# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/21 "2019-11-11T04:13:53Z")
Not sure how unexpected it is, but Travis Bickle’s ‘rescue’ of Iris from her pimp in _Taxi Driver_ (1976) Leon tells Holden about his mother in _Blade Runner_ (1982) Gene Hackman’s war correspondent runs afoul of Nicaraguan troops in _Under Fire_ (1983) ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/22 "2019-11-11T04:13:57Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > 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) I was so prepared by what I had read to be shocked and revolted by that reveal at the end, that it was anticlimactic to actually see it. I wished I hadn’t read the spoilers (which anyway were not so identified, because the movie was both old and a classic, not considering that it had been out of circulation for a very long time). ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/23 "2019-11-11T06:56:21Z")
I hate violent movies but I can think of one scene…Annie Wilkes talking the sledgehammer to her bound victim’s ankles in “Misery”. ETA I guess this is not a classic film, sorry about that! ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/24 "2019-11-11T08:10:11Z")
I hate to be pedantic but I think there should be a rule for what constitutes a “classic” film in the context of this thread. Basically, it should only cover those movies made before 1968 which is when the [Motion Picture Production Code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Production_Code) was replaced by the MPAA rating system. Anything after that really wouldn’t be that unexpectedly shocking since the dam burst in terms of violence (and sexual content) immediately after that. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/25 "2019-11-11T09:14:33Z")
de niros character raping his girlfriend in the backseat of the car after she turned down his marriage proposal in once upon a time in America ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/26 "2019-11-11T12:52:05Z")
The victim death of a guy strapped to a wheelchair, engulfed in flames, and rolling down a long parking lot garage ramp. The movie was [Manhunter](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091474/?ref_=tt_pg). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/27 "2019-11-11T14:23:02Z")
I don’t think it’s considered “Classic”, but the violent scenes of torture to Oliver Reed’s character, Father Grandler, in Ken Russel’s film **The Devils** (1971) got that film an X-rating in the US and Britain. It was banned in Finland until 2011. Of course, it had nudity and sexual content, as well, but the violence definitely put it over the top. had the film contained no nudity, i think it still would’ve gotten that “X”. You still really can’t get it on DVD. There was a bootlegged release, and a legitimate roundabout release that was cancelled after three days. > **[The Devils (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devils_(film))** > > The Devils is a 1971 British historical drama film written, produced and directed by Ken Russell, and starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave. A dramatised historical account of the fall of Urbain Grandier, a 17th-century Roman Catholic priest accused of witchcraft after the possessions in Loudun, France, the plot also focuses on Sister Jeanne des Anges, a sexually repressed nun who incites the accusations. > The Devils is in part adapted from the 1952 non-fiction book The Devils of Loudun by... > **[The Devils (1971) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066993/)** > > The Devils: Directed by Ken Russell. With Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Reed, Dudley Sutton, Max Adrian. In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier's protection of the city of Loudun from the corrupt Cardinal Richelieu is undermined by a... ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/28 "2019-11-11T14:35:49Z")
I also found this tidbit at imdb: > [@](#): > > The film not only was banned in Italy but the government of that country threatened the actors Vanessa Redgrave and Oliver Reed to condemn them to three years in prison if they stepped on their territory. > **[The Devils (1971) - Trivia - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066993/trivia/?ref_=tt_trv_trv)** > > The Devils (1971) - Trivia on IMDb: Cameos, Mistakes, Spoilers and more... ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/29 "2019-11-11T14:52:10Z")
The so-brief-blink-and-you-missed-it scene in Midnight Cowboy where Joe Buck gets gang raped. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/30 "2019-11-14T22:52:47Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The so-brief-blink-and-you-missed-it scene in Midnight Cowboy where Joe Buck gets gang raped. He’s gang raped? For someone reason I thought it was implied that his girlfriend was and he was forced to watch. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/31 "2019-11-14T23:54:46Z")
I think [_Un Chien Andalou_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un_Chien_Andalou) has to be right up there. I wonder how many people in 1929 expected to sit in a theater and see a razor slice open an eyeball in the first 5 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/32 "2019-11-15T00:09:24Z")
In the 1941 serial _The Adventures of Captain Marvel_, starring Tom Tyler, there is a scene where Captain Marvel fights a group of gangsters on the roof of a skyscraper. One of the gangsters lunges at Cap. Cap casually tosses the gangster over the edge of the roof. In another scene, the good guys are attacked by a horde of bandits. Billy Batson (who was portrayed as a teenager, though the actor was 25 at the time) mans a machine gun, and mows them down in droves. You could not do that in a kid’s movie today. The last time I watched _The Adventures of Robin Hood_, I got to the scene where Errol Flynn bursts into the banquet hall with a deer carcass slung over his shoulder. I found myself wondering if any modern vegetarians would be Triggered by that scene. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/33 "2019-11-15T00:51:21Z")
Kathy Bates hobbling James Caan in [Misery](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100157/). ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/34 "2019-11-15T01:04:00Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > The scene in _Catch-22_ where Hungry Joe gets cut in half by an airplane propeller. Kid Sampson, not Hungry Joe. My entry: **LA Confidential**. Captain Smith suddenly murders Sgt. Vincennes. ---
**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:** [November 15, 2019, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/35 "2019-11-15T02:38:09Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > He’s gang raped? For someone reason I thought it was implied that his girlfriend was and he was forced to watch. No, they were both raped by the gang. IIRC he has flashbacks of the event when a gay client goes down on him in a movie theater, leading him to beat the guy up later, which was also shocking violence. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/36 "2019-11-15T03:14:12Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Kathy Bates hobbling James Caan in [Misery](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100157/). Speaking of James Caan there is the death of Sonny Corleone at the tollbooths in _The Godfather_. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/37 "2019-11-15T03:18:37Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Well, there’s the shower scene in Psycho. Nothing explicit was shown, but it didn’t have to be. Another unexpected and shocking scene in Psycho: The reveal of Norman’s mother as a taxidermied corpse isn’t violent but it is creepy and gory for a film released in 1960. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/38 "2019-11-15T04:12:04Z")
Had any movie prior to _Cool Hand Luke_ shown someone really well and truly getting the shit pummeled out of him? Because even NOW in an era of constant over-the-top violence, the boxing scene with Dragline still seems unbelievably brutal. Fun fact: the guy who wrote the _book_ that the movie was based on, is still alive at age 91. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/39 "2019-11-15T04:30:33Z")
In _Went the Day Well?_ (1942), a small Brit town is occupied by Germans as an advance post for a planned invasion. It contains at least a couple scenes of shocking violence – an axe to the head and a grenade smothering - all the more shocking because they are perpetrated by elderly ladies. > [@Lamoral](#): > > Had any movie prior to _Cool Hand Luke_ shown someone really well and truly getting the shit pummeled out of him? Because even NOW in an era of constant over-the-top violence, the boxing scene with Dragline still seems unbelievably brutal. _Cool Hand Luke_ was released in 1967. Brando gets the shit pummeled out of him in _On the Waterfront_ (1954) and _The Chase_ (1966). Ditto Clint Eastwood in _A Fistful of Dollars_ (1964). I am sure I am forgetting others. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265/40 "2019-11-15T05:46:22Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > Brando gets the shit pummeled out of him in \*On the Waterfront I still have to laugh at, even considering it was 1954, longshoreman Terry Malloy “swearing” to the mob boss just before he fought him: “Youre a dirty, lousy, rotten, stinkin… **MUG**!” Gosh darn it all. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-and-shocking-moments-of-violence-in-classic-films/843265.md?page=3)