# Movies with some "unique" feature **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 12, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629 "2003-08-12T13:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [August 14, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/61 "2003-08-14T21:56:19Z")
You guys clearly didn’t read my post on the first page about **Fahrenheit 451** and **The Magnificent Ambersons** ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/62 "2003-08-20T11:13:56Z")
What?! No one has mentioned Mel Brook’s **Silent Movie** where the only speaking part in the entire movie is that of Marcel Marceau? Marcel Marceau is the world’s best known mime. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/63 "2003-08-20T15:01:59Z")
Does any movie besides _The Wizard of Oz_ have flying monkeys? ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/64 "2003-08-20T17:59:41Z")
I’ve heard that the language used in the 1989 film “Dom za vesanje”, or “Time Of The Gypsies” by Emir Kustarica, is a Romany Gypsy dialect obscure enough that the film has been subtitled in every country it’s been released in, including its country of origin. It’s an amazingly beautiful film, and I highly recommend it. Actually, all his films are well worth watching, with “Underground” being his masterpiece. Most better video stores will carry his films. ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/65 "2003-08-20T18:46:54Z")
I’ve not seen Chris Marker’s **La Jetee** , but I believe it consists of only still images with a sound track, and is thus possibly the only motion picture with no motion in its picture. **Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire** is, I would guess, the only horror musical comedy sports movie about the game of snooker in cinematic history. Is **Sunset Boulevard** unique in being narrated by a dead person? I’m sure some of the lame horror movies shot in the 1950s and 1960s by people like [William Castle](http://www.movieforum.com/features/gimmicks/intro.shtml) claimed unique cinematic processes and techniques, like the “death by fright” insurance free with tickets to House on Haunted Hill and the electrified theater seats of The Tingler (surely nobody ever repeated that gimmick?) And isn’t the already-mentioned **The Lady in the Lake** , shot entirely in the first person, also possibly the only film in which you never see the star, Robert Montgomery? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/66 "2003-08-20T20:05:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by refusal \* > **Is _Sunset Boulevard_ unique in being narrated by a dead person?** No, there are others. One example is [Scared to Death](http://www.imdb.com/Details?0039800) (1947), the only color feature that Bela Lugosi starred in. The movie is narrated in flashback by the dead character played by Molly Lamont. \*\* > [@](#): > > the electrified theater seats of _The Tingler_ (surely nobody ever repeated that gimmick?)\*\* Mentions of this effect make it sound like audience members were electrically shocked, which wasn’t the case. An electric vibrating mechanism was attached to the underside of the seats, and was activated at key moments during the movie. Consider it akin to the vibrate option on a personal pager. > [@](#): > > \*\*And isn’t the already-mentioned _The Lady in the Lake_, shot entirely in the first person, also possibly the only film in which you never see the star, Robert Montgomery? \*\* You do see him in one scene, as he dresses before a mirror. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/67 "2003-08-20T20:38:55Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve not seen Chris Marker’s La Jetee, but I believe it consists of only still images with a sound track, and is thus possibly the only motion picture with no motion in its picture. Not quite–there is one subtle but beautiful moment when what you believe to be a still photo comes to brief life. Blink, though, and you’ll miss it. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/68 "2003-08-20T20:43:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bippy the Beardless \* > **I don’t know for sure, but was Lawrence of Arabia’s start unique, in that it consisted of a black screen for the entire length of the title music?** Well, then, it isn’t title music, is it? It’s an overture. [A Midsummer Night’s Dream](http://us.imdb.com/Details?0026714) (1935) and [Gone With the Wind](http://us.imdb.com/Details?0031381) (1939) both had overture music. The latter also had entr’acte and exit music. ---
**Author:** ![LSD-25](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d78d45/32.png) [@LSD-25](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSD-25)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/69 "2003-08-20T20:51:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zebra \* > \*\*Does any movie besides _The Wizard of Oz_ have flying monkeys? \*\* **Harry, Un Ami Qui Vous Veut Du Bien** features a flying monkey, and the main character writes a story called ‘The Flying Monkeys’. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Refusal \* > **Is Sunset Boulevard unique in being narrated by a dead person?** **American Beauty** is another one. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/70 "2003-08-21T03:08:36Z")
> [@](#): > > ## quote: > > ## I’ve not seen Chris Marker’s La Jetee, but I believe it consists of only still images with a sound track, and is thus possibly the only motion picture with no motion in its picture. > > Not quite–there is one subtle but beautiful moment when what you believe to be a still photo comes to brief life. Blink, though, and you’ll miss it. I’ve seen **a Jetee** myself, and saw this brief scene. I thought he same thing – “it’s just stills, except for that brief motion”. Then I realized that, lik any motion picture, it’s eally _all_ stillds. It’s just that those particular frames entrap moments so close together that our persistence of vision creates the illusion of motion. So the “exception” doesn’t really hold – there is no real motion in the film at all. But for that one brief scene only the stills don;t capture moments far apart in time, but rather those of the usual separation we experience in movies. I really think that they had thi in mind when they mde the film. They were deliberately messing with our minds. For more messing with your mind, consider that Terry Gilliam’s **Twelve Monkeys** is essentially a remake of **La Jetee**. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/71 "2003-08-21T13:06:26Z")
I believe there is a French film that is shot entirely in a long shot. (the main subject is fairly far from the camera) \*_LSD-25_ Well I guess the Wizard of Oz has an entire army of flying monkeys. (or would that be Air Force?) ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/72 "2003-08-21T14:21:41Z")
theres **Jerry & Tom** , starring Joe Mantegna and Sam Rockwell, where the passing of seasons changes in the same scene. eg- they’re both sat in a car discussing something (they’re hitmen) in the middle of a hot summer and the camera pans out and over a wall. once its over the wall (no cutaway or fade), its winter and they’re across the road at a shop. it happens quite a few times in the film denoting time passing/season changes. its a good film apart from this gimmick. i’ve not seen this used anywhere else. can only be a matter of time before someone rips it off though. (expecting someone along soon to tell me that its ripping off some other film) ---
**Author:** ![mcms\_cricket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@mcms\_cricket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcms_cricket)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/73 "2003-08-21T17:31:17Z")
Actually, the seasons-changing thing happens in Notting Hill, too. There’s a scene where Hugh Grant is walking down a road in London (Portobello Road, maybe - lots of street vendors), and as he’s walking, the seasons change -through all four seasons. Some of the street vendors disappear and reappear, but Hugh just walks on through in one scene. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/74 "2003-08-21T18:35:51Z")
Hitchcock again. **Rebecca** may be the only movie where you never see the title character. Rebecca’s dead when the movie begins. In **Dark Passage** , a man convicted of murdering his wife (Humphrey Bogart) escapes from prison in order to prove his innocence, but first he needs plastic surgery. You never see his face until after the surgery. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/75 "2003-08-21T19:27:04Z")
**The Best Years of Our Lives** featured [Harold Russell](http://www.imdb.com/Bio?Russell,%20Harold), an army vet who lost both hands in an accident with TNT (and no, they weren’t TWIN BODY-POWERED PROSTHESES WITH DORRANCE #5X STAINLESS STEEL HOOKS, either…to the best of my knowledge). If I recall correctly, this was the first picture to include such an actor. Actually, Russell wasn’t an actor until this movie. It was his first role (except for an army training film, where he was spotted), and he won two Oscars for it. One for Best Supporting Actor, and another for being an inspiration to the troops. March is the only actor to ever win two Oscars for the same role, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/76 "2003-08-21T19:36:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Labdad \* > **Hitchcock again. Rebecca may be the only movie where you never see the title character.** Except for the full length painting of Rebecca on the stairway. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/77 "2003-08-21T21:38:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*Now, I’m sure that for one reason or another, a lot of these don’t “count”, but it seems to me there are a lot of unique movies when it comes to language. > > …Klingon even has 12 entries… \*\* I can’t believe you missed Elvish! There are, of course, 3 movies where characters speak Elvish, but you might consider them all ONE BIG move, which would make it unique. I’m sure they used to be listed as Elvish, ‘tho’ now they are under “Sindarin.” Hmmm…and they now include the 1978 Ralph Bakshi LotR which was not true back when it was “Elvish.” Dang…not unique! ---
**Author:** ![jormundgondir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@jormundgondir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jormundgondir)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/78 "2003-08-21T22:10:38Z")
I think perhaps **Barry Lyndon** by Kubrick deserves some credit for being a well-budgeted film shot exclusively in natural lighting… ---
**Author:** ![Jello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@Jello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jello)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/79 "2003-08-21T23:31:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Labdad \* > \*\*Hitchcock again. **Rebecca** may be the only movie where you never see the title character. Rebecca’s dead when the movie begins. > \*\* You never see the title character in **Chasing Amy** either. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629/80 "2003-08-21T23:56:27Z")
2001, A Space Odyssey has several minutes of black footage at the head of the first reel with just music on the soundtrack. It was called the Overture. (At the theater where I saw it, first run, the Overture starting time was listed, then the film’s starting time after that on a card in the box office window!) I believe, and I’m sure others will confirm or deny, that West Side Story, Dr. Zhivago and possibly Ryan’s Daughter also had pictureless Overtures before the opening credits began. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-some-unique-feature/194629.md?page=5)