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| <i>Alien 1979</i> (1979) – Parker (Yaphet Kotto), Dallas (Tom Skerritt), Ash (Ian Holm), Kane (John Hurt) |
Truth is stranger than fiction and there are some
“so-crazy-they-must-be-true” facts in science fiction history.
Unfortunately, there are some “so-crazy-but-not-true facts” too.
10. Every Episode of Seinfeld Has
a Reference to Superman.
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| Seinfeld Superman magnet Source |
The Myth: The television show Seinfeld is
known for two things: “The Soup
Nazi” and Superman. Jerry Seinfeld is a huge Superman fan, and every
episode has a reference to the comic book character. You just have
to know where to look.
The Shocking Truth: In reality, not every episode has a Superman reference. “Yeah right,” you’re probably thinking. “You’re forgetting about the Superman magnet on the refrigerator. Idiot.” Let’s not get personal, Dude! They only added the magnet in the fourth season.
If you’re
skeptical, ask Barry Freiman, the owner of the fan site Superman Homepage. He would know. He knows everything there is to know about the “Man of Steel.” He viewed
every single episode and listed every single reference.
You know what? It’s a shortlist. He lists 45 episodes out of 180
episodes. That means less than half the episodes have a Superman
reference.
So there. Now, who’s the idiot? I’m rubber and you’re glue.
9. Frau Blucher Means “Horse Glue”
The Myth: In Young Frankenstein (1974), every time Frankenstein’s assistant Frau Blucher’s (Cloris Leachman) name is mentioned, the horses whinny in fear. That’s because Blucher in German means “Horse Glue,” and they’re afraid they’ll be sent to the glue factory!
The Shocking Truth: Frau Blucher does not mean “glue” in German or any other language. A German translation of “horse glue” would be “Der Klebstoff” or “Der Leim.” Blucher is just a common German name, and Mel Brooks was just making fun of a common horror movie cliche of using dramatic music for a villain. Let’s not try to make things more complicated than they are.
8. Harrison Ford Was a Complete Unknown Before Being Cast as Han Solo
The Myth: George Lucas saw a
carpenter working on the set and cast the completely unknown actor Harrison Ford to play the part of Han Solo.
The Shocking Truth: Harrison
Ford was already a working actor when George Lucas cast him in Star
Wars. Ford had come to Hollywood in 1966 and started doing bit parts in
films as an extra. His first big speaking part was in The Long Ride Home (1967), starring Glenn Ford, George Hamilton, and Inger Stevens. Not a bad gig!
Ford got steady work through the late 1960s and early 1970s on television with roles on shows like Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style, and Kung Fu.
To support himself and his family, he started doing carpentry work.
This was the smartest thing he could have done since it opened a lot
of doors.
Director George Lucas hired him to build cabinets for his home and cast him for his film American Graffiti (1973) as Bob Falfa.
Ford was a big enough actor to refuse to cut his hair for the role. Lucas’ director friend
Francis Ford Coppola hired Ford to expand his
office and gave him a small role in his next film, The Conversation (1974).
By the time Lucas hired Harrison Ford for Star Wars, he was a successful actor and not an “unknown.”
7. The Daleks Were Designed From Pepper
Pots
The Myth: The Daleks, evil cyborg villains of Doctor Who,
look just like pepper pots (pepper shakers) because that’s where the designer got the idea.
The Shocking Truth: It’s a brilliant design, but it has nothing to do with pepper shakers.
In fact, the pepper pot (or pepper shaker) the story came from a lunch with designer Ray Cusick and Bill Roberts, the
special effects expert who would make the Daleks. Mr. Cusick picked up
a pepper pot and moved it around the table saying, “It’s going to move
like that – no visible means.” It was just used for demonstration.
“Ever since then people say I was inspired by a pepper pot – but it
could have been the salt pot I picked up,” he said. “When I’m asked what I was inspired by, I suppose it was
really a system of logic because I realized that you’ve got to have an
operator to operate them. If you had anything mechanical, 10 to one on
the take it would go wrong, so you’ve got a human being in there who
would be absolutely totally reliable…
“I then thought ‘Well, the operator’s got to sit down’, [so I] drew a
seat, ergonomic height, 18in, got the operator down, and then drew
round him. That’s how the basic shape appeared.”
That’s right. The Daleks were originally supposed to be guys riding bicycles.
He added, “People do say I was inspired by a pepper pot – but I always think ‘If
that’s all it takes to become a designer then it’s a doddle’.”
A doddle indeed. For everyone outside Britain, a “doddle” is “something easily accomplished.” Doddle’s funnier, though.
6. Martin Landau Was Originally Supposed
to Play Spock
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| Source |
The Myth: Martin Landau was Gene Roddenberry’s first choice to play Commander Spock in Star Trek. But he turned it down for Mission Impossible.
The Shocking Truth: Leonard Nimoy was Gene Roddenberry’s first choice.
It doesn’t help that Martin Landau repeatedly says that he
turned down the role. “I can’t play wooden,” Landau often says. “It’s the antithesis of why I
became an actor.”
