Dante Hicks is a clerk at a local convenience store in New Jersey. On one particular Saturday morning, he gets called in on his day off. Once there, he must deal with multiple problems. The shutters outside won't open. His ex-girlfriend, whom he is still in love with, is getting married. His girlfriend, who bugs him about starting college, has revealed certain, uh...stuff about her past. His boss hasn't come in to take his place. He has a hockey game at 2 o'clock. Another ex has died, and today's the last day he can go to her wake. He must deal with customers that aren't so intelligent. His friend, Randal, a clerk at the video store next door, is even less dedicated to his job than Dante, and is always bothering Dante's customers. And the biggest problem of them all: he's not even supposed to be there today!! Can Dante manage it all?

Financed largely by credit cards and money borrowed from family and friends.

Filmed at the same store in which director Kevin Smith was working at the time. As he was only allowed to film outside of business hours, the plot included an explanation for the shutters being always down.

The cost of obtaining the rights to the soundtrack (approx. US$27,000) outweighed the entire production costs for this film (approx. US$26,800) - a first in motion picture history.

Dante's beard changes because Kevin Smith asked 'Brian O'Halloran' to shave his goatee before filming started during rehearsals, then, after seeing what it looked like without it, told him to grow it back. The scenes shot earlier in the shoot show a thinner beard while the ones shot last show a thicker goatee as it had longer to grow back.

Randall and the Happy Scrappy Hero Pup lady are not actually in the room at the same time. Jeff Anderson refused to read the list of porno movies in front of her, and particularly in front of the child (although the reaction shots of the Happy Scrappy Hero Pup lady were obtained by reading the list to her).

William The Idiot Boy was supposed to be a collegiate type, but Scott Mosier reinterpreted the character during a shoot, and it worked out better.

The guy who buys the cigarettes even after the Chewlies Gum Rep does his lecture is wearing one of Brian O'Halloran's stage beards as a wig.

Clerks was filmed using a 16mm Arri SR-2 camera and used Kodak Plus-X film.

The "smoker's lung" that the Chewlie's Gum rep slams on the counter is actually a calf's liver.

Jason Mewes was left off the cover and poster for because executives believed him to be too odd-looking for advertising.

Despite there being no violence in the film, it was originally given an NC-17 rating by the MPAA based solely on its graphic dialogue. The film's distributor Miramax hired attorney Alan M. Dershowitz (of the O.J. Simpson defense team) who successfully petitioned the MPAA to lower its rating to R without any cuts.

The "Clerks" logo is made out of letters cut from various magazines and food items. The C is from Cosmopolitan Magazine, the L is from Life, the E is from Rolling Stone, the R is from Ruffles potato chips, the K is from Clark Bar and the S is from a Goobers box.

Felix the Cat is on Silent Bob's hat.

The offended customer in the "jizz mopper" scene is buying paper towels and glass cleaner.

The offended "jizz mopper" customer was originally written as a woman.

Dante wears a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey during the hockey game, playing against opponents wearing New Jersey Devils jerseys. Randal wears a USSR (CCCP) jersey during the game, but wears a New Jersey Devils hat.

The anti-smoking sentiment in the film represented Kevin Smith's own viewpoint when he wrote the screenplay. Silent Bob doesn't inhale when he puffs on his cigarette because of this. After filming this movie, he became a two-pack-a-day smoker.

Silent Bob is not so silent. In Clerks and Mallrats he speaks only once, but in Dogma he speaks twice. In _Chasing Amy he has quite a long speech while in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back he becomes almost chatty.

Clerks is loosely based on "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri hence the name. Also, there are nine breaks in the movie to represent the nine rings of hell.

When Dante asks Randal whether he's ever thought about the fact that all prices always end in.99, most items behind them have a price that end in.95.

Kevin Smith originally cast himself as Randal which is why Randal gets some of the best lines.

No cigarette brands are ever named. Primarily, it was to avoid lawsuits over royalty payments, but also to avoid associating any manufacturer with the "cancer Nazis".

Jeff Anderson (Randal) had never acted before.

The original cut of the film ended with Dante getting shot in a robbery. This was cut out of the release version, but can be seen on the supplementary section of the Laserdisc and DVD.

The VHS cassette of this film is the most stolen video tape in video stores across the USA.

