# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2026, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/81 "2026-02-26T16:44:47Z")
A stair(e) that hasn’t been mentioned yet… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IQFamAFNALE/maxresdefault.jpg "Top 10 Iconic Fred Astaire Dance Scenes") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQFamAFNALE) Just so this post isn’t a _complete_ excuse to make a pun, at about 6:30 the video shows Astaire dancing with some stairs in the scene. The stairs aren’t a very key part of the choreography though-- I had thought there was a scene with Fred Astaire dancing down stairs, but I couldn’t find anything quite as perfect of a meta-pun as that, for the purpose of this post 🙁 ---
**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:** [February 26, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/82 "2026-02-26T16:54:33Z")
“War of the Roses” with Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas [Plunging to their death on a chandelier.](https://theculturalcritic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/War-of-Roses-the-lavish-set-foto.jpg) They are arguing on the stairs and end up hanging from the chandelier. They plunge to their demise! [Adios!](https://static.rogerebert.com/redactor_assets/pictures/far-flung-correspondents/a-marriage-made-in-hell/war-of-roses-both-dead.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![batsto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/83 "2026-02-26T17:00:24Z")
First thing I thought of was Leslie Nielsen falling down the stairs in ‘Dracula: Dead and Loving It’, reciting the vowels one by one as groans of pain on the way down. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/84 "2026-02-26T17:14:01Z")
“What family doesn’t have its ups and downs?” —_Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitane in_ _ **The Lion in Winter** _ “When the fall is all there is, it matters.” —_Sir Anthony Hopkins as the Future King Richard in_ _ **The Lion in Winter** _ ---
**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:** [February 26, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/85 "2026-02-26T17:14:41Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I had thought there was a scene with Fred Astaire dancing down stairs, but I couldn’t find anything quite as perfect of a meta-pun as that, for the purpose of this post 🙁 There’s a classic video of the Nicholas Brothers dancing, and stairs are involved. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2026, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/86 "2026-02-26T17:24:49Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There’s a classic video of the Nicholas Brothers dancing, and stairs are involved. Thank you, just came here to mention that one. This link starts at the stairs section, but the whole video (starting with Cab Calloway) is money: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wFhexPsuNtw/hqdefault.jpg "Cab Calloway & The Nicholas Brothers - Jumpin Jive") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFhexPsuNtw&t=215/) ---
**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:** [February 26, 2026, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/87 "2026-02-26T17:26:08Z")
Maybe you were thinking of Jimmy Cagney instead. Nothing like tap-dancing your way out of the White House and into a parade by the Army of the Potomac! [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v1rkzUIL8oc/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AG-AoAC8AGKAgwIABABGGUgZShlMA8=&rs=AOn4CLBslc18M_j2vtJfSGfpWeEnwyVhOQ "Yankee Doodle Dandy Finale") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1rkzUIL8oc) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2026, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/88 "2026-02-26T17:32:39Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There’s a classic video of the Nicholas Brothers dancing, and stairs are involved. > [@terentii](#): > > Maybe you were thinking of Jimmy Cagney instead. Yeah, in my mind I probably conflated a Fred Astaire dancing scene with one of those, or some other stair dancing scene. I’m surprised some Hollywood producer, choreographer or Fred himself never really had the idea ‘Fred Astaire dancing on…stairs! Genius!!’. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2026, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/89 "2026-02-26T17:43:47Z")
The Odessa Steps in Sergei Eisenstein’s _ **Battleship Potemkin** _, quite possibly the most parodied scene in cinematic history: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yH1tO2D3LCI/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC6AKKAgwIABABGGUgRChBMA8=&rs=AOn4CLCZ5gKWKnd2MRYgvKvH4Z8XM7XSHw "The Odessa Steps and Its Descendants") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH1tO2D3LCI) ---
**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:** [February 26, 2026, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/90 "2026-02-26T17:58:17Z")
If you want stairs in films, you have to include this scene from my second most-favorite Mel Brooks movie: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JMK6lzmSk2o/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC6AKKAgwIABABGGEgYShhMA8=&rs=AOn4CLAwvF0LrAmZjWKk3IC8ZIIQ9nK-sQ "Blazing Saddles- The French Mistake") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMK6lzmSk2o) ---