In fact, Nimoy inspired the creation of Mr. Spock. He guest-starred on the police drama The
Lieutenant, which Gene Roddenberry produced. Roddenberry thought
Nimoy would be a good alien because of his thin face and sharp
features.
The book Star Trek: The Original Series 365
by D.C. Fontana answers the question. A 1964 memo from Gene Roddenberry to Krewin Coughlin titled “STAR TREK
CASTING” lists “some of the names which have been considered or
suggested by anyone for the various roles”. The memo says, “MISTER
SPOCK: Leonard Nimoy, Rex Holman, DeForest Kelly, Michael Dunn.”
That’s it. Landau is a fine actor and would go on to star in the
science fiction show Space: 1999,
but he was never the first choice for Mr. Spock.
Sorry, Martin.
5. The Cast of Alien Had No Idea What the
Chestburster Looked Like
The Myth: The cast had no idea what was coming out of Kane’s (John Hurt) chest and their reaction
to the chestburster alien was real.
The Shocking Truth: The cast of Alien
(1979) had read the script, seen the model of the chestburster, and knew what it looked like.
Veronica Cartwright, who played Lambert told Empire magazine, “Well, we knew what was
going to happen. We read the script. We weren’t stupid. We just didn’t
know what the h**l we were supposed to be looking at. They showed us a
mock-up, but they didn’t show how it was going to work. They just said,
‘Its head will move and it’s going to have teeth.'”
The script has the following description: “Kane’s face screws into a
mask of agony. A red stain, a smear of blood, blossoms on his chest.
The fabric on his shirt rips open and a small head, the size of a fist,
punches out…” So, there’s no surprise that something is coming out of the chest and that it’s an alien.
What they didn’t know was
that director Ridley Scott was going to shoot a gazillion gallons of blood from
the fake
body.
Ridley Scott strives for realism and decided to get a strong reaction
from the cast. He said, “The reactions were going to be the most difficult
thing. If an actor is just acting terrified, you can’t get the genuine
look of raw, animal fear. What I wanted was a hardcore reaction.”
To add realism, director Ridley Scott got leftover organs from
the slaughterhouse and put them in the fake chest cavity. Production designer Roger Christian, who got the organs, said,
“It was quite fresh but would cook under the lights, so there had to be
no hanging around.” After a few
minutes under the hot lights, the stench was overpowering.
The whole set was
covered in a plastic bag and everybody wore raincoats. John Hurt sat
under a table with his head and arms in a fake chest
stuffed with organs and thick tubes running underneath to buckets
placed around the set. They covered up
the model with clothes and sent the cast on set. The actors had no idea what
they were getting into, but the raincoats made them worried.
The smell immediately hit them. Cartwright said the smell of formaldehyde was overpowering. Sigourney
Weaver said the smell was “just awful” and everyone was probably
already nauseous.
On the first take, the model wasn’t able to break through the cloth. But the cast probably got a good idea of what was coming out.
On the second take, the chestburster tore
out of John Hurt’s chest and blood started to fly everywhere. Christian
said they were pumping
“something in the range of six gallons of blood” all over the set. A
jet of blood “about three feet long” hit Veronica Cartwright in the face, and she
immediately passed out.
The rest of the cast freaked out too. Even
Executive Producer Ivor
Powell said, “I hadn’t expected it to be quite that intense.”
Imagine how you’d feel if you walked into a room that smelled of rotting
flesh and had gallons of fake blood hit you in the face? You’d be
surprised too. Which is why the scene is so incredible.
4. Back to the Future Predicted 1997
World Series
The Myth: Back to the Future, which is set in the future world of 2015, predicted that the Florida Marlins would win the 1997 World Series.
The Shocking Truth: It’s true
the film has a holographic sports broadcast that says the Chicago Cubs
beats an unnamed Florida team to win the World Series. But the year
isn’t specified and, frankly, it wouldn’t make sense for a billboard in
2015 to post the results of the 1997 World Series.
Plus, it’s a stretch to say that they predicted the Florida Marlins
would win a World Series when the team didn’t exist and the logo has an
alligator instead of a marlin.
If Florida gets a baseball team named the Florida Gators and they win a
World Series over the Chicago Cubs in 2015, then everyone has my
permission to freak out.
3. George Lucas Added the Wampa Scene to Hide Hamill’s Plastic Surgery
The Myth: Right before they started
filming Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), actor Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) was involved in a horrific car crash that severely disfigured his face. After massive
amounts of plastic surgery, he returns to the set, but he looked
different and had stitches on his face.
George Lucas was forced to come up with a scene to explain his
appearance. Luke gets attacked by a huge creature, known as a
Wampa, that slashes him across the face. The scene goes down in history and the secret is safe. Except…
The Shocking Truth: Mark Hamill was involved in a car
accident, but it had no effect on the filming of Empire
Strikes Back. The accident happened in 1977, right before the
opening of Star Wars, over two years before filming the second
movie.
In a 1999 interview with Starlog magazine (#40) Mark
Hamill described the accident, and it’s nothing.
“I had the accident way before Star Wars came out, but what really
happened has been terribly distorted.” Hamill said, “I broke my nose,
that’s it! But over the three years, I’ve read accounts about how my
face has been reconstructed with plastic surgery and how I was pulling
myself along the highway with one arm looking for help. I even heard
that I drove off a cliff! That was the best one of all.
