A-List: Twist Endings

By Josh Spiegel

April 16, 2009

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It was all a dream. He was the killer all along? The dude was dead the whole time! He killed the guy who was dead the whole time, and it was all a dream! OK, that last one hasn't happened...yet, but those first three sentences were all examples of some classic twist endings in Hollywood history. Yes, the twist ending, something that can be the bane of an otherwise good movie or what makes a mediocre movie far more memorable for most audience members; these days, it's rare that a month goes by without a movie with a twist ending. Once, though, there was a time when the twist ending was a rare commodity.

Twist endings make or break movies. Sometimes, of course, they make or break filmmakers (yes, I am talking about you, M. Night Shyamalan; don't get me started on The Village). More often than not, these types of endings infuriate audience members by completely invalidating everything that's come before it. Also, there's the bigger danger that the big surprise comes as, well, no surprise at all to even the less discerning among moviegoers. Thanks in part to previous, jaw-dropping twists, and the massive amount of surprises that can be found week in, week out on TV shows like Lost or 24, people will expect surprises as opposed to be caught off guard.

As popular as it is these days to shock audiences with an out-of-left-field finale, and as bad as some get, there are some great twist endings. The movies on the following lists are all great films, in my opinion, at least, but the twists have defined their spot in cinematic lore. I'm not counting movies with twists that come halfway through the proceedings (for example, The Crying Game isn't popping up here); also, be warned: I will be ruining the endings of these movies. If you haven't seen any of those listed here, try to remain as unspoiled as possible. Oh, and try seeing the movies on this list! How could you pass up on these movies to begin with? Now that I've given you proper warning, here's the A-List's look at twist endings.

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The Third Man

If you haven't seen The Third Man, the 1949 British film that is arguably the best film noir ever, do yourself a favor and rent it right now. All you should do is put on your shoes and run to the closest Blockbuster, it's that classic a movie. Starring Joseph Cotten, Trevor Howard, and Orson Welles, The Third Man is shot and set in Vienna after the end of World War II. Cotten is Holly Martins, a pulp novelist from America looking for his old friend, Harry Lime. When Holly arrives, he's told that Harry's been murdered, but becomes suspicious when he hears how Harry died, and how three men, one of whom is unaccounted for, took the body to be buried. Who is this third man? Is Harry really dead? Well...no, he's not dead, and he is the third man. Though The Third Man is rightly remembered for its distinctive zither music (yes, zither), dark and off-kilter direction from Carol Reed, and the suspenseful reveal of Welles as the charmingly awful Lime (a racketeer who fakes his death to keep on swindling Vienna of medicine), the twist ending is a doozy and simple enough: the hero doesn't get the girl. Holly ends up falling in love with Harry's longtime girlfriend (Valli), but even after she sees what kind of man Harry really is, even after Holly brings Harry to justice - or because he does so - she spurns Holly's affections and, in a memorable and lengthy closing shot, walks right past him. Holly is left in Vienna, alone and ignored by everyone he's come into contact with. Seeing our lead, a well-meaning lug, be left in the cold is still a bit of a shock after multiple viewings. Though not a movie with a typical twist ending, The Third Man is a classic and packs enough surprises throughout.



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