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John Wayne actively campaigned for the role of Rooster Cogburn after reading the novel.
John Wayne had initially promised the role of Mattie Ross to his daughter Aissa Wayne, but Director Henry Hathaway refused to cast her.
John Wayne was disappointed by the casting of Kim Darby as Mattie Ross, and the two hardly spoke at all off-camera.
The character of Mattie was supposed to be 14. Kim Darby was 21 when the film was made in late 1968, and had already given birth to her first child.
The character of Rooster Cogburn was supposed to be around 40. John Wayne was 61 when the film was made. Jeff Bridges was 60 when he played Rooster Cogburn in the remake, True Grit (2010).
Elvis Presley was considered for the role of La Boeuf, the Texas Ranger. However, "Colonel" Tom Parker, his manager, insisted that Presley should receive top billing. The part was given to Glen Campbell instead.
The only film for which John Wayne ever won an Oscar. It was his second nomination, the first being for "The Sands of Iwo Jima."
When accepting his Academy Award for his performance, John Wayne said, "Wow. If I'd have known that, I'd have put that patch on 35 years earlier."
The film's release date of Wednesday, June 11, 1969, was ten years to the day before John Wayne died, Monday, June 11, 1979.

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As an homage to Orson Welles and his famous "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast, on Sunday evening, October 30th, 1938, voice specialist Paul Frees appears on-screen as a radio reporter, around 1:02:45, and does his famous Orson Welles's vocal impersonation.
Orson Welles was pressured into making this his first feature film, but he wanted no part of it.
The estate of H.G. Wells was so pleased with the final production that it offered George Pal his choice of any other of Wells' properties. Pal chose The Time Machine (1960).
The Martian war machines were originally going to be walking tripods as they were depicted in H.G. Wells' novel, but George Pal didn't know how a tripod would walk and instead went with the flying machines.
Most of the soldiers in the movie aren't actors; they're actual National Guard troops going through real maneuvers.
George Pal originally wanted the audience to put on 3-D glasses when the actors put on goggles. The rest of the movie would have been in 3-D.
This film had a budget of $2,000,000. Of that sum, $600,000 (30%) was spent on the live action scenes while $1,400,000 (70%) was spent on the extensive and elaborate special effects.
Fifty actors were actually filmed for the scene on the hill, then their images were copied and pasted to create hundreds.
The miniature sets were exact duplicates of real L.A. buildings. Ann Robinson recalled, "It looked like Gulliver's Travels."
Throughout the movie, the cast is seen drinking Coke because Ann Robinson's contract forbade her from appearing to drink alcohol.

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The film takes place in 2026.
This was one of the world's first feature-length science fiction movies.
This film took almost a year and a half to shoot.
The cast of the film was mostly composed of unknown actors; Heinrich George was a theatre actor, Gustav Fröhlich was a journalist and 19-year-old Brigitte Helm who had no previous film experience though she had given the trial shots for Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924).
The robot of this film inspired the look for C-3PO in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977).
Brigitte Helm's robot costume was extremely uncomfortable to wear. Helm suffered greatly underneath it as it cut and bruised her though Fritz Lang insisted that she had to wear it.
Unemployment and inflation were so bad in Germany at the time that the producers had no trouble finding 500 children to film the flooding sequences.
Over 25,000 extras were involved in the making of the film.
Footage of this film was used in the British Rock Band, Queen's Music Video for "Radio Ga Ga".
The multiple-exposed sequences were not created in a lab but right during the filming on the set. The film was rewound in the camera and then exposed again right away. This was done up to 30 times.
Reportedly one of Adolf Hitler's favorite films.
The 1973 Stephen King short story Trucks would explore what might happen when machines rebel against their makers. This film is eerily prescient of that concept.
As of January 1, 2023, the film is in public domain (free of copyright).

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According to James William Guercio's DVD commentary, the majority of the movie was filmed without government permits because the Arizona State Police did not want to co-operate with the production of the film.
Composer James William Guercio recorded the music score for the title track in just the one day and conducted a 60-piece orchestra to achieve this.
Because of his appearance in this movie Robert Blake got offered the hit TV series Baretta (1975).
The movie was released about four years after Easy Rider (1969). That movie featured two hippies crossing America on motorcycles. This film is considered by some to be a "motorcycle cop" version of "Easy Rider", with a poster from that earlier movie even displayed in one scene in this film.
The rough cut ran for around 3-1/2 hours.
Due to the limited budget many friends and family relatives of the cast and crew appear in bit roles.

