Did You Know?

Al Pacino and Chris Sarandon's phone conversation was improvised.

Frank Pierson wrote his Oscar-winning script around only 12 sequences.

The real robbers got $213,000 in the robbery.

The outdoor sequences were actually filmed in cold weather. So that their breath would not be visible, the actors placed ice in their mouths before each take.

Halfway through the production, Al Pacino collapsed from exhaustion and had to be hospitalized for a short time. After production was completed, he decided to stop doing films for a while and return to stage work.

The movie's line "Attica! Attica!" was voted as the #86 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

The Jet that Sonny, Sal and the hostages are to board at the airport is a CV -990 and the airline is Modern Air. Modern air went out of business the year the film was released which was 1975.

In the 1972 "Life" magazine article that inspired the film, P.F. Kluge and Thomas Moore describe robber John Wojtowicz as "a dark, thin fellow with the broken-faced good looks of an Al Pacino or a Dustin Hoffman". Al Pacino, of course, played the role based on Wojtowicz, and when he nearly quit the film early on, the role was offered to Dustin Hoffman.

Although he had initially agreed to play the part of Sonny, Al Pacino told Sidney Lumet near the start of production that he couldn't play it. Pacino had just completed production on The Godfather: Part II and was physically exhausted and depressed after the shoot. With his reliance on the Method, Pacino didn't relish the thought of working himself up to a state of near hysteria every day. Lumet unhappily accepted the actor's decision and dispatched the script to Dustin Hoffman. Pacino changed his mind when he heard that his rival was in the fray.

The bank where the robbery took place was a branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank, at 450 Avenue P on the corner of East 3rd Street, in Gravesend, Brooklyn. It is today the home of the Brooklyn Medical Imaging Center.

Penelope Allen, who plays the blonde chief bank teller, was a surrogate mother to Al Pacino. When he first left home in his teens to pursue acting, he lived with Allen and her husband for several years.

Early in the writing proceedings, Frank Pierson considered dropping out of the project but had to continue because he had already spent his advance. Struggling to find a hook, he discovered while researching the story of Sonny Wojtowicz, that everyone who knew him had a contradictory story about the man. One thing they all agreed on was that Sonny was always saying "I'll take care of you. I'll make you happy." Pierson then knew that he had found his way in to the story.

Other than fake sweat, there was no make-up used in the film.

Al Pacino's now legendary shouting to the crowd of "Attica! Attica!" was an improvisation. Pacino credits assistant director Burtt Harris with giving him the idea.

Charles Durning spent much of the shoot commuting from the set of this film in New York to the set of Robert Wise's The Hindenburg in Los Angeles. Both Wise and Sidney Lumet would talk beforehand and agree on what days they needed the actor.

For the lengthy phone conversation between Sonny and Leon - largely improvised by Al Pacino and Chris Sarandon - director Sidney Lumet was faced with the problem of what to do when the film in the camera ran out as it was only good for 10 minutes worth of film. He solved that problem by starting a second camera up just as the first was due to finish.

Harvey Fierstein), barely 16 years old, appears (uncredited) as one of the gay demonstrators.

Al Pacino first heard about the incident upon which the film is based when it was actually taking place. He was later bemused by reports after the event that the lead participant would make a great role for him.

Writer Frank Pierson was unable to personally interview Sonny Wojtowicz because the latter wasn't able to reach an agreement on how much he should be paid for his story.

Sidney Lumet originally wanted Charles Durning to play the bank manager.

Sal at one point berates one of the bank tellers for smoking, saying he didn't smoke because "I don't want to get the cancer". Ironically, Cazale himself died from cancer three years later.

As a testament to the authenticity of the Foley effects, when Sal racks the M-1 carbine you can hear the twisting of the bolt as it enters the self-cleaning phase of loading. It is a unique aspect to the weapon, as most automatic or semi-automatics do not use a rotating bolt, some exceptions being the M1 Garand, M-1 carbine, and M-14.

Based on the real-life story of John Wojtowicz. On 22 August 1972 he and Salvatore Naturile attempted to rob a branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank on the corner of East Third Street and Avenue P in Brooklyn. They held nine bank employees hostage for over 14 hours. Wojtowicz was trying to get money for his lover, Ernest Aron, to have a sex change operation. Naturile was killed in the standoff and Wojtowicz received 20 years in a federal penitentiary. Wojtowicz was paid $7,500 plus one percent of the net movie profits for the movie rights for his story. He gave $2,500 to Aron to have the operation. Aron had the surgery and changed her name to Liz Eden. She died of AIDS in 1987. Wojtowicz was released from prison after serving 20 years. He died of cancer in 2006.