Trivia and Quotes
Quotes
 Peter Appleton: I can`t stand the constant nagging. I`m leaving you, Jerry. I`m leaving you - and I`m taking the monkey with me. Adele: Do you remember me?
Peter Appleton: No, but I`ll sure try.
Elvin Clyde: Who did you go as?
Peter Appleton: A horny young man.
Luke Trimble: When bullies rise up, the rest of us have to beat them back down, whatever the cost. That`s a simple idea I suppose, but one worth giving everything for.
Peter Appleton: I thought this was a democracy.
Leo Kubelsky: The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, they`re all just pieces of paper with signatures on them. And you know what a piece of paper with a signature is, a contract. Something that can be renegotiated at any time. Just so happens that the House un-American activities committee is renegotiating the contract this time around. Next time it will be somebody else, but it will always be somebody.
[Inside the abandoned movie theater]
Harry Trimble: That`s why we call it The Majestic. Any man, woman, child could buy their ticket, walk right in. Here they`d be, here we`d be. "Yes sir, yes ma`am. Enjoy the show." And in they`d come entering a palace, like in a dream, like in heaven. Maybe you had worries and problems out there, but once you came through those doors, they didn`t matter anymore. And you know why? Chaplin, that`s why. And Keaton and Lloyd. Garbo, Gable, and Lombard, and Jimmy Stewart and Jimmy Cagney. Fred and Ginger. They were gods. And they lived up there. That was Olympus. Would you remember if I told you how lucky we felt just to be here? To have the privilege of watching them. I mean, this television thing. Why would you want to stay at home and watch a little box? Because it`s convenient? Because you don`t have to get dressed up, because you could just sit there? I mean, how can you call that entertainment, alone in your living room? Where`s the other people? Where`s the audience? Where`s the magic? I`ll tell you, in a place like this, the magic is all around you. The trick is to see it.
Adele: This is a free country, you can be a communist if you want to be a communist!
Roland the Intrepid Explorer: Taste my steel you dog!
[Instead of a piano piece by Franz Liszt, Luke plays a boogie-woogie tune]
Irene Terwilliger: Really, Luke! That`s no way to treat Mr. Liszt. Stop that! Stop it, stop it! Who taught you to play like that? I demand to know. Where on earth did you learn to play such a thing?
Emmett Smith: I taught him that... when you weren`t looking!
Bob Leffert: I knew Luke Trimble. I didn`t like him much. Not saying he`s a bad guy. Just rubbed me the wrong way. You know that feelin`? Somebody rubs you the wrong way, and you can`t even explain why? You kinda rub me that way. Not that it makes you Luke. So, I wanna know is what kinda game are you runnin`? Who are you really?
Peter Appleton: Just a guy trying to figure things out.
Bob Leffert: This town`s had enough heartbreak. Too much. Me, I think you`re settin` everybody up for more. I hope I`m wrong. I haven`t had to kill anybody since the war.
Emmett Smith: I forget things sometimes, since the war.
Peter Appleton: Yeah, me, too.
Jerry the Bartender: I wouldn`t know J. Edgar Hoover if he came in here wearing a dress.
Congressman Doyle: Are you asking this committe to believe that you attended the meeting of a communist organization because of a girl?
Peter Appleton: Yes sir... I`m sure that even a majority counselor like yourself has familiar with the concept of impressing a girl!
Emmett Smith: [after Peter comes down the stairs] You found me.
Peter Appleton: Oh, sorry. I didn`t know who was down here.
Emmett Smith: Just me and the dog.
Peter Appleton: What`s his name?
Emmett Smith: Dog.
Roland the Intrepid Explorer: ["Luke" watches Sand Pirates of the Sahara, starting to remember who he is when he knows the lines before the characters say them] Oh, Emily.
Sandra Sinclair: [as Emily] Oh, Roland!
Peter Appleton: [fully remembers who he is] Oh, shit!
Doc Stanton: Your face really does seem... familiar.
Peter Appleton: [looking in the mirror] Wish I could say the same thing.
Peter Appleton: The 5th Ammendment is off the table. But there is another Ammendment I`d like to invoke. I wonder if anyone here is familiar with it. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."
Congressman Doyle: You`re out of order!
Peter Appleton: "Shall make no law... respecting - "
Congressman Doyle: My chamber will come to order!
Peter Appleton: "An establishment of religion... or prohibiting free exercise thereof... or abridging freedom of speech, or of the press... or of the right to petition for a redress of grievances."
Congressman Doyle: Do not presume to lecture this Committee!
Peter Appleton: The First Ammendment. It`s what we`re about, if we`d live up to it. It`s part of the contract every citizen has here. Even though the Constitution and the Bill of Rights... are just pieces of paper with signatures on them... they`re the only contracts that we have that are defintely not subject... to renegotiation. Not by you, Mr.Chairman.
