SCARFACE

Brian De Palma’s take on Scarface bears the a dedication to Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht. Hawks was the director of the original Scarface movie, and Hecht was its lead writer.

THE SEA WOLVES

Before his death at the hands of the IRA, Lord Louis Mountbatten was involved in preparatory work for 1980’s The Sea Wolves. The final cut of the film is dedicated to him, reading ‘This film is dedicated to the memory of the last Honorary Colonel of the Calcutta Light Horse – Admiral of the Fleet, The Earl Mountbatten of Burma, K.G. 1900 – 1979’.

The credits also pay tribute to Commander B.S. Davies, for his contribution to the mission that the film depicts.

SHALLOW HAL

The Farrelly Brothers’ Shallow Hal includes a dedication to Charles Seabrook. In his mid-50s when he died, Seabrook worked in the electrical and camera department on the film, as he had done on the likes of Forrest Gump, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls and Shadow Conspiracy. He died six months before the release of Shallow Hal.

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

There’s a unfussy dedication to Allen Greene in the credits of the immortal The Shawshank Redemption. Greene was the agent of writer/director Frank Darabont, and a good friend of his too. Sadly, he died just before the film was finished, as a result of complications related to his AIDS diagnosis.

SPY GAME

Tony Scott’s thriller, starring Robert Redford, is ‘dedicated to the memory of Elizabeth Jean Scott’. As, incidentally, was Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down. The connection being, as you might guess, is that she’s their mother. She died in 2001.

STUCK ON YOU

The Farrelly Brothers dedicated their 2003 comedy, Stuck On You, to a frequent collaborator of theirs. It’s in memory of Herb Flynn, who acted in films such as Shallow Hal and There’s Something About Mary for the directors. Flynn died of cancer before Stuck On You was released, at the age of 85.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES II: THE SECRET OF THE OOZE

In the opening credits of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, there’s a dedication to Jim Henson, and reportedly not one his family were best thrilled with. It was the last film that Henson worked on, but he was reported to be unhappy with the levels of violence in the first movie. Nonetheless, the film bears his dedication.

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY

The Farrelly Brothers dedicated There’s Something About Mary to 17-year old Ryan Mone. The brothers were long-time friends of the Mones, and when Ryan died in a car accident, those chose to dedicate the movie to his memory. A class act.

THIS IS ENGLAND

Shane Meadow’s superb 2006 drama gave young Thomas Turgoose an indelible breakthrough role. The final film is dedicated to Sharon, his mother, who died of cancer at the end of 2005. She got to see a short preview of the film before she passed, although never saw the final cut.

TOP GUN

The classic Tom Cruise/Tony Scott blockbuster is dedicated to the memory of Art Scholl. Scholl was a stunt pilot, who died at the age of 53, when his plane went into a flat spin while making the film, and plunged into the Pacific Ocean. The spin was intentional, and designed to get a specific shot for the film, but it became apparent quickly that things hadn’t gone to plan.

You can find the Art School Aviation website here, and a memorial field has been named in his honour.

TRANSPORTER 2

The Jason Statham-starring sequel is dedicated to the memory of Michael Stone. Stone was director of photography on the film, and had also worked on the likes of Pearl Harbor, Terminator 3 and National Treasure. Transporter 2 was his first director of photography job on the first unit. He died in a car accident in 2005, at the age of 56.

TURBO

Go through the end credits of DreamWorks’ Turbo, and you’ll get the line ‘In memory of Nicholas Sanger Hoppe’. We had the chance to ask director David Soren about the line, and he told us “he passed away. He had cancer. We just wanted to honour him”. A computer VFX artist and animator for two decades, Hoppe died a year after his diagnosis, in March 2013. He had worked on the Kung Fu Panda movies, Turbo, Megamind and more during his time at DreamWorks Animation.

UNFORGIVEN

A fairly obvious one, this. Clint Eastwood adds the words ‘Dedicated to Sergio and Don’ at the end. That’s his nod and appreciation to Don Siegel and Sergio Leone, arguably the best directors he ever worked with. Siegel directed him in Dirty Harry, whilst Leone was the man behind the peerless Man With No Name trilogy.

UNSTOPPABLE

The late Tony Scott’s final film, Unstoppable, was dedicated to the memory of Hollie Haines Knowlton. The dedication arises from the true story that inspired the film. The movie, about a runaway train, was based on an event that took place in 2001, and Denzel Washington portrayed Jesse Knowlton (albeit under a different name), one of the men who tried to bring said train to a stop. Hollie Haines Knowlton was Jesse’s wife, and she died before the film was released. She shares a dedication in the film’s credits with Ed Limato (for more details on him, see the entry for Flight).

THE WAY

Emilio Estevez’s The Way, which he wrote and directed, was a personal piece of work, not least because his father was cast alongside him. The movie was released in 2010, and is dedicated to Francisco Estevez. He was Emilio’s grandfather, and Martin’s father.

THE WICKER MAN

The infamous 2006 remake of The Wicker Man bears the credit ‘For Johnny Ramone’. It’s not the most beguiling gift that Ramone would have benefitted from, but the late singer was the man who introduced Nicolas Cage to Robin Hardy’s original The Wicker Man. Ramone died in 2004, and never got to see the remake.

WIMBLEDON

The Paul Bettany/Kirsten Dunst tennis-centric rom-com Wimbledon is dedicated to Mark McCormack.He was the founder of the Intenational Management Group (IMG), and as such managed names in the sports and movies arenas. The dedication was in recognition of what he contribution to the spots of golf and tennis. McCormack suffered a cardiac arrest in January 2003, and finally died from complications in May 2003. He was 72 years old.

xXx

Skydiver and stuntman Harry O’Connor had worked on films such as The Perfect Storm and Charlie’s Angels, and his final film, xXx, is dedicated to him. He died in the midst of performing a stunt on the feature, with a Prague police officer saying that “he was being pulled at high speed on a paraglider and hit a pillar of the Palacky bridge. He died on the spot due to heavy injuries”. O’Connor was 45 when he died, back in 2002, and the film’s tribute describes him as a “beloved friend”.

Also…

STEVE JOBS

The films John Carter and Brave are both dedicated to the late Apple boss. The Brave dedication, particularly poignant given that Jobs was one of the absolute pivotal figures in Pixar’s life, reads: “To Steve Jobs, our partner, mentor, and friend”.

And there are also some non-person specific dedications…

Oliver Stone’s JFK is “dedicated to the young”,

Star Trek Into Darkness is dedicated to post-September 11th war veterans. Star Trek IV is dedicated to the crew of the ill-fated Challenger space shuttle, whilst Star Trek VI was in memory of Gene Roddenberry.

The Great Escape is “For the Fifty”.

The Towering Inferno, meanwhile, is dedicated to firefighters.