**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:** [March 21, 2026, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/91 "2026-03-21T04:49:11Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Maybe you were thinking of Jimmy Cagney instead. Nothing like tap-dancing your way out of the White House and into a parade by the Army of the Potomac! The President was pretty clearly FDR, [not Lincoln. 😉](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_the_Potomac) ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/92 "2026-03-21T05:16:32Z")
_Aimez-vous Brahms?_ with Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Perkins includes a spiral staircase scene, the only one that has stayed with me all these years despite the omnipresence of stairs in films and TV shows. ---
**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:** [March 21, 2026, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/93 "2026-03-21T06:59:18Z")
_[A Matter of Life and Death](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Matter_of_Life_and_Death_(1946_film))_ (apparently released as _Stairway to Heaven_ in the US): shall a baled out bomber pilot (played by David Niven) return to life and the woman he’s fallen in love with, or climb the stairway to the other life? By an odd irony, Niven’s first wife died in an accidental fall downstairs around that time. ---
**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:** [March 21, 2026, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/94 "2026-03-21T16:13:21Z")
Yes, which makes it even more absurd. I was quoting one of my History professors, who clearly meant it as a joke. ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/95 "2026-03-21T16:22:29Z")
Really? I get to add the best scene from [The Untouchables](https://youtu.be/QJpRSf4q-hI?si=X53EL9odzrWJiEJd)? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/96 "2026-03-21T16:26:36Z")
It’s a ripoff of the scene from the Battleship Potemkin mentioned in post 6. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/97 "2026-03-21T16:31:15Z")
First one that came to mind was the [“Your Mother Should Know”](https://youtu.be/hADqWbn0hi0?si=qYZUV8uYmdoYIRUi) scene from Magical Mystery Tour (lousy quality) The Spanish Steps have figured into more than one car chase. For example, [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifxv6Xhn0I0&t=92s) from Mission Impossible 7 ---
**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:** [March 21, 2026, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/98 "2026-03-21T16:46:22Z")
Believe it or not, there are documented instances of aircrew falling thousands of feet without a parachute and surviving. I remember reading about this when I was in high school. In particular, the tailgunner of a Lancaster bomber bailed out ‘chuteless after his plane was targeted by a German night fighter. His parachute was stored inside the fuselage because there was no room for it in the turret, and it was already in flames by the time he was able to reach it. Deciding it would be better to die from a fall than to burn to death, he gave a shove and fell free of the airplane. This was in the middle of winter, so everything below was covered in a heavy blanket of snow. After falling 20,000 feet, he landed in a snow-covered pine tree that cushioned most of his impact. He bounced off the tree and landed in a snowbank, where he was later discovered lying on his back after blowing repeatedly on the emergency whistle he’d been issued. He was taken to a military hospital, where his relatively minor injuries were treated. (He had been dressed in a heavy sheepskin-lined flight suit that also helped cushion the impact of his fall.) After a few days, he was interrogated by a German officer who demanded to know where he had buried his parachute. (This was a common practice of Allied agents parachuted into occupied Europe and would have made the gunner a spy subject to immediate execution.) The German lost it when he was told “Parachute? I didn’t use one.” The tailgunner was eventually able to convince his captors that the story was true by correctly identifying the remains of his Lancaster and the details of where and when it had been shot down. It was confirmed that the tail turret was empty, and what was left of the burned parachute was found inside the fuselage. If I recall correctly, the gunner finished the war as a POW and eventually published his story under the title _ **I Fell 20,000 Feet—and Lived!** _ ---
**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:** [March 21, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/99 "2026-03-21T16:54:31Z")
Which was parodied in one of the _ **Naked Gun** _ movies. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636/100 "2026-03-21T16:59:11Z")
Do TV shows count? Many important scenes take place on the stairs in AppleTV’s _Silo_. Stairs are also very important in the books upon which the series is based. Lots of exposition takes place on the stairs in _Big Bang Theory_. Not having a working elevator was a deliberate choice by Lorre et al to give the characters a place to have expository dialog take place and feel natural. An elevator could have done that, but would have been visually boring having the characters staring at the door while discussing events. Of course, the stairs in the Brady household were very important and prominent. “Mom always said not to play ball in the house.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stairs-in-film/775636.md?page=6)