History OneSceneWonder / LiveActionFilms

** Even more so with his appearance in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' (in the suit, that is); the film was built up and marketed to lead to that scene; in the final film, Vader is shown in the suit for less than ''three minutes'', with less than 30 seconds of dialogue by Creator/JamesEarlJones.

** Darth Maul. Speaks about fifteen words over the course of maybe a half dozen scenes, but is arguably the single coolest thing in the entire prequel trilogy.
** From the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy, Boba Fett had only a handful of speaking lines and appeared for a total of ten minutes throughout, but was so popular he was written in to the prequel and even has books focused on him. It's probably the outfit.
** For ''Film/ANewHope'', this also applies to none other than who would become ''the'' central character of the Star Wars saga, BigBad Darth Vader. He has ''nine minutes'' of screentime in the entire movie, yet became the most popular and iconic of all the Star Wars characters, and one of the most infamous villains of all time!
** Even more so with his appearance in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' (in the suit, that is); the film was built up and marketed to lead to that scene; in the final film, Vader is shown in the suit for less than ''three minutes''.

** Similar to the Boba Fett example, Greedo only gets one scene where he gets shot by Han Solo. He's since become so popular and well known (most likely due to the whole "Han shot first" thing) that a number of comics and cartoons have been written exploring upon him as a character. The most notable example would be the ''Underworld'' comic which reveals why Greedo took the job to kill Han (he was trying to become a well-known bounty hunter but was failing miserably) and why he wanted to kill Han (he was very jealous of Solo, who was kind of a dick to him).

* ''CharliesAngels: Full Throttle'' has Jacklyn Smith reprising her role as Kelly Garret from the series.

* VincentPrice in ''EdwardScissorhands'', who almost steals the film from Johnny Depp. In fact the film created him a whole new following, his mannerisms and deep character acting captivating a lot of new fans.

* ''[[TheViewAskewniverse Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back]]'' does something similar to ''Zoolander'' for Mark Hamill's cameo, but ratcheted up the cheesiness. George Carlin's cameo as a hitchhiker is also very much an example, as is Chris Rock as the director of ''Bluntman and Chronic'', and Ben Affleck and Matt Damon as themselves on the set of ''GoodWillHunting 2: Hunting Season''. And Gus Van Sant as himself. And Tracy Morgan essentially playing a black version of Jay.

* Rowan Atkinson is in all of two scenes in ''LoveActually,'' one of which has him on-screen for maybe 10 seconds, and they're both absolutely hilarious.

* Mathieu Amalric appears in the first and last scenes of ''Les Aventures Extraordinaires D'Adèle Blanc-Sec'' as the titular heroine's revolting arch-nemesis Dieuleveult, dressed entirely in a black trenchcoat, hat and sunglasses like a Gestapo officer, completely unrecognizable under a thick layer of makeup with rotten-looking false teeth and speaking with a wheezy voice, all in all resembling Toht from ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''. After stealing the scene with a wonderfully [[LargeHam over-the-top]] creepy performance, his character is mummified alive and only seen at the end of the movie, observing Adèle embarking on the [[spoiler:Titanic]] and ominously wishing her "bon voyage". This is made even more infuriating due to the fact that Dieuleveult is, as previously indicated, her arch-nemesis in the comics and yet has no other role in the plot other than failing to prevent her from stealing a mummy she hopes will bring her sister back to life. Needless to stay, the fans of the original comic were not pleased.

* Chris Sarandon's outstanding turn as AlPacino's pre-op transgendered girlfriend in the classic ''DogDayAfternoon'' garnered him an Oscar nomination and made his career, despite his appearing in only two scenes.

** SteveBuscemi as Chet, the wormy bellhop at the hotel.

* ''Judgment At Nuremberg'' features SpencerTracy, Creator/BurtLancaster, RichardWidmark, Creator/MarleneDietrich, Creator/JudyGarland, and Creator/WilliamShatner. Every single one of them is at the top of their game... and then Creator/MontgomeryClift blows them all out of the water with a seven and a half minute performance that got him a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

* Creator/MelBrooks' ''Film/HighAnxiety'' has future big time director BarryLevinson as a high-strung bellboy who gets progressively more irritated with Brooks' requests for a newspaper until...no, it's too good to spoil.

** Parodied by ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'', has Sir Creator/PatrickStewart turn up as King Richard in a parody of ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves''.

** His cameo in the final scene of ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'', which he steals in classic LargeHam fashion. Appropriately enough, the same role (King Richard the Lionhearted) was played in ''Prince of Thieves'' by an uncredited SeanConnery who also stole that scene merely by showing up.

* SeanConnery has a cameo appearance as King Richard at the end of ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves''.
* ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'', has Sir Creator/PatrickStewart turn up as King Richard in a parody of ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves''.

