Question: Was Josh Chamberlain really given mutineers like in the movie?
Question: How come Hilts could not answer the German at the end of the movie when he said he could speak German to Colonel von Luger?
Answer: .And, just to add to the previous answer: even if he could speak conversational German, he would likely do so with a very strong American accent (as he does when he speaks the few words to the Commandant earlier), so the guard would have picked up on that right away, anyway.
Answer: He could have only known a small amount of German, enough to answer a question or two, but not enough to carry on a full conversation. Also, the German seemed to be wanting to have a full conversation with him. He was on the run and didn't have time to talk. He was most likely being a smart ass saying he knew German.
Question: Mickey Mantle was on a home run streak that year and then got hurt. I am just curious to know, if Mickey Mantle had been the one to break the record, if there would be such an uproar over it.
Answer: Actually Maris was MVP the previous year, 1960.
Answer: Probably not. Mantle was loved by the fans and the sports writers, plus he was a good layer. Maris never really had a good season before, or after, so a lot of people did not think he deserved to be the one to break the record.
Question: Why did Klaus Kinski try to kill one of the extras with a sword prop?
Answer: Kinski suffered from mental illness for most of his life. He was given to bouts of unprovoked outbursts and violence. He was eventually diagnosed with psychopathy (antisocial personality disorder). On movie sets, he was notorious for being physically and verbally abusive to the crew, who generally hated him. The sword incident was just one of many. On the production of this film, director Werner Herzog carried a gun on him in the event he had to protect himself or others. It was only because Herzog was a long-time friend that he hired Kinski for acting jobs. Kinski was flat-out crazy. He was eventually unable to get any work as an actor.
Agreed. I forget what film set it was but Kinski also once fired a rifle at a bunch of crew members and blew a guy's finger off. He was unstable.
It was also Aguirre, The Wrath Of God. Kinski was irritated by the noises from a hut where cast and crew were playing cards and, out of anger, repeatedly fired a Winchester rifle into it. One of the bullets took the tip of an unknown extra's finger off.
Question: In the scene where the American 82nd Airborne is storming the river bank at Nijmegen, there is a brief shot of one of the German defenders, who looks quite startingly like a puberescent boy. Anyone know whether this assumption is correct, and if so, what's the background to this story?
Chosen answer: The Germans did use some Hitler youth movement in the war.
Question: I don't know anyone who stammers so I'm asking here: That trick Lionel pulled when he had Bertie reading with the earphones on and the music blasting - does it really work? Bertie obviously thinks he's still stammering, but don't stammerers sense if they're doing it even if they can't hear themselves speaking? And if it does work, why the drama with the radio broadcasts? Bertie could have put the earphones on and simply read the broadcast like he did "Hamlet".
Answer: The technique is called "masking" and all though it can sometimes help those who stutter it is not 100% reliable. It will make some stutter less, others will not notice any difference. It would probably be very inconvenient to Bertie not to hear himself at all during an important speech, not to mention that those around him might find the whole thing strange. You can read more about research on this technique and other similar ones here: http://ajslp.asha.org/cgi/content/abstract/16/1/77.
Question: Would a sergeant-major participate in a mission?
Answer: This one did, everything ascribed to him in the film was true.
CSM Plumley's records show that he served in 320th Glider Field Artillery Battalion as a scout. The 320th participated in two glider assaults in the European Theater. Also, Plumley never served in Korea during the Korean War, so he couldn't have participated in one of the two combat jumps of that conflict. His record book indicates he was at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky (1951 to early 1953) when he received orders to Germany. Finally, he never claimed to have made any combat jumps in his career.
Question: When Eduardo discovers the dilution of his percentage, he asks Mark if he did it because of the "article about the chicken", which accused Eduardo of forced animal cannibalism. Sean Parker hears this and says, "What's he talking about?" and then says "Seriously, what's the chicken?" Is this implying he was the one who gave the chicken story to Mark's lawyer so he could use it in the previous scene where he mentions it?
Answer: No, earlier when it came up in the lawyers office, Eduardo thought it came from Mark, but the lawyer stepped in and said they were able to find it themselves. Sean really had no idea what he was talking about, but didn't use it against him.
Question: What is the hospitaler inserting into his mouth as he squats near the creek?
Answer: I thought it was cotton with oil of clove for a bad tooth.
Answer: The answer is a "miswak," a dental hygiene twig used, and still used, for cleaning the teeth.
Question: Is D'Artangne's gold sword the same prop sword which Ignio Montoya used in The Princess Bride?
Answer: No. Inigo's sword has a jeweled hilt. D'Artagnan's is not jeweled.
Question: Isn't Gibson (Richard Todd) shown wearing a VC ribbon on his dress tunic? I thought he was awarded this for the raid itself.
Answer: I think Gibson is shown wearing the ribbons (and rosettes) of the Distinguished Service Order and Bar, and Distinguished Flying Cross. He was awarded these medals before the Dam Busters raid. In black and white, the ribbon for the VC with its miniature cross can look similar to the DSO with a rosette for a second award.
Question: Where was the civil war battle fought nearest Madison, Wisconsin?
Answer: The nearest one I can find listed was at Kirksville in northern Missouri.
Question: What are the rifles that Jude Law and Ed Harris use in this film?
Question: What reason did the British general give for having opened fire on the unarmed crowd?
Answer: Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer has said his intent "was not to disperse the meeting but to punish the Indians for disobedience." Earlier that day, Dyer has banned all meetings to avoid any insurrection, but many still gathered to celebrate and protest. Dyer saw it as defiance of his order and thought it could be another mob insurgent he had seen earlier. Some reports also state while the crowd was "unarmed", that only referred to being unarmed with firearms and many in the crowd did have other types of weapons. It also seems at the time it was standard practice for the British Army to use necessary lethal force for civilian crowd control, although many saw Dyer's action to be in excess.
Question: What was that phone number that they listed of that guy that lied about having an 800 number?
Chosen answer: (202) 225-2536. It's not that major a revelation in the film, as his number's publicly available on a variety of sites.
Question: Was the head movement argument to the jury verbatim from the transcript of the actual trial of Clay Shaw?
Answer: No. The argument which mentions was the first closing argument by an assistant to Garrison and in it he mentions "back and to the left" once but not the multiple statements shown in the movie. The actual transcripts are available on line.
Question: I was wondering whether the evidence that Adrian Brody gathered was true, or if it's artistic license. It seems that if it were true, there should have been a further inquiry into George Reeve's death.
Answer: Here is a good link that will help separate fact from fiction. http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/celebrity/george_reeves/1_index.html.
Answer: Yes. After the 2nd Maine Infantry was disbanded, there were 120 men with 1-year of service left. They mutinied because they said they only agreed to fight under the 2nd Maine flag and the Army disagreed. So they were marched under guard to the 20th Maine, led by Chamberlain. Chamberlain was able to convince most of them to fight, even though he was ordered to shoot any who did not fight.
Bishop73
Is there a reason why a few of them refused to fight?
Yes. The same reason why they mutinied.