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Part 4 |
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has selected as the 100 Greatest Films |
Greatest Movie Death Scenes
(chronological by film title) - Part 4
Intro | Part
1 | Part 2 | Part
3 | Part 4 | Part
5 | Part 6 | Part
7 | Part 8 | Part
9 | Part 10
Part 11 | Part
12 | Part 13 | Part
14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20
Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25
| Film Title | Description | Example |
This Gun for Hire (1942) |
The climactic finale in which expressionless, baby-faced, cat-loving hired killer Philip Raven (Alan Ladd in his first major role) had acquired a written confession from the bad guys before their deaths (corrupt, double-crossing, peppermint candy-loving fat man Willard Gates (Laird Cregar) and wheelchair-bound Alvin Brewster (Tully Marshall) were selling secrets about the chemical composition of poison gas to foreign agents (the Japanese)); before expiring from gunshot wounds, he asked peek-a-boo blonde-haired femme fatale Ellen Graham (Veronica Lake): "Did I do alright for ya?" |
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| The death-bed scene of patriarch Jerry Cohan (Walter Huston) with his son George (James Cagney) by his side; they spoke about the final curtain call - George wept as he delivered the 'curtain call' on his father's life and collapsed into his father's arms; his father asked about the number of curtain calls (the response was six) that night and what the speech was, as George told him, with a breaking voice: "...I said 'my mother thanks you, my father thanks you, my sister thanks you, and I thank you'" |
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| The hanging deaths of three innocent men (seen in shadows), with an additional bullet shot into each corpse to ensure their deaths |
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| The thrilling scene of the struggle on a moving train, in the platform between train cars, between Uncle Charlie Oakley (Joseph Cotten) - the "Merry Widow Murderer " - and his young niece Charlie (Teresa Wright), ending with Charlie's demise when he lost his balance and fell off - into the path of an oncoming train, in the exciting conclusion |
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The Song of Bernadette (1943) |
The death of Bernadette Soubirous (Jennifer Jones) at the film's conclusion |
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| The climactic scene in which 'Laura Hunt' murderer Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb) was mortally wounded in an exchange of gunfire with the police after he attempted to kill the real Laura (Gene Tierney) with a shotgun in a passionate rage in an attempted murder/suicide- his last whispered words to Laura were: "Good-bye, Laura. Good-bye, my love." |
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Murder, My Sweet (1944) |
In the twist ending, Mrs. Helen Grayle/Velma's (Claire Trevor) death by a gunshot from her millionaire husband (Miles Mander); love-struck ex-con Moose Malloy (Mike Mazurki) reacted to her lifeless body on the sofa: ("She ain't hardly changed... just like always, only more fancy. Cute as lace pants...always...") before there were two more deaths (both Mr. Grayle and Moose shot and killed each other); detective Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell) was temporarily blinded by the first gunblast |
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Detour (1945) |
The accidental strangulation of despicable hitchhiker Vera (Ann Savage) by Al Roberts (Tom Neal) with a telephone cord, behind a closed door |
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Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
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An uncaring, sunglasses-wearing Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney) as she watched from a rowboat as her young, paraplegic brother-in-law Danny (Darryl Hickman) drowned in a Maine lake, and Ellen's own suicidal death to 'frame' Ruth (Jeanne Crain) |
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The unusual death of gang boss/gambler Eddie Mars (John Ridgely) who was compelled by Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) to run outside Geiger's house into gunfire from his own gang members (who were expecting Marlowe to be fleeing after killing Mars) - Mars shouted: "Don't shoot! It's me, Mar---" - as bullets from Mars' henchmen meant for Marlowe hit him; a dotted-line of bullet holes in the door signaled his murder outside; then, a mortally-wounded Mars slowly re-entered the room and collapsed to the floor in the front hallway |
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| The shoot-out to the death of doomed lovers Lewt McCanles (Gregory Peck) and half-breed Pearl Chavez (Jennifer Jones) who crawled to each other and died in each other's bloody arms |
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| The execution (off-screen), by a pair of hitman (William Conrad, Charles McGraw), of the Swede/Pete Lunn (Burt Lancaster) who already has accepted his own sacrificial death and fate in his dark boarding house room, rationalizing: "I did something wrong - once" |
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| In the climactic gunfight at the O.K. Corral recreation in this film, four of the Clanton sons were killed, but Doc Holliday (Victor Mature) was also killed when he suffered a coughing fit and was shot by one of the Clantons |
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As the star-crossed lovers drove along the highway and neared their home, Frank (John Garfield) asked for a long-awaited kiss. Cora (Lana Turner) was painting her lips with lipstick: (Cora: "When we get home, Frank, then there'll be kisses, kisses with dreams in them. Kisses that come from life, not death." Frank: "I hope I don't wait." Cora: "Darling." (They kiss) "Look out, Frank!") Distracted during a 'kiss that comes from life' while he was driving, he ran off the road, killing Cora ('with a kiss that comes from death') in a fatal auto accident; the car door opened after the crash - Cora's lifeless arm fell off the seat, and a tube of lipstick slowly dropped to the floor of the car and onto the ground, recalling the scene of their first meeting |
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The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) |
The shock ending with
the suicidal death of Martha Ivers O'Neil (Barbara Stanwyck), when
she pulled the trigger herself as her husband Walter (Kirk Douglas)
held a gun to her stomach; then with her draped limply in his arms, Walter shot himself to death |
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