Top Secret!

Trivia: Just in case some people don't know, most of the "German" in this movie is total gibberish. Some sentences are perfectly correct and properly spoken, as with the welcoming speech, the German soldiers and platform announces at the station, the "Ich liebe dich, mein Schatz", etc. But the learning tape, the conversations at the Culture Hall during dinner and the East Germany Anthem are just a bunch of "German-dutch sounding noises." Of course, it's even funnier to know that there are subtitles for all these with content that has nothing to do with it.

Dan dV

Trivia: Val Kilmer sang all of his own parts in this film. That fact was a contributing factor to his being offered the role of Jim Morrison in "The Doors."

Trivia: Family cameo: Burton Zucker, father of directors Jerry and David, appears as the chef holding the cleaver and the chicken during the "Tutti Frutti" number. Also, Charlotte Zucker (the mother) plays the woman that Nick takes the hand of after he has dropped off the chandelier.

Trivia: The soldiers bursting into the theater Prop Room are none other than the Zucker Bros. and Abrahams themselves.

Trivia: Part of the Latin text the priest reads on Nick's (or rather, his own) last walk are extracts from the 'De Bello Gallico' (On the Gallic Wars), Julius Caesar's account on his wars in present day France and Germany 58 - 49 BC.

Trivia: The song the horse sings is "Du, Du Liegst Mir Im Herzen" ('You, You, Weigh On My Heart'), a North German folk song of about 1820. And it's done in perfect German, too.

Trivia: Val Kilmer actually went through a lot of work to learn to play guitar for the role. The Zuckers encouraged him at first, except once they started shooting the dance scenes, they just directed him to mimic playing the guitar in an absurd fashion, and not really play it. Kilmer recalls this was the cruelest joke ever played on him.

RJR99SS

Trivia: In the German synchronization, the "national hymn" at the end of the welcoming ceremony was drastically altered; the singing voices were changed to a men-only choir, a different song was used, and the subtitles with the depressing text were completely omitted. Obviously, the text of the original version was considered too offensive for the then still-existing East German neighbors.

Trivia: The name of the cafe where the resistance members meet is a literal but grammatically bad translation of the trademark name 'Pizza Hut'. In correct German it should be 'Das Pizzahaus'. And by-the-by: 'Pizza Hut' also exists in Germany, but under a slightly changed name and logo; 'Pizza Hut' in this case means (literally) 'Pizza Hat' (like the headgear).

Trivia: The scene with the owner of the bookstore using a magnifier and making his eye too big is a parody of The Curse of Frankstein.

oswal13

Trivia: On the European map, in England the name Pinewood is visible - that's a reference to Pinewood studios where the movie was filmed.

oswal13

Trivia: Nick has a pic of Cher in his cell because Val Kilmer was in a relationship with her at the time.

oswal13

Trivia: Nancy Abrahams, wife of Director Jim Abrahams, makes a cameo in the welcoming ceremony.

oswal13

Trivia: The scene on the street with agent Cedric asking a blind guy for information was inspired by The Conspirators.

oswal13

Top Secret! mistake picture

Revealing mistake: When Chocolate Mousse throws the anchor with the rope attached into the air, if you watch the ground when they run away, you can see that there's suddenly a lot more rope there, revealing that it was filmed in two takes and the anchor wasn't really thrown directly above their heads. (01:11:20)

Daz

More mistakes in Top Secret!
More quotes from Top Secret!

Question: When Nick talks to Deja Vu and Chocolate Mousse there is a strange drawing behind them on the wall consisting of four arrows and other symbols, it looks meaningless but very deliberate at the same time, is it supposed to mean something? (00:58:07 - 00:58:38)

one5zero

Answer: It looks like an attack plan with the symbols representing buildings, trees and a church or graveyard in the village, the arrows representing troops and the Resistance, and the dotted line some kind of battle line.

Sierra1

More questions & answers from Top Secret!

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.