Roll Credits!
The Art and Style of Movie End Credits. Featuring the Freeze Frame, Still Rolling, and Roll Call.
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Roll Credits!
Recently, inspired by the retro freeze-frame ending of Netflix’s Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Chris Stanton wrote a piece for New York magazine called “Bring Back the Freeze-Frame Ending!” This inspired me to revisit some of my own favorite freeze-frame movie endings, which led to entertaining detours into two other well-known styles I’m calling the Still Rolling and Roll Call. Depending on the reaction to this, I may follow up with a Part II dedicated to mid- and after-credit stingers that are now common in most of today’s pictures, as well as a loving look back at blooper reels and gag reels as made famous in the Burt Reynolds oeuvre.
Consider yourself alerted that the majority of the examples below should be considered as spoilers. And please share your favorite examples of these three styles in the comments.
Freeze Frame
Just as the name implies, this style is when the movie ends with a freeze frame of the action and holds the image as the credits and accompanying soundtrack play on.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
At the ending of George Roy Hill’s 1969 classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the charismatic Wyoming robbers Butch (Paul Newman) and Sundance (Robert Redford) flee to Bolivia to escape a posse led by the dogged bounty hunter Lefors. After an intense shootout with the Bolivian Army, the duo are exhausted, wounded, and surrounded. They discuss plans to continue their adventures in Australia while reloading their pistols. When Sundance assures Butch that he didn’t see Lefors outside, Butch says, “Good, for a minute I thought we were in trouble.” They stand up together and rush out to face the army in a blaze of glory that freezes then slowly fades to a sepia tone as an offscreen voice can be heard saying “Fuego!” as three volleys of gunfire seals their fate.
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
Sydney Pollack’s 1975 paranoia-fueled thriller Three Days of the Condor is not only a great Christmas movies, but a classic New York movie. Joseph Turner (Robert Redford) meets up with the mysterious Higgins (Cliff Robertson) in front of the old New York Times building, to reveal he delivered key evidence to the paper about the government conspiracy he’s unraveled. A sidewalk Santa Claus is on full display and a Salvation Army Band plays and sings “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” Turner says to Higgins, "What is it with you people? You think not being caught in a lie is the same as telling the truth,” a line Tony Gilroy later used word for word as a tribute in his 2007 film, Michael Clayton.
“What have you done?” mutters Higgins, then shouts out, “Turner! How do you know they’ll print it? You can take a walk. But how far if they don’t print it.”
“They’ll print it,” says Turner, walking way.
“How do you know?” And the screen freezes on Turner looking back amidst the Salvation Army Bland as it fades to black and white, capturing the queasy uncertainty of his actions, and the era.