# The one thing in this classic film that I hate is... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814 "2004-11-15T03:39:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/61 "2004-11-16T08:16:07Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > **Charade**. All of Cary Grant’s “silliness” grinds it to a halt. First there’s the “drip dry” suit scene where he takes a shower in his clothes. I wonder if this was a nod to the scene in _North by Northwest_ where the Grant character pretends to take a shower (whistling “Singin’ in the Rain” - a nod to another film) after his encounter with the crop-duster. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/62 "2004-11-16T09:05:17Z")
**Dracula** I understand that the studio or the Hayes code wouldn’t allow an explicit staking scene. But, a quick silhouette? There should have been a dramatic shot of the hammer being raised, and a close-up following the hammer down. Just before impact with the stake, the camera cuts to a close up of Lugosi’s face. He expresses sudden pain, goes limp, and turns to dust. All of this backed by properly dramatic chords. Instead the film ends with ‘We’ve won. I’ll just go kill Dracula off screen without any drama whatsoever.’ **The Wolf Man** Oh, I have some problems with the script. Oh, I have some problems with clubbing scenes. But, the big problem is Lon Chaney. Most of his films simply called for somebody to be big, lumbering, and somewhat pathetic. Larry Talbot is a role that calls for real acting, and he can’t pull it off. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/63 "2004-11-16T15:18:09Z")
The casting of Mary Astor as Brigid O’Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon. She was supposed to have been a fresh-faced _faux_ innocent. Astor looks raddled. Everyone else is absolutely perfect. But she’s just wrong. I should put my other nitpick in a spoiler - [spoiler]In Presumed Innocent, much is made that nonoxynol-9 is found in the victim’s vagina, but she had had her Fallopian tubes tied. Therefore, there was no reason to use the spermicidal jelly, and the evidence was planted. Nonoxynoly-9 also kills the HIV virus. Carolyn Polhemus could have used it to prevent HIV, even if she were sterile. If I had been the pathologist, I would have known that, and thus his testimony would not have been so completely devastated on cross-examination. [/spoiler] Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/64 "2004-11-16T15:54:45Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I should put my other nitpick in a spoiler - > > [spoiler]In Presumed Innocent, much is made that nonoxynol-9 is found in the victim’s vagina, but she had had her Fallopian tubes tied. Therefore, there was no reason to use the spermicidal jelly, and the evidence was planted. > > Nonoxynoly-9 also kills the HIV virus. Carolyn Polhemus could have used it to prevent HIV, even if she were sterile. If I had been the pathologist, I would have known that, and thus his testimony would not have been so completely devastated on cross-examination. [/spoiler] > > Regards, > Shodan That always bugged me as well. Couldn’t she just have been using it as a lubricant? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/65 "2004-11-16T15:57:20Z")
> [@The Scrivener](#): > > **Suspicion** – Selznick’s stupidly happy tacked-on ending. _Thank_ you. The book it was based on—Francis Iles’ _Before the Fact_—is a brilliant psychological suspense novel. The movie (as much as I love Hitchcock and Grant) is a flaccid mess. And Joan Fontaine was totally miscast as a mousy masochist. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/66 "2004-11-16T16:01:22Z")
Oh, and _The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone_ (1961): • Warren Beatty’s “Italian” accent, which vies with Dick Van Dyke’s Cockney for sheer awfulness. • Gorgeous, porcelain-doll, 48-year-old beauty Vivien Leigh, who is supposed to be a wrinkled, aging, losing-her-looks actress. Makes me want to put my head in the oven. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/67 "2004-11-16T16:06:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That’s hilarious, one of my first favorite Marx moments (I hadn’t seen _Duck Soup_ yet). I was thinking of the songs between the lovers… the woman has this line about “Some would say I’m much colder than… Fri-gi-daire.” Blah. 😛 Agree totally. I usually end up fast-fowarding through those scenes. THe one thing I miss when I see the movies in a regular theater. