Production
The opening scene of the movie, depicting a conversation between Dortmunder and the warden upon Dortmunder's release, is based on a scene edited out of Goldman's screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The origin of the scene was a real discussion between Butch Cassidy and the governor of Wyoming when Cassidy was released from prison, which Goldman uncovered when he was researching the prior screenplay.
One scene depicts the gang flying by helicopter through Manhattan about 64 minutes into the film to break into a police station. During this footage, the helicopter flies by the World Trade Center. The south tower was still under construction when this film was shot.
This film includes the first screen appearance of the actor and director Christopher Guest, in a small part as a police officer.
The music for the film was composed by Quincy Jones.
Four more of the Donald E. Westlake Dortmunder series have been filmed (with the character renamed in most instances), beginning with Bank Shot (1974) starring George C. Scott, and followed by Jimmy the Kid (1982) starring Paul LeMat (followed by a 1999 German remake); Why Me? (1990) starring Christopher Lambert; and What's the Worst That Could Happen? (2001) starring Martin Lawrence.
Read more about this topic: The Hot Rock (film)
Famous quotes containing the word production:
“The growing of food and the growing of children are both vital to the family’s survival.... Who would dare make the judgment that holding your youngest baby on your lap is less important than weeding a few more yards in the maize field? Yet this is the judgment our society makes constantly. Production of autos, canned soup, advertising copy is important. Housework—cleaning, feeding, and caring—is unimportant.”
—Debbie Taylor (20th century)
“The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“It is part of the educator’s responsibility to see equally to two things: First, that the problem grows out of the conditions of the experience being had in the present, and that it is within the range of the capacity of students; and, secondly, that it is such that it arouses in the learner an active quest for information and for production of new ideas. The new facts and new ideas thus obtained become the ground for further experiences in which new problems are presented.”
—John Dewey (1859–1952)