# weird & subtle movie references **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 21, 2001, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838 "2001-03-21T06:42:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/1 "2001-03-21T06:42:11Z")
I was watching _Men at Work_ (the comedy starring the brothers Estevez) and noticed during one scene what appeared to be both a subtle & weirdly out-of-place reference to _A Clockwork Orange_. In one scene a crazed man with a gun forces two cops to drop their weapons, then, I guess because he dislikes them, makes them strip to their boxers and ties them to a playground carousel in such a way as to look like they are performing anal sex. This is humiliation, it’s funny; Emilio Estevez’ character is laughing. Now, playing in the background is the overture to Rossini’s _La Gazza Ladra_ – the same music that was played during the rape scene (the one at the beginning, that is) in _A Clockwork Orange_. You have some of the same images – nakedness, violation of will, sexual in nature. First off, do you think this was intentional? I do … it’s subtle though, but I think it has to be since if it were more direct it would be too disturbing. Making it short makes it almost funny in a way. I’m looking for other examples of this – I know I’ve seen it in other places, where there’s a very brief, often obscure, reference to some other movie that is slightly at odds with the tone of the movie. So the reference to Eisenstein’s baby-carriage-on-the-steps in one of the Naked Guns is a more obvious example I can think of. (To clarify, I wouldn’t consider the same thing in _The Untouchables_ since it intended the same sort of tone). What about others? ---
**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 21, 2001, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/2 "2001-03-21T14:19:19Z")
Woody Allen had a non-sequitur shot of a baby carriage on the steps in **Bananas**. Some of my favorite references: **Brewster McCloud** In the opening scene, Daphne Heap (played by Margaret Hamilton) is murdered. The camera pans down the body and we discover she is wearing ruby slippers.\* I was in hysterics when I saw that one. Later, Shelly Duval’s apartment has a poster for M_A_S\*H, Director Robert Altman’s previous movie. **His Girl Friday** Cary Grant refers to someone as “Mock Turtle,” The role he played in “Alice in Wonderland” a few years before. **Take the Money and Run** There are a lot of movie references in this one (as a character based on the image of Erich von Stroheim), but much of the “chain gang” scenes are parodies of “I Am A Fugitive from a Chain Gaing.” \*If you don’t get it, remember that Margaret Hamilton played the Wicked Witch of the West in _The Wizard of Oz_. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/3 "2001-03-21T14:32:10Z")
I learned this one from my DVD of Psycho. In Star Wars after the Falcon is on the death star the ship is searched. The troopers find nothing and after they walk out the floor opens up and you see where they are hiding. There is a three note music motif played there that is a ‘tip of the hat’ to the Psycho music. (not the show scene music but when Norman discovers what his mother has done) Disney’s Beauty and the Beast there is a scene where Belle walks to a hilltop and the sun is setting behind her and she sings “I want adventure in the great wide somewhere”. I always thought this ‘shot’ looked incredibly like the “With God as my witness I’ll never go hungry again” shot from Gone with the Wind. ---
**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:** [March 21, 2001, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/4 "2001-03-21T14:36:29Z")
The the movie **The Twilight Zone** in the Van Johnson segment he finds himself time- and space-hopping, and eventually lands in Vietnam. He overhears the US G.I.s talking among themselves. They’re obviously lost, and one of them says “I told you guys we shouldn’t have shot Neidermayer”. It’s an obvious reference to **Animal House** (also directed by Landis). ---
**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:** [March 21, 2001, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/5 "2001-03-21T15:37:25Z")
(sorry- got called away by a meeting. pesky real-life job.) At the end of \*\*Animal House \*\* they do those “American Gafitti”-style bios that tell what happened to the people afterwards. The one for Niedermayer said that he was “shot in Vietnam by his own troops”. Not surprising, given his character in the movie. The Twilight Zone reference obviously came shortly after Neidermayer’s demise. ---