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This is one of the most profitable independent movies ever made. Made for $114,000 (equivalent to $941,800 in 2022), it grossed approximately $30 million (equivalent to $247.8 million in 2022) - over 263 times its budget.
According to George A. Romero, the film was originally ten minutes longer but the distributor pressured him to cut it down.
The music used in the film was in the public domain from a Capitol/EMI Records Hi-Q stock music library. It originally was used in Teenagers from Outer Space (1959) and cost the filmmakers $1,500.
George A. Romero originally wanted to cast Betty Aberlin of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968) as Barbara. Fred Rogers would not allow her to do the film.
One of the first films to graphically depict violent murders on screen. It is also one of the first films to have a black person as a main character.
When the writers decided to base the film on zombies, they brainstormed about what would be the most shocking thing for the zombies to do to people and decided on cannibalism.
When the zombies are eating the bodies in the burnt-out truck, they were actually eating roast ham covered in chocolate sauce. The filmmakers joked that it was so nausea-inducing that it was almost a waste of time putting the makeup on the zombies as they ended up looking pale and sick anyway.
Bosco chocolate syrup was used to simulate the blood in the film.
The US movie rating system was instituted on November 1, 1968. This film, released October 1, 1968, is one of the last films released in the US without a rating.
The film's first scene, the initial cemetery attack on Barbara and Johnny, was actually the last scene to be filmed, in November 1967. The actors had to hold their breath to avoid visible condensation in the frosty autumn air.
The word "zombie" is never used. The most common euphemism used to describe the living dead is "those things," mostly by Cooper. Other characters refer to the creatures as "ghouls" and "flesh eaters".
S. William Hinzman and Karl Hardman, two of the original $300 investors were cast due to a shortage of available talent. Another investor was a butcher, who provided some blood and guts.

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The screenplay was written in less than two weeks.
Funded by a Baptist church. Several members of the cast let themselves be baptized.
The film's original title was "Grave Robbers from Outer Space", but, supposedly, the Baptist ministers who financed the picture objected to it, so Edward D. Wood Jr. changed it to "Plan 9".
This film was shot in late 1956 and copyrighted in 1957. It took almost three years to find a distributor who would handle it.
Bela Lugosi supplied his own costume. He wore one of the capes he used when portraying Dracula on stage.
Final film of Bela Lugosi, who died before the film was finished.
According to Maila Nurmi (aka Vampira), she would put on her vampire makeup and costume at home and then take a bus to the Quality Studios soundstage where her scenes were filmed.
Maila Nurmi was paid $200 for her appearance in the film. She insisted that the character be mute as she didn't care for the dialogue.
Its television premiere was on Thrillerama (1961).

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The film grossed $90,000 its opening weekend, the biggest opening ever at the time.
Merian C. Cooper's first vision for the film was of a giant ape on top of the world's tallest building, fighting airplanes. He worked backward from there to develop the rest of the story.
The success of this film is often credited for saving R.K.O. Pictures from bankruptcy.
King Kong's roar was a lion's roar and a tiger's roar combined, slowed down, and run backward.
For the shots of the airplanes taking off from the strip, the pilots were paid ten dollars each.
Most sequences had to be shot non-stop, often requiring twenty-hour workdays. Sometimes the shrubs used to dress the miniature sets actually wilted during filming. At one point, one of the plants on the set flowered. Before a scene could be started, all the lights on the soundstage had to be replaced with new ones, to make sure they wouldn't flicker during the scene. The stage had to be sealed, and nobody could leave or enter, to prevent any wind from moving the foliage.
When describing Kong to Fay Wray, Merian C. Cooper said, "You'll have the tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood." She thought it was Clark Gable.
At the time of the film's release, select theaters offered free promotional 150-piece jigsaw puzzles featuring Kong battling the T-Rex. Examples in good condition have recently sold for over $4,000.
While 238,000 feet of film were used, the finished film used less than 10,000 feet.
On August 10 2004, two days after Fay Wray died, the Empire State Building darkened its lights in her memory.

