50 Fun Facts About Fried Green Tomatoes

The Fried Green Tomatoes novel was published four years before the film. In what year?

Director Jon Avnet read it the same year, after producer Lisa Lindstrom insisted he read the whole book rather than a synopsis.

What did Fannie Flagg include at the end of the novel?

The signature fried green tomatoes recipe is among them.

Before she was a novelist, Fannie Flagg was best known as a regular panelist on which 1970s TV show?

She usually sat in the lower-right seat next to Richard Dawson.

Fannie Flagg was born under what name, already registered by another actress?

She had an hour to pick a stage name; her grandfather suggested 'Fannie' because vaudeville comediennes used it.

The fictional Whistle Stop Cafe was loosely based on a real cafe in which Alabama suburb?

Flagg's aunt Bess Fortenberry bought the real café in 1932 and ran it with two friends for four decades.

How many weeks did the novel spend on The New York Times Best Seller List?

Harper Lee praised it in the publisher's reader's guide, saying Huckleberry Finn would have tried to marry Idgie.

Which fellow Southern novelist praised the book, calling Idgie Threadgoode 'a true original'?

The To Kill a Mockingbird author is a fellow Alabamian.

Who directed the 1991 film?

It was his feature directing debut; he first read the novel in 1987 after a producer insisted he read the whole book.

Which company did Avnet first pitch the film to, run by TV producer Norman Lear?

They gave him a small budget to hire a screenwriter, Carol Sobieski, who had written Annie.

Who plays Evelyn Couch, the timid 1980s housewife?

Avnet had worked with her and Chris O'Donnell on Men Don't Leave the year before.

Which actress plays Ninny Threadgoode, the storyteller in the nursing home?

Avnet wrote the script with her in mind, and she earned an Oscar nomination for the role.

Who plays the tomboy Idgie Threadgoode?

Her co-star Mary-Louise Parker was casting director David Rubin's first choice for Ruth.

Which future Batman & Robin star plays Idgie's older brother Buddy?

Buddy is killed by a train early in the story, leaving Idgie socially withdrawn.

Which veteran actress plays Sipsey, the family cook?

Sipsey is the one who finally deals with Frank Bennett, with a cast-iron skillet.

How does Buddy Threadgoode die?

When the trains stop running years later, the café closes and Whistle Stop empties out.

Ruth leaves Whistle Stop to marry the abusive Frank Bennett in which Georgia town?

Idgie, her brother Julian and Big George later drive there to bring Ruth home.

Who gives Idgie the money to open the café?

The café employs Sipsey and her son Big George, whose barbecue draws customers from miles around.

What happens to Frank Bennett's body after Sipsey kills him?

Sheriff Curtis Smoot, who hunted for Frank for years, ends up eating the evidence.

Who gives false alibi testimony at the murder trial that clears Idgie and Big George?

The judge rules Frank's probable death accidental, noting his drinking and the missing body.

What was Ruth's nickname for Idgie, which Ninny mentions to reveal Idgie is still alive?

The name comes from Idgie fearlessly pulling honey from a wild hive.

Which nearly deserted Georgia town was chosen as the filming location for Whistle Stop?

After the film, locals opened a real Whistle Stop Café there, recreated to mirror the set.

Before it became the film's café, the chosen building in the location town had been what?

Production designer Barbara Ling found the town while scouting locations.

How much did the film gross worldwide against its $11m budget?

It opened in just five theatres and spent ten weeks in the domestic top ten after going wide.

On what date did the film open in a limited US release?

It went wide four weeks later, on 24 January 1992, in 673 theatres.

The film received two Academy Award nominations. Which categories?

Jessica Tandy was nominated for Ninny, and Flagg and Sobieski for the script.

Which organisation gave the film a 1992 award for best feature film with lesbian content?

Unlike the novel, the film leaves the romance between Idgie and Ruth ambiguous.

On the DVD commentary, how does Avnet describe the food fight between Idgie and Ruth?

It is his answer to the criticism that the film hid the women's romance.

Who composed the film's original score?

He won a BMI Motion Picture Composer Award for it in 1993.

Which Bob Dylan song was recorded by Grayson Hugh as the film's end-title song?

Soundtrack supervisor Arthur Baker co-arranged it with Hugh.

Which singer performs the 1933 blues number 'Barbecue Bess' on the soundtrack?

Paul Young's cover of 'What Becomes of the Brokenhearted' from the same album reached No. 22 on the Hot 100.

Which British singer's 'What Becomes of the Brokenhearted' peaked at No. 22 on the Hot 100?

Jimmy Ruffin had taken the original to No. 7 in 1966.

Who plays Evelyn's husband Ed Couch?

Ed objects when Evelyn announces she is bringing Ninny home to live with them.

Who plays the abusive husband Frank Bennett?

Searcy later became known as Chief Deputy Art Mullen on Justified.

What does Evelyn find when she drives to Whistle Stop at the end of the film?

Evelyn invites her to come and live with her and Ed.

Which cosmetics company does Evelyn start selling for in the novel, inspired by the stories?

In the book Ninny's stories push Evelyn to start working outside the home.

In the novel, what nickname does Buddy Jr. acquire after losing an arm in an accident?

He grows up to recount his guardians' stories to his own daughter and granddaughter.

Parts of the novel are narrated through a fictional town newsletter called what?

Chapter headings establish the date and source of each section as the narration jumps around in time.

What is the title of the 2020 sequel novel, announced in a Random House virtual event?

It follows Bud's return to the town.

What running time does the 'extended' collector's edition DVD carry?

Universal released it in April 2000 with a making-of documentary and Avnet's commentary.

Which Annie (1982) screenwriter was first hired to adapt the novel before leaving the project?

Flagg then wrote about 70 pages before Avnet took over the script himself for two to three years.

What average grade did CinemaScore audiences give the film?

Critics were warmer than the Metacritic score of 64 suggests; Rotten Tomatoes has 77 percent positive reviews.

How does Ninny say she came into the Threadgoode family, and which brother became her husband?

Fans note this contradicts hints in the film that Ninny and Idgie are the same person.

Which producer introduced Jon Avnet to the novel in 1987 and made him read it in full?

They had worked together on the TV films Heat Wave and Breaking Point; Avnet loved the book and ended up writing the script himself.

Which British company helped finance the film, which became its most successful of the 1990s?

Fannie Flagg herself had left the screenplay after 70 pages, so Avnet finished it with no money left for another writer.

On which 1990 film had Avnet worked with Kathy Bates and Chris O'Donnell before casting them?

Bates loved the characters and was especially keen to work with Jessica Tandy, for whom Avnet had written the film.

Which actress was casting director David Rubin's first choice to play Ruth Jamison?

Unhappy with her early tests, she found her chemistry with Mary Stuart Masterson when they read together.

What did Mary Stuart Masterson do herself after a stunt double backed out at the last minute?

The footage of her covered in a swarm of live bees made it into the finished film.

What shape was the café counter built as, to allow the best camera angles?

Production designer Barbara Ling redesigned the former antique and hardware store in Juliette, Georgia, as the Whistle Stop Cafe.

How many theatres did the film open in during its limited release on 27 December 1991?

It went wide four weeks later in 673 theatres, ran 19 weeks and peaked at No. 2 at the domestic box office.

In the novel, where do Idgie and her brother Julian run a roadside food stand later in life?

Big George's sons take different paths, Jasper as a Pullman porter and Artis as a gambler and ladies' man.