# The Diary of Anne Frank above a bowling alley, or following the wrong thread in a movie or TV show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 12, 2016, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725 "2016-03-12T07:09:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/1 "2016-03-12T07:09:18Z")
Sometimes I get distracted by some throwaway detail in a movie or TV show. Whenever _Witness for the Prosecution_ is on, I get distracted wondering how the hell Leonard’s egg beater that separates the egg could work, specific gravity or not. I also realize that Penny’s telling everyone on TBBT that she did “_The Diary of Anne Frank_ above a bowling alley” is a little like “the Noodle Incident” in _Calvin and Hobbes_. It’s just supposed to sound funny, and not be taken to seriously, but I still get distracted wondering who the very gentile Penny could possibly play in that show. She’s too old for Anne, too young for Mrs. Frank or Mrs. Van Daan, and all wrong for Margot, who has to fade into the background next to Anne, and too goyish for any of them. Then just today, I remembered Miep Gies. Yes, she’s actually about 34 when the play is set, but she could be played by a younger actress. That’s who Penny must have played. Duh. OK, now I won’t be distracted for ten minutes every time they mention this on the show. I could list more, but I don’t want to risk TL;DR. What are other people’s distracting details? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/2 "2016-03-12T22:05:31Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > She’s too old for Anne, too young for Mrs. Frank or Mrs. Van Daan, and all wrong for Margot, who has to fade into the background next to Anne, and too goyish for any of them. But the director was really good. He uses the sound of falling pins to stand in for Nazi artillery. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/3 "2016-03-13T00:45:35Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > But the director was really good. He uses the sound of falling pins to stand in for Nazi artillery. From the film Zelig: _The Elder Zelig’s second marriage is marked by constant violent quarreling. So much so that although the family lives over a bowling alley, it is the bowling alley that complains of noise._ ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/4 "2016-03-13T02:51:51Z")
There was the time, in TBBT again, when the group was meeting Bernie and Penny commented how both Howard’s and Bernie’s grandparents came from the same town in Poland and probably knew each other and Amy told Penny she’d tell her about that later. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/5 "2016-03-13T04:26:00Z")
If anyone remembers Talk Talk with Jerry Galvin, he recounted in incident in which, iirc, Pia Zadora was playing Anne Frank, and when the Nazis appeared the audience shouted: “she’s in the attic!” ---
**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 13, 2016, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/6 "2016-03-13T05:24:28Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > There was the time, in TBBT again, when the group was meeting Bernie and Penny commented how both Howard’s and Bernie’s grandparents came from the same town in Poland and probably knew each other and Amy told Penny she’d tell her about that later. Bernie said she’d just learned that her family and Howard’s were neighbors in Poland, as she was packing courtesy gifts for her wedding guests in Penny’s apartment. Penny thought that was cool until Amy said _sotto voce_ “No, it isn’t; I’ll explain later,” a reference to the pogroms of East Europe. ---
**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 13, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/7 "2016-03-13T05:26:15Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > If anyone remembers Talk Talk with Jerry Galvin, he recounted in incident in which, iirc, Pia Zadora was playing Anne Frank, and when the Nazis appeared the audience shouted: “she’s in the attic!” This is in a book full of outrageously offensive jokes that I picked up back in the '80s. It really happened?!? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/8 "2016-03-13T05:52:05Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > This is in a book full of outrageously offensive jokes that I picked up back in the '80s. It really happened?!? :eek: [Probably not.](http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/attic.asp) ---
**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 13, 2016, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/9 "2016-03-13T06:06:20Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > [Probably not.](http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/attic.asp) The way I heard it, the audience yelled “She’s in the _fucking_ attic!” 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/10 "2016-03-13T07:25:50Z")
Penny played the cat. ---
**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 18, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/11 "2016-03-18T02:47:46Z")
Meeeeow. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2016, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/12 "2016-03-18T03:14:50Z")
In _Smallville,_ how come Clark never learned how to fly, even after he knew it was possible? I’d be out behind the barn two seconds later trying to figure it out. “Well, he was afraid of heights.” GET THERAPY LEARN TO FLY YOU IDIOT. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/13 "2016-03-18T09:04:18Z")
I never watched _Smallville,_ but I wondered… did Clark ever use his X-ray vision to check out which girls stuffed their bras? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/14 "2016-03-18T12:53:30Z")
30 Rock had tons of throw-away lines that could have been entire episodes. This one didn’t actually happen, but I sent it in to see if they would ever use it. Got no response. Jenna Mulrooney tells Liz Lemon that she has to accept that some things are beyond her control, “like that time Michael J. Fox tried to take out a restraining order against me.” I suggested they show a breakaway scene of Fox trying to sign his name to the form, but he’s unable to because his hand is shaking too much. As Jenna’s being being hauled away, she screams “Jenna has two N’s, not sixteen, BITCH!” ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/15 "2016-03-18T13:34:56Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > 30 Rock had tons of throw-away lines that could have been entire episodes. > > This one didn’t actually happen, but I sent it in to see if they would ever use it. Got no response. > > Jenna Mulrooney tells Liz Lemon that she has to accept that some things are beyond her control, “like that time Michael J. Fox tried to take out a restraining order against me.” I suggested they show a breakaway scene of Fox trying to sign his name to the form, but he’s unable to because his hand is shaking too much. As Jenna’s being being hauled away, she screams “Jenna has two N’s, not sixteen, BITCH!” You didn’t hear and they never played it probably because it was 30 Rock and not Rush Limbaugh. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/16 "2016-03-18T13:52:25Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Bernie said she’d just learned that her family and Howard’s were neighbors in Poland, as she was packing courtesy gifts for her wedding guests in Penny’s apartment. Penny thought that was cool until Amy said _sotto voce_ “No, it isn’t; I’ll explain later,” a reference to the pogroms of East Europe. That was scary hilarious! ---
**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 18, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/17 "2016-03-18T14:13:43Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > That was scary hilarious! Not to mention esoteric! 🆒 ---
**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:** [March 18, 2016, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/18 "2016-03-18T19:53:48Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I never watched _Smallville,_ but I wondered… did Clark ever use his X-ray vision to check out which girls stuffed their bras? Nope. Waaaayyyy too much of a boy scout. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diary-of-anne-frank-above-a-bowling-alley-or-following-the-wrong-thread-in-a-movie-or-tv-show/748725/19 "2016-03-18T19:58:59Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I never watched _Smallville,_ but I wondered… did Clark ever use his X-ray vision to check out which girls stuffed their bras? I would assume he’d just get bored with it after a short while. Sort of like being on a nude beach.