Jerry Frebowitz
Jerry Frebowitz, president of Movies Unlimited, started selling movies for home use in 1975. First, as a hobby, then by 1978, through a small direct mail catalog, which eventually grew into the big 800-page version seen today. Jerry is an avid movie fan and collector and particularly enjoys classic films from the 30s, 40s and 50s.
Jerry's Posts
Jerry Frebowitz | Talkin' the Oldies
Here are 10 trivia facts about A Hard Day’s Night from 1964, which originally appeared as our Mystery Movie Quiz on our Facebook page. There are hundreds of pieces of behind-the-scenes information about this movie. Please feel free to comment and add more trivia we might have missed.
1. This movie was filmed in black and white.
Being filmed in black and white is in itself not a big deal, but by 1964 most major movies were in color. Maybe United Artists didn't realize what they had in The Beatles. The foursome's subsequent film, 1965's Help!, also released by UA, had a much bigger budget of $1.5 million dollars compared to $500,000 for A Hard Day's Night, their only movie in black and white.
Jerry Frebowitz | Staff Notes
Here are 10 trivia facts about Jerry Maguire from 1996, which originally appeared as our Mystery Movie Quiz on our Facebook page. There are hundreds of pieces of behind-the-scenes information about this movie. Please feel free to comment and add more trivia we might have missed.
1. This movie was a unique Hollywood record-breaker.
Not only was Jerry Maguire a huge success for Tom Cruise, this movie shattered his previously standing record of having appeared in four consecutive movies to take in more than $100 million. Jerry Maguire made it official at five sequential box office smashes. Oddly enough, the role of Maguire was written for Tom Hanks, who has himself appeared in more than 20 100-plus-million-dollar movies (some way over that number) throughout his career.
Jerry Frebowitz | Talkin' the Oldies
Here are 10 trivia facts about Steven Spielberg's Duel from 1971, which originally appeared as our Mystery Movie Quiz on our Facebook page. There are hundreds of pieces of behind-the-scenes information about this movie. Please feel free to comment and add more trivia we might have missed.
1. This movie was shot in less than two weeks.
To be sure shooting costs were down to the bare minimum, corners were cut to keep the budget under $500,000 and the projected 10-day shooting schedule intact. Duel's estimated final budget came in at about $450,000, but principal photography was actually completed in about 12 days instead. Steven Spielberg used this, his first feature film, as a benchmark for how fast he can get a film into the can.
Jerry Frebowitz | Horror Movies
Here are 10 trivia facts about Halloween from 1978, which originally appeared as our Mystery Movie Quiz on our Facebook page. There are hundreds of pieces of behind-the-scenes information about this movie. Please feel free to comment and add more trivia we might have missed.
1. This was an independent production after big studios turned it down.
When John Carpenter and Debra Hill co-wrote the original story for producers Irwin Yablans and Moustapha Akkad (it was then called "The Babysitter Murders"), big Hollywood studios didn't display any interest in the film's distribution. At that time, it was decided that Yablans would use his own production company, Compass International, to distribute the film with financing from Akkad. After the film's rousing success, MCA/Universal came on board and produced the next two movies in the franchise; but Carpenter, although involved in the sequels, only directed the original.
Jerry Frebowitz | Talkin' the Oldies
Here are 10 trivia facts about Beverly Hills Cop from 1984, which originally appeared as our Mystery Movie Quiz on our Facebook page. There are hundreds of pieces of behind-the-scenes information about this movie. Please feel free to comment and add more trivia we might have missed.
1. This movie held a theatrical record for 25 years.
Paramount hit it big in 1984 with the release of Beverly Hills Cop, which would go on to replace National Lampoon's Animal House as the highest-grossing R-rated comedy film in Hollywood history. Eddie Murphy's action/comedy would hold that record in the U.S. for 25 years, until it was in turn surpassed by 2009's The Hangover.
Jerry Frebowitz | Talkin' the Oldies
Here are 10 trivia facts about Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner from 1967, which originally appeared as our Mystery Movie Quiz on our Facebook page. There are hundreds of pieces of behind-the-scenes information about this movie. Please feel free to comment and add more trivia we might have missed.
1. The movie takes place all in one day.
Although the events in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner occur over the course of a single day, it's a very busy one for the Drayton family of San Francisco. Liberal-minded parents Matt and Christina Drayton (Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn) discover that their daughter Joey (Katharine Houghton) has gotten engaged to an older man, one she just met while on vacation in Hawaii. Adding to the surprise, the fiancé in question, doctor John Prentice (Sidney Poitier), is black, which at the time would have kept the couple from tying the knot in 14 states. Yes, hard as it to believe, in early 1967, some states still had anti-miscegenation marriage laws on their books (explained further below in this article).
Jerry Frebowitz | Talkin' the Oldies
Here are 10 trivia facts about Taxi Driver from 1976, which originally appeared as our Mystery Movie Quiz on our Facebook page. There are hundreds of pieces of behind-the-scenes information about this movie. Please feel free to comment and add more trivia we might have missed.
