I had always heard the reason why horses neigh when Frau Blucher’s name is mentioned is because “blucher” is German for “glue.” A German friend told me otherwise. It’s just a name.
Though “blucher” in English is also a type of shoe that could be made from cordovan…
The name of a German general from the Napoleonic Wars, in fact (well, von Blucher).
The various incarnations of the German navy named three ships after him (hey, Germany has only so many naval heroes), all of which met sad ends.
Another “little” joke from Young Frankenstein:
After The Monster leaves the home of Harold (the blind man played by Gene Hackman) in a huff, Harold says, “Wait! Where are you going? I was going to make espresso.”
Back when espresso was new and exotic in the U.S.
And also in Young Frankenstein. Inspector Kemp wears a monocle over his eyepatch.
I am not sure if this is considered a “little” joke, but it is certainly very brief:
In Clerks, a random customer asks “In a row?” after a Dante relays a statistic about a recreational activity his girlfriend likes to engage in.
It’s brilliant, and I LOL everytime I watch that.
At the beginning of Live and Let Die, M visits Bond’s apartment. Bond makes him a cup of espresso. He goes through the entire elaborate ritual of grinding, steaming, stirring, etc. M looks at the espresso machine, looks at the cup of coffee in his hand, and says “Is that all it does?”
In McHale’s Navy one episode had a German U-boat meeting with a Japanese patrol boat at an atoll for some nefarious purpose. The submarine surfaces next to the PT, its commander pops up from the conning tower, “Sprechen sie Deutsch?”
The IJN lieutenant shakes his head, “Nihongo o hanashimasu ka?”
“Nein. Do you speak English?”
“But, of course!” and the rest of the scene is in English.
Does it stay on the same eye all the time? I’ll have to watch the movie again to be sure, but I think there’s a scene where his bad arm switches to the other side. I don’t know if it was planned, or if they just mirror-imaged a shot during editing.
To be fair, M works at a place where cameras are also geiger counters.
“The Wagon Queen Family Truckster – you think you hate it now, but wait till you drive it.”
Another from The Sopranos.
Some Brooklyn mob guys holding a secret meeting at the Flatbush Bikini Waxing & Beauty Shoppe.
That black cat looking up.
I didn’t see a black cat in the link.
The British Sitcom Man About The House was about a young man sharing a flat with two young women. (remade in USA as Three’s Company)
The end credits show cast and crew names over various imagery reflecting the girl/ guy dynamic in the show. Examples include:
- two dolls and a teddy bear
- cooking utensils* and a spanner
- lipsticks and a shaving brush
- two female shoes and a football (soccer) boot
- two martinis and a pint of bitter beer
- two girl dolls and a soldier doll
- two tennis racquets and a soccer ball
- pinups of male sex symbols and a topless girl
- two small wristwatches and a pocket watch
- a clothes line with two female knickers and a man’s boxers
- two glass cats and a glass rooster.
It’s subtle. You may have to think about it.
*they didn’t think this bit through. The guy was a trainee chef and did the cooking.
Well, this is not a new moment, but I still get a kick out of hearing the illiterate Gabby Johnson from Blazing Saddles speak, and the ongoing joke that “Gabby <Whatever> Johnson is right!”
And the nearly interminable cavalcade of Johnsons in that film.
Strenger Johnson is right about <Whatever> Johnson bein’ right.
It’s a reversed shot. They flipped it to match the original movie, IIRC.
“Wait a minute. Didn’t your hump used to be on the other side?”
“What hump?”
In a movie filled with jokes, ones like that are great little ones. Ooooh…awkward.
Love it.