, or even some television shows like “CSI,” will eb immediately familiar. Listen closely the next time you’re at the movies and someone falls from a height (the situation in which the Wilhelm scream is most commonly applied). You’ll hear it, and come to recognize the sound.
posted by John Grigsby on 11-1-2006 at 4:59 pm
When a director does not want to be associated with a crappy movie, (due to changes that they did not agree to) they use the name “Alan Smithee” in the credits.
posted by DeeDee on 11-1-2006 at 5:28 pm
Speakin of the Oz, I love the little factoidinal of the origin of the Oz term. Apparently, Mr. Baum was simply relating a story to his son and friends one evening around 1899 when lo, a little one asked of the name of this magical place of the Scarecrow, Lion and Tinny fella. Kinda caught off guard but resourceful nevertheless, Mr. Baum perused the room including a nearby filing cabinet whereupon he noticed the drawer labels – A-G, H-N and O-Z.
The rest, as they say, is istory eh!
posted by Scott on 11-1-2006 at 5:36 pm
When filming a movie, the last shot of the day is called the “martini shot,” as it’s the last shot the crew has to worry about before they can hit the bar.
posted by Euphemism on 11-1-2006 at 8:33 pm
Ok, so the Lady Chablis (a.k.a. Frank) is not the only real “character” to appear in “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” The actual DA in the case played the judge in the movie.
posted by Mri on 11-1-2006 at 9:37 pm
Did someone say there are no movies studios in Hollywood? How about Paramount Pictures? Bah!
posted by Ransom on 11-1-2006 at 11:41 pm
Bollywood puts out more movies every year than Hollywood. Common knowledge right? The truth is that India is no longer the home of the world’s most prolific movie industry. The honor now goes to Nollywood (Nigeria) which produces about 1500 full length movies a year.
What is amazing is the fact that this number was almost zero only a short time ago. Today the industry employs thousands and brings in several hundred million dollars a year in revenue.
posted by Louis Ginocchio III on 11-2-2006 at 7:11 am
The first feature film to ever be entirely digitally edited was Cold Mountain. (Imagine the hard drive for that sucker!)
The film scenes in Catch Me if You Can that were supposed to be in France were actually filmed in Quebec City (Canada) to keep costs down. (This I found out from the set designer herself!)
The film Titanic was filmed in large part off the coast of Mexico. Clearly, the temperature is much too warm to ever make a person’s breath visible. This visual had to be digitally added to give the illusion of being on the frosty North Atlantic.
In the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, Keira Knightly’s (Ms. Swan) well-endowed bossom was a digital enhancement.
posted by The omnipotent E on 11-2-2006 at 10:00 am
I remembered last night the single greatest piece of movie knowledge I have ever heard or will hear. You will thank me. Here is the way to set it up and impress your movie/music loving friends:
“Hey, in Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, what band lost in the Battle of the Bands to Wyld Stallions?”
“Primus” (with “Hey baby”)
note- Primus also provide the South Park opening music, both the original and slightly modified version for the second half of the tenth season.
Primus is great, or was, but of course they lost to the greatest band in all of time, Wyld Stallions!!
posted by Xander on 11-2-2006 at 10:09 am
Under the category of “Lines They Never Actually Said” would go Dirty Harry’s “Are you feeling lucky, punk?”
What Eastwood’s character actually says in the diner hold-up scene is that in all the confusion he, too, has lost count of whether he’s fired five or six shots from his Magnum revolver. and something to the effect of: “So you’ve got to ask yourself, “Do I feel lucky?” Well? Do you, punk?” But not the quote that turns up on the posters or t-shirts or what-have-you.
posted by nervousbirds on 11-2-2006 at 10:51 am
In the film – Borat: Cultural Learnings of America…. we all know that name… The suit Sacha Baron Cohen wears when playing Borat has deliberately never been cleaned. Also, the hair and moustache are real.
posted by Kat on 11-2-2006 at 12:36 pm
“I always thought it was one of those myriad “oz” myths, but I’ve researched it and its true! That, my friends, is the very definition of irony!”
I’m sorry to say, my friend, that that is so NOT “the very definition of irony.” It’s (and please note the use of an apostrophe when contracting “it is”) merely a coincidence. Not ironic in the least.
posted by Robert on 11-7-2006 at 2:00 pm