1. This movie has political overtones.
In the film, troubled ex-Marine and New York City cabbie Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) meets Betsy (Cybil Shepherd), a campaign worker for U.S. Senator Charles Palatine's (Leonard Harris) bid for the White House. Travis admires Betsy's purity and tries to befriend her (in his own inimitable manner), but things go awry, so he does what makes sense to him -- he decides to kill the presidential hopeful she is working for. Supposedly the senator's role was first offered to Rock Hudson, who had to turn it down due to his contractual agreement to do his then-TV series, McMillan & Wife.
Jerry Frebowitz | Talkin' the Oldies
Here are 10 trivia facts about Caddyshack from 1980, which originally appeared as our Mystery Movie Quiz on our Facebook page. There are hundreds of pieces of behind-the-scenes information about this movie. Please feel free to comment and add more trivia we might have missed.
1. This movie revolves around a particular occupation.
The movie title gives it away. Michael O'Keefe is a caddy at stuffy Bushwood Country Club, trying his best to get a college scholarship. It was O'Keefe whom director Harold Ramis felt was consistently the most convincing golfer of all the cast members, which included Ted Knight, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Rodney Dangerfield. The basic storyline of the film is about O'Keefe's position as a caddy, which eventually gives way to him transforming into a player in a high-stakes finale involving Dangerfield in some of the funniest scenes in movie history, exposing Rodney's acting talents to millions who only knew him as a standup comic.
Jerry Frebowitz | Staff Notes
Here are 15 movies, some much better than others but all pretty good choices for viewing on Independence Day, better known as Fourth of July in the old days. If folks are finding themselves home alone when the fireworks start soaring or better yet if you're together with friends and family, these fine films (and some that are not so fine) are presented for your consideration in no particular order. Feel free to add your suggestions for viewing on this uniquely American holiday.
1776 (1972)
Broadway's rousing musical celebration of the Founding Fathers and the birth of America was brought to the screen by legendary producer Jack L. Warner. The raucous, rancorous debate over independence comes to life with a cast that includes William Daniels as John Adams, Howard Da Silva as Ben Franklin and Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson. If you can handle grown men in funny looking pants, breaking into song whenever the mood strikes, this historical and colorful film shows how it all began more than 235 years ago.
Jerry Frebowitz | Staff Notes
Here are 10 trivia facts about Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein from 1948, which originally appeared as our Mystery Movie Quiz on our Facebook page. There are hundreds of pieces of behind-the-scenes information about this movie. Please feel free to comment and add more trivia we might have missed.
1. This movie spans multiple genres.
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (or, if you want to go by the film's opening titles, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein) is most certainly a comedy, but it is also a horror movie and fits very nicely into the science fiction genre, as well.
2. The name of the film is a misnomer.
Does anyone in the movie ever actually meet Frankenstein? To be technical, Bud and Lou do encounter Dr. Frankenstein's monster, and over the years, it has become common practice to call the monster after his creator, although it isn't really correct. The original working title, "The Brain of Frankenstein," would have been just as misleading.
Jerry Frebowitz | Staff Notes
Here are 10 trivia facts about The Magnificent Seven from 1960, which originally appeared as our Mystery Movie Quiz on our Facebook page. There are hundreds of pieces of behind-the-scenes information about this movie. Please feel free to comment and add more trivia we might have missed.
1. This movie was nominated for an Oscar, but not in an acting category.
Hard to believe but true; This high-grossing crowd pleaser didn't garner any major-category Academy Award nominations, but was tapped for Best Score (Elmer Bernstein). Ultimately, the Oscar went to Ernest Gold for Exodus.
2. The film is well respected in a country outside the U.S.
It's difficult to find a movie more respected than The Magnificent Seven--if you live in Russia, that is. To this day, thanks to its release on DVD continuing its awareness, it would not be uncommon to hear people recite lines from the movie, word for word. After the film played in the U.S.S.R. for about a year, it was reported that authorities would not permit anyone under 16 years of age to see it, since the movie made head-shaving very popular among young boys.
Jerry Frebowitz | Staff Notes
Here are 10 trivia facts about Broadcast News from 1987, which originally appeared as our Mystery Movie Quiz on our Facebook page. There are hundreds of pieces of behind-the-scenes information about this movie. Please feel free to comment and add more trivia we might have missed.
1. This movie was nominated for four major Academy Awards.
Not surprisingly for for a film where James L. Brooks is at the helm, Broadcast News was nominated for a total of seven Oscars: William Hurt as Best Actor; Holly Hunter, Best Actress; Albert Brooks, Best Supporting Actor; and for Best Picture. It also received noms for Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and for Brooks' screenplay.
Here are 10 trivia facts about A Hard Day’s Night from 1964, which originally appeared as our Mystery Movie Quiz on our Facebook page. There are hundreds of pieces of behind-the-scenes information about this movie. Please feel free to comment and add more trivia we might have missed.
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