**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:** [March 21, 2001, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/6 "2001-03-21T16:00:28Z")
There are many examples in which director’s have the names of their own, or friends’, earlier films displayed on a theater marquee in the background of a shot, but these are a bit too obvious to fit the OP. I’m sure that as soon as I post, I’ll think of all sorts of examples, but here are a few to start: 1. In “American Grafitti”, the licence plate on the yellow hot rod driven by Paul LeMat reads “THX-138”, a reference to George Lucas’ first film. 2. In “O Brother, Where art Thou!”, the movie quote that made me laugh the loudest was the music behind the scene of the KKK rally in the woods, which obviously referenced the march of the Wicked Witch of the West’s guards in the “Wizard of Oz”. 3. “Star Wars: Episode One” is littered with references to other films, ranging from “2001: A space Odyssey”, to Buster Keaton’s silent classic “Seven Chances”. See the the IMDB listing for more info. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/7 "2001-03-21T16:02:57Z")
George Lucas often made subtle references to one of his early films, **THX-1138**. One that I recall occurs in **American Graffiti** , where John Milner’s car license plate is THX 138. Another is in **Star Wars** when Luke impersonates an Imperial Stormtrooper on the Death Star. He leads a handcuffed Chewbacca to the cells, saying “Prisoner transfer from cellblock 1138.” John Landis also inserted the phrase “See you next Wednesday” into many of his films–I can recall seeing it on a billboard in **Blues Brothers** , and on a cinema marquee in **American Werewolf in London** , but the [IMDB](http://www.imdb.com) lists many more. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/8 "2001-03-21T16:12:55Z")
There have been so many times when I’m laughing at a little “in” joke that a director’s pulled and I feel like I’m the only one in the theatre that got it. Besides not wanting to disrupt the movie, I don’t want to look like a smug condecending ass by turning to my friends and saying “see, the joke here is…” That said, I can’t think of any off the top of my head when it counts. Well, except for a Simpsons’ one, but that doesn’t count because they’re in every episode. Still, this is one I didn’t get until a second viewing. It’s the episode where Homer and Marge discover they enjoy having sex in places where they’ll probably get caught. They’re in the windmill of a miniture golf course and someone, I think Principal Skinner, shouts out “people soiled our green!” a reference to Soylent Green. I’ll think of some more. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/9 "2001-03-21T16:47:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spoons \* > \*\*George Lucas often made subtle references to one of his early films, **THX-1138**. One that I recall occurs in **American Graffiti** , where John Milner’s car license plate is THX 138. Another is in **Star Wars** when Luke impersonates an Imperial Stormtrooper on the Death Star. He leads a handcuffed Chewbacca to the cells, saying “Prisoner transfer from cellblock 1138.” > > John Landis also inserted the phrase “See you next Wednesday” into many of his films–I can recall seeing it on a billboard in **Blues Brothers** , and on a cinema marquee in **American Werewolf in London** , but the [IMDB](http://www.imdb.com) lists many more. > > \*\* Good simulpost! THX-1138 was Lucas’ license plate number on his first car. ---
**Author:** ![JosephFinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JosephFinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JosephFinn)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/10 "2001-03-21T18:06:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spoons \* > \*\*George Lucas often made subtle references to one of his early films, **THX-1138**. One that I recall occurs in **American Graffiti** , where John Milner’s car license plate is THX 138. Another is in **Star Wars** when Luke impersonates an Imperial Stormtrooper on the Death Star. He leads a handcuffed Chewbacca to the cells, saying “Prisoner transfer from cellblock 1138.” > \*\* The TXH-1138 appearance in “Phantom Menace,” just for the hell of it, is on one of the battle robots being unfolded towards the end (against the Gungans). > [@](#): > > \*\* > John Landis also inserted the phrase “See you next Wednesday” into many of his films–I can recall seeing it on a billboard in **Blues Brothers** , and on a cinema marquee in **American Werewolf in London** , but the [IMDB](http://www.imdb.com) lists many more. > > \*\* Landis actually uses this as a tribute to “2001,” which has this as a sign-off line when the astronauts on board Discovery are communicating with home. As for movie marquees, note that in “Back to the Future,” the movie marquee lists “A Boy’s Life” and “Watch The Skies,” the working titles of “E.T.” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/11 "2001-03-21T21:07:11Z")
At the end of “Goodfellas,” we see Joe Pesci pointing his revolver at the camera and firing- an obvious tribute to silent flick “The Great Train Robbery,” widely considered the first movie to tell a story. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/12 "2001-03-21T21:22:46Z")
