Trivia: John Hughes, the director, originally wanted John Cusak to play Judd Nelson's bad boy role. He finally gave in when he realized that John didn't look "tough enough".
Trivia: The character of Sofia is played by Oprah Winfrey. Sofia marries Harpo, as well as the fact that 'Harpo' is 'Oprah' reversed, 'Harpo' is also the name of Oprah Winfrey's production company.
Trivia: Harrison Ford was very taken with the Amish and the beautiful scenery in which Witness was filmed. Mr. Ford is a supporter and contributor to the Lancaster Farmland Trust, which helps save and preserve precious family farmlands. The Krantz' farm (where Witness was filmed) was saved and preserved by this trust fund.
Trivia: Director Peter Bogdanovich's first choice for the part of Rocky Dennis was Anthony Michael Hall. Hall turned down the part because he didn't like the idea of hiding his face during the whole film with make-up. Eric Stoltz was then cast instead.
Suggested correction: I don't know if you are right or wrong, but I thought Eric was given the role because he sang "Rock-y" during his audition. [I'm not really asserting that you are wrong; I had to pick that option in order to be able to reply here.].
Trivia: This was Disney's first PG-rated animated film, and the company caught a lot of flak for it from parents' groups.
Trivia: Audrey Landers is not seen in wide shots of the entire cast while dancing because she was an inexperienced dancer.
Trivia: The title of the movie (and book) is derived from the writings of Roman historian Pliny the Elder: "Out of Africa always something new" (original Latin - Ex Africa semper aliquid novi).
Trivia: This is, the way I see it, a VERY serious mistake by the filming crew of the movie. The Alaska Railroad, where the shooting of the movie took place, wanted all their logos and paint schemes of all the trains in the movie to be camouflaged. But yet, on the first shot of the locomotive of Eastbound 12 (yes, that is the shot of it before it mysteriously changes from ONE GP40 to TWO ALCo MRS's), you can see the blue and yellow paint scheme of the Alaska Railroad. On the DVD you might even be able to see the printed ALASKA on the side of the loco.
Trivia: Check out the very brief appearance by one of today's most notable actors: William H. Macy. He had a very small, very brief role as the dance host's manager. This movie was made when Macy was only in his fledgeling acting years, hence his small, unimportant part in what can be considered a B-movie. He goes by "W.H. Macy" in the credits, which is what he went by in his early acting years.
Trivia: John Huston was nominated for the Best Director Academy Award for this movie. At the age of 79, Huston became the oldest person to be Oscar nominated for directing.
Trivia: Director Norman Jewison's daughter Jennifer appears as a female patient.
Trivia: The "smoking man" at the Shangri-La tower who bumps into Sam is the film's director, Terry Gilliam.
Trivia: Real counterfeit bills were printed during principal photography. The prop master got in some hot water for this, even though the bills were created specifically for a scene in which Willem Dafoe burns them in a fireplace.
Trivia: The bad guy, Fraker, real name Gavan O'Herlihy, is the lost son "Chuck Cunningham" on the first season of Happy Days in 1974.
Trivia: Mare Winningham, whose storyline revolves around the fact that she's a virgin, was pregnant throughout the filming of the movie. This is the reason she's wearing those baggy clothes.
Trivia: Some of the cloud effects were created by dumping colored dyes in tanks of water which were then superimposed into the shot.
Trivia: The role of Eddie Cusack was originally written for Clint Eastwood.
Trivia: Despite being considered an important piece of film history and being an Academy Award-winning film, "Kiss of the Spider Woman" is notoriously hard to find in many countries (including the US) due to nightmarish rights disputes. It was only available on disc for a brief window, has gone through multiple decade-or-more stretches without any official release and is unavailable to stream legally.