Film Facts #1

So after my first post this month, the first after a lengthy vacation from this blog, I received a couple of comments about the extra "interesting notes" that I wrote for each film. I have always enjoyed reading about "behind-the-scenes" stories that took place during the pre-production and actual production of films. I started to tell my wife about some of the things I read about and, to my surprise, she was quite interested. I say I was surprised because my wife is not a huge fan of the movies...she likes some stuff, but finds it hard to sit for two hours, especially if something doesn't interest her. Myself, if it's not interesting, I still manage to power through. I began to think if she's interested in these stories, perhaps people who really like films would be very interested. I might be wrong, but let's try it out, shall we? Below are some facts about the top grossing films of the 1970's, my absolute favourite decade of cinema. Almost all of the info is taken from the Internet Movie Data Base (imbd.com)...I just like all the info in one place. I'll start with a few and if I get a positive response, I'll keep going. Hope y'all like!

Oh...almost forgot...the gross in US Domestic in millions.

Top Five Grossing Films Of 1970

Love Story
Gross - $106.4-million
Budget - $2.2-million
Tagline: Love means never having to say you're sorry
Academy Awards: 7 nominations, 1 win (Best Original Score)

- JonVoight, Michael Douglas, Beau Bridges, Michael York, Jeff Bridges, Keith Carradine and Peter Fonda each turned down the role of Oliver
- Christopher Walken and Ken Howard both screen-tested for the role of Oliver
- Ali MacGraw played a college student although she was 31 at the time of filming
- When "Love Story" premiered on TV in 1972 it was the shortest time span from Theatre to TV upto that time.


Airport
Gross - $100.5
Budget - $10.0
Tagline: The #1 novel of the year - now a motion picture!
Academy Awards: 10 nominations, 1 win (Best Supporting Actress-Helen Hayes)

- Burt Lancaster made a deal to get 10% of the film's profit after it reached $50 million. Despite making a lot of money, Lancaster thought the movie was "the worst piece of junk ever made"
- The Boeing 707 used for the exterior shots eventually was destroyed after an approach to land accident in Brazil on March 21, 1989
- The film was expanded from a Canadian TV production written by Arthur Hailey called "Flight Into Danger"
- Patty Poulsen, who played the role of Judy, was an actual stewardess for American Airlines. She won a stewardess beauty contest where first prize was a role in the movie.


M.A.S.H.
Gross - $81.6
Budget - $3.5
Tagline: M.A.S.H. Hysteria
Academy Awards: 5 nominations, 1 win (Best Adapted Screenplay)

- Burt Reynolds turned down the role of Trapper
- James Garner was considered for the role of Hawkeye
- Tom Skerritt has claimed that about 80% of the dialogue in the film was improvised
- Director Robert Altman felt he could "get away" with certain scenes because the Fox officials were busy watching over two other films at the time, "Patton" and "Tora! Tora! Tora!"
- Writer Ring Lardner Jr. practically disowned the film after seeing most of his script wasn't used. He ended up winning the movie's only Academy Award.
- Robert Altman's 14 year old son Mike Altman wrote the lyrics to the theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless). Because of the film, and later TV show's, success, Mike Altman made nearly $2 million in royalties. His dad was paid just $75,000 for directing.


Patton
Gross - $61.7
Budget - $12.0
Academy Awards: 10 nominations, 7 wins (Best Picture, Best Actor-George C. Scott, Best Director - Franklin J. Schaffner, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Original Screenplay)

- Rod Steiger, Lee Marvin, Robert Mitchum and Burt Lancaster all turned down the lead role
- John Wayne wanted to play the lead role but was turned down
- John Huston, Henry Hathaway and Fred Zinnemann all turned down the chance to direct
- William Wyler was set to direct, but disagreed with George C. Scott over the script
- The opening speech was originally filmed to open the second half of the film, after intermission
- George C. Scott famously turned down his Best Actor Oscar, stating the competition between actors was unfair


Woodstock
Gross - $50.0
Budget - $0.6
Tagline: 3 days of peace, music…and love
Academy Awards: 3 nominations, 1 win (Best Documentary)

- Some bands that performed at Woodstock but didn't make the final cut of the original release include Credence Clearwater Revival, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, The Band, Mountain and Canned Heat. (Many of these bands have been included in subsequent re-issues).
- Some bands invited to play Woodstock but didn't for one reason or another include Led Zeppelin, The Byrds, The Jeff Beck Group, Iron Butterfly, The Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, Procol Harum and Joni Mitchell.
- Richie Havens' song "Freedom" was improvised on stage. The crowd would not let him leave after his set and he had run out of songs to sing…so he made one up.
- The original price for a three-day ticket was $18.
- Martin Scorsese was an editor for the film and was largely responsible with the multi-panel presentation of the film. This look was born out of necessity as there was over 120 hours of film shot and the producers wanted as much of the festival shown as possible.

Well, that's the first five. If you'd like to see more, leave a comment...I got tons of this useless trivia in my head, and available on the Internet.