"Goodfellas": Five Facts About the Classic Movie
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Zachary Mandell
Apr 13, 2013, 1:20:02 PM4/13/13
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Article Title: "Goodfellas": Five Facts About the Classic Movie
Author: Zachary Mandell
Word Count: 780
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=1831829&ca=Entertainment
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The 1990 mob classic "Goodfellas" still stands as one of the best crime films of all time, although ardent fans of the Martin Scorsese film may argue that it is one of the best films outside of the crime genre as well. No matter which side film fans stand on in this debate, chances are that they have seen and liked "Goodfellas," which is why these five facts about the film are so interesting.
1. The Famous "Funny How?" Exchange Wasn't in the Script
In one of the most-quoted scenes in a very quotable film, Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) is having dinner and drinks with Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci). Tommy says something funny, which causes Henry and everyone else at their table to have a good laugh. Henry, enjoying the moment, tells Tommy that he is funny, which causes the scene's lighthearted feel to change drastically. Suddenly, the temperamental Tommy is questioning what Henry meant by saying that he is funny. He famously says, "I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you?" He seems to take the offhanded comment as a grave insult rather than as the compliment that was intended. After some very tense moments where another patron tries unsuccessfully to intervene, Tommy reveals that he was just busting Henry's chops and that it was all a joke.
The scene was not in the original script. Pesci had a similar experience once when he was working in a restaurant frequented by real-life mobsters. He recalled the experience to director Scorsese, who told him and Liotta to improvise.
2. The Working Title Was "Wiseguy"
Scorsese wrote the film with Nicholas Pileggi, a writer who specialized in mob novels. It was based on Pileggi's novel Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family, which was first published in 1986. When Scorsese decided to adapt the bestseller into a full-length movie, he and Pileggi began writing the script with the title "Wiseguy." A critically acclaimed series by the same name existed on television at the time, so producers were afraid this would cause confusion with moviegoers. The film and the television show were both about crime families but had very different focuses. Nevertheless, it was decided that the film's name would have to change before it was released so as to prevent any risk of confusion. It was then renamed to "Goodfellas" and released in 1990.
3. Filming Was Postponed by Jesus Christ, Sort Of
Scorsese wanted to make the film soon after the novel it was based on was released, so he went ahead with writing and development as if he was about to start filming. He had also been developing a film about the life and death of Jesus Christ around the same time. Very suddenly, that film got such a huge infusion of budget money that Scorsese had to postpone development on "Goodfellas" in order to start working on the other film. After casting the lead, Willem Dafoe, he began production on the film that would become the controversial "The Last Temptation of Christ." After finishing the postproduction on that film, he once again began preproduction on "Goodfellas," commencing filming in 1989.
4. The Film Tested Very Poorly
Movie studios will often show a film to a test audience weeks or months before it is released to gauge reactions. Often, if a test audience hates an ending or character, the studio will reshoot scenes to eliminate whatever the viewers found problematic. When the filmmakers began test screening "Goodfellas," many viewers were put off by the high level of violence in the film. Scorsese himself admitted that he didn't want to tone down any of the blood and occasionally shocking violence, because he wanted a real-life depiction of life in the Mafia. He admitted that some of the violence was "cold, unfeeling, and horrible." The amount of killing in the film caused forty people to get up and leave the screening in the first ten minutes alone. Fortunately, the test audiences were not indicative of the rest of the country, which embraced the movie and made it a hit.
5. It Is a Part of the National Film Registry
The Library of Congress will periodically select certain films as being culturally significant enough to be added to the National Film Registry. In 2000, just ten years after its release, "Goodfellas" was added to the registry. That's a big honor for a film that tested so poorly and that many thought was going to be a critical and financial failure. It was neither, and it is now preserved with other classics as a part of the National Film Registry.
About The Author: As a long time fan of Hollywood I was able to carve out the perfect career in the entertainment industry by writing initially for celebrity news sites and am now the owner of http://MovieRoomReviews.com
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Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Zachary Mandell
*****************************
IMPORTANT - Publication/Reprint Terms
- You have permission to publish this article electronically in free-only publications such as a website or an ezine as long as the bylines are included.
- You are not allowed to use this article for commercial purposes. The article should only be reprinted in a publicly accessible website and not in a members-only commercial site.
- You are not allowed to post/reprint this article in any sites/publications that contains or supports hate, violence, porn and warez or any indecent and illegal sites/publications.
- You are not allowed to use this article in UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) or SPAM. This article MUST be distributed in an opt-in email list only.
