Trivia for
Hopscotch (1980) More at IMDbPro »

• The Oktoberfest scene at the beginning of the film was not staged. The filmmakers hid cameras to prevent people from knowing they were being filmed.
  
  
• Walter Matthau, who lost family and friends in the Holocaust, only agreed to travel to Germany to shoot the opening Oktoberfest scene on condition that his son, David Matthau, was cast as Ross.
  
  
• After agreeing to be filmed in Germany, Walter Matthau resisted filming scenes showing him drinking at Oktoberfest until his stepdaughter Lucy Saroyan was given the role of Carla, the pilot who flies him in her seaplane. After arriving at their destination and being paid, she tells Matthau's character that he reminds her of her father. His response is, "That's always been my problem."
  
  
• Sam Waterston arrived late to begin filming because his role in Heaven's Gate (1980) ran much longer than anticipated. By the time he began his work as Cutter he was exhausted. As a result people mention how awful he looks two times, and he blames jet lag.
  
  
• The photograph of Ned Beatty on the desk where Matthau is typing his book is first seen with a smiling face. As the writing continues throughout the film, the expression gradually changes to anger and is finally shot off the desk, the bullet hitting the middle of his forehead.
  
  
• The names of the characters "Ludlum" and "Westlake" are taken from authors Robert Ludlum and Donald E. Westlake.
  
  
• The name of the character "Follett" is taken from author Ken Follett, a popular writer of spy novels and political thrillers.
  
  

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