The Silence of the Lambs just turned 25.
It's also one of the only three films in history that have
the distinction of winning the big five at the academy awards.
Those are two things you probably didn't know right out of the gate, but
I'm getting ahead of myself.
The point is, Oscar Sunday is just around the corner, making it the perfect time for
us to do this episode.
Here are nine things you didn't know about The Silence of the Lambs, probably.
(Sound) >> Doctor Lecter,
my name is Clarice Starling.
May I speak with you? >> Clarice Starling is
arguably Jodie Foster's most iconic role.
Foster has even said that Clarice was her favorite character out of any she's
ever played, so you might be surprised to learn that Jodie Foster was not the first
choice for Clarice.
Director Jonathan Demme had wanted Michelle Pfeiffer to play Clarice.
He'd worked with Pfeiffer on Married to the Mob and was courting her heavily to
join the Silence of the Lambs, but Michelle Pfeiffer turned it down.
Basically, the script was just too disturbing for her.
Jodie Foster was next on this list but several other actresses also went after
the role including Meg Ryan, Nicole Kidman and Halle Berry.
Obviously, Demme made a good call by going with his second choice.
After all, both he and Foster wound up scoring Oscars out of the deal.
(Sound) You know who else wasn't a first choice?
Anthony Hopkins. >> All good things to those who wait.
>> Jonathan Demme was going
after Sean Connery to play Hannibal Lector, but Connery,
like Michelle Pfeiffer, passed on the film.
And once again, it was probably for the best that Demme didn't get what he'd
originally wanted, since Anthony Hopkins also went on to win the Oscar.
(Sound) >> Still, I can't help but
be curious about what Connery would have been like as Hannibal.
>> Good evening, Clarice.
Something about fava beans. >> Don't you hurt my dog!
>> Don't you make me hurt your dog!
>> You don't know what pain is!
>> A lot of people think that Jame Gum,
aka Buffalo Bill, is based on a specific serial killer.
But he's actually a combination of three killers.
Gum is first based on Ted Bundy,
who had a similar tactic of luring women into his van and trapping them.
Bundy would wear an arm cast, hang around outside of libraries and
then drops his books so his target would want to come help him.
Next, we have Gary Heidnik, he was the inspiration for
the pit that Gum has in his basement.
Heidnik, however, would fill his pit with water and
would keep more than one victim at a time there.
He also did a lot of other stuff to them that's way too fucked up to get into
right now.
Third, Jame Gum is based on Ed Gein.
Ed Gein served as inspiration for a few other films,
too, including Psycho and Leatherface from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
All of the stuff with Buffalo Bill making masks and body suits out of his
victim's skin is based on (Bleep) that Ed Gain did to his victims.
Well, I'm sufficiently freaked out now, so why don't we move on to our next thing.
(Sound) Remember this scene where Clarice has her
last visit with Hannibal?
Well, you probably didn't know that the bars in Hannibal's cell
are wider than they should be.
The production team had to build it this way simply because they needed to be sure
the actor's eyes wouldn't be obscured by the bars.
If they had been as a real cell, it would have been nearly impossible to shoot
through the bars and still see both of their eyes.
And their eyes are important to see because acting.
>> Yeah, that was good.
(Sound) >> Here's another thing from that
same sequence.
See that guy leading them out of Hannibal's holding room with
the walkie talkie?
Well, that guy is George Romero.
In case you're drawing a blank, George Romero is a horror movie legend.
He wrote Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead.
Pretty much anything with the word dead in the title,
George Romero probably had a hand in it.
While we're on the subject of supporting roles played by people who are kind of
a big deal, let's do a little rapid fire bonus things you didn't know.
That's Danny Darce, the country western singer songwriter.
That's Chris Isaac in his second film role ever.
Of course, Chris Isaac is most famous as a singer-songwriter and for
(Bleep) Helena Christensen on the beach in Black and White.
That severed head is the film's producer, Edward Saxon.
Well, not literally, of course.
They molded a mask from his head and used it here.
Consider it his cameo.
Lastly, during the attempted raid on Jame Gum's house,
there's this guy, that's Ted Tally who wrote the screenplay for the film.
So that's boom, like, I don't know, four bonus things you didn't know.
Moving on.
(Sound) >> You do know the rules,
ma'am? >> Yes, Lieutenant Boyle,
I've questioned him before. >> One last thing about this sequence when
Hannibal escapes.
So this officer was played by the late Charles Napier.
Back in the 70s, Napier was kind of known for doing Russ Myer sexploitation flicks.
But Napier started working with Jonathan Demme in 1977.
Demme liked him and just kept putting Napier in all of his movies.
It really helped legitimize him and boasted his career.
Which, of course, set Napier up for his greatest role, Duke Phillips.
That's right the guy who got bludgeoned to death by Hannibal is
the same guy who played Jay Sherman's eccentric
billionaire boss on The Critic. >> Now if you'll excuse me I have
to put on some leather and go get spanked.
Vote for Duke.
Good night.
(Sound) >> Pretty much everyone agrees
that Silence of the Lambs is one of the great films, but
I love a movie mistake as much as the next jerk, so here we go.
Okay, so in this super freaky night vision sequence down in Jame Gum's terror cellar,
we have this part where he raises his pistol to shoot Clarice in the back.
But notice when he raises the gun it casts a shadow.
Problem is, it's pitch black down there,
that's why he's wearing night vision goggles.
So really his gun should not have cast a shadow because they're in total darkness.
Of course, making movies requires light.
They couldn't actually have it complete in total darkness on set or
else someone could trip over a cable, or
accidentally grab diet coke from craft services instead of regular.
And most importantly, if the set were pitch black, the cameras wouldn't be able
to record anything, leaving us with this minor but interesting movie mistake.
(Sound) >> So powerful, so
beautiful. >> Let's talk about all of the moths.
As you might have suspected, they did have a couple of mechanical moths that they
used for certain shots and scenes in the film.
But you probably didn't realize that the filmmakers mainly used moths that were in
suspended animation and then warmed them up enough to get them to reanimate.
They even had a moth wrangler on their crew who supplied them with moths at
various stages of life, like for this part with Gum removing the proboscis sheath.
The moths had to be kept in rooms with special controls for humidity and heat.
And some even had specially designed body shields, basically moth costuming.
But don't worry, they didn't use a real moth for this part.
The cocoon here, was actually made out of candy.
Mainly, so that if the actor accidentally swallowed it,
it would be totally edible and way tastier than a real cocoon.
(Sound) Even in a movie with people getting their
faces eaten, this is one of the most cringe worthy moments, yuck.
But it may make you happy to know that, that's not real.
It's a prosthetic nipple.
So, it's a fake nipple that's really been pierced, I guess.
If you ask me, that nipple is just as convincing as anything else in the movie.
Someone give that nipple an Oscar. >> All right, guys, let us
know if you're excited for the Oscars this Sunday, and what you predictions are.
Or, you can also let us know if you don't give any (Bleep) at all.
Like not even one (Bleep).
Thanks for watching and be sure to check out cinefix.com and subscribe for
more trueish things about movies, and sometimes fake nipples that look a little
too realistic, right here, on Things You Didn't Know.
(Sound)