"weenie", the alternative "MacGuffin"? And other movie terms from 1946

[Laurence Horn]

On Feb 28, 2014, at 1:51 PM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:

> Why is "goodie" good, but "goodie two-shoes" not so good?…

"goodie-goodie" isn't so good either.  Too good to be true/too good for one's own good.  Not sure where the two shoes came from, though.

LH
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 27, 2014 at 5:48 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>> Subject:      "weenie", the alternative "MacGuffin"? And other movie terms
>> from
>>              1946
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> New York Herald Tribune, 20 October 1946 (Sunday), THIS WEEK
>> magazine, article "Cliff-Hangers", by William Roberts, pp. 15, 26, & 27.
>>
>> This article about the current process of producing movie serials has
>> the following:
>>
>> "The most important element of a serial plot is the 'weenie,' that
>> is, the object of all the mayhem that takes place from episodes one
>> to 13.  [Later, the writer indicates that 13 is the last
>> episode.]  The weenie can be a map, a document, a mine, an oriental
>> scarab with mystic powers, an invention, or, as in one case, a Nazi
>> plot to gain control of 'Middle Africa.' To justify the number of
>> people done to death during the course of the action, the weenie must
>> have fabulous importance attached to it. It must be the most valuable
>> map, document, mine, etc., in the world."  P. 26, col. 3.
>>
>> The weenie has some similarity to the MacGuffin, at least as
>> explained by Wikipedia: "a plot device in the form of some goal,
>> desired object, or other motivator that the protagonist pursues,
>> often with little or no narrative explanation. The specific nature of
>> a MacGuffin is typically unimportant to the overall plot. The most
>> common type of MacGuffin is an object, place or person; other types
>> include money, victory, glory, survival, power, love, or other things
>> unexplained."
>>
>> I will not try to analyze the difference, since I am not a recognized
>> film critic or lexicographer.
>>
>> "weenie" in this sense is not in OED3.
>>
>> Other movie terms claimed by the article (p. 27, cols. 2 and 3) are:
>>
>> "clean heavy": the leading heavy, "the suave, sinister figure behind
>> the villainy".  Not in OED3 ("heavy", short for "heavy villain", is).
>>
>> "dirty (or "dog") heavy": "the wretch who performs the strong-arm
>> thuggery".  Neither is in OED3.
>>      "dirty heavy": GBooks has several.  One is alleged to be
>> Collier's Illustrated Weekly - Volume 81 - Page 12 (1928): "In motion
>> pictures we have light heavies, heavies and dirty heavies, and the
>> ex-pug of the cauliflower ears and broken nose is usually cast as a
>> dirty heavy."  Others are 1982, 1989, 1990, 1994.
>>      "dog heavy": GBooks alleges several.  1947, Billboard - Nov 1,
>> 1947 - Page 49 ("dirty-dog heavies"; full view); 1952/1954; and 1960s
>> through 2013.
>>
>> "goodie" (or "goody"): hero, heroine, or ally.  Not in OED3.  GBooks
>> has at least 2007 (Take Me to Your Leader), but even with "movies"
>> added too many to search through.
>>
>> "cheater-cut":  "the introduction of a few feet of film showing a
>> hitherto-unnoticed avenue of escape for the intended victim."  Not in
>> OED3.  GBooks has 1973 (An illustrated glossary of film terms), 1977,
>> 1979, and a few later, mostly definitions rather than use.
>>
>> American Notes & Queries - Volume 6 - Page 119 (1946?) appears to
>> quote from the NYHT article ... or vice versa.  GBooks, snippet.
>>
>> I can send a PDF to those who wish one. (The article itself is an
>> amusing take on the production of serials.)
>>
>> Joel
>>
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>>
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