50 Fun Facts About Jackie Brown

Jackie Brown is based on which 1992 Elmore Leonard novel?

It remains the only feature Tarantino has directed that is adapted from someone else's work.

Who plays the title character?

It was her first lead in a major film in many years, and it earned her a Golden Globe nomination.

What is Jackie's job in the film?

The job is what makes her useful to Ordell: she can carry his cash across the border in her luggage.

Samuel L. Jackson plays which character?

Jackson has named the Los Angeles gun runner as one of his favourite roles, and it won him the Silver Bear in Berlin.

Which character does Forster, in his Oscar-nominated role, play?

Forster had made his screen debut in Reflections in a Golden Eye 30 years earlier; the part earned him his only Oscar nomination.

Which actor plays Louis Gara, Ordell's recently released former cellmate?

Sylvester Stallone later claimed he turned the part down.

Bridget Fonda plays Melanie Ralston, who is what to Ordell?

She tries to talk Louis into stealing the money with her, and Ordell shrugs when he hears; he never trusted her anyway.

Michael Keaton plays Ray Nicolette, an agent of which federal agency?

His LAPD partner is detective Mark Dargus; the two build the sting that Jackie turns to her own ends.

Keaton played Ray Nicolette again, uncredited, in which 1998 Elmore Leonard adaptation?

Tarantino and Miramax held the rights to the character but insisted Universal not be charged for using him.

How does Ordell kill his bagman Beaumont Livingston?

Beaumont had already talked to the authorities, which is how Nicolette and Dargus know to intercept Jackie.

When Ordell comes to Jackie's apartment to kill her, she pulls a gun she stole from where?

The gun turns the visit into a negotiation: she will pretend to help the police while bringing in the rest of his money.

How much of Ordell's money is still to be smuggled in when Jackie strikes her deal with him?

The police believe the transfer will be $50,000; Jackie plans to keep the other half million.

What cut does Jackie offer Max Cherry for helping her keep the money?

By the end Max turns down more than money: he declines her invitation to come to Madrid.

Where does the money swap take place?

Jackie tells Nicolette the exchange is in the food court and tells Ordell it is in the dressing room; Max collects the bag she leaves behind.

During the test run, Jackie swaps $10,000 with which of Ordell's girlfriends?

Max then spots a second woman swapping bags with her: Simone, whom Ordell sent as a backup mule.

Why does Ordell reluctantly send Melanie to do the final swap?

It is a fatal choice: Melanie needles Louis about forgetting where they parked and he shoots her.

How much money is actually in the bag Jackie hands to Melanie?

Jackie also puts $5,000 on top so the marked money the police are tracking is on Melanie.

Why does Louis shoot Melanie in the parking lot?

The killing seals Louis's fate too: when Ordell learns Max was at the mall, he shoots Louis in the van.

Where is Ordell finally shot dead?

Nicolette, Dargus and Max's partner Winston are hiding in the back when Jackie shouts that Ordell has a gun.

At the end of the film, Jackie plans a trip to which city?

Max declines to go with her; they kiss goodbye and he watches her drive off to Bobby Womack.

In Elmore Leonard's novel, the heroine has a different surname and ethnicity. What was her name?

Tarantino made her Black and renamed her; Leonard called the result the best of the 26 adaptations of his work.

Besides Rum Punch, which two Leonard novels did Tarantino and Roger Avary buy the rights to after Pulp Fiction?

Killshot was eventually filmed in 2008 by Jackie Brown producer Lawrence Bender.

The film pays homage to two 1970s Pam Grier films whose posters and quotes it borrows. Which two?

The opening-title typeface is the one used for Foxy Brown, and four cues from Roy Ayers's Coffy score are on the soundtrack.

The opening sequence of Jackie gliding through LAX recreates the opening of which 1967 film?

Dustin Hoffman's ride to 'The Sound of Silence' becomes Grier's walk to Bobby Womack.

Which Bobby Womack song plays over the opening credits?

The song comes from the 1972 blaxploitation film of the same name, starring Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto.

