The Unsinkable Molly Brown - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of The Unsinkable Molly Brown or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to The Unsinkable Molly Brown

[morris]

Judy Garland, Doris Day, Carol Burnett, Mitzi Gaynor and Shirley Jones were all considered for the role of Molly Brown after Hal Wallis would not let MGM borrow Shirley MacLaine, who was their first choice.

[jim]

MGM's original choice for the role of Molly Brown was Shirley MacLaine. MacLaine was locked in contract at the time. The film's director even asked Reynolds to decline the role. When Reynolds asked "Why?", he commented that she was too short. Reynolds replied "Well just how short is the part?" That was the end of his objections.

[lynn]

There is a connection between the title and the United States space program. Launched in March 1965, the Gemini 3 spacecraft was unofficially called "Molly Brown". Astronaut Gus Grissom (along with John Young) was commander of the 3-orbit mission, his second space flight. In 1961 his one-man Mercury capsule (called "Liberty Bell 7") sank after splashdown. Grissom wanted to give this flight a little 'insurance'. NASA did not approve, but the name did stick. No other American spacecraft were given names until Apollo 9 (1969) when the command module (Gumdrop) and Lunar module (Spider) needed their own call-signs.

[sophie]

Features Debbie Reynolds's only Oscar nominated performance.

[aaron]

Shirley MacLaine, the producers' original choice for the title role, later played a character based on Debbie Reynolds in Postcards from the Edge (1990).

[stephanie]

As with most Hollywood biopics, there are differences with the real story, most notably in that Margaret (Molly) and J.J. never reconciled. They separated in 1909 although they remained good friends who cared deeply for each other until his passing. She was also not quite the social outcast as depicted in the film. Other aspects of her life that were missing from the movie: they had two children, a son and daughter. Margaret Brown was a passionate social crusader and philanthropist; she was a champion of women's rights, including education and getting the vote. She also championed worker's rights, historic preservation, education and literacy, and child welfare, including being instrumental in founding the modern juvenile court system. After the sinking of the Titanic she was noted for her efforts in having the heroism of the men aboard the ship commemorated. After WWI she was also a leader in helping rebuild France and aiding wounded soldiers, and received the French Legion of Honor. She also ran twice for the U.S. Senate. She died in 1932.

[wesley]

Thelma Ritter originally announced to play Hermione Baddeley role.

[lonnie]

This is Debbie Reynolds's personal favorite of her movies.

[frances]

The original Broadway production of "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" opened at Winter Garden Theater on November 3, 1960 and ran for 532 performances. Harve Presnell recreated his stage role in the movie version.

[kristina]

Film debut of Harve Presnell.

[bessie]

Robert Goulet was initially cast as Leadville Johnny Brown after an impressive screen test. However, Goulet was under contract to Columbia Records which meant that he could not appear on the MGM Records official soundtrack album. Citing a conflict of interest, Goulet was replaced before production began.

[lena]

Robert Horton, George Maharis, Pernell Roberts and Robert Fuller all tested for the role of Leadville Johnny after Robert Goulet vacated the role.

[lonnie]

In real life, Margaret Brown was never called "Molly." She was called "Maggie" or "Mrs. Brown." Composer Meredith Willson changed her name to Molly Brown for the Broadway musical because he thought "Molly" sounded better than "Maggie."

[jamie]

The story of J.J. Brown accidentally burning his money after Molly hid it in the stove didn't really happen. It was made up by a Denver journalist after Molly Brown became a hero on the Titanic. When asked by her daughter why she didn't refute the false story, Molly Brown supposedly replied, "It's better that they write something about me than nothing." (Kathy Bates, as Molly Brown, repeats the story in James Cameron's Titanic (1997).) Molly Brown is also said to have reported the story with a slightly different ending. Molly did hide money in the potbelly stove in their Leadville cabin, and Johnny unknowingly started a fire on a particularly cold night. That's in keeping with the other version, but the end of the story, as told by Molly and reported in newspapers interviews during her lift, was a little different. Her addition was "Just think if it had been paper money!" The "money" was gold and silver coin which melted and melted to the stove. Miners didn't trust paper money in those years. The stove had to be broken apart and resmelted to separate the iron, gold and silver.