CMT Answer Update:
In our last Q&A column, we had one reader wonder if Walt Disney ever had a cameo role in a movie. I replied that in my searching I could not find any instance of a cameo so answered that I thought 'No'. However, reader Karen Wilson had this sharp response: "Walt showed up in his film 'The Reluctant Dragon', from 1941. It starts as live action, with a man
going to the Disney Studios to suggest a story (The Reluctant Dragon) be made into a film. He gets shown around the studios, seeing how animation works etc, and eventually bumps into Mr. Disney himself, who shows him a preview of the latest Disney animated film which turns out to be, in fact, The Reluctant Dragon. Hope this helps!"

It definitely did- thanks, Karen.

CMT Answer Update:
Also in our August 10th column, we had a reader ask in which movies do we hear the line "How do you like them apples?" CMT reader Jason wrote in with the tidbit that Jack Nicholson said the line in Chinatown, 1974. Thanks man.

As you probably thought, it was a statue of the Emperor. They actually created a miniature model of the statue and filmed it toppling, then blended it with the matte paintings and CG-created backgrounds of the rest of Coruscant. Man I want the Original Trilogy DVDs NOW, but it sounds like we still have another three years before we see those...
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CMT Answer:
The movie you are after is a 1963 flick called "The Crawling Hand". As you wrote, the astronaut at the start of the flick realized some malevolent force had taken over and had NASA push the "red button". Unfortunately, his arm made it back to Earth and washed up on a beach. It was taken home by a med student, killed his land lady, and then possessed the hapless kid to begin another murderous spree.

I don't know how fond your memories of the film are or not, but because of the movie's high cheese factor, it was the basis for an episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000"- a defunct TV show where the hosts lambasted old goofy B-flicks as they watched them.
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Incidentally, Paul McCartney sang the Oscar-nominated theme song for the flick.
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So, you were a little off in that it was the hands and not legs that Peter mentions, but the country was Saudi Arabia, whose capital is Riyadh.
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One website listed a 1974 flick called "Cockfighter" (aka "Born to Kill") as the movie with the most instances of animal abuse. However, I could not find any other sites on the web to corroborate that claim. Reading through user comments on IMDB and other boards, it certainly seems as if there are many graphic scenes in the movie, and various other sites go into detail on how actual cockfights were filmed for the movie, and shown in nauseating detail.

I also checked the American Humane Association, which monitors movie production, but they only list individual films and don't have a 'worst' category set up. The organization opened their L.A office in 1940 after a horse was killed during a shot for the 1939 flick "Jesee James". After another horse was killed during the filming of legendary bomb "Heaven's Gate", the AHA began the practice of having an on-set supervisor to monitor the treatment of animals. Heaven's Gate certainly sounds like it rivals Cockfighter for all-time animal abuses, as it also featured "an actual cockfight, several horse trips, and a horse being blown up with a rider on its back. People who worked on the set verified more animal abuse, such as chickens being decapitated and steer being bled in order to use their blood to smear on the actors instead of using stage blood." Niiiiiiiice....

Interestingly enough, some other movies that garnered the AHA's worst rating, "Unacceptable", include: The Abyss, First Blood, Lawrence of Arabia, and Roger & Me. You can check out the AHA online at:
http://www.ahafilm.org/index.html .
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CMT Answer:
Hard to believe, but brat-packer Molly Ringwald was originally offered the role. Not a smart move on her part, but on the other hand if she had accepted it's pretty much a lock the movie would not have become as popular as it did. As a side note, apparently Christopher Reeve was originally considered for Richard Gere's role. He was definitely closer to the Gere
role than Ringwald was to Roberts' role.

CMT Answer:
I couldn't find a definitive answer anywhere on the net, no matter what combination of Google keywords I used. hmph. IMDB lists over 20,000 movies based on a novel, and no power search feature to group by author names, so that was out. I'll go with my hunch and until someone proves me wrong otherwise... Stephen King. IMDB lists 77 entries with him credited as the writer, and by far the large majority of those were based on either a novel, novella, or short story that was published prior to the movie being created. Granted, some of those entries were made-for-TV, but still he has far more written work entries on IMDB than other popular authors.

From a different slant, however, the most prolific 'writer' on IMDB is listed as none other than the bard himself, William Shakespeare. Shakespeare is credited as a writer on 515 movies- however most of those are of course repeats of original works. King's 77 writing credits, on the other hand, are for individual stories (though some might debate how original each one is, to which I say pffft). There are many other writers on IMDB who have 100+ writing credits, but they are not based on books, but simply credits as screenplay or story contributors..
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CMT Answer:
This goes against my 'no movie trivia contest answers' ethical credo, but just this once....

In the 1983 comedy, Murphy and Aykroyd went after the pork belly market in order to get back at the Dukes.
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The flick was followed four years later by a less well-regarded sequel, although it was notable as Michelle Pfeiffer's first major screen role. Lately on some of the movie rumor sites there have been stirrings of a remake / sequel set in present day with John Travolta's character's son as the protagonist, but who knows if that will get a green light or not. With the recent success of Moulin Rouge and Chicago, anything is possible...
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CMT Answer:
Nope.|
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