Congressman Doyle: Mr.Appleton!
Peter Appleton: Not by you, Mr.Clyde.
Congressman Doyle: Stand down!
Peter Appleton: Not by anyone, ever. Too many people have paid in blood.
Congressman Doyle: Enough, sir! You are out of order!
Peter Appleton: People like Luke Trimble and all the sons of Lawson, California. And they deserve better than this. All you boys do.
Congressman Doyle: I will have order or I will clear this chamber!
Peter Appleton: When you get right down to it, fell as... that`s all I have to say to you.
[he leaves the courtroom]
Emmett Smith: [coming downstairs] Luke, something`s wrong! Harry missed the reel change.
Peter Appleton: [distracted] What?
Emmett Smith: Harry missed the reel change.
Peter Appleton: [running up to the projector`s booth] Harry?
[he enters the projector`s booth and see`s Harry on the floor]
Peter Appleton: Harry. Jesus!
[he kneels by his side, he turns to Emmett]
Peter Appleton: Go get Doc!
Emmett Smith: [calling] Doc! Doc! Harry`s in trouble! Come quick!
[Doc heads for the projector`s booth]
Harry Trimble: [weak] Oh, no. No.
Peter Appleton: What, Harry? What?
Harry Trimble: I missed the damn reel change.
Peter Appleton: [quietly] It`s all right. You just lay still. Doc`s on his way. I`m here.
Peter Appleton: [comes across Adele at the cemetery] I didn`t know you were here.
Adele: I was just... saying goodbye.
Peter Appleton: Adele, I`m sorry the way things turned out. I never meant to hurt anyone, least of all you.
Adele: People get hurt sometimes, we can`t always help it. So are you really a Communist?
Peter Appleton: No, I`m really not.
Adele: I didn`t think so. Only a capitalist could get The Majestic up and running.
Peter Appleton: Great endorsement. Can I call you as a witness?
Adele: If it helps.
Peter Appleton: Thanks.
Adele: So what will you tell the Committee?
Peter Appleton: Tell them what they want to hear: "Sorry, I won`t do it again, blah, blah."
Adele: You`re not serious.
Peter Appleton: What`s wrong with it?
Adele: Everything.
Peter Appleton: Be more specific.
Adele: Aside from the fact that this is a free country, and you can be a Communist if you want to be, leaving that aside, if you`re accused falsely you have a duty as well as a right to stand up and suggest they drop dead.
Peter Appleton: Emile Zola, you feel strongly about this.
Adele: Damn right! It doesn`t make it any less rigged. It`s called a witch hunt. And there`s burden of proof, innocence before guilt.
Peter Appleton: In law school, but the rest of us live in the real world. I mess with these guys, I go to jail.
Adele: All the more reason to fight them.
Peter Appleton: Like Luke would`ve done? Go ahead, say it.
Adele: Yes, like Luke would have done.
Peter Appleton: God, here it comes. Tell me again what a great guy Luke was. I haven`t heard that enough!
Adele: He would have stood up.
Peter Appleton: Well, he`s not here to vouch for that. We have to take your word! Everybody`s memory of Luke is a little rose-colored. Besides, I`m not Luke. While he was liberating Europe, I was running the PX. He couldn`t wait to save the world! I was happy not to go! I didn`t want to end up like him. I wanted to survive! You stand for a cause you get mowed down. Look. Look!
[Adele observes the many graves of the soldiers]
Peter Appleton: That`s the real world. I want my goddamn life back, Adele. Is that so hard to understand?
Trivia
The golden idol Khalid uses to knock out Emily`s father in "Sand Pirates of the Sahara" was lent to the production by Steven Spielberg and is the same prop used in the opening sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
The bar Jim Carrey goes to is the Coco Bongo. The nightclub in The Mask (1994) was also the Coco Bongo.
You can clearly see a poster for It`s a Wonderful Life (1946) in the foyer of the Majestic, before it is renovated.
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* In the first scene of the movie, we see Jim Carrey`s character reacting to the ideas of studio executives, one of whom mentions that the name "Floyd" is terrible, and that it has to be changed. Later on we learn that they changed the name to "Heywood", which an executive also says is terrible. Heywood and Floyd are both characters from Frank Darabont`s earlier movie The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and Dr Heywood Floyd is a character in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
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# One of the Majestic`s employees is named Irene Terwilliger. "Terwilliger" is also the last name of a character in Frank Darabont`s The Green Mile (1999). He was played by Jeffrey DeMunn, who plays Mayor Ernie Cole in The Majestic (2001).
