And in a neat little twist, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is more about Charlie than it is about Willy Wonka, while Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the movie, not the book) is more about Willy Wonka than it is about Charlie…
The Big Lebowski isn’t the main character of that film- it’s Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski, who gets mistaken for the titular character (whence hilarity ensues, of course).
James Bond is the main character in Goldfinger (as opposed to the villain after which the film is named), and the Zulu aren’t the main characters in either Zulu or Zulu Dawn.
The Great Gatsby
“What’s the name of the movie, Robin? Who among us did not shed a tear when his little red eye went out in the end, and he didn’t get to kill all those people? :(”
(Oh, and it’s Barney Stintson, not Stimpson.)
Kill Bill?
I’m surprised no one has mentioned the most obvious: Rebecca doesn’t appear in REBECCA, she’s long dead before the movie starts. She’s a “presence” of course, but there’s no actress even playing her.
True, but the Jimmy Dean in the title isn’t James Dean the actor, but the child of one of the characters (who likewise does not appear), who was named after James Dean.
See post #6
This oughta be a law, any time someone pops in to opine, “I’m surprised no one has mentioned…” it’s usually been mentioned.
Not a character, but Fargo only appears for a few minutes at the very beginning of **Fargo. **
Howard’s End
Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael is about a girl named Dinky, played by Winona Rider. The movie Heathers is about J.D. and Veronica.
In Waking Ned Devine, Ned appears only as a dead guy. Plot: someone in a small Irish town has won the lottery, but no one can find the winner. Finally, they do: Ned Devine, who immediately died of shock in front of his TV, holding his winning ticket. To collect, the whole town decides to fool the lottery officials by having someone pose as Ned, and they all can split the winnings.
In Mon Oncle D’Amerique, the American Uncle never appears.
Mrs. Brown technically has no one named “Mrs. Brown” in it.
Has anyone done a film version of Waiting for Godot? That would qualify.
Jaws.
Perhaps it wouldn’t have been that way if Spielberg hadn’t had so many problems with his mechanical shark…
Tron really isn’t the main character of the original Tron, either, so the new movie didn’t make some big break with tradition.
The idea was that the female protagonists lived in a small Texas town NEAR where James Dean filmed ***Giant ***decades earlier.
Their hometown is a remote, desolate spot where NOTHING interesting has happened since James Dean passed through all those years ago.
But even then it’s debatable whether the movie qualifies.Jimmy Stewart’s character is known as the man who shot Liberty Valance, but it was actually John Wayne’s character who did it.
Per imdb and Wikipedia, it’s Stinson.
See post #33.
The Darwin Awards
Wrath of Khan
The Princess Bride
Not exactly. Cookie dies in the movie, but there are scenes showing her alive. (She’s played by Patricia Neal.) IIRC the movie doesn’t really have a main character, it’s more an ensemble piece.
Roxy Carmichael definitely is not the main character, but she does appear in the movie. There are brief scenes of her in her mansion throughout the movie, although I don’t think her face is ever shown.