Grace Smith who plays the "Milk Maid" in the movie, is Kevin Smith's mother.

Director Trademark: Dante and Randal argue over which is the better film, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back or Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi.

Director Trademark: After the fiasco involving Caitlin and the dead guy in the bathroom, Randal is pulling a chip through a jar of salsa saying "we're gonna need a bigger boat..." alluding to Jaws, one of director, Kevin Smith's, favorite movies.

While standing outside the video store, Jay exclaims, "I'll f**k anything that moves!" This is a reference to the same line that is said by Dennis Hopper's character in Blue Velvet.

Director Kevin Smith's childhood friend Walter Flanagan appears in several different roles. Due to this, Smith later said that Flanagan was the Lon Chaney of the '90s.

The guy who, when Dante says, "My girlfriend sucked 37 dicks," responds, "In a row?" was originally slated to play Silent Bob.

In the documentary "The Snowball Effect" on the special edition DVD, Kevin Smith says that the film's original title was "Inconvenience". Then it was changed to "Rude Clerks" before being shortened to "Clerks".

Kevin Smith has said on speaking tours that the reason he cast himself in the movie was that if the movie failed and he was in near-permanent debt for the rest of his life, he could at least point at his face in the movie as proof he did it.

Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier attended the same film school in Canada and made a pact that whichever of them started directing a movie, the other would produce. Smith created his film first, and Mosier produced it, as he has most of Smith's films.

Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier edited the movie in the video store next to the convenience store.

Jason Mewes (Jay) was so camera shy, that during the dance scene with him and Kevin Smith (Silent Bob), everyone had to leave and go into the video store, and just left the camera rolling, so that Mewes wouldn't be so nervous

The scene where Dante confronts Caitlin about her marriage to an Asian design major in the video store is done in one shot, which lasts for over five minutes.

According to an unfilmed scene that was animated and put into the 10th anniversary DVD, Clerks takes place on 16 April. A reference is made to Julie Dwyer dying "yesterday", the day Mallrats takes place. The date of death listed on the death card at the wake on this animated scene is April 15.

Kevin Smith says that he got his inspiration to be a film maker and make "Clerks." after seeing Richard Linklater's Slacker.

Kevin Smith, a keen comic book fan, sold a large part of his collection to help fund this film. He has since been able to buy most of them back.

After Randal is introduced and is walking back to the video store, he turns to a pedestrian and says, "No time for love Dr. Jones!" This line was taken from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Randall watches a porn movie called "The Best of Both Worlds", which is the name of a real series of porn movies. However, the real movies are about bisexuals, not hermaphrodites.

Kevin Smith isn't listed in the opening credits as one of the actors.

Dante and Randall discuss the morality of blowing up the Death Star while contractors were still working on it. In the commentary for Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, George Lucas explains that the contractors for the Death Star were the bug-like Geonosians, so there was no need to worry about killing them.

The entire 92-minute movie was made for an estimated cost of $230,000, a sum which would pay for a little over 13 seconds of Titanic.

Although he disliked them, 'Jeff Anderson' (Randal) had to eat eight sticks of beef jerky for the scene when he spits water on the tabloid customer.

Jeff Anderson (Randal) auditioned for the role of Jay.

The role of Dante was written for 'Ernie O'Donnell' , but Kevin Smith felt he wasn't quite right and cast him as Rick Derris instead.

According to Kevin Smith in an interview in the book "My First Movie", part of the movie's financing came from an insurance settlement. The settlement was from a destroyed car that he and Jason Mewes both drove, that was struck down by a blizzard.

Continuity error: Dante's beard changes because Kevin Smith asked Brian O'Halloran to shave his goatee before filming started during rehearsals, then, after seeing what it looked like without it, told him to grow it back. The scenes shot earlier in the shoot show a thinner beard while the ones shot last show a thicker goatee as it had longer to grow back.

Continuity error: Disappearing "No Shoplifting" sign when Randall sells cigarettes to the little girl.

Continuity error: The clothes worn by the mother asking for "Happy Scrappy Hero Pup."

Continuity error: "Pringles" can disappears from counter.

Continuity error: The sign next to the door at Quickstop. It goes from saying ODA to SODA and back to ODA.

