# What's the origin of this movie cliche? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 11, 2002, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-movie-cliche/128032 "2002-09-11T22:13:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-movie-cliche/128032/1 "2002-09-11T22:13:46Z")
The cliche being the epitome of villainy - man in black top hat tying a damsel-in-distress to a train track to be run over by the oncoming train. That image is definitely familiar in my mind, but I have no idea how far back it dates…it would be even more interesting to know if it referred to any real-life event. (i.e., some criminal who killed someone this way, never mind the black top hat) ---
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-movie-cliche/128032/2 "2002-09-11T22:15:37Z")
Great…now I have cheesy “villain” piano music running through my head. Also, remember: your villain has to run his moustache between his index finger and thumb while sneering, before leaving the damsel to her fate. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-movie-cliche/128032/4 "2002-09-11T22:29:38Z")
Methinks a film named **The Perils of Pauline** comes to mind. But the perils of a having a slwo computer and a lousy ISP mean I have no link for you just yet. Fear not!! I shall return! And when I return, I shall come back" (from some fillm I cannot recall name of) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-movie-cliche/128032/5 "2002-09-12T00:10:06Z")
For some reason, this reminds me of Simon Legree from _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_ which, of course, dates to before the Civil War. ---
**Author:** ![Nocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9fc348/32.png) [@Nocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocturne)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-movie-cliche/128032/6 "2002-09-12T00:59:41Z")
The first occurence of a heroine being tied to the railroad tracks occurs in the Augustin Daly play _Under the Gaslight_. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-movie-cliche/128032/7 "2002-09-12T11:59:51Z")
Is there any connection to the “You must pay the rent!” “But I can’t pay the rent!” routine? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-movie-cliche/128032/8 "2002-09-12T12:46:34Z")
From what I remember hearing, **h.sapiens** has the answer. I think that Simon Lagree was the prototype, although I don’t know about the railroad track thing. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-movie-cliche/128032/9 "2002-09-12T13:12:33Z")
Foiled by **Nocturne** , who answered the question before I could! But I’ll have me revenge . . . The hero/heroine tied to the railroad tracks or the buzz-saw was already old hat by the time the movies came in—the most famous old clip of it is Gloria Swanson being tied to the tracks by Wally Beery in Mack Sennett’s _Teddy at the Throttle_. It’s always shown as an example of the genre, but was actually a _parody_. The famous _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_ chase was Eliza crossing the ice floe, chased by yapping bloodhounds. A staple of the hundreds of\* Tom\* companies touring the US in the late 19th-century, along with the scene of Little Eva ascending into heaven. “Ah hears the angels singing, Uncle Tom! I’m a’comin’” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-movie-cliche/128032/10 "2002-09-13T01:48:58Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Doghouse Reilly \* \*\*Is there any connection to the “You must pay the rent!” “But I can’t pay the rent!” routine? \*\* [/QUOTE Nah. That one comes with the villian telling Poor Nell, “Marry me or you and your aging mother will be living in a refrigerator box” routine. (or whatever the 19th century equivalent of a 'fridge box was)] ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-movie-cliche/128032/11 "2002-09-13T05:23:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ResIpsaLoquitor \* > Great…now I have cheesy “villain” piano music running through my head. You mean this, right? (RealAudio stream) [http://mfile.akamai.com/3171/rm/muze.download.akamai.com/2890/us/usrm/396/453396\_1\_01.ram?obj=v20801](http://mfile.akamai.com/3171/rm/muze.download.akamai.com/2890/us/usrm/396/453396_1_01.ram?obj=v20801) If that doesn’t work, go [here](http://www.towerrecords.com/product.asp?pfid=2676082&cc=USD) and listen to track 1. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-movie-cliche/128032/12 "2002-09-13T08:23:03Z")
The Mack Sennett comedy **Barney Oldfield’s Race for a Life** (1913) was already parodying the tied-to-the-tracks scene, four years before **Teddy at the Throttle** did. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-this-movie-cliche/128032/13 "2002-09-13T20:18:13Z")
Very interesting. When did the clueless Mountie cliche originate? 😉