From: David P. Hayes
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.past-films,rec.arts.movies.current-films
Date: Monday, February 02, 1998 8:19 AM
Scott Norwood wrote in message <6b3ejp$3no1@wombat.wm.edu>…
>In article <6b3ar3$7g$1@newsd-152.iap.bryant.webtv.net>,
>While we're on the subject--a few years ago, I saw the last minute or
>so of the credits of a movie when it was broadcast on TV. At the very
>end of the tail credits, the final title stated, in smallish letters,
>"The film is over. You can go now." Anyone know what film this was?
>Clearly, it was intended as a humorous ending, for those who sat
>through the credits, and it was very effective (IMHO)…
>-- Scott (Chairman, credit-watchers anonymous)
Occasionally, the watching of the end titles does reward the viewer. The recent "As Good As It Gets" has the usual Humane Society disclaimer ("The animals used in this film were treated with the utmost concern… ."), followed by a disclaimer I'd never seen before: "The actors in this production were in no way misused." (I'm waiting for an end-credits roll that follows the Humane Society disclaimer by an admission that the cast and crew were served beef, poultry and fish at their meals. I'm not a vegetarian, but I'm also no hypocrite.)
I believe that it was "Tapeheads" that followed the usual FBI warning ("unauthorized copying may lead to civil and criminal penalties…") with "Break the law. Go to Jail."
One of the early Zucker-Abrams-Zucker collaborations ("Kentucky Fried
Movie") sneaks into the credits,
"Author of 'A Tale of Two Cities'___________Charles Dickens."
Other Zucker-Abrams-Zucker films have had their gag lines in what are otherwise a dull list
of participants.
Films that have truly rewarded their viewers for sitting through the credits are "Airplane!," "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," and especially "Young Sherlock Holmes." The latter has an astonishing turn of events in a brief scene following the credits.
I've read that a John Carpenter film, ca. 1978, was the first film to have a tag scene following the credits.
--
David Hayes
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