# Favorite final scenes/shots of movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [August 13, 2020, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940 "2020-08-13T00:23:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2020, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/41 "2020-08-15T05:34:49Z")
_Casablanca_ “Round up the usual suspects!” “Louis, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.” [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/G62tkd2t7qk/hqdefault.jpg "Casablanca Final Scene") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G62tkd2t7qk) ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2020, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/42 "2020-08-15T05:39:16Z")
_Moonrise Kingdom_ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lNQg3gFWW3c/maxresdefault.jpg "Moonrise Kingdom-Scena Finale (Lingua Originale)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNQg3gFWW3c) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2020, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/43 "2020-08-15T13:38:51Z")
The ending to _ **American Graffiti** _. I think “poignant” is the word to describe it: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ds8cKxtqvZw/hqdefault.jpg "Richard Dreyfuss American Graffiti #9 (the ending)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds8cKxtqvZw) Another all-time best ending is the one to _ **The Heiress** _ (for which I cannot find a clip ☹ ), where Olivia de Havilland dumps Montgomery Clift and leaves him pounding on the front door in panic. The look of pure hatred on her face as she slowly climbs the stairs shows what a great actress she was. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/XBtIN2he4IE/hqdefault.jpg "The Heiress (1949) trailer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBtIN2he4IE) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2020, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/44 "2020-08-15T13:47:33Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Another all-time best ending is the one to _ **The Heiress** _ (for which I cannot find a clip ☹ ), where Olivia de Havilland dumps Montgomery Clift and leaves him pounding on the front door in panic. The look of pure hatred on her face as she slowly climbs the stairs shows what a great actress she was. Whoops! Spoke too soon: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hyLw9Lk64V4/hqdefault.jpg "THE HEIRESS (1949) -- triumph of a strong woman, or tragedy of a tortured soul? (SPOILERS!!!)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyLw9Lk64V4&t=963) Notice how she takes joy from Clift’s distress. Magnificent! ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2020, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/45 "2020-08-15T14:00:31Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hknJkYN5dqQ/hqdefault.jpg "Great Train Robbery (end)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hknJkYN5dqQ) ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/47 "2020-08-16T01:38:48Z")
The Searchers. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/GXUz-Nntyks/hqdefault.jpg "The Searchers Ending Scene") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXUz-Nntyks) ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/48 "2020-08-16T01:39:34Z")
Another western …Shane [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/DtoCw2iOTSc/maxresdefault.jpg "Shane, Come Back! - Shane (8/8) Movie CLIP (1953) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtoCw2iOTSc) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/49 "2020-08-17T12:57:06Z")
A couple of interesting endings: **Brother from Another Planet** – The mute title character (played by Joe Morton, before anybody knew who he was) is an escaped interstellar slave (one of the Hunters after him is played by the director/writer, John Sayles). So it’s completely appropriate that the last scene is a subway train pulling away with him framed in the lighted door. it didn’t hit me until later that a subway is an _Underground Railway._ **Things to Come** – The only movie (AFAIK) written by H.G. Wells is an uneven piece of work with some excellent stuff and some weird boring sections that don’t work. There are great special effects and some awful ones (get the colorized edition, done by Ray Harryhausen, if you can). It’s prescient in showing Great Britain being attacked by an un-named enemy (obviously Germany) at Christmas time circa 1940, with blltz-like damage to “Everytown” (obviously London), but shows oddly archaic aircraft and the heavy use of gas as a weapon , alongside futuristic tanks. the film ends with the first space shot (hurriedly done before an angry anti-science mob can attack, and has the lead character give a stirring speech on behalf of scientific progress as they watch the ship on their super-TV-telescope [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KRRXtymX50U/maxresdefault.jpg "Things to Come [1936] H.G. Wells [720p] - the Ending \*Spoilers\*") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRRXtymX50U) ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/50 "2020-08-17T17:41:27Z")
Bridge on the River Kwai - “Madness!” ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/51 "2020-08-17T18:13:45Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Things to Come** – The only movie (AFAIK) written by H.G. Wells is an uneven piece of work with some excellent stuff and some weird boring sections that don’t work. There are great special effects and some awful ones (get the colorized edition, done by Ray Harryhausen, if you can). Amazon Prime has the colorized version available for streaming, along with two black-and-white versions (one is so-so and the other is horrible). IMHO, the [Criterion Collection edition](https://www.criterion.com/films/27552-things-to-come) is by far the best-looking version. ---
**Author:** ![Skunkdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Skunkdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skunkdog)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/52 "2020-08-17T18:41:09Z")
I’m kinda partial to the ending of “Raider of the Lost Ark” as you see the Ark of the Covenant being stowed away in a massive non-descript government warehouse. It’s vaguely reminiscent to the ending of “Citizen Kane”. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/53 "2020-08-17T19:03:54Z")
I have the Criterior edition, which is definitely the best restoration , with lots of supplemental material, and unused shots. But the Harryhausen colorized version is definitely worth viewing, especially as Harryhausen was a harsh critic of colorization in general. He only oversaw colorizing of two movies I know of (aside, possibly, from his own) – **Things to Come** and **She** (which was intended to be a color film, until the studio chopped Cooper’s funding) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/54 "2020-08-17T21:43:50Z")
Henry Hill picking up the paper in Goodfellas. Tony Soprano picked up the paper at every first episode as a tribute to Goodfellas. For the last season he said “I’m not picking up the paper again” ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/55 "2020-08-17T22:45:56Z")
The surviving Warriors walking down the beach at Coney after bopping their way back all night. Gone are Cleon, Fox and Ajax but that’s survival In The City (by Joe Walsh). ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/56 "2020-08-17T23:16:26Z")
The final shot of _1776_ is John Trumbull’s “Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776”. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/57 "2020-08-17T23:38:38Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I have the Criterior edition, which is definitely the best restoration , with lots of supplemental material, and unused shots. But the Harryhausen colorized version is definitely worth viewing, especially as Harryhausen was a harsh critic of colorization in general. He only oversaw colorizing of two movies I know of (aside, possibly, from his own) – **Things to Come** and **She** (which was intended to be a color film, until the studio chopped Cooper’s funding) I had no idea there was a colorized _She_. I see Amazon has that too—I’ll check it out. Raymond Massey’s final speech in _Things to Come_ is great, and I love Arthur Bliss’s music score, but bringing in the chorus at the end always struck me as over-the-top and cringy. Fortunately for me, there are recordings of the score that don’t include the chorus. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/58 "2022-01-02T16:38:22Z")
The final shot of _ **We’re No Angels** _ (1955), where the three convicts (Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Aldo Ray) walk off to return to prison and a halo appears over the head of each man (and the cage holding their pet viper). Also my favorite holiday movie! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/59 "2022-01-02T16:54:15Z")
> [@Skunkdog](#): > > I’m kinda partial to the ending of “Raider of the Lost Ark” as you see the Ark of the Covenant being stowed away in a massive non-descript government warehouse. Have a big horse laugh on me: the first time I saw **Raiders** , the end scene made me think **Cripes! how many Arks of the Covenant are there, anyway?** It took a few minutes to realize there were all kinds of relics in there. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940/60 "2022-01-02T23:21:25Z")
The last scene in **Field of Dreams** , where you see, in the dark, the long line of headlights heading for the baseball field. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-final-scenes-shots-of-movies/917940.md?page=2)