GREAT MOMENTS and SCENES FROM THE GREATEST FILMS An extensive collection of the most famous, distinguished, unforgettable or memorable images, scenes, sequences or performances, many from the greatest films of all time Part 39

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Shock Corridor (1963)	The expressionistic, claustrophobic sets portraying the inside of an insane asylum (symbolic of America) where ambitious newspaper-tabloid reporter Johnny Barrett (Peter Breck), pretending to be a madman, commits himself in order to solve a murder and win the Pulitzer Prize -- but where he actually goes mad during an indoor electrical thunderstorm; the scene in which black inmate Trent (Hari Rhodes) believes he's a white supremacist Klan member with a white hood - and foments an attack on another black inmate, and the scene of the attack on Barrett in the nympho ward, in director Samuel Fuller's B-movie
Short Cuts (1993)	The exhilarating opening scene with images of helicopters dumping insecticide to kill medflys onto Los Angeles neighborhoods, and the film's fluid interweaving and overlapping of the tragicomic stories/lives of twenty-two characters (a mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who engages in phone sex while diapering her baby, a jealous surgeon (Matthew Modine) and redheaded faithless wife (Julianne Moore - while naked from the waist down - confessing her infidelity to her husband as she blow-dries her dress), a couple (Bruce Davison, Andie MacDowell) whose son - on his birthday - is run down by an automobile, the hit-run waitress (Lily Tomlin) who is married to an abusive drunk (Tom Waits), a sinister and lonely baker (Lyle Lovett) who makes nasty and anonymous phone calls, fishing buddies (Fred Ward, Buck Henry, and Huey Lewis) who find a dead girl's body floating lifeless near their campsite, an ex-husband (Peter Gallagher) who uses a chain-saw to divide things up in his ex-wife's house, and other couples) in Southern California, in Robert Altman's naked depiction of desperate people
A Shot in the Dark (1964)	Bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau's (Peter Sellers) innumerable attempts to bed suspected murderess and French chambermaid Maria Gambrelli (Elke Sommer) ("I suspect everyone, and I suspect no one") - once with an untimely interruption from judo-attacking aide Kato (Burt Kwouk); Clouseau's exasperated and bug-eyed Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus' (Herbert Lom) line: "Give me ten men like Clouseau and I could destroy the world!"), Clouseau's struggle with the game of billiards using a curved cue stick, and his duel with an uncooperative cue rack; and the visit of Clouseau and Maria to Camp Sunshine - a nudist resort and their unclothed drive through the crowded streets of Paris, in Blake Edwards' comedy
Show Boat (1936)	The classic scene of the singing of the immortal song "Ol' Man River" by black stevedore Joe (Paul Robeson), filmed with a sweeping 270 degree camera pan around him and accompanied by an expressionistic montage; also, the poignant, solo performance of "Bill" by Julie (Helen Morgan) in director James Whale's 1936 version of the musical drama; the film was remade as the colorful Show Boat (1951) by director George Sidney, with a toned-down version of "Ol' Man River" sung by Joe (William Warfield)
Showgirls (1995)	Although this erotic show-biz, sexploitation drama by director Paul Verhoeven (teamed up again with screenwriter Joe Eszterhas) was the first attempt of Hollywood to mass market a studio film with an NC-17 rating (since the failure of Caligula (1977)), it failed miserably; the misogynistic guilty-pleasure adult film was controversially loaded with very frequent nudity, sexuality, notorious dialogue, and campy sleaze in a drama about the sex industry that took an uncensored look at cheap Las Vegas strip clubs and shows (with pole-dancing at the Cheetah) and higher-class hotel shows and their headliner dancers; it flopped at the box-office but the notorious film found an audience among cult film-goers, although it reportedly destroyed the career of star Elizabeth Berkley, earlier noted for her role in the late 80s TV show Saved By the Bell; there were many memorable scenes in this infamous film: the various topless dance and pole-clinging shows at the Cheetah and the Stardust in Las Vegas; the love-hate relationship between bi-sexual "Goddess" headliner Cristal Conners (Gina Gershon) and Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley) and their unbelievable dialogue (Cristal: "You've got nice tits. I like nice tits." Nomi: "I like having nice tits"); the bare-breasted "Chorus Line" audition sequence; Nomi's extended lap dance sequence and later orgasmic thrashing romp in the pool with the Stardust Hotel's talent director Zack Carey (Kyle MacLachlan), and other misogynistic content in director Paul Verhoeven's campy, big-budget, exploitative, guilty-pleasure adult film - one of the lesser films of the 90s
