Acting in the Dark: Elizabeth Earl didn't know that Mel Gibson would be playing her father.
Approval of God: The families of the real Frances and Elsie were involved in the making of the film. Frances' daughter believed the fairies were genuine too.
California Doubling: Averted. The film was mostly shot on location in the real Cottingley and Bradford.
Cast the Expert: An odd example. Harvey Keitel had been set to play Harry Houdini in Ragtime, but the role was recast with Jeffrey DeMunn. So he had already done plenty of research and knew a lot about Houdini when he came on board for this.
Duelling Movies: With Photographing Fairies, released the same year.
Fake Nationality: Mild example. Florence Hoath is a Southwest London native, and so affected a Yorkshire accent to play Elsie. Phoebe Nicholls likewise puts on an accent to play Polly Wright.
Produced by Cast Member: Technically, though the cast member only has a cameo towards the end. Mel Gibson's production company Icon Productions produced the film.
Reclusive Artist: Elizabeth Earl (Frances) had only a handful of minor roles in other films, before quitting acting altogether. She has never given any interviews about her time in the film. Even on press junkets for the film, she stated that acting was just a hobby, and she intended to be a vet when she grew up.
Reality Subtext: Florence Hoath says that she was cast because she was naturally a Shrinking Violet, and thus made her an ideal fit for Elsie.
The Red Stapler: Because of the movie (and some Artistic Licence – History), Cottingley still gets plenty of tourists asking where Harry Houdini stayed when he visited.
The opening scene recreates Harry Houdini's suspended straitjacket stunt from newsreel footage, even recreating the specific shots.
The portrayals of the Wright parents match real life. Arthur believed the girls had pranked them, while Polly thought the photos were real.
Frances and Elsie's excuse when the second set of photos were taken - that the fairies wouldn't come out unless they were alone - was indeed what they did. Although they also sent Polly to tea at her sister's, whereas in the film they just go to the Beck themselves.
The processes shown verifying the photos are true to real life. A Kodak employee says they haven't been tampered with but refuses to admit them as real.
Elsie and Frances were indeed published in The Strand as Alice and Iris.
Elsie was the artistic one in real life, and she was the one who had drawn the cutouts used for the fairies.
Uncredited Role: Mel Gibson is uncredited for his small appearance as Frances' father.
The Theosophical Society is real. At that point in its history it investigated reports of all kinds of anomalous phenomena, and sought the underlying truth behind all world religions. There was (and is) also the British Society for Psychical Research, at that time a sort of cross between the Rhine Institute and CSICOP. SPR's president rejected the photos as "obviously contrived" — but it was he who suggested the girls had imagined something they believed to be real and then made and photographed the cutouts.
The film featured the final appearance of veteran British actor Don Henderson, who died of throat cancer during post-production.
is real. At that point in its history it investigated reports of all kinds of anomalous phenomena, and sought the underlying truth behind all world religions. There was (and is) also the British Society for Psychical Research