Give us a clue?

June 22, 2009 11:09 AM

Can you think of any films that include a scene where the characters play Charades, or a similar party game?

I've been tasked with writing a screenplay for, and possibly shooting, a short film about a rowdy game of Charades at a party. I'd like to see how other movies have done this kind of thing, as much to avoid repetition as for inspiration. Examples from theatre or TV shows (though no game shows, please) would also be helpful. Thanks!

posted by Beardman to media & arts (34 answers total)

There is a hilarious scene in When Harry Met Sally where they play a pictionary-type game. ("Baby Fish Mouth!")
posted by cider at 11:11 AM on June 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

They play charades on Will and Grace. A bit of googling looks like it was in episode 1.21, Alley Cats.
posted by wsquared at 11:13 AM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

Not from a movie, but this ESPNU commercial depicts a game of charades. "Taco meat."
posted by That takes balls. at 11:15 AM on June 22, 2009

I feel like there is a scene of charades in Metropolitan, but I can't seem to remember clearly.
posted by OmieWise at 11:15 AM on June 22, 2009

The Anniversary Party had a pretty good scene like this; there was a lot of cursing from one husband to his wife, I think, because the clues she'd been giving were so awful.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 11:20 AM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

Will & Grace playing pyramid! Episodes 1-10 & 1-18 (although Grace is replaced with Val) are two that I can find online but I'm pretty sure there are more in later seasons.

Desperate Housewives S04E03 - Susan and Mike throw a charades party.
posted by magnetsphere at 11:22 AM on June 22, 2009

I second the suggestion to check out old episodes of Will and Grace. Hilarious stuff!
posted by Hanuman1960 at 11:22 AM on June 22, 2009

The Mystery of Mr. Wong, with Boris Karloff. A horrible movie, but a game of charades is a key plot point.

There's an episode of "Samantha Who?" where they play charades.
posted by Sidhedevil at 11:23 AM on June 22, 2009

The Birthday Party has a rather creepy game of Blind Man's Bluff.
posted by Sticherbeast at 11:25 AM on June 22, 2009

There's a pretty good scene in an episode of Frasier during its Felicity Huffman period.
posted by rhizome at 11:28 AM on June 22, 2009

Not a film, but in Friends they played Pictionary in one episode - I remember one of them drawing Bye Bye Birdie.
posted by KateHasQuestions at 11:42 AM on June 22, 2009

Doing a Google search for charades in the movie connections section of IMDB brings up a lot of results, such as the film The Family Stone.
posted by burnmp3s at 11:42 AM on June 22, 2009

They played "porno Pictionary" in the criminally underrated The Cable Guy.
posted by turaho at 11:44 AM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

There's a quick scene in the Muppets Christmas Carrol when Scrooge is with the Ghost of Christmas Present, and there is a party game that mocks him - I think it's a variant of 20 questions.
posted by GJSchaller at 11:45 AM on June 22, 2009

Priscilla Queen of the Desert has a short game near the end that is very tame compared with the rest of the film.
posted by Jason and Laszlo at 11:45 AM on June 22, 2009

Correction: they played Porno Password in The Cable Guy
posted by turaho at 11:45 AM on June 22, 2009

There's a scene/gag in Young Frankenstein were Frankenstein has to use charades to spell out 'sedative' to two other characters because he can't speak at the time due to being strangled by the Monster
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 12:01 PM on June 22, 2009

Wedding Daze with Jason Biggs has a charades scene.
posted by jmd82 at 12:03 PM on June 22, 2009

There is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode called "Hush" that basically comes off as one large game of charades....
posted by Windigo at 12:08 PM on June 22, 2009

The Home Is Where The Hate Is episode of The Venture Brothers features super villains playing charades.
posted by iwhitney at 12:15 PM on June 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

In "A Christmas Carol" during the ghost of Christmas present section Scrooge watches his Nephew and family playing the party game similes.
posted by Captain_Science at 12:17 PM on June 22, 2009

There's a very funny charades scene in Season 4 Episode 12 of the Dick Van Dyke Show, called "Death of the Party"
posted by N2O1138 at 12:30 PM on June 22, 2009

In Simpsons episode "A Milhouse Divided", the Van Houtens break up publicly after a nasty game of Pictionary.
posted by rocket88 at 12:31 PM on June 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

Here's a list of all the movied in IMDB that have "charades" as a plot keyword:
http://www.imdb.com/keyword/charades/. You can then flip through the individual plot summaries...
posted by ManInSuit at 12:32 PM on June 22, 2009

Oh also: You can go to http://www.imdb.com/search and type "charades" in the "word search" field and choose "plots" from the list of fields to search. This will give you all the movies that have "charades" anywhere in their plot summary (regardless of whether it's tagged as a keyword).
posted by ManInSuit at 12:35 PM on June 22, 2009

Is Pictionary similar? They play that in The Breakup with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn.
posted by juliplease at 1:37 PM on June 22, 2009

The Breakup (a couple fighting over a game) and He's Just Not That Into You (a couple falling in love over a game).
posted by Kololo at 2:07 PM on June 22, 2009

Oh, also the Family Stone. SJP offends everyone by trying to get people to guess the world 'black' by pointing at a black guy.
posted by Kololo at 2:09 PM on June 22, 2009

In an episode of The Office (US) called Dinner Party, a game of charades helps a party fall apart.
posted by roll truck roll at 3:41 PM on June 22, 2009

Return of the Secaucus Seven

Oddly enough, in Charade (starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn), they do not play Charades during the party scene, but instead play the party game in which strangers line up to pass an orange around without using their hands.
posted by Elsa at 6:06 PM on June 22, 2009

Oh, oh! There's a trailer features Sully and Mike from Monsters, Inc, playing charades. I don't think this action occurs within the film, though.
posted by Elsa at 6:12 PM on June 22, 2009

This scene featuring "Ted and Ralph" from The Fast Show.
posted by hciadt at 8:38 PM on June 22, 2009

One of the episodes in Grey's Anatomy starts with a word association game. It was 2.22.
posted by kjs4 at 12:09 AM on June 23, 2009

Wedding Daze with Isla Fisher and Jason Biggs has a couple charade scenes
posted by rlef98 at 12:28 PM on June 23, 2009