Editing MacGuffin (section)

==History and use==
The use of a MacGuffin as a plot device predates the name MacGuffin. The [[Holy Grail]] of [[Matter of Britain|Arthurian legend]] has been cited as an early example of a MacGuffin. The Holy Grail is the desired object that is essential to initiate and advance the plot, but the final disposition of the Grail is never revealed, suggesting that the object is not of significance in itself.<ref name=lacy>{{harvtxt|Lacy|2005}}</ref> An even earlier example would be the [[Golden Fleece]] of [[Greek mythology]], in the quest of [[Jason]] and the [[Argonauts]]; "the Fleece itself, the {{lang|fr|raison d'être}} of this entire epic geste, remains a complete [...] mystery. The full reason for its Grail-like desirability [...] is never explained."<ref name=green>{{harvtxt|Green|1997|page=40}}</ref><ref name=brown>{{harvtxt|Brown|2012|page=134}}</ref>

[[File:Maltese Falcon film prop created by Fred Sexton for John Huston.jpg|thumb|The "Maltese Falcon" statuette from the film of the same name]]
The World War I–era actress [[Pearl White]] used the term "weenie" to identify whatever object (a roll of film, a rare coin, expensive diamonds, etc.) impelled the heroes and villains to pursue each other through the convoluted plots of ''[[The Perils of Pauline (1914 serial)|The Perils of Pauline]]'' and the other silent film serials in which she starred.<ref name=lahue>{{harvtxt|Lahue|1968}}</ref> In the 1930 detective novel ''[[The Maltese Falcon (novel)|The Maltese Falcon]]'', a small statuette provides both the book's title and its motive for intrigue.

The name MacGuffin was coined by British screenwriter [[Angus MacPhail]].<ref name=mcarthur>{{harvtxt|McArthur|2003|page=21}}</ref> It has been posited that {{" '}}guff', as a word for anything trivial or worthless, may lie at the root".<ref name=ayto>{{harvtxt|Ayto|2007|page=467}}</ref>

===Alfred Hitchcock===
Director and producer Alfred Hitchcock popularized the term MacGuffin and the technique with his 1935 film ''[[The 39 Steps (1935 film)|The 39 Steps]]'', in which the MacGuffin is some otherwise incidental military secrets.<ref name=deutelbaum>{{harvtxt|Deutelbaum|2009|page=114}}</ref><ref name=digou>{{harvtxt|Digou|2003}}</ref> Hitchcock explained the term MacGuffin in a 1939 lecture at Columbia University in New York City:

<blockquote>It might be a Scottish name, taken from a story about two men on a train. One man says, "What's that package up there in the baggage rack?" And the other answers, "Oh, that's a MacGuffin." The first one asks, "What's a MacGuffin?" "Well," the other man says, "it's an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands." The first man says, "But there are no lions in the Scottish Highlands," and the other one answers, "Well then, that's no MacGuffin!" So you see that a MacGuffin is actually nothing at all.</blockquote>

In a 1966 interview with [[François Truffaut]], Hitchcock explained the term using the same story.<ref name=truffaut>{{harvtxt|Truffaut|1985}}</ref><ref name=gottlieb>{{harvtxt|Gottlieb|2002|pages=47-48}}</ref> He also related this anecdote in a television interview for [[Richard Schickel]]'s documentary ''The Men Who Made the Movies'', and in an interview with [[Dick Cavett]].<ref>{{cite interview |author1=Alfred Hitchcock |author2=cavettbiter (uploader) |interviewer=Dick Cavett |title=Alfred Hitchcock Was Confused by a Laxative Commercial |date=October 22, 2007<!--Date the clip was uploaded--> |orig-date=Aired on television c. 1970<!--The exact air date is unknown; this is a guess based on Hitchcock saying Psycho was released 10 years ago --> |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBRZ6GEFjG4 |access-date=September 3, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503122702/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBRZ6GEFjG4 |archive-date=May 3, 2015 |work=The Dick Cavett Show |via=Youtube |time=0:00-1:36 |time-caption=Relevant portion from}}</ref>

Hitchcock also said, "The MacGuffin is the thing that the spies are after, but the audience doesn't care."<ref name=boyd>{{harvtxt|Boyd|1995|page=31}}</ref>

In [[Mel Brooks]]'s parody of Hitchcock films, ''[[High Anxiety]]'' (1977), Brooks's character's hotel room is moved from the 2nd to the 17th floor at the request of ''a Mr. MacGuffin,'' a recognition by name of Hitchcock's use of the device.<ref name=humphries>{{harvtxt|Humphries|1986|page=188}}</ref>

===George Lucas===
In contrast to Hitchcock's view, [[George Lucas]] believes that "the audience should care about [the MacGuffin] almost as much as the dueling heroes and villains on-screen."<ref name=vanity>{{cite journal |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/02/indianajones200802?currentPage=4 |title=Keys to the Kingdom |date=February 2008 |journal=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |access-date=January 2, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102193209/http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/02/indianajones200802?currentPage=4 |archive-date=January 2, 2014 |first1=Jim |last1=Windolf |url-access=limited}}</ref> Lucas describes [[R2-D2]] as the MacGuffin of the [[Star Wars (film)|original ''Star Wars'' film]],<ref name=lucas>{{citation |year=2004 |orig-year=Theatrical release 1977 |title=Star Wars ''DVD audio commentary'' |first1=George |last1=Lucas |time=00:14:44 – 00:15:00 |time-caption=Relevant portion from}}</ref> and said that the [[Ark of the Covenant]], the titular MacGuffin in ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'', was an excellent example as opposed to the more obscure MacGuffin in ''[[Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom]]'' and the "feeble" MacGuffin in ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]''.<ref name=vanity/> The use of MacGuffins in [[Indiana Jones]] films later continued with the titular [[crystal skull]] in ''[[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull|Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]'' and [[Antikythera mechanism|Archimedes' Dial]] in ''[[Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny|the Dial of Destiny]]''.<ref name=vanity/><ref name=vanity2>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/12/indiana-jones-and-the-wait-what-is-the-dial-of-destiny |title=Indiana Jones And The ... Wait, What Is 'The Dial of Destiny'? |date=December 1, 2022 |magazine=Vanity Fair |access-date=June 30, 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202104807/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/12/indiana-jones-and-the-wait-what-is-the-dial-of-destiny |archive-date=December 2, 2022 |first1=Anthony |last1=Breznican |url-access=limited}}</ref>

===Yves Lavandier===
Filmmaker and drama writing theorist [[Yves Lavandier]] suggests that a MacGuffin is a secret that motivates the villains.<ref name=lavandier>{{harvtxt|Lavandier|2005}}</ref> ''[[North by Northwest]]''{{'}}s MacGuffin<ref name=marez>{{harvtxt|Marez|2019|page=166}}</ref> is nothing that motivates the protagonist; Roger Thornhill's objective is to extricate himself from the predicament that the mistaken identity has created, and what matters to Vandamm and the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] is of little importance to Thornhill. A similar lack of motivating power applies to the MacGuffins of the 1930s films ''[[The Lady Vanishes (1938 film)|The Lady Vanishes]]'', ''[[The 39 Steps (1935 film)|The 39 Steps]]'', and ''[[Foreign Correspondent (film)|Foreign Correspondent]]''. In a broader sense, says Lavandier, a MacGuffin denotes any justification for the external conflict in a work.<ref name=lavandier/>{{failed verification|date=January 2014}}