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Did you know that "Star Wars" droid R2-D2's name came from an abbreviation of "Reel 2, Dialog 2"?

C-3P0's name, however, came from the name of George Lucas' childhood friend, Freddie Seethreepio.

The producers of "Casablanca" originally had Ronald Reagan in mind for the male lead but decided that Humphrey Bogart was more appealing to women. Ronald Reagan, of course, went on to much bigger and better things, such as "The Girl From Jones Beach" and "The Hasty Heart."

Did you know that in "Casablanca," Rick never actually says, "Play it again, Sam?"

He says, "I like toasted marshmallows."

Alfred Hitchcock enjoyed doing cameos in his films, such as appearing as a man who misses a bus in "North by Northwest" and in a newspaper advertisement in "Lifeboat." In "The Birds" he can be seen as the third seagull from the left sitting on the swing and as Tippi Hedren's tailored jacket.

Did you know that the blood in the shower scene in "Psycho" (shot in black and white) was chocolate sauce?

Coincidentally, star Janet Leigh actually has chocolate sauce running through her veins.

After one of Fred Astaire's first screen tests, a Paramount executive gave him this review: "Can't act. Can't sing. Balding. Can dance a little." He also added in a second memo, "Can't speak without drooling. Hideous. The epitome of all that is repellent and banal. The essence of evil." Astaire, of course, proved to be one of the most talented and best loved musical stars of all time, and the executive committed suicide some years later, leaving a note railing against "the foul, insidious, unclean, crawling vermin that is Astaire."

Did you know that in "Gladiator" Oliver Reed died during shooting and some of his sequences had to be shot using a computer-generated image of his face?

And when Joaquin Phoenix called in sick, some of his scenes were shot using the animated Letter Wizard character in Microsoft Word Help.

Mercedes McCambridge played the voice of the demon in "The Exorcist," but she had to sue the producers for credit!

She won the case when her lawyer proved that the defendants' mothers sucked cocks in Hell.

Did you know that the sketch that Jack does of Rose in "Titanic" was drawn by director James Cameron?

Cameron also chose many of the camera angles in "Titanic" and even gave advice to the actors.

In "Star Wars: Episode One—The Phantom Menace," Qui-Gon Jinn's communicator is a redecorated Sensor Excel Razor for Women. This is acknowledged in an "in-joke" later in the film, when Qui-Gon Jinn hands his communicator to Queen Amidala, saying "For God's sake get rid of that fuzz under your arms. This isn't Germany, you know."

Did you know that Sally Field played Tom Hanks' love interest in "Punchline" (1988) and then six years later she played Tom Hanks' mother in "Forrest Gump"?

And she's set to play James Garner's grandmother next year in "Fossil Hunt."



Also by Martha Keavney:
Bloops... They Did It Again
Worst-Case Scenarios
















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