Trivia / Not Without My Daughter

• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $22 million. Box office, $14,789,113.
• …But I Play One on TV:
  • Alfred Molina recalled in an interview years later being punched on the street by someone who hated his character and thought he really was Moody.
  • Sally Field on the flipside got a lot of hate from the Iranian-American community for starring in the film.
• Creator Killer: Downplayed; this film ended director Brian Gilbert's career in Hollywood (after previously having directed Vice Versa), but he continued directing films in his native England.
• Fake Nationality: Alfred Molina has no Iranian nor any Middle Eastern ancestry at all, but Plays Great Ethnics thanks to his Italian mother and Spanish father.
• From Entertainment to Education: The film was used in schools, as part of certain social studies or religious curriculums.
• The Red Stapler: The movie has been 'credited' with convincing a generation of American women to avoid dating Iranian men. Comedian Maz Jobrani jokes in his stand-up routine that he "became Italian" to make it easier on his dating life - as numerous women would tell him their mothers cited this film as reason not to date an Iranian-American man.
• Star-Derailing Role: Sally Field experienced a brief career downturn after the failure of this film and its ensuing controversy (to the point where she grumbled about having to lend her voice to Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey for the paycheck). She was able to regain goodwill with Mrs. Doubtfire and Forrest Gump.
• What Could Have Been: The escape scene in the book took place in a mountain full of snow and ice. The film was planned to feature this scene, but it was nearly scrapped because of lack of snow in the planned location ^note  The movie was filmed in Israel, ironically enough. Many of the cast and crew protested, with Sally Field even threatening to quit the production. After searching for other locations that would have been either too expensive or unsafe to film in, they rewrote the scene to happen in the desert instead.

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