16 June: The Blues Brothers

On this date in 1980, The Blues Brothers starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd premièred in Chicago, four days before its general release. 10 things you might not know about the film:

1. What’s it about? The plot revolves around two brothers, Jake and Elwood Blues. After Jake Blues is released from prison after serving three years. The brothers learn that the orphanage they grew up in will be forced to close unless $5,000 in property taxes is collected, and decide to get their old band together to perform a charity concert.

2. The first draft of the screenplay was written by Dan Aykroyd, and, since he wasn’t a screenwriter, it ended up being 324 pages long, about three times as long as a screenplay normally is. Director John Landis spent three weeks paring the script down.

3. All the car chases and stunts involving cars were done for real using actual cars (60 old police cars were purchased for $400) and 40 stunt drivers (one of whom was Ethan Wayne, John Wayne’s son). For a while, the film held the record for the highest number of cars wrecked during filming (103) until The Junkman broke the record 2 years later wrecking 150 cars and a plane. The film-makers got permission to drive at speeds of over 100 MPH in the city of Chicago. However, because the streets had been cleared of pedestrians it looked like the film had simply been sped up, so the scene had to be re-shot with some extras walking around.

4. At the time, Chicago wasn’t a major filming location and so the car chases prompted a number of calls to the local papers by residents reporting what they were seeing; and a helicopter filming overhead shots was fired at by guards at the prison because they thought it was casing out the building.

5. The corrections officer who returns Jake’s belongings at the beginning of the movie is played by puppeteer Frank Oz.

6. When the film was being shot, Dan Aykroyd and Carrie Fisher were an item, and they got engaged on set after Fisher choked on a Brussels sprout and he did the Heimlich manoeuvrer on her. The wedding never happened, though, as she would later get back together with Paul Simon.

7. The film cost $30 million to make, one of the most expensive films ever made. Expenses included cars to wreck, paying to use locations including a recently closed shopping mall (the Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Illinois) and buying products wholesale to stock the shelves and even cocaine for one of the stars who was addicted to it at the time. It was even rumoured that Landis and Steven Spielberg were engaged in a rivalry, the goal of which was to make the more expensive film.

8. During filming of a night scene, John Belushi wandered into a random house and asked the owners for a glass of milk and a sandwich before crashing out on their couch. When Dan Aykroyd showed up looking for him, the homeowner looked at him, smiled and said, "You're here for John Belushi, aren't you?"

9. Every time the window in Elwood's apartment is visible, a train goes past.

10. For the 30th anniversary of the movie, The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano called the film "a Catholic classic", recommending it as good viewing for Catholics.

Character birthday

Rocket Thief, petty criminal who uses a rocket pack. Rocket Thief does not have any super-human abilities, but relies on technology and skill. His rocket pack has similar technology to Kestrel's rocket boosters, suggesting the two may have spent time together in the armed forces; or one may have stolen the technology from the other. Why he and Kestrel are bitter enemies is not known.