# Movies with gongs. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782 "2020-04-01T02:53:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/21 "2020-04-01T15:32:55Z")
Gongs were big in silent movies, where the physical action of striking the gong effectively conveyed the idea of “Loud Noise”. (It also gave a pretty clear cue, if someone was providing live sound effects) So there are obvious gongs in _Thief of Bagdad_ (1924) and _Metropolis_ (1925)\* As mentioned above, here’s a big gong atop the Giant Wall in _King Kong_ (1933) used to summon the beast. The next year they used another gong to open the same wall, redressed (although it was a different gong) in _She_ (1934) At the end of the opening to TV’s original _Mickey Mouse Club_ there was a gag with Donald Duck striking a gong. They had a series of different gags that they rotated: \*Metropolis also has steam whistles (indicating the End of Shift) for the same reason ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/22 "2020-04-01T15:33:29Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Smaller gongs are acceptable, and in an odd way, preferred. Then you could go with _ST:TNG Haven_. (The one with Troi’s mother’s tall alcoholic alien butler ringing a gong at a dinner party.) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/23 "2020-04-01T15:43:11Z")
The Gong Show and (presumably) The Gong Show Movie. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/24 "2020-04-01T16:11:40Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The Rank Organization, as noted above. The scene in _ **Gilligan’s Island** _ parodied it. If you’re willing to use TV clips, the Muppet Show also did at least one parody as well. I have no idea which episode, though. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/25 "2020-04-01T16:22:44Z")
In the _ **Flash Gordon** _ movies, Ming the Merciless had a gong that told his dancing girl(s) when to stop. When I saw this, I said in my best Chuck Barris voice “Aw, Ming, you ras-cule! Why’d ya \*do \*that? I thought she was doin’ just _fine_!” I haven’t seen the movie in years, but I think Wang the Perverted in \*\*\*Flesh Gordon \*\*\*had a gong in his palace too. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/26 "2020-04-01T16:25:11Z")
Gene Wilder, as Doctor Fron-kon-steen had a tint gong on his lecture desk that he struck when he wanted the demonstration patient brought in. There’s a gong in the Transformation Scene in Bagdad in _The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad_ ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/27 "2020-04-01T16:56:08Z")
All of the movies produced in England by “The Archers” — Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger — opened with an enormous gong being struck by a costumed POC. Like MGM and the lion roar. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/28 "2020-04-01T17:20:14Z")
The 1932 film **Mask of Fun Manchu** , starring Boris Karloff as the evil mastermind, naturally has a gong: > [@](#): > > At the end, after Fu has been vanquished, the heroes are on a boat when they suddenly hear a gong, followed by the arrival of a Chinese man (Willie Fung). Their worries are put to rest when the man, dimwitted and properly servile, speaking in pidgin English, is only announcing – between short bouts of inane giggling – that dinner is being served. We can all rest easy. > **[The Mask of Fu Manchu](http://celluloidclub.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-mask-of-fu-manchu.html)** > > The Psychotronic Zone By Ed Garea The Mask of Fu Manchu  (MGM, 1932) – Directors: Charles Brabin, Charles Vidor (uncredited). Write... [https://www.monsterbashnews.com/Movie%20Night/Mask%20of%20Fu%20Manchu.html](https://www.monsterbashnews.com/Movie%20Night/Mask%20of%20Fu%20Manchu.html) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/29 "2020-04-01T17:29:45Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > [_The President’s Analyst_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062153/) from 1967 is great. James Coburn plays the title character and is into gongs. Throw in Godfrey Cambridge and you’ve got yourself a movie. > > But wait, there’s more: also has Pat Harrington, Joan Darling (director of _First Love_), Arte Johnson and B-movie queen Kathleen Hughes. > > The studio with the gonger in the production opener was Rank. The guy was Ken Richmond who [died](https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/14/movies/13richmond.html) several years ago. (Ninjaed!) > [@terentii](#): > > IIRC, Coburn’s character also had a gong in his apartment in _ **Our Man Flint** _ and _ **In Like Flint** _. > [@Yllaria](#): > > If you’re willing to use TV clips, the Muppet Show also did at least one parody as well. I have no idea which episode, though. Isn’t it obvious? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6LAn_8JswfA/maxresdefault.jpg "Muppet Songs James Coburn Japanese") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LAn_8JswfA) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/30 "2020-04-01T19:33:32Z")
The _Star Trek_ (TOS) episode _Amok Time_ has a Vulkan gong: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Amok\_Time\_(episode) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/31 "2020-04-01T19:40:53Z")
Harryhausen must’ve liked them. Not only is there one in [b" Seventh Voyage of Sinbad\*\*, as I mentioned above, there’s one in **Golden Voyage of S8inbad** , too, in the fight-with-the-statue-of-Kali scene > **[My Thoughts on: The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)](https://filmmusiccentral.com/2019/02/13/my-thoughts-on-the-golden-voyage-of-sinbad-1973/)** > > I have always been a fan of Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion animation and his three Sinbad films are among my favorites. I particularly enjoy The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, the second Sinbad film… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/32 "2020-04-01T19:48:09Z")
**Kung Fu Panda** has a little gong: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/02AzLsJYgnE/hqdefault.jpg "Kung Fu Panda Gong") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02AzLsJYgnE) ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/33 "2020-04-01T20:25:17Z")
[**Carry On Up The Khyber**.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNk4SMN6t3A) @0.27 Hurrah! j (Apologies for the picture quality - best I could find). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/34 "2020-04-01T20:34:01Z")
First thing that came to mind is the German TV commercial for MB games from the 70s/80s, with the slogan: [MB präsentiert! (MB presents!)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jin_abmE2HQ) ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/35 "2020-04-01T21:22:18Z")
Another movie with a joking reference to the Rank Organization intro appears in the 1950 British film “The Happiest Days of Your Life”. About 17 minutes in a character loudly strikes a small gong, and is admonished with the line, “A tap, Gossage. I said a tap. You’re not introducing a film.” Also about 20 minutes before the end of the Robert Altman movie _A Perfect Couple,_ a character strikes a gong at the end of the song “Let the Music Play”. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/36 "2020-04-01T21:27:40Z")
Hong Kong Phooey, at the end of the opening credits. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-n91lSO0wJQ/hqdefault.jpg "Hong Kong Phooey Intro") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n91lSO0wJQ) ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/37 "2020-04-01T21:31:05Z")
[How I Met Your Mother](https://youtu.be/gIxpaHKG6NY) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/38 "2020-04-01T23:34:57Z")
[quote=“mbh, post:29, topic:850782”] Isn’t it obvious? [/QUOTE] Oh, wow! I wasn't thinking about that one, and it's perfect. I also wasn’t thinking about [Gonzo’s gong openings.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6crBhAANRg) I think the one I remembered starred Link Hogthrob and he spun too much and missed the gong. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/39 "2020-04-02T04:52:23Z")
I think there was a Gong in _The Golden Child._ In the sequence with the BDSM theme with what’s-her-name tied up in the latex corset. Don’t have any idea why I remember that. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782/40 "2020-04-02T04:56:03Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Oh, wow! I wasn’t thinking about that one, and it’s perfect. > > I also wasn’t thinking about [Gonzo’s gong openings.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6crBhAANRg) > I think the one I remembered starred Link Hogthrob and he spun too much and missed the gong. Looks to me like the Muppets stole the “Opening Credits Gong Gag” from the Mickey Mouse Club (post #21 above) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-gongs/850782.md?page=3)