I’ve noticed a disturbing trend that’s been going on for years, and it’s mostly most disturbing (mostly) because I’ve not noticed is before, yet it’s really mostly out there, like more than it isn’t. What you asked? Go ahead and ask, I’ll wait. What? Oh I’m glad you asked. “The End” is missing. That practice that once was a staple on movie end title cards, and in books on their end pages of declaring the end as “The End” is ending, in fact, seems to have indeed ended, and nobody is in a hurry to bring it back.
It may seem a silly thing, in fact it most probably is a silly thing, but that “The End” wrapped things up neater than solving a locked room murder. It closed the book, as it was. It put the stamp of a job well done on a job well done. There was no mistaking when you got to the end that it was the end. Any cliffhangers, unanswered questions, or unresolved loose ends, were more often the result of your not having paid attention to some seemingly unimportant detail than it was to the author’s or screenwriter’s lack of imagination or meticulous care to continuity.
It seems to me, the disappearance of “The End” occurred quite simultaneously to both print and film media, not unlike the unexplained (although welcomed by me), change of printing copyright dates in Arabic numerals rather than Roman numerals. (If you’re intrigue by that, check out my post here. It doesn’t explain it but I do have fun talking about it!) (But back to “The End” which I’m sure you’re now hoping we are getting close to as far as this post is concerned.) I noticed, or I think I noticed, “The End”’s demise in books and at movies because I’ve been on an odd quest (yes, odd even for me) of attempting to read the source material of all the old movies I am so addicted to. I want to see if the observations I made last year about movies based in books in the early days of the Hayes Code were more universal than just those handful of stories i mentioned
Even the most casual of casual readers knows that I much prefer movies of the 1930s, 40, 50s, and in a pinch, very early 60s to any other dreck put out since, but that’s just my opinion. Why do I say “attempting to read” the sources of the screenplays of those early movies? Because the source material is not always 1)known, 2)published, or 3) available even if it is both 1) and 2). But in those cases I have found a source that 1), 2), and 3) and the material ended in “The End” (or the more exotic “Finis”), so did the film. Those that did not, neither did they, and they did not about the same time as movie credits expanded to included everybody who happened to be in Hollywood at the time of filming, perhaps to make up for the lost screen time and then some by not including “The End.”
And so I suppose I’m going to have to watch more and more 60s and maybe even 70s vintage films to see exactly when movie producers decided it was more important for us to know who drove the catering trucks than that the movie is over, now please go back to your real lives.
And now, please go back to your real lives.
-The End-
Bonus points if you can identify the movie from the end title card below.
Do you plan so much you never get around to doing? When you do, are you overly concerned about what others think about what you’ve done? The most recent Uplift! explores why it is better to just do, and then do some more! Approximate reading time – 2 minutes.
The Real Reality Show Blog 
Casablanca? Just a guess! And I have nothing more to add…oh wait…other than your quip about acknowledging the caterers. Fun and fabulous! Finito! 😎
Ding ding ding ding ding ding! Yes, Casablanca is correct. It’s a shame you don’t win something for that other than the good feelings of knowing you are correct!
Whooppee! Truly — it was guess, for sure! Thanks for the morning giggle! 😎
Well you done did good!
And you’re welcome!!
🥰
YES! Casablanca
Ding ding ding ding ding ding! And we’re two for two! You answered that with conviction! Next time I’ll pick an obscure feature!
It really is Casablanca? Amazing. I know you think this isn’t significant, but there’s so much enjoyment in the small details you bring up because it’s a reality that I’ve noticed before but never pondered as you so brilliantly have. I think it might have something to do with producers thinking they may make a sequel of little significance so don’t make it so obvious that they may not be done. Just a thought. Thanks for making my Monday.
It really is! And thank you. You may have a point. Todays producers seem to be mostly actors who haven’t a had a movie in a few years so they make their own and of course, they can never be close to the end. 🙃
Good point! On a wider note, I am always complaining about the “shaggy dog” story element of modern TV series (and films, especially superhero movies, which I hate but my son watches) where they don’t want to end at all. Nine series of Lost? I need to know that I am in safe hands and that someone is going to take me to The End one day not too far away and that will be that. Succession and Breaking Bad did it right.
The End
Oh such a very good point! TV and movies do that so often. How many Batman and Avenger stories do we need? On the other hand, I’d be terribly upset if there weren’t 6 Thin Man movies out there.
Thank you for reading and for your comment!
Oh yes, but aren’t they standalone stories? Those we want to go on forever.
True, that they are. Even the second movie which starts where the first movie ends, right down to in the same train, it is a completely different story and one doesn’t need to watch 1 to understand 2 and so on. I’d have to go back and watch them all again, but I am pretty sure they all have “The End” as their end title cards. hmm… that wouldn’t be a bad way to spend the next rainy day.
Somebody bought me two of the Thin Man films on bluray and they are as yet unopened. Roll on winter!
Anyone today would take the risk to write The End at the end of a movie because every producer hope it will be a success and a door opening to a possible sequel. And it’s really important nowadays to inform the audience that any animal have been hurt during the making of the film 😉
Yes indeed for many it would be a risk to declare this particular piece of their work is indeed finished and hope for that sequel, or prequel, or spin-off. But those true geniuses of the form, know the masses will seek out their new works and enjoy the new tales just as much. DaVinci didn’t need to paint Figlio di Gioconda to prove he was good at producing art!
Thank you for reading and commenting!
In today’s Hollywood, conclusion is a no-no because film franchising and the releasing of sequels, prequels and spin-offs is top priority for the movie studios.
And that’s why no one will ever confuse these days as Hollywood’s Golden Age!