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Although originally scheduled for an Allied Artists release, the film was ultimately distributed by United Artists.
John Dall and Peggy Cummins did all their own driving in the film, and according to Joseph H. Lewis, only one process shot (i.e., rear projection behind the actors pretending to drive) was used in the entire film.
The bank heist sequence was done entirely in one take, with no one outside the principal actors and people inside the bank aware that a movie was being filmed. When John Dall as Bart Tare says, "I hope we find a parking space," he really meant it, as there was no guarantee that there would be one. In addition, at the end of the sequence someone in the background screams that there's been a bank robbery - this was actually a bystander who saw the filming and assumed the worst.
Al J. Jennings, a real-life bank robber from the days of the "Old West", served as technical adviser. He was 85 years old at the time.
The 17-page bank robbery sequence was scheduled for a three- to five-day shoot with numerous camera set-ups, but director Joseph H. Lewis decided he didn't want to do it the conventional way. He told the producers he could pull it off in a single day with one shot that never entered the bank. Since that would cut down on production time and eliminate the need for a bank set, the idea appealed to their budget consciousness, but he still had to prove to them it was possible. So he did a test run with extras using his own 16mm camera.
To get the shot entirely from inside the car, the back of it was stripped out and replaced by boards and a jockey's saddle. The boards were greased so the camera could easily slide and change angles. Director Joseph H. Lewis and several crew members were crammed into the back. The only lights they had for the actors were two small key lights operating off batteries. The sound was recorded with microphones hidden in the sun visors. To get the dialogue on the sidewalk when Laurie gets out to distract the cop, Lewis placed two sound men with boom mics on the roof; they were strapped up there the entire time the car drove up to the bank and sped off.

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If adjusted for inflation, this would be the highest-grossing MPAA R-rated film of all time.
The original shooting schedule was 85 days, but filming in America lasted for 224 days.
When originally released in the UK, a number of town councils imposed a complete ban on the showing of the film. This led to the bizarre spectacle of "Exorcist Bus Trips" where enterprising travel companies organized buses to take groups to the nearest town where the film was showing.
Upon its initial theatrical release the film affected many audiences so strongly that at many theaters, paramedics were called to treat people who fainted and others who went into hysterics.
One week after the movie's release to great success, the studio contacted director William Friedkin to propose a sequel. He simply replied with 'Hell no" and hung up the phone.
Due to death threats against Linda Blair from religious zealots who believed the film "glorified Satan", Warner Bros. had bodyguards protecting her for six months after the film's release.
Linda Blair received her Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination before it was widely known that previous Supporting Actress winner Mercedes McCambridge had actually provided the voice of the demon. By Academy rules once Blair was given the nomination it could not be withdrawn, but the controversy about Blair being given credit for another actress' work ruined her chances of winning the award.
The vomit Regan (Linda Blair) hurls at Father Karras (Jason Miller) is thick pea soup. Specifically, it's Andersen's brand pea soup. The crew tried Campbell's but didn't like the "effect."
Linda Blair hated vegetables so much at the time that the use of the pea soup actually did make her vomit.
Father Dyer was played by Father William O'Malley, an actual priest who until 2012 taught at Fordham Prep, a Jesuit high school.
This was the first horror film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

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The film was shot in sequence, unusual for a production of this size, but allowing Steve McQueen the luxury of building his character in stages.
In real life, Henri "Papillon" Charrière was 25 when he was sent to French Guiana. Several people felt Steve McQueen was too old to portray him in this film.
The title, pronounced "pah-pee-YOHN" is French for "butterfly." It refers to Henri Charrière's butterfly tattoo.
This movie was released four years after its source novel by Henri "Papillon" Charrière was published.
Although billed as a true story, the French government claims that much of the story is fabricated. Henri Charrière was incarcerated in Saint Laurent, and may have escaped from there, but no records exist of him serving any time on the Devil's Islands (now known as Iles du Salut or Salvation Islands).
The film's premiere benefited cancer research in memory of Henri Charrière, who died of lung cancer five months before its release.
Steve McQueen insisted on performing the stunt where he jumps off a cliff into the water. McQueen once said that it was "one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life".
Dustin Hoffman had to wear corrective contact lenses so that he could see through the thick glasses he had to wear.

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This movie was released nine years after William F. Nolan's and George Clayton Johnson's original novel was published.
In the movie Logan is 26 years old.  The film takes place in 2274.
Michael York and Jenny Agutter, in this American Hollywood movie, are English. Their full character names were Logan 5 and Jessica 6, respectively. In the source novel, the central character was called Logan 3.
In the original novel, the colors of the Life Clock change every seven years: yellow (birth-6), blue (7-13), red (14-20), red and black on Lastday, and black at 21. According to the audio commentary, the movie changed it to 30 because it wasn't realistic to have a cast with all of the characters under 21.
Peter Ustinov improvised much of his dialogue.
Michael York was playing tennis and saw what he described as a "blonde vision of delight." It turned out to be Farrah Fawcett. York suggested her to the casting director and she subsequently landed the role of Holly.
The catfight between Jessica and Holly was planned to be much longer. This had to be changed when the two actresses pulled hair too hard, and Michael Anderson feared they would end up fighting for real.
Despite Jenny Agutter's brief nude scene, this movie was given a PG rating by the MPAA.
At the very end of the film an extra flashes the Vulcan hand salute from Star Trek.

