Lord Love a Duck: Ten Classic Movie Scenes Available on YouTube

One of the greatest benefits of a site like You Tube is that it offers the ability to enjoy scenes from classic movies. These companies that are battling to have their intellectual property taken off You Tube are proving once again that the depth of stupidity among studio executives is bottomless. Uploading amazing two to ten minute sequences of movies that rarely make it on television anymore is a prime advertising channel. I have no doubt that those who click on the link to these classic scenes will be urged to stop by Netflix or their local video rental store to pick up the entire movie.

A Place in the Sun

An argument may well be made that no film ever featured two more beautiful leads than A Place in the Sun. Both Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift were young and perfect at the time this movie was made. By the time the movie was released they would be the two biggest movie stars in the world. A Place in the Sun features one of the most famous love scenes in movie history. At a party, Taylor and Clift find their passion so overwhelming and consuming that it threatens to incinerate right there on the dance floor. Taylor grabs Clift's hand and pulls him out onto the veranda. Outside, the scene is shot entirely in a over the should close-ups as Taylor and Clift are almost overwhelmed by desire. Finally, before the screen itself can burn from the heat, Taylor utters her immortal lines: "Tell mama. Tell mama all." Available at Netflix.

Touch of Evil

As I have written previously, the opening shot of Touch of Evil is the greatest in movie history. It consists of one long, complicated tracking camera movement with no cuts. During the course of its three minutes it reveals many of the important characters and establishes both its geographical and emotional setting. It is nothing less than a work of sheer genius. Available at Netflix.

Lord Love a Duck

The most disturbing scene in movie history prior to the collapse of the ratings system occurs in one of my favorite movies of all time. Lord Love a Duck is a black comedy that even if made today would still be ahead of its time. Featuring Tuesday Weld at her sultriest, the scene in question involves a shopping trip to buy the cashmere sweaters she needs to join an exclusive club. Keep in mind as you watch the scene and the erotic building up to an orgasmic conclusion that the man watching and moaning as Tuesday Weld models sweaters with colors such as Periwinkle Pussycat is her father! His manic eye-rolling and primal growling at the sight of his daughter's seductive orgy into cashmere could, quite simply, never make it into a movie today starring such major stars as Tuesday Weld and Roddy McDowell were at the time. In today's climate of political correctness and the very real fear that child molestors are living next door, the incestuous overtones in this scene would just be too much. Of course, those who are genuinely disturbed and bewildered by this scene typically tend to miss its point. The scene isn't really about incestuous desires, it's about the objectification of women and the fact that every woman you desire is someone else's daughter. Available at Netflix.

The Seventh Seal

Ingmar Bergman is the greatest director the cinema has ever produced. The Seventh Seal, while not my favorite Bergman film, is his best known. Yes, The Seventh Seal is the movie where a knight challenges Death to a game of chess. The cinematic genius of Bergman lies in composition rather than editing or montage. The opening sequence of The Seventh Seal is a masterpiece of composition, made up entirely of a series of very simply staged and edited shots of a beach, two men, two horses, a chess board, and the sudden appearance of a strange figure in black. The soundtrack is as spare as the setting. The combination of all elements of filmmaking conspire to set a thematic foundation for the rest of this unique masterpiece. Available at Netflix.

Un Chien Andalou

If Lord Love a Duck wasn't disturbing enough for you, then undoubtedly this one will be. Ever wonder what surrealism is all about? This movie will show you. Afterwards, you may be forgiven for thinking that surrealism equals weird. I should warn you that this little clip includes the most infamous scene from this infamous movie, that of a woman having her eyeball graphically sliced open with a razor. Obviously, it's not really a woman's eyeball, but that's not to say it's not really an eyeball. Must-see viewing for all serious film scholars. Available at Netflix.

The Shining

And now for the most disturbing scene in movie history since the collapse of the ratings system. The first time I watched The Exorcist, I was twelve years old and it was on cable and I was alone in the front room. I am now 44 years old and I must confess that I am still unable to watch this scene by myself. I don't know what it is about those two creepy little girls, but they still give me a major case of the willies. I think it's their Joan Collins voice. These two candidates for a Diane Arbus photo shoot makes this scene for me the scariest in movie history. Available at Netflix.

Shane

Alan Ladd's Shane is the greatest western movie hero of all time and Jack Palance's Wilson is the greatest western movie villain of all time. By definition that should mean that Shane is one of the greatest western movies of all time, right? Wong. It's THE greatest western movie of all time. Every scene builds to a climactic showdown between the mysterious Shane and the utterly malevolent Wilson. For a change, the final showdown doesn't occur in the middle of the one road in town, but inside a bar. Shane covers the same territory that the notorious flop Heaven's Gate covers and this one scene is worth all three hours of that mess. Available at Netflix.

Strangers on a Train

Who's your choice for the greatest movie psychopath of all time? Norman Bates? Hannibal Lecter? Jan Brady? For my money, the best movie psychopath of all time remains Bruno Anthony from Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train. No other psychotic killer posses such flair. This long sequence is the centerpiece of the movie, in which Bruno kills a total stranger as part of a pact that only he thinks exists. Be sure to check out the part where the little kid with the pop gun and the balloon crosses Bruno's path. Available at Netflix.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

In what is probably the most fondly remembered scene in a movie that probably holds the record for having the most great scenes, we learn a vital piece of American history: The Sundance Kid never learned to swim. Available at Netflix.

Kiss Me Deadly

Remember that scene in Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs where Michael Madsen cuts off the ear of that guy? I have little doubt that a movie fan of Tarantino's stature hasn't watched Kiss Me Deadly many times. As much as I enjoy the whole Stuck in the Middle with You segment, I prefer this scene from Kiss Me Deadly. It is a testament to the fact that censorship isn't by definition a bad thing all the time. Because of the constraints of censorship, filmmakers at the time had to use creativity; today's directors are too quick to go straight for the gore. There is something to be said for the visceral power of watching Madsen cut a guy's ear from his head. But this scene makes the case that nothing is more powerful than one's own imagination. The most horrifying moment of this scene involves nothing more explicit than Cloris Leachman's naked legs flopping back and forth while suspended a foot off the ground. It is up to each viewer to imagine what kind of torture she is suffering. I think that's why I find it much more terrifying than the scene in Reservoir Dogs. Available at Netflix.