# You expected the movie to have a cliched ending, but it didn't! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 1, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-expected-the-movie-to-have-a-cliched-ending-but-it-didnt/504948 "2009-08-01T02:15:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [August 1, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-expected-the-movie-to-have-a-cliched-ending-but-it-didnt/504948/21 "2009-08-01T21:37:46Z")
George Bernard Shaw’s play **Pygmalion** is almost the archetype for this. Eliza does _not_ stay with Henry Higgins. Shaw even wrote a lengthy afterword for the published edition of the play, explaining what happened afterwards. Of course, they changed it for the musical “My Fair Lady”, with Lerner and Lowe (in the published edition of _their_ play) saying that they didn’t think Shaw got it right. But… One thing I have NEVER understood is that, in the 1938 Leslie Howard/Wendy Hiller movie, which has a screenplay _by Shaw himself_ (and for which he won an Oscar)\*, ends with Eliza going back to Higgins. I was flabbergasted when I saw this – Shaw himself took pains to avoid that ending for the play, and Lerner and Lowe never mentioned that someone had switched the ending before them [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030637/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030637/) the IMDb doesn’t say anything at all about it. presumably most of the other adaptations are faithful to the play: [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030637/movieconnections](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030637/movieconnections) Wikipedia has this to say: > [@](#): > > Against Shaw’s wishes, a happy ending was added, with Eliza fleeing Higgins with Freddy but then returning to Higgins’ home (though whether permanently or on her own terms is left deliberately ambiguous). > **[Pygmalion (1938 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion_(1938_film))** > > Pygmalion is a 1938 British film based on the 1913 George Bernard Shaw play of the same name, and adapted by him for the screen. It stars Leslie Howard as Professor Henry Higgins and Wendy Hiller as Eliza Doolittle. > The film was a financial and critical success, and won an Oscar for Best Screenplay and three more nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor (Howard), and Best Actress (Hiller). The screenplay later was adapted into the 1956 theatrical musical My Fair Lady, which in turn led to the 19... \*Shaw’s reaction, according to Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > Shaw’s reaction to his award was “It’s an insult for them to offer me any honour, as if they had never heard of me before - and it’s very likely they never have. They might as well send some honour to George for being King of England.” ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-expected-the-movie-to-have-a-cliched-ending-but-it-didnt/504948/22 "2009-08-01T22:14:03Z")
_The Prince and the Showgirl_, starring Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier. The two lovers part ways at the end of the movie. They are making plans and arrangements to reunite later, but they both know that it may never happen. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-expected-the-movie-to-have-a-cliched-ending-but-it-didnt/504948/23 "2009-08-01T22:15:14Z")
There are LOTS of “twist” endings, but in many cases, the "twist itself is a cliche of sorts. I’ll stick to movies that end the way things generall DO end in real life, rather than the way Hollywood usually goes. One that comes to mind is the teen comedy “The Last American Virgin.” You sort of EXPECT the pretty girl to embrace the nerdy guy who truly loves her and has been there for her all along… but instead, she chooses the handsome asshole who impregnated and abandoned her. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-expected-the-movie-to-have-a-cliched-ending-but-it-didnt/504948/24 "2009-08-01T22:42:43Z")
It wasn’t a great movie, by any means, but “Forces of Nature” was a refreshing change from the usual Hollywood romantic comedy, where it’s generally taken for granted that straitlaced folks need to dump their reliable boyfriends/girlfriends, and embrace an unconventional, anarchic free spirit. In “Forces of Nature,” after all stiff Ben Affleck’s adventures with free spirit Sandra Bullock, he comes to realize he actually loves the conventional girl he’s engaged to, and marries her. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-expected-the-movie-to-have-a-cliched-ending-but-it-didnt/504948/25 "2009-08-01T23:12:11Z")
\*\*Cast Away \*\*-- not only did Tom Hanks’ character not restart his relationship with his former fiancee (Helen Hunt), it’s left undetermined whether he will ever introduce himself to the artist whose package he finally delivered. (He did leave her that note on the package, though, so she’ll probably be contacting him!) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-expected-the-movie-to-have-a-cliched-ending-but-it-didnt/504948/26 "2009-08-01T23:17:48Z")
Actually, the first “Rocky” picture fits. When I first saw it, I was expecting the see the gritty underdog, Rocky Balboa, win the fight. Instead, he hung in to the very end, but lost the decision. That’s as it SHOULD be, of course. Rocky was based on Chuck Wepner, a club fighter who lasted 14 rounds with Muhammad Ali. But it’s a simple fact that Chuck Wepner could have trained around a the clock for months, and he could NEVER have beaten Muhammad Ali. He NEARLY managed to go the distance against a champ who was out of shape and didn’t take his opponent seriously. “Rocky 2” STARTED off great, because it shows what REALLY would have happened to a guy like Rocky Balboa- he’d have tried and failed to parlay his 15 minutes of fame into wealth, and would have gone back to being a nobody. There’s NO WAY Rocky Balboa could have beaten an in-shape, motivated Apollo Creed. Hence, the second half of “Rocky 2” felt like a cheat. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-expected-the-movie-to-have-a-cliched-ending-but-it-didnt/504948/27 "2009-08-02T00:18:03Z")
Terminator 3 sure didn’t end the way I expected it to. But I like that they actually ended it they way they did. Of course, only me and about 3 other people in the world actually seem to like the movie. Just for those that haven’t seen it but have no intention of seeing it but are curious what I’m talking about… Instead of saving the world from Skynet like expected, they fail, and the robot apocalypse happens. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-expected-the-movie-to-have-a-cliched-ending-but-it-didnt/504948/28 "2009-08-02T01:04:25Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Terminator 3 sure didn’t end the way I expected it to. But I like that they actually ended it they way they did. Of course, only me and about 3 other people in the world actually seem to like the movie. > > Just for those that haven’t seen it but have no intention of seeing it but are curious what I’m talking about… > > Instead of saving the world from Skynet like expected, they fail, and the robot apocalypse happens. Terminator 3 discussion: It made sense to me because if Skynet or something like it never existed, then _where did those friggin’ Terminators come from??_. As I understand it, what Sarah and John Conner did in Terminator I & II was prevent a paradoxical timeloop version of Judgement Day from happening, but the “real” version that was an almost inevitable result of historical trends still happens. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-expected-the-movie-to-have-a-cliched-ending-but-it-didnt/504948.md?page=1)