# Question Marks in Movie Titles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2019, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650 "2019-08-14T11:18:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**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, 2019, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/1 "2019-08-14T11:18:36Z")
When **Who Framed Roger Rabbit** came out (based on Gary Wolfe’s wacko novel _Who Censored Roger Rabbit?_ it was pointed out that the title had not only been changed, but they had dropped the question mark. This was done, it was claimed, because there’s a Hollywood prejudice or superstition against question marks in titles. Here’s a group of question mark-less films: > **[Why don't these film titles have a question mark?](https://letterboxd.com/mook/list/why-dont-these-film-titles-have-a-question/)** > > ! In fact, though, there are plenty of movie titles with question marks in them, many of which did pretty well at the box office: > **[Movies titles that end in question marks - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/list/ls004630614/)** > > Movies titles that end in question marks In one case, they actually changed the title to _add_ the question mark. Nan and Ivan Lyonms’ comedy/mystery novel **Someone is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe** became the film _Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?_ So, two questions: 1.) Any other films where the question mark is pointedly missing, or can be shown to have been removed by a title change? 2.) Is this “superstition”, in fact, a Real Thing? If so, how did it get started? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/2 "2019-08-14T11:35:02Z")
Don’t know, but I’d like to complement you on a unique and interesting thread. Never really considered this before. Now, you’ve got me thinking about movie titles whose meaning would be significantly changed by the addition of a question mark. LOL ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/3 "2019-08-14T11:41:00Z")
[Casual Sex?](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094846/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1) had one and didn’t really need it. [They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065088/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1) My hunch is that, as with private names, punctuation is not officially part of it, but it winds up in there as an affectation. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/4 "2019-08-14T11:48:30Z")
A number of movies are titled “Quo Vadis” and about half of them have the question mark. Most are based on the Harry Sinkiewiecz novel. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/5 "2019-08-14T11:58:38Z")
I invented the question mark. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/6 "2019-08-14T13:12:30Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > My hunch is that, as with private names, punctuation is not officially part of it, but it winds up in there as an affectation. I think punctuation marks in titles (of movies or anything else) are problematic, because it’s hard to remember whether they’re an official part of the title or not (they generally don’t get pronounced). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/7 "2019-08-14T13:17:22Z")
_They Shoot Divas, Don’t They?_ is a clear reference to another title. One problem I have with Rotten Tomatoes is that they “clean” the title when you type in a search to prevent accidental commands being fed to the DB. But “?” is okay. Apostrophes are now okay there but I don’t think they used to be. BTW: There’s quite a few titles [with apostrophes](https://www.imdb.com/search/keyword/?keywords=apostrophe-in-title) out there, including some current movies. And of course the ones referenced in my first line. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/8 "2019-08-14T15:48:56Z")
I’ve never heard of this movie, but I just saw it mentioned in another thread: [Man’s Favorite Sport?](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058324/) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/9 "2019-08-14T17:59:32Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > I invented the question mark. That’s outrageous! What do you think of chestnuts? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/10 "2019-08-14T20:58:03Z")
I forgot to mention the title where I keep forgetting it has a question mark: _The Love God?_ starring Don Knotts. (A great film, btw.) My problem is pronouncing the title as a question. The Love … God? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/11 "2019-08-14T21:21:26Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I forgot to mention the title where I keep forgetting it has a question mark: _The Love God?_ starring Don Knotts. (A great film, btw.) > > My problem is pronouncing the title as a question. The Love … God? THE Love God? ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/12 "2019-08-14T23:03:16Z")
I was going to make some lame joke about movie titles not using enough interrabangs, when I discovered that there is actually a movie whose title IS [Interrabang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrabang_(film)). ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/13 "2019-08-15T02:06:23Z")
This is an opportunity to ask a two-part trivia question that I always carry in my back pocket: Name the only movie released since 2000 that was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar with a title that ends with an exclamation point. Moulin Rouge! (2001) Now name the only movie \*ever \*nominated for a Best Picture with a title that ends with a question mark. Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf? (1966) mmm ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/14 "2019-08-15T04:13:07Z")
At a more mundane level, back when theater marquees used movable plastic letters, did theaters have punctuation marks in their letter rooms? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/15 "2019-08-15T04:44:43Z")
When _Airplane!_ had its sequel, I wish they had used _Airplane!!_ as its title. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/16 "2019-08-15T06:40:52Z")
Movies if they had a question mark would actually spoil the movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-marks-in-movie-titles/838650/17 "2019-08-15T10:46:46Z")
As I recall, the late Helene Hanff, while working as a theatre publicist, claimed she had to stay up all night adding the exclamation mark to the posters for _Oklahoma_, because the out-of-town tryouts were badly received and the powers-that-be thought it needed something to mark it out as different from the conventional expectations of a musical at the time.