Topic Challenge: John Hurt and his films [completed]

Question

January 27th saw the death of renowned actor John Hurt who looked back on more than 50 years of acting. So in honour of him and due to popular demand we're starting a new topic challenge. From 2017-01-30 00:00 UTC to 2017-02-05 23:00 UTC we're challenging you to all your great questions about John Hurt and the films he was in.¹

Once the challenge is over, we'll tally the results and winners (by question score) here. Also don't forget to suggest and vote for new topics for our next possible challenge.

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1) _{But don't feel compelled to add a john-hurt tag to each and every of those questions, tag responsibly instead.}

Answer 1

The challenge is over and the top-voted question (with a score of 80 and ~13,873 views) was asked by steelersquirrel, which makes her the winner of this challenge:

1. Why did filmmakers need permission to film in black and white?

The other questions asked, in order of votes are (the numbers are the votes and views):

2. Is it true that none of the cast knew what to expect in the famous "chestburster scene" in Alien? (62 / ~9,264)

3. Why is Spaceballs specifically numbered Chapter XI? (51 / ~10,201)

4. Was Arthur Seldom based on a particular real-life mathematician? (8 / ~52)

5. Did Mama Cecile and Papa Justify use a spell to keep their enemies from talking? (7 / ~52)

   Are the vampires rationing the blood, and is it affecting them? (7 / ~56)

6. Why do Adam and Eve live so far apart? (6 / ~57)

7. What did the Bishop mean by his "last remittance"? (4 / ~90)

8. Who are these people in the pictures in Adam's room? (3 / ~51)

   What are all the films in Colonel Sandurz's collection? (3 / ~228)