# Hiding in Plain Sight in the Movies
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 19, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971 "2017-05-19T00:20:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2017, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/61 "2017-05-27T04:42:49Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#):
>
> The introduction of [Frazier Crane on “Cheers”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXUH3E2exuk) was handled in a similar way. Diane is pleading with Sam to seek professional help for his drinking, and Sam spends a good 10 minutes mocking the idea. All the while, Frazier (at the time an unknown character played by a not-famous actor) is sitting there at the bar with the regulars…
Nitpick: it’s “Frasier.”
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### Author:  [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2017, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/62 "2017-05-27T06:34:50Z")
I thought this was going to be a thread about people going to the movie theater in the movies in order to hide from somebody.
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2017, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/63 "2017-05-27T12:11:03Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#):
>
> The introduction of [Frazier Crane on “Cheers”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXUH3E2exuk) was handled in a similar way. Diane is pleading with Sam to seek professional help for his drinking, and Sam spends a good 10 minutes mocking the idea. All the while, Frazier (at the time an unknown character played by a not-famous actor) is sitting there at the bar with the regulars.
We’re currently semi-watching _Cheers_ and watched this episode recently. It’s one of those times where it’s actually funnier to know that Frasier is sitting at the bar all along.
The episode we watched last night had Diane pretending that her suitcase belonged to a random old man that was walking by. If you hadn’t been paying attention you wouldn’t recognize the old guy as “Al” played by Al Rosen.\* He could be seen routinely sitting at the back side of the bar in many episodes. Usually just barely visible. Before this episode he rarely had even a brief line. This is the first one where he actually had some real lines and interacted with a main character. He has 84 listed [appearances](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0741898/) on the show, most uncredited. So not really a random character.
- Many of the background extras had character names that were the same as their actual first name. Sort of like Ruthie Cohen (Ruth Cohen) who appeared on 101 episodes of _Seinfeld_.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2017, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/64 "2017-05-29T06:11:04Z")
> [@ftg](#):
>
> If you hadn’t been paying attention you wouldn’t recognize the old guy as “Al” played by Al Rosen.\* He could be seen routinely sitting at the back side of the bar in many episodes. Usually just barely visible. Before this episode he rarely had even a brief line. This is the first one where he actually had some real lines and interacted with a main character.
My favorite Al Rosen line came when Carla was trying to convince Sam he should keep a promise he made to God: something like “Who’s the big man you should never want to offend?”
Rosen pipes up: “Sinatra!”
**CARLA:** No, no, no! The \*\*BIG \*\*man?
Rosen, again: **“Sinatra!”**
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/65 "2017-09-20T04:08:54Z")
Just remembered that, when General Zod goes to the Oval Office in _Superman II_, the guy seated behind the big desk, surrounded by aides, briefly pretends to be the President. After a brief discussion, the real POTUS (E.G. Marshall) emerges from the crowd and admits he’s the guy. At 1:27 here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu\_eNecYFlA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu_eNecYFlA)
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#):
>
> I thought this was going to be a thread about people going to the movie theater in the movies in order to hide from somebody.
Like Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman) in _JFK_?
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/66 "2017-09-20T04:22:09Z")
Watching the first few minutes of\*\*\* Dark Star \*_yesterday, I noticed for the first time there’s a subtle warning that one of the crew (Commander Powell) has died: Their quarters are a complete mess, but there’s one bed that’s neatly made up and has the Commander’s cap and decorations laid out on it in memoriam_.
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### Author:  [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/67 "2017-09-20T08:09:40Z")
> [@puddleglum](#):
>
> In the [stalking scene](https://youtu.be/HHWf6Eof_ng?t=301) in Memories of Murder, you can see the killer pop up in the background if you know where to look.
I’ve watched that clip half a dozen times, and never see the killer until he rushes at her. Little help?
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### Author:  [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/68 "2017-09-20T12:42:29Z")
> [@terentii](#):
>
> Is he the one who says “Oy! Is that velour?” :dubious:
“Vat is this, velvet?”
“Ah, vat do you know from funny”
Eddie Murphy had previously used whiteface when he guest hosted SNL after he was a movie star. But the Old Jewish Man makeup was that good.
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### Author:  [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/69 "2017-09-20T13:44:46Z")
> [@Superdude](#):
>
> I’ve watched that clip half a dozen times, and never see the killer until he rushes at her. Little help?
At around 5:30 of the clip, as she is searching around with her flashlight, look to the left center of the screen (to her left and behind).
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/70 "2017-09-20T14:34:59Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#):
>
> The shot(s) you refer to don’t appear in the 1979 original theatrical release of **Alien**. They were added in 2003 for the Director’s Cut theater and DVD versions. Which explains how one could not notice it during the first 99 viewings.
Is it in [this clip?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YTIMGmZUr4)
In the 1986 sequel Aliens, the first time the Colonial Marines encounter the xenomorphs under the atmospheric processor, there’s one blending into a wall that only reveals itself once it starts moving. [Here, at 0:23.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag2CCIaY4aY)
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### Author:  [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/71 "2017-09-20T14:50:01Z")
> [@Albert\_Rose](#):
>
> At around 5:30 of the clip, as she is searching around with her flashlight, look to the left center of the screen (to her left and behind).
