What's with breaking the glasses? Was this a common practice in the 1940s?
I kept wondering why they were doing that, who was going to clean up the glass, if the bartenders appreciated them smashing up their glassware, and what would happen if someone slipped on the broken shards and got cut.
If you mean at the end, it meant that their ghosts were there keeping the meeting they had planned on the ship.
shareWere it not Geraldine Fitzgerald & future SupermanGeorgeReeves at the bar in Mexico City?They were ghosts of Joan and Dan?I love this film, but have yet to see the first half. I imagine it's impossible to find a copy.
sharehe means, Whats with the breaking of the glass when they were on the ship?
seeing it done later was to let you know that they were ghosting together also symbolized in the crossing of the tossed cigaretts on the mountain top. But why break em in the first place unless they were drinking champagne and tossing the glass in the fire place. Is there any direct meaning to breaking a glass and putting it across the other back in the early 1900's?
In some cultures the breaking of something lovely and fragile, such as a champagne glass, at a moment of great joy represents the ability to celebrate the joy together but also the ability to overcome the moments of sadness, pain, anxiety, loneliness, emptiness, and/or frustration that enter every human relationship. Sort of a way of saying that joy is fleeting so enjoy it while you can. Thus breaking the glasses is their way of celebrating their joy and the crossing of the stems is their way of showing they will always be together no matter what. Romantic, yes. Practical, no. And I'm quite sure no one appreciated the broken glasses but or having to clean it up but it's a lovely sentiment and and, for those who enjoy this film, an iconic image of their love. For me it's as memorable as the two cigarettes Paul Henreid lights in Now, Voyager.
shareSome claim that this prevents the glass from ever being used for a less worthy purpose, which romantically fits in with our loving couple in this movie.
It's an ancient tradition claimed by every country where it's ever been practiced. I've read of claims that the origin is Greece, Anglo-Saxon England, and Russia, among other places. In the olden days of yore, the glass was thrown into the fireplace after being emptied, which would allay your fears if injury - cleanup is performed when they empty the ashes from the fireplace.
It was done before the 40s, as you'll see if you watch the 1932 version. I saw it done on a Jack Benny Television Program episode in the 50s.
The whole glass-breaking bit was lampooned in Carol Burnett's spoof "One Way Ticket" (which parodied both this and the original source One Way Passage). Classic was when James Coco (playing the condemned murderer) requests another drink after one big glass-breaking session with Carol, and the bartender bluntly tells him, "You can take it in a paper cup, or not at all."
shareAs far as I know, breaking the glass used for a toast assures the outcome; it seals the deal, so to speak.
Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]