The Silence of the Lambs

Trivia: None of the moths seen in the film are actual Death Head moths. In the interest of avoiding the hassle involved with actually shipping moth eggs over, then halting filming so they could be raised to the proper level of maturity, the production crew simply went with a similar looking domestic breed of moth, and glued false fingernails painted with the trademark skull like visage onto their bodies.

Trivia: In the cage scene right before Hannibal kills and eats the guards, he tells them to roll up the drawings. When the guard is doing that, you can see a copy of Bon Appetit magazine on the table.

Trivia: Buffalo Bill was based on three real serial killers: Ed Gein, who skinned his victims and wore the skin; Ted Bundy, who wore a cast to appear crippled and lure unsuspecting, sympathetic women; Gary Heidnick, a man who kept the women he abducted in a pit in his basement.

Trivia: Ever get a weird feeling of nostalgia when you see the other psychopaths in Hannibal's ward? That's because one of them is them is played by Don Brockett (who played Chef Brockett on the children show "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" from 1967-1995)).

Trivia: When Anthony Hopkins was preparing to take on the role of Hannibal Lecter, he called Thomas Harris, the author of the Lecter trilogy, and gave him a sample of the Lecter voice. Harris was so frightened by the accuracy of it that he hung up on Hopkins.

Trivia: The late Gene Siskel was one critic who was not overly impressed with the film. When Anthony Hopkins picked up his award, he jokingly proclaimed, 'What's Gene Siskel's address? Someone give it to me please? I'd love to visit him. I'll see you soon, Gene.'

Allister Cooper, 2011

Trivia: The female dead body in the funeral home was a real actress, not a mannequin. Because the bug cocoon would be placed in her mouth until it is taken out in the middle of the examination, the prop master made the bug cocoon out of a mixture of tootsie rolls and gummie bears. This way if she accidentally swallowed it, it wouldn't do her any harm.

Steph_Jared

Trivia: FBI agent John Douglas made Scott Glenn (the actor who plays Jack Crawford) cry, when Glenn was at the Behavioral Sciences Unit (now called Investigative Support Unit) in Quantico, Virginia. He played a tape (sound, not video) of killers Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris torturing, raping and killing young girls (between 13-18 years old) in the back of their van. Before the encounter, Glenn was firmly against capital punishment.

Trivia: During the film's production, while Anthony Hopkins was playing Hannibal Lecter, Brian Cox (who played the character in "Manhunter") was playing King Lear at the National Theater. Ironically, during the production of "Manhunter" five years earlier, Hopkins was playing King Lear at the same theater.

Cubs Fan

Trivia: In the movie, Buffalo Bill cocks his revolver and inadvertently warns Clarice he is about to fire. The book explains this was a part of his ritual to terrorize his victims before killing them. He would follow them in the dark basement until his got bored and then cock his gun so they'd know they were about to die. He expected Clarice to react the same, but she instinctively shot him before he realised what was happening. (01:49:00)

djm

Trivia: The FBI was very supportive of the film, as felt that it would possibly inspire people to become FBI agents.

TedStixon

The Silence of the Lambs trivia picture

Trivia: Director George A. Romero appears as the bearded man who accompanies Dr. Chilton and two guards to escort Clarice out after she sneaks in to see Dr. Lector.

ployp

Trivia: The role of Hannibal Lecter was originally supposed to go to Gene Hackman, who bought the rights to the source novel and had planned on directing the film himself. He backed off the project when he decided that the role was too dark for his taste, and he felt that he had already played an unlikeable character in "Mississippi Burning."

wizard_of_gore

Revealing mistake: When Clarice is at the archive, she sees two articles, one entitled "Baltimore Psychiatrist Receives Highest Honor" and "New horrors in 'Cannibal Trial'." The column beneath both titles to the right is exactly the same, and in the first article, that same column is repeated at the leftmost and rightmost columns and in the second, is repeated at the rightmost column. That same column is scattered on every article she sees. (00:21:35)

More mistakes in The Silence of the Lambs

Hannibal Lecter: I do wish we could chat longer, but I'm having an old friend for dinner.

More quotes from The Silence of the Lambs

Question: I can not figure out how in the world agent Starling makes the connection about where Buffalo Bill lives. I don't understand the connection she makes at the house where she finds the pictures and says "you covet what you see" It has driven me crazy for years and I need help. How does she figure it all out?

Answer: In Frederika's bedroom Clarice sees the dress being made and recognises that the pieces of material are the same shape as the pieces of skin missing from the victims' bodies. In the bank, where Clarice meets Frederika's friend, Stacy tells her the address of 'Mrs Lippman' whom Frederika used to work with. Presumably Buffalo Bill is related to, or is, Mrs. Lippman since that is where Clarice finds him.

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He's not Mrs Lippman. He did, however, kill her. As Clarice chases him through the cellar, the woman's decomposing body is in a tub.

Answer: "You covet what you see": Agent Starling looks out the window of the girl's house to see who the neighbors are, who may have been watching the girl.

More questions & answers from The Silence of the Lambs

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