When Harry Met Sally...
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  • The segments of married couples telling the stories of how they met are real stories that Rob Reiner collected for the film. Actors relate the stories.

  • Harry can be seen reading Stephen King's Misery (1990), which would be director Rob Reiner's next film.

  • The woman who says "I'll have what she's having" after Sally's faked orgasm is director Rob Reiner's mother.

  • In the museum scene, Harry adlibs, "But, I would be proud to partake of your pecan pie." Sally laughs and looks to her right where Rob Reiner silently prompts her to go with it.

  • Director Rob Reiner and producer Andrew Scheinman are credited on some drafts of the script

  • Before deciding on the title, "Just Friends", "Playing Melancholy Baby", "Boy Meets Girl", "Blue Moon", "Words of Love", "It Had To Be You", "Harry, This Is Sally", and "How They Met", were considered by Nora Ephron, Andrew Scheinman, and Rob Reiner.

  • The off-camera voice that says, "Hey everybody, 10 seconds until new year," is Rob Reiner.

  • According to screenwriter Nora Ephron the infamous "I'll have what she's having" line was actually suggested by Billy Crystal.

  • Sally's picky and crazy eating habits were put into the movie after Rob Reiner saw Nora Ephron ordering her food in the same way Sally did in the movie. When Rob brought this up, Nora said, "I just like it the way I like it," a line which was put into the movie.

  • Harry is somewhat based on Rob Reiner. Rob was depressed, and loved being depressed, like Harry Burns in the film. Sally is somewhat based on Nora Ephron. Nora is optimistic, cheerful, loves control, and is the type of person who is "just fine" with everything, just like Sally Albright.

  • For the infamous orgasm scene, the original script called for just Harry and Sally to talk about women faking an orgasm, until Meg Ryan suggested that Sally actually fake an orgasm at the table. Rob Reiner loved the idea and put it into the script.

  • The orgasm scene was filmed at Katz's Deli, an actual restaurant on New York's E. Houston Street. The table at which the scene was filmed now has a plaque on it that reads, "Congratulations! You're sitting where Harry met Sally."

  • Nora Ephron was happy with how the film turned out, but was never happy with the title of the film, and says it's the one thing she would go back and fix if she could.

  • While writing the script, Rob Reiner once said, "You know how women have a base of makeup, I have a base of depression. Sometimes I sink below it. Sometimes I rise above it." Since the Harry Burns is based on the depressing Rob, Nora Ephron threw the line into the script, which Rob cut somewhere along the line.

  • Rob Reiner, Nora Ephron, and Andrew Scheinman chose beautiful locations to highlight the characters lack of insight - Harry and Sally are as blind to romance as they are to the love growing between them. The same logic was used for Harry's apartment. The windows overlook the Empire State Building. It could either the loveliest - or - loneliest, view in the world.

  • Molly Ringwald was offered the role of Sally, but was forced to decline due to a busy schedule. She would later go on to play Sally in the stage version of the film in 2004, on London's West End.

  • In an interview with National Public Radio on 2 November 2004, Nora Ephron credited Meg Ryan not only with the idea of faking orgasm in the well-known restaurant scene, but also with the idea of setting it in a restaurant in the first place.

  • The movie's line "I'll have what she's having." was voted as the #33 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

  • The concept of Sally being a picky eater was based on Nora Ephron, the scriptwriter, and so years after the movie came out, when Nora Ephron was on a plane and ordered something very precise, the stewardess looked at her and asked "Have you ever see the movie 'When Harry Met Sally'?"

  • [June 2008] Ranked #6 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Romantic Comedy".

  • When Harry and Sally first begin to talk on the phone Harry is seen reading 'Misery' by Stephen King. The next year Rob Reiner directed the movie adaption, Misery (1990).

  • The song "It Had To Be You" was also previously featured in The Roaring Twenties (1939) (performed by Priscilla Lane), Casablanca (1942) (performed by Dooley Wilson, and I'll See You in My Dreams (1951) starring Doris Day and Danny Thomas.

  • Albert Brooks turned down the role of Harry Burns.

>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<

Trivia items below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.

  • SPOILER: In the first draft of the film, Harry and Sally did not end up together. It was only later, that Nora Ephron and Rob Reiner decided that Harry and Sally belonged together.


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