Photo by Warner Bros.

In September 19 1990, was released one classic movie of the 90’s, ‘Goodfellas’. The movie is about Henry Hill and his life in the mob, covering his relationship with his wife Karen Hill and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito in the Italian-American crime syndicate.

Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci
Director: Martin Scorsese

To celebrate the 30th anniversary, here are some of the curiosities about this movie.

• According to Henry Hill, whose life was the basis for the book and film, Joe Pesci’s portrayal of Tommy DeSimone was 90-99% accurate, with one notable exception; the real Tommy DeSimone was massively built.

• Robert De Niro wanted to use real money for the scene where Jimmy hands out money, because he didn’t like the way fake money felt in his hands. The prop master gave De Niro $5,000 of his own money. At the end of each take, no one was allowed to leave the set until all the money was returned and counted.

• According to Ray Liotta, Martin Scorsese was so involved in every detail of the cast’s wardrobe that he tied Liotta’s tie himself to make sure it was accurate for the film’s setting.

• According to Nicholas Pileggi, some mobsters were hired as extras to lend authenticity to scenes. The mobsters gave Warner Bros. fake Social Security numbers, and no one knows how they received their paychecks.

• Ray Liotta turned down the part of Harvey Dent in Batman (1989) in order to make this movie.

• For the scene where Sonny Bunz complains to Paulie, Martin Scorsese secretly told Tony Darrow to improvise more lines for his character without telling Paul Sorvino. Sorvino’s confused reaction was real.

• Every one of Robert De Niro’s outfits had a watch and a pinkie ring to go with it.

• At Martin Scorsese’s request, associates of the actual people were always on the set of the film, giving helpful and essential information about the life, people, settings, and moods.

• According to Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro and Tina Sinatra put a fake severed horse head in his trailer, an homage to The Godfather (1972), as an initiation into Mafioso films.

• The name “Tommy DeVito” is a nod to Tommy DeVito, the lead guitarist of The Four Seasons, with whom Joe Pesci was friends.

Source: Imdb