Trivia / The Rain People

• Creator's Favorite Episode: Francis Ford Coppola frequently cites this as one his of favorites.
• The Danza: James Caan as Jimmy Kilgannon.
• Dawson Casting: Jimmy is supposed to be around 20 or so, but James Caan was in his late 20s. Averted with Rosalie; Marya Zimmet was 11 and that seems to be the right age for the character.
• The Other Marty: Rip Torn, who missed out on a role in another notable 1969 Road Movie, was originally cast as Gordon but had a scheduling conflict and pulled out at the last minute. Robert Duvall, James Caan's ex-roommate and his co-star in the recently released Robert Altman film Countdown, quickly stepped in to take the part.
• Real-Life Relative: Eleanor Coppola (Francis' wife), uncredited as Gordon's wife who died in the house fire.
• Reality Subtext: Shirley Knight was in fact pregnant during filming.
• What Could Have Been: The original screenplay ended with Vinny driving to Nebraska to pick up Natalie.

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