# Ruin Old Film Plot By Adding Cell Phones To Story **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558 "2012-09-03T17:37:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [September 5, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/61 "2012-09-05T17:47:22Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Turgidson would no doubt spend half the movie sexting his secretary and not getting anything productive done. He didn’t do anything productive as it was. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/62 "2012-09-05T18:51:02Z")
**Day Of The Jackal** (1971) I’m always struck by how fast, and comparitively easy so much of the detective work would be nowdays. Cell phones being part of the reason. ---
**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:** [September 5, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/63 "2012-09-05T20:01:00Z")
_Don’t Answer the Phone_: “This is the police, we’ve traced the call…it’s coming from the same Starbucks wifi hotspot! Repeat, he is within range of the wifi router!” ---
**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:** [September 5, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/64 "2012-09-05T20:07:19Z")
[Phone Booth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_Booth_%28film%29)is a bit of a non-starter. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/65 "2012-09-05T20:23:34Z")
The Postman Always Texts Twice. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/66 "2012-09-05T21:10:03Z")
> [@slitterst](#): > > Rocky Horror: Janet whips out her cell and calls AAA from the car. They come repair the flat and the happy couple drive off, wondering about all the motorcycles gathered at the strange castle. Given the plot of Shock Treatment, I think we can assume this will be a temporary reprieve at best. Weird plots seem to follow Brad and Janet around. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/67 "2012-09-05T21:49:23Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Here’s a 1988 [commercial](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iE0OH5FmiU) for “portable” cell phones. Not something you’d slip in your pocket. Wow, people have been assholes while talking on cell phones for a long time! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/68 "2012-09-05T22:49:01Z")
Nightmare on Elm St. I’m your friends and family plan now, Nancy! ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/69 "2012-09-05T22:59:57Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Nightmare on Elm St. > I’m your friends and family plan now, Nancy! So somehow a girl gets killed in her worst nightmare… her parents taking away her cell phone!:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/70 "2012-09-05T23:34:58Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > [Phone Booth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_Booth_%28film%29)is a bit of a non-starter. Wasn’t the plot of the movie that Colin Farrell was having an affair, so he used the phone booth so the call wouldn’t appear on his phone? Also, Colin Farrell does use his cell phone during the movie. ---
**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:** [September 6, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/71 "2012-09-06T01:06:05Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > **Day Of The Jackal** (1971) > > I’m always struck by how fast, and comparitively easy so much of the detective work would be nowdays. Cell phones being part of the reason. Actually, the systems used in DotJ were a bit antiquated even in the time the movie is set, as Frederick Forsyth makes clear in his book. Even though the French didn’t have their residence card system computerized, he points out, they prided themselves that they could still get information quickly. And, compared to computer speeds at the time, that’s probably true. Today, of course, the data would be instantly transmitted and correlated. And the British would no doubt have software in place to prevent the sort of cheating that got The Jackal his false passport. But it’s pretty pointless to go updating the technology like this – he wouldn’t have been able to sneak his gun through airport security as he does in the book 9though not the film). But, if he’d known that, he wouldn’t have tried that way. A lot of The Jackal’s gambits would still have worked, even without any alterations, and he would’ve foumnd workarounds for the others. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/72 "2012-09-06T09:41:14Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > And the British would no doubt have software in place to prevent the sort of cheating that got The Jackal his false passport. You say that, but I saw a program only a few years ago where an investigative reporter managed to get a birth certificate, passport and other legal documents under someone else’s name with relatively little effort. He then met with the real person, who had no idea what the reporter had been doing, and presented him with the documents. Did I mention that the “real person” was Frederick Forsyth? ---
**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:** [September 6, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/73 "2012-09-06T13:19:34Z")
The pilot episode of THE INCREDIBLE HULK (which counts; it eventually got released in theaters) has the grieving Doctor Banner finally connect the dots on why he failed to lift that car his wife was helplessly pinned under; he excitedly calls his colleague to perform an experiment, but she’s not at home and so doesn’t pick up the phone. She would have; she’s been secretly pining after the dedicated widower for quite some time. But without her knowledgeable assistance, he accidentally doses himself with six times the intended amount of radiation – and cue the whole Jekyll-and-Hyde series, complete with years of sad-walking-away music. ---
**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:** [September 6, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/74 "2012-09-06T14:20:42Z")
_Thumb M for Murder_. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/75 "2012-09-06T15:49:56Z")
In one of the _Home Alone_ sequels, the kid _has_ a working cellphone - the work-around is to make him dumb enough to waste time calling his mom instead of, oh, say, the cops. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/76 "2012-09-06T17:05:24Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Actually, the systems used in DotJ were a bit antiquated even in the time the movie is set, as Frederick Forsyth makes clear in his book…But it’s pretty pointless to go updating the technology like this – he wouldn’t have been able to sneak his gun through airport security as he does in the book 9though not the film). But, if he’d known that, he wouldn’t have tried that way. A lot of The Jackal’s gambits would still have worked, even without any alterations, and he would’ve foumnd workarounds for the others. Agreed. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/77 "2012-09-06T17:15:25Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > In one of the _Home Alone_ sequels, the kid _has_ a working cellphone - the work-around is to make him dumb enough to waste time calling his mom instead of, oh, say, the cops. :smack: That is believable kid behaviour, you call your parents for help or to ask what to do next, you don’t call the cops right off the bat you might get in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Ceri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/57b2e6/32.png) [@Ceri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceri)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/78 "2012-09-06T17:29:31Z")
ET Text Home… ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/79 "2012-09-06T21:04:34Z")
> [@Ceri](#): > > ET Text Home… Instead of a Speak & Spell, he’d need to use a Nintendo 3DS. ---
**Author:** ![montag01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@montag01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/montag01)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/80 "2012-09-07T13:17:09Z")
_Cujo._ “Um, yeah, this wicked insane St. Bernard has us trapped in a car. Can Animal Control come over and kill it? You’ll be here in fifteen minutes? That’s really awesome, thanks.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558.md?page=5)