# "Saratoga moments" in movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2006, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277 "2006-12-15T13:46:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/1 "2006-12-15T13:46:54Z")
. . . so-called because of that particularly ick-making scene in _Saratoga_ in which Jean Harlow (who, about two weeks later, would die of kidney disease) tell doctor George Zucco, who’s trying to con her, that “there’s nothing wrong with me, doctor–I tell you I’m perfectly healthy!” To make it even creepier, she’s wearing the negligee in which she’d be buried. I can only think of a couple of others off the top of my head, but I’m sure you guys can recall zillions: _Inside Daisy Clover_ (hilariously awful film), in which Daisy (Natalie Wood) and Robert Redford are on a yacht; a portable radio asks, “Where is Daisy Clover?” Redford _throws the radio into the water_ and says, “Here’s Daisy Clover!” One of my faves, Lyda Roberti, shortly before dying of heart disease, made a cameo appearance in _Pick a Star_, in which she sang a comic red-hot number: _I don’t need a physician, he can’t do me no good– Still I’m in a bad condition, let me make myself understood! Oh, what an ache, and I think my heart will break, And I’m so afraid I’ll need first aid–oh, ho, I got it bad!_ Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/2 "2006-12-15T13:57:58Z")
If you count fiction, in the story, “Come Live With Me,” James Tiptree, Jr. had a main character who put a gun to his head and ended up living in a wonderful paradise. Tiptree committed suicide. With a gun. The story was published a few months afterward, so was clearly written when Tiptree was planning things. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/3 "2006-12-15T14:03:55Z")
Not in a movie, but there’s a famous clip of James Dean talking about driving safety. Eerie. That film from **sasturday Night Live** depicting John Belushi as the last survivor of the original SNL cast, looking at the graves of his cohorts, when he was actually the first to go. Not like the reported ad of a younf Air National Guard George Bush talking about how hev doeswn’t use drugs, but gets high on his plane. Or that clip in **atomic Cafe** with VP Richard Nixon ringing “the bell for mental health”. those are genuinely funny. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/4 "2006-12-15T14:04:47Z")
Not as timely as these examples but there is the movie with OJ Simpson as a cop that expresses amazement that anyone would want to kill their wife. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/5 "2006-12-15T15:55:36Z")
The entirety of [Above Suspicion](http://imdb.com/title/tt0109034/), in which Christopher Reeve plays a paralyzed police officer. Mere days after the movie’s release, he had his accident. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/6 "2006-12-15T16:07:38Z")
Some of these were cut _before_ tyhe film was released. They cut out the scenes (all imaginary ones) of the son drowning in **Brainstorm** because of Natalie Woods’ drowning death. **Dr. Strangelove** was supposed to have a scene at the end in the War Room with a food fight and someone saying “The President is Dead!”, cut because of the Kennedt assassination. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/7 "2006-12-15T16:23:02Z")
Another Chris Reeve story - shortly before his fall he’d made a video for the U.S. Pony Club about the importance of using safety gear while riding. Mind you, he was wearing proper safety equipment when he took his fall, but still. StG ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/8 "2006-12-15T16:28:45Z")
I’m sure I once heard a clip of John Lennon with his saying something along the lines of “we’re safer saying these things as popstars than being politicians because politicians get shot”. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/9 "2006-12-15T16:43:10Z")
Is it true that in _Monkey Business_, Groucho Marx tells Thelma Todd she’ll be found in a garage if she’s not careful, or something along those lines? Sounds too urban legendy to be true. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/10 "2006-12-15T17:08:43Z")
Grace Kelly driving on the Riviera in To Catch a Thief. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/11 "2006-12-15T17:09:48Z")
[QUOTE=Random] Grace Kelly driving on the Riviera in To Catch a Thief. [/QUOTE] Oooh, good one, I’d forgotten that! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/12 "2006-12-15T17:14:05Z")
Just remembered another: Charles Emmett Mack, star of _The First Auto_ (1927; it shows up on TCM every so often) was killed in a car crash on his way to the set shortly after filming a car crash for the movie. They kept the car crash scene in the movie, which I thought was in rather questionable taste. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/13 "2006-12-15T17:47:38Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] **Dr. Strangelove** was supposed to have a scene at the end in the War Room with a food fight and someone saying “The President is Dead!”, cut because of the Kennedt assassination. [/QUOTE] When Major Kong is doing an inventory of his survival kit on board the bomber he says something like: “Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all this stuff!” If you look closely you can see that his lips actually say “Dallas” instead of “Vegas”. They redubbed it after the assassination. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/14 "2006-12-15T18:14:17Z")
