# Movies and "Nooooooo!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-nooooooo/305121 "2005-05-23T17:53:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [May 23, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-nooooooo/305121/1 "2005-05-23T17:53:02Z")
In the latest episode of _Star Wars_ one of the characters, upon hearing bad news, balls his fists, looks upward and shouts “Noooooooooooo!” Such a cliche that Mrs. Kunilou leaned over to me and whispered “that was stupid.” Does anyone remember where this cliche was first used? I can remember it as far back as the late 1960s in a TV episode of _Rod Serling’s Night Gallery_ but I am pretty sure it goes back a lot further. Any guesses? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-nooooooo/305121/2 "2005-05-23T18:10:58Z")
In the few minutes I could tolerate watching of Shatner’s “Invasion: Iowa”, he had one of the townspeople hold up cue cards saying it while he “acted” it out - the first card had “N-O-O-O-O”, the others “O-O-O-O-O”. So if even Shatner thinks it’s trite, it’s trite. Smithers does it when he thinks Mr. Burns has drowned in the bathtub, and I’m sure there are other Simpsons references too. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-nooooooo/305121/3 "2005-05-23T18:33:17Z")
Wasn’t it in the first Planet of the Apes when the space man discovers the remnants of New York city and realises that the ape planet is the Earth. (If that needed spoilering, then you really do need to watch more movies 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-nooooooo/305121/4 "2005-05-23T18:41:59Z")
[Calculon] You know, the line was actually “yes”, but I improvised. [/Calculon] ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-nooooooo/305121/5 "2005-05-23T19:34:27Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > Wasn’t it in the first Planet of the Apes when the space man discovers the remnants of New York city and realises that the ape planet is the Earth. There’s no “Noooo…” in there. What astronaut Taylor (Charlton Heston) actually says is: _Oh, my God. I’m back. I’m home. All the time, it was… We finally really did it. You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God, damn you ALL TO HELL!!_ ---
**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:** [May 23, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-nooooooo/305121/6 "2005-05-23T19:41:42Z")
Here’s an earlier discussion: > **[Origin of this movie cliche?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=297600)** > > When was the first time this “meme” was used? Something bad happens (e.g. house burns down). Character in the movie puts his hands to his cheeks…shouts “Noooooooo…” - it’s often slowed-down and distorted. For some reason, it’s also very often... Do you have a specific “Night Gallery” vignette in mind? I’d point you to the “That’s the beauty of it” thread and show that memory can be a strange thing. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-nooooooo/305121/7 "2005-05-24T18:16:37Z")
_Superman_, just after Supes hauls the suffocated Lois Lane out of the buried car and just before he violates the commandment about changing history. Please tell me I don’t need a spoiler box for a +25yo piece of cinema history ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-nooooooo/305121/8 "2005-05-24T18:49:04Z")
Not sure about the earliest usage, but it happens at least twice in _Battlefield Earth_. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-nooooooo/305121/9 "2005-05-24T19:43:21Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Not sure about the earliest usage, but it happens at least twice in _Battlefield Earth_. It doesn’t count if it comes from the audience. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-nooooooo/305121/10 "2005-05-24T20:22:19Z")
Joke of the day - **Bryan Ekers**