Scenes Revealed

And here are the answers to my earlier post on movies. The spoiler warning holds good, so caveat enter !

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1. The scene about the bulletin board, coffee cup, etc is from The Usual Supects, directed by Brian Singer and scripted by Christopher McQuarrie. I've probably spoiled the movie already for those who haven't watched it, but I sure don't want to spoil it further. No more comments

2. The scene about Mary's beheading is from Pyscho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and scripted by Joseph Stefano, based on an original novel by Robert Bloch. Mary from the book was changed to Marion, the beheading was changed to stabbing and a few other changes were incorporated, to make this one of the most memorable movie sequences of all time. Like I said, there is enough trivia here to fill a book. Chocolate sauce, turkish melons, the censor board's complaint about Janet Leigh's nipple, Ann Dore, Marli Renfro, Saul Bass et al are keywords. Remind me to discuss all this over a beer sometime

3. Helicopters and Wagner are from Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, based on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Robert Duvall won an Academy Award for his small role here. Other famous quotes from the movie: "Saigon. Shit. I'm still in Saigon" and "The horror ! The horror !". Lastly, if you want to see what Morpheus was like when he was young and restless, watch the movie. Heh.

4. The Charley dialogue was from Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront. Or like puts it, Ghulam. Or Parinda. The actor was Brando, of course. Charley was played by Rod Steiger.

4b. My favorite. This is from Martin Scorcese's Raging Bull. Robert de Niro played the role of Jake la Motta in one of the most brilliant performances I've ever seen. This dialogue is towards the end of the movie when la Motta has fallen to performing at nightclubs, reciting from great authors.

5. was right, the last line here was a giveaway - "Well, nobody's perfect". One of the most famous last lines in movies. The film is Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot. An absolutely brilliant - and timeless - laugh riot. I think it was remade into Hindi with Rishi Kapoor. What was it called, Hera Pheri ?


6. The "Hereeeeee's Johnny!" scene is from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, based on a Stephen King novel. Jack Nicholson plays the deranged Jack Torrance who goes after his wife and son towards the end of the film. Worth a watch. I found the movie genuinely creepy.

7. The line "I'll have what she is having" is from Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally, scripted by Nora Ephron. This is the classic reaction line to Meg Ryan's superb illustration of how easily women can fake an orgasm. A customer seated close by, played by Estelle Reiner (the director's mother), tells the waitress ready to take her order: "I'll have what she is having". One of my favorite movies. Get hold of the script if you can't see the movie

8. Had to put a Marx Bros movie in there. This is from Duck Soup directed by Leo McCarey, in which Groucho plays Rufus T Firefly, the president of Freedonia. Many a memorable line here, but I thought these were the funniest. This has the famous mirror pantomime scene, imitated in countless Hindi movies, mostly by Amitabh. Again, get hold of the script - and try not to die laughing.


Well, that was fun !