Instead of commissioning a new score, Tarantino used Roy Ayers's funk score from which film?

Ayers's 1973 score sits alongside the Delfonics, Bill Withers and Johnny Cash on the soundtrack.

Which vocal group's 'Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)' links Jackie and Max?

Their 'La-La Means I Love You' is on the soundtrack too; Max buys the cassette after hearing it at Jackie's place.

Which Johnny Cash song appears on the soundtrack?

The Grass Roots' 'Midnight Confessions' and Bloodstone's 'Natural High' are among the other non-soul picks.

The soundtrack includes 'Long Time Woman', sung by Pam Grier herself, from which of her 1971 films?

The women-in-prison picture was made in the Philippines for Roger Corman's New World Pictures.

Grier had earlier read for which Pulp Fiction role that Tarantino decided against giving her?

Tarantino did not think audiences would believe Eric Stoltz yelling at Pam Grier.

When Grier arrived to read for the film, what did she find in Tarantino's office?

He told her he had meant to take them down before she arrived so it would not look like he was trying to impress her.

Which action star later claimed he turned down the role of Louis Gara?

The role went to Robert De Niro, playing against type as a mumbling ex-con.

Which of these was NOT one of the three veterans Tarantino considered for Max Cherry?

Forster's Oscar-nominated turn revived a career that had drifted into B-movies since Medium Cool.

The film was released in the United States on which date in 1997?

Miramax rushed it through a three-month post-production to make the awards season, as it also did with Scream 2 that month.

Jackie Brown grossed roughly how much worldwide on a budget of about $12m?

About $39.7 million came from the U.S. and Canada; it opened fifth with $9.3 million.

Which cast member received the film's only Academy Award nomination?

Grier and Jackson were nominated for Golden Globes instead, both in the musical or comedy categories.

Samuel L. Jackson won the Silver Bear for Best Actor for the film at which festival?

The 48th Berlinale in 1998 also screened it in competition; Empire later ranked the film 215th on its 500 greatest list.

Which filmmaker publicly criticised Jackie Brown's repeated use of a racial slur, complaining to Harvey Weinstein?

Tarantino's reply was that no word deserves that much power; the film uses the slur 38 times.

Which BBC film critic names Jackie Brown as his favourite Tarantino film?

Roger Ebert gave it four stars and put it among his favourites of 1997.

Jackie Brown is the only full-length Tarantino film shot in which aspect ratio?

The 2002 Special Edition DVD box wrongly claimed 2.35:1; the only other exception is his Four Rooms segment.

Life of Crime (2013) adapts which Elmore Leonard novel that first introduced Ordell and Louis?

In that film Ordell is played by Yasiin Bey and Louis by John Hawkes.

Which company released Jackie Brown in cinemas?

It was one of the last films to open with the 1987 Miramax logo before the New York skyline version took over.

What rating did Roger Ebert give Jackie Brown in the Chicago Sun-Times?

He praised dialogue that was 'alive, authentic and spontaneous' and named it among his favourites of 1997.

Where did Jackie Brown finish at the US box office on its $9.3 million opening weekend?

It went on to $39.7 million domestically and $74.7 million worldwide.

Which Bill Withers song is heard in Jackie Brown?

The Grass Roots, Bloodstone and Foxy Brown all turn up too, alongside Bobby Womack's blaxploitation anthem over the opening.

Which other Miramax film, shot in summer 1997, was rushed out the same December as Jackie Brown?

Jackie Brown itself was shot between May and August with only three months of post-production.

Which in-film video is included in its entirety on the 2002 Special Edition DVD?

The set also carried an alternate opening title sequence and more than an hour of Grier and Forster trailers.

Which territory's LaserDisc release put Bridget Fonda's character, not Jackie, on the cover?

Intercontinental Video issued it; nearly every other release features Pam Grier prominently.

Which funk instrumental by The Meters appears in the film but was left off the soundtrack album?

Dick Walter's 'Piano Impromptu' was another cue that never made the album.

Grier and Jackson's Golden Globe nominations for Jackie Brown came in which category?

The film was also nominated for the Grand Prix of the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics.