I was having a conversation with a guy I just met, and he mentioned that one of the things he liked about Fargo was that while Marge’s pregnancy was relevant to her character, the movie’s focus didn’t revolve around the ultimate birth of her child.
Which got me thinking…are there other movies where this is true? Where a main character in the movie is pregnant, but the birth itself is NOT part of the story arc? I can’t think of any, but there have to be some…right?
Die Hard. The pregnant office worker wasn’t going to give birth, she just needed to lie down.
Not a main character, but Agnes Gooch in Auntie Mame. Her pregnancy figures prominently into the latter part of the movie but she doesn’t give birth on screen (although you could assume she did, since years pass after her last scene).
Dawn of the Dead; Fran’s pregnancy is a minor plot point (Peter tells Stephen he knows how to perform an abortion), but she neither aborts, miscarries, or gives birth in the film.
Her baby was ready to tend bar.
The Fugitive - I seem to remember the detective played by L. Scott Caldwell was pregnant. I can’t find anything to substantiate it, though.
Barb Wire. Pamela Anderson was pregnant, though the character probably wasn’t.
Isn’t the rule that if you show a gun in Act 1, it has to go off by Act 3?
Hannah and her Sisters. In the final scene, Holly (Diane Wiest) reveals she’s pregnant.
After the Thin Man has Nora revealing her pregnancy at the end (and the birth is not shown in the next film – the baby has already been born). Since the film takes place over only a day or two, and only a week after The Thin Man, Nora had to be pregnant in both films.
Does The Bride from Kill Bill vol. 1 count? She’s pregnant at the wedding, then wakes up from a coma four years later.
In “Exotica,” the movie by Atom Egoyan, the owner of the strip club is pregnant and she does not give birth during the movie.
The actress is Egoyan’s wife, and I think that she was really pregnant during filming.
In this case, the gun went off BEFORE Act 1.
The Buddy Holly Story ends with Buddy about to get on the private plane that he died on. His wife was pregnant at the time (and she is shown). So she is pregnant and doesn’t give birth during the movie. Alas, in fact, she miscarried the next day, but that’s outside the timeline of the movie.
A good writer knows when to break that rule, to add verisimilitude or for dramatic effect.
A bad writer doesn’t know when to break that rule, and creates a pedestrian, cliche work by following it slavishly.
A terrible writer thinks they know when to break that rule, and creates a shaggy dog story where the reader feels ripped off at the end.
The Terminator ends with Sarah Conner pregnant.
Star Trek IV - Gracie is pregnant.
Emily Mortimer’s character in Lars and the Real Girl. I thought for sure that the birth was going to be a big emotional moment in the movie, but nope. She was pregnant at the beginning and still pregnant at the end.
A pregnant woman gives birth - that’s surprise.
A pregnant woman doesn’t give birth - that’s suspense.
Innerspace features a character who is in the early stages of pregnancy and though she marries the father in the final scene, does not give birth.
Clerks II had a major plot point about Becky being pregnant. And the final scene of the movie showed them reopening the store with her still pregnant.
nm
“The Master”'s main character had a pregnant wife who didn’t give birth during the movie’s timeframe.
Bonnie has been pregnant since the beginning of the* Family Guy.* (Admittedly, not a movie.)