# What are the most constantly shown movies or video clips in history? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 13, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-constantly-shown-movies-or-video-clips-in-history/352570 "2006-04-13T20:36:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-constantly-shown-movies-or-video-clips-in-history/352570/61 "2006-04-17T14:11:32Z")
A few years back, I would have said Franz Klammer’s famous downhill run. Back when ABC had the Olympics, they showed more of that than they did live footage. The big news events of the past generation have had a lot of play time and seem to gain fresh interest with every anniversary: The Challenger explosion. The second plane hitting the WTC. The collapses of the WTC. The Lee Harvey Oswald assassination. Tiger Woods’ putt at the Masters got a ton of play, much to the delight of Nike since the swoosh logo appears perfectly. Bobby Thompson’s pennant-winning HR just might be the #1 baseball clip. For football, I’d go with the Immaculate Reception. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-constantly-shown-movies-or-video-clips-in-history/352570/62 "2006-04-17T18:13:31Z")
> [@Martini Enfield](#): > > …- WWI footage of British Soldiers climbing out of a trench and (presumably) charging the enemy… I’ve seen this clip a s\*\*tload of times. I read in a fairly reputable book, whose name unfortunately escapes me, that this footage was actually a Hollywood fake. Something about the equipment they were carrying not being right and some irregularity in the guy being shot. (And what’s more, it wasn’t really a Hollywood fake, since the newsreel company was located in New Jersey.) ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-constantly-shown-movies-or-video-clips-in-history/352570/63 "2006-04-17T19:07:11Z")
^^^If it’s the one I’m thinking off–the footage that so affected George Bernard Shaw–the “dead” soldier can be seen slightly raising his head and looking around, or something like that. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-constantly-shown-movies-or-video-clips-in-history/352570/64 "2006-04-17T19:08:59Z")
The film of the Tacoma Narrows bridge (fondly known as [Galloping Gertie](http://www.ketchum.org/bridgecollapse.html)) pops up a lot - anything to do with bridges, wind or bad engineering. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-constantly-shown-movies-or-video-clips-in-history/352570/65 "2006-04-17T20:56:53Z")
I recall reading that a scene from [One Million BC](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032871/) (1940) is the most-used stock footage. It has two iguanas dressed like dinosaurs flipping each other. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-constantly-shown-movies-or-video-clips-in-history/352570/66 "2006-05-18T14:32:09Z")
In the 70s, pre-Six Million dollar man, they used to show that triangle airplane crashing, at least six million times a day. I think people finally got sick of it after the smdm went off air. hh ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-constantly-shown-movies-or-video-clips-in-history/352570/67 "2006-05-18T14:43:25Z")
From Fritz Lang’s \* Metropolis, \* the scene where the evil scientist Rotwang transforms his robot to look like Maria. An awful lot of folks seem to recognize this footage without knowing its source. I second (or third) all the various footage of Hitler delivering a ranting speech. Not sure if this counts, but the shower scene in \* Psycho \* appears to be the single most plagiarized scene in cinematic history. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-constantly-shown-movies-or-video-clips-in-history/352570/68 "2006-05-18T18:59:59Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > In the 70s, pre-Six Million dollar man, they used to show that triangle airplane crashing, at least six million times a day. I think people finally got sick of it after the smdm went off air. > hh The pilot, forget his name, actually survived that crash. Reportedly was irritated that SMDM used it, saying he could have done without it being played weekly for millions of viewers. He died of natural causes just a few weeks ago. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-constantly-shown-movies-or-video-clips-in-history/352570/69 "2006-05-18T19:25:45Z")
“I’m king of the world!” I swear, HBO shows Titanic on one channel or another every single day. What a cheesy scene that is…but people seem to love it. ---
**Author:** ![maureen262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ed655f/32.png) [@maureen262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maureen262)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-constantly-shown-movies-or-video-clips-in-history/352570/70 "2006-05-18T20:39:13Z")
James Cagney forcing a grapefruit half into his girlfriend’s face…? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-constantly-shown-movies-or-video-clips-in-history/352570/71 "2006-05-18T21:04:03Z")
After the fall of the Third Reich, a big brass swastika medallion being shot off the top of some great public building by a round of artillery. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-constantly-shown-movies-or-video-clips-in-history/352570/72 "2006-05-18T22:30:32Z")
British soldiers scrambling out of their trench to go “over the top” to almost certain death during WWI. An Australian example: the dramatic moment on the front steps of Parliament House in Canberra in November 1975 when the GG’s secretary announced the dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Plus Mr Whitlam’s response. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-constantly-shown-movies-or-video-clips-in-history/352570.md?page=3)