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/68 "2004-11-16T16:38:35Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Nonoxynoly-9 also kills the HIV virus. N9 is not an effective against HIV and may actually made infection more likely. > [@](#): > > DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES > > Public Health Services > > Centers for Disease Control > and Prevention (CDC) > Atlanta, Ga30333 > > August 4 2000 > > Dear Colleague: > > At the International AIDS Conference held in Durban, South Africa, from July 9.14, 2000, researchers with the Joint United Nations Program on AIDS (UNAIDS) presented results of an important study about HIV prevention in woman. They studied a product widely used in spermicides, nonoxynol-9 (N- 9), to determine if it would be Effective in preventing HIV transmission. Products designed to provide a chemical barrier to HIV and STD transmission are called microbicides. This notice summarizes the study results and some implications for use of this product in prevention programs. > > From 1996 until May 2000, UNAIDS sponsored a study of the effectiveness of a gel which contained 52.5 milligrams of N-9 (called COL’1492 in the trial and Advantag-S in the United States), compared to an inactive placebo gel. The study was conducted in several locations in Africa. Nearly 1,000 HIV-negative commercial sex workers were enrolled in the trial, and all women were counseled to use condoms consistently and correctly. In addition to condom use, the women were asked to use a vaginal gel each time they had intercourse. Half of the women were provided a placebo gel and half of the women received an N-9 spermicide gel. None of the woman, or the researchers, knew which product each woman received, and all of the women were informed of the possible risks, benefits, arid unknowns involved in the spermicide study. > > **At the end of the trial, researchers found that the women who used the spermicide N-9 gel had become infected with HIV at about a 50% higher rate than women who used the placebo gel. Further, the more frequently women used only N-9 spermicide gel (without a condom) to protect themselves, the higher their risk of becoming infected. Simply stated, the spermicide N-9 did not protect against HIV infection and may have caused more transmission. Women who used the spermicide N-9 also had more vaginal lesions, which might have facilitated HIV transmission.** > > This study was conducted among women at very high risk commercial sex workers who used a great deal of the product on a frequent basis. The adverse effects might not be seen at the same level among women who are using spermicides with N.9 less frequently or in different formulations. However, given that the spermicide Nonoxynol-9 has now been proven ineffective against HIV transmission, the possibility of risk, with no benefit, indicates that Nonoxynol-9 should not be recommended as an effective means of HIV prevention. > > With the release of these data, the scientific evidence on spermicide Nonoxynol-9 as an HIV prevention strategy is now conclusive and significant. As a result prevention guidelines must be re-evaluated UNAIDS and CDC will be holding consultations over the next few months to consider official revisions to public health guidelines for the use of N-9 for HIV prevention and for pregnancy prevention in populations at high risk for HIV. In the interim, those findings have several immediate implications. > > First, any community delivering hierarchical prevention messages that counsel individuals who can’t use a condom to consider spermicides with N-9 for HIV prevention should immediately revise these messages. This study suggests that the use of spermicide N-9 for HIV prevention may he harmful. Second, anyone currently using N- 9 as a microbicide to protect themselves from HIV transmission during anal intercourse should be informed of the ineffectiveness of this agent and warned of the potential risk of this practice. > > CDC has never recommended the spermicide N-9 alone for HIV prevention, but current recommendations do emphasize the consistent and correct use of condoms, with or without a spermicide. While the level of N-9 used as a lubricant in condoms is much lower than the level found to be harmful in this study, CDC will re-evaluate this guidance as part of the upcoming consultation. In the interim, while N-9 spermicide will not offer any additional protection against HIV, a condom lubricated with Nonoxynol - 9 is clearly better than using no condom at all. The protection provided by the condom against HIV far outweighs the potential risk of N-9. If given the choice, condoms without N-9 spermicide may be a better option for HIV prevention. > > From a research perspective, these findings point to the need for accelerated efforts to identify a safe and effective microbicide. Of the more than 7,000 new HIV infections occurring in the world each day, about 90% are the result of heterosexual transmission. In addition, more than 330 million new cases of other STDs, such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis, occur each year. > > For those who are