FILM · 1999 · FRANCE
The Ninth Gate
23 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
23 Interesting Facts About The Ninth Gate
Interesting Facts (20)
- #001
The novel has a subplot about the French hotel receptionist and his past dealings with Corso. In the film the manager is called Grübber and sports a half-centimeter Hitler-style toothbrush mustache, a nod to the book, where he's described as fussy and meticulous, wearing his uniform with military discipline, and is strongly implied to be a former Nazi, possibly a war criminal living under a new identity who owes Corso a favor. That explains his attitude toward Corso in the film and why he never questions his very suspicious requests.
- #002
The two booksellers Corso meets in Toledo are played by the same man, José López Rodero; writer, director and producer Roman Polanski used motion-control equipment to put him on screen twice, and he turns up again as the two workers cleaning the bookshop. Rodero wasn't a professional actor but an assistant director and production manager, and he was reluctant to take on the multiple roles.
- #003
The titles of the nine engravings in Torchia's The Nine Gates, in order: * Silentium est aureum (Silence is golden). * Clausae patenti (They open what is closed). * Verbum dimissum custodiat arcanum (The lost word keeps the secret). * Fortuna non omnibus aeque (Fate is not the same for everyone). * Frustra (In vain). * Ditesco mori (I grew rich through death). * Disciplus potior magistro (The disciple surpasses the master). * Victa jacet virtus (Virtue lies defeated). * Nunc scio tenebris lux (Now I know that light comes from darkness).
- #004
Dean Corso (Lucas Corso in the novel) is far more likable on screen. In the book he's an outright crook who regularly gets the Ceniza brothers to remove or fake library stamps and other marks, even to swap illustrated pages. The film's Corso isn't especially dishonest after the first scene, yet everyone treats him as if he were. The novel also reveals Baroness Kessler as a former Nazi criminal whom Corso blackmails with photos of her beside senior Nazi officials to get into the Kessler collection; without that scene, the film has Kessler letting a notorious, shady character into her library, and one working for her rival at that.
- #005
The film leaves the true identity of "The Girl" open, but in the book she tells Corso outright that she's a fallen angel who has roamed the earth for a thousand years waiting for him; at the end the two vow to summon the Devil together.
- #006
Balkan tells Corso the Ninth Gate will summon the Devil, but not that, according to the engraving, a pact follows: the Devil will do or provide anything for twenty years and then claim the person's soul, which must spend eternity in hell cursing God, ruling out any hope of salvation.
- #007
Château de Puivert (The Ninth Gate) is known as the Devil's Tower. In the thirteenth century, during the Albigensian Crusade, the Cathars used it to defend themselves; they were (arguably) Gnostic Christians, but Pope Innocent III considered them devil worshippers.
- #008
Roman Polanski voiced one of the Ceniza twins, Pedro Ceniza.
- #009
Liana Telfer smokes a brand of cigarettes called Black Devils.
- #010
Intentionally or not, Corso's car, carrying an inverted pentagram, stalling in a stream echoes the European folk belief that evil can't cross running water; Balkan's car, with no pentagram, gets across.
- #011
Château de Puivert first appears in a painting in Boris Balkan's penthouse office early in the film.
- #012
The little girl staring at Corso at the Paris airport is Roman Polanski's daughter Morgan.
- #013
At the start, Corso buys a four-volume 1780 Ibarra edition of Don Quixote de la Mancha, considered the finest and most beautiful ever made, revised and printed by the Real Academia de la Lengua (Royal Spanish Academy) for the book's 200th anniversary. When Corso offers $4,200, the mute, ailing owner angrily clenches his fist, which is hardly surprising given that the set is worth at least $30,000.
- #014
In the final scene, as Corso walks toward the castle with all the original engravings, look closely at the window above and you can make out the Devil's silhouette waiting for him.
- #015
The keypad code for Boris Balkan's penthouse office and private library is "666."
- #016
The film's three copies of the book survived the burning of Torchia's works because each held three of the Devil's nine original engravings; once those were torn out, the books could be destroyed too. That's the clue behind the discoloration on the back of Balkan's copy: it doesn't contain all three original "LCF" engravings, so the back of the book, nearest the forged engraving, could be damaged.
- #017
Dean Corso writes with a limited-edition Montblanc Agatha Christie ballpoint.
- #018
Baroness Kessler keeps her collection in nine bookcases.
- #019
In the novel, Corso never goes back to the Ceniza brothers' shop or finds the 'LCF' version of engraving IX. He attacks Balkan (called "Borja" in the book) to stop the ritual and leaves when it is about to fail, having already worked out that the 'LCF' engraving wasn't in any of the books and had been replaced.
- #020
Hildegard Knef was supposed to play "Baroness Kessler" but had to drop out because of illness.
Characters & Cast (1)
- #021
Allen Garfield was in the middle of suffering a stroke when he was cast in the film.
Easter Eggs & References (2)
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
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