* Donald Sutherland as X in ''Film/{{JFK}}''. An unusual example though. It's played straight in that He's in one scene, it amounts to about fifteen minutes of screen time of a three hour movie, and it's arguably the most memeroable scene in the movie. However since it's essentially a monologue it's probably the second biggest speaking part in the movie.

** Again in AbelFerrara's philosophical vampire film ''The Addiction'', where he shows up just to deliver a five-minute monologue on Sartre and vampirism.

** In ''PenniesFromHeaven'', he plays a pimp, who does a ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54iR0xFkEfQ striptease]]''.

* Film/TheHungerGames has Clove, who, despite while showing up in other scenes, has one scene dedicated to her almost sadistically killing Katniss.

* In the remake of ''TheManchurianCandidate'', there's JeffreyWright as the deeply troubled Cpl. Al Melvin, who has a scene near the beginning of the film and doesn't show up much afterwards, but casts such a haunting shadow over the proceedings of the whole film.
* Jerry the CIA agent in ''ApocalypseNow'' - "Terminate with extreme predudice."

* Harry Dean Stanton's unnamed security guard in ''TheAvengers''. Not only does he take witnessing a giant green rage monster fall out of the sky in stride, but is also considerate enough to bring a change of clothes for the human that the monster changes into. His scene-closing line is one of the movie's most memorable.

* Donald Sutherland as X in JFK. An unusual example though. It's played straight in that He's in one scene, it amounts to about fifteen minutes of screen time of a three hour movie, and it's arguably the most memeroable scene in the movie. However since it's essentially a monologue it's probably the second biggest speaking part in the movie.
* Taken to a shocking degree in the 1951 film ''Scrooge''. Towards the end of the film, Scrooge arrives at his nephew's house and hesitates before going into the party. He is comforted by the door maid who nods for him to go in. She has no lines but it is a very warm and tender scene. For years there was a massive discussion online about the actress's identity as she was uncredited in the film. Eventually a relative of hers surfaced online and [[http://dickensblog.typepad.com/dickensblog/2013/05/meet-the-maid-an-interview-with-theresa-derrington-cozens-hardy.html this blog post]] identifies her as Theresa Derrington.
* Peter Sellers as the title character in ''DrStrangelove'', where he's trying to talk to the President (also played by Sellers) while being attacked by his own prosthetic hand. Yes, it's so funny that Sellers ''steals the scene from himself.''

* It isn't her only scene, but Ann Miller's dance solo in ''EasterParade'' steals the movie right out from under FredAstaire and JudyGarland.

* David Carradine as the hilarious DirtyOldMan Poon Dong in ''CrankHighVoltage''.
* Alan C. Peterson as the Mayor in ''Film/SuckerPunch''. In his brief appearance, he steals the scene with his utterly badass pimpin' entrance and {{Leitmotif}}: a mash-up of [[Music/{{Queen}} "I Want It All" and "We Will Rock You"]].
* RodSteiger's appearance as TheJudge toward the end of ''TheHurricane'' definitely qualifies. [[spoiler: "You assumed ... wrong."]]

* JamesCagney reprising his role as George M. Cohan (which won him the Best Actor Oscar for ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'') for the BobHope vehicle ''The Seven Little Foys''. Cagney and Hope trade hilarious barbs for a couple minutes, then do an epic tap dance number together.

* KennethBranagh's ''MuchAdoAboutNothing'' movie, despite having a genuinely good, if rather [[LargeHam hammy]], cast (even Keanu Reeves is passable) is clearly dominated by Michael Keaton's Constable Dogberry.

* The movie ''The Loved One'' is basically a whole string of these, including scenes with James Coburn, Roddy [=McDowall=], Milton Berle, and, most memorable by far, Liberace playing a coffin salesman.
* If '30s actress Mae Clarke is remembered today at all, it's for that one scene in ''The Public Enemy'' where JamesCagney smashes the grapefruit in her face.

* Richard Harris as English Bob in ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'', who just "shoots some pheasants, defends monarchy, gets beaten by Gene Hackman, gets arrested and then goes away" in across maybe 10 minutes of screentime. But it's a remarkable performance enough for "The Duck of Death" to be in the poster.
* Viola Davis in ''Theatre/{{Doubt}}''. A single scene, about ten minutes of screen time, and while she's onscreen she overshadows ''MerylStreep''. It got her nominated for an Oscar, and many believed she should have won it.

* King Osric in ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'' is exactly this: he's played by Max Von Sydow, appears in only one scene and does his monologue in an incredibly humane and intriguing way.

* The Street Preacher, DolphLundgren's Jesus-obsessed cyborg hitman, is easily the best part of ''JohnnyMnemonic''. Admittedly, that's not saying much, but he easily outshines the film's other attempts at {{One Scene Wonder}}s (Ice-T playing... Ice-T the urban revolutