# Favorite "little" jokes in movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [December 15, 2024, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688 "2024-12-15T22:51:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**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:** [December 19, 2024, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/141 "2024-12-19T13:03:14Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Reporter: Are they slow-moving, Chief? > Police chief: Yeah, they’re dead. The full quote, according to the IMDB, is > [@](#): > > - [Field Reporter](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0136439/?ref_=ttqu_qu): Are they slow-moving, chief? > - [Sheriff McClelland](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0466916/?ref_=ttqu_qu): Yeah, they’re dead. They’re all messed up. I didn’t need to look that up – I not only remember it, it’s excerpted in _Zacherley’s Horrible Horror_ Edited to add – I went directly to the correction before reading the rest of the thread, and so missed **Dropo** ’s already correcting this. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/142 "2024-12-19T16:29:10Z")
I have my entire family pointing out [The Wilhelm Scream](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6JK-gRELI0) whenever we hear it. It’s like my family’s personalized game of Padiddle. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/143 "2024-12-19T16:30:57Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I have my entire family pointing out [The Wilhelm Scream](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6JK-gRELI0) whenever we hear it. Are you in my family? We do that, too! ---
**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:** [December 19, 2024, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/144 "2024-12-19T16:32:04Z")
Why do they do that? It takes me right out of the movie, especially during an action scene. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/145 "2024-12-19T17:48:08Z")
Speaking of little jokes, this exchange in “My Favorite Blonde” (1942) did make me laugh a lot for some reason. Starring Bob Hope and Madeleine Carroll, with the action taking place during WWII. Karen, a British spy, was forced to reveal her mission to Larry. **Karen** : "Inside this small box there is a microscopically engraved code to guide the flights of 150 Lockheed Hudson bombers from Los Angeles to England! **Larry (Bob Hope)** [incredulously]: “Is that so? Do you see what is inside this ring? Benny Goodman and his band! But they had to drop the clarinet player; it was a bit crowded!” . . There, now you are stuck with that, like I was when I did see the movie on TV in the old country in the 70s… 🙂 . ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/146 "2024-12-19T17:48:19Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > From the 1968 _Night of the Living Dead_… I’m sure it wasn’t a joke, but another reporter refers to the zombies as, _“Murder-Happy Characters”_ which I find absolutely hilarious! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/147 "2024-12-19T18:06:04Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Why do they do that? It takes me right out of the movie, especially during an action scene. It made more sense 25 years ago or more when very few people knew about it and it was a wink to other sound effect editors. Now, it is just lame. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/148 "2024-12-19T18:18:54Z")
100% agree ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/149 "2024-12-19T18:25:08Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It’s a non sequitur, nothing more – there’s no hidden other source of humor in it. Some people find that line funny. Some don’t. Also, distinguishing taupe from, say, beige or ecru, is not the sort of thing most guys do. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/150 "2024-12-19T18:34:08Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > **Karen** : "Inside this small box there is a microscopically engraved code to guide the flights of 150 Lockheed Hudson bombers from Los Angeles to England! > > **Larry (Bob Hope)** [incredulously]: “Is that so? Do you see what is inside this ring? Benny Goodman and his band! But they had to drop the clarinet player; it was a bit crowded!” > > . Sounds like he was wearing one of those gimmick “Stanhope” rings, which have a microphotograph attached to a stanhope lens. It’d be the perfect counterpoint to Karen’s microfilm. There’s an explanation (and a picture of a stanhope ring) here: > **[Stanhope (optical bijou)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanhope_(optical_bijou))** > > A stanhope or stanho-scope is an optical device that enables the viewing of microphotographs without using a microscope. They were invented by René Dagron in 1857. Dagron bypassed the need for an expensive microscope to view the microscopic photographs by attaching the microphotograph at the end of a modified Stanhope lens. He called the devices bijoux photo-microscopiques or microscopic photo-jewelry. > In 1851 John Benjamin Dancer invented microphotographs using a collodion process and a micros... ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/151 "2024-12-19T18:40:42Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > When Steve Martin is hitchhiking in _The Jerk_ and a truck pulls up: > > Driver: “St. Louis?” > Navin: “No, Navin Johnson.” That reminds me of one of my favorite exchanges of all time in film, from _Kingpin_: “Whatcha doin’ Mister Munson?” “Flossin’.” “Flossin?..How’d I get ‘Munson?’” ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/152 "2024-12-19T19:08:41Z")
[And, of course, Victorian pron seized upon the technology](https://flashbak.com/the-stanhope-pig-and-other-microscopic-victorian-erotica-449998/) (links to non-graphic, teensy erotica) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/153 "2024-12-19T19:39:30Z")
From the movie _Airplane!_, there’s this little throwaway line said in the background. One of the air traffic controllers has this line: > [@](#): > > I know, but this guy has no flying experience at all. He’s a menace to himself and everything else in the air… yes, birds too. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/154 "2024-12-19T20:20:58Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > > [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > > > THE STRANGER > > Far from it. > > The joke being it’s a western thing? The joke being that Sam Eliot in full “cowboy” costume and drawl couldn’t possibly look or sound less “Eastern.” ---
**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:** [December 19, 2024, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/155 "2024-12-19T20:59:27Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > (links to non-graphic, teensy erotica) The article says that the last stanhope was made in 1972, but there are people making them today. You can even get a custom stanhope made from your own photograph. It’s pricey, though. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/156 "2024-12-19T21:07:49Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > In “Repo Man”, after Otto’s first repo with Bud, he leaves the office and is walking past Miller who is out in the yard cleaning out the car. He pulls the pine tree air freshener off of the rear view mirror, shows it to Otto and says “You’ll find one in every car. You’ll see.” And sure enough, just about every car in the rest of the movie has one hanging off the mirror. It happens sometimes. People just explode. Natural causes. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/157 "2024-12-19T23:06:05Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > And this line from Perry, introducing Clark to Lois. Given your screen name, I wouldn’t bet against your knowing _every_ line of that movie! Continuing with classic superhero movies: from _Batman Returns_– > [@](#): > > Catwoman : [falling into an open gravel filled truck] Saved by kitty litter. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_McQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Steve\_McQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_McQwark)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/158 "2024-12-20T18:03:30Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > From Holy Grail > > Sir Bedevere: “What also floats in water?” > Peasant 1: “Bread” > Peasant 3: “Apples” > **Peasant 2 “Very small rocks”** I’ve always liked how after the absurd logic of the trial results in a result of guilt, the witch calmly states, “It’s a fair cop.” In Miller’s Crossing, the protagonist, Tom Reagan, is really bad at picking winning race horses and owes a lot of money to the bookie Lazarre. A couple of Lazarre’s thugs are sending a message to Tom about paying his debts. After they finish beating on him… Thug: Lazarre said he’s sorry about this. It’s just getting out of hand. Tom: Yeah. Thug: He likes you, Tom. He said we didn’t have to break anything. Tom: Yeah. Tell him no hard feelings. Thug: Christ, Tom, he knows that. The actor delivers the line with just a touch of hurt in his voice at the idea that Tom would even suggest hard feelings over a simple beating. In A Midwinter’s Tale (a criminally overlooked comedy - I have never met anyone IRL who has seen it) Molly, who has had to take over at the last minute as Hamlet on opening night, has frozen onstage with her first line. Tom, the original Hamlet, appears unexpectedly at the back of the theater and delivers the line. As all of the on-screen audience turns and looks at the back of the theater, a hand reaches out from behind the curtain and grabs Molly and pulls her off-stage. I always laugh at how quickly she disappears. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/159 "2024-12-20T19:19:22Z")
_Batman Forever_ “Holy Rusted Metal Batman!” “Huh?” “The ground is all metal. it’s full of holes!” ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-little-jokes-in-movies/1011688/160 "2024-12-20T19:37:01Z")
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