These Aren't Nursery Rhymes

by yrnej | created - 28 Mar 2017 | updated - 16 Aug 2018 | Public

It can be hard to make up an original title, what with the millions of movies that have been made so far. Sometimes screenwriters need to recycle. The following movies all have titles that come from a nursery rhyme, but don't follow the story of the rhymes.

Which film has the most ironic use of such a title?

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1. The Cat and the Fiddle (1934)

88 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance

A romance between a struggling composer and an American singer.

Directors: William K. Howard, Sam Wood | Stars: Ramon Novarro, Jeanette MacDonald, Frank Morgan, Charles Butterworth

Votes: 363 | Gross: $0.99M

from Hi Diddle Diddle - Hi diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle

2. Wee Willie Winkie (1937)

100 min | Adventure, Family

Priscilla Williams, a young girl living with her widowed mother and paternal grandfather at the post he commands in northern India, becomes enamored of military life and embroiled in brewing rebellion against the crown in the early 1900's.

Director: John Ford | Stars: Shirley Temple, Victor McLaglen, C. Aubrey Smith, June Lang

Votes: 1,431

from Wee Willie Winkie - Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town, up stairs and down stairs in his night-gown

3. Hi Diddle Diddle (1943)

72 min | Comedy, Musical

When the bride's mother is supposedly swindled out of her money by a spurned suitor, the groom's father orchestrates a scheme of his own to set things right. He is aided by a cabaret singer... See full summary »

Directors: Andrew L. Stone, Friz Freleng | Stars: Adolphe Menjou, Martha Scott, Pola Negri, Dennis O'Keefe

Votes: 416

from Hi Diddle Diddle - Hi diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle

4. And Then There Were None (1945)

PG | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

Seven guests, a newly hired personal secretary and two staff are gathered on an isolated island by an absent host and someone begins killing them off one by one. They work together to determine who the killer is. Could it be one of them?

Director: René Clair | Stars: Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward, Roland Young

Votes: 12,336

from Ten Little Soldier Boys - One little soldier boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.

5. All the King's Men (1949)

PG | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir

The rise and fall of a corrupt politician, who makes his friends richer and retains power by dint of a populist appeal.

Director: Robert Rossen | Stars: Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Joanne Dru, John Derek

Votes: 12,776

from Humpty Dumpty - All the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't put Humpty together again

6. Rock-a-Bye Baby (1958)

103 min | Comedy, Musical

A TV repair man must care for the newborn triplets of his former hometown sweetheart, now a famous movie star, so her career will not suffer.

Director: Frank Tashlin | Stars: Jerry Lewis, Marilyn Maxwell, Connie Stevens, Reginald Gardiner

Votes: 1,739

from Rock-a-bye Baby - Rock-a-bye baby on the tree top

7. Some Like It Hot (1959)

PG | 121 min | Comedy, Music, Romance

98 Metascore

After two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.

Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft

Votes: 236,497 | Gross: $25.00M

from Pease Porridge Hot - Some like it hot, some like it cold, some like it in the pot, nine days old

8. Come Blow Your Horn (1963)

112 min | Comedy, Musical

Leaving home, young Buddy Baker arrives unannounced at the luxurious Manhattan apartment of his older brother, Alan, a swinging girl chasing bachelor who prefers his carefree life to ... See full summary »

Director: Bud Yorkin | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Lee J. Cobb, Molly Picon, Barbara Rush

Votes: 997

from Little Boy Blue - Little boy blue, come blow your horn

9. There Was a Crooked Man... (1970)

R | 126 min | Comedy, Western

A charming but totally ruthless criminal is sent to a remote Arizona prison. He enlists the help of his cellmates in an escape attempt with the promise of sharing his hidden loot.

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Hume Cronyn, Warren Oates

Votes: 4,015 | Gross: $0.64M

from There Was a Crooked Man - There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile

10. Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971)

91 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery

California State Police Captain Sam Surcher investigates a string of teenage girl murders at Oceanfront High School.

Director: Roger Vadim | Stars: Rock Hudson, Angie Dickinson, Telly Savalas, John David Carson

Votes: 1,926

from Mary, Mary Quite Contrary - With silver bells, and cockle shells, and pretty maids all in a row

11. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

13+ | 133 min | Drama

83 Metascore

A criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rebels against the oppressive nurse and rallies up the scared patients.

