# Greatest Iconic Film images of the 20th century! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036 "2006-06-17T04:54:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/1 "2006-06-17T04:54:17Z")
With all the great moments in 20th century film making what do you consider the greatest moments here are mine Admittedly they are hollywood based… 1. Major Kong Riding the Bomb to teh target (Dr Strangelove) 2. The slow pull out from the train station showing the coinfederate wounded (Gone with the Wind) 3. Kong falling from the Empire State Building (King Kong 1933) 4. Bickle staring into the mirror “are you talking to me?” (Taxi driver) 5. Dracula walking down the stair case “Good evening I’m Dracula”(Dracula 1931) 6. The Tramp reuniting with the kid after the orphanage ties to take the kid away (The Kid) 7. Jack Nicholson’s “Here’s Johnny” (The Shining) 8. Taylor in front of the remains of The statue of Liberty (Planet of the Apes) 9. Don Corleone holding a kitten in his office (the Godfather) 10. Cary Grant running from a biplane (North by Northwest) So, what are your top ten? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/2 "2006-06-17T06:57:55Z")
> [@kingpengvin](#): > > With all the great moments in 20th century film making what do you consider the greatest moments > > here are mine Admittedly they are hollywood based… > > 1. Major Kong Riding the Bomb to teh target (Dr Strangelove) > 2. The slow pull out from the train station showing the coinfederate wounded (Gone with the Wind) > 3. Kong falling from the Empire State Building (King Kong 1933) > 4. Bickle staring into the mirror “are you talking to me?” (Taxi driver) > 5. Dracula walking down the stair case “Good evening I’m Dracula”(Dracula 1931) > 6. The Tramp reuniting with the kid after the orphanage ties to take the kid away (The Kid) > 7. Jack Nicholson’s “Here’s Johnny” (The Shining) > 8. Taylor in front of the remains of The statue of Liberty (Planet of the Apes) > 9. Don Corleone holding a kitten in his office (the Godfather) > 10. Cary Grant running from a biplane (North by Northwest) > > So, what are your top ten? 1. Andy Dufrense standing in the rain after escaping from Shawshank prison. 2. The star destroyed flying overhead. 3. Indiana Jones running from the boulder in Raider’s of the Lost Ark. Too tired to think of more right now. ---
**Author:** ![Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8797f3/32.png) [@Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ins_Outs_What-have-yous)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/3 "2006-06-17T07:33:50Z")
Milton Buddle holding the red stapler in _Office Space_😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/4 "2006-06-17T07:54:48Z")
Charles Kane on stage Elliott and ET in front of the moon Several years ago TCM had a commerical that played the Kinks “Celluloid Heroes” as they played iconic moments, it really gave me goosebumps. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/5 "2006-06-17T08:04:17Z")
Hmm, iconic moments or great moments? There seems to be a slight difference there. Roy Batty takes Tyrell’s head in his hand and says “I want more life, fucker.” ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/6 "2006-06-17T08:43:44Z")
To me, it’s an iconic image if it’s an instantly recognizeable visual with no dialogue needed. Rhett and Scarlet’s kiss, or the silhouette shot of her by the tree vowing never to starve again, the burning of Atlanta, Rhett’s turning from to leave. Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tinman, Lion and Toto on the yellow brick road, the first swarm of flying monkeys, the great and powerful Oz, the melting witch. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/7 "2006-06-17T09:22:02Z")
[ul] [li]The closeup on Deckard’s eye during the flying cab ride. (Maybe I got this wrong. It’s the central image in [this montage](http://www.brmovie.com/Downloads/Stuff/BR_WP_007.jpg).)[/li][li]Norman’s insane smile at the end of _Psycho_.[/li][li]Orlok rising from his coffin on the ship in _Nosferatu_.[/li][li]Groucho dancing with his ‘mirror image’ in _Duck Soup_.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/8 "2006-06-17T09:33:49Z")
Willem Dafoe cops it in _Platoon_. Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and Jck Nicholson on the highway in _Easy Rider_ Michael J Fox on stage in _Back To the Future_ Any shot from the shower scene in _Psycho_ a nice collection [here](http://forum.teamxbox.com/showthread.php?t=435668) and these guys have posted their choices as images. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/9 "2006-06-17T09:59:38Z")
To get one from the real early days I want to add the dancers filmed in black and white but then each frame was hand colored. It was probably from the first decade of motion picture. It was one of the first scenes in that TCM commercial I mentioned. It gave the scene this fascinating ephemeral quality. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/10 "2006-06-17T10:35:34Z")
Here’s another one that may not spring to mind, but it was shot on film and shown in theaters. When they zoom in on the dead Bugs Bunny, killed by Elmer Fudd in “What’s Opera, Doc?” with just that little bit of light. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Clam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@Happy\_Clam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Clam)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/11 "2006-06-17T10:54:12Z")
In no particular order: The knife raised to strike behind the shower curtain in _Pyscho_. Marilyn Monroe’s dress being blown up in _The Seven Year Itch_ (such an iconic moment we don’t even realise it was from a film!) King Kong falling from the Empire State Building (any version). Marlon Brando stroking a cat in _The Godfather_. James Bond about to get his bollocks lasered off in _Goldfinger_. Hannibal Lector standing in the centre of a cell, just staring, in _Silence of the Lambs_. Darth Vader walking onto the captured Rebel ship at the beginning of _A New Hope_. Clint Eastwood (as The Man With No Name) sitting atop his horse, cigar in teeth (could be from any one of his films, really). A tiny figure dangling from Washington’s nose (in _North by Northwest_). The Bat-Signal! (Yes, I’m a geek at heart). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/12 "2006-06-17T12:45:34Z")
Rick Blaine and the bottle of booze. Rick Blaine and Louie walking off into the fog. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/13 "2006-06-17T14:01:52Z")
Two more from the Browning-Lugosi DRACULA- the three Brides silently coming forth to confront Renfield. Renfield’s grinning heh-heh-heh as he emerges from the ship’s hold. “It’s alive!” from Karloff’s FRANKENSTEIN The Monster’s wooing and the Bride’s rebuff in THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN “Sanctuary!” from Charles Laughton’s HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME The flogging on the wheel from Lon Chaney’s HBofND The unmasking in Chaney’s PHANTOM OF THE OPERA The making of the Female Android in METROPOLIS The wedding chant “One of Us” and the fate of the Trapeze Artist in FREAKS ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/14 "2006-06-17T20:51:49Z")
The light shining out from the window on to the street when Fr Merrin arrives at the house, from _The Exorcist_ The ape holding a bone and using it as a primitve tool, from _2001:A Space Odyssey_ Maria waltzing around the hills in _The Sound Of Music_ Sally Bowles in bowler hat and fishnets in classic Bob Foose pose, from _Cabaret_ Superman flying towards camera, _Superman_ Astaire and Rogers dancing cheek to cheek, from _Top Hat_ Jason and crew facing the skeleton army, _Jason And The Argonauts_ The race around the quadrangle, _Chariots of Fire_ The horse’s head in the bed, _The Godfather_ Shirley Eaton lying covered in gold paint, _Goldfinger_ The liquid metal Terminator walking out of the flaming wreckage, _Terminator 2_ Harold Llyod dangling from something at a dizzying height, various The front of a house falling down on Buster Keaton, and the empty doorframe just happening to coincide with where he’s standing, _Steamboat Bill Jr_ Stan and Ollie trying to shift a piano up some steps on a hillside, _The Music Box_ Bruce Lee, stripped to the waist, glistening, ready for action, _Enter The Dragon_ ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/15 "2006-06-17T20:53:38Z")
…in classic Bob **Fosse** pose… I should have written. Although the legendary Bob _Foose_ was a great choreographer in his own way. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/16 "2006-06-17T20:55:18Z")
Macauley Culkin doing the scream Charlton Heston carrying the Ten Commandments Dorothy, with Toto in basket, right after the tornado, and she opens the front door, and there’s . . . color! The Emerald City Charlie Chaplin eating his shoe Bette Davis coming down the steps in “All About Eve” Bette Davis smoking, in countless movies Harold Lloyd hanging from the flagpole The “Big Dubya” at the end of “It’s a Mad . . . World” James Stewart and Donna Reed by the Christmas tree. Julie Andrews, spinning around on the hills The chariot race from Ben Hur Ray Walston wearing a grass skirt and coconut bra in “South Pacific” The monolith from 2001. Lassie coming home Streisand in the Staten Island Ferry in “Funny Girl” Tony Perkins’ “mother” in her rocking chair Scarlet O’Hara wearing the curtain rod . . . oh wait ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/17 "2006-06-17T21:43:05Z")
That first time we see the dinosaurs eating leaves off the trees in _Jurassic Park_. Say what you will about the film in general; I will never, ever forget that image. By the way: > [@ianzin](#): > > Harold Lloyd dangling from something at a dizzying height, various Just for the record, he was hanging from a clock face, in the film _Safety Last_. Incidentally, that was shot very carefully to appear as though he were on a sheer building face, but there was actually a ledge with a mattress on it below him. Not to say there was no danger; he could easily have fallen and bounced off the mattress and right over the edge. But there was slightly less danger than there appeared to be in the film. Which normally wouldn’t be worth mentioning (movie magic and all that), but the popular legend that he was actually dangling unprotected hundreds of feet above pavement is a bit of romantic invention. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/18 "2006-06-18T19:44:49Z")
Garbo’s final closeup in Queen Christina Dietrich singing on that barrel in Der Blau Engel The Feast of Belshazaar in Intolerance Gloria Swanson’s starcase descent in Sunset Boulevard The unmasking of The Phantom of the Opera ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/19 "2006-06-18T22:10:19Z")
Omar Shariff riding out of the desert in Laurence of Arabia; William Holden floating face down in Sunset Boulevard; Mongo riding the bull into town in Blazing Saddles; Kay looking at Michael as the door closes in The Godfather; The ape/hominid/protohuman smashing the antelope’s skull in 2001 ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036/20 "2006-06-18T22:28:24Z")
> [@Happy Clam](#): > > King Kong falling from the Empire State Building (any version) Nitpick: I’d say Kong standing on top of the Empire State Building with the biplanes buzzing him, not him falling. To second suggestions I was beaten to: Darth Vader, almost any pose or scene Apes & Monolith, 2001 Ben Hur chariot race More suggestions: Yul Brynner as the defaced robot gunslinger in West World. Ursula Andress rising from the ocean in Dr. No [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-iconic-film-images-of-the-20th-century/361036.md?page=2)