Fun facts and wild true stories from behind the scenes of some of history's most beloved and infamous movies.

Movies in the Making

Ghosts

In the months leading up to&nbsp;The Sixth Sense&#39;s release in August 1999, there was little buzz around the film and&nbsp;no expectations that it would become a hit. Disney had so little faith in it that, even though one of their executives paid millions for the script, the studio ended up offloading&nbsp;the production rights to an independent film company. M. Night Shyamalan was relatively unknown at the time, and the film starred&nbsp;a&nbsp;child actor&nbsp;alongside Bruce Willis, who was known for making big-budget action movies, not moderately budgeted psychological thrillers. Some publications left The Sixth Sense off their list of releases for fall 1999. Even Shyamalan was hedging his bets about its success - he hoped it would make enough money to give him a chance to direct&nbsp;another film.

But behind the scenes of The Sixth Sense,&nbsp;the cast and crew knew what they were making&nbsp;was something special, with a final plot twist that would shock audiences and critics alike. Their belief in the underdog project was validated when&nbsp;the film grossed a whopping $26.6 million in its opening weekend and&nbsp;spent a total of&nbsp;five weeks&nbsp;as the No. 1 film at the US&nbsp;box office. To date, the movie has grossed <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0167404/?ref_=bo_se_r_1" target="_blank">close to $700 million</a> worldwide. It also received six Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/haley-joel-osment-facts/jonathan-kantor" target="_blank">Haley Joel Osment</a>), Best Supporting Actress (Toni Collette), <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-oscar-winning-screenplays/ranker-film?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Best Original Screenplay</a>, and Best Editing.

Behind The Scenes, ‘The Sixth Sense’ Was A Weird Underdog Story

General

Behind The Scenes Of ‘The Sixth Sense’

TGWrites

Behind The Scenes

The charm and laughs of the 1992 fish-out-of-water comedy My Cousin Vinny have&nbsp;stood the test of time. Small-time lawyer Vinny Gambini and his fianc&eacute;e,&nbsp;<a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-best-my-cousin-vinny-quotes/movie-and-tv-quotes?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Mona Lisa Vito</a> - a pair as New York as New York gets - are beckoned to the deep South after Vinny&#39;s cousin Bill, along with his friend Stan, are falsely accused of murder - the&nbsp;result of bad timing and unfortunate coincidence. Despite never having tried - let alone won - a courtroom case, Vinny is commissioned to serve as the pair&#39;s defense attorney.

The stakes couldn&#39;t be higher for the college students, who must rely on Vinny to defend them in court, despite his lack of courtroom experience and the fact that it took him six tries to pass the bar exam. By now, the comedy is firmly entrenched in the annals of Hollywood comic history, but going from concept to classic took a whole lot of key decisions, unexpected inspiration, and one legendary Oscar upset.

In these behind-the-scenes stories about My Cousin Vinny, find out about the real-life origin of the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-best-my-cousin-vinny-quotes/movie-and-tv-quotes" target="_blank">oft-quoted &quot;two yutes&quot; line</a>, the film&#39;s surprising legal accuracy, and&nbsp;why Marisa Tomei almost got cut out of the movie entirely.

Behind-The-Scenes Stories From 'My Cousin Vinny'

Behind The Scenes Stories Of 'My Cousin Vinny'

Ann Casano

Sports Movies

In 1987, a short documentary about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL; 1943-1954)&nbsp;aired on television, catching the attention of producer and director Penny Marshall. The documentary inspired the making of the feature film&nbsp;A League of Their Own, which became a commercial and critical hit when it was released in 1992.

