Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: This 1993 film was actually the third time actors Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves appeared together in a fantasy-comedy. Their first two "Bill and Ted" films were successful and their title characters are still widely remembered. But, in this movie, Alex Winter starred as the half-mutated "Ricky Coogan" while Keanu Reeves played a prominent supporting role as "Ortiz the Dog Boy." Completely covered in furry makeup and delivering an over-the-top comedic performance, Keanu Reeves was virtually unrecognizable and went uncredited in the film.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: With a final production budget of $13 Million, "Freaked" was a boxoffice disaster, grossing just under $30,000 in two theatres. Due to studio shake-ups at 20th Century Fox, the film's post-production budget had been cut and its advertising campaign was cancelled. After a number of bad test screenings, the movie was pulled from nationwide release, finally going to VHS in early 1994. Nonetheless, the film gained almost immediate cult status, which it retains to this day.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: In this 1955 horror film, Hollywood newcomer Clint Eastwood memorably appeared as a lab assistant (a speaking role) with a white rat in his pocket. Earlier the same day on a different set, Eastwood filmed his very first big-screen role as a jet fighter pilot (another speaking role) in the 1955 horror film "Tarantula," making it a big day for Clint Eastwood.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: Clint Eastwood filmed his very first big-screen role as a jet fighter pilot (an uncredited speaking part) in 1955's "Tarantula"; later that afternoon on another set, Eastwood filmed his role as a lab assistant (a more extensive speaking role) in 1955's "Revenge of the Creature," making it a big day for a Hollywood newcomer.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: In addition to portraying and voicing the eponymous 7 Faces (Dr. Lao, the Abominable Snowman, Merlin, Appolonius of Tyana, The Giant Serpent, Pan, and Medusa), actor Tony Randall also appeared without makeup in a two-second cameo, as a solemn spectator in the crowd, for a total of 8 roles in the film.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: A phrase that is traditionally attributed to Liberace is "crying all the way to the bank." Liberace used the phrase throughout his career as a response to critics who often derided his extravagance and flamboyance on stage (in spite of the fact that he was a popular and financial success). The first documented time Liberace used the phrase was following a reception at Madison Square Garden (New York City) in 1956, when he humorously remarked, "The take was terrific, but the critics killed me. My brother George cried all the way to the bank." Thereafter, Liberace used the phrase so often that, over the decades, he came to be regarded as the originator of "crying all the way to the bank"; some sources have even retro-credited him with originating the phrase as far back as 1954. However, newspaper columnist Walter Winchell apparently originated the phrase in 1946, nearly a decade before Liberace started using it.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: Of Dark Shadows' 1225 videotaped episodes, the master tapes of 30 episodes were inadvertently destroyed by the time the series went into syndication. Of the 30 episodes destroyed, 9 were black and white (from the series' first year) and 21 were full-color. Fortunately, 29 of the destroyed episodes were recovered, but only as black-and-white kinescope copies. Thus, when watching the entire original series today, the sequential episodes occasionally switch from color to black-and-white and back to color, with much lower image resolution in the black-and-white kinescope copies. The last episode (number 1225) was lost and the video was never recovered; only an audio backup existed. So, the final episode can only be seen today as a slideshow of production stills accompanied by the audio backup.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: In the opening lines of episode 286, when Victoria Winters admits that she feels very close to the late Josette Collins, Barnabas says, "It's very easy for me to believe that you are descended from Josette." Except that Barnabas knew very well Josette had no descendants; Josette died childless in the late 18th Century (a suicide). The implication is that Victoria is a reincarnation of Josette. Later in the series, however, Victoria travels back in time and actually meets Josette, but the two characters share no closeness at all, even though they share the same soul.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: Actor Dennis Patrick brilliantly portrayed the cruel, manipulative character of Jason McGuire in the first and second seasons of the show. In the story line, Jason McGuire was blackmailing Elizabeth Collins-Stoddard for the death of her husband, Paul Stoddard, 18 years earlier. Deservedly, Jason McGuire was murdered by Barnabas Collins. Two years later, Dennis Patrick returned to the show, this time portraying Elizabeth's long-lost and very-much-alive husband Paul Stoddard.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: A prominent first-season character, Burke Devlin was originally portrayed by actor Mitchell Ryan. However, Ryan was abruptly fired from the show in 1967 due to his alcoholism. Actor Anthony George assumed the remainder of the role until Burke Devlin's death (in a plane crash) in 1968.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: Barnabas is typically seen wearing a gold ring with a large black onyx stone on his right hand (as also depicted in both of his portraits). However, depending on the requirements of the camera shot, the ring occasionally appeared on his left hand (as when Barnabas reached from his coffin to strangle Jason McGuire, for one example).

