Trivia / The Age of Innocence

• Award Category Fraud: Miriam Margolyes has voiced her frustration with the fact that Winona Ryder was nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category at the 1994 Oscars for her lead performance, which Margolyes believes kept her from being nominated in the supporting category herself. Margolyes eventually won the BAFTA in this category over Ryder.
  • However Margolyes' claim that Ryder was a lead role is flimsy at best. The film is clearly Newland's story and Winona Ryder's screentime amounts to about 28 minutes. Michelle Pfeiffer's screentime is 38 minutes.
• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $34,000,000. Box office, $32,255,440.
• In Memoriam: The film is dedicated to Martin Scorsese's father, Charles, who died just before the film was completed. He and his wife Catherine Scorsese have a cameo appearance in the scene at the station.
• Meaningful Release Date: Criterion's reveal that it was adding the 1993 film to its collection in 2018 offers a few examples of this:
  • https://twitter.com/ByClaytonDavis/status/1434678573831372800 It comes 25 years after the Scorsese film's theatrical release.
  • The announcement was made in December of 2017, the same month in which Phantom Thread, Daniel Day-Lewis' final film before his announced retirement, was released.
  • The announcement came at a point when both Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder were going through phases of Career Resurrection (Pfeiffer with mother!, Murder on the Orient Express (2017), and earning an Emmy nomination for The Wizard of Lies; Ryder with her work on Stranger Things).
• Real-Life Relative:
  • The lady standing to the right of Winona Ryder and admiring her engagement ring at the Beauforts' ball (just before Archer approaches and bows) is Tamasin Day-Lewis, sister of Daniel Day-Lewis, who was in town to visit her brother and drafted by Martin Scorsese to take the part. She's better known as the author of a series of cookbooks.
  • Scorsese's parents appear at the station.
• The Shelf of Movie Languishment: The film was originally to be released in December of 1992, but was held back by ten months to allow Martin Scorsese more time to edit.
• What Could Have Been: Alec Guinness turned down the role of Sillerton Jackson, as he wasn't happy with the salary on offer.

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