Trivia / Witness

• Actor-Inspired Element: Harrison Ford chose "Wonderful World" for the evening serenade between John and Rachel.
• The Cast Showoff: Harrison Ford shows off his carpentry skills in the film. He had worked as a carpenter prior to becoming an actor.
• Divorced Installment: The story was originally a plot outline for Gunsmoke. The writers had both worked on the series and their original story had Marshall Dillon traveling to an Amish farm looking for a witness to a murder.
• Executive Meddling: As detailed on the Film page, executives insisted on adding a "Pennsylvania, 1984" subtitle to the opening scene, which otherwise would have been a period fake-out.
• Fake American: Jan Rubeš (Eli Tapp) and Angus MacInnes (Det. Fergie) are both Canadian, and Alexander Godunov (Daniel Hochleitner) was born in Russia.
  • More broadly, many of the Amish extras were actually Mennonites, since the Amish locals declined to be on film.
• Method Acting:
  • Harrison Ford joined the Philadelphia Police Department in preparation for the movie. He even joined them on numerous raids.
  • Kelly McGillis lived in an Amish community for a few months to understand her character, which involved her giving up smoking the whole time. She was also kicked by a cow.
• Missing Trailer Scene: The theatrical trailer features a scene not used in the film. In it, Book tells Schaeffer that there was a witness while sitting in a police car.
• Playing Against Type: Danny Glover is better-known for playing likeable and sympathetic characters. Here he plays a corrupt and murderous police officer.
• Playing with Character Type: Harrison Ford plays a heroic man with a gun...who has to hide among pacifists and ultimately resolves things non-violently.
• Real-Life Relative: Lukas Haas mother Emily Tracy played one of the Amish women.
• Reality Subtext: John Book's relationship with Samuel mirrored Harrison Ford's relationship with his own children.
• The Red Stapler: Amish communities became popular sites for tourists after the film came out, leading to some communities calling for a boycott.
• Serendipity Writes the Plot: John and Rachel's final scene had about ten pages of dialogue written for it. Harrison Ford however fell ill, so it was changed to the silent farewell we see in the final film.
• Star-Making Role: Kelly McGillis's Golden Globe nominated performance here launched her onto bigger roles like Top Gun and The Accused.
  • Also, the film broke Harrison Ford out of the Sci-Fi/action ghetto he was made famous for.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Sylvester Stallone was an early choice for John Book. When he turned down the role, he said it was one of the worst decisions of his career. Jack Nicholson was also offered the role. While he liked the script, there wasn't a director he liked attached at that point. Burt Reynolds revealed in his autobiography that he wanted the lead role and considered calling Peter Weir to lobby for it, but had second thoughts and backed off. Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Richard Gere and Mel Gibson were also considered.
  • Isabella Rossellini was offered the role of Rachel, but had to turn it down because of a scheduling conflict.
  • David Cronenberg was asked to direct.
  • The original screenplay focused mainly on Rachel, but Weir asked screenwriters William Kelley and Earl W. Wallace to rewrite it to focus on the comparison of pacifism and violence as seen through the eyes of John Book.
  • Richard Chamberlain was considered to play Chief Schaeffer.
• Working Title: Home to Witness. It was changed at the behest of Paramount's marketing department, who felt the original title posed too much of a promotional challenge. The script's original title was Called Home, which is the Amish term for death.

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