unable to access condoms or to negotiate their use, there is an urgent need to identify an effective alternative to prevent HIV and STD transmission. Moving forward with the evaluation of microbicide candidates, which are not likely to cause the same negative effect seen with Nonoxynol 9 spermicide, should be a public health priority. > > We appreciate any assistance you can provide in disseminating this critical public health information and will keep you informed as the consultations are completed > > Sincerely, > > Helene D. Gayle, M.D., M.P.H. > Director, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention > Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (bolding mine) [more info](http://www.equality.org.za/news/2004/01/20condoms.php) > [@](#): > > Until recently, N-9 was believed to be an effective chemical barrier against HIV and a variety of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). But, recent studies published by the Joint United Nations Program on AIDS (UNAIDS), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and numerous peer-reviewed medical journals have concluded that N-9 not only does not help prevent STIs, it may actually increase the risk of contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. > > Durex joins a host of other condoms and personal lubricant manufacturers that have stopped making products with Nonoxynol-9 including Mayer Laboratories, the makers of Kimono and Maxx condoms, and Johnson &Johnson, the makers of KY products. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/69 "2004-11-16T17:24:12Z")
Perhaps Ms. Polhemus didn’t know that when she was killed. But thanks for fighting my ignorance. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/70 "2004-11-16T17:34:19Z")
I didn’t like it when Debra Winger died in “Terms of Endearment.” That would have been AWESOME if one of her kids had found a cure for cancer in school, and maybe they could have had Debra Winger hooked up to a machine with red numbers counting down till the cancer killed her. And the kid could have stole a car or something and been racing to the hospital as the numbers counted down. Instead, they made it all depressing and stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/71 "2004-11-16T17:54:42Z")
> [@Agrippina](#): > > The character of Scarlett in “Gone With the Wind”. Unfortunately, she’s the main character. But I didn’t mind Rhett’s character or anybody else. Just her. Ugh. Oh, you just reminded me. When I was six, I was at my friend’s for a sleepover. Her parents were watching _Gone With the Wind_. We trotted down to the TV room, where we had no idea what the story was, what the scene was about, nothing. Now – and I may be misremembering this – there is one scene where Scarlett is arguing with Rhett about something. He says (which we little ones thought was a really lame insult/threat): “Why don’t you just fall down the stairs!” Whereupon… she does! She does a melodramatic swoo-oo-oon. And then flip-flop-flip-flop, big poofy skirt thrashing around, down the steps like a bag of wet grass. We have _never ever_ squealed with laughter the way we did then! My friend almost peed her pants – literally! she was crossing her legs and squeezing them together to try to keep from wetting herself – and I was doubled over and unable to catch my breath, tears streaming down my face. We were howling. Yes, years later I understand the context of the scene. But that is NOW. But THEN, at the age of six, it was SO hysterically funny! I can’t watch that movie (well, for several reasons) because I know that my first impression of “bwa-ha-ha funny” will never be overcome and I’ll squeal with laughter when that scene comes to the screen. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/72 "2004-11-16T18:14:32Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I should put my other nitpick in a spoiler - > > [spoiler]In Presumed Innocent, much is made that nonoxynol-9 is found in the victim’s vagina, but she had had her Fallopian tubes tied. Therefore, there was no reason to use the spermicidal jelly, and the evidence was planted. > > Nonoxynoly-9 also kills the HIV virus. Carolyn Polhemus could have used it to prevent HIV, even if she were sterile. If I had been the pathologist, I would have known that, and thus his testimony would not have been so completely devastated on cross-examination. [/spoiler] I had the same problem. Alas, I also figured out the ending and blurted it out very early in the film, accidentally ruining the movie for my friends (hey, I didn’t think I’d actually be right!) But the other problem I had with the detail;[spoiler]Was that nonoxynol-9 is also often to be found on lubricated condoms. They add it the lubrication for you to give you that extra little bit of protection. She may have had her tubes tied, but if she wanted to avoid STDs she’d probably still have used condoms. Oh, and when Harrison Ford stumbles across the murder weapon… after the DAs office had executed a search warrant and turned the house upside down searching thoroughly for just such an object.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/73 "2004-11-16T18:24:44Z")
