Films Named After Songs That Appeared Not in the Film

[Edgy MD]

The Kids Are All Right (2010)
The Kids Are All Right (2009)
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)

[Frayed Knot]

I once heard Warren Zevon complain about being commissioned to write a song for a movie which turned into 'Things to do in Denver When You're Dead' - only to have them name the movie after his title but then not use the song.
IMDB lists the song as part of the credits but they also throw in a disclaimer about every song not necessarily being used or appearing in the soundtrack. Having never seen the movie I'm not sure whether it's there or not.

[TransMonk]

Per Wikipedia:

According to director Gus Van Sant, [the B52's Private Idaho] was the song that inspired the title to his movie My Own Private Idaho.

The song does not appear in the film.

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, good one. The credits thank The B-52's* at the end.

The Zevon case is illustrative. There are situations where filmmakers don't like a commissioned song and drop it from the cut and the musician releases it anyhow, and even produces a video without footage from the film, which is the big advantage of such songs. Two I can recall are "Romancing the Stone" (in which only a few instrumental bars of Eddie Grant's failed title song appear, and Crosby, Stills, & Nash's "Wargames," which ended up on the cutting room floor of the film that it was commissioned for.

*In 2008, the band long known as The B-52's dropped the apostrophe and now refer to themselves as The B-52s.

[RealityChuck]

I assume you don't mean songs like "Key Largo," which was written about the movie.

There's an upcoming Nicholas Cage movie, "Season of the Witch," that might not include the Donovan song.

John Carpenter's Dark Star doesn't include the Grateful Dead song it's named for. I'm guessing Carpenter could afford the rights.

[metirish]

RealityChuck wrote: There's an upcoming Nicholas Cage movie,

Never a good thing , not since I was about 14 anyway

[Edgy MD]

RealityChuck wrote: I assume you don't mean songs like "Key Largo," which was written about the movie.

No, because clearly that film wasn't named after the song.

Valley Girl, on the other hand, was clearly inspired by the song of the same name, but featured the song not.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Murder, He Says. (1942, Betty Hutton)


Murder, He Says (1945, starring Fred MacMurray)

[stevejrogers]

American Pie. I believe McLean actually owns the trademark to the phrase or something, because he wound up with a credit!

[Edgy MD]

I am incorrect. While "Wargames" did not appear in Wargames, footage from the latter is featured in the video from the former.

In fact, that's all there is, unless this is a latter-day creation.

about "Romancing the Stone," however.

[batmagadanleadoff]

[batmagadanleadoff]

[batmagadanleadoff]

Oh wait. Named after a song NOT in the film. That disqualifies Pepper. And prolly An American in Paris. But Murder, He Says still stays.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Does named-after-a-book-named-after-a-song count?

American Psycho not only doesn't feature the Misfits song in question, but prominently features sincere discursions-- presented ironically-- by the psychotic main character dissecting innocuous pop-rock (Phil Collins, e.g.).

Also... "Boogie Nights" isn't in Boogie Nights, IIRC.

[Edgy MD]

Both good.

[RealityChuck]

Huh? The central sequence to the movie is a ballet set to the Gershwin song. Here's an excerpt:

[Edgy MD]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Oh wait. Named after a song NOT in the film. That disqualifies Pepper. And prolly An American in Paris. But Murder, He Says still stays.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Oh wait. Named after a song NOT in the film. That disqualifies Pepper. And prolly An American in Paris. But Murder, He Says still stays.

Ha! Now I owe you one.






Jimmy Page stole Dazed from Jake Holmes, an opening act for the Yardbirds. Holmes never bothered to sue.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Ghost Town (2008) comes to mind.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

If we're going Zep... does Black Dog count? (Terrible Swayze trucking movie, IIRC. I was riding the Tylenol-with-morphine dragon when I saw it.)

Leaving Las Vegas?

[TransMonk]

Where, oh, where can my baby be?

[TransMonk]

You don't have to put on the red light.

[Frayed Knot]

Roxanne clearly fails the 'films named after a song' part of the equation.

[TransMonk]

Yeah, I suppose.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

A whole lotta Christian Slater nipple? Yes.

Pump up the volume, dance, dance? No.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Sara Lee crying offscreen? Si.

Satan laughing with delight? No.