CRIMINAL MISCHIEF 28: The MacGuffin

What is a MacGuffin? Since Alfred Hitchcock coined the term, his definition—such as it is—might be best:

 

“The main thing I’ve learned over the years is that the MacGuffin is nothing. I’m convinced of this, but I find it difficult to prove it to others.”

 

FAMOUS MACGUFFINS:

 

OBJECTS:

 

The Military Secrets in THE 39 STEPS

 

The Maltese Falcon in THE MALTESE FALCON

 

The Microfilm in NORTH BY NORTHWEST

 

The briefcase in PULP FICTION

 

The Letters of Transit in CASABLANCA

 

The Ring in the LORD OF THE RINGS Trilogy

 

The Death Star Plans in STAR WARS

 

The Holy Grail in MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL and in the DIVINCI CODE

 

The Arc of the Covenant in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

 

The Genesis Device in STAR TREK2: THE WRATH OF KHAN

 

PEOPLE/CREATURES:

 

Colonel Kurtz in APOCALYPSE NOW

 

Private Ryan in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

 

The shark in JAWS

 

Doug the groom in THE HANGOVER

 

LeeLoo in the FIFTH ELEMENT

 

John Conner in THE TERMINATOR series

 

PLACES:

 

The Big “W” in IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD

 

MYSTERY:

 

Rosebud in CITIZEN KANE

 

Suspected murder in REAR WINDOW

 

LINKS:

 

Strand Magazine: The Care and Feeding of a MacGuffin:

https://strandmag.com/the-care-and-feeding-of-a-macguffin/

 

Wikipedia: MacGuffin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin

 

Alfred Hitchcock Explains the Plot Device He Called the “MacGuffin”: http://www.openculture.com/2013/07/alfred-hitchcock-explains-the-plot-device-he-called-the-macguffin.html

 

What Is A McGuffin? https://nofilmschool.com/2016/09/hitchcocks-macguffin-explained-what-it-how-do-you-use-one-your-film