Movie Trivia

This was one of the first films to take advantage of the state of Michigan's new law that provided tax incentive packages to film productions.

Open casting calls for Hmong actors were held in Hmong communities in Detroit, Michigan; Saint Paul, Minnesota; and Fresno, California. None of the Hmong actors in the cast had acted in a film before except Doua Moua.

Clint Eastwood encouraged the Hmong actors to ad-lib in the Hmong language.

This film was once extensively falsely rumored to going to be a final installment in the Dirty Harry franchise series.

Gran Torinos were built in Lorain, OH, about two hours from Detroit. The truck Walt drives, however, could have been built in Wayne, Michigan, twenty miles from Highland Park.

The Gran Torino car of the title was also the car used in the 70s cop show "Starsky and Hutch" (1975). David Soul acted with Eastwood in the Dirty Harry sequel Magnum Force (1973) playing another cop two years before he landed the part of Detective Ken Hutchinson in "Starsky and Hutch" (1975). Eastwood himself drove a Ford Torino sedan in The Enforcer (1976/I).

The rifle Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) uses in the film is an American M1 Garand, a 9.5lb .30-06 gas operated rifle. It was first issued during WWII and was again issued in Korea before being phased out by the M14 selective fire .308 rifle. The pistol Kowalski uses is an M1911A1, a .45 ACP semi automatic handgun also issued during the Korean war. It would seem Kowalski's gun collection consists of the weapons he used in service.

Kowalski is also the last name of the anti hero in the muscle car driven cult classic Vanishing Point (1971). It is also the last name of Marlon Brando's character in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951).

One of many movies which features Clint Eastwood singing, the others being: Paint Your Wagon (1969), Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), Honkytonk Man (1982), The Beguiled (1971), Bronco Billy (1980), Any Which Way You Can (1980), Kelly's Heroes (1970), and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997).

This is the fourth time Clint Eastwood has played a Korean War veteran. The first was in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) as John "Thunderbolt" Doherty, where he played a retired bank-robber who won the silver star in Korea. Then Heartbreak Ridge (1986), where he played Marine Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Highway. Finally, in Absolute Power (1997) he played jewel thief Luther Whitney. Eastwood is in real life a Korean war veteran, though, unlike his characters, he saw no combat.

Clint Eastwood stated that this will be his last movie as an actor.

Walt shows Thao his silver star and pins it to his shirt. In 1974, Clint Eastwood played a character named John "Thunderbolt" Doherty, a retired bank robber, in the movie Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974). In that movie, Red Leary (George Kennedy) tells Lightfoot (Jeff Bridges) that John won the silver star in the Korean war.

Clint Eastwood's character (Kowalski) is a fan of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, same as the psychotic character played by Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet (1986). Both characters have lines where they put Pabst Blue Ribbon over any other beer.

Clint Eastwood's character's name, Walt Kowalski, is the real name of legendary wrestler, Walter "Killer" Kowalski.

The jersey Walt's grandson is wearing at the funeral is that of now former Lions wide receiver Roy Williams.

In box office terms, the most successful Clint Eastwood movie ever, both in the U.S. and the U.K, but not with inflation.

Writers Nick Schenk and Dave Johannson actually knew some of the Hmongs near the steel mill that they are working. The script was written out of pieces of paper during lunch breaks over a period.

The infamous "Zodiac" killings in Los Angeles inspired the villain in the original Dirty Harry (1971), starring Clint Eastwood. Years later, in the film Zodiac (2007/I), John Carroll Lynch played the main suspect in the killings. Here, Lynch plays Eastwood's barber and buddy.