- If you distribute this article in an ezine or newsletter, we ask that you send a copy of the newsletter or ezine that contains the article to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=1831829
- If you post this article in a website/forum/blog, ALL links MUST be set to hyperlinks and we ask that you send a copy of the URL where the article is posted to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=1831829
- We request that you ask permission from the author if you want to publish this article in print.
The role of iSnare.com is only to distribute this article as part of its Article Distribution feature ( http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php ). iSnare.com does NOT own this article, please respect the author's copyright and this publication/reprint terms. If you do not agree to any of these terms, please do not reprint or publish this article.
*****************************
Article Title: "Goodfellas": Five Facts About the Classic Movie
Author: Zachary Mandell
Word Count: 780
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=1831829&ca=Entertainment
Format: 64cpl
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=1831829
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=1831829
*********************** ARTICLE START ***********************
The 1990 mob classic "Goodfellas" still stands as one of the best crime films of all time, although ardent fans of the Martin Scorsese film may argue that it is one of the best films outside of the crime genre as well. No matter which side film fans stand on in this debate, chances are that they have seen and liked "Goodfellas," which is why these five facts about the film are so interesting.
1. The Famous "Funny How?" Exchange Wasn't in the Script
In one of the most-quoted scenes in a very quotable film, Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) is having dinner and drinks with Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci). Tommy says something funny, which causes Henry and everyone else at their table to have a good laugh. Henry, enjoying the moment, tells Tommy that he is funny, which causes the scene's lighthearted feel to change drastically. Suddenly, the temperamental Tommy is questioning what Henry meant by saying that he is funny. He famously says, "I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you?" He seems to take the offhanded comment as a grave insult rather than as the compliment that was intended. After some very tense moments where another patron tries unsuccessfully to intervene, Tommy reveals that he was just busting Henry's chops and that it was all a joke.
The scene was not in the original script. Pesci had a similar experience once when he was working in a restaurant frequented by real-life mobsters. He recalled the experience to director Scorsese, who told him and Liotta to improvise.
2. The Working Title Was "Wiseguy"
Scorsese wrote the film with Nicholas Pileggi, a writer who specialized in mob novels. It was based on Pileggi's novel Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family, which was first published in 1986. When Scorsese decided to adapt the bestseller into a full-length movie, he and Pileggi began writing the script with the title "Wiseguy." A critically acclaimed series by the same name existed on television at the time, so producers were afraid this would cause confusion with moviegoers. The film and the television show were both about crime families but had very different focuses. Nevertheless, it was decided that the film's name would have to change before it was released so as to prevent any risk of confusion. It was then renamed to "Goodfellas" and released in 1990.
3. Filming Was Postponed by Jesus Christ, Sort Of
Scorsese wanted to make the film soon after the novel it was based on was released, so he went ahead with writing and development as if he was about to start filming. He had also been developing a film about the life and death of Jesus Christ around the same time. Very suddenly, that film got such a huge infusion of budget money that Scorsese had to postpone development on "Goodfellas" in order to start working on the other film. After casting the lead, Willem Dafoe, he began production on the film that would become the controversial "The Last Temptation of Christ." After finishing the postproduction on that film, he once again began preproduction on "Goodfellas," commencing filming in 1989.
4. The Film Tested Very Poorly
Movie studios will often show a film to a test audience weeks or months before it is released to gauge reactions. Often, if a test audience hates an ending or character, the studio will reshoot scenes to eliminate whatever the viewers found problematic. When the filmmakers began test screening "Goodfellas," many viewers were put off by the high level of violence in the film. Scorsese himself admitted that he didn't want to tone down any of the blood and occasionally shocking violence, because he wanted a real-life depiction of life in the Mafia. He admitted that some of the violence was "cold, unfeeling, and horrible." The amount of killing in the film caused forty people to get up and leave the screening in the first ten minutes alone. Fortunately, the test audiences were not indicative of the rest of the country, which embraced the movie and made it a hit.
5. It Is a Part of the National Film Registry
The Library of Congress will periodically select certain films as being culturally significant enough to be added to the National Film Registry. In 2000, just ten years after its release, "Goodfellas" was added to the registry. That's a big honor for a film that tested so poorly and that many thought was going to be a critical and financial failure. It was neither, and it is now preserved with other classics as a part of the National Film Registry.
About The Author: As a long time fan of Hollywood I was able to carve out the perfect career in the entertainment industry by writing initially for celebrity news sites and am now the owner of http://MovieRoomReviews.com
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=1831829
*********************** ARTICLE END ***********************
- To distribute your articles go to http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php
- For more free-reprint articles go to http://www.isnare.com
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