The Outsiders Behind The Scenes

How's this for some (imposed) method acting; Coppola had the actors who were playing Socs stay in luxury accommodation with leather-bound copies of the script, whilst the Greasers were put up in a basement with tattered, paperback, copies--this was done in order to create a sense of difference and tension between the two groups right from the beginning.

Ralph Macchio was 20 when he played the character of "Johnny Cade".

C. Thomas Howell was 15 at the time of filming, which is older than his actual character Ponyboy Curtis, who was 14.

In the scene where Ponyboy, Johnny and Two-Bit are walking to Johnny's house, a hat flies into the scene. Two-Bit picks it up and says "look! I have a new hat!" and walks away. The hat belonged to one of the camera men. Frances Ford Coppola had said to the cast earlier that he did not want to stop rolling, no matter what, so the hat is still in the movie.

The employees in the concession stand scene at the drive-in were actually employees of General Cinema Theaters, then owners of the Admiral Twin Drive-In, including Damon Fell, Cindy Fell and Tom Essley.

Nicholas Cage auditioned for the role of Dallas (later played by Matt Dillon) & did some method acting for the part by locking himself in a room for two weeks, drinking beer & staring at a photograph of Charles Bronson, hoping that the physical & mental attitude of playing a thug would rub off on him. His uncle turned him down & told him to audition for the part of Two-Bit (later played by Emilio Estevez) but Cage was so fed up at this point from all his hard work being in vain that he walked away from the project.

In a moment of anger, Cage called Matt Dillon an airhead & later regretted the statement, saying Matt was a very talented actor.

Tom Cruise and Patrick Swayze did their own gymnastics stunts in the scene leading up to the rumble.

Heather Langenkamp (Nightmare on Elm street) had a cameo in this movie, she played a girl in the drive-in movie scene, but her scenes were deleted.

During the rumble scene, Tom Cruise was accidentally socked in the jaw and needed dental work the following day. The Tulsa dentist has a picture of himself and the then-young actor together in his office.

Three Matt Dillion movies of the 80's were filmed entirely on location in Tulsa, Oklahoma: "Tex," "Rumblefish," and "The Outsiders." I remember as a kid watching the fight scene for "Rumblefish" and grew up a few blocks from the "bloody" fountain in "The Outsiders." The park used in that scene contained a jungle gym but no fountain--so the movie crew had to build one.

When Dallas fell off his chair at the drive-in, it was real! That's why Ponyboy looks straight at the camera when he's laughing.

The first punch in the rumble scene was actually real! You can actually see Ponyboy spit out blood as he falls to the ground, thats why C. Thomas Howell's suprised expression is so realistic!

According to the Warner Brothers press release..The idea for The Outsiders began with a letter to Francis Ford Coppola from a school librarian in Fresno, California, stating that the faculty and students had nominated the director to make a movie of their favorite novel; the letter was personally signed by 110 students.

S.E. Hinton, the author of the Outsiders book started the book when she was just 15, from a real-life experience. She later finished the book when she was 16.

During filming, Rob Lowe asked the original author of ‘The Outsiders’ what had happened to Sodapop Curtis, the author responded that Sodapop dies in Vietnam.

When the book 'The Outsiders' was published, it was on the same day as the writers highschool graduation day.

Once Matt Dillion had starred in "Tex", S. E. Hinton knew he'd play the perfect Dallas Winston.

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There is a cut on Ponyboy's (C.Thomas Howell) throat area. They didn't add the scene of how Ponyboy actually got it.

However a reader wrote in to say: They DO show how Ponyboy got the cut, in the first scene.