Recently there has been much hubbub on the sightings of major stars filming in the Square. These soon to be films will be joining in a long line of films set at our famous institution. In case your ego doesn’t feel bloated enough, here is a list of some of the most well known movies that use Harvard as a plot subject and some fun facts about them!

Legally Blonde (2001) – Everyone’s favorite Harvard-centered movie (or just mine). We are all well versed in the story of Elle Woods and her unlikely acceptance to Harvard Law School through which she plans to win back her ex, Waner Huntington III.

Fun Fact 1: Reese Witherspoon spent two weeks spending time with and studying actual sorority girls for the project. She also attended law school for a day. Now that’s what I call dedication to a role.

Fun Fact 2: The final graduation scene was shot in the Great Hall of Dulwich College in London because it was not included in the original script. When it was added to the movie, Witherspoon was already filming “The Importance of Being Earnest” in England.

Fun Fact 3: Witherspoon got to keep every piece of clothing from the movie, as per her contract. That’s a whole lot of pink.

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Ted Kaczynski before...

What is the “typical” Harvard alum? Smoking jacket, riding whip, and trophy wife on his arm. WASP extraordinaire. Money-grubbing power-hungry CEO. Hopeless academic. The list goes on as long as the line outside Heaven and Hell (that is before they shut it down).

But, in the spirit of Halloween, it’s important to be reminded that some graduates leave Harv to go on to lives spent not on filling their wallets or on aggrandizing their already-inflated egos, but rather on lengthening their rap sheet.

In which we discuss not-so-nice Harvard alums:

• Ted Kaczynski: Probably the most notorious of criminal crimson alums, Kaczynski unleashed terror and gained infamy by sending pipe bombs, segregating himself from humanity by living off-the-grid in Montana and writing his manifesto.
• Dr John White Webster: When George Parkman didn’t have the money he owed Webster, Webster killed him and hacked his body up in a laboratory at Harvard Medical. Police found portions of the body hidden all through the medical building, but some organs were never found. Read the rest of this entry »