Catch Me If You Can (2002) - 7 trivia entries

The real Frank Abagnale Jr. was held in the French prison (Perpignan's House of Arrest) for approximately six months. His term was shortened from twelve months. When released (extradited to Sweden), he was quite ill because he was forced to live in a damp, dark cell, naked and allowed only bread and water to eat. He was next sent to Sweden, where he was tried and convicted. The Swedish prison was quite comfortable. However, upon completion of his prison term in Sweden, he was next to be extradited to Italy. The Swedish government believes in prison reform and was afraid of the treatment he would receive in an Italian prison. As a result, Sweden revoked Frank's passport so it could intentionally have him extradited to the U.S. Once in the US, he was protected and couldn't be tried in all the foreign countries he perpetrated his fraudulent schemes. This can all be confirmed in the book, which is a much more accurate depiction of his life and was written approximately 10 years prior to the release of the movie.

In case anyone was wondering, Frank was telling the truth when he said he passed the Bar Exam by studying. He studied for three weeks and took it. He did, however, fail the first two times. But since you were allowed to take it as many times as possible, he just used process of elimination till he passed, and third time was a charm.

Frank Abagnale's father was, in real life, a straight honest law abiding citizen, and not the shonky con-man as depicted in the movie.

Towards the end of the movie, when Hanratty is briefing his staff on a fraud suspect, you can see on the chalkboard next to Hanratty , on the bottom left, written "Steven and Tom's 4th project." "Steven" refers to the film's director Steven Spielberg; "Tom" refers to Tom Hanks, who played Carl Hanratty and Frank Abagnale's pursuer, and "4th project" means that this film was Spielberg's and Hank's fourth film together.

The real Frank Abagnale plays one of the French policemen.

The apartment where Frank lives in Atlanta is the perfect one for a single man, according to the philosophy of Hugh Heffner, the founder of Playboy magazine.

When Handratty is making the first attempt to arrest Frank, he flashes his FBI credentials at the maid at the top of the stairs, but the side with his photo and information is facing Handratty, so the maid only sees the back of the wallet. Intentional, but worth a look.