# Movies in which the title character is not the main character **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205 "2009-03-29T19:45:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/21 "2009-03-29T22:02:36Z")
**Bébé’s Kids** is all about her kids. It was also a bad movie. **Legend of Zelda** …Oh, that’s a video game. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, so I’ll leave it up to you, **Dr. Strangelove** or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/22 "2009-03-29T22:05:19Z")
[Petulia](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063426/) is mainly about George C. Scott’s character. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/23 "2009-03-29T22:49:56Z")
Damn it! I thought of another one but my listing it would be my admitting that I saw such rancid garbage. **Freddy Got Fingered** What you must think of me… :o ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/24 "2009-03-29T22:52:11Z")
Ooops, Double Post, Double :o :o ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/25 "2009-03-29T23:12:06Z")
Does **Bringing Up Baby** count? Baby (a leopard) isn’t the main character. And what about **The General**? The General (a train) isn’t the main character. Or **The Exorcist** , which arguably is not _mainly_ about the guy performing the exorcism? **Kill Bill** isn’t mainly about Bill. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/26 "2009-03-29T23:48:39Z")
**The Blair Witch Project** , where Ms. Witch doesn’t ever show herself. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/27 "2009-03-30T00:19:59Z")
It has been aptly noted that the main character of **Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory** (the Gene Wilder version) is Charlie Bucket, while the main character of **Charlie and the Chocolate Factory** (the Johnny Depp version) is Willy Wonka. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Superhero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Superhero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Superhero)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/28 "2009-03-30T00:28:41Z")
I think my favorite example of this is “The Third Man,” where not only is the main character not the Third Man, but it takes most of the movie’s running time to figure out just who that Third Man was, and why it’s important. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/29 "2009-03-30T00:29:11Z")
\*\*Edward, my Son \*\*is another film (like **Rebecca** ) where the title character is never even seen on screen. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/30 "2009-03-30T00:37:06Z")
Goldfinger JFK The Hound of the Baskervilles Henry IV Part 2 Le Pacte de le Loupe The DaVinci Code ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/31 "2009-03-30T01:56:21Z")
The title character in _The Thin Man_ (1934) was the murder victim, which made it confusing when five sequels still referred to him in the title. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/32 "2009-03-30T02:05:43Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > The title character in _The Thin Man_ (1934) was the murder victim, which made it confusing when five sequels still referred to him in the title. Oh! **The Pink Panther!** Not a character, strictly speaking, but the cartoon character is sometimes shoehorned into the credits sequence. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/33 "2009-03-30T02:36:25Z")
The main character in _Heathers_ is not Heather Chandler, Heather Duke, or Heather McNamara, but Veronica Sawyer. ---
**Author:** ![First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/First_Amongst_Daves)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/34 "2009-03-30T02:37:37Z")
Have you people entirely but understandably forgotten cheesy 80s college moves, and chief amongst them, The Sure Thing and Porkys? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/35 "2009-03-30T02:46:36Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > **Bébé’s Kids** is all about her kids. So, the main characters are the title characters. Bebe’s name is in the title, but only in that the title is referring to her kids as a group. If Bebe were the main character, then Bebe’s Kids would be an example. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/36 "2009-03-30T03:47:51Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Oh! **The Pink Panther!** Not a character, strictly speaking, but the cartoon character is sometimes shoehorned into the credits sequence. [Nitpick]The Pink Panther is a diamond. The cartoon character is based on the image that’s seen when you stare at the Pink Panther diamond in a certain light.[/Nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/37 "2009-03-30T04:38:34Z")
The character who is _Dead at 17_ in the movie of that name is barely seen onscreen other than in photos. Which is too bad, because the actor is my cousin! ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/38 "2009-03-30T05:22:45Z")
Not exactly in the title but in No Country for Old Men the character that seems like the lead is totally a secondary character. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/39 "2009-03-30T05:32:36Z")
You could make an argument that The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde isn’t about the titular character(s), but about the lawyer solving the case, but that may be grasping at straws. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2009, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205/40 "2009-03-30T05:44:49Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar count? Twice. MyFootsZZZ, Dr. Strangelove totally fits. Sellars’ British lieutenant, Gen. Ripper & the crew of the bomber get WAY more attention that the Doctor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-title-character-is-not-the-main-character/491205.md?page=3)