Behind the scenes, the cast members trained hard to convincingly portray baseball players, even suffering&nbsp;real injuries in the process. Many of the details in the film, such as the players being sent to charm school, having chaperones, and being forced to play in skirts, are based on the real experiences of the&nbsp;AAGPBL athletes.&nbsp;

While the film project hit some stumbling blocks along the way - the original studio placed it in turnaround and several of the actors originally cast dropped out or were replaced - <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/final-film-appearances/loganrapp?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">the final film</a> remains one of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-most-inspirational-sports-movies" target="_blank">most entertaining and inspirational</a>&nbsp;sports movies in Hollywood history. In 2012, it was selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry. And in 2020, <a href="https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/a-league-of-their-own-series-amazon-1234727631/" target="_blank">Amazon announced</a> it had picked up a TV series version of the film; the show will follow a new set of characters as they attempt to become professional baseball players.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In the film, Tom Hanks&#39;s character memorably claimed, &quot;There&#39;s no crying in baseball!&quot;&nbsp;That may or may not be true, but what&nbsp;is&nbsp;true is that the making of&nbsp;A League of Their Own sounds as fun as the finished movie.

Behind-The-Scenes Stories From ‘A League of Their Own,’ The Most Rewatchable Sports Movie

Behind The Scenes Stories From 'A League Of Their Own'

Film Trivia

For more than 50 years, generations of Disney movie lovers have grown&nbsp;up with flying nannies and one ridiculously long word, but the&nbsp;making of Mary Poppins was far from practically perfect. Released in 1964, the movie made Julie Andrews a household name, gave Walt Disney his first Best Picture Oscar nomination, and advanced special effects&nbsp;to new levels. Number six on <a href="http://www.afi.com/100Years/musicals.aspx" target="_blank">AFI&#39;s 25 Greatest Movie Musicals</a>, Mary Poppins also inspired&nbsp;a 2018 sequel, Mary Poppins Returns, and the 2013 film Saving Mr. Banks, which&nbsp;chronicles&nbsp;Disney&#39;s attempts to buy the book rights.

Pamela Lyndon Travers, AKA P.L., wrote the first of the Mary Poppins books in 1934. She had a personal connection to her story, inspired by her experiences with her alcoholic father who died young, her mentally unstable mother, and the stories she told her siblings to keep up their spirits. Travers wrote&nbsp;Mary Poppins as a proper lady and the Banks parents as warm and loving. Given the personal connection, Travers did not hand over her work to Disney easily, as she feared what his famously sentimental touches might do.

<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/life-of-pl-travers-creator-of-mary-poppins/setareh-janda" target="_blank">Stories behind Mary Poppins</a> show more conflict and problems than those that came from Travers, though. Creating advanced special effects in the 1960s took a lot of work and often made production difficult, as did the task of creating the timeless&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-songs-in-mary-poppins/ranker-music" target="_blank">Mary Poppins songs</a>. The movie may have become a beloved piece of film and Disney history, but what went on behind the scenes may make you appreciate Mary Poppins even more.

Behind The Scenes, The Making Of 'Mary Poppins' Was Not As Magical As You'd Think

Mary Poppins Behind The Scenes Stories

Erin McCann

Lists about Saturday Night Live cast members, hosts, musical acts, and backstage antics of America's favorite sketch comedy series, airing from 30 Rockefeller Plaza since 1975.

Live from New York!

Entertainment

Even if you’re not exactly up on the latest season of Saturday Night Live, chances are you’ve heard at least a couple of SNL stories. You never know what you’re going to get when you mix comedians, drugs, egomania, alcohol, huge stars, and live TV. Sometimes Prince shows up at your after party, sometimes somebody gets stabbed, and sometimes Chevy Chase happens.&nbsp;&nbsp;There are two types of backstage SNL stories: the ones everyone knows and the ones we’re just hearing about because everyone is either dead, over it, or the statutes of limitations have run out. Unless your Internet was down in early 2016, you couldn’t miss Kanye’s epic backstage rant where he compared himself to Stanley Kubrick, Picasso, and the Apostle Paul. But there are some hidden Saturday Night Live stories you must learn about because they are juicy, strange, and in some cases disturbing.&nbsp;Let’s delve into the secrets, scandals, feuds, and tea spilling of the SNL cast old and new and see what’s rattling around in the closet over at Studio 8H.