From Wiki, re: Carole Lombard > [@](#): > > Her final film, To Be or Not to Be, directed by Ernst Lubitsch and co-starring Jack Benny ― a satire about Nazism and World War II ― was in post-production at the time of her death. The film’s producers decided to cut the part of the film in which her character asks, “What can happen in a plane?” as they felt it was in poor taste, given the circumstances of Lombard’s death. A similar editing instance happened when the 1940 Warner Brother cartoon, A Wild Hare, was reissued. Lombard’s name was originally mentioned in a game of “Guess Who,” but all reissue prints have the name dubbed over with Barbara Stanwyck. I remember _The Simpsons_ had an episode where Homer had an Oscar he stole from Dr. Haing S. Ngor. After Dr. Ngor was murdered, reruns of the episode had the Oscar belong to Don Ameche. Watching **Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story** was very creepy since a significant story thread is how Bruce is waging a constant spiritual/metaphysical battle against an ancient Chinese warrior god intent on harming Bruce’s son. Brandon, of course, was killed a few weeks before the movie came out (as if the warrior god was eventually triumphant). ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/15 "2006-12-15T18:22:31Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] That film from **sasturday Night Live** depicting John Belushi as the last survivor of the original SNL cast, looking at the graves of his cohorts, when he was actually the first to go. [/QUOTE] You can also add any of the SNL sketches with John Belushi where he jokes about doing coke or other hard drugs. [QUOTE=Pochacco] When Major Kong is doingan inventory of his survival kit on board the bomber he says something like: “Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all this stuff!” If you look closely you can see that his lips actually say “Dallas” instead of “Vegas”. They redubbed it after the assassination. [/QUOTE] Actually, regardless of the circumstances that warranted its change, I think the line works better with “Vegas” rather than “Dallas.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/16 "2006-12-15T18:26:01Z")
[QUOTE=Eve] Is it true that in _Monkey Business_, Groucho Marx tells Thelma Todd she’ll be found in a garage if she’s not careful, or something along those lines? Sounds too urban legendy to be true. [/QUOTE] No, it’s true. It’s from **Monkey Business**. Groucho’s line was “You look like a girl who’s had nothing but bad breaks. I could clean and tighten those brakes, but you’ll have to stay in the garage overnight.” The connection is pretty tenuous, of course; it’s clearly intended to be a double entendre. In **All That Jazz** , Bob Fosse was clearly envisioning his own death from a heart attack: the Roy Schieder character is based strongly on Fosse, and dies of a heart attack in the end. But that was deliberate on the part of Fosse, who suspected how he would die. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/17 "2006-12-15T18:27:47Z")
[QUOTE=NDP] You can also add any of the SNL sketches with John Belushi where he jokes about doing coke or other hard drugs. [/QUOTE] . . . and, come to think of it, Gilda Radner singing “Goodbye, Saccharine” on _SNL_: “They say you give people cancer, but you’re so sweet!” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/18 "2006-12-15T18:30:34Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] “You look like a girl who’s had nothing but bad breaks. I could clean and tighten those brakes, but you’ll have to stay in the garage overnight.” [/QUOTE] Yikes! (For those of you who don’t know, Thelma Todd was found dead in in 1935 of carbon monoxide poisoning, after “staying in the garage overnight.”) ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/19 "2006-12-15T18:53:55Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] In **All That Jazz** , Bob Fosse was clearly envisioning his own death from a heart attack: the Roy Schieder character is based strongly on Fosse, and dies of a heart attack in the end. But that was deliberate on the part of Fosse, who suspected how he would die. [/QUOTE] Such a wonderful, strange, film. It isn’t often someone writes an autobiography where they die at the end. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277/20 "2006-12-15T19:00:45Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] Watching **Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story** was very creepy since a significant story thread is how Bruce is waging a constant spiritual/metaphysical battle against an ancient Chinese warrior god intent on harming Bruce’s son. Brandon, of course, was killed a few weeks before the movie came out (as if the warrior god was eventually triumphant). [/QUOTE] And Brandon was killed while playing a dead character. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saratoga-moments-in-movies/384277.md?page=2)