# Props from movies you instantly recognize **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 16, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410 "2011-12-16T14:27:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/61 "2011-12-16T19:04:39Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Here’s [one](http://earth911.com/files/2007/04/plastic-bag.jpg/) a little bit more obscure (and I stress that I am not purporting this to be the actual prop from the film, but a representative). _American Beauty_ Can’t believe no one’s gotten [this one](http://images4.fanpop.com/image/quiz/705000/705582_1317339378158_500_243.jpg) yet. Hint: it won Best Picture. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/62 "2011-12-16T19:04:43Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Marathon Man? That’s the one for #1, but the other two are for other movies. I realize now my post was not clear. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/63 "2011-12-16T19:06:28Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > _American Beauty_ > > Can’t believe no one’s gotten [this one](http://images4.fanpop.com/image/quiz/705000/705582_1317339378158_500_243.jpg) yet. Hint: it won Best Picture. Is that the best picture of it you could find? I can’t make out what it is. Cleopatra is all I could even guess. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/64 "2011-12-16T19:06:39Z")
[This one goes back a bit](http://totalrecall.popapostle.com/images/episodes/Total-Recall/Martian-camera-eye.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/65 "2011-12-16T19:10:15Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > > [@Spoke](#): > > > > Can’t believe no one’s gotten [this one](http://images4.fanpop.com/image/quiz/705000/705582_1317339378158_500_243.jpg) yet. Hint: it won Best Picture. > > Is that the best picture of it you could find? I can’t make out what it is. > > Cleopatra is all I could even guess. I couldn’t find a better picture of the prop. It’s a bracelet, if that helps. From a movie that won Best Picture. Not _Cleopatra_. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/66 "2011-12-16T19:16:26Z")
That Falcon. I can’t really think of anything else. I guess the Men In Black memory wiping thing but I wouldn’t recognize it unless it was being used. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/67 "2011-12-16T19:21:30Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > 1. a pair of pliers and a blowtorch Well, it’s not _Pulp Fiction_, because those items are only spoken of in dialogue, never actually used as props. Amusingly, they were actually put to use – the very use they were threatened for in _Pulp Fiction_ – in the final season of _24_. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/68 "2011-12-16T19:24:44Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Well, it’s not _Pulp Fiction_, because those items are only spoken of in dialogue, never actually used as props. Amusingly, they were actually put to use – the very use they were threatened for in _Pulp Fiction_ – in the final season of _24_. Very true. But they’re mentioned in another movie as well, and I was hoping somebody would remember it. I think it may have been just dialog, too, in _Charley Varrick._ ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/69 "2011-12-16T19:26:32Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > I couldn’t find a better picture of the prop. It’s a bracelet, if that helps. From a movie that won Best Picture. Not _Cleopatra_. _Gladiator_? ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/70 "2011-12-16T19:27:59Z")
- lots of star wars: droids, storm troopers, pilot helmets with/without the blast shield down… - lots of star trek: communicators, tricorders, warp core… - lots of harry potter: snitches, brooms, sorting hat… - lots of bttf: hoverboard, sports almanac 1950-2000, mr. fusion - lots of indiana jones: bullwhip, ark, crystal skull - a variety of masks: [http://i43.tinypic.com/4h84cx.jpg](http://i43.tinypic.com/4h84cx.jpg) [http://hollywoodhatesme.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/hockey-mask.jpeg](http://hollywoodhatesme.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/hockey-mask.jpeg) [http://www.halloweenstore.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/rubies/4418.jpg](http://www.halloweenstore.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/rubies/4418.jpg) - a briefcase with unseen contents - nuclear device with “hi there” and “dear john” painted on - red ryder bb gun - a red pill and a blue pill ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/71 "2011-12-16T19:31:26Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Very true. But they’re mentioned in another movie as well, and I was hoping somebody would remember it. I think it may have been just dialog, too, in _Charley Varrick._ That’s the movie [this site](http://www.tarantino.info/wiki/index.php/Pulp_Fiction_Movie_References_Guide) claims the line alluded to. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/72 "2011-12-16T19:40:46Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > That’s the movie [this site](http://www.tarantino.info/wiki/index.php/Pulp_Fiction_Movie_References_Guide) claims the line alluded to. Excellent. The issue came up not long ago in another thread and I was stunned about it, because CV is another of my all-time favorites. Joe Don Baker’s character is iconic. ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/73 "2011-12-16T19:54:05Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > I couldn’t find a better picture of the prop. It’s a bracelet, if that helps. From a movie that won Best Picture. Not _Cleopatra_. _The Exorcist_? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/74 "2011-12-16T19:58:19Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > - a briefcase with unseen contents > - nuclear device with “hi there” and “dear john” painted on > - red ryder bb gun > - a red pill and a blue pill #1 Pulp Fiction? #2 ? #3 A Christmas Story? #4 The Matrix? ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/75 "2011-12-16T20:05:51Z")
image of #2: [http://tinyurl.com/3vvyxb6](http://tinyurl.com/3vvyxb6) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/76 "2011-12-16T20:07:56Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > image of #2: > > [http://tinyurl.com/3vvyxb6](http://tinyurl.com/3vvyxb6) Well, I almost guessed Strangelove, but I wasn’t sure. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/77 "2011-12-16T20:15:54Z")
The one I came into the thread, long ago, to mention is [the green crystal](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2411/2369763445_234b858ecf_z.jpg?zz=1). ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/78 "2011-12-16T20:18:34Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > The one I came into the thread, long ago, to mention is [the green crystal](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2411/2369763445_234b858ecf_z.jpg?zz=1). Wow! That is so familiar, and yet I can’t nail down the movie. Those things had to be put inside some other gizmo, right? ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/79 "2011-12-16T20:20:30Z")
[Here’s four.](http://student.cmd.hro.nl/0856000/ongesorteerd/mcguffin.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410/80 "2011-12-16T20:26:45Z")
There isn’t a website devoted to being a central database of prop locations, is there? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-from-movies-you-instantly-recognize/606410.md?page=5)