26 Behind the Scenes Stories from SNL

26 Shocking Behind the Scenes SNL Stories You Won't Believe

Lisa Waugh

Actor Trivia

Robin Williams was one of those rare, tour-de-force&nbsp;performers who was able to bring <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/underrated-robin-williams-movie-roles/mike-mcgranaghan" target="_blank">a thousand characters</a> to life - often in rapid succession. After his unexpected passing in 2014, celebrities and fans alike <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/internet-remembers-robin-williams-rip/brian-gilmore" target="_blank">shared their love</a> for the late comedian.&nbsp;

According to those who worked with him, Williams&#39;s heart was as big as the characters he portrayed. Former costars have shared some heartwarming behind-the-scenes stories about Williams, from the time he put on an <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/improvisational-theatre-tv-shows-and-series/ranker-tv?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">impromptu comedy show</a> in a park to the time he wrote to a younger costar&#39;s principal to reverse her expulsion. Friends and family of Williams know that they ain&#39;t never had a friend like him.&nbsp;

Heartwarming Behind-The-Scenes Stories About Robin Williams

Maggie Clancy

The making of&nbsp;Cast Away reunited&nbsp;two-time Academy Award winning actor <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/tom-hanks-was-the-best/lisa-waugh" target="_blank">Tom Hanks</a> with his Forrest Gump director&nbsp;Robert Zemeckis. The two-year production schedule was not an easy feat for the cast and crew, and resulted in many behind-the-scenes stories that will totally blow you away.The&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-adventure-movies/ranker-film" target="_blank">adventure drama</a>&nbsp;released in 2000 was an incredibly untraditional film, and the fact that it became a Hollywood blockbuster, grossing&nbsp;well over $400 million worldwide, was quite a surprise. Tom Hanks was essentially alone for a majority of the film -&nbsp;unless you count his washed-up&nbsp;buddy, Wilson the volleyball -&nbsp;and he even lost a total of 50 pounds&nbsp;for his role as Chuck Noland. The existential survival epic was nominated for two Academy Awards, including another Best Actor nomination for Hanks.So, just how much did FedEx pay for all that product placement? Why was production shut down for one year? What was really in that package that Chuck refused to open until he got off the island? Find out&nbsp;the answers to those questions and discover other interesting details about Cast Away&nbsp;below.

Behind-The-Scenes Stories That Will Change The Way You Watch 'Cast Away'

16 Behind The Scenes Details About Cast Away

Historical Entertainment

While&nbsp;Apocalypse Now&nbsp;is better known today for its&nbsp;agonizing production process, Michael Cimino&#39;s 1978 Vietnam War epic&nbsp;The Deer Hunter&nbsp;was no picnic either.&nbsp;What starts&nbsp;as a deliberately small <a href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/top-war-movies" target="_blank">film</a> focused on a group of working-class steel laborers expands into a sprawling,&nbsp;yet&nbsp;granular examination of the&nbsp;America-Vietnam conflict. Cimino&#39;s film is&nbsp;marked by a commitment to both <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/accurate-war-movies/justin-andress" target="_blank">realism</a> and character that some believe Francis Ford Coppola&#39;s&nbsp;Apocalypse Now&nbsp;- often considered The Deer Hunter&#39;s counterpart - shrugs&nbsp;off.

The fact The Deer Hunter&#39;s budget ballooned - or that Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and the rest of the cast and crew endured hellish conditions while filming - comes as no surprise. Those factors were part&nbsp;of the &quot;<a href="http://cinapse.co/two-cents-the-deer-hunter-and-the-enigma-of-michael-cimino-aee45f329fc1" target="_blank">New Hollywood</a>&quot;&nbsp;approach - a method of which the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/accurate-war-movies/justin-andress" target="_blank">film</a> was very much a product. By examining the details behind Cimino&#39;s vision, The Deer Hunter&#39;s audacity may finally be understood.