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This was one of the first movies to use the Internet for advertising.
The largest chunk of the budget, $150,000, went to creating the Jack Rabbit Slim's set.
Upon the film's UK video rental release, some video stores gave away a pack of limited edition "Pulp Fiction" matches. On the back of the packet was a quote from the film "you play with matches, you get burned."
Harvey Keitel convinced his friend Bruce Willis to take part in the film, knowing that Willis had been a big fan of Reservoir Dogs (1992).
Although widely regarded as John Travolta's second comeback film (Look Who's Talking (1989) was his first), it served a similar purpose for Bruce Willis, whose films outside of the Die Hard franchise had been considered disappointments (except for Look Who's Talking (1989)). His supporting roles in this film and Nobody's Fool (1994) have been credited with preventing him from losing his A-list status.
Bruce Willis worked on the film for only 18 days.
Uma Thurman originally turned down the role of Mia Wallace. Quentin Tarantino was so desperate to have her as Mia, he ended up reading her the script over the phone, finally convincing her to take on the role.
The movie cost only $8 million to make. The initial budget was reportedly even lower until Bruce Willis was added to the cast (he had a recent string of domestic flops but was still a box-office draw overseas). Five million dollars went to pay the actors' and actresses' salaries. The film was already profitable when its worldwide rights were sold for $11 million (again, mainly on the strength of Willis' presence). It went on to gross over $200 million at the box office.
The word "fuck" is used 265 times.

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The first of seven Cheech and Chong movies starring the comedy duo Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong.
While the Paramount Pictures refused the request of director Lou Adler for an additional $800,000 once the initial budget of $1 million was spent, Adler funded it himself. The movie went on to gross more than $100 million worldwide.
This film was a major hit in college towns, with much of the audience resulting from word-of-mouth. Cheech & Chong comedy records, which first appeared in 1971, had paved the way. Most of the content of this film were taken directly from their comedy records.
The dog that took the burrito out of Man's hand was not a trained dog, but a local stray. He simply walked into frame, took the burrito, and walked away. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong ad-libbed around this, and it was left in the movie.
The car that Tommy Chong drives at the beginning of the movie is actually owned by Jack Nicholson. When this movie came out one could buy fiberglass conversion kits to replace the trunk and hood lids to make them look like baby Rolls Royces.
The movie uses the word "man" 295 times; 212 of those happen before Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong reach the border.
According to Tommy Chong, Stacy Keach's character name of "Sgt. Stedenko" was the name of a real cop from his hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The extras playing the Hare Krishnas all shaved their heads for $25.
The license plate on Cheech Marin's car (MUF DVR) actually belonged to an LAPD officer at the time.
Stars Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong had been a comedy team act as "Cheech and Chong" for several years (consisting of stand-up routines and releasing five comedy albums prior to this film's release) before they started looping together some of their material for this film, their first cinema movie collaboration together.

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John Carpenter has stated that of all his films, this is his personal favorite.
The original movie, The Thing from Another World (1951), took place in Arctic (North Pole). This version takes place in Antarctica (South Pole).
It has become a tradition in British Antarctic research stations to watch The Thing (1982) as part of their Midwinter feast and celebration held every 21st June.
Kurt Russell took a drag on a cigarette at the beginning of certain shots in order to make the breath appear more visible.
The film is considered a benchmark in special make-up effects. The effects were created by Rob Bottin, who was only 22 when he started the project.
It took about a year for Kurt Russell to grow the famous MacReady beard and hairstyle.
Opened the same day as Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982). The similarities don't end there; both movies met with unfavorable reactions by critics after the premiere and they were beaten by the more positive Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), the biggest hit of that year.
The film was originally banned when released in Finland.
The British Columbia town of Stewart was chosen as the main location as it is the snowfall capital of North America. The camp was built in July 1981 in anticipation of filming commencing in December. The temperature ranged between 0 degrees Fahrenheit and -15 degrees Fahrenheit during the shoot. It cost the production 75,000 dollars just to keep cast and crew warm in winter gear.
The film took three months to shoot on six sound stages in Los Angeles, with the final shooting taking place in northern British Columbia.