MovieChat Forums > The Cobweb (1955) Discussion > Funny Line

Funny Line

posted 14 years ago by Blondfashionisto
8 replies | jump to latest

I really loved this movie - A camp classic.

For some reason, I found one of the lines totally hysterical...It was when Dr. McIver and his wife were arguing (after she'd kicked off her shoes!)...Karen (Gloria Grahame) says something to the effect of:

'...You know what our daughter said when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up? A patient!'

I don't know why, but I found that line very comical...

'There’s a name for you ladies, but it’s not used - Outside a kennel! (Crystal Allen in The Women)'

[–] socorso 14 years ago

oh yeah..! exactly..! (I do remember laughing out loud at that the first time I saw it...(the last time tcm ran it).

[–] Blondfashionisto 14 years ago

Thanks - I'm glad someone else found it funny and it wasn't just my 'black' sense of humour!

'There’s a name for you ladies, but it’s not used - Outside a kennel! (Crystal Allen in The Women)'

[–] janhatesmarcia 14 years ago

Nope--I found it funny, too! There's other unintentionally funny lines in this movie, too. And the number of times they say the word "drapes"! I stopped counting after 27.

[–] beauedson 14 years ago

i think this line is intentionally funny

[–] dshortt-1 12 years ago

Saw this on TCM last night. It definitely plays as a "camp" film today.

While some parts of the movie were intended to be funny, much of the dialogue intended to be serious or dramatic in 1955 comes across as hilarious today.

Highly recommended for anyone working in psychiatry/psychology or one of the "helping" professions. You'll be falling off your chair ...

[–] franzkabuki 8 years ago

"Much of the dialogue intended to be serious or dramatic in 1955 comes across as hilarious".

Oh yeah? And which bits of dialogue, exactly, are we talking about here? The one mentioned in the OP is clearly meant as a joke and although I kind of half-expected to hear some dated psychobabble beforehand, pretty much all the shrink parlance sounded reasonable and grounded. Nothing much camp about it far as I could see.

"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan

[–] snepts 7 years ago

I saw quite a bit of this the other day on TCM. Since it was about drapes in a psychiatric facility, I thought it might have a breezy touch, being completely unfamiliar with this film.
From what I got out of it, it was a rather churning drama. These were some seriously unhappy people. And the title is sort of chilling. I didn't catch the beginning or the end, but I like the cast and it's an interesting setting. If I get the chance I'd like to see this again, but it was much more serious than I expected going in.

I'm not a woman much less Deanna Durbin, but the old-time glam-shot appeals to me.

[–] pierrotlunaire0 8 years ago

One of the things that made me giggle was that it seemed everyone would enter a room and need to use the phone. Richard Widmark's character in particular. I lost count of the times he said the line, "Do you mind if I use your phone?" Fifty years ahead of time, these people were desperate for cell phones.

But I totally lost it when Widmark was out looking for John Kerr. The film shows him several times calling out, "Stevie!" Most of these calls sound okay, but the first time, it really sounded like they had dubbed in some else's voice. All of a sudden, you hear this deep operatic baritone: "Stev - EEE!" I'm probably wrong about the dubbing, but lord, it sounded so weird.