So I’ve got the Simpsons “Film Festival” calendar for this year up on my wall–the one which features a different movie parody scene each month–and it’s been pretty hilarious all through the year (naturally). Now we’re in November, and the scene displayed for this month is titled “PUBLIC GLUTTONY” and it shows Marge and Homer in a kitchen; Homer is ramming a grapefruit (or similar fruit) into his face, Marge looks disgusted. The scene (unlike all the other parody scenes on the calendar) is shown in black and white–obviously, this is an older movie. The question is, WHAT MOVIE ARE THEY PARODYING? I’ve been staring at the thing for half a month now, and I have no clue to what this refers. At this point, it’s causing some sleepless nights. If anyone can clarify this for me, please do so and release my tortured mind from its state of ignorance.
Ah, here it is.
I’ve actually seen The Public Enemy. This is a famous scene. In the actual scene, a man shoves a grapefruit into a woman’s face. It’s no surprise Homer would shove it into his own mouth.
What’s interesting is that the whole smashing the grapefruit in her face thing was improvised on the spot by Cagney, and that was the take they used. The actress was **not ** happy.
Wow. Thanks for the knowledge. I usually like my references obscure, but not that obscure.
The Public Enemy isn’t obscure. The shoving-a-grapefruit-in-the-face scene is actually a reasonably well-known film reference.
The Public Enemy is one of the top gangster pictures of all time. And the grapefruit scene has become legendary. When James Cagney was presented with the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award at a televised banquet, Mae Clarke, the recipient of the grapefruit facial, held up a plate with a grapefruit half on it and said, “Here’s to you, Jimmy.”
I’ve heard three different versions of this.
The actress (Mae Clarke) says that she and Cagney discussed this move before the scene; she didn’t want to do it at first, but he convinced her. She insisted on doing only one take, but didn’t get angry during or afterwards.
The screenwriter (John Bright) says that the move was done against Clarke’s will; that Cagney twisted the grapefruit, cutting her face, and that Clarke cursed Cagney out and stormed off set.
Cagney verified that he and Clarke discussed the move beforehand, but that during the take, Clarke got citrus juice in her eye. He said that she did curse, but not at him, just as a spontaneous reaction. Later, he apologized, and she laughed it off, but the crew had already misinterpreted her reaction as crying with rage.
At any rate, it wasn’t improvised; it was always in the script.
So what were some of the other movie parodies, pray tell? Inquring Simpsons fans want to know. In particular, was September’s parody funny? (That’s my birth month.)
Is The Public Enemy the Cagney movie were he says the line “Top of the world Ma!”?