Did You Know...

Producer Dino De Laurentiis left the project when director Federico Fellini refused to cast Paul Newman in the lead.
After Federico Fellini rejected the idea of Paul Newman for the lead role, Dino De Laurentiis suggested Gérard Philipe. He thought Marcello Mastroianni was "too soft and goody-goody; a family man rather than the type who flings women onto the bed."


The famous scene in the Trevi Fountain was shot in March, when nights were still cold. According to Federico Fellini (in an interview with Costanzo Costantini), Anita Ekberg stood in the cold water in her dress for hours without any trouble. Marcello Mastroianni, on the other hand, had to wear a wetsuit beneath his clothes, and even that wasn't enough. Still freezing, he downed an entire bottle of vodka, so that he was completely drunk while shooting the scene.


The film contributed the term "paparazzo" to the language. The term derives from Marcello's photographer friend Paparazzo. Federico Fellini took the name "Paparazzo", as he explained in a later interview, from the name of someone he met in Calabria (Southern Italy) where Greek names are still common. "Paparazzi" is the plural meaning.

Federico Fellini had considered Henry Fonda for the part of Steiner. But, after the refusal of the American actor, his choice was pending on Alain Cuny and Enrico Maria Salerno. He was helped by the advice of Pier Paolo Pasolini, who favored Alain Cuny.


It seems that term "paparazzo" was coined by Federico Fellini himself. Paparazzo means "sparrow" in one Italian dialect (in normal usage the Italian for "sparrow" is "passero"). Fellini explained that the photographers hopping and scurrying around celebrities reminded him of sparrows.

When shooting the famous Fontana di Trevi scene, director Federico Fellini complained that the water in the fountain looked dirty. A representative of Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) present at the shooting was able to supply the film team with some of the airline's green sea dye marker (for use in case of an emergency landing at sea). This was used to color the water, and the director was satisfied.

The "excrement" in the coprophagia scenes was a mixture of chocolate and orange marmalade.


When the movie premiered in West-Germany in February 1976 it was confiscated by the state attorney in order to ban it. The district-court of Stuttgart classified it as pornographic and violence-praising. A few days later though the movie was permitted for entire West-Germany.

Salò, in the title, refers to the town in Lake Garda where the film is set. Italians think of Salò as a reminder of the horrors of Benito Mussolini and his regime.


First part of Pier Paolo Pasolini's Trilogy of Death. The subsequent two parts were never filmed because Pasolini was murdered some months after he had finished this movie. The trilogy was intended as complementary to the previous Trilogy of Life, including Il Decameron, I racconti di Canterbury and Il fiore delle mille e una note.



Ennio Morricone,who composed the jazzy soundtrack, said he was very uncomfortable watching the movie.

Pier Paolo Pasolini was murdered before the film's release.

While filming the scene where Mills chases John Doe in the rain,Brad Pitt fell and his arm went through a car windscreen, requiring surgery. This accident was worked into the script of the film. Ironically, the original script did call for Pitt's Det. Mills character to be injured during this sequence--but to something other than his hand.


Originally, Morgan Freeman drew his pistol with his finger on the trigger. Police officers that were on the set as technical advisors quickly corrected him, as that is not correct police procedure.

All the building numbers in the opening scene start with 7. The climactic delivery was scheduled for 7pm.

New Line executives originally balked at the film's ending, but Brad Pitt refused to make the film if the ending were changed.


The producers intended that Kevin Spacey should receive top billing at the start of the movie but he insisted that his name not appear in the opening credits, so as to surprise the audience with the identity of the killer. To compensate, he is listed twice in the closing credits: once before the credits start rolling, and once in the rolling credits in order of appearance. Another advantage from Spacey's point of view, as he saw it, was that he was excluded from the film's marketing during its release, meaning he didn't have to make any public appearances or do any interviews.


All of John Doe's books were real books, written for the film. They took two months to complete and cost $15,000. According to Somerset, two months is also the time it would take the police to read all the books.

R.E.M's Michael Stipe was once considered for the role of John Doe.


Denzel Washington turned down the part that went to Brad Pitt, telling Entertainment Weekly that the film was too "dark and evil."

Before Kevin Spacey was set to shoot his first scene, he asked director David Fincher if he should shave his head for the role. David Fincher replied "If you do it, I'll do it." Both Fincher and Spacey were bald for the remainder of the movie production.