20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) -
This production was so large that Disney had to use facilities at other studios. This included Universal International (exterior sets redressed for the opening scenes) and 20th Century Fox (large exterior tank for the larger models).

A Matter of Life and Death (aka 'Stairway to Heaven') (1946) -
The first scene shot was David Niven washing up on the beach. Originally planned to fade in from black, Michael Powell decided on the spot that the effect would be too cheesy. When Jack Cardiff told him to look through the camera, Cardiff then deliberately breathed right onto the lens, which fogged the glass for a few seconds until it evaporated. Powell loved the idea and had him use it for the shot.

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) -
The kanji lettering on Buckaroo Banzai's headband as he drives the jet car reads "seikatsu bei" ("the joy of living").

Amelie (2001) -
The part of Amélie was originally meant for Emily Watson. She wanted the part but had to decline because she didn't speak French and had already agreed to be in Gosford Park (2001).

American Graffiti (1973) -
Dissatisfied with the name "American Graffiti", producers Francis Ford Coppola and Ned Tanen suggested that George Lucas retitle it "Another Slow Night in Modesto" or "Rock Around the Block".

The Big Chill (1983) -
Flashback scenes with Kevin Costner as Alex were filmed, but cut. He is still visible as the body being dressed at the beginning of the film.

The Blackboard Jungle (1955) -
This film launched the Rock and Roll era by using "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and the Comets as its theme music. The song was chosen for the theme after it was heard among records owned by Peter Ford, the son of the film's star, Glenn Ford. For years it was thought the producer's daughter had discovered the song, but this has since been proven incorrect. "Rock Around the Clock" went to No. 1 around the world and eventually sold an estimated 25 million copies.

Blow-Up (1966) -
The film contains a rare performance of The Yardbirds during the period when Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck were both in the band. Jeff Beck would leave a few months later. Michelangelo Antonioni's original choice for the rock band was The Velvet Underground but there were problems over their work permits at the time. The In Crowd (who later became Tomorrow) were then offered the cameo but dropped out at the last minute, and the guitar destroyed by Jeff Beck - probably in emulation of The Who's Pete Townshend - was owned by The In Crowd guitarist Steve Howe.

Blowup (1966) -
As a way of bypassing the Production Code (i.e. censors), MGM created "Premiere Productions". This was a dummy company which had no agreement or affiliation with the Production Code and, therefore, did not have to adhere to its standards. MGM did not have to cut the full frontal nudity or other sexually explicit scenes and maintained all rights to the film.

Bringing Up Baby (1938) -
This movie did so badly at the box office that Howard Hawks was fired from his next production at RKO and Katharine Hepburn was forced to buy out her contract.

Charlie Wilson's War (2007) -
Charlie Wilson said in a USA Today article that he had no qualms about the film saying, "Anything I might have objected to was provable".

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) -
Dick Van Dyke had appeared in several Disney movies prior to this. In a press release he quipped, "This will out-Disney Disney." He was banned from Disney productions for several years after this.

City Lights (1931) -
Charles Chaplin reshot the scene in which the Little Tramp buys a flower from the blind flower-girl 342 times, as he could not find a satisfactory way of showing that the blind flower-girl thought that the mute tramp was wealthy.

Cleopatra (1963) -
Rex Harrison had a clause in his contract stipulating that whenever Richard Burton's picture appeared in an ad, so would his. A large sign was put up on Broadway showing only Burton and Elizabeth Tatylor. After his lawyers complained, the studio fulfilled the contract by placing a picture of Harrison on one corner of the billboard.

Duck Soup (1933) -
Shortly before this film premiered, the city of Fredonia, New York, complained about the use of its name with an additional "e". The Marx Brothers' response was: "Change the name of your town, it's hurting our picture."