Unbelievable Stories From Behind The Scenes Of 'The Deer Hunter'

'The Deer Hunter' Behind The Scenes: The Most Unbelievable Stories

Skyler Hanrath

Fun facts, wild true stories, and cringey ego-driven tea-spilling from behind the scenes of some of history's most beloved and infamous comedy movies.

Just Doing Comedy!

Comedy

Monty Python rose to prominence with their BBC sketch series Monty Python&rsquo;s Flying Circus, but it was their second feature film, <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/monty-python-holy-grail-good-points/brenden-donnelly" target="_blank">Monty Python and the Holy Grail</a>, that cemented their reputation&nbsp;as comedy pioneers.

A <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/monty-python-holy-grail-accurate-details/alby-thompson" target="_blank">parody of Arthurian legend</a>, Holy Grail is still considered a classic more than&nbsp;40 years after its release. Though it went on to become a massive success, the film was made on a shoestring budget, and the experience of making it was notoriously grueling.

'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' Was An On-Set Nightmare That Everyone Hated Filming

Behind The Scenes 'Monty Python And The Holy Grail' Was A Nightmare

Rory Arnold

Lists exploring the beloved 1939 musical fantasy film The Wizard of Oz.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Despite the lighthearted material, some&nbsp;of the stories from the set of The Wizard Of Oz are quite dark.&nbsp;For such a beloved, ostensibly whimsical film, the production of&nbsp;The Wizard of Oz was a never-ending carnival of misery for those who worked&nbsp;behind the scenes. Made in 1939, it&#39;s still widely appreciated&nbsp;by both children and adults in modern times. Still, there&#39;s a lot people <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/wizard-of-oz-facts/philgibbons">don&#39;t know about the making of&nbsp;The Wizard of Oz</a>. While some of the production details are relatively harmless, and at times even charming, you have to remember the movie was produced during the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/classic-old-hollywood-studio-system-abuses/anncasano">dark days of the old Hollywood studio</a> system.&nbsp;&nbsp;

So, what&nbsp;makes the The Wizard Of Oz behind-the-scenes stories so dark? Mix&nbsp;heavy drinking&nbsp;and depravity with a few&nbsp;unfortunate on-set&nbsp;catastrophes, add some early&nbsp;movie-making naivety, and divide among five different film directors. Of all <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/behind-the-scenes-movie-feuds/anncasano">behind-the-scenes movie stories</a>,&nbsp;The Wizard Of Oz has some of the most bizarre and shocking.&nbsp;There&#39;s a lot more to worry about than lions and tigers and bears.&nbsp;The <a href="https://vimeo.com/46682047">Pink Floyd sync up</a> may be coincidence, but these stories truly show the dark side of the rainbow. Now, take a look at these Wizard of Oz facts and see for yourself just how treacherous filming was at times.

15 Nightmare Stories From Behind The Scenes Of 'The Wizard of Oz'

Nightmare Stories Behind The Scenes Of The Wizard Of Oz

The making of Deliverance was a survival story to rival the one on screen. The 1972 movie, based on James Dickey&#39;s novel of the same name,&nbsp;is about&nbsp;four friends - Lewis (<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/burt-reynolds-movies-and-films-and-filmography/reference" target="_blank">Burt Reynolds</a>), Ed (Jon Voight), Bobby (Ned Beatty), and Drew (Ronny Cox) - who take a canoe trip down the&nbsp;Cahulawassee River. Rapids are the least dangerous thing they have to face. After an unpleasant encounter with&nbsp;aggressive hillbillies, the men find themselves running for their lives.&nbsp;

