# Movies in which painted portraits change depending on the scene **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2004, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-painted-portraits-change-depending-on-the-scene/236900 "2004-03-28T08:50:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![seriousart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@seriousart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seriousart)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-painted-portraits-change-depending-on-the-scene/236900/1 "2004-03-28T08:50:08Z")
After seeing this recent movie: The Lady Killers My friends and I started talking about the painted portrait in the movie that changed from scene to scene. My friend claims he remembers this sort of gag appearing in old Three Stooges bits, whereas we see a fairly typical portrait of someone on the wall (usually a dead person) who changes expressions from scene to scene depending on what’s going on. IE: If something is happening that would make the person in the portrait happy his/her portrait will magically have changed so now they’re smiling broadly, or likewise, if something happens that would have angered them, they’re seen scowling. I can only think of one other movie for sure that did this: Mouse Hunt. I know I’ve seen other movies do this but can’t think of which ones. Any come to mind? (Bonus points if you can figure out the first occurance of this gag.) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-painted-portraits-change-depending-on-the-scene/236900/2 "2004-03-28T09:13:24Z")
_Hi Diddle Diddle_ (1943) _The Picture of Dorian Gray_ (1945) _Night Gallery_ (TV movie, 1969) ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-painted-portraits-change-depending-on-the-scene/236900/3 "2004-03-28T11:29:09Z")
I was watching the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movie, _Swing Time_ on Friday night. In a scene near the beginning, Fred faces his angry fiancee and her father after he didn’t show up for the wedding. The dog barks at him; the cat hisses; a portrait of a Victorian gentleman scowls down at him fiercely from the wall. After he has talked the fiancee and father over and they are no longer angry with him, the dog wags its tail, the cat winds around his ankles, and the portrait of the Victorian gentleman is smiling. Also in the Garbo movie _Ninotchka_, Ninotchka’s picture of Lenin smiles at her (after she’s been drinking a bit). Both of these films are from the 1930s. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-painted-portraits-change-depending-on-the-scene/236900/4 "2004-03-28T11:55:27Z")
Gonna have to watch the movie again, but I’m pretty sure in Mel Brooks’ _Young Frankenstein_, the portrait of Baron Viktor von Frankenstein changes slightly when his grandson (Gene Wilder) finally agrees to continue his (BVvF’s) line of work. Dunno if it’s my imagination, but the portait seems to smile. Could be wrong. Hmm. I’ll watch it again this afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-painted-portraits-change-depending-on-the-scene/236900/5 "2004-03-28T12:21:22Z")
Didn’t the family patriarch portrait change in _Bend It Like Beckham_?