The Silver Screen Oasis

I thought this might be a fun area to investigate.

Some movies have titles that just seem perfect. The one that I propose as a best is: To Kill a Mockingbird. Of course, we don’t know the first time around what the title means, but the explanation is so beautiful and so fitting to the the subject of the film, both literally and symbolically, that once we know we can never forget either the phrase or the movie. Then there are the others. Not the movies that seem to scream at you, “stay away” (has anyone here ever bothered to check out Snakes on a Plane or I Spit on Your Grave?), but rather those whose titles draw us in and then don’t deliver what they promised. I’ve got a doosie for that category:

The Christmas Tree! Anyone who’s seen it knows what I mean. The title makes you all happy and tingly. Exactly the wrong message going in. Overseas, they used the novel’s title, "When Wolves Cry," but some American advertising expert must have thought this was a perfect improvement.

For the benefit of those who haven’t seen this tearjerker (it’s not on DVD, although it was released on VHS), it was filmed in France, starring William Holden as a rich American businessman living and working in that country (shot, obviously, during the runaway productions period). In it, his ten-year-old son is slowly dying of radiation poisoning from a military atomic “incident.” The movie ends with the boy dying—on Christmas Eve, under the tree! Now, doesn’t that make you all happy and tingly? I hope others will share some Best and Worst Movie Titles.

Lucky, I took my mother and grandmother to see that "Christmasy'" movie....we were so bummed out we couldn't even talk to each other after the agony was over.....I think you've eliminated anything else that even comes close to that AWFUL movie!!!!!!

Guess you should have gone to I Spit on You Grave instead! :–)—

I personally love the crazy Italian giallo titles like Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972) (putting that on a marquee must have been fun), Seven Notes In Black (1977), The Flower with Petals of Steel (1973), or Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971), where the labels are as enigmatic as the films they represent. Their western titles have the same tongue in cheek humor: what is a "Cemetery Without Crosses (1968)", but an empty field?

Noir has tons of great titles, but I will leave those for Mr. ChiO and others. Finally, there's my personal favorite: M (1931). Try asking for that in a store and you will receive puzzled looks, followed by "What?!"

Some of my favorite film noir titles:

Kiss Me Deadly
Kiss the Blood Off My Hands
The Naked Kiss
Killer's Kiss
The Killing
Touch of Evil
Force of Evil
The Devil Thumbs a Ride
I Wake Up Screaming
Blast of Silence
J'irai cracher sur vos tombes (a 1959 noir made in France, but set in the U.S. South; aka I Spit on Your Grave)
Female Jungle
Jail Bait
The Violent Years

My top 10 Worst Movie Titles of all Time


1. The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (1963) ... made with $38,000 Budget!
2. Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1966)
3. Eegah (1962) ... Starring Richard Kiel, Archie Hall Jr., and Marilyn Manning.
4. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) ... Enough Said.
5. Ferocious Female Freedom Fighters (1982) ... Classic Tongue Twister Title
6. Surf Nazis Must Die (1987) ... Weird!
7, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966) ... Horrible Movie!
8. Sssssss (1973) ... British Cult Classic
9. To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995) ... I couldn't believe I saw this movie!
10. Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002) ... So Bad, it's cost $70 Million to Make and yet earned $20 Million at the Box Office.


I will try to do a TOP 10 in a day or two.

Great titles all, thanks for adding to the ... confusion?

kw, your story really got to me. I never knew anyone who had paid money to see it, much less brought his mother and grandmother with him. Christmas Present I don't think!
Mr.A, a truly enigmatic list indeed. Wish I'd thought of M, it's a perfect example of a title that doesn't mean a thing until you've seen the picture. Then ! ! !
Chio, a great noir list, felt my skin crawling even as I went through it. I haven't yet Waked Up Screaming, but I sure understand that title!
Masha, also a wonderful mix of remembered and new titles to investigate, ending with my favorite "ugh" title, Surf Nazis Must Die. I don't know Ashleigh Brilliant, but I agree the titles are among the most intriguing. I'll definitely look for them next visit to the library.

Again, thanks to all. If nothing else, we may have given the group some films to remember or check out - or AVOID!

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE KILLER, BORIS KARLOFF. This has always seemed ridiculous to me. Why not just Boris Karloff? Or The Killer? Or ideally, a better title altogether! But THE KILLER, BORIS KARLOFF?

And they're coming in faster than I can keep up with them.

Eric, the perfect (read upside down) TOP 10, especially that classic "Eegah, which made a star of Arch Hall the younger. Looking forward to the (read rightside up) TOP 10!
kingrat, fully agree. Maybe they meant to type Gigi, and their fingers slipped. That would have made a nice title for a movie.
Red River, as opposed to, I suppose, ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE MONSTER, FRANKENSNATRA. He could have sung them, and us, to sleep .

[u][color=#FF0000]Lucky Vassall[/color][/u] wrote:I thought this might be a fun area to investigate.

Some movies have titles that just seem perfect. The one that I propose as a best is: To Kill a Mockingbird. Of course, we don’t know the first time around what the title means, but the explanation is so beautiful and so fitting to the the subject of the film, both literally and symbolically, that once we know we can never forget either the phrase or the movie.

What a great idea for a thread, Mr. Lucky. You’ve given me food for thought.

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[u][color=#FF0000]Mr. Arkadin[/color][/u] wrote:I personally love the crazy Italian giallo titles like Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key...Noir has tons of great titles, but I will leave those for Mr. ChiO and others. Finally, there's my personal favorite: M (1931). Try asking for that in a store and you will receive puzzled looks, followed by "What?!"

Wow Mr. A. You certainly hit the nail on the head naming the Giallo genre for having great titles!! And yes, the Noir titles would be covered by ChiO as he's named my favorite title of all time "Kiss the Blood Off My Hands."

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But let me go with the Master, the Master of Suspense: ALFRED HITCHCOCK. He's used nouns and adjectives in some of his titles. Short declarative sentences that get to the heart of the matter. Here are some examples of my favorite movie titles:



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The BEST movie I saw in 1997 had a great title:



This was directed by John Ridley who just won an Academy Award this past Sunday for Screenplay Adaptation of “12 Years A Slave.”

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I wish I could share the title of the screenplay that I’ve written. ( It’s “BRILLIANT.” ) But I’d hate to have more successful Oscar-winning screenwriters out there who read the SSO steal my one and only good idea.

The Best Movie Title - I haven't ranked it ... it is

The Unusual Suspects 1995 Film - This is one of most cleverest films ever made and the ending of this movie was priceless!

We have Harper Lee to thank for the wonderful title "To Kill a Mockingbird," which she applied to her (one and only) novel.

Some movie titles I find to be well-descriptive of their content:

The Day the Earth Stood Still
I Was a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
The Incredible Shrinking Man
How the West Was Won
City of Angels
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
2000 Maniacs
The Reincarnation of Peter Proud
The Villain Still Pursued Her
Skyscraper Souls
The Red Balloon

A few non-descriptive or misleading movie titles:

Johnny Belinda (no such character)
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (actually about dance marathons)
Duck Soup (no ducks nor soup)
Til the Clouds Roll By (just the name of one song in this musical)
Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven (a couple of the locales, but what's it about?)
The Jazz Singer (1927 and 1980) (neither of them sings jazz -- "Mammy" is not a jazz song, any more than "Love on the Rocks")