OK, this is a real long shot. This one crops up from time to time and has so for 40 years. (“I want to stop being haunted.” – Scottie, Vertigo)

So, here’s the scene that made its impression on me in the mid-1980s, maybe 1984, something like that. I don’t even know if it is a movie. It’s something.

I just remember one scene and remember my immediate terror as a young kid witnessing this. First off, it is a silent, muted-color film, with a herky-jerky, ultra low-budget look to it. The silent film had a rather jolly musical soundtrack, piano-based, I believe.

The scene: a boy is washing dishes in the kitchen sink, and somehow he goes down the drain. I don’t think we see the moment when it happens, but we see the dad running into the kitchen, panicking, and getting a fishing pole to “fish” the kid out of the drain, which doesn’t quite work.

This is all I can remember, but it certainly made an impression (as a kid I never wanted to wash the dishes after that). The scene is obviously played for comedy, and it has a silent-comedy look and feel to it, although in color.

After the long years I don’t doubt the actual scene must have been different than I describe it, but isn’t that the purpose of this site – to course-correct memories with a dash of cold water? Maybe this scene was a throwaway sketch on Sesame Street (American kids’ show). I just don’t know. I would be curious, however, if there is something to it, or if anyone can validate this memory.