While shooting a film in a jungle in the Philippines, Michael Caine was warned about a rather poisonous snake. Why, Caine asked, was it called the 1-2-3 snake? Because, he was told, "once bitten, you can take 1-2-3 steps -- and you're dead."

The snake's distinguishing feature? "It looked like a twig!" Caine recalled. Fortunately, the natives could smell them -- so each morning Caine and company would check to make sure their native guides hadn't caught colds.

[Where did they sleep? In the lower level of a whorehouse (while the upper story was being built).]

[In 2002, a peasant in China (where alcoholic drinks containing preserved snakes are quite popular) uncorked a liquor bottle -- and was bitten by the snake (which had been trapped for a year). The porous stopper had allowed enough air into the bottle for the snake's continued survival. (Xin Bao newspaper)]