The Blues Brothers - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[jessica]

According to John Landis, John Belushi sprained his back falling down the stairs in the desk from the Penguin's office. He was in a back brace and on painkillers for the rest of filming.

[violet]

In Curtis's basement room there is a Kewanee Type R boiler. Kewanee Boiler Corp was located in Kewanee IL 150 miles west of Chicago. They manufactured commercial and residential boilers from 1868 until 2002. Their pressure guages and cast iron furnace doors are now highly prized collectibles.

[amber]

John Wayne's son Ethan Wayne was a stunt driver on the film.

[dustin]

The Bluesmobile is a 1974 Dodge Monaco. The vehicles used in the film were used police cars purchased from the California Highway Patrol, and featured the "cop tires, cop suspension, and cop motor, a 440-cubic-inch plant" mentioned by Elwood in the film. A total of twelve Bluesmobiles were used in the movie, including one that was built just so it could fall apart. Several replicas have been built by collectors, but one original is known to exist, and is owned by the brother-in-law of Dan Aykroyd. Dodge Monacos from 1974-77, including the upscale Royal Monaco, especially those which came with the A38 police option, are now considered collector's items. They have been used as replica Chicago P.D. and Illinois State Police cars, including Bluesmobile tribute cars. This has led to the scarcity of this generation of Mopar C-bodies, leading some replica squad cars and Bluesmobiles to use the Plymouth Gran Fury or Chrysler Newport instead. Universal Studios Hollywood has a replica Bluesmobile on the lot; it's a 1974 Dodge Coronet, since the Monaco has became so rare.

[ray]

Carrie Fisher became engaged to Dan Aykroyd during this shoot shortly after he saved her from choking, by applying the Heimlich maneuver.

[violet]

John Belushi was nicknamed "The Black Hole" because he went through hundreds of pairs of sunglasses during production. He would do a scene, and then lose the pair before filming the next one.

[cameron]

When the Bluesmobile crashes through the widow of the record store, a cardboard cut out of Robin Williams is visible, promoting his new album "Reality...What a Concept!" Williams was the last famous actor John Belushi talked to on March 5, 1982, the night of Belushi's fatal overdose.

[francisco]

Jesuit priest Gerald Walling plays one of the prison guards, and is credited with the honorific "SJ" (for Society of Jesus).

[miriam]

Dan Aykroyd's original script was so long that, as a joke, Aykroyd had it bound in the covers of the Los Angeles Yellow Pages.