Film composer Max Steiner died on December 28, 1971, but he continued to rack up film credits.
Zorro, the Gay Blade (1981) included some of his music from The Adventures of Don Juan (1948). Creepshow (1982) included music from A Star is Born (1937). Great Balls of Fire! (1989) and UHF (1989) included music from Gone with the Wind (1939). Lost in Yonkers (1993) included music from Now, Voyager (1942). And King Kong (2005) included the fanfare from King Kong (1933).
Production photo from Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Stanley Kubrick had originally planned to end Dr. Strangelove with a pie fight in the War Room. Kubrick even went so far as to film the sequence, but changed his mind after viewing the footage. Presumably, he thought the result was too satirical. Only photos remain of that sequence.
“Another reason for cutting the custard pie fight at the end of the film was that at one point, President Muffley took a pie in the face and fell down, prompting Gen. Turgidson to cry, ‘Gentlemen! Our gallant young president has just been struck down in his prime!’ Stanley Kubrick had already decided to cut the pie fight by the time of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, but this line (or possibly even the whole sequence) would certainly have been cut anyway due to its eerie similarity to real events.”
— Source: Internet Movie Database
What was the first science-fiction film? It would have to be Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon), written and directed by Georges Méliès. Released in France in 1902, it even provides a glimpse of the moon’s inhabitants, the insect-like Selenites.
According to Wikipedia, “Méliès had intended on releasing the film into the United States to profit from it; however, Thomas A. Edison’s film technicians had secretly made copies of it and distributed it throughout the country, thus putting money into Edison’s pocket. Méliès never profited from it and eventually went broke.”
Ever see the name Mahatma Kane Jeeves in the credits of a W.C. Fields movie? Fields adopted this strange sounding name, as well as the names of Otis Criblecoblis and Charles Bogle, when he didn’t want to receive credit for writing his own material. “Mahatma Kane Jeeves” is meant to suggest an aristocrat who says to his butler when walking out, “My hat, my cane, Jeeves.”
What was the last Hollywood silent? It depends on how you define a silent film. Sunrise (1927) is considered to be one of the greatest silent films, even though it was released with a synchronized music track.
Because Modern Times (1936) used title cards for its dialogue, you could make a strong case for it being Hollywood’s last major silent production. Chaplin’s Tramp does sing, though in keeping with the silent tradition of the character, the lyrics are unintelligible. The Tramp’s final words in the film are a fitting tribute to the end of an era: Buck up – never say die! We’ll get along.
“France’s Tobis Studios sued Charles Chaplin for plagiarizing the conveyor belt sequence [in Modern Times] from René Clair’s À nous la liberté (1931) but dropped the suit when Clair declared himself honored by the tribute, saying, ‘I have certainly borrowed enough from him.'”
–Source: Internet Movie Database
Image from Metropolis (1927)
“No optical printing system existed at the time, so to create a matte effect, a large mirror was placed at an angle to reflect a piece of artwork while live footage was projected onto the reverse. To expose the projected footage, the silvering on the back of the mirror had to be scraped off in strategically appropriate places. One mistake would ruin the whole mirror. This was done for each separate shot that had to be composited in this manner. This procedure was developed by Eugen Schüfftan and is known as the ‘Schufftan Process.'”
— Source: Internet Movie Database
Poster for The Unknown (1927)
“For many years this film only existed in murky 9.5mm dupes on the black market. In March 1973, at a screening of this film at George Eastman House, archivist James Card said that Henri Langlois and his staff at the Cinematheque Francais discovered a copy of it in 1968 among other miscellaneous cans of film marked ‘l’inconnu’ (films ‘unknown’ due to missing titles, etc.).”
— Source: Internet Movie Database
The Jazz Singer (1927) is often cited as the first sound film. That’s not entirely correct. It was the first popular sound film, and the film that launched the sound era, but it was only partially a sound movie. Much of the dialogue was presented through subtitles.
The first feature-length film with sound throughout (commonly referred to as all-talking) was Lights of New York (1928). And just a year later, Hollywood released its first all-color, all-talking feature. That was On with the Show! (1929).
Production photo from It Happened One Night (1934)
Can a movie change clothing trends almost overnight? That’s what happened with It Happened One Night (1934) from Columbia Pictures. Here’s the scoop, according to the Internet Movie Database:
“While shooting the scene where he undresses, Clark Gable had trouble removing his undershirt while keeping his humorous flow going and took too long. As a result the undershirt was abandoned altogether. It then became cool to not wear an undershirt which resulted in a large drop in undershirt sales around the country. In response, underwear manufacturers tried to sue Columbia.”