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MacGuffin
Also Known As: Weenie. A term used by Alfred Hitchcock to refer to an item, event, or piece of knowledge that the characters in a film consider extremely important, but which the audience either doesn't know of or doesn't care about. Examples: the engine plans in The 39 Steps, the statue with the microfilms in North by Northwest, and the contents of the briefcase in Pulp Fiction.
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- Part of Speech: noun
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- Industry/Domain: Entertainment
- Category: Movies
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