# Films with somewhat misleading titles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198 "2016-05-20T00:38:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![IT\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3ec8ea/32.png) [@IT\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IT_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/101 "2016-05-27T07:02:56Z")
The one that always throws me is ‘Legends of the Fall’. Doesn’t begin to suggest the actual plot line. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/102 "2016-05-27T09:23:42Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > ["Trainspotting"](http://www.tripbase.com/c/trainspotting/)is a hobby, like bird watching, where you try to spot particular trains and keep a list. The title ironically compares drug addiction to a pointless hobby. The characters don’t actually spot trains. > [@Shakester](#): > > In the novel, the father of one of the characters (who is himself an alcoholic) amuses himself greatly by saying that they’re all “trainspotting at Leith Station” - the joke being that [Leith Station](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leith_Central_railway_station) has been disused for decades. I did hear a tale about a railway enthusiast who went to see _Chariots of Fire_, and was annoyed to find that it wasn’t about steam trains. (Well, in some languages the expression for “train” or “railway” literally means “fire / smoke chariot” – _kereta api_ in Malay / Indonesian, _gharri-ya-moshi_ in Swahili.) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/103 "2016-05-27T11:09:04Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > You objected to this title being included, but neither clockwork nor oranges is referenced in the movie. > [@edwards\_beard](#): > > Gods and Monsters About these two, I’m pretty sure that “clockwork orange” was an expression in British English long before it was picked up as a title for the book. It’s a little like the movie _You Can’t Take It with You_. No, that’s not as obvious a plot outline as, say, _The Wizard of Oz_, but it’s about a family whose members are determined to make the most of life while they’re alive, and not worry about tomorrow, because there’s no use squirreling away a lot since you can’t, well, you get the idea. It’s the perfect title for the movie, and the phrase long pre-dates the film. “Clockwork orange” isn’t an American expression, so Americans find the title obscure. If I knew the expression, I wouldn’t go in expecting to see anything to do with clockwork or oranges. I would expect something about appearances being incongruous with what is going on inside a thing or person. “Gods and monsters” is a lifted straight from _The Bride of Frankenstein_. It’s not hard to guess the films will somehow have something to do with the universal Frankenstein movies. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/104 "2016-05-27T12:14:16Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > About these two, I’m pretty sure that “clockwork orange” was an expression in British English long before it was picked up as a title for the book. It’s a little like the movie _You Can’t Take It with You_. No, that’s not as obvious a plot outline as, say, _The Wizard of Oz_, but it’s about a family whose members are determined to make the most of life while they’re alive, and not worry about tomorrow, because there’s no use squirreling away a lot since you can’t, well, you get the idea. It’s the perfect title for the movie, and the phrase long pre-dates the film. “Clockwork orange” isn’t an American expression, so Americans find the title obscure. Americans would stream into theaters to watch a movie called BATMAN, but be mystified if it turns out to be a quiet British film about an Army officer’s valet. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/105 "2016-05-27T13:04:38Z")
> [@brainstall](#): > > _Windtalkers_ Sure it had some Navajo guys in it, but it was mostly about the character Nicolas Cage played. Which was a really dumb move by the director given that Adam Beach was right there. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/106 "2016-05-27T13:30:21Z")
There is no evidence that the term “clockwork orange” was an expression in British English or any other dialect or language before the book was published. Anthony Burgess made several inconsistent statements about the origins of the title. One was that it was simply his own metaphor. One was that it came from a Malay word. One was that it came from a Cockney expression “as queer as a clockwork orange,” but no one has ever found any other mention of the phrase, and they’ve looked pretty hard. If you have any evidence that it was in use before the publication of the book, please let everyone know, because it would be an important discovery: > **[A Clockwork Orange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange)** > > A Clockwork Orange may refer to: ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/107 "2016-05-27T14:25:26Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Most misleading title ever has to be William Friedkin’s follow-up film to **The Exorcist**. > > **Sorceror** , 1977. > > It had nothing to do with sorcery or the supernatural but was a remake of **The Wages of Fear** about truckers transporting a load of nitroglycerine over mountainous roads. (Good movie although not a patch on Clouzot’s original.) > > I always wondered whether the title was forced on him by the studio, anxious to draw big crowds expecting another horror classic. Love that movie, so tense, and the Tangerine Dream soundtrack is killer. And the title is ever so misleading. You can see the word “Sorcerer” in the film itself for about three seconds; it appears on the side of one of the two trucks, hand-painted or maybe written in chalk. No indication of why it’s there, and I don’t remember anyone ever saying the word during the film. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/108 "2016-05-27T15:28:07Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > About these two, I’m pretty sure that “clockwork orange” was an expression in British English long before it was picked up as a title for the book. > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > There is no evidence that the term “clockwork orange” was an expression in British English or any other dialect or language before the book was published. Anthony Burgess made several inconsistent statements about the origins of the title. One was that it was simply his own metaphor. One was that it came from a Malay word. One was that it came from a Cockney expression “as queer as a clockwork orange,” but no one has ever found any other mention of the phrase, and they’ve looked pretty hard. If you have any evidence that it was in use before the publication of the book, please let everyone know, because it would be an important discovery: > > [A Clockwork Orange - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange) Right. There’s no evidence that the term existed before the movie. And even if it did, there would be no reason to assume it was about a dystopian future. > [@](#): > > “Gods and monsters” is a lifted straight from _The Bride of Frankenstein_. It’s not hard to guess the films will somehow have something to do with the universal Frankenstein movies. This is another one of those cases where the title is seen to fit _after_ seeing the movie, or if you already know something about it. It really gives zero idea about the movie otherwise. I actually had no idea of what this movie was about until I looked it up. I think that there are few people who are familiar enough with _The Bride of Frankenstein_ to recognize the phrase immediately (I’ve seen the movie several times, and the phrase didn’t ring a bell), and even if you recognized it it wouldn’t give you a clue that the movie was about the director rather than another Frankenstein movie. Yes, _we get it_. Nearly all these movie titles fit once you have seen the movie. But you might think the movie is about something totally different from just the title. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/109 "2016-05-27T17:24:32Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Only if you’ve seen the film. > > Again, you’re missing the point of the thread. Mm, no, I think you are. These are some of the best-known metaphors in literature. Without seeing a film called _The Lion in Winter,_ or knowing anything about it, I couldn’t have told it was specifically about Henry II. But I certainly should have expected it would be about a once-powerful warrior, or ruler of some kind, in the later years\* of his life. If it had not been _that,_ it would be a better answer here. - Almost said “twilight” there. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/110 "2016-06-02T08:05:34Z")
Most people probably thought _ **300** _ was going to be a bowling movie. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/111 "2016-06-04T21:49:24Z")
If you just looked at the title, “Birth of a Nation” would seem to deal with the American Revolution, not the Civil War and its aftermath. D.W. Griffith or someone probably thought that was a more innocuous title than the book ‘The Clansman.’ The title refers to The United States becoming, after the war, becoming ‘one nation’ instead of a union of sovereign states. And, piggybacking on ‘Birth of a Nation,’ author Thomas Dixon later wrote a book called ‘Fall of a Nation,’ which was apparently also made into a movie–now considered lost. It had nothing to do with ‘Birth of a Nation’ and was not a sequel in any way. Dixon just reused part of the title of the movie for his next novel to cash in on recognition. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/112 "2016-06-04T22:39:49Z")
“Man on the Moon”-Not an astronaut to be had. ---
**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:** [June 4, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/113 "2016-06-04T23:38:41Z")
_“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”_ Nobody was going to the Forum, and it really wasn’t funny. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/114 "2016-06-05T02:22:26Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Mm, no, I think you are. No, you quite obviously don’t get it from the example you give: > [@](#): > > These are some of the best-known metaphors in literature. Without seeing a film called _The Lion in Winter,_ or knowing anything about it, I couldn’t have told it was specifically about Henry II. But I certainly should have expected it would be about a once-powerful warrior, or ruler of some kind, in the later years\* of his life. If it had not been _that,_ it would be a better answer here. Yes, we get it. Many of the titles are metaphorical. But you really couldn’t have told much about the specific subject from the title. You’re extrapolating because you already know the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/115 "2016-06-05T02:35:42Z")
No tornado or hurricane in _Gone With the Wind_. Pretty nice fire, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/116 "2016-06-05T07:43:09Z")
_The Seventh Seal_… not even one seal in this garbage. No sea lions or even manatees. Very disappointed. One star. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/117 "2016-06-06T23:50:49Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > “Man on the Moon”-Not an astronaut to be had. Not an REM fan? ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/118 "2016-06-08T04:42:33Z")
Monsters Ball ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198/119 "2016-06-08T05:11:36Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Not an REM fan? For what it’s worth, the R.E.M. song title itself is misleading. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-with-somewhat-misleading-titles/755198.md?page=5)