Movie Switchblades

[natcherly]

I don't see this particular movie listed here, which is rather amazing, as its locale is Sicily. I caught "The Sicilian" on satellite a few days ago. It is a movie about Salvatore Giuliano, a Sicilian bandit leader and separatist who has to deal with much Machiavellian intrigue and double dealing by the mafia, the church, the Italian gov't, the communists, his band and of course himself. In one scene there is a meeting in Palermo with the Cardinal of Sicily, a major mafia Don and one Giuliano's lieutenants who pulls out an enormous stiletto (probably a 13" pick but it looked bigger). The sound it made when opened was pure music!

[RSD100]

Thanks JimBrown, yes thats the movie, The Outsiders. I remember reading the book in high school; didnt know it became a movie. I see its a shellpuller leverlock, I didn't remember that. This movie was a start for a lot of big name actors.

[JimBrown257]

Thanks JimBrown, yes thats the movie, The Outsiders. I remember reading the book in high school; didnt know it became a movie. I see its a shellpuller leverlock, I didn't remember that. This movie was a start for a lot of big name actors.

It's a pretty good movie. If you still haven't seen it, you should watch it while it's still on Youtube.

And it is incredible how virtually every actor in that movie went on to be huge. Granted for many of them didn't stay at the top all that long but they did reach the top at some point.

The Outsiders might have the most impressive track record, percentage-wise, for casting unknown actors who went on to be big stars.

[fastr19]

It sure did start a lot of knife collecting by some in this hobby.

[JimBrown257]

It sure did start a lot of knife collecting by some in this hobby.

I've noticed a number of people mention the Outsiders when they mention their love of switchblades. There's also a balisong in there; that's kind of unusual for a movie from that time.

I wish I could remember what movie did it for me when I was a kid. My parents recorded movies off HBO so they had several hundred VHS tapes each with three movies on them. I used to sneak down at night and fast forward through the ones I knew had autos in them and pause at the shot with the auto.

Something like this movie thread with all these stills of switchblades in movies would have been like a dream come true back then.

It's really incredible to think that kids these days will never know what life was like before the internet, when you could find any object or information virtually instantly.

[Krab-E]

An ep' of Futurama I saw a few days ago had Bender locked up, & he says "I'd better make myself a shank." He then takes an OTF from his body compartment & starts sharpening a stick! (It doesn't seem as funny as I write this, but @ the time it cracked me up)

[whippersnapper]

Tyler Perry uses an Italian stiletto switch 3 times in the movie Alex Cross. First to open an envelope, second to open an electrical box, and last to stab the bad guy in the climax of the movie.

[TMD]

Alex Cross 2012
He also use the switch to stab an airbag



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[TMD]

One more switchblade in the Simpsons
Season 24 episode 13


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/ TMD

[JimBrown257]

One more switchblade in the Simpsons
Season 24 episode 13

Wow, you can actually see the hole in the tang on that one. That amount of detail is rare on a cartoon switchblade.

[andy17]

Two more movies that haven’t been mentioned here (I think): High School Confidential and Devil in a Blue Dress.

The former is the 21 Jump Street of its day, and there’s a nice scene about 12 minutes in where the hero is cleaning his fingernails with an 11- or 13-inch picklock in the principal’s office. When the principal asks him for it, he tosses it in the air, catches it by the blade (try doing that with a Protech or Microtech), and hands it over.

Devil in a Blue Dress has a fight scene in it where Denzel Washington is being attacked by a man with a switchblade. If you freeze the film, I seem to recall that the blade has the locking hole very high up on the tang for an Italian-style knife (sort of like those Frosolone remakes).

PS. Anyone else ever thought that Roman Polanski has the knife the wrong way round in Chinatown? The way he’s apparently holding it, he cuts Jack Nicholson’s nose with the false edge, though I guess you could argue that it’s the tip that actually does the damage or that he could have sharpened it. (In the frames shown in this thread, it looks like they actually blunted the edge (as they did in Rebel without a Cause), so as to not to injure the star.)

Andy

[dark2023]

Gorky Park has as scene were a man pulls either an OTF or a gravity knife while fighting with the main character

[JimBrown257]

[quote+"andy17"]Anyone else ever thought that Roman Polanski has the knife the wrong way round in Chinatown?[/quote]

Good eye. I've never noticed that before but you're right; he's using the dull edge.

One other inaccuracy that has been noted about that scene: that is the Korean or Taiwanese clone of the Rizzy (I'd guess Taiwanese because it appears to have a smooth/shiney scale) that wasn't made for several decades after the time in which the movie took place.

[JimBrown257]

Also,

it looks like they actually blunted the edge (as they did in Rebel without a Cause), so as to not to injure the star.)

It's funny you mention that because Rangerscott on SD recently found this:
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/7457301

Now I'm starting to wonder if that really is the switchblade from Rebel Without a Cause.

[BTB0923]

They rigged the knife. Roman Polanski's crew got so tired of explaining to people how the knife was rigged with a hinged tip that they just started telling people that they really cut jack Nicholson's nose.