The scene in which Vinny and Judge Haller discuss the “two yutes” was “perhaps the most quoted piece of dialogue from the film,” according to Lynn in the DVD commentary, and it was based on an actual conversation that took place between Lynn and Pesci.
The two were prepping the film at the Mayflower Hotel in New York and Lynn recalls, “He said something about ‘these two yutes’ who were on trial and I said ‘what?’ and he said ‘what?’ and I said ‘what’s a yute?’” Lynn recalled. “I realized as we were having that conversation that that was something that ought to happen between Vinny and the judge, so I simply wrote it in the way it happened naturally.”
A Live Screech Owl Was Used to Create One Unforgettable Scene
One of the movie’s most memorable running gags is that Vinny can never wake up naturally and is always startled awake by something, be it a steam whistle, boisterous pigs, and even a screech owl. Lynn talks about their decision to use a real screech owl in the DVD commentary, which he later admits was probably a ridiculous thing to do. The owl's behavior was so perfect that people thought it was fake. "It screeched, it looked back at Vinny, and then it looked back at the camera and screeched again. We got amazingly lucky with that screech owl.”, said Lynn.
The screeches were actually added in later. The filmmakers used a special trick to get the owl to open its mouth at the right time: “We discovered that if you put a little bit of meat into its beak, it half swallows [it] and then, approximately three seconds later, opens its beak as the meat goes down,” Lynn said. “So we fed it a little bit of beef just before the camera starting turning so that for its first screech, which is added afterwards, his beak opened at the right moment. Everything else he did in that scene was pure luck!"
Austin Pendleton Made the Cast Laugh During Shooting
Actor Austin Pendleton, who has a real-life stutter, was cast by his friend, director Jonathan Lynn, as the tongue-tied public defender. Lynn told Abnormal Use that, even though he knew Pendleton would be hilarious in the scene, he wasn't expecting it to be that funny. Apparently, he had to hide behind the camera because he couldn't stop himself from laughing.
Mitchell Whitfield also found his scenes with Pendleton hilarious.
Pesci’s Oscar Almost Made a Surprise Appearance
Pesci had won an Oscar for the movie 'Goodfellas' the night before the shooting of the scene in which he is in jail for contempt of court and finally sleeps soundly, while a prison riot takes place around him.
Lynn takes an amused look back on that day in the DVD commentary, saying, “He flew in from Los Angeles, and on the first take, when we panned to him, he was clutching the Oscar in his arms. We sent that to the studio as the dailies.”
Many Locations from the Film Are Open to Visitors
Although the story takes place in Alabama, the film was actually shot in different spots in three small towns in Georgia. Director Jonathan Lynn says in the DVD commentary, “Apart from the courtroom,” which was a set, “virtually everything was shot on location. It wasn’t a very expensive movie, and that was the cheaper way to go. It also had more authenticity.”
That means that even today you can visit a number of the film’s locations, including the newly reopened Sac-O-Suds convenience store, where you can buy as much tuna as you want, as long as you remember to pay for it!