“To set the record straight: It was about six o’clock in the evening.
I had a brand new BMW and I was playing the 1812 Overture on the sound
system. It had terrific sound. Also, in a car like that, you can lose
sight of how fast you’re going—I’d always driven clunky cars. Then,
suddenly, I realized I was on the wrong freeway and it might take me an
hour and 45 minutes to find my way back. It was a split-second
decision. I saw my exit ramp three lanes over and I thought I could
make it, so I turned the wheel sharply.
“Well, I was going about 70 and the car flipped. I broke my nose and
that was all.”
In another
interview he said, “A lot of people speculated that the scene where
the Wampa attacked me at the beginning of Empire was written in
because of the accident. I even asked George about it myself. He
said ‘No,’ that Luke was always captured by the Wampa.”
2. The Ending of King Kong vs. Godzilla is Different For U.S. Audiences
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| Source |
The Myth: The movie King Kong vs. Godzilla (otherwise known as King Kong vs. Prometheus, キングコング対ゴジラ or Kingu Kongu Tai Gojira) ends with King Kong and Godzilla fighting. The film has
a different ending for the U.S. with King Kong winning because they didn’t want to make the American fans angry. In the Japanese version, Godzilla wins the battle!
The Shocking Truth: The ending is exactly the same in both versions. It’s true, some things in King Kong vs. Godzilla
were changed for the U.S. release. The film was re-cut, the footage was
re-shot and an American actor, Michael Keith, was added to play a UN
reporter newscaster. All of this was to give the film a more American
feel.
This rumor gained traction in the days before home video and the
Internet. Both versions of the film end the same way: King Kong and
Godzilla crash into the ocean in a fierce battle and Kong comes up and
swims to the island.
Here’s the thing. Godzilla is a water monster. Can he really drown? No. So we can assume he survived, even though he didn’t come up out of the water.
There is one difference in the soundtrack, though. At the end of the
film, as it fades to black, we hear Godzilla’s roar followed by King
Kong’s. In the American soundtrack, we only hear Kong.
1. Nestor Carbonell Wears Guy-Liner
The Myth: Actor Nestor Carbonell, who plays the mayor of Gotham City in the Dark Knight, Richard Alpert on Lost
and Bat-Manuel on The Tick wears mascara.
The Shocking Truth: Carbonell said the following, “Let me make this perfectly clear: I do not. I do not wear make-up, and I do not wear eye-liner.” He recognizes that a lot of people believe it though.
In fact, Damon Lindelof said that when they first saw dailies of Nestor, they thought, “Someone’s gotta talk to him about the eyeliner
situation.” But he added, “And he does not wear any mascara, no
eyeliner, nothing. He is completely 100 percent sans makeup.” Not only
did they not put mascara on him, they actually put a base on his
eyelashes to make them less noticeable.
Carbonell laughs at it now. “This is something I’ve had to deal with my
whole life.” He said, “When I was a little kid, I was about five years
old and living in Mexico, and I remember my mom’s friends would come
over and say, ‘Oh, look at his eyelashes!’
“I got such a complex about it that I ended up taking scissors to them
once, and my mom stopped me and said, ‘What are you doing?’ But they
were talking about them, and I got a lot of comments about my eye-liner.
“Eventually, I got over it and was, like, ‘What are you gonna do?’ But
I definitely had a complex when I was a kid about having dark
eyelashes.”
Nestor just has dark and lovely eyelashes.
Did you believe any of these myths before? Have you heard of any other myths that are so crazy they sound true, but aren’t?
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<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="37391 ">10 Comments
"carpentry opens a lot of doors" Good one! And it closes them too. I probably believed some of those like Nestor Carbonell's eyeliner but that's because I'm too lazy to go look up the truth.
Bazinga!
I'd always heard they changed the ending of King Kong vs. Godzilla. Although in reality, a fire-breathing lizard should beat a hairy ape.
I need to watch Young Frankenstein again. Great film.
Well that just killed half of my trivial knowledge. Just the other day I was talking with a co-worker about Godzilla & used "it had a different ending in the US".
*looks over shoulder for co-worker*
*hangs head in shame*
HA! Nice job!!! I particularly love that bit of Dalek history. Men on bicycles… NICE!
I wish I had such nice eyelashes. Great myths you've debunked here.
Ah HAH! Found you!
When I changed over to Disqus for the comments, it sent me to your site, rather than to your gravatar profile, where I couldn't find a link to your site! 😀
You know, it's pretty unbelievable, as I love movies, but I've never heard of any of those myths!
Number 4 made me laugh pretty hard. But as for NUmber 10, anyone who only knows Seinfeld for Soup Nazi and Superman DESERVES to believe all of these rumors. For shame…
Great post, lot of fun to read!
Here's the amazing thing that we should now accept: Mel Brooks has added a new word into the vocabulary of millions of people around the world that means horses being turned into glue.
…and if I was Mark Hamill, I would go with the disfigured version of the story. I might even add in that I was driving in the last lap of the daytona 500 and my car flipped over 13 times…