# Based on a True Story? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761 "2005-05-20T16:39:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/1 "2005-05-20T16:39:38Z")
I just finished [Based on a True Story: Fact and Fantasy in 100 Favorite Movies](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1556525591/qid=1116606426/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-1724166-5386326), by John Whalen and Jonathan Vankin. The book gave brief summaries of 100 Hollywood movies that are supposedly based on a true story, and then it told how each movie differed from the facts. After finishing the book, I thought of several movies that could have been included in the book but weren’t. Granted, some of them have come out since the book went to press. I’ve found the contact information for Mr. Vanking and plan to e-mail him my suggestions for movies to include in Volume II. If you’d like to help me with the project, please post here. What are some movies that purport to be based on a true story? In addition to the 100 movies mentioned in the book (please use Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature to see the table of contents; I won’t reprint the list here), I’ve thought of: [ul] [li]_Miracle_[/li][li]_Cool Runnings_[/li][li]_Friday Night Lights_[/li][li]_Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid_[/li][li]_Midnight Express_[/li][li]_Mommy Dearest_\*[/li][li]_Fargo_\*[/li][/ul] Any others? \*_Mommy Dearest_ has been thoroughly shown to be lies and exaggerations. However, it claims to be a true story and thus included in the book. _Fargo_ is completely fiction, as proved by [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/fargo.htm), but since this movie also claims to be a true story, it should also be reviewed in the next book. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/2 "2005-05-20T16:47:45Z")
Just thought of some others: [list] [li]_Escape From Alcatraz_[/li][li]_The Babe_[/li][li]_Papillion_[/li][li]_Tucker: The Man and His Dream_[/li][li]_Open Water_[/li]_Cobb_ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/3 "2005-05-20T17:26:03Z")
Well, heck, just about any movie supposedly based on history will have lots of changes in it. As peter Stone (or rather, an unnamed friend that he quotes) put it in his intro to the published version of **1776** , “God writes lousy theater.” So things get changed, switched around, and characters combined to keep tyhings more dramatic (and sometimes, less confusing). Movies based on plays are at a special disadvantage – their putting **The Sound of Music** (which was based on a musical play based on another movie based loosely on a true story) is equivalent to shooting fish in a thimble. You could say something similar for **Amadeus**. or **The Crucible** , which was changed in order to draw similarities with McCarthyism. One I’d like to see is **a Man for All Seasons**. I was imperessed that Robert Bolt took so much from More’s own writings and reported sayings. The plot of the film follows the historical facts I’m aware of, but I’m sure as heck no expert on this. The History Channel did one of their contrasts between film and reality using AMFAS, but I missed it. **Spartacus** differed considerably from reality (and from the Howard Fast book it was based on, for that matter) We have a friend who laughs whenever you bring up **Braveheart**. A real challenge would be to find a film that differed only minimally from reality. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/4 "2005-05-20T17:45:07Z")
There’s [Prefontaine](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119937/) and [Without Limits](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119934/)…also about Prefontaine. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/5 "2005-05-20T18:05:03Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Well, heck, just about any movie supposedly based on history will have lots of changes in it. As peter Stone (or rather, an unnamed friend that he quotes) put it in his intro to the published version of **1776** , “God writes lousy theater.” So things get changed, switched around, and characters combined to keep tyhings more dramatic (and sometimes, less confusing). […] A real challenge would be to find a film that differed only minimally from reality. I don’t think anything about the OP or the book it references is intended to be critical. It can simply be an interesting exercise to compare a fictionalized treatment of a historical event/person to the thing itself. Besides, I get the impression that, while people will tell you (if you ask) that they know “true story” movies contain a lot of invention, many people still sort of lazily assume that what they’re seeing on screen is “basically” accurate, even if it’s almost completely made up. I think some moviegoers could stand some education on just how much invention goes into a “historical” work. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/6 "2005-05-20T18:10:05Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > _Mommy Dearest_ has been thoroughly shown to be lies and exaggerations. However, it claims to be a true story and thus included in the book. _Thank_ you, by the way . . . ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/7 "2005-05-20T18:19:23Z")
The ones that come to mind are _Gladiator_ and _Kingdom of Heaven_, both excreably bad when it comes to historical accuracy… ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/8 "2005-05-20T18:48:31Z")
Hildago deserves special mention. Fargo at least did a “wink wink” based on a true story, I think the movie people actually thought Hildalgo was true. True things in the movie: Frank Hopkins was a real person. Frank Hopkins was an advocate for the Mustang False things in the movie: Everything else. Brian ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/9 "2005-05-20T19:02:25Z")
