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The term MacGuffin was coined by Mr. Angus MacPhail from Scotland, a friend of and screenwriter for Mr. Alfred Hitchcock. It is the designation for something that sets the film's plot revolving around it. It is really just an excuse and a diversion. In a whimsical anecdote told by Mr. Alfred Hitchcock, he compared the MacGuffin to a mythical apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands.
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Note: The picture above shows Mr. Alfred Hitchcock in a rare montage-flowing photograph demonstrating perhaps his sincerity in deceiving his audiences as to the real purpose of his actions in a pictorial environment.
In other words, it could be anything or nothing at all. It was an element of the script, which tends and was intended to distract, misdirect, and to confuse the viewer into believing that it is either the key element of the film or a totally irrelevant piece of visual or verbal information. The tactic was to throw the viewer off course as to the actual and planned conclusion of the script.
Note: In the truest sense of the concept behind the feature, known as the MacGuffin, the listener and/or the viewer must be aware that it represents the ultimately irrelevant plot element every listener or viewer is expecting, anticipating, or envisioning.
In the film Notorious by Alfred Hitchcock, the MacGuffin is represented by coffee. Cary Grant plays T. R. Devlin (the good guy) and Ingrid Bergman plays Alicia Hubeman, whose newly-wedded husband is in allegiance with the German Nazis. Through the twists and turns of the script several forces, friend and foe, become aware of contents of certain champagne bottles in the cellar, which contain black sand, and which has been secretly and subsequently analyzed as uranium. Ingrid Bergman, the wife of the Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains), whose allegiance is with the Nazis, plots together with Cary Grant to eliminate the factor of possible traitorous actions by Ingrid Bergman. This is accomplished by a MacGuffin, which is seemingly a poison deposited into the coffee to make it appear that she is dying slowly. However, this ultimately irrelevant plot element saves her from the grasp of the enemy and certain death. It is the one mysterious element undiscovered by the Germans sent to protect the uranium.
Mr. Alfred Hitchcock generally made it a custom to appear in most of his films as a so-called bit character, one who appears for a few seconds and then disappears for the remained of the film. His role in Notorious was to play a gentleman in tuxedo at the catered grand party to introduce the newly-wedded wife to a certain circle of friends. He stands at the room-bar, which offers champagne to the guests.
According to a review by Mr. John Ulmer in 2004: According to Hitchcock, the MacGuffin was a phrase devised from Kipling that was used to cover any plot curiosity or unexplainable necessity; the unattainable object that must be attained, or the mysterious device that must be discovered.
Another source quoted is by Mr. Mike Digou in 2003: As a literary device, the MacGuffin predates Hitchcock. Rudyard Kipling first used it in his writing, but Hitchcock elaborated on the technique and made it a staple of his films. During a rare and comprehensive interview, Hitchcock explained what the MacGuffin meant:
It might be a Scottish name, taken from a story about two men in 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 mans 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.
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Roger O. Thornhill: Eve Kendall: Phillip Vandamm: Leonard: Clara Thornhill: Lester Townsend: The Professor: |
Cary Grant Eva Marie Saint James Mason Martin Landau Jessie Royce Landis Philip Over Leo G. Carroll |
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In effect, the function of a MacGuffin is like the meaning of a poem, which Mr. T. S. Eliot compared to the bone thrown by a burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind while the poem goes about its own, deeper business. Mr. Alfred Hitchcock's most prescient MacGuffin is in Torn Curtain, whose Gamma Five project, concerning an anti-missile missile, anticipated by more than a decade President Reagan’s Star Wars project.
Though the word MacGuffin is not used in any of Hitchcock's own movies, it is sometimes mentioned, as a kind of homage, in films by other directors. British filmmaker Mr. Colin Bucksey's 1985 movie called The McGuffin was based on a novel of the same name by Mr. John Bowen. The reader should also note the difference in spelling of the title of the film. There is another novel called The MacGuffin (1990) and written by Mr. Stanley Elkin. A newspaper reviewer noted that the term MacGuffin refers to something that exists solely to move along the plot. Mr. Stanley Elkin himself suggested that it could be whatever got slipped in Cary Grant's pocket or that Jimmy Stewart picked up by mistake when the girl switched briefcases on him.
As a designation in the game of bridge, the term refers to a card that is dangerous to possess but too valuable to discard.
The term for this particular card was coined by Mr. Don Kersey, and is, of course, derived from the film trick perfected by Mr. Alfred Hitchcock. Mr. Don Kersey described an example to illustrate the presence of such a card in The Bridge World in April 2002. Although the majority of the examples would be in suit contracts and involve the principle of Elopement, coups by which a player scores a trick or tricks with trumps that would not ordinarily have sufficient rank to take a trick, the following illustration involves a No Trump contract.
North Q9542 54 Q7542 6
West 10862 K3 QJ108753
East J10763 973 J10986
South AK8 AKQJ A AK942
West (D) North East South 3 Pass Pass Double Pass 3 Pass 4 Pass 4 Pass 5 Pass 5 Pass 5 NT Pass Pass Pass
Regardless of the meanings of the individual bids, North-South reached a dubious contract of 5 No Trump. The obvious contract of 6
for East-West was not achieved and would have in all probability been defeated by the 5-0 trump split.
West leads the 
Queen. South wins with the Ace in his hand and plays the Ace. When West shows out and discards a Club, it becomes apparent to South, the declarer, that he has only ten tricks. In this particular card combination, however, the 
King-small of West becomes the MacGuffin.
South, the declarer, cashes the King and the winners in both Hearts and Diamonds, and the resulting position is:
North Q95 Q7
West K J1087
East J107 J10
South 8 K942
South leads the 8 and West is endplayed if the King is not discarded. West will be given the lead in Diamonds and allowed to win a Club honor. Therefore, West discards his MacGuffin and South, the declarer, ducks in dummy. If East wins the trick, East then leads a Diamond to the Queen in the dummy. South then leads the 7 from the dummy, allowing East to win, and East must then lead from his Jack-Ten and is endplayed. If, on the other hand, East ducks the 8, South then leads a low Club to endplay West.
If you wish to include this feature, or any other feature, of the game of bridge in your partnership agreement, then please make certain that the concept is understood by both partners. Be aware whether or not the feature is alertable or not and whether an announcement should or must be made. Check with the governing body and/or the bridge district and/or the bridge unit prior to the game to establish the guidelines applied. Please include the particular feature on your convention card in order that your opponents are also aware of this feature during the bidding process, since this information must be made known to them according to the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge. We do not always include the procedure regarding Alerts and/or Announcements, since these regulations are changed and revised during time by the governing body. It is our intention only to present the information as concisely and as accurately as possible.
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