:smack:
Thanks. I was looking closer to her, and the vegetation at the side of the road.
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/72 "2017-09-20T17:04:44Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#):
>
> The recently late Roger Moore did the Pris thing in Golden Gun, replacing a wax double of himself with himself so as to ambush Scaramanga the villian.
Arnold does the same thing in \*\*Total Recall \*\*pretending to be a hologram of himself.
Quaid: “HAHAHAHA!! You think this is the real Quaid!”
Mooks: … [look around nervously]
Quaid: “IT IS!!” [kills everyone]
In the early scenes of **Platoon** , Charlie sheen wakes up in the middle of the night while on “ambush” and realizes he is the only one awake (assuming he’s not dreaming…the scene is meant to be a bit surreal IMHO). After a few moments of staring at the bushes, the bushes start moving and are revealed to be a patrol of NVA soldiers.
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### Author:  [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/73 "2017-09-20T22:12:06Z")
> [@Gordon\_Urquhart](#):
>
> Independent Film Channel (IFC) is showing the \*Alien \*movies tonight, presumably in anticipation of _Alien: Covenant_ opening tomorrow. During the final scene of the first \*Alien \*(1979), there’s a really cool shot that’s intended to shock and it works spectacularly: after Ripley shoots away from the _Nostromo_, puts Jones in a stasis pod and gets into her skivvies, she makes preparations to get into a stasis pod herself. She’s flipping a couple of switches, and suddenly realizes that the xenomorph has made onto the _Narcissus_.
>
> Here’s the thing: the xenomorph is in full view prior to Ripley flipping those switches in a shot prior to her going over to the wall, but she doesn’t see it – and, presumably, neither does the audience (at least on first view) because it’s sunk itself into some of the ship’s ductwork – but the alien is absolutely in view, especially its head, as long as you know where to look. It’s a great effect that really puts you into the primary character’s position.
>
> Also, shout-out to \*Alien \*and \*Aliens \*-- which are just fantastic movies.
There’s another “hide in plain sight” moment in the original “Alien”. [This scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFiLVrux4V8) has been altered from what was original shown (the alien is less clear in the background), but the bit of Harry Dean Stanton’s (RIP) character walking directly under the creature (hanging from some chains), mistaking it for bulky machinery, was part of the original.
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### Author:  [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/74 "2017-09-20T22:26:38Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#):
>
> Is it in [this clip?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YTIMGmZUr4)
Nope. In the 2003 Director’s Cut:
Brett pauses, then takes his cap off as he looks up;
Exactly 21 seconds later, we see the alien dangling motionless in the chains. It’s plain as day for anyone who’s seen the movie before and knows what the adult critter looks like, and lasts for 4 seconds (a little longer than most of the blink and you miss it glimpses later in the film), and then we’re back to Brett in closeup letting the water splash on his face.
I just now compared the original theatrical version to the 2003 DC to get geek-level precise timings.
You’re welcome.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2020, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/75 "2020-04-03T05:03:03Z")
Bumped.
Just saw one of my favorite animated movies, _The Iron Giant_, again. I’d forgotten that at the giant’s first nighttime appearance in the forest, you can see the back of his head, lost among the trees, before he turns. At 0:29 here: [The Iron Giant, Sub-Station Scene - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSMPbWY3oQ4)
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### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2020, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/76 "2020-04-03T06:47:13Z")
> [@snoe](#):
>
> I _think_ LL Cool J is in plain sight in the couch scene in _Toys_. I haven’t no found a gif/video of it to check.
I was going to post that. You’re right. I think I remember one or two other times he pulls that trick using different backgrounds.
In [_Flatliners_](https://www.hannah-blechman.com/schumacher/2018/3/29/flatliners-1990), after Kiefer is first resuscitated, while he’s sitting in a parking lot in the dark with a graffiti’d wall in the background, there are monster faces hidden in the graffiti, done in fluorescent paint. A black light is switched on and they glow luridly. Right before the ghost attacks begin.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2020, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/77 "2020-07-26T17:43:18Z")
In _The Wizard of Oz_, several flower-topped Munchkins reveal themselves in the foreground at 1:27 here: [The Wizard of Oz (1939) Dorothy arrives in Oz and meets the Good Witch - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAnEXIbCYfc)
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2020, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/78 "2020-07-26T21:07:35Z")
One of those recent Sherlock Holmes movies has Downey wearing a suit that makes him blend into the wall.
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### Author:  [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2020, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/79 "2020-07-26T23:49:05Z")
and another one from that movie that I can’t find. You can see a bit of him stepping out from the stone pillar around :13 in.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyONc8bq10U)
Blair Witch 2 Book of Shadows did an interesting thing, hiding clues. You can pick it up at about 10:20, the Secret of Esrever.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAkmHSzUIHQ)
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-the-movies/786971/80 "2020-07-27T15:04:23Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#):
>
> One of those recent Sherlock Holmes movies has Downey wearing a suit that makes him blend into the wall.
Post 5.
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