Back to School

Question: I have always been curious about one thing in this movie - when Thornton was taking the oral examination, if he answered all of Dr. Barbay's questions right, why did he only get a D? How did Dean Martin not question that?

Answer: We don't know that he answered all the questions right, just that he answered the last one right. Based on Barbay's upset response to that correct answer, it is likely Thornton was at the edge between a wrong answer giving him an F and a correct answer giving him the D he got.

jimba

Answer: It should also be noted he got all D's and just 1 A. So it wasn't just Barbay that gave him a D.

Bishop73

Question: What poem is Diane reading to her class that makes Thornton say, "Yes, yes!"?

Answer: She was reading, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," by Dylan Thomas.

raywest

Answer: She was reading from the novel Ulysses by James Joyce.

Continuity mistake: The college, Great Lakes University, is presumably pretty far north and the movie takes place in January. All of the characters are dressed appropriately in winter coats, except for in the diving scenes, where it's warm, sunny, and perfect for getting a tan.

More mistakes in Back to School

Thornton Melon: Please, try to understand. I don't have the background for this. I mean, the high school I went to, they asked a kid to prove the law of gravity, he threw the teacher out the window.

More quotes from Back to School

Trivia: In the opening montage of shots, showing Thornton Mellon's progressive rise to the top, one of the final shots is actually that of Al Czervik, the role Rodney Dangerfield played in Caddyshack.

More trivia for Back to School

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