Enter the Dragon (1973) -
In their one scene together, Lee actually struck Jackie Chan in the face with one of the fighting sticks he used. He immediately apologized and insisted that Chan would work on all of his movies after that, but he died before he could keep the promise.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) -
According to Terry Gilliam's commentary on the Criterion Collection DVD, at the beginning of the movie when they stop on the side of the road after Duke starts seeing bats and wants Gonzo to drive, you can see a strange looking cactus in the background. It was designed by Ralph Steadman and appears many times in the background of the movie in various scenes. Gilliam complained of having to lug it around wherever they went.

Fight Club (1999) -
Author Chuck Palahniuk actually found the modified ending in the film to be better than the one he had written in the novel.

Grand Illusion (1937) -
Goebbels made sure that the film's print was one of the first things seized by the Germans when they occupied France. He referred to Jean Renoir as "Cinematic Public Enemy Number 1". For many years it was assumed that the film had been destroyed in an Allied air raid in 1942. However, a German film archivist named Frank Hansel, then a Nazi officer in Paris, had actually smuggled it back to Berlin. Then when the Russians entered Berlin in 1945, the film found its way to an archive in Moscow. When Jean Renoir came to restore his film in the 1960s, he knew nothing of Hansel's acquisition and was working from an old muddy print. Purely by coincidence at the same time, the Russian archive swapped some material with an archive in Toulouse. Included in that exchange was the original negative print. However, because so many prints of the film existed at the time, it would be another 30 years before anyone realised that the version in Toulouse was actually the original negative.

How The West Was Won (1962) -
The first non-documentary Cinerama film, it was also one of the last to use the old three-camera technique, resulting in two very visible, somewhat distracting, dividing lines in the non-Cinerama print and all TV and home video versions.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) -
The myth that Irving Thalberg came up with the idea for the movie was broken when it was discovered through telegrams and contracts in Chaney's manager, Alfred Grasso's collection that Chaney himself suggested not only the story, but who would be cast and who would direct. Chaney's original pick for director was actually Frank Borzage, not Wallace Worsley (who had directed several other pictures for Chaney). Erich von Stroheim, Allen Holubar, Chester Withey, and 'Emile Chautard' were all considered as well.

I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) -
The band "Yo La Tengo" appears briefly (along with their friend Tara Key of the band Antietam) as the Velvet Underground in the film.

Ichi the Killer (2001) -
As a publicity gimmick, barf bags were handed out at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to those attending the midnight screening of this film.

In The Mood For Love (2000) -
Filming was shifted from Beijing to Macau after Chinese authorities demanded to see the completed script. The director never uses scripts.

It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) -
Phil Silvers, while filming the scene where he drives his car into the river, nearly drowned because he couldn't swim.

The Last Emperor (1987) -
Pu Yi's eldest brother, Pu Chieh, and Li Wenda, who helped Pu Yi write his autobiography, were brought in to act as advisors on the film.

Lucifer Rising (1972) -
The score for the movie was composed by the incarcerated killer Bobby Beausoleil, a member of the infamous Charles Manson family. He was in jail when he made the score.

The Maltese Falcon (1941) -
The climactic confrontation scene lasts nearly twenty minutes, one-fifth of the entire running time of the film. It involves all five principal characters, and filming required over one full week (one day - 4 July 1941 - was taken off).

Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966) -
The real reason John Reynolds (Torgo) appears to have big knees and walks funny is because his character is supposed to be a satyr. Reynolds designed his own prosthetics to make himself look like he had goat's feet. (Note how the wife gasps when she first looks down his feet, which the viewer does not get to see.)

Ratatouille (2007) -
During a street scene, there is a mime in the background, who is the character "Bomb Voyage" from The Incredibles (2004) also directed by Brad Bird.

Reservoir Dogs (1992) -
The title for the film comes from a combination of two other movies. Tarantino, not very good at speaking French, always referred to Au revoir les enfants (1987) simply as "that Reservoir movie". He also is a big Sam Peckinpah fan, and likes his film Straw Dogs (1971). So he combined the two titles to get "Reservoir Dogs".

