What’s a MacGuffin? We don’t know. No one knows. But it has to do with movies and that’s fun to talk about.
AI Summary
In this Short Stuff episode, Josh and Chuck dive into the slippery concept of the MacGuffin—that mysterious plot device that everyone talks about but can't quite agree on. They wrestle with competing definitions from screenwriters and Hitchcock himself, debate whether examples like the Maltese Falcon and the Ark of the Covenant actually qualify, and explore how this storytelling trick shows up in everything from classic thrillers to modern blockbusters. It's a fun, brain-bending conversation that'll make you rethink some of your favorite movies.
Movies Discussed
Escape from New York
"My favorite McGuffin, I think, is probably from Escape from New York. Oh, yeah. The cassette tape. — Cited as a favorite example of a MacGuffin—a presidential speech on cassette tape that is never heard."
— Josh
Knives Out
"It's really good. No. It's essentially what Knives Out, the first one is based on. — Mentioned as the modern film adaptation based on Agatha Christie's Murder of Roger Ackroyd."
— Josh
North by Northwest
"was it, Grace Kelly, who was in North by Northwest? You just want to make sure that they're both okay. — Referenced as a Hitchcock film where the audience cares about characters rather than the MacGuffin (microfilm)."
— Josh
Psycho
"The movie Psycho is one of the classic examples because, you know, everyone remembers the Bates Motel — Classic example of MacGuffin where the stolen $40,000 motivates the plot but never comes up again."
— Chuck
Pulp Fiction
"that mysterious briefcase that belonged to Marcellus Wallace, that Vincent and Jules go retrieve in Pulp Fiction — The briefcase is cited as a classic MacGuffin whose contents are never revealed and falls away from the plot."
— Josh
Raiders of the Lost Ark
"in Raiders of the Lost Dark at the beginning, that little gold head statue that he gets — Referenced as an example of a MacGuffin introduced in Act 1 of a film."
— Chuck
Star Wars
"George Lucas apparently R2D2 was a MacGuffin in Star Wars he said I think the audience should care — George Lucas cited R2D2 as a MacGuffin example and discussed how the audience's emotional investment differs from Hitchcock's approach."
— Chuck
The Maltese Falcon
"the Maltese falcon is kind of always, if you look up anything about the Muguffin, they'll usually kind of point to the Maltese-Falcan film — Used as a primary example of a MacGuffin plot device in film."
— Josh
The Thing
"another John Carpenter movie that had a great MacGuffin was the thing with Wilford Brimley — Referenced as another John Carpenter film with MacGuffin elements."
— Chuck
True Lies
"from routines to recovery, true lies, and a certain Jermaine Jackson music video — Mentioned in an advertisement for the Questlove Show discussing Jamie Lee Curtis's career."
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