Trivia: The Hindenburg explosion and fire towards the end of the movie combines filmed footage with actual newsreel footage of the disaster.
Trivia: David Seidler won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for this film. At the age of 73, Seidler was the oldest person to win the Award.
Trivia: This was the first film from a black director to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Trivia: Both Frank Langella and Michael Sheen played their respective roles in the original Broadway production.
Trivia: General Robert E. Lee was shown throughout the movie as wearing the three star insignia of a Colonel, rather than the three stars surrounded by a wreath as was the proper insignia for all Confederate generals. General Lee actually wore this throughout most if not all of the war, and this is accurate.
Trivia: In the movie, when we first see Lady Jane Grey, we see a painting of Helena Bonham Carter as Jane. The portrait this was based on was long believed to be the only known portrait of Lady Jane but is now reclassified as Henry VIII's last wife, Catherine Parr. It is in the National Portrait Gallery, London, England.
Trivia: This movie was filmed back-to-back with Letters from Iwo Jima, a fictional account of the battle of Iwo Jima that looks at it from the Japanese soldier's perspective.
Trivia: Outside the Port Authority terminal is a statue of Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden from "The Honeymooners." According to Oliver Stone in the audio commentary, that statue actually exists.
Trivia: When the Facebook team are celebrating their 1,000,000th member, Mark Zuckerberg is wearing an Arm & Hammer t-shirt. This is in reference to Cameron Winklevoss/Tyler Winklevoss being played by actor Armand "Armie" Hammer. (01:42:25)
Trivia: Although Adrian Brody was officially the star of "Hollywoodland," his character (private detective Louis Simo) was a completely fictional role in the movie. Virtually all of the other characters in the film are based on real people, but there never was a Louis Simo, and he's not based on any actual person (s). George Reeves' mother did hire an attorney and a detective agency in real life; however, "Hollywoodland" director Allen Coulter said that the character of Louis Simo wasn't even partially based on anyone in real life.
Trivia: Esmond P. Knight, the actor who portrayed Captain Leach of the battleship "Prince of Wales" was a crew member on the ship during the real battle where he was badly injured, suffering a period of blindness.
Trivia: Ava Gardner plays Empress Elizabeth, the mother of Archduke Rudolf (Omar Sharif). In real life, Gardner was only ten years older than Sharif.
Trivia: Angelina Jolie was pregnant with her daughter Shiloh when she portrayed Mariane Pearl, who was pregnant with her son Adam during the events of the movie.
Trivia: When the screenwriter was pitching the film back in the 90's, reportedly at one meeting an executive suggested in all seriousness that Julia Roberts should play Harriet Tubman. When another person in the room mentioned that it wouldn't make any sense for the (very white) Roberts to play the role of Tubman, he responded "It was so long ago! Nobody would know the difference!"
Trivia: The reconstruction of the Roman Forum at Las Matas for this film holds the record for the largest outdoor film set ever constructed. The various ancient Rome settings covered 55 acres.
Trivia: Although Lionel Jeffries and John Fraser play father and son in this film, Jeffries was only five years older than Fraser.
Trivia: The characters John Blackthorne and Toranaga are based upon two historical figures: Togukawa Ieyasu and William Adams, an Englishman who both became a samurai and a close advisor to Ieyasu in the 1600s.
Trivia: Eddie is given a heartfelt pep talk by his idol Matti Nykänen, the Finnish ski jumper. Nykänen actually spoke no English at all.