Director: Milos Forman | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Will Sampson, Michael Berryman

Votes: 885,621 | Gross: $112.00M

from Intery, Mintery, Cutery Corn - One flew east and one flew west, and one flew over the cuckoo's nest

12. When the Wind Blows (1986)

84 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama

A naive elderly British rural couple survive the initial onslaught of a nuclear war.

Director: Jimmy T. Murakami | Stars: Peggy Ashcroft, John Mills, Robin Houston, James Russell

Votes: 9,548 | Gross: $0.01M

from Rock-a-bye Baby - When the wind blows the cradle will rock

13. Jack Be Nimble (1993)

18A | 95 min | Horror, Thriller

Jack and Dora, abandoned by their parents as babies, are desperate to find each other after years of adoption. Jack's young life has been spent with a sadistic family. Dora, whose life has ... See full summary »

Director: Garth Maxwell | Stars: Alexis Arquette, Sarah Smuts-Kennedy, Bruno Lawrence, Tony Barry

Votes: 401

from Jack Be Nimble - Jack be nimble, Jack be quick

14. Cradle Will Rock (1999)

R | 132 min | Drama

64 Metascore

A true story of politics and art in the 1930s U.S., focusing on a leftist musical drama and attempts to stop its production.

Director: Tim Robbins | Stars: Hank Azaria, Rubén Blades, Joan Cusack, John Cusack

Votes: 8,692 | Gross: $2.90M

from Rock-a-bye Baby - When the wind blows the cradle will rock

15. We All Fall Down (2000)

92 min | Biography, Drama

Caught in the jagged downtown world of drugs, prostitutes and violence, three young artists lead tumultuous lives in desperate need of an overhaul. Relationships stumble as careers take ... See full summary »

Director: Martin Cummins | Stars: Darcy Belsher, Martin Cummins, Françoise Robertson, Helen Shaver

Votes: 159

From Ring-a-Round the Rosies - Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down.

16. Along Came a Spider (2001)

14A | 104 min | Drama, Thriller

42 Metascore

When a congressman's daughter under Secret Service protection is kidnapped from a private school, detective Alex Cross investigates the case even though he's recovering from the loss of his partner.

Director: Lee Tamahori | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Michael Wincott, Monica Potter, Dylan Baker

Votes: 74,127 | Gross: $74.08M

from Little Miss Muffet - Along came a spider, who sat down beside her

17. Three Blind Mice (2008)

94 min | Comedy, Drama

Three young Navy officers hit Sydney for one last night on land before being shipped over to the Gulf to fight. Sam has been mistreated at sea and is going AWOL, Dean has a fiancée and the ... See full summary »

Director: Matthew Newton | Stars: Ewen Leslie, Toby Schmitz, Matthew Newton, Tina Bursill

Votes: 347

from Three Blind Mice - Three blind mice, see how they run

18. Jack and Jill (I) (2011)

PG | 91 min | Comedy

23 Metascore

Family guy Jack Sadelstein prepares for the annual event he dreads: the Thanksgiving visit of his fraternal twin sister, the needy and passive-aggressive Jill, who then refuses to leave.

Director: Dennis Dugan | Stars: Adam Sandler, Katie Holmes, Al Pacino, Elodie Tougne

Votes: 76,104 | Gross: $74.16M

from Jack and Jill - Jack and Jill went up the hill

19. When the Bough Breaks (2016)

14A | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Horror

28 Metascore

A surrogate mom for a couple becomes dangerously obsessed with the soon-to-be father.

Director: Jon Cassar | Stars: Morris Chestnut, Regina Hall, Romany Malco, Michael Kenneth Williams

Votes: 5,531 | Gross: $29.70M

from Rock-a-bye Baby - When the bough breaks the cradle will fall

20. My Fair Lady (1964)

PG | 170 min | Drama, Family, Musical

95 Metascore

Snobbish phonetics Professor Henry Higgins agrees to a wager that he can make flower girl Eliza Doolittle presentable in high society.

Director: George Cukor | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White

Votes: 84,298 | Gross: $72.00M

from London Bridge - London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady



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