Wholeheartedly endorse your choices of the Music Lovers, Tommy, Across the Universe, Bride of Frankenstein and Chaplin as scenes you could stand to be stuck with in hell.  Did you know the novelist James Agee was working on a script to resurrect Chaplin as the tramp in a post-apocalyptic world – interrupted by Chaplin’s being politically exiled from the US?  (An aside.)  Of course you do.  I would have to add scenes from Savage Messiah, Women in Love, the Devils, Aria, Altered States, Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion. . .

I would have to add scenes from Savage Messiah, Women in Love, the Devils, Aria, Altered States, Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion. . .

Romy and Michelle I understand, but those other choices surprise me. No, but seriously, I really wanted Savage Messiah, but one problem was how to get what I wanted without cheating unduly. I wanted to go from the “Whoever wrote that should be shot” discussion in the nightclub to the ending scenes. While that’s one of my favorite transitions ever, there’s no way I can get away from the fact that it’s two scenes. Of course, I could have picked something from everything else you named—and what of Twiggy singing “All I Do Is Dream of You” while watching Christopher Gable rehearse in The Boy Friend? That’s a moment of no little magic. And there’s the ending of Lisztomania, though I have to admit a slight desire to go for the giant phallus scene, if only from fond of memories of being sure it was on TV when I wanted to embarass my mother.

My picks, without a lot of deep thought, are more pedestrian and less nuanced.  They would be:

1. The scene in FORBIDDEN PLANET when Walter Pidgeon, Leslie Neilson and Warren Stevens descend into the interior of the planet, and the vast Krell machinery is shown stretching for miles in all directions.
2. The shoot-out after the botched robbery in HEAT.
3. The scene in TWELVE ANGRY MEN (the original) when Henry Fonda produces a switchblade knife like the defendant had.
4. The ‘hiding the gold’ scene in TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, when Humphrey Bogart becomes consumed by greed, turning against his comrades.
5. The ‘staircase’ scene in HORROR OF DRACULA when Christopher Lee appears with his snarling, bloodshot eyes.
6. The ‘butterfly’ scene in ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT.
7. The scene in LONELY ARE THE BRAVE when Kirk Douglas is forced to fight a mean, one-armed man in a bar.
8. The scene in BLACK SUNDAY (Bava’s film) when the coffin lid of Barbara Steele is opened, revealing her punctured face (that scared the devil out of me as a kid).
9. The ‘exploding head’ scene in SCANNERS. 
10. The scene in SON OF FRANKENSTEIN when the creature rips the artificial arm off of the police inspector.

My picks, without a lot of deep thought, are more pedestrian and less nuanced.

Well, they’re your picks, not mine. After all, you’re the one theoretically watching them while being toasted like a Lucky Strike, so they oughta be things you think you wouldn’t get tired of. I don’t how how I missed the “butterfly scene” in All Quiet myself. But then again, it’s a case of having ten slots.

I don’t know about you—or anyone else—but I also ran into movies where I couldn’t really isolate some single moment—Neil Jordan’s Breakfast on Pluto and F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise are two very different examples—that satisfied me, no matter how much the overall films meant to me.

The only scene I can think of that I know for a fact I would include on my list is the opening of Woody Allen’s MANHATTAN.

Others I’d have to consider—and watch again to make sure—are the thunderstorm scene from Craig Brewer’s BLACK SNAKE MOAN and the climax of Neil Jordan’s THE BUTCHER BOY.

The only scene I can think of that I know for a fact I would include on my list is the opening of Woody Allen’s MANHATTAN

That one seems like such a given that I was ashamed of myself for not including it. The Black Snake Moan one I’d have to see again, but I remember it as very striking. And I’d really have to know just how much of the climax of The Butcher Boy you mean. The latter we can assess soon, since I just got the DVD (to replace my old home burn of a VHS copy of the laserdisc) and it’s slated soon for a World Cinema showing.

I also can’t help but feel that there ought to be something from Wes Anderson on here—maybe the “Oh, Yoko!” scene from Rushmore or finding the shark from Life Aquatic.

It’s a good thing we’re not packing our asbestos drawers for this journey to the very deep south right now.

If I had to pick any scene from “Tommy”, it would probably be the scene with Ann-Margret writhing around in baked beans, pudding and detergent bubbles. Just ‘cuz.

“I also can’t help but feel that there ought to be something from Wes Anderson on here—maybe the “Oh, Yoko!” scene from Rushmore or finding the shark from Life Aquatic.”

The funeral scene from DARJEELING, maybe?

If I had to pick any scene from “Tommy”, it would probably be the scene with Ann-Margret writhing around in baked beans, pudding and detergent bubbles. Just ‘cuz.

Well, it’s your eternity.

The funeral scene from DARJEELING, maybe?

Good call. Are you including the flashback?

“Good call. Are you including the flashback?”

No, since it’s a separate scene. Unless that’s allowed somehow, which I’m assuming it’s not.

No, since it’s a separate scene. Unless that’s allowed somehow, which I’m assuming it’s not.

Well, the film does come back to the funeral—the flashback splits it—so it might figure as one sequence. Otherwise, you’re kind of left with the slow-motion traveling shot, the shot in the little cart and the Kinks song. And that’s okay. It’s more than okay, in fact.