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: The characters of "Fireball XL5" frequently left the protection of their spacecraft and floated around in open space with no helmets or spacesuits whatsoever. Producer Gerry Anderson's lame explanation was that, in the year 2067, spacefarers used "oxygen pills" that not only kept them oxygenated but also protected them from vacuum, lethal radiation and temperature extremes (so they didn't need spacesuits). In reality, the "Fireball XL5" characters didn't wear spacesuits or helmets because costume changes meant literally ripping the previous costumes off the puppets and meticulously sewing on new costumes, which would have exceeded the show's production schedule and budget.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: For the scene in which Father Dyer rushes to give last rites to Father Karras before his death, actor William O'Malley (who played Dyer) was not conveying the urgency, anxiety and grief that director William Friedkin wanted for the scene. According to O'Malley, William Friedkin grabbed O'Malley by the shoulders, screamed and cursed in his face and slapped him before rolling the camera. Thus, O'Malley was authentically shaken up, trembling and on the verge of sobbing in that scene.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: For the memorable confrontation between two Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zeroes and two American F-14 Tomcats, a trial flyby was close enough that powerful air turbulence from the passing jets violently threw both Zeroes out of control for a few seconds, like toys. The lead Zero pilot even lost his wristwatch and communications headset, which were vacuumed out of the open canopy. Out of radio contact for several seconds, the condition of the Zero pilots was unknown. Camera angles and distances between all the aircraft were modified so as not to further endanger the Zeroes for the final take as seen in the film.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: The interior shots of the American Airlines Space Freighter "Valley Forge" were actually filmed aboard the Korean-War-era aircraft carrier "USS Valley Forge" (LPH-8) at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in California. After filming was completed, the decommissioned aircraft carrier "Valley Forge" was scrapped.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: Early in the film, as the Salt and Son theatrical troupe performs their stage version of Munchausen's adventures, the Baron is eaten by a giant fish; two mermaids immediately enter stage-left and sing a mournful ditty modestly accompanied by the pit orchestra: "What will become of the Baron? Surely this time there is no escape!" To those with sharp ears, this ditty is the same tune as the soaring, symphonic Baron Munchausen theme music featured throughout the movie.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: Actress Sally Field is yet remembered and sometimes mocked for her 1985 Academy Award speech that included the gushing line: "You like me! You really like me!" Problem is, that's a misquote, she didn't say that line. When accepting the Best Actress Oscar for "Places in the Heart," Sally Field actually said: "I can't deny the fact that you like me. Right now, you like me." So why does everyone remember the misquote? It's because Jim Carrey satirized Sally Field's award speech for his 1994 movie, "The Mask," in which he originated the misquote: "You like me! You really like me!"

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: In this live BBC remake of the 1955 film, Jason Flemyng starred as Bernard Quatermass, and David Tennant starred as Gordon Briscoe. During rehearsals, the cast and crew learned that Tennant had been selected for the coveted role of the upcoming Tenth Doctor Who (the public would not learn of Tennant's official Doctor Who selection until weeks after the Quatermass broadcast). During the live television performance of "The Quatermass Experiment," when Jason Flemyng and David Tennant first share dialogue, Flemyng was supposed to deliver the scripted greeting: "Good to have you back, Gordon!" However, Flemyng ad-libbed: "Good to have you back, Doctor!" This was a deliberate inside-congratulation to David Tennant for winning the Doctor Who role.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: One perceived problem with George Lazenby as James Bond was that he did not exude the same self-confident charm and humor as Sean Connery's James Bond (who always quipped some memorable and comedic sound bite, particularly after killing a villain). Lazenby's humor-deficiency was acknowledged during production of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"; toward rectifying this apparent lack of humor, Lazenby was allowed to do something no other James Bond ever did: Addressing the viewing audience with the line, "This never happened to the other fellow," which was a direct in-joke reference to his predecessor, Sean Connery.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: Although Australian George Lazenby received mixed critical reception for his portrayal of James Bond in 1969, producer Albert R. Broccoli was so impressed with the actor that he offered Lazenby a contract to star in the next seven (7) James Bond films. If Lazenby had accepted the contract, it would have erased Sean Connery's return in 1970 and Roger Moore's participation in James Bond film history through the year 1983. As it happened, Lazenby's agent poorly advised him that the James Bond franchise would never survive the 1970s, so Lazenby turned down Broccoli's extraordinary contract offer.

Charles Austin Miller