It’s interesting the OP should mention **A Clockwork Orange**. Kubrick often referenced his own movies. For instance, when Alex undergoes the Ludovico Treatment he is given Serum 114. In **Dr. Strangelove** , the key dialed into the plane’s message deocder is CRM114 and the serial number of the Jupiter explorer in **2001: A Space Odyssey** is CRM-114. Also, the soundtrack to **2001** is visible when Alex visits the record store. There’re many others but these come immediately to mind. Hodge ---
**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:** [March 21, 2001, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/13 "2001-03-21T22:33:56Z")
A slight correction there, Hodge. CRM-114 was not the key used to decode messages in _Dr. Strangelove_, it was the designation of the decoder machine itself (and, strictly speaking, the machine’s purpose is to block messages that aren’t preceded by the correct three letters). “CRM-114” was also the label on the super amplifier that blows Marty across the room at the beginning of _Back to the Future_. The key used by the decoder machine was “OPE”. Those leters were visible as graffiti on the back of a bathroom door in _Raising Arizona_. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/14 "2001-03-21T23:30:39Z")
Oh, man, there are tons of these. Here’s one that I found fairly amusing: When Kirk and McCoy arrive at prison planet Rura Penthe in _Star Trek VI_, after being convicted of killing the chancellor, they stop in the snow outside the entrance. A Klingon comes out and puts a box down. Another Klingon, this one with eyelids stitched shut, steps forward and onto the box. He delivers a speech about how there’s no escape, that “there’s no stockade” but that it’s unnecessary. This speech is lifted almost word-for-word from the similar speech Colonel Saito uses to greet the British POWs in _Bridge on the River Kwai._ Nicholas Meyer, director of _ST6_, clearly knows his classic movies. ---
**Author:** ![Venkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ec9cab/32.png) [@Venkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Venkman)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/15 "2001-03-21T23:32:10Z")
A sort-of hijack. I’ve always heard that in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, in one of the scenes in the Well of Souls where they find the ark amid all the hieroglyphics is a picture of C3P-0 and R2-D2. I’ve looked but never seen this - is it really there or is this an urban legend? ---
**Author:** ![FreakyZeke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dec6dc/32.png) [@FreakyZeke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FreakyZeke)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/16 "2001-03-22T00:22:48Z")
WOW, you guys rock! I thought I was pretty cool when I got the reference to ‘Trading Places’ during the movie ‘Coming to America’. Oh, well. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/17 "2001-03-22T00:37:39Z")
Oh, I forgot to mention, “Rura Penthe” is from _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea._ ---
**Author:** ![Grok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Grok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grok)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/18 "2001-03-22T00:41:35Z")
Although not subtle at all, one of the funniest references I remember is in the Mel Gibson film “Maverick”. When caught up in a bank heist, Gibson takes a close look at the masked robber. He then pulls down his mask to reveal Danny Glover, and I think there was a hint of music from Lethal Weapon. I would have considered that ham-handed and cheesy, except I don’t think anybody saw it coming. ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/19 "2001-03-22T01:45:40Z")
At the end of **Me, Myself and Irene** Jim Carrey says something to a minor character (a cop) named “Seabass.” This is a reference to Seabass, the angry fisherman-like guy in the diner and in the rest stop. I think my friends and I were the only people in the theatre who picked that one up. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2001, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838/20 "2001-03-22T04:36:39Z")
In Close Encounters of the Third Kind they built a iniatre R2D2 into the Mother Ship, an you can actually see it (upside down) in one of the close-up shots at the end. I’v seen STIL pictures of the R2D2/C3PO “hieroglyphic” in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but coud never see it in the film. I’v looked. In a similar vein, it wasn’t until I saw the actual costume of the Alien Queen Mother from Cameron’s film Aliens that I realized that she has stylized high heels". You can sort of see it in the film if you look very hard. The very first time Han Solo goes to the “bridge” of the Millenium Falcon in Star Wars he or Chewbacca (I cant remember which) bumps his head against the FUZZY DICE hanging from where a rear-view miror would be (if the MF had a rear-view mirror). You only see it the very first time, but once you notice it, you can’t help but see it every time. It’s a reference to American Grafitti, or matbe just a random in-joke. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-subtle-movie-references/58838.md?page=2)