Romeo + Juliet (1996) -
In the opening fight scene at the service station, the Montagues provoke the Capulets with the infamous biting of the thumb. In Shakespeare's play, though, it is the Capulets who are the thumb-biters.

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) -
The Air Force stock footage seen as the military "pursues" the Martians is the same footage used in the opening credit sequence of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964).

Say Anything... (1989) -
Director Cameron Crowe couldn't find the love song he wanted until he heard Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes". Gabriel asked to see part of the movie. Crowe had the production company send him an unfinished cut. Gabriel responded by saying he would let them use the song, as he liked the film. He was, however, wary about the part where the lead character overdosed at the end. It was then that Crowe realized that Gabriel had been sent a copy of Wired (1989) instead.

The Searchers (1956) -
Western star Harry Carey died in 1947. Director John Ford cast Carey's wife (Olive Carey) as Mrs. Jorgensen (the mother) and Carey's son (Harry Carey Jr.) as one of the sons (Brad) as a tribute to Carey. In the closing scene with John Wayne framed in the doorway, Wayne holds his right elbow with his left hand in a pose that Carey fans would recognize as one that he often used. Wayne later stated he did it as a tribute to Carey. Off-camera, Olive watched.

The Seventh Seal (1957) -
Ingmar Bergman based the entire iconography of the movie on murals in a church where his clergyman father used to go and preach.

Show Boat (1936) -
Because of copyright problems involving a real "Cotton Blossom" show boat sailing the Mississippi in the 1930's, the name of the showboat in the film had to be changed to "Cotton Palace". This required omitting the second half of the opening chorus, in which the townspeople sing about the boat while the stevedores continue singing about their daily work, and the "cotton blossom" growing on the levee. The section sung by the stevedores is still heard in the film.

The Song of Bernadette (1943) -
Using an actress to play "the lady" was controversial enough, and further controversy developed when Loretta Young was passed over in favor of sultry Linda Darnell. At that time, Darnell had an almost pornographic reputation. Franz Werfel, the author of the book on which the film was based, threatened to remove his name from the project. To make matters worse, Darnell was pregnant. Nothing would change Darryl F. Zanuck's mind, and Werfel was told that an unknown actress was chosen. Wearing a little more drapery than the simple dress and veil described by the historical Bernadette, Darnell played the role in bright light.
The film played continuously at a special theater in Lourdes dedicated to it exclusively.

Suspiria (1977) -
Director Dario Argento composed the creepy music with the band Goblin and played it at full blast on set to unnerve the actors and elicit a truly scared performance.

Time After Time (1979) -
When Wells gives a false name to the police, he uses "Sherlock Holmes". And one of the police officers is named Inspector Gregson, a character from the original Sherlock Holmes stories. Also, director Nicholas Meyer wrote "The Seven Per-cent Solution", which is considered to be one of the best Sherlock Holmes story not written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) -
John Huston played one of his infamous practical jokes on Bruce Bennett in the campfire scene in which he eats a plate of stew. Bennett knew that his character was starving so he wolfed down the food as quickly as possible. Huston then demanded another take. And another. In both extra takes the rapidly filling-up Bennett again had to eat a large plate of stew. Unbeknownst to him, Huston had been happy with the first take. The cameras weren't even rolling for the second and the third. He just wanted to see how much food Bennett could lower before he became too stuffed. As soon as the joke was revealed, Huston added insult to injury by calling for a lunch break.

Vertigo (1958) -
Alfred Hitchcock had originally opted another location for the famous staircase sequence, but associate producer Herbert Coleman's daughter (Judy Lanini) suggested the Mission at San Juan Bautista (the location that was eventually used for filming) as a more suitable location for filming.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) -
As the movie was filmed in Munich, Germany, many of the people cast as Oompaloompas were native to Germany or other European countries and therefore did not speak English fluently, if at all. This is why some appear to not know the words to songs during the musical numbers.

Wings (1927) -
The first movie, and the only silent movie (in the 20th century), to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

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