# Stairs in film **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [December 26, 2016, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636 "2016-12-26T06:27:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/21 "2016-12-26T19:12:55Z")
Of course, Rocky’s run up the [stairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZCO40Zwt00) is one of the most iconic scenes in the film. The ascent of the Stairs of Cirith Ungol by Frodo, Sam, and Gollum is an important scene in _The Two Towers_. There are a bunch of other significant staircase scenes in the trilogy. For atmospheric stairs, how about the[staircase where Dracula](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gqr3yzr64V4) first introduces himself. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/22 "2016-12-26T19:15:10Z")
Robert Louis Stevenson’s _Kidnapped_, made into a number of TV and film adaptations has an important sequence involving stairs. I remember seeing one on the telly when I was young(sometime in the 60s), which made a vivid impression. The young hero, staying at his wicked uncle’s half built half derelict, house has been coerced into going upstairs in a disused part of the building. Just in time for him lightening reveals the stairs ahead are broken. Our TV at the time was black and white so I don’t even know if this was originally in colour or b and w and can’t remember whether it was a film or made for TV so I doubt I can find out which version this was. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/23 "2016-12-26T19:24:13Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > “Battleship Potempkin” stairs, in Odessa. Also [parodied/paid homage to](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZlmgjZxhXE) in _The Untouchables_ and _The Naked Gun 33 1/3._ _The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring_ – battle on the [Stairs of Khazad-dum](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3PbeLh_Q04&t=270) (best version I could find) Not a key plot point but a nice touch: In the movie _Room_, after Brie Larson and her son escape, the kid needs to be taught how stairs work. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/24 "2016-12-26T19:31:09Z")
The Sound of Music. I’d link but you know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/25 "2016-12-26T19:32:49Z")
_Mystery Men_ has a cliche-busting fight on a staircase and balcony, with a truly hilarious punchline. _Moulin Rouge_ has one of its most powerful dramatic moments when Nicole Kidman’s character slowly descends the stage steps, in an elaborate costume, to submit to the Duke’s demands. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/26 "2016-12-26T21:00:31Z")
Harry Potter, also known as The Boy Who Lived Under the Stairs. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/27 "2016-12-26T21:14:44Z")
Who could forget John Belushi falling down the stairs while stuck in a little kiddee desk in _The Blues Brothers_? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/28 "2016-12-26T21:39:28Z")
The swordfight in _ **The Adventures of Robin Hood** _ (1938). In Hitchcock’s _ **Dial M for Murder** _, the key is hidden under the carpet on the staircase. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/29 "2016-12-26T22:44:39Z")
A hokey David Niven film called _A Matter of Life and Death_ featured an escalator between this world and the afterlife. The movie was sold in the US as _Stairway to Heaven_. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/30 "2016-12-27T19:23:30Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Harry Potter, also known as The Boy Who Lived Under the Stairs. He wasn’t the only one. There was a so-so horror film from the 90’s called [The People Under the Stairs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_People_Under_the_Stairs) Also, Olivia de Havilland dispatches Agnes Moorehead in “Hush, Hush…Sweet Charlotte” by shoving her down the stairs. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/31 "2016-12-27T20:03:44Z")
Jimmy Stewart (again) has a bit of bother with the newel post in _It’s a Wonderful Life_ [![](http://www.dohiy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/wonderfullifestairs.png) ](http://www.dohiy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/wonderfullifestairs.png) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/32 "2016-12-27T20:10:27Z")
The major trouble in _The Money Pit_ started with a bad tread. > [@eburacum45](#): > > Jimmy Stewart (again) has a bit of bother with the newel post in _It’s a Wonderful Life_ > [http://www.dohiy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/wonderfullifestairs.png](http://www.dohiy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/wonderfullifestairs.png) So did Chevy Chase in _Christmas Vacation_ ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/33 "2016-12-27T20:18:15Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And in Gone With The Wind, Scarlett O’Hara descends the staircase, wearing the dress made from the drapes, although it was odd that she didn’t remove the curtain rod. 😛 There are a lot of stairs in GWTW. Scarlett slapping Prissy, Scarlett falling down the stairs and having a miscarriage, Scarlett coming down the stairs after the Yankee deserter tries to steal from them, the scene where Mammy tells Melanie why Rhett won’t let them have Bonnie’s funeral was filmed as they were walking up the stairs, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/34 "2016-12-27T20:45:26Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Of course, Rocky’s run up the [stairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZCO40Zwt00) is one of the most iconic scenes in the film. 40 years on there are still hundreds of tourists a day who reinact that scene. - Blazing Saddles has a dance/fight scene that takes over a set with double staircases that become the Tunnel of Love. - Young Frankenstein ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/35 "2016-12-27T20:51:12Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Who could forget John Belushi falling down the stairs while stuck in a little kiddee desk in _The Blues Brothers_? Or the guy with the guitar on the stairs in _Animal House_. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/36 "2016-12-27T21:25:51Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Hitchcock loved staircases. Notorious: Cary Grant helping Ingrid Bergman down the stairs and being confronted by Claude [Rains]… Yes! > [@Musicat](#): > > How about stairs in TV shows? The disabled woman in the wheelchair that Louie pushes out of the courtroom in _Taxi,_ just to show that she can walk. > > She can’t, and it’s 12 floors to the bottom. The gag just keeps going. And Kirk saving Edith Keeler from falling down a flight of stairs in ST:TOS “City on the Edge of Forever”… even though he knows he shouldn’t. > [@buddha\_david](#): > > …_The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring_ – battle on the [Stairs of Khazad-dum](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3PbeLh_Q04&t=270) (best version I could find)… Great stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/37 "2016-12-27T21:34:50Z")
_Death Becomes Her_, Meryl Streep falls down the stairs and breaks her neck… don’t know if that is prominent enough! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/38 "2016-12-28T00:42:53Z")
Odd that I can’t find it on YouTube, but the staircase from _The Little Mermaid_. It’s notable not for its role in the story, but because it was one of the first major uses of computer animation in a movie. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/39 "2016-12-28T01:23:09Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And in Gone With The Wind, Scarlett O’Hara descends the staircase, wearing the dress made from the drapes, although it was odd that she didn’t remove the curtain rod. Yeah, I think that was a segment from the Carol Burnett Show. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/40 "2016-12-28T02:03:07Z")
Is that what I saw? I thought Carol Burnett was too young to star in a movie from 1939. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636.md?page=3)