# Old "Die Hard" complaint **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591 "2009-01-02T15:30:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/21 "2009-01-02T18:29:02Z")
We just watched an old Katherine Hepburn movie where she played some multilingual reporter. My wife’s comment… “Wow, even her German has a Connecticut accent!” ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/22 "2009-01-02T18:43:40Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > John was tipped because Gruber held his cigarette like a European. Nah, if he wasn’t fooled he wouldn’t have bothered with the whole gun ruse. I always thought he **didn’t** catch on. A number of things made him suspicious: 1. His voice sounds very similar, regardless of the accent. 2. Seems unlikely one lone hostage would get onto the roof, as professional as the rest of the job has been 3. He actually saw Hans and Karl in that scene on top of the elevator (though it wasn’t a good look) So he had to hand the guy a gun & find out right away - friend or foe? But he hadn’t counted on Hans having the radio handy and pretty much got himself into deep doo-doo. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/23 "2009-01-02T18:48:52Z")
It’s not impossible to have no trace of your mother tongue in a foreign language. Quebec premier Jean Charest is my gold-standard for this - when he’s speaking English, you’d have no idea he grew up speaking French. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/24 "2009-01-02T18:51:57Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Until the unauthorized biography of Hans Gruber and family hits bookshelves this fall, we’re left in the dark. Hans: Bubie. The Untold Story. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/25 "2009-01-02T18:53:40Z")
> [@Earthworm\_Jim](#): > > A number of things made him suspicious: > > 1. His voice sounds very similar, regardless of the accent. > 2. Seems unlikely one lone hostage would get onto the roof, as professional as the rest of the job has been > 3. He actually saw Hans and Karl in that scene on top of the elevator (though it wasn’t a good look) 1. He holds his smoke like a European… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/26 "2009-01-02T19:00:58Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > 1. He holds his smoke like a European… > 🙂 Maybe - but being a red-blooded (formerly) chain-smoking & occasionally gun-totin’ American myself, I must confess I have no idea how Europeans hold their cigarettes. I wouldn’t have picked up on that, so I assume McClane didn’t either. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/27 "2009-01-02T19:06:29Z")
I guess I don’t have a problem with it. Hans Gruber was a master criminal; if he _could_ do a passable American accent, then it seems natural that he’d attack an American corporation, where that skill (and his knowledge of FBI procedures) would be of use. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/28 "2009-01-02T19:10:18Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > Hans: Bubie. The Untold Story. I think the subtitle will be His Rise and Fall at Nakatomi Plaza. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/29 "2009-01-02T19:15:02Z")
> [@Earthworm\_Jim](#): > > I wouldn’t have picked up on that, so I assume McClane didn’t either. 😃 But you get the award for spelling “McClane” correctly. 🙂 ---
**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:** [January 2, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/30 "2009-01-02T19:51:15Z")
> [@Earthworm\_Jim](#): > > Maybe - but being a red-blooded (formerly) chain-smoking & occasionally gun-totin’ American myself, I must confess I have no idea how Europeans hold their cigarettes. I wouldn’t have picked up on that, so I assume McClane didn’t either. 😃 You forget John’s saying to Al, "They’re mostly European judging by their cigarettes and … … … … clothing labels." Notwithstanding that I have no idea why he threw in that incredibly pregnant pause … he knew what was what on them fuzzy foreigners. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/31 "2009-01-02T20:02:07Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > From the third movie we know that Hans’ brother was some kind of ex-East German special forces guy. Do we know exactly what Hans was before he decided to turn to large scale armed robbery? If Hans Gruber also started out in East Germany’s equivalent of the _Spetsnaz_, it could explain his facility with accents. There’s actually a line in _Die Hard With A Vengeance_ that provides an explanation for the whole accent thing. As you say, Simon was Special Forces, but they make a point of mentioning that the specific unit was trained in faking accents in order to blend in with the enemy. It’s the basis for how Simon’s small army was able to function relatively invisibly in New York, and would also explain Hans’s accent shift if he had been in the same unit. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/32 "2009-01-02T20:18:03Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Notwithstanding that I have no idea why he threw in that incredibly pregnant pause… I thought he stopped because he heard the elevator moving. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/33 "2009-01-02T20:25:50Z")
I vaguely recall it was the other way around:“clothing labels and … cigarettes”. Now I’ll have to go find a clip. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/34 "2009-01-02T20:45:59Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I vaguely recall it was the other way around:“clothing labels and … cigarettes”. > > Now I’ll have to go find a clip. I was just thinking I got that backwards. Pretty sure you’re right. ---
**Author:** ![ponsonby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@ponsonby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ponsonby)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/35 "2009-01-02T21:02:09Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > The first thing I thought of was Hugh Laurie on House. Every week he sounds like an american. To hear him talk when being interviewed always causes me to pause with a “Huh?” moment. I have watched only a few episodes of House I admit, but Hugh Laurie’s accent never sounds right to me. But that’s probably because I first saw him in Fry and Laurie and Blackadder. Anyway, I can’t watch the show because I keep hearing through the accent. But I’m not an American so if it fools a native it must be good. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/36 "2009-01-02T21:10:09Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I vaguely recall it was the other way around:“clothing labels and … cigarettes”. > > Now I’ll have to go find a clip. This makes me think, was it how it was held, or the brand? If they weren’t in the US that long, they’d probably have foreign-made cigs, maybe with distinctive scents and/or appearances, and that would be one problem with Gruber’s “Joe American” routine. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/37 "2009-01-02T21:27:35Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > This makes me think, was it how it was held, or the brand? I believe they had European cigarettes, but as I recall McClane offers Gruber a smoke. I don’t temember if he is smoking cigarettes from the guy he killed at that point or not. A clue may be that Gruber does not react to the stronger European smokes. At any rate, Gruber holds it between thumb and forefinger, the other fingers cupped around it rather than between the first two fingers. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/38 "2009-01-02T21:39:30Z")
They were cigs from one of the offed bad guys … it was a short little blue package; they made a point of showing him lift from the corpse. I always wondered if there was something in the fact that after Gruber accepts the cigarette, he stuffs the pack in his pocket. Like, John was noting that he was treating the pack as his own, and why would an American do that, or something, I’m not sure. It just seems like such an odd detail to throw into the scene that it must \*mean \*something. ---
**Author:** ![BuzzSaw101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a3d4f5/32.png) [@BuzzSaw101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuzzSaw101)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/39 "2009-01-03T00:03:04Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Gruber’s “Joe American” routine. Don’t you mean Gruber’s “Clay, Bill Clay” routine. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591/40 "2009-01-03T00:49:00Z")
> [@BuzzSaw101](#): > > Don’t you mean Gruber’s “Clay, Bill Clay” routine. 🙂 Not interesting or meaningful trivia: I considered using **Bill Clay** as my username when I first signed up for the boards, but sadly I hadn’t lurked long enough yet and thought it might be too obscure. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-die-hard-complaint/479591.md?page=3)