Trivia for Unforgiven (1992)
The script floated around Hollywood for nearly 20 years, during which time Gene Hackman read and rejected it, only to be later convinced by Clint Eastwood (who had owned the rights to the script for some time) to play a role.
Munny's children are named Will and Penny, possibly a reference to the film Will Penny (1968), in which a cowboy turns gunslinger to help out a widow and her children.
Saul Rubinek asks Clint Eastwood how he chose the order in which to shoot six deputies. Eastwood replies that he "got lucky." This is a sly reference to Eastwood's earlier film The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), in which Chief Dan George asks Eastwood how he chose the order in which to shoot four Union soldiers, and Eastwood responds with a lengthy explanation about their various holsters and the looks in their eyes.
Only the third western to ever win the Best Picture Oscar. The other two being Dances with Wolves (1990) and Cimarron (1931).
The final screen credit reads, "Dedicated to Sergio and Don", referring to Clint Eastwood's mentors, Sergio Leone and 'Don Siegel (I)'.
Although the score was arranged by Lennie Niehaus, the main theme was written by Eastwood himself.
Richard Harris was watching High Plains Drifter (1973) on TV when Clint Eastwood phoned him to offer the part of English Bob.
Clint Eastwood's mother toiled through an uncomfortable day (wearing a heavy dress) as an extra, filming a scene where she boards a train; but the scene was eventually cut, with her son apologizing that the film was "too long and something had to go." All was forgiven when he brought her to the Academy Awards and thanked her prominently in his acceptance speech.
The film was shot in 39 days, coming in 4 days ahead of schedule. The town had to be built very quickly, with a relatively short run-up time (2 months) to the start of filming; the construction period was used by the stunt coordinator to work on actors' riding skills and stunt choreography.
The train sequences were filmed in Sonora, California, as there remained an operational 19th-century narrow-gauge railway track in the area.
Several names in the script refer to characters in earlier Westerns. "Will Munny" is a variation of "Will Penny". Munny's children are named "Will" and "Penny." Little Bill Dagget's last name is borrowed from True Grit (1969) as is the name Quincy mentioned in the dialogue. Instead of an English Bob, there is a Mexican Bob in "True Grit".
One of the few changes that Clint Eastwood made to David Webb Peoples's original script was to remove the opening voiceover and replace it with text.
Most of the rain in the film was specially created because Calgary, where it was shot, was experiencing a dry spell, though the snowfall that is featured when William Munny is recovering from his beating was unexpected (and unscripted).
To maintain the authentic atmosphere, no motor vehicles were allowed on the Big Whiskey set.
Production designer Henry Bumstead took only 32 days to have the Big Whiskey set constructed, the fastest in his lengthy career.
It took Clint Eastwood several years to actually get round to reading the script as his script reader had initially told him that it wasn't very good.
Clint Eastwood asked Gene Hackman to model his character of Little Bill Daggett on then Los Angeles police chief Daryl Gates.
Writer David Webb Peoples credits Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976) and Glendon Swarthout's novel "The Shootist" as two of the major shaping influences of his screenplay.
None of the participants, least of all Clint Eastwood and writer David Webb Peoples, actively set out to make an anti-violence film. It was a natural byproduct of the script.
The tavern in which the final scene takes place is called Greeley's. It is a reference to New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley who who is often incorrectly attributed with writing the line "Go West Young Man." That line was actually written by John B.L. Soule.
Clint Eastwood said at the time that this would be the last movie that he would both act in and direct, but he went on to appear in quite a lot of movies he directed since then.
The boots that Clint Eastwood wore in this film are the same boots that he wore in the TV series "Rawhide" (1959). These boots are now a part of Clint Eastwood's private collection and were on loan to the 2005 Sergio Leone exhibit at the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles, California. In essence these boots have book-ended Eastwood's career in the western genre.
The rifle Andy carries to arrest English Bob is a Winchester '66 "Yellowboy" with the fore-stock removed to resemble a first-model Henry.
Deputy Clyde's line about why a one armed man needed to carry three pistols: 'I don't want to get killed from lack of being able to shoot back' is sometimes attributed to lawman/gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok who usually carried two pistols around his waist, another in a shoulder holster, sometimes another stuck in the back of his belt, and usually had at least one Derringer hidden somewhere on his person. While working as a lawman, he usually carried a sawed off shotgun as well. Hickok also laughed at Ned Buntline's report about his killing 20 men with 20 shots saying that his theory was start shooting and keep shooting until the man you were shooting at was dead.
According to Clint Eastwood in a 2000 interview, Gene Hackman was very concerned about how they were going to show the violence in the movie, owing to the rising gun violence in American cities. Eastwood, a lifelong supporter of gun control, assured Hackman that the film wouldn't glorify gun violence.
In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #68 Greatest Movie of All Time.
Ranked #4 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Western" in June 2008.
The following guns were used in this movie. 1. William Munny used a 1859 Starr revolver double action, a Smith and Wesson Schofield revolver, a 12-gauge double barreled coach shotgun, and later a Spencer rifle. 2. Ned uses a Spencer rifle. 3. The Kid uses a S&W Schofield, and earlier he uses a Winchester 1873 rifle. 4. English Bob uses a Colt 1873 "Peacemaker" Single action Army and a Bulldog .32 caliber pocket pistol. 5. Little Bill used a Colt 1873 "Peacemaker" Single action Army. 6. The Cathouse owner has a Colt 1851 single action revolver. 7. Andy the deputy uses a Winchester 1866 "Yellow Boy" made to look like a Henry rifle by removing the for-end. 8. The one armed law man uses 3 revolvers one a Remington 1875 and 2 Colt 1873 "Peacemakers". 9. Various people stick to the famed "peacemakers" and Winchester '73 rifles... check out this link
"The Duke" was a reference to John Wayne.
With inflation, the $1,000 bounty on the cowboys would be the equivalent to $22,040.90 in 2008.
courtesy of IMDB