Laurie Holden`s character is inspired to become a lawyer by the film The Life of Emile Zola (1937). Holden`s real-life grandmother, Gloria Holden, was one of the stars of this film.
A character mentions the film The Life of Emile Zola (1937). This film is about a lawyer who comes to the defense of a Jewish soldier fighting trumped-up charges of treason in turn-of-the-century France.
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# Brian Libby, who plays Studio Guard Hal, has appeared in all of director Frank Darabont`s movies. Darabont considers Libby to be a lucky charm of sorts and casts him whenever possible.
The real Luke Trimble was a paratrooper in the famed 101st Airborne Division. His voice was provided by Matt Damon, who also played a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division in Saving Private Ryan (1998).
One of the voices in the two screenwriting conference scenes is famous director and screenwriter Garry Marshall. Other voices belong to Carl Reiner and his son Rob Reiner.
Director Trademark: [Frank Darabont] the word S-T-O-R-Y in the graveyard. Also done in The Green Mile (1999). This is his way of indicating that the "story" is dead in Hollywood.
The voices of the unseen studio executives during the first screenwriting scene (and the one later in the film) are all famous directors, including Garry Marshall, Paul Mazursky, Sydney Pollack, Rob Reiner, and Carl Reiner (although Carl is more famous for his comedic acting). All of these directors are also known their occasional acting forays.
The letter written by Luke Trimble to Adele copies the form, sentiments and even some of the phrases of a famous Civil War letter written a week before the battle of Bull Run by Sullivan Ballou, a Major in the 2nd Rhode Island Volunteers, to his wife in Smithfield.
#
# Several elements of the movie borrow from the real-life Hollywood Ten of blacklisted members of the film-making industry. The name of the town that adopts Jim Carrey`s character as a long-lost son is Lawson; one of the targeted screenwriters was named John Howard Lawson. Another writer, Lester Cole, shares a surname with a movie character, Lawson`s mayor. There is also a strong similarity between Luke and Harry`s last name, Trimble, and the surname of blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo.
The town of Lawson is named for John Howard Lawson, the man who finally stood up to HUAC and ended the Red Scare.
The director of "Sand Pirates of the Sahara", the movie within the movie, is "Ferenc Arpad". This is Frank Darabont`s first and middle names translated into his native Hungarian.
Jim Carrey`s character`s name, Appleton, is also the name of the city in Wisconsin where Joseph McCarthy was born.
The feature that Peter is selling tickets for at the end of the film is Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), seen by many to be a metaphor for the red scare and McCarthyism.
At one point, while the characters in the film are examining a store-front display of World War II heroes, a photograph of several men in uniform is shown. This photo is of actual soldiers that fought in World War II, all of whom made their home at the location of the film shoot, Ferndale, California.
"HHS Studios" is named for Hollywood High School, which Frank Darabont attended.
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# Neither the Majestic nor Mabel`s Diner actually exist in Ferndale, where the movie was filmed. However, the newspaper office for the Lawson Beacon (across the street from the WWII memorial) is the actual newspaper office for the Ferndale Enterprise. The Sheriff`s office and City Hall were facades built over opposite ends of the U.S. Bank building in town. The facade of The Majestic was built over a city parking lot. Only the facade and lobby were used for filming at that location. The indoor sets were built in buildings at the Humboldt County Fairgrounds.
The Lawson train station that Jim Carrey departs from and returns to is actually in Fort Bragg, California. The train he is on is called "The Skunk Train" and is, in real life, a scenic railroad that runs inland from the north coast through the redwoods.
WILHELM SCREAM: When part of the theater`s neon sign explodes.
The `film within a film` Sand Pirates of the Desert, uses music from two classic Hollywood films, both scored by Erich Wolfgang Korngold - "Of Human Bondage" (1945) and "Captain Blood" (1935).
At the opening of the Majestic, a poster for the movie version of A Streetcar Named Desire starring Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando can be seen.
In the opening scene, the studio executives discuss a film in which a character named Floyd gets trapped in a cave-in. They may be discussing making a film about Floyd Collins, who was trapped in a cave in central Kentucky in 1925. The Floyd Collins story was turned into a film called Ace in the Hole (1951) by Billy Wilder, released in 1951, the same year that "The Majestic" takes place.
Luke Trimble`s full name: Albert Lucas "Luke" Trimble.
James Whitmore `s final feature film.
The movie poster for the movie-within-a-movie "Sand Pirates of the Sahara" reveals one of the actors` names to be "Ramon Jamon". "Jamon" is Spanish for "ham".
Matt Damon was offered the lead role of Peter Appleton but turned it down as he had other movie commitments at the time.
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Jim Carrey
(as Peter Appleton)
with Laurie Holden
(as Adele Stanton)
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