Shrek (2001)	The opening Sleeping Beauty (1959) reference (through the use of a stylized storybook); the character of surly, sarcastic, wisecracking, Scottish-accented green, smelly but affable ogre Shrek (voice of Mike Myers) in his swamp home, and his love/hate relationship with the faithful, talkative, annoying tag-a-long Donkey (voice of Eddie Murphy), the opening mud bath taken by Shrek; Shrek's rescue of the pouty, fiercely independent Princess Fiona (voice of Cameron Diaz) on a mission to save her from a fire-breathing Dragon for the nefarious, narcissistic midget Lord Farquaad (voice of John Lithgow) - who has banished fairy tale characters into exile; also Donkey's romance with the female Dragon; the many one-liners and fairy tale references; the unlikely romance between Shrek and Fiona, who initially rejected him for being an ogre; the plot twist: Fiona was a maiden by day, and an ogre by night; the climax in which the forced marriage between Fiona and Farquaad was interrupted by the dragon, and the sharing of their true love's first kiss when Shrek kissed Fiona to free her from her enchantment -- resulting in a glorious explosion of light, shattering the church's stained glass windows; and in another twist, how Fiona remained an ogre permanently -- love's true form; also the celebratory party finale in which Donkey and the other fairy tale characters sing The Monkees' "I'm a Believer", in the first winner of the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar and biting satire of classic Disney animated films by DreamWorks/PDI's revisionist fairy tale
Shrek 2 (2004)	The pre-opening credits sequence in which effeminate, narcissistic Prince Charming (voice of Rupert Everett) stormed the castle believing that he was rescuing Princess Fiona (voice of Cameron Diaz) - but finds the Wolf (dressed in grandmother's clothing); the opening credits sequence with dozens of rapid-fire cultural and filmic references (from From Here to Eternity (1953) to The Little Mermaid (1989) to The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and visual gags -- all heard with the Counting Crows' Oscar-nominated song "Accidentally in Love"; the "Are we there yet?" scene with an extremely impatient Donkey (voice of Eddie Murphy) and the Hollywood/Beverly Hills-inspired town (with Farbucks and Old Knavery) of Far Far Away; the stunned reaction of the crowd to ogres Shrek (voice of Mike Myers) and Fiona -- punctuated by a distracted dove crashing into the castle wall; the Meet the Parents (2000)-inspired strained dinner party with Fiona's shocked royal parents King Harold (voice of John Cleese) and Queen Lilian (voice of Julie Andrews); the plotting Fairy Godmother (voice of Jennifer Saunders) and her scheme to kill Shrek and marry Fiona to her rich son Charming, and her bouncy parody of "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast (1991); the memorable, swashbuckling, Spanish-accented, Zorro-like Puss-in-Boots assassin (voice of Antonio Banderas) ("Pray for mercy from Puss-in-Boots!"); Shrek's drinking of a Happily Ever After Potion that turned him into a hunky man (and transformed Donkey into a white stallion to his personal delight - "I'm trotting!") -- as well as Fiona changing back to her original form; the Academy Awards red-carpet parody, complete with Joan Rivers (as Herself); Fairy Godmother's fantastic The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)-inspired, disco rendition of "Holding Out For a Hero"; the giant Gingerbread man character of Mongo (named after Alex Karras' character from Blazing Saddles (1974)), and Donkey and Puss-In-Boots' celebratory rendition of "Livin' La Vida Loca", in the popular blockbuster sequel
Sideways (2004)	The Santa Ynez Valley wine country soul-searching road-trip of two middle-aged characters: depressed and failed novel writer, San Diego English teacher and wine enthusiast Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti) and about-to-be-married ex-soap star lothario Jack (Thomas Haden Church), their encounters with Hitching Post waitress Maya (Virginia Madsen) and single mother Stephanie (Sandra Oh) - especially the scene of shared wine passion in which Miles explains to Maya how he views himself as a pinot noir ("It's thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early...Only somebody who really takes the time to understand Pinot's potential can then coax it into its fullest expression") and she extols wine for its evolving nature ("...it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks, like your '61. And then it begins its steady, inevitable decline"); the hilarious scene of Miles' retrieval of Jack's wallet in the bedroom of his latest conquest - a married woman ("My friend was the one balling your wife"); and the last lines of the film - Maya's answering machine message ("Don't give up, Miles. Keep writing. I hope you're well. Bye") listened to by Miles - followed by the poignant shot of Miles -- after having driven back to the Valley -- knocking on Maya's door, in director Alexander Payne's insightful comedy adapted from Rex Pickett's novel