Continuity error: Veronica uses a fire extinguisher to disperse the crowd. When the gum rep tries to slink out the door, we can see the same fire extinguisher mounted on the wall next to the door.

Continuity error: Veronica's fire extinguisher sprays CO2, but we see her holding a water fire extinguisher.

Factual error: In the closing credits, a character name includes the misspelling "maturbator".

Continuity error: Different "People" magazines in the rack in different shots.

Crew or equipment visible: In the second shot of William The Idiot Boy (after Dante and Veronica stand up from behind the counter and sees William staring into space), the leg of a man can be seen moving quickly to the left-hand side of the screen - it's the clapperboard man, who didn't clear shot fast enough.

Crew or equipment visible: In the beginning of the movie when we first meet Jay & Silent Bob the crew is briefly reflected in the windows.

Crew or equipment visible: In many shots towards the end of the movie, the camera and/or boom is/are reflected in the glass behind the counter.

Crew or equipment visible: In the start of the movie, towards the end of the song. When Dante puts his head down on the counter, in the glass you can see Silent Bob, the camera and the cameraman.

Continuity error: Silent Bob's hat changes position between shots during the Olaf scene.

Plot hole: The Administer of Fines states that the little girl was sold cigarettes at 4 that afternoon. This is impossible because the sale occurred before the hockey game, which was at 2 p.m., and Dante and Randal were at the wake at 4 p.m. (Director admitted this in DVD commentary).

Miscellaneous error: In the end credits, the song title "Big Problems" is misspelled as "Big Poblem".

Continuity error: When Dante and Randal leave the wake, it is still light outside, yet when they get back to the store, it's very dark outside.

Factual error: The official who hands Dante the summons claims that the charge can not be contested in a court of law. The Constitution guarantees that any matter involving at least $15 is eligible to be ruled on by a jury of the defendant's peers. Director Kevin Smith briefly acknowledges this in the commentary.

Jay (Jason Mewes) is heard at the end of the credits, chanting "Noinch, noinch, noinch, shmokin' weed, shmokin' weed, doin' coke, drinkin' beers...".

 Laserdisc edition features 25 minutes of additional footage with seven scenes not included in the original release, including alternate ending in which the clerk is killed during a store hold-up.

The DVD version also includes an alternate set of closing credits. Instead of music, the credits are shown over cash register sound effects. At the very end of the credits there's also a brief scene showing a customer (played by director Kevin Smith) entering the store. Seeing that nobody is behind the counter (Dante has been shot during the hold-up) he steals a pack of cigarettes and leaves.

The German versions with subtitles (both TV and video releases) differ slightly from the normal theatrical release. They consist of the "festival cut" without any post-production noises during the "quick stop opening" scene and much less post-production noises during the entire movie. This festival cut also omits the song "Go Your Own Way", while the "egg shell trauma"-guy smashes the eggs to the pane.

The new Clerks X 10th Anniversary DVD contains the original first cut which is just over 10 minutes longer than the original. Here are some changes:

There are many extra shots here and there in the film.

There is a longer introduction to Jay and Silent Bob with Jay listing off all the drugs he's got.

The Chewlie's Gum representative's speech is much longer and without cuts.

Randal is seen shutting off the video monitor in the back.

When Dante and Randal run from the funeral, there is a much longer shot of mourners trying to run after them.

The fight scene is extended.

There is an alternate ending in which one of the clerks is shot dead.

The credits are slightly different and have no music over them.

Director Kevin Smith has a non-Silent Bob cameo after the end credits.

In the Clerks X 10th Anniversary DVD, the sound effects in the opening credit sequence have been removed.

Caitlin Bree: Can I use the bathroom?

Randal Graves: Sure, but there's no light back there.

Caitlin Bree: Why arn't there any lights?

Randal Graves: Well, there are, but for some reason they stop working at 5:14 every night. Nobody can figure it out. And the boss doesn't want to pay the electrician to fix it, because the electrician owes money to the video store.

Caitlin Bree: Such a sordid state of affairs.

Randal Graves: And I'm caught right in the middle - torn between my loyalty to the boss and my desire to piss with the lights on.

Caitlin Bree: Well, I'll try to manage.

Randal Graves: Oh, hey Caitlin, break his heart again this time, and I'll kill ya. Nothing personal.