Director John Boorman insisted on making his film feel as authentic and real as possible, and his efforts made Deliverance&nbsp;one of the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/scariest-horror-movies-ever-made" target="_blank">scariest movies ever</a>. The following anecdotes will take you behind the scenes of Deliverance&nbsp;to show you how he accomplished that mission. During production, all the main actors nearly perished, and there was a fair amount of drama off-camera, as well. Deliverance is to wilderness survival movies as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/goodfellas-behind-the-scenes/hannah-gilham" target="_blank">Goodfellas</a> is to mob movies - a prime example of a film that gets every last detail exactly right. More than 45 years later, it still retains its raw, unforgettable power.&nbsp;

The Making Of 'Deliverance' Was Even More Horrifying Than The Film's Backwoods Locals

Film

Deliverance Behind The Scenes Stories That Are More Horrifying Than The Movie

Mike McGranaghan

In 1995, photographer-turned-director Larry Clark and aspiring writer Harmony Korine joined forces to create one of the most <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/controversial-movies/anncasano?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">controversial films of all time</a>, Kids. A gritty&nbsp;coming-of-age drama set against the backdrop of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the film centers around a group of hedonistic&nbsp;latch-key teens with a penchant for sex and drugs&nbsp;who while away their time skirting the law in New York&rsquo;s Washington Square Park. Quasi-v&eacute;rit&eacute; in nature, given its unflinching depiction of &quot;lost&quot;&nbsp;1990s urban youth, Kids created a firestorm&nbsp;upon its release, as well as considerable public and critical debate. Some abhorred it, with&nbsp;The New Yorker dubbing the film &quot;nihilistic p*rnography.&quot;&nbsp;Others lauded it, with The New York Times conversely hailing Kids as a &quot;wake-up call to the modern world.&quot;

Either way, the film&#39;s portrayal of underage promiscuity and the often-callous worldview of its central characters had a significant impact on &#39;90s youth culture, as well as on independent cinema. It also served as a launchpad for many then-unknown actors, including Rosario Dawson, Chlo&euml; Sevigny, Leo Fitzpatrick, and Justin Pierce, all in their respective feature film debuts. To this day,&nbsp;it remains hard to look away from Kids. But how was this controversial film conceived, filmed, and released?

Here are a few behind-the-scenes stories from the movie&#39;s production.

Behind-The-Scenes Stories About 'Kids,' The Most Controversial Movie Of The '90s

Behind The Scenes Of The Controversial '90s Movie ‘Kids’

Sean Decker

The slicked back hair, the muscle cars, the summer romance – Grease is one of <a href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/top-20-best-musical-movies-of-all-time" target="_blank">the most iconic musicals of all time</a>. The tinselly, poodle-skirt-adorned, '50s throwback beat out the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/wizard-of-oz-behind-the-scenes-stories/erin-mccann" target="_blank">Wizard of Oz</a> as the highest-grossing American movie musical of the 20th century. It has hit stages across America, from high school auditoriums and local theaters to Broadway, but underneath the film's universally-adored frothy exterior – that magical place where the bad boy gets the good girl – stories from the set of Grease paint a different picture.Behind the scenes of Grease, egos flared among 30-year-old stars embracing the drama of their high school-aged roles. Though beauty school dropouts cavorted with their cute co-stars and Olivia Newton-John had to be sewn into her pants, other actors dealt with immeasurable pain and serious illness.40 years after the sun set on those summer nights, Grease is still the one that we want. It's managed&nbsp;to work its way into our modern lexicon – from pop culture references to family singalongs that transcend generation - but these dark behind the scenes stories will make sure you never sing &quot;Greased Lightning&quot; the same way again.

Horror Stories From Behind The Scenes Of Grease

Mariel Loveland

Considered by many to be one of the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-movies-of-all-time?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best movies of all time</a>, The Wizard of Oz paved a way for both color movies and special effects upon its release in 1939. The film also brought together the biggest cast of little people ever to star in one&nbsp;movie. As Munchkins, these actors welcomed Dorothy to Oz and danced their way into movie lovers&#39; hearts. While the studio system treated actors like Judy Garland terribly&nbsp;and behind-the-scenes disaster stories from the film abound, the Munchkin actors suffered difficulties as well.