The Sign of the Cross (1932)	The display of Rome's sins and depravities (homosexuality, orgies, nudity, and murder) in multiple ways and memorable scenes: debauched Emperor Nero's (Charles Laughton in his first American film) wicked mistress Empress Poppaea (Claudette Colbert) bathing unabashedly in asses’ milk, the attempted corruptive seduction scene of virginal, blonde Christian Mercia (Elissa Landi) by Ancaria (Joyzelle Joyner) with a lesbian-tinged dance of the "Naked Moon" that visibly aroused its audience, and the scenes of semi-naked women condemned to slaughter in the Arena while Nero watched distractedly from the side - including one rope-stretched screaming female victim awaiting hissing crocodiles, and another flower-garlanded-tied nude female Christian martyr awaiting death in a Roman arena from a devouring silverback gorilla, in director Cecil B. DeMille's spectacular, pre-censorship epic
Signs (2002)	The awesome opening scene of ex-Bucks County Pennsylvania "Father" and emotionally-wounded widower Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) awakening to find his two dazed children Morgan and Bo (Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin) in their cornfield looking at huge crop circles, with Morgan's thought: "I think God did it"; the scene around the dinner table with Graham's anger about prayer ("I am not wasting one more minute of my life on prayer") followed by the family's hug; Graham's speech about two kinds of reactions to an experience ("See what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky?"); the scene of CNN news footage from a Brazilian children's birthday party, showing home video footage of a brief shot of a green alien walking past an alley, with horrified younger brother Merrill Hess' (Joaquin Phoenix's) urgent warning shouted at the TV to the birthday party children: "Move children!! Vaminos!!"; Bo's calmly delivered line in the dark basement: "There's a monster outside my room, can I have a glass of water?"; and the final climax when a tall greenish, gas-expelling alien broke into the Hess household and put the weak and asthmatic Morgan at risk - but was killed by a swing of a baseball bat! ("Swing away, Merrill. Merrill... swing away"), in M. Night Shyamalan's scary horror film about alien visitation
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)	The scene of FBI trainee agent Clarice Starling's (Oscar-winning Jodie Foster) walk along a row of underground Baltimore prison cells (and her abuse by prisoner Miggs (Stuart Rudin)) - and her first meeting with the chilling, repellent, super-intelligent, cold-eyed and intriguing Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter (Oscar-winning Anthony Hopkins) - who stands there with his head tilted and then requests that she come "Clos-er" to show her credentials; the serial killer Lecter's famous lines: "Memory, Agent Starling, is what I have, instead of a view" - "You use Evian skin cream and sometimes you wear L'air du Temps - but not today" - "You're so-o ambitious, aren't you? You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube..." - and the one about his refined taste in cruelty - with the sound effect of sifting through his teeth: "A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chi-an-ti" - fpt-fpt-fpt''; the many scenes of their intense, seductive discussions-interrogations at his jail cell - including her confession about failing to rescue a lamb from the slaughter - as the camera moves in for intense close-ups; the scene in which Lecter lunged at Sgt. Pembry (Alex Coleman) with bloody, face-eating cannibalism, then savagely beat Sgt. Boyle (Charles Napier) to death with a police riot baton, and relaxed afterwards to Bach's Goldberg Variations; the image of Lecter's muzzled restraint with a face mask; Clarice's entry into the home of the serial killer Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb (Ted Levine) and stalking from Bill's POV with night-goggles; and Lecter's curtain-closing phone call to Clarice with his final words about dining 'with' Dr. Chilton - and his disguised stroll wearing a Panama hat into a crowded Caribbean town's street: ("I do wish we could chat longer, but I'm having an old friend for dinner"), in Jonathan Demme's Best Picture winning film
