Dog Day Afternoon - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

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

[liam]

Although he had initially agreed to play the part of Sonny, Al Pacino told Sidney Lumet near the start of production that he couldn't play it. Pacino had just completed production on The Godfather: Part II (1974) and was physically exhausted and depressed after the shoot. With his reliance on the Method, Pacino didn't relish the thought of working himself up to a state of near hysteria every day. Lumet unhappily accepted the actor's decision and dispatched the script to Dustin Hoffman. Pacino changed his mind when he heard that his rival was being considered.

[nina]

The real bank robber, John Wojtowicz, had watched The Godfather (1972) to get ideas the day he robbed the Chase Manhattan bank. Both Al Pacino and John Cazale starred in The Godfather (1972).

[fred]

Al Pacino waves a handkerchief to signal the police when he comes out of the bank. However, John Wojtowicz, the man the movie is based on said that he never waved a handkerchief because he said that he felt that that was a form of surrender.

[kylie]

Several people arrived at the bank set and tried to open an account, not realising that it was a set.

[jesse]

The bar across the street from the bank is clearly seen as "Moe's Tavern". Hank Azaria who voices Moe on The Simpsons (1989) has stated that the inspiration for Moe's voice was Sonny.

[nicholas]

Charles Durning spent much of the shoot commuting from the set of this film in New York to the set of Robert Wise's The Hindenburg (1975) in Los Angeles. Both Wise and Sidney Lumet would talk beforehand and agree on what days they needed the actor.

[riley]

The phone scene was filmed for a full day without air conditioning to better capture Sonny's fatigue.

[jessica]

The Dutch magazine "Vrij Nederland" named the bank robbery scene the third best bank robbery in film history, behind bank robbery scenes from Raising Arizona (1987) and Heat (1995), the latter film also starring Al Pacino.

[sara]

As a testament to the authenticity of the Foley effects, when Sal racks the M-1 carbine you can hear the twisting of the bolt as it enters the self-cleaning phase of loading. It is a unique aspect to the weapon, as most automatic or semi-automatics do not use a rotating bolt, some exceptions being the M1 Garand, M-1 carbine, and M-14.

[ken]

The bank's manager Robert Barrett later said he had more laughs in that one night than he'd had in weeks, while teller Shirley Bell said if they'd been her houseguests on a Saturday night it would have been hilarious.

[morris]

Because of the outrageous quality of the real-life story, Sidney Lumet deliberately chose not to look at any of the footage of what actually happened that day. For that same reason, he decided not to use any of the real Sonny and Leon's wedding film footage as it was so over the top, it would have alienated viewers.

[willard]

The bank where the actual robbery took place was a branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank, at 450 Avenue P on the corner of East 3rd Street, in Gravesend, Brooklyn. It is today the home of the Brooklyn Medical Imaging Center.

[sylvia]

Treat Williams auditioned for a role in Dog Day Afternoon.

[clayton]

Frank Pierson wrote the screenplay. At one point Al Pacino's character says to one of the bank tellers, "Get your mind right." The same line was constantly used throughout Cool Hand Luke (1967), a movie also written by Pierson.

[miriam]

James Broderick took his twelve-year-old son, Matthew Broderick, to the set to meet Al Pacino and director Sidney Lumet. Fourteen years later, Matthew worked with Lumet on Family Business (1989).