50 Fun Facts About Grumpy Old Men

Which two actors star as the feuding neighbours in Grumpy Old Men?

It was their sixth film together, 27 years after The Fortune Cookie made them friends.

In which Minnesota town is Grumpy Old Men set?

A sign at the real town's limits now reads "Welcome to Wabasha, Home of Grumpy Old Men".

What is the name of Jack Lemmon's character?

He is a retired history teacher who is divorced and dodging the IRS.

What did Walter Matthau's character Max Goldman do for a living before retiring?

He is a widower, while John is divorced; the two have been at each other since childhood.

What is the signature prank John and Max keep pulling?

The final one goes into the wedding limo; Max also plants one in the IRS agent's car.

Who plays Ariel Truax, the free-spirited widow who moves in across the street?

The screenwriter had pictured Sophia Loren in the part; she ended up in the sequel instead.

What is Ariel's profession?

She has Thanksgiving dinner with Chuck from the bait shop, which sets John and Max competing for her.

Which veteran actor plays John's father, Grandpa Gustafson?

He was 85 playing a sex-obsessed 95-year-old, and Grumpier Old Men was his final film.

The actor who plays Grandpa Gustafson was best known earlier in his career for which two roles?

He also appeared in four episodes of The Twilight Zone, tying Jack Klugman for the most starring roles on the show.

Who plays John's daughter Melanie?

Melanie ends the first film beginning a romance with Max's son Jacob, and the pair are engaged by the sequel.

Kevin Pollak plays Jacob Goldman, Max's son. What office is Jacob running for?

He wins, and later uses the job to block the seizure of John's house.

What is Chuck, played by Ossie Davis, the owner of?

After Chuck dies in his sleep, the shop's sale to Maria Ragetti drives the plot of the sequel.

Which government agency is chasing John over a serious debt?

Agent Elliott Snyder, played by Buck Henry, ends up buried in snow with a fish in his car.

What is the real root of the decades-long feud between the two neighbours?

John points out that May was unfaithful and Max ended up happier with Amy, the woman he did marry.

How does a jealous Max endanger his neighbour after learning he has slept with Ariel?

John narrowly escapes, and it is that night that the truth about May comes out.

What happens to John on Christmas Day after he storms out of the bar?

Max finds him, checks him into the hospital as his friend, and then fetches Ariel.

What wedding gift does Max announce at the end of the first film?

John still finds a fish waiting for him in the wedding limo.

Screenwriter Mark Steven Johnson wrote Grumpy Old Men while working what job?

He went on to write and direct Daredevil and Ghost Rider.

Who directed Grumpy Old Men?

Petrie had made Mystic Pizza; Howard Deutch took over for the sequel.

Why did the crew have to delay the start of shooting in Minnesota in January 1993?

Filming finally began on February 2, and St. Paul, Faribault and Center City stood in for Wabasha.

Interior scenes for the first film were shot at which famous Minnesota studio?

Prince's complex in Chanhassen doubled as the soundstage; the ice-shanty scenes were on Lake Rebecca.

What halted production for several months during the first film?

Shooting did not wrap until June 23, 1993, six months before release.

On what date did Grumpy Old Men open in US cinemas?

It became one of the surprise hits of the year, earning $70 million domestically on a $35 million budget.

Roughly how much did Grumpy Old Men gross worldwide?

Home video added another $40 million, which is why a sequel was announced within 15 months.

What grade did audiences polled by CinemaScore give Grumpy Old Men?

Critics were cooler: Roger Ebert gave it two stars but admitted Matthau and Lemmon were fun to see together.

Which Italian screen legend joins the cast of Grumpier Old Men?

She plays Maria Ragetti, who buys the old bait shop to open an Italian restaurant.

In Grumpier Old Men, what does Maria Ragetti plan to turn Chuck's old bait shop into?

John and Max join forces to sabotage it, and by the end it is a restaurant and a bait shop.

What is the name of the giant fish everyone in the sequel is trying to land?

John and Max finally catch it, then let it go so it can stay in the lake with J.W.'s ashes.

What insults do John and Max still trade in the sequel, now with friendly intent?

John calls Max a moron and Max calls John a putz, feud or no feud.

How is Grandpa Gustafson found dead in Grumpier Old Men?

His ashes are scattered in the lake, which prompts John and Max to call off their feud again.

Whose wedding turns out to be the one John and Max are racing to at the end of Grumpier Old Men?

Jacob and Melanie have quietly eloped, and John has hidden Max's one-eyed bulldog Lucky in the honeymoon car.

How does Max humiliate his neighbour at a Sears store in the sequel?

Ariel had been sculpting him in clay; the stunt drives her out of the house.

How many failed marriages does Mama Ragetti remind Maria she has had?

She fears Max will make it six, and briefly persuades Maria to stop seeing him.

Who directed Grumpier Old Men?

Deutch, best known for Pretty in Pink, later reunited with Lemmon and Matthau on The Odd Couple II.

Which composer, best known for Back to the Future, scored Grumpier Old Men?

The film grossed $71 million against a $25 million budget despite a 20% Rotten Tomatoes score.

What was the planned third film, announced in 1997 and then cancelled, going to be called?

The plot would have sent the couples to Italy, with Marcello Mastroianni as Maria's first husband before his death.

Which Lemmon-Matthau project did the pair make instead of the cancelled third Grumpy film?

Warner Bros. wanted the director to defer part of his fee, so Deutch, Lemmon and Matthau went to Paramount instead.

Which comedian was announced in 2018 to star in a remake of Grumpy Old Men?

Samuel L. Jackson was later attached to co-star, but no further news has followed.

How many films did the two stars appear in together over their careers?

Lemmon also directed Matthau in Kotch (1971) and sneaked in an uncredited cameo as a sleeping bus passenger.

Which 1966 Billy Wilder comedy first paired the two stars, winning Matthau an Oscar?

Matthau won Best Supporting Actor as the shyster lawyer "Whiplash Willie", and the two became lifelong friends.

In their most famous film together, the 1968 Neil Simon adaptation, which character did Matthau play?

He had originated the slob sportswriter on Broadway opposite Art Carney, winning a Tony.

The actress who plays Ariel was born in which country?

She was born in Stockholm in 1941 and became a star as Kim in Bye Bye Birdie before dancing opposite Elvis in Viva Las Vegas.

Which real-life condition meant the actor playing Grandpa had to be coached through the sequel?

He died in 1997, and the cancelled third film had planned to bring his character back in a dream sequence.

Where was the wedding scene in Grumpier Old Men filmed?

The Oktoberfest scene was staged in Stillwater's Lowell Park, and the cafe exterior was built on Bass Lake.

In the first film, when had John last had sex before Ariel, according to the plot?

Fifteen years, which explains a great deal about his mood.

Which studio released Grumpy Old Men on Christmas Day 1993?

It became one of the year's surprise hits, earning $70 million domestically against a $35 million budget.

On which Minnesota body of water were the ice-shanty scenes filmed?

St. Paul, Faribault and Center City doubled for Wabasha in the exteriors.

Which actress did screenwriter Mark Steven Johnson first envision as the female lead?

Ann-Margret got the part, but Loren was cast in the sequel two years later.

What is the name of Max's one-eyed bulldog, found in the honeymoon car in Grumpier Old Men?

John planted the dog in the car as one final prank.

Which Italian star was slated to play Maria's first husband in the cancelled Grumpiest Old Men?

The third film would have sent the characters to Italy, with Burgess Meredith returning in a dream sequence.