Movie History
You also get a lesson in movie history. For instance, did you know that:
- In 1927, San Francisco was the setting for the first talking picture, the Jazz Singer?
- Some of the most famous names in cinema history, including Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Errol Flynn, Buster Keaton, and Douglas Fairbanks, made many films in San Francisco?
- Motion pictures were actually invented in the San Francisco Bay Area?
- In 1880, Leland Stanford and Eadweard Muybridge’s collection of films was shown at the San Francisco Art Association, representing the very first time an audience sat down to a real movie screening? Rumor has it they paid 50 cents for the privilege.
Movie Trivia
We entertain you with movie trivia about your favorite films, actors, and directors. Here is a sample:
- Harrison Ford was asked to cut his hair for the film American Graffiti. He refused, stating that his role was too short, and offered to wear a hat instead.
- The dresses that Sharon Stone wears throughout the film Basic Instinct were designed to match, in the same order, the dresses that Kim Novak wears in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo.
- The filming of the chase scene in Bullitt took three weeks, resulting in 9 minutes and 42 seconds of footage. They were denied permission to film on the Golden Gate Bridge.
- According to one biography, Robin Williams decided to test out the believability of his Mrs. Doubtfire character during filming by going – as Mrs. Doubtfire – into an adult bookstore and making a purchase. He was able to do so without being recognized.
- During the filming of The Rock, Sean Connery insisted the producers build a cabin for him on Alcatraz as he didn’t want to travel from the mainland to the island every day; he got what he asked for.