# Plays (and movies) where an important character never appears **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [February 2, 2024, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022 "2024-02-02T12:51:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/21 "2024-02-02T15:38:32Z")
Until she, of course, gets her own series. Even though we hear John Forsythe, we never actually see Charlie. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2024, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/22 "2024-02-02T15:47:52Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Even though we hear John Forsythe, we never actually see Charlie. Similarly, aside from his arm (he was always shot from behind, sitting in a hair), you never saw John Beresford Tipton, the titular benefactor of the 1950s TV series _The Millionaire_ ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/23 "2024-02-02T15:56:32Z")
**Laura** does not qualify (unless you fall asleep in the middle)… but it’s still a pretty good movie. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2024, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/24 "2024-02-02T15:58:54Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > **Laura** does not qualify But **Rebecca** does. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/25 "2024-02-02T15:59:13Z")
The same with George Steinbrenner (voiced by Larry David) in _Seinfeld_ He is always shown from behind sitting at a desk. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/26 "2024-02-02T16:13:29Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > The Thin Man never appears in the _The Thin Man_ Yes he does (if you’re talking about the movie). The “thin man” description is applied to the character Clyde Wynant who has two or three scenes in the beginning of the movie, before he disappears. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/27 "2024-02-02T16:15:08Z")
I didn’t watch **Magnum, PI** much but did Robin Masters ever put in an appearance? ---
**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:** [February 2, 2024, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/28 "2024-02-02T16:16:50Z")
Two monster movies, believe it or not, also fit in here. **She-Wolf of London** (1946), starring a very young June Lockhart as the “Larry Talbot” figure who turns into the titular beast, and **Curucu, Beast of the Amazon** (1956), written by Curt Siodmak, who wrote lots of Universal monsters, including the original _The Wolfman_ In both movies, it’s revealed at the end that the “monster” doesn’t actually exist. Someone is dressing up as the monster and putting on a show to scare people off, or convince someone that they’re insane. Oddly enough, Siodmak wanted to do pretty much the same thing in The Wolfman, not showing Lon Chaney Jr. transforming into the man-beast, and leaving it ambiguous if he is really transforming, or just thinks he is. Near the end, when he’s being chased, he sees his reflection in a pool of water as The Wolfman – but is it real, or just in his head? Wisely, the folks at Universal changed this so that there’s no doubt that Talbot is really changing into a Wolfman. The proof is that the Wolfman movies keep getting shown, while She Wolf of London and Curucu Beast of the Amazon are mere footnotes in cinematic history. Even Svengoolie doesn’t show them. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/29 "2024-02-02T16:17:26Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > In comic strips, there’s the Little Red Haired Girl. Plus, any adults (except on TV where you get a sad trombone.) ---
**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:** [February 2, 2024, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/30 "2024-02-02T16:18:31Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Plus, any adults (except on TV where you get a sad trombone.) In at least one of the early Peanuts comic strips an adult actually got a word balloon, although they weren’t shown. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/31 "2024-02-02T16:23:56Z")
John Connor in the first **Terminator** film? Judges? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/32 "2024-02-02T16:32:46Z")
One with a twist: In **Day of The Jackal** no one has any idea who the main character is, – right up to the slam-bang ending – but _we_ know. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2024, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/33 "2024-02-02T16:37:19Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > In **Day of The Jackal** no one has any idea who the main character is, – right up to the slam-bang ending – but _we_ know. One of my all-time films (and books), but we definitely see the Jackal throughout the movie. We just don’t know who he is. And the book’s and movie’s final twist is that it turns out that The Jackal _isn’t_ Charles Harold Calthrop, who we’ve thought it was all along. We even get to see C.H. Calthrop. “So if The Jackal _wasn’t_ Calthrop, then who the hell was he?” Indeed But he doesn’t really belong in this thread, I think. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/34 "2024-02-02T16:39:51Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Some character – usually very important to the plot – is spoken about, referred to, and described so well (sometimes better than characters appearing onstage) that they are clearly major features of the play/movie. Yet they never actually appear. Even listing the title would spoil the whole thing — which seems to be inevitable in this thread, but, still: In THE PLEDGE, Jack Nicholson is the retired cop now obsessed with the idea that the dead guy who’d confessed to a string of horrifying crimes — the guy who wasn’t all that bright, and maybe wasn’t quite right in the head — wasn’t the real killer: that the real killer is still out there, practically licking his lips at the prospect of preying on yet another little girl. So what holds the whole movie together is the idea that the real killer is being accurately profiled by someone who’s now (a) calling in every favor from his days on the force while (b) using a little girl as bait to lure that killer into a trap. Only, well, apparently he got it wrong; the killer doesn’t actually show up as expected, which maybe means he got profiled wrong? Or maybe our hero was wrong about a killer even still having been out there. And I said “our hero”, but I said he was using a little girl as bait, which, _holy fuck._ And I said he called in all his favors from his days on the force, and — much like the little girl’s mother does — they can’t even really put into words how much they now look down on him. And, in the end, he breaks down over having been so, so wrong. Also, on a road not too far from there, there was a bad car crash where the driver burned to death; maybe that guy had been in a big hurry? It’s as if he’d been really, really looking forward to something. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/35 "2024-02-02T16:44:02Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Charles Harold Calthrop He’s probably abroad; he often is. 😄 ---
**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:** [February 2, 2024, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/36 "2024-02-02T16:53:26Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > > > In comic strips, there’s the Little Red Haired Girl. > > Plus, any adults (except on TV where you get a sad trombone.) The Little Red-Haired Girl appeared onscreen in the TV special **A Charlie Brown Valentine**. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/37 "2024-02-02T16:53:55Z")
I was thinking about the book, oops. I may have misremembered that as well though. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/38 "2024-02-02T16:55:23Z")
She was also in the Peanuts theatrical movie a few years back (which wasn’t that bad, IIRC). ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/39 "2024-02-02T17:58:58Z")
In the “Mission Impossible” TV series, does the “Secretary” ever appear? (“If you or your IM force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions”). ---
**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:** [February 2, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022/40 "2024-02-02T18:08:11Z")
We’re getting away from my original intent, but that’s OK – the point is to spur discussion. > [@](#): > > In the “Mission Impossible” TV series, does the “Secretary” ever appear? What I wanna know is Who was the guy who read the announcements over the speaker system in the TV show **M.A.S.H**? I don’t mean Radar or Klinger – we see them sometimes speaking into the microphone, just as we see Blake or Potter or Hawkeye or someone else doing it. No, I mean the person who talks over the speaker in practically every episode. It’s someone we never see on camera, and we don’t know his name. And I don’t mean the name of the actor who did it (Todd Susman, evidently) – I mean the person who, in the series “bible” and continuity, did it. Howcum we never saw him or learned his name? (Susman also played a character named Private Danny Baker on the show, but that doesn’t mean that Baker was the Phantom Announcer). > **[M\*A\*S\*H (TV Series 1972–1983) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068098/characters/nm0839881)** > > M\*A\*S\*H (TV Series 1972–1983) Todd Susman as P.A. Announcer, Private Danny Baker > **[These are the actors who made P.A. announcements on M\*A\*S\*H](https://www.metv.com/stories/these-are-the-actors-who-made-pa-announcements-on-m-a-s-h)** > > One "unseen" P.A. announcer actually appeared in three episodes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plays-and-movies-where-an-important-character-never-appears/997022.md?page=3)