MovieChat Forums > The Dark Corner (1946) Discussion > Cab driver says Foss 'took a Brody.'

Cab driver says Foss 'took a Brody.'

posted 14 years ago by edgein15
10 replies | jump to latest

From Urban Dictionary:

This comes from "Steve Brody", the first man to survive the 135 foot jump from the Brooklyn Bridge. In 1885, right after the Brooklyn Bridge was built, Brody bragged he could survive the fall, and did. His amazing survival caused a media sensation, and the phrase "pull a Brody" has been used since then. (Only four people have *ever* survived the 135 foot drop, which is equivalent to jumping from the top of a fourteen story building.)

In 1885, Steve Brody owned a saloon. Parts of Brody's saloon still survive today in New York's Empire Room, which is fitted with mahogany panels and gold leaf plaster impressions recovered from Steve Brody's Saloon.

The miraculous 1885 survival of Brody made him very famous. From that time to this, New Yorkers have talked about "pulling a Brody" or "taking a Brody", referring to Brody's miracle jump and survival.

[–] jackboot 13 years ago

Thank you so much for posting this!!

I actually came to this board today to ask if anyone knew what the cabbie really meant by that line. I had no idea there was that kind of story behind it!

Do you by any chance know whether Brody survived that fall by landing on water? or on land? I assume landing on the ground as many (many? most? some?) people could probably survive a fall like that into water. Surviving a fall from that height onto the ground is truly pretty amazing.

Of course, "white suit" Stauffer fell from the 30th story of the "Grant" building in this story, more than twice as high as Brody's fall.

[–] Noir-It-All 12 years ago

Love this type of info., thank you. There was an actor named Steve Brodie who appeared in Out of the Past.

"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

[–] jmastropolo 8 years ago

The actor that you reference is "Steve Brodie"

[–] slinter 11 years ago

Actually, it wasn't the fall that killed him. It was the sudden stop at the bottom.

[–] goldenhawk40 10 years ago

Heh

[–] jmastropolo 8 years ago

Yes, a water landing usually accompanies a jump from a bridge that is over water. What makes the survival remarkable is that from that height, hitting water can be like landing on a hard surface and most jumpers died as a result of their injuries.

[–] Randy-144 8 years ago

At a height of 135 feet (41.15 meters) a body would hit a horizontal surface at a speed of 63.5 mph (28.4 meters/sec.) and reach that surface in 2.9 seconds.

references: https://www.angio.net/personal/climb/speed and http://www.calculateme.com/Speed/MetersperSecond/ToMilesperHour.htm

[–] joemarine 11 years ago

This is off topic but interesting to see Desoto Sky View taxi cabs with open roofs for viewing NY skyline.

[–] OeditpusRex 10 years ago

Good stuff!

When I was a kid, "doing a brody" meant to skid or power-slide your bike at an angle to one side or the other. After I saw "The Wild One," I gathered it evolved from Marlon Brando's explanation to the cops of what happened when he got knocked off his bike and the old man got killed:

"Then I did a big brody, and... that's all."

From your etymology, though, it's apparent that Brando referred to his fall.

Language evolves — particularly slang.

[–] melnar1 9 years ago

But Stauffer didn't "pull a Brodie". If he had, he'd have survived, which he didn't.