MovieChat Forums > The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) Discussion > What about that Giant Coffee Ad!

What about that Giant Coffee Ad!

posted 12 years ago by phil_451
6 replies | jump to latest

Several people have commented in other threads about the climax, where Benny is fighting to get out of the coffee ad. When I first saw this as a teen, I was just in stitches, but then I started thinking about the mechanics of the prop, and how it might work if it were real.
The prop is actually pretty complex, just to go through the sequence you see in the establishing shot; it's got to be a miniature, and my guess is that it the rods were all hand manipulated and probably took more than one take and a lot of rehearsal. But then I started thinking about how the mechanics would work if it were real-- how in the world would the 'cream' and 'sugar' be separated from the 'coffee' when it drained? How would the 'sugar' be dried out when it was extracted from the liquid?
Anybody have any insight about this gag sequence and the props and miniatures?

[–] newtype_1 12 years ago

I thought the coffee machine thing was great, but it would have made more impact if they hadn't shown the small model earlier in the movie. Why would a radio show have something like that anyway? I didn't laugh out loud at this movie until this scene, particularly Benny's line "I'm getting all wet!"

I wondered about how they get the cream out of the coffee again too. And if it's real coffee or just dark water. If you were to ask anyone who worked on the movie, they'd probably tell you it was all part of a dream and not to worry about it. I figure there's probably some Oompa-Loompas running things off camera.

[–] VinnieRattolle 10 years ago

In the second episode of Robin Williams' 2013 TV series "The Crazy Ones" (titled "The Spectacular"), they used the same basic idea for a prop (minus cream and sugar). There's an enormous display for "Windy City Coffee," but the ad agency forgot to guard against the Chicago wind and it ends up showering coffee onto a crowd.

[–] donofthedial 10 years ago

A "Leave It to Beaver" episode segment inspired by the coffee billboard in THBaMidnight-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PamLRfujJaM

below is the linked version - invisible on here for some reason.

[–] ms-zanadu 9 years ago

Thanks donofthedial for the YouTube link
( made these links " clickable " for you  ) .

These are two my favorite scenes from both programs now   :

Beaver - In The Soup

---- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PamLRfujJaM ----

The Horn Blows at Midnight (Preview Clip) ( First Display in the film like this one better  ) :

---- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMQCIDI_68k ----

I'm watching this movie on TCM ( Turner Classic Movies ) right now  .

Thanks also to phil_451 for your subject post  .

[–] donofthedial 9 years ago

Such a funny film with a stellar cast!

The Beaver clip is just the kind of thing we boys did and do.

Happy viewing!

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That's just me being polite.

[–] he88 9 years ago

It could only work in the movies. In real life having to deal with the elements it would be a big ugly mess in hardly no time. So obviously in real life nothing could actually pour even if the coffe could recycle. Cool concept though.