# Unexpected and shocking moments of violence in classic films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 10, 2019, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265 "2019-11-10T23:50:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2019, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/1 "2019-11-10T23:50:41Z")
I was just thinking about classic movies that have one awful violent second that sticks in your head as the defining moment, and is pretty much the only thing you remember about the film. Jimmy Cagney crushing the grapefruit into Mae Clarke’s face at the breakfast table, **The Public Enemy,** 1931. Richard Widmark pushing the old lady in the wheelchair down a flight of stairs, **Kiss of Death,** 1947. Lee Marvin throwing a pot of boiling coffee into Gloria Grahame’s face in **The Big Heat,** 1953. The little mob guy doing what ever he did to the girlfriend in Altman’s **The Long Goodbye,** 1973. That was so awful I’ve blanked it out. These are all acts by male gangsters against women, so maybe it’s a phobia of mine. Examples of women treating men violently might cheer me up. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/2 "2019-11-10T23:52:56Z")
I couldn’t believe the original “King Kong” passed the censors due to its violence, but then again, it didn’t involve nudity so maybe that was why. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/3 "2019-11-10T23:55:52Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I couldn’t believe the original “King Kong” passed the censors due to its violence, but then again, it didn’t involve nudity so maybe that was why. It was pre-Code, so they could get away with stuff. For re-releases, Kong chomping black natives was cut. Also the near-naked scenes with Fay Wray. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/4 "2019-11-11T00:02:08Z")
I still get shivers when I recall the rape scene in the movie Salvador. Just horrible. It’s almost all I remember about the movie. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/5 "2019-11-11T00:08:03Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > It was pre-Code, so they could get away with stuff. For re-releases, Kong chomping black natives was cut. Also the near-naked scenes with Fay Wray. The version I saw had them in it. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/6 "2019-11-11T00:54:19Z")
The murder of Luca Brassi in The Godfather Just about any set piece of violence in A Clockwork Orange The nose cutting scene in Chinatown ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/7 "2019-11-11T01:01:30Z")
Blue Velvet and the scissors. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/8 "2019-11-11T01:17:52Z")
Well, there’s the shower scene in Psycho. Nothing explicit was shown, but it didn’t have to be. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/9 "2019-11-11T01:32:08Z")
I remember about 20 years ago, after having taking an extensive walk around the town’s pubs with some friends, getting with the bunch to one of our homes and expecting a nice after hour party. But then someone switched on the TV, and Scorcese’s Casino was on. A little much into it, there was one particular scene where some mobsters beat, kick and trample someone to death, and I was shocked and instantly sobered. Not the details, but the intensity of the violence were ingrained so hard in my brain that I’ve never wanted to watch the film again. ETA: uh, oh, and the bottle scene from Pan’s Labyrinth. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/10 "2019-11-11T01:33:53Z")
The rape scene in “Deliverance”. I still can’t watch that movie. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/11 "2019-11-11T02:25:18Z")
The “bite the curb” head-stomp in _American History X_ (is that a “classic” movie yet?) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/12 "2019-11-11T02:30:08Z")
The drowning of the peasant girl in, “Frankenstein.” (To be honest, not seeing that excised scene for almost 40 years of watching that movie made it a lot scarier than it turned out to be.) ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/13 "2019-11-11T02:47:57Z")
It is not the only thing I remember about the film, but the chest burster scene in Alien was absolutely shocking at the time. There are going to be spoilers in discussions like these. I’ll just mention, The Departed. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/14 "2019-11-11T02:59:15Z")
During the last half-hour or so of _The Sign of the Cross_ (1932), there are a number of “unexpected and shocking” bits of violence, including gladiator action and pygmy impalement. The clipping of Bambi’s mother, although just an offscreen sound effect, is still what everyone remembers. George Murphy, already shot, is run over by a tractor in _Border Incident_ (1949). Cloris Leachman tortured with pliers, Percy Helton’s fingers crushed in a desk drawer and Gaby Rodgers’ fiery demise upon opening “The Great What’s-it” in _Kiss Me Deadly_ (1955). Cornel Wilde tortured via hearing aid-amplified drum solo in _The Big Combo_ (1955). Toshiro Mifune impaled by arrows in _Throne of Blood_ (1957). Dude impaled by giant syringe in _War of the Colossal Beast_ (1958). Bald prostitute Constance Towers beating up her pimp in the jazzy opening of _The Naked Kiss_ (1964). The end of _Bonnie and Clyde_ (1967). ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/15 "2019-11-11T03:05:38Z")
I consider _Drive_ (2011) to be a classic. Most of the violence in it is unexpected and shocking, or at least unexpectedly shocking. Short, but devastating bursts. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/16 "2019-11-11T03:06:14Z")
Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry. Also, Easy Rider. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/17 "2019-11-11T03:33:32Z")
The scene in _Catch-22_ where Hungry Joe gets cut in half by an airplane propeller. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/18 "2019-11-11T03:53:50Z")
The transformation of Cleopatra into the chicken lady at the end of _Freaks_ (1932). Still gives me the creeps to this day. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrlVTZFPnzA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrlVTZFPnzA) ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/19 "2019-11-11T04:04:15Z")
Couple more. Carol (Catherine Deneuve) slashing away at the landlord in _Repulsion_ (1965). The way she stops to stare at what she’s done, then keeps going! The old village lady in _Seven Samurai_ (1954) being let through the crowd of villagers to attack one of the bandits with her hoe. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/20 "2019-11-11T04:07:04Z")
Burt Reynolds getting his fingers cut off in _Sharkey’s Machine_. Not what Burt Reynolds movies were known for at the time. And yeah, that’s all I remember from the movie. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265.md?page=2)