Sorry, in light of **Homebrew’s** post. My nitpick was _at that time_. At the time _Presumed Innocent_ came out, and well into my university years, nonoxynol-9 was used as an added spermicide with lubricated condoms. So at the time the movie was taking place, it would still be easy to explain presence of tied tubes and nonoxynol-9. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/74 "2004-11-16T20:14:43Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > As much as I hate to almost agree with you, I almost agree with you. I do think that scene with the shower was important because it seemed to show Grant (I can’t remember what name he was supposed to have right then), as feeling very lighthearted while Hepburn was busy finding out things. Er, unless I’m forgetting where in the movie that occurs. Doesn’t she get a telephone call from Walter Matthau while he’s indulging in his foolishness? > > The silly face was just weird, though. If I recall correctly, Grant was mimicking Hepburn’s open-mouthed gape of amazement as she walked in to the office only to discover Grant behind the desk. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/75 "2004-11-18T13:34:41Z")
Two other “OK, my willing suspension of disbelief just crashed” moments: _Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom_, where the car jumped off the one track, and landed perfectly on the second track. Just so damned impossible to totally spoil the moment. _Smokey and the Bandit_, where Jerry Reed gets beaten up by the bikers, staggers out to his truck, and drives over the bikes. Just before he does so he grins, revealing a Hollywood-perfect set of capped and straightened teeth. In a dirt-poor long-haul trucker. Again, just spoils the moment. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/76 "2004-11-18T14:04:03Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Two other “OK, my willing suspension of disbelief just crashed” moments: > > _Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom_, where the car jumped off the one track, and landed perfectly on the second track. Just so damned impossible to totally spoil the moment. > > _Smokey and the Bandit_, where Jerry Reed gets beaten up by the bikers, staggers out to his truck, and drives over the bikes. Just before he does so he grins, revealing a Hollywood-perfect set of capped and straightened teeth. In a dirt-poor long-haul trucker. Again, just spoils the moment. Silly, why not? A lot of people choose perfect straight white teeth when they get their dentures. Dentures are not that unusual for someone the age and class he is supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![SmHodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SmHodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmHodge)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/77 "2004-11-18T15:36:55Z")
The “erotic dance”, was it, of _Metropolis_(SP?). It was kind of silly. Actually the whole movie seems kind of silly, particually if I watch it with any of my family, because the viewing experience quickly becomes a barrage of gay jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/78 "2004-11-18T18:49:51Z")
Even though \*Rear Window \* is one of my favorite movies, I just cringe every time I have to watch the climactic scene where Jimmy Stewart repeatedly uses the flashbulb to blind Raymond Burr because Burr’s character is \*too freakin stupid \* to _close his freakin eyes._ I mean, I can see it working once, but the idiot falls for it _over and over_. It bugs me every time. ---
**Author:** ![snorlax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@snorlax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snorlax)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/79 "2004-11-18T20:37:17Z")
There’s a sequence in _Willy Wonka_ involving a boat ride through a tunnel during which all sorts of bizarre images appear on the wall. Among them is a chicken being decapitated, which is really quite disturbing for a kid’s film. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814/80 "2004-11-18T20:52:05Z")
**The Wolf Man** : OK, Talbot gets attacked by a wolf that turns out to be a werewolf (good, they tried to depict someone fully transformed into a wolf there) but then Talbot turns into a hairy biped…then to top it off, his preferred method of killing is…to _strangle_ people? WTF? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-thing-in-this-classic-film-that-i-hate-is/274814.md?page=5)