In the movie _Student Bodies_, the first shot is a crawl that states: > [@Paraphrase of Student Bodies](#): > > This is based on a true story: > > Last year, 1,135 horror movies were released in the United States. > > Not one of these movies lost money. Is _Student Bodies_ in the book? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/10 "2005-05-20T19:02:37Z")
_What’s Love Got to Do With It_ takes major liberties with the truth (including the paternity of Tina’s first child, and even Tina says that Ike was portrayed unfairly) _Passion of the Christ_ takes serious liberties both from the Gospels and from what is known historically of the people portrayed ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/11 "2005-05-20T19:03:51Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > The ones that come to mind are _Gladiator_ and _Kingdom of Heaven_, both excreably bad when it comes to historical accuracy… I don’t believe Ridley Scott has claimed that either of those movies are based on true stories. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/12 "2005-05-20T19:05:34Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > _Thank_ you, by the way . . . This is definitely a crusade where I’m marching right behind **Eve**. Two generations of Americans, when they hear the name “Joan Crawford”, can only bring up the mental image of the screeching, psychotic gargoyle portrayed by Faye Dunaway. Admittedly, Joan was no angel, but she deserves a better memorial than _Mommie Dearest_, book OR movie… ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/13 "2005-05-20T19:08:10Z")
_The Amityville Horror_ remake’s ads kept saying it was based on a true story. Since the original story was exposed as a hoax years ago, we are now in a situation in which the words “true story” no longer necessarily need to have any connection to reality when they are used. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/14 "2005-05-20T19:20:33Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > I don’t believe Ridley Scott has claimed that either of those movies are based on true stories. Well, at least drawn loosely from historical fact. (There were actually a Maximus and a Baylian, respectively, if memory serves me right…) ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/15 "2005-05-20T19:24:02Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > _The Amityville Horror_ remake’s ads kept saying it was based on a true story. Since the original story was exposed as a hoax years ago, we are now in a situation in which the words “true story” no longer necessarily need to have any connection to reality when they are used. “Based on what at least one person still insists is a true story!” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/16 "2005-05-20T19:39:37Z")
_Night and Day_, the Cole Porter story, makes him straight and look like Cary Grant. (Kevin Kline’s not a lot closer and Linda Porter would have paid her last million to look like Ashley Judd, but at least his orientation is corrected and Jonathan Pryce got some screentime.) Any history of the Old Republic will verify that midichlorians are a complete fabrication; the ancient Jedi were chosen 100% on merit and natural ability rather than objective measurements. It was this historical inaccuracy that ruined _The Phantom Menace_ for me. I was majorly irked by _Gods & Generals_, which most certainly claimed to be the true story of Stonewall Jackson. Literally, the _first frame_ in the movie contains a historical inaccuracy (Col. Robert E. Lee is enroute to D.C. to be offered the command of the Army of the Potomac- he is wearing a Federal uniform, which he would have, but he is the grey and bearded Lee of public consciousness- in reality he had a clean-shaven chin, a moustache and more pepper than salt in his hair at the time [he grayed early in the war and grew a full beard for warmth]). There are others, such as Jackson sitting at a dining table with his wife (Jackson, one of the most eccentric generals of the war, ate standing up) that would have been so easily corrected by paying the few thousand dollars a qualified consultant would have cost them. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/17 "2005-05-20T20:00:48Z")
**Fairy Tale** is also still being marketed as being based on a true story, too. Even though the surviving sister has explained how they accomplished the hoax. I wonder why they didn’t include some other famous WWII movies, like **Midway** , or **Battle of the Bulge**? Other possible inclusions: **Jefferson in Paris** **The Madness of King George** ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/18 "2005-05-20T20:17:42Z")
I know nothing about this “Mommie Dearest was full of lies” thing. Can someone point me to some information? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/19 "2005-05-20T20:33:09Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > I know nothing about this “Mommie Dearest was full of lies” thing. Can someone point me to some information? Basically, Christine Crawford disowns the movie (she said “the makeup was pretty good, otherwise it was horrible”) and her siblings disown Christine. Nobody claims Joan was a warm and fuzzy person, but the other children deny the abuse was anything that extreme or one-sided. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761/20 "2005-05-20T20:37:37Z")
What about _Picnic at Hanging Rock_? It’s a film supposedly based on a “true story” about some Australian schoolgirls and a teacher who mysteriously disappear… except there was no real-life event, mysterious or otherwise. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/based-on-a-true-story/304761.md?page=2)