Here is a collection of trivia and miscellaneous facts about GoodFellas. I owe much of the credit here to fans of this site who have emailed me or posted their trivia on the message boards.
Ad-libs
-- The scene with Tommy's Mother (Catherine Scorsese) was entirely unscripted. Catherine Scorsese followed the lead of Robert De Niro, who she happened to be well acquainted with due to his relationship with her son. The painting that she showed was painted by Nicholas Pileggi's Mother.
-- The 'funny' scene is supposedly written and directed by Joe Pesci at the request of Mr. Scorsese.
-- When Tommy and Henry bust out the Bamboo Lounge, Tommy says, "You look like you're decoratin' a f--kin' Christmas Tree. You don't know what you're doin'." It was unscripted, and he was not speaking as a character, but as an actor to Ray Liotta.
Continuity
-- Watch the discussion between Pauly and Sonny very closely. Toward the end you will notice Paulie's cigar in his mouth in one shot, and then quickly back in his hand again. A similar occurrence happens when Morrie is on the phone.
-- When Tommy whacks Stacks, he shoots him a total of four times in the first shot. Then, in the slow-motion shot, he fires five times, for a total of six (including the shot to the head he is walking away from).
-- When Carbone and Tommy go to Stacks' apartment, Stacks unlocks the door and lets them in. Carbone goes in the kitchen while Tommy shoots Stacks. However, Carbone unlocks the door before they leave, even though it has already been unlocked.
-- When Karen hurries into her car after Jimmy offers her the dresses, the license plate on the car in front of her falls off, revealing the newer NY license plate.
Miscellaneous
-- The opening scene of Henry's childhood was filmed in Astoria, NY.
-- When Karen visits Henry in prison, the line below Janice Rossi - Henry Hill in the register reads Anne Ballibusteros - Joe Ballibusteros.
-- Had the money been stolen today, the Air France score ($480,000) would have been worth $2.4 million. Likewise, the Lufthansa Heist ($6.2 million) would be worth $16.4 million (given the inflation rates from 1967 and 1978 to 1999, respectively).
-- In the movie and in reality, Ray Liotta has blue eyes. However, in the movie poster, his eyes are dark brown.
-- Chuck Low (Morrie) has only been in movies that also featured Robert DeNiro.
Sleepers (1996)
Night and the City (1992)
Mistress (1992)
GoodFellas (1990)
The Mission (1986)
The King of Comedy (1983)
-- Former US Attorney Edward McDonald plays himself in the movie, reenacting what he did in real life; convincing Henry and Karen to enter the Witness Protection Program.
-- In Raging Bull, Joe Pesci beats the hell out of Frank Vincent, which he does again in GoodFellas. In Casino, the situation is reversed.
Script Changes
-- The 'Batts' scene was originally scripted to take place in it's entirety at the beginning of the movie.
-- In Wise Guy, the amount from the Air France score was $480,000. In GoodFellas, the amount was only $420,000.
