MOVIE SCENES

We don't always remember what we're supposed to.

As I’m making coffee in the morning, I flash back to a scene in the Paul Newman movie, Harper, where he rescues the previous day’s coffee grounds from the trash to get his caffeine fix.

I couldn’t tell you anything else about that detective movie, but I always remember that scene. That got me thinking about other scenes that stick in your head, actually, my head.

I was struck by how many movies I’ve seen that I can’t recall much of anything about. I guess that’s related to being old. It helps that we all have movies many times so the mind’s not strained—Wizard of Oz, It’s a Wonderful Life, Jurassic Park, etc.

Sometimes, it’s recalling lesser-acclaimed scenes from movies considered classics. Take Hitchcock’s North By Northwest, we all know the scene where Cary Grant gets buzzed by the crop duster and the Mt. Rushmore sequence, but how about Grant’s drunken ride down the mountain road? I’ve seen it repeatedly, and Grant is hilarious.

In the Big Sleep, Humphrey Bogart (that’s him, above) fixes his hat and peers over his sunglasses at the haughty clerk in the bookshop (not with Dorothy Malone across the street). “You do sell books?” he sneers. “What are those? Grapefruit?” she says.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) has the big scene where Kevin McCarthy finds out that Dana Wynter has gone pod on him, but another scene that comes to mind is the one where they find that the restaurant is empty. The owner relates he’s had to let everyone go—even the bartender. Trouble is brewing!

Goldfinger has many memorable moments, but one that always comes to mind is Sean Connery dissing the Beatles before he gets bopped on the head by Oddjob.

In the Fifth Element, Milla Jovovich’s delight with a “multipass” is right there with Gary Oldman’s portrayal of Zorg.

Jaws has a boatload of riveting scenes. I like Robert Shaw using fingers on the blackboard to restore order at the Amityville meeting.

As the Dude, Jeff Bridges brings so much to The Big Lebowski including his dislike for the Eagles (when he’s in the police car).

I was delighted to hear the Rolling Stones’ number, “She Smiled Sweetly” (off the Between the Buttons album), in Wes Anderson’s Royal Tenenbaums. It’s not one of your better-known Stones songs and there they are playing the record in the movie.

One more musical note: Being There, the movie that features Peter Sellers in a straight role, uses Deodato’s version of “Also Sprach Zarathustra” in a stirring scene. The 2001 theme is played as Sellers leaves home for the first time to hit the inner-city streets of Washington, D.C.

You all have your own special scenes. All of which begs the question: I wonder why we remember what we do?