Rumors of drunken encounters and heated&nbsp;tempers plagued them for years after the film, and while most of these stories are untrue, the little people of Oz also put up with horrors on set that are seldom discussed. Despite their experiences behind the scenes, however, most of the Munchkin actors enjoyed their time working on the film, and they even earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007.&nbsp;Audiences will remember Munchkinland and its jolly residents for years, but what went on behind the scenes made The Wizard of Oz historic for different and unexpected reasons.

Behind The Scenes Of Munchkinland In ‘The Wizard Of Oz’

Wild Wizard Of Oz Munchinkland Behind The Scenes Stories

Released in 1991, the film&nbsp;Fried Green Tomatoes&nbsp;is based on Fannie Flagg&#39;s 1987&nbsp;novel Fried Green Tomatoes at&nbsp;the Whistle Stop Cafe. Audiences love the film&nbsp;for its nostalgia, heartfelt stories, and endearing characters. As the friendship between Idgie (<a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/mary-stuart-masterson-movies-and-films-and-filmography/ranker-film?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Mary Stuart Masterson</a>) and Ruth (Mary-Louise Parker) unfolds, shown in flashbacks as Ninny (Jessica&nbsp;Tandy) regales her new friend Evelyn (Kathy Bates) with their story, viewers are treated to a movie that features <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/dark-moments-fried-green-tomatoes-film/megan-summers" target="_blank">drama</a>, comedy, and mystery.

Fried Green Tomatoes&nbsp;went on to receive two Academy Award nominations, one for Jessica Tandy as a supporting actress and another for its adapted screenplay. The success of the movie is rivaled by the triumphant efforts of the cast and crew in the making of&nbsp;Fried Green Tomatoes. From sensitive subject matter to insect swarms,&nbsp;Fried Green Tomatoes behind-the-scenes was full of challenges and opportunities alike. The results were, and continue to be, a testament to inspired storytelling, passionate friendships, and honoring the past.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Behind-The-Scenes Stories From The Making Of 'Fried Green Tomatoes'

The Making Of 'Fried Green Tomatoes' Behind The Scenes

Melissa Sartore

In front of the live studio audience, everything was all punchlines and pratfalls — but when the cameras were off, dark and messy things took place on the sets of the TV comedies America never missed.

Behind the Laugh Tracks

The Partridge Family&nbsp;ran on network television from 1970 to 1974, featuring the antics and performances of the musical Partridge family members. In the sitcom, widowed mother&nbsp;Shirley Partridge (Shirley Jones) and her five children - Keith, Laurie, Danny, Tracy, and Christopher -&nbsp;toured&nbsp;on a colorful bus, performing uplifting songs, like &quot;C&#39;mon, Get Happy,&quot; along the way.

Accompanied by their manager, Reuben Kincaid (Dave Madden), the Partridge Family blossomed into a musical sensation, largely&nbsp;thanks&nbsp;to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/most-popular-teen-idol-guys-of-all-time-then-and-now/derrick920" target="_blank">presence of teen idol</a> David Cassidy as Keith. Cassidy wasn&#39;t the only star, however, with Susan Dey and Danny Bonaduce&nbsp;finding acting careers as a result of the show. Much like&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/behind-the-scenes-brady-bunch-stories/mariel-loveland" target="_blank">The Brady Bunch&nbsp;behind the scenes</a>, however, the making of&nbsp;The Partridge&nbsp;Family&nbsp;came with&nbsp;its fair share of dark moments, from stars battling eating disorders to child actors dealing with substance issues

Secrets from behind the scenes of&nbsp;The Partridge Family&nbsp;reveal&nbsp;life as a Partridge wasn&#39;t as happy and full of laughter as it appeared.&nbsp;

Dark Behind-The-Scenes Secrets From 'The Partridge Family'

12 'The Partridge Family' Facts: Secrets From Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes lists at Ranker - The ultimate source for hundreds of behind the scenes lists and rankings