Women Falling Down The Stairs

April 29, 2013 9:39 AM

Hi there, I'm looking for instances in which female movie characters tumble down the stairs (onscreen). I have a bunch of the obvious ones like "Death Becomes Her" and "Showgirls," but surely there are tons I'm missing. As many as possible please!
posted by BE ADEQUITE to Media & Arts (35 answers total)

There's a scene where Scarlett falls down the stairs in Gone with the Wind. I believe she was pregnant when it happens.
posted by chatongriffes at 9:45 AM on April 29, 2013

Here is the Gone With the Wind scene.
posted by Behemoth at 9:47 AM on April 29, 2013

If it doesn't matter if the character is pushed or not, then Velma in Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte.
posted by zizzle at 9:49 AM on April 29, 2013

Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, an over-the-top Bette Davis vehicle from the 60's.
posted by expialidocious at 9:49 AM on April 29, 2013

'Fargo'?
posted by BinaryApe at 9:55 AM on April 29, 2013

The scene from Fargo.
posted by seemoreglass at 10:00 AM on April 29, 2013

TV Tropes: Staircase Tumble.
posted by zamboni at 10:03 AM on April 29, 2013

Gene Tierney in Leave Her to Heaven.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:04 AM on April 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

When Melissa McCarthy hosted SNL a year or so ago (not the most recent time), she had a sketch where she fell down the stairs repeatedly.
posted by kestrel251 at 10:09 AM on April 29, 2013

If "falling down stairs" can be expanded to "falling down a hill", Princess Bride can certainly fit the bill here.
posted by kellygrape at 10:10 AM on April 29, 2013

Reefer Madness (the 2005 musical). Sally's running gag is pratfalls. She falls down going up the stairs, just before 15 minutes in. "Damn stairs."
posted by tomboko at 10:23 AM on April 29, 2013

In The Witches of Eastwick, the Felicia character slips on a broken necklace, falls down some stairs, and breaks her leg.
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 10:24 AM on April 29, 2013

Didn't Priscilla Presley fall down the stairs in one of the Naked Gun movies?
posted by whistle pig at 10:26 AM on April 29, 2013

A somewhat special case is the documentary miniseries The Staircase, which revolves around the question whether a woman's (off-screen) fall down a staircase was an accident or murder.
posted by rjs at 10:26 AM on April 29, 2013

I think there was a scene like this in the TV remake of 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?' - Jane dumps Blanche out of her wheelchair and down the stairs. I'm not sure if it's in the original Bette Davis movie or not.
posted by youngergirl44 at 10:29 AM on April 29, 2013

Clueless
posted by juliapangolin at 10:39 AM on April 29, 2013 [3 favorites]

The Skeleton Key -- Gena Rowlands falls downstairs (I think Kate Hudson pushes her but don't remember for sure).
posted by Cocodrillo at 10:46 AM on April 29, 2013

I can't find the full scene; however, in The War of the Roses, Kathleen Turner tumbles down the stairs...at 1:18 in this trailer. Hopefully, you can find the full scene.
posted by AlliKat75 at 10:47 AM on April 29, 2013

Charlize Theron throws her pregnant self down some stairs in The Astronaut's Wife.

Some older examples on this list: Stairways for Death.
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 10:49 AM on April 29, 2013

It is a TV show, not a movie, but in Season 3 of Sex and the City, Natasha (Mr. Big's wife) falls down the stairs after catching Carrie in their apartment, thus confirming her suspicion that Carrie and Mr. Big were having an affair.
posted by fancyoats at 10:52 AM on April 29, 2013

The trailer for the upcoming "The Fast and the Furious 6" teases a kinetic fight between two women at the top of what appear to a subway stairwell, which at some point sends the two of them down the stairs.
posted by Sunburnt at 10:58 AM on April 29, 2013

In "Delores Claiborne," her wheelchair-bound boss commits suicide by throwing herself down the stairs. In "Fried Green Tomatoes," an abusive husband kicks or shoves his pregnant wife down the stairs because she is leaving him.
posted by Michele in California at 11:02 AM on April 29, 2013

Kiss of Death has a pretty canonical scene.
posted by Rat Spatula at 11:54 AM on April 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

She's All That has a quick/short one, and Not Another Teen Movie makes hay of it.
posted by pepper bird at 12:02 PM on April 29, 2013

In Being Human, the Annie/Sally character. It's how she initially became a ghost.
posted by fireandthud at 12:20 PM on April 29, 2013

Gwenyth Paltrow falls down the stairs near the end of "Sliding Doors".
posted by dry white toast at 12:38 PM on April 29, 2013

It's not just women, but John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara and Yvonne De Carlo have an extended attempt to get up a flight of stairs in McLintock!
posted by the man of twists and turns at 12:54 PM on April 29, 2013

Pedro Almodovar's excellent Broken Embraces (originally Los Abrazos Rotos) has a great one.
posted by daveliepmann at 1:12 PM on April 29, 2013

War of the Roses.
posted by plinth at 1:39 PM on April 29, 2013

In the awful Britney Spears film Crossroads, her pregnant friend falls down the stairs and has a miscarriage.
posted by galvanized unicorn at 2:53 PM on April 29, 2013

Amy Acker in Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing. One stumble and one fall.
posted by prolific at 4:14 PM on April 29, 2013

One of the real classics is Kiss of Death--old lady in wheelchair pushed downstairs by bad guy.
posted by Ideefixe at 4:55 PM on April 29, 2013

There's a scene where Scarlett falls down the stairs in Gone with the Wind.

Lovingly parodied by Carol Burnett in a classic sketch. Stick with it -- there's more than one!

Then there was the bit where Tim Conway fell up stairs.... but that was another parody entirely (but likely the same set of stairs)
posted by dhartung at 3:57 AM on April 30, 2013

Jennifer Garner falls down the stairs in Alias, season 1 episode 3 (or maybe 4).
posted by CathyG at 11:16 AM on April 30, 2013

I just watched Poltergeist, and the mother tumbles down the stairs in the film's final confrontation.
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 8:50 PM on October 19, 2013