Silver Lode (1954)	The July 4th bell-tower scene in which respected citizen Dan Ballard (John Payne), wrongly-accused of murder and taking $20,000, is saved -- literally, by a church bell (on the other side is gun-shooting Ned McCarthy (Dan Duryea)) and by bride-to-be Rose Evans (Lizabeth Scott) who forges a telegram to proclaim his innocence - a metaphoric re-enactment of the McCarthy era of blacklisting, as the reprieved and saved Ballard angrily tells the townsfolk: "A moment ago, you wanted to kill me...You wouldn't believe what I said. A man's life can hang in the balance on a piece of paper", in director Allan Dwan's psychological western
Sin City (2005)	The overlapping, cross-cut hard-boiled stories set in dark and rain-slick Basin City, with the opening of a doomed, red dress-wearing dame standing on a terrace high above the cold, teeming city - to be kissed and killed by The Man (Josh Hartnett); the first tale of disgraced, heart-failing cop John Hartigan (Bruce Willis) saving young girl Nancy (later growing up to be exotic dancer Jessica Alba) from depraved pedophile Yellow Bastard (Nick Stahl); and the sensational character of tough ex-con, Frankenstein-like street fighter Marv (Mickey Rourke) seeking revenge against psycho-serial killer Kevin (Elijah Wood) for the death of hooker Goldie (Jaime King), in director Robert Rodriguez' violent (cannibalism, dismemberment, mutilation, castration and more!), bloody and stylistic noirish monochromatic (with splashes of color) representation of Frank Miller's graphic novels
Since You Went Away (1944)	The beautifully filmed, heart-rending parting scene at the train station, filmed from the point of view of the departing soldier William Smollett (Robert Walker) leaving on the moving train watching his girlfriend Jane (Jennifer Jones) run alongside the train and dodge large structural supports, as she cries out: "I love you darling", in director John Cromwell's family war drama - based on Margaret Buell Wilder's bestselling novel
Singin' In The Rain (1952)	The three stars in the opening credits dancing in bold yellow raincoats, the shrill, nasal-voiced silent star Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), Cosmo Brown's (Donald O'Connor) acrobatic musical number "Make 'Em Laugh," silent film hero Don Lockwood's (Gene Kelly) and ingenue Kathy Selden's (Debbie Reynolds) fabulous love duet/dance "You Were Meant For Me" on an empty sound stage, Lina's disastrous attempts to speak into a concealed microphone, the theatre preview of The Dueling Cavalier when the sound goes out of synch; the marvelously upbeat "Good Morning," Don's unforgettable, classic, joyous, lovestruck rain dance scene in a downpour while in love and exuberantly singing the title song - including the policeman's quizzical look after he tips his hat, the long "Broadway Melody Ballet" with guest dance artist Cyd Charisse, and the final sequence revealing Kathy's voice substituting for Lina's and Don from the stage shouting "Stop that girl" and expressing his love to her back on stage and afterwards in front of a billboard announcing their new starring roles, in Gene Kelly's and Stanley Donen's classic film musical
Sirens (1994)	The liberated, anything-goes attitude of notorious Australian artist Norman Lindsay (Sam Neill), the abundant display of female nudity by the artist's naked models/sirens (including supermodel Elle Macpherson and Portia de Rossi), the carefree and playful cavortings of the women and the transformation of the minister's (Hugh Grant) repressed but intrigued wife Estella (Tara Fitzgerald), and the final long-shot of the naked sirens on an outcropping of rock, in director John Duigan's artsy erotic film
Sisters (1973)	The opening shots of a fetus during the credits; the dual, Siamese twin characters -- French-Canadian fashion model Danielle/Dominique Breton (both portrayed by Margot Kidder) - one being a murderous psychopath; with the split-screen scene of a nosy and crusading reporter Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt) in an Rear-Window-ish apartment across the way witnessing the brutal stabbing murder of Philip Woode (Lisle Wilson) by the deranged twin during a birthday celebration (after a one-night stand with Danielle), in Brian De Palma's Hitchcock-like suspense horror thriller with a Bernard Herrmann score
