Coming to America - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Coming to America or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Coming to America

[nora]

DIRECTOR TRADEMARK (John Landis (See You Next Wednesday): (At around one hour and forty-five minutes) on a movie poster in the subway station (the movie claims to star Jamie Lee Curtis, who appeared in Trading Places (1983)).

[frances]

(At around twenty-three minutes) Airport scenes in this film and Into the Night (1985) have a call over the P.A. system for a "Mr. Frank Oznowicz" to pick up the white courtesy phone. This is Frank Oz's real name.

[phyllis]

The game that Akeem mentions to McDowell at the restaurant, between the Giants and Packers, actually happened on September 15, 1985. The Packers won 23-20.

[lynn]

At Mr. McDowell's party, a painting of a black panther can be seen behind Darryl (Eriq La Salle) when he's talking to Akeem (Eddie Murphy). The Marvel character Black Panther is a Prince from the fictional African nation of Wakanda, similar to how Akeem is the Prince of the fictional African nation of Zamunda.

[mathew]

Paula Abdul was choreographer on this film.

[albert]

(At around twenty-three minutes) The Concorde SST is shown briefly as the plane on which Akeem and Semmi journey to America. It was the only commercial plane capable of flight exceeding Mach 2, tickets were expensive, and it was retired in 2003.

[jessica]

The South African band that sings during the opening credits is Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the same band that appears on Paul Simon's Grammy Award winning album "Graceland" a few years earlier on which they achieved worldwide recognition. The song they sing is their cover of "Mbube", an African song which was later adapted in English as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".

[darrell]

(At around one hour and thirty minutes) The one hundred pound banknote issued by the Bank of Zamunda, featuring Prince Akeem's portrait, is derived from the Bank of England's one pound Series C design, in use in England and Wales from 1960 to 1979. Akeem's portrait is in the place of Queen Elizabeth II's, and the crest of Zamunda covers a vignette of Britannia. Everything else (apart from "Bank of Zamunda" and the amount), the intricate background, the curlicues, the diamond shape underlying "I Promise to pay the Bearer", and the position of the serial numbers, is exactly the same as the British note.

[addison]

The national anthem of Zamunda, which plays at the start of the birthday celebration, is the same melody as the national anthem of Freedonia in the The Marx Brothers film Duck Soup (1933).

[leo]

There was a scene featured in the theatrical trailer that was cut from the final film. In it, Cleo McDowell, Akeem, and Semmi walk into Cleo's office, where he asks if either of them have had any fast food work experience. Semmi responds "Certainly not!" Akeem then nudges Semmi, and tells Cleo that this is their first job in the United States.

[veronica]

DIRECTOR TRADEMARK (John Landis (breaking the fourth wall): Akeem asks his intended bride to bark like a dog. When she does so, Eddie Murphy looks at the camera. When Patrice tells Darryl he needs to take off his wet clothes after he tells her that Lisa dumped him, he looks directly into the camera. Also, at the McDowell's house, when Cleo's daughter Patrice said, "Why does she always get the good ones?", the dog does the same thing. When Akeem and Semmi are on the ledge of their apartment, Semmi looks at the camera also.

[kristina]

At the end of the movie, as Lisa McDowell is heading towards the subway train, a poster for the Broadway show "Fences" can be seen on the wall. James Earl Jones starred in that play.

[norma]

Michael Tadross: a taxi driver.

[jeffrey]

(At around twenty-five minutes) When the taxi arrives in Queens, the driver is going the wrong way on a one-way street. All the cars are facing the other direction.

[nora]

Red and black clothing features throughout the movie (the restaurant uniforms, the uniforms at the party, Lisa's shirt, dress, and earrings at the party). There are other red and black motifs throughout the film. The film was directed by John Landis, who also directed Michael Jackson: Thriller (1983) video, where he famously wore a red and black outfit.

[francisco]

Eddie Murphy's demands included $1,500 a week for his personal trainer, round-the-clock chauffeur service, a valet, and $1,000 a week for his brother to appear as his stand-in.

[wesley]

When King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones) visits New York City to bring Akeem back home, he wears a lion skin sash. Jones portrayed the voice of The Lion King Mufasa in Disney's The Lion King (1994). Madge Sinclair (Queen Aoleon) also starred alongside Jones in The Lion King, as Mufasa's wife, Queen Sarabi.

[scarlett]

Eddie Murphy plays a character who lives in Africa but comes to America seeking a wife. In Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987) he mentions doing the opposite: going to Africa to find a wife. (Named Umfufu and riding buck naked on a zebra.)

[linda]

Joe Louis was actually 37 years old when he faced then-28-year-old Rocky Marciano in 1951. Joe Louis died in 1981 at 67 years old.