I say we break out the Ouija board and ask Aleister Crowley for a ruling on this one. Surely, he knows the intricacies of the place by now.

What about “Harold & Maude”?

The scene whilst they’re sitting by the seashore, Maude turns her wrist over…

The numbers tattooed on her arm are only seen for a fleeting moment, but it offers a glimpse into the tragedy and resilience in her life.

What about “Harold & Maude”?

The scene whilst they’re sitting by the seashore, Maude turns her wrist over…

Splendid choice. I’d have to sit down with the whole film—not that I’d mind that—to decide if this would be my ultimate choice from this film. There are so many fine moments in it.

I find myself shocked and appalled that the creation sequence from BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is only mentioned in passing in Ken’s “Oops, I baked too much” wrap-up. This most perfect blending of images, editing and music is the very first sequence that came to mind. I’m even more non-plussed that another Whale sequence - “Old Man River” from SHOW BOAT - is not mentioned at all.
If I’d nominate anything from DARJEELING it would be the non-sequiteur sequence where Anderson revisits each of the characters in the film, each in his or her own “train compartment.”
And from the ouvre of Orson Welles (who created so many memorable sequences), I’d opt for the opening of OTHELLO where the sombre funeral procession for Othello and Desdemona is intercut with Iago being dragged to his punishment.
Also from Welles, the “changing fashions” sequence from THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, the astonishing single-tkae opening of TOUCH OF EVIL or (an obvious choice, admittedly) the hall of mirrors sequence in LADY FROM SHANGHAI.
And then there’s Bergman ...

And then there’s Bergman ...

That’s the problem—and then there’s lots of folks and there’s lots of good things. I ran Mahler tonight and found myself wondering how I left off at least three things from it. Death just wouldn’t be worth dying without the scene where Alma quiets the countryside so Mahler can compose, or the scene set to the “Liebestod” (okay, I’m a sucker for the “Liebestod” and you’re halfway there with me if you use it) where Alma buries her song. And there’s young Gustl in the forest at night, and the amazing “In Stormy Weather” sequence…and all this is from one movie.

Other things occur to me. Ronald Neame is hardly a great director, but I’d really miss that final scene from The Horse’s Mouth (1958). And I sure wouldn’t mind having the scene where Gulley Jimson (Alec Guinness) tells how and why he became a painter.

I do feel bad about not mentioning “Ol’ Man River,” though, especially after watching it just the other day.

It’s interesting that you brought up those Welles sequences. I’m not that keen on the Ambersons one, but Touch of Evil and Lady from Shanghai are another matter, except for the peculiar realization on my part that I’d be far happier to just see the sequences you named than watch the whole film in both cases.

I’ll admit LADY FROM SHANGHAI can be awfully tough sledding, but almost any other Welles film I can watch start to finish almost any time. I’m one of those oddballs who even really admires THE TRIAL and MR. ARKADIN (the discombobulating party scene with Welles alternately obscuring & revealing himself with a mask is another sequence I’d have on my hell-list).
And I need to find the loophole that allows me to take Jean Cocteau’s LA BELLE ET LA BETE and ORPHEE with me in their entirety.

And I need to find the loophole that allows me to take Jean Cocteau’s LA BELLE ET LA BETE and ORPHEE with me in their entirety.

Some films don’t lend themselves to being excerpted. I think those are two of them. Having thought about it a bit, I just can’t come up with a single scene from either one that would convey any of their magic out of context.

Orpheus’ descent into hell may be the closest either film comes to a sequence that can be excerpted. But even it depends on its context to a degree.
Perhaps it has something to do with Cocteau’s insistence on identifying himself as a poet and his films as visual poems ... unified works. Someone who identified him/herself as a film director might think more in terms of set-pieces within the work.

Orpheus’ descent into hell may be the closest either film comes to a sequence that can be excerpted. But even it depends on its context to a degree.

Yes, that’s probably the best bet. I wasn’t thinking so much of whether a scene would be comprehensible outside of the film, but whether the aura of magic would come across, or if it’s possible that that requires the whole film. Rather in much the same that Lindsay Anderson’s O Lucky Man! is probably longer than is comfortable, yet part of its sense of weightiness is in fact because it’s 3 hours long.

Oh, and by the way…

>>5. The ‘staircase’ scene in HORROR OF DRACULA when Christopher Lee appears with his snarling, bloodshot eyes.<<

That scene takes place in the library, not on the staircase.

>>8. The scene in BLACK SUNDAY (Bava’s film) when the coffin lid of Barbara Steele is opened, revealing her punctured face (that scared the devil out of me as a kid).<<
The lid isn’t opened; the glass in it is broken (as is the orthodox cross keeping her power in check). The lid comes off later when the sarcophagus explodes…

The lid comes off later when the sarcophagus explodes…

A landmark in exploding sarcophagi cinema, to be sure.

You’re just steamed Ken Russell didn’t think of it first.

You’re just steamed Ken Russell didn’t think of it first.

He probably did and then thought better of it.

I could probably garner ten clips from Ken Russell’s films alone. Please, Mr. Devil, sir, could I have ten more?

Yes? And what would they be?