The Sixth Sense (1999)	The startling opening sequence in which Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) was shot (and killed) by angry ex-patient Vincent Grey (Donnie Wahlberg); the anniversary date dinner scene of Crowe with his troubled and depressed wife Anna (Olivia Williams) in a fancy restaurant; the scary scene of frightened, paranormal and tormented 8 year-old Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) hiding in his tent, shining a flashlight under his chin and seeing pale ghostly young girl Kyra (Mischa Barton) with bloodshot eyes vomiting up her morning oatmeal next to him; the scene of Cole telling his divorced mother Lynn (Toni Collette) a comforting message from her dead mother - as a bloody car accident victim appeared in the car window behind; and the final scene of Dr. Crowe's wedding ring rolling noisily in a circle across a parquet-wood floor - with the startling revelation that Crowe was one of the "dead people" seen by Cole; also the famous line of dialogue: "I see people" followed by its real meaning: "...They don't know they're dead. They only see what they want to see", in M. Night Shyamalan's haunting, twist-ending signature film
Sleeper (1973)	The many slapstick sequences and sight gags, including the scene of Greenwich Village health store owner and ex-clarinet player Miles Monroe (Woody Allen) - now transported into the future year of 2173 - disguised as a domestic servant/robot at a party in the home of vain and talentless poetess Luna (Diane Keaton) - who concocts a giant-sized pudding that must be beaten down with a broom; also the scene of the passing of the silver metal orgasm-inducing "Orb" from guest to guest; and the riotous scene at the robot factory where Miles is threatened with having his head screwed off; also the reprogramming-brainwashing scene in which Miles is given new clothes, an apartment, and an electronic pet dog; the contented look on Miles' face as he exited the cylindrical Orgasmatron; the shot of a 22nd-century McDonalds sign (with 795 trillions of hamburgers sold); and the scene of the Great Leader's giant nose being flattened by a steamroller, and the classic closing line by Miles when Luna asked what he believed in: "Sex and death. Two things that come once in a lifetime -- but at least after death you're not nauseous" - followed by a passionate kiss, in director Woody Allen's classic sci-fi comedy farce
The Snake Pit (1948)	The scenes of the "snake-pit" nature of the mental institution (Juniper Hill State Hospital) and the shadowy images of inmate torture, and the famous top-shot and pull-back image of inmate Virginia Stuart Cunningham (Oscar-nominated Olivia de Havilland) surrounded by insane and babbling patients as her voice-over explained: ("It was strange - here I was among all those people, and at the same time, I felt as if I were looking at them from someplace far away. The whole place seemed to me like a deep hole, and the people down in it like strange animals, like, like snakes, and I'd been thrown into it, yes, as though, as though I were in a snake pit"), in director Anatole Litvak's psychological drama about the horrors of mental institutions
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)	The image of the vain Wicked Queen asking her Magic Mirror 'who is the fairest of them all', Snow White's frightening flight through the forest imagining fearful eyes peering at her out of the darkness; the delightful, distinct personalities and antics of each of the seven dwarfs; Snow White's beautiful voice and purity, the beautiful songs "I'm Wishing" and "Whistle While You Work," Snow White kissing Bashful and Dopey on the head as the dwarfs leave for work, the Queen's transformation into an old hag and her offer of a poisonous apple to Snow White; the dwarfs as they march to and from work singing "Heigh Ho" and their frantic return to rescue Snow White; the Queen's terrifying demise as she falls off a rocky ledge and vultures circle after her, and the young Prince's kiss, in Disney's first animated feature film with dazzling animation
S.O.B. (1981)	Wholesome Sally Miles' (Julie Andrews, the director's real-life wife) breast-baring topless scene as she pulls down the top of her red dress (Sally, to Dr. Irving Finegarten (Robert Preston): "I am going to show my boobies. Are you here to see my boobies?" and his receptive reply: "In my humble opinion, you’ve got a terrific pair of knockers") - an about-face from her squeaky-clean public image, in director Blake Edwards' comic skewering of Hollywood
Some Came Running (1958)	The classic set-piece in the finale, masterfully photographed, of hard-drinking ex-WWII soldier Dave Hirsh (Frank Sinatra) and unrefined floozy named Ginny Moorehead (Shirley MacLaine) walking in a crowded hometown carnival (garishly colorful) as they are pursued and then shot (and she fell onto him), in the tense and tragic ending of Vincente Minnelli's widescreen melodrama

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Created in 1996-2008 © by Tim Dirks. All rights reserved.

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