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Cannes Film Festival

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The cult classic film Pulp Fiction premiered at the 47th Cannes Film Festival today in 1994. The film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino is widely regarded as one of his most prevailing masterpieces. The film has contributed to changing the traditional Hollywood landscape and it helped Tarantino transition into one of the most promising filmmakers. Cast members including Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Maria de Medeiros, John Travolta and Uma Thurman were present in France 27 years ago to introduce the neo-noir black comedy. The film follows the lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

To celebrate a film that introduced the world to Quentin Tarantino’s daring mind and a story that eventually became an undeniable cult classic, discover ten facts about Pulp Fiction that you may not have known until today.

1. The Infamous Dance Scene

Tarantino famously took inspiration from Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2 for the iconic Jack Rabbit Slim’s dance competition within the film.

2. Butch’s Honda

Tarantino made good use out of the Honda Civic that Butch drives in the movie. The same car is used by Pam Grier in Jackie Brown and appears in a parking lot scene in Kill Bill: Volume 2.

3. Tarantino’s Many Notebooks

Using the money he made from the film Reservoir Dogs and the deal he had for Pulp Fiction, Tarantino left for Amsterdam to write the notable films. According to Vanity Fair, “He bought school notebooks and declared about one of them, like a modern-day Hemingway, ‘This is the notebook in which I am going to write Pulp Fiction.’ “

He eventually filled several notebooks.

4. Many Stars Almost Made The Cut

Robert Redford could have starred in the movie. The film’s casting director Ronnie Yeskey told Flavorwire that unlike on “Reservoir Dogs,” Hollywood agencies “were pitching Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman and Bruce, Bruce Willis – just the biggest names in the business you could imagine.”

“And we’re sitting there in these rooms with all these suits, and they all look alike, and we’re like kids in a candy store,” Yeskel said. “We couldn’t believe they were pitching these people to us.”

Julia Louis-Dreyfus was reportedly among the list of actresses considering for the role of Mia along with Meg Ryan, Michelle Pfeiffer and Joan Cusack.

5. Ellen Tried Out For the Role of Jody

Ellen DeGeneres tried out for the role of Jody, the pierced face wife of Vincent’s drug dealer, that ultimately went to Rosanna Arquette.

6. Kathy Griffin (Barely) Made The Film

Comedian Kathy Griffin appears in the scene where the antagonist Marsellus Wallace and Butch collide, but if you bat an eye you just might miss her. Griffin once said she dated Tarantino so their relationship may have played a minor part in her inclusion in the classic film.

7. Samuel L. Jackson Nailed the Audition

The film’s producer Richard Gladstein told Vanity Fair that when Jackson came in for his second audition for the role he showed up with key props in one of the film’s pivotal scene – burger and fries. Jackson proceeded to consume the meal so forebodingly that Gladstein said, “I thought that this guy was going to shoot gun through my head.”

8. Travolta Portraying A Drug Addict

Tarantino’s friend, a recovering heroin addict, advised John Travolta on how to best portray a man in that state of mind. He told the actor that getting drunk on tequila while relaxing in a hot bath would closely approximate a heroin high without him actually having to do the drug.

9. Marsellus’ Band-Aid

Marsellus wasn’t making a fashion statement by sporting a Band-Aid on the back of his neck during the movie. It was actually used to cover up a scar that actor Ving Rhames had.

10. Tarantino’s Cereal Obsession

Quentin Tarantino grew fond of a particular brand of discontinued cereal. Lance, who is portrayed by Eric Stolz, appears on screen eating “Fruit Brute” in the movie. The cereal had a signature werewolf on the box and it was a part of General Mills’ monster collection, which included Count Chocula, Boo Berry,  Franken Berry and Yummy Mummy.

There is also a box of Fruit Brute in Mr. Orange’s apartment in Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs.”

10 Little Known Facts About Quentin Tarantino’s Cult Classic Film ‘Pulp Fiction’  was originally published on globalgrind.com