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The Silence of the Lambs
In his mind lies the clue to a ruthless killer. She must trust him to stop the killer.
( Crime / Drama / Thriller )


The Silence of the Lambs Poster



US Runtime: 119 min

Country of Origin: United States of America

Premiere Date:
Feb 14, 1991   [USA]
 
Director: Jonathan Demme   [Director]
 
Writer: Ted Tally   [Screenplay]
 
Producers: Grace Blake   [Associate Producer]
Ron Bozman   [Producer]
Gary Goetzman   [Executive Producer]
Edward Saxon   [Producer]
Kenneth Utt   [Producer]
 
Cinematography: Tak Fujimoto   [Director of Photography]
 
Edited by: Craig McKay   [Editor]
 
Music Composed by Howard Shore   [Original Music Composer]
 
Production Design: Kristi Zea   [Production Design]
 
Costume Design: Colleen Atwood   [Costume Design]
 
Casting by Howard Feuer   [Casting]
 
Production Companys: Orion Pictures   (US)
Orion Pictures Corporation
Strong Heart   (US)
 


Plot Summary:

    A young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.

Cast: (First 20, for the rest click 'Show All Cast & Crew' below.)

Jodie Foster
Clarice Starling
Anthony Hopkins
Dr. Hannibal Lecter
Scott Glenn
Jack Crawford
Ted Levine
Jame Gumb
Anthony Heald
Dr. Frederick Chilton
Brooke Smith
Catherine Martin
Diane Baker
Senator Ruth Martin
Kasi Lemmons
Ardelia Mapp
Frankie Faison
Barney
Tracey Walter
Lamar
 
Charles Napier
Lt. Boyle
Danny Darst
Sgt. Tate
Alex Coleman
Sgt. Pembry
Dan Butler
Roden
Paul Lazar
Pilcher
Ron Vawter
Paul Krendler
Roger Corman
FBI Director Hayden Burke
Lawrence A. Bonney
FBI Instructor
Lawrence T. Wrentz
Agent Burroughs
Don Brockett
Friendly Psychopath
 
 

Show All Cast & Crew

Miscellaneous Companies:

c-5, inc.
sound effects and foleys produced at
General Camera Corporation
location services
J.G. Films Inc.
negative matching
M & Co.
main titles design
 
R/Greenberg Associates Inc.
titles and opticals
Sound One Corporation
sound mixed at
The Erickson Agency
extras casting: virginia
 

Filming Locations: (Now With Clickable Links To Location On Google Maps)

 

Tech Info:

Budget:
$19,000,000
Revenue:
$272,742,922
Camera:
Panavision Cameras and Lenses
Color Info:
Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
Cinematographic Process:
Spherical
Film Negative Format:
35 mm
Printed Film Format:
35 mm
Shooting Dates:
15 Nov 1989 - 01 Mar 1990

Quotes:

  • Hannibal Lecter: You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. A well scrubbed, hustling rube with a little taste. Good nutrition has given you some length of bone, but you're not more than one generation from poor white trash, are you, Agent Starling? And that accent you've tried so desparately to shed? Pure West Virginia. What's your father, dear? Is he a coal miner? Does he stink of the lamp? You know how quickly the boys found you... all those tedious sticky fumblings in the back seats of cars...while you could only dream of getting out... getting anywhere... getting all the way to the FBI.
    Clarice Starling: You see a lot, Doctor.
     
  • Hannibal Lecter: A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.
     
  • Jack Crawford: Believe me, you don't want Hannibal Lecter inside your head.
     
  • Hannibal Lecter: Do you think he visualizes scenarios, exchanges... fucking?
    Clarice Starling: That doesn't interest me, Doctor, and frankly, it's... it's the sort of thing that Miggs would say.
    Hannibal Lecter: Not anymore.
     
  • Hannibal Lecter: Plum Island Animal Disease Research Center. Sounds charming.
    Clarice Starling: That's only part of the island. There's a very, very nice beach. Terns nest there. There's beautiful...
    Hannibal Lecter: [cuts her off] Terns? If I help you, Clarice, it will be "turns" for us too. I tell you things, you tell me things. Not about this case, though. About yourself. Quid pro quo. Yes or no? [pause] Yes or no, Clarice? Poor little Catherine is waiting.
    Clarice Starling: Go, doctor.
     

Trivia:

  • George A. Romero makes a cameo as the bearded man who accompanies Chilton and the two guards who forcibly remove Clarice Starling after her final meeting with Lecter.
     
  • Buffalo Bill is the combination of three real life serial killers: Ed Gein, who was skinning his victims; Ted Bundy, who used the cast on his hand as bait to make women get into his van; and Gary Heidnick, who kept women he kidnapped in a pit in his basement.
     
  • In Hannibal's last words to Clarice before Dr. Chilton has her removed, he stresses the word "simplicity". This was not just an urging to her to keep things simple, but was a reference to the dress pattern company Simplicity.
     
  • A large part of the shoot took place in Pittsburgh. The city was chosen for its variety of landscapes and architecture, which was necessary to portray various parts of the country. All the film's interiors were constructed and shot in an abandoned Pittsburgh factory.
     
  • Anthony Hopkins spontaneously invented the slurping sound on the set. Everyone loved it, but Jonathan Demme apparently got really sick of it after a while.
     


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