# Obscure movie puns - like 1963 Cleopatra **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies, comedian-jokes\ **Created:** [January 18, 2021, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809 "2021-01-18T13:39:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/41 "2021-11-14T13:18:51Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I see we are veering away from movies as requested in the OP. In that spirit I’ll offer one from the TV show “ **Raising Hope** ” that I have never forgotten: > > I’m unsure of which characters said what, but there was a monologue about taking your shot or shooting for the moon or something like that. It ended with, “you may like your glory in small pieces, but I like my glory whole”. > > mmm _Raising Hope_ also had the glorious pun about a doll that realistically sneezed. When it was found in a Christmas creche, someone shouted out, “It’s the baby sneezes!” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/42 "2021-11-14T13:21:02Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I would have assumed that was a reference to the Great Molasses Flood. > > [Great Molasses Flood - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Molasses_Flood) I doubt my friend or Fields had ever heard of it. It was pretty obscure until long after the movie was shot and long after we saw it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/43 "2021-11-14T14:15:48Z")
Pretty odd coincidence. (I’m not saying it wasn’t a coincidence – it would also have been a bit of a grim reference for a WC Fields flick, given the deaths involved – but pretty weird.) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/44 "2021-11-14T14:32:36Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > True, and I sure didn’t. But it is in the IMDb trivia, where 215 out of 225 people found it interesting. That’s where I first learned about it! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/45 "2021-11-14T14:43:16Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > True, and I sure didn’t. But it is in the IMDb trivia, where 215 out of 225 people found it interesting. 😆 Mel talked about that little joke both times I’ve seen him. Luckily for all of us _Blazing Saddles_ was early enough that he didn’t feel the need to telegraph, explain or beat the joke to death like he did so many others in later movies. > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I’m too lazy to look it up, but I believe Frasier used two similar Balzac puns, in two different episodes. More than that. He also dressed as Balzac for a Halloween party one year. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2021, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/46 "2021-11-14T15:04:55Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > > [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > > > True, and I sure didn’t. But it is in the IMDb trivia, where 215 out of 225 people found it interesting. 😆 > > Mel talked about that little joke both times I’ve seen him. Luckily for all of us _Blazing Saddles_ was early enough that he didn’t feel the need to telegraph, explain or beat the joke to death like he did so many others in later movies. Only now, almost 50 years after having seen the movie for the first time, have I learned it actually _was_ a joke! I had never heard of the relevant gentleman until a few minutes ago, when I Googled the phrase used in the film. Nice to finally know something that went completely over my head as a teenager. Now I’ll be really smart when I’m dead! 👍 ---
**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:** [November 14, 2021, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/47 "2021-11-14T15:13:06Z")
You guys are pretty slow today. I’ve been expecting somebody to post **this** for three hours now: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/VDI3wxGxSHY/hqdefault.jpg "chew through my ballsack") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDI3wxGxSHY) I guess you must all be in church, eh? 😇 ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/48 "2021-11-14T22:55:42Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Kids today watching Blazing Saddles are probably unlikely to know who Mongo Santamaria was. For that matter, how many kids today watching _The Producers_ know what a Karmann Ghia is? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/49 "2021-11-14T23:12:47Z")
Heck, I’m 54 and, until I looked it up just now, I didn’t know who Mongo Santamaria was. I did know about Karmann Ghia. I used to know a guy who drove one. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/50 "2021-11-15T01:48:53Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Kids today watching Blazing Saddles are probably unlikely to know who Mongo Santamaria was. > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K-YiFs23O0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K-YiFs23O0) Relatively few people knew who he was when the movie came out. Mrs J. and I saw it in the theater, and we were the only two audience members who laughed at the “Mongo! Santamaria!” line. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/51 "2021-11-15T03:16:31Z")
Along the same line as the Mongo Santamaria clip. In an episode of The Sopranos, FBI agents were attempting to enter a mobster’s home to plant a bug. One agent said “It’s locked” whereupon his boss said “Pick it Wilson”. If it doesn’t sound familiar here’s a clue : [spoiler] [Wilson pickett. Funky Broadway. - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIuJH3qroDY%5B/spoiler%5D) ---
**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:** [November 15, 2021, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/52 "2021-11-15T07:40:51Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > > [@hogarth](#): > > > > Kids today watching Blazing Saddles are probably unlikely to know who Mongo Santamaria was. > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K-YiFs23O0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K-YiFs23O0) > > Relatively few people knew who he was when the movie came out. > > Mrs J. and I saw it in the theater, and we were the only two audience members who laughed at the “Mongo! Santamaria!” line. I was the only one who laughed at “Badges? We don’ need no steenkin’ badges!” (I watched a lot of old movies on TV every weekend afternoon.) ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/53 "2021-11-15T12:17:32Z")
In Casablanca’s Paris flashback scene where Ilse has just finished teaching Rick geometry, Rick pours two glasses of champagne to celebrate a successful lesson, raises his glass and says, ‘Here’s looking at Euclid’. His comment is especially prescient in view of the later love triangle involving Victor Laszlo. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/54 "2021-11-15T14:31:38Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I was the only one who laughed at “Badges? We don’ need no steenkin’ badges!” (I watched a lot of old movies on TV every weekend afternoon.) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gx6TBrfCW54/maxresdefault.jpg "We Don't Need No Stinking Badgers!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx6TBrfCW54) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/55 "2021-11-15T15:00:27Z")
That’s one of the Police Squad movies (forget which one) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/56 "2021-11-15T15:01:33Z")
2 1/2 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KgSzwbNsq-Q/maxresdefault.jpg "The Naked Gun 2½ (1991) - Frank orders a drink") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgSzwbNsq-Q) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2022, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/57 "2022-01-23T21:51:43Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > For that matter, how many kids today watching _The Producers_ know what a Karmann Ghia is? How many people today encountering _The Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy_ for the first time know what a Ford Prefect was? Or Hotblack Desiato? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2022, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/58 "2022-01-23T22:10:23Z")
I didn’t know what a Ford Prefect was in 1982 (and I don’t know who Hotblack Desiato is (other than the character in the book), now). ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2022, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/59 "2022-01-23T22:12:54Z")
Another one from Mel Brooks: in _History of the World, Part I_, when Marcus Vindictus calls in the erotic dancer, he shouts “Caladonia! Let’s make their big heads so hard!” It’s a reference to an old Louis Jordan song: “Caldonia, what makes your big head so hard?” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2022, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809/60 "2022-01-23T22:20:32Z")
I recognize that reference. In Young Frankenstein, our hero asks the shoeshine boy “Pardon me boy, is this the. Transylvanic station?” “Ya, track 29 - and can I give you a shine?” which likely goes over the younger folks’ heads these days. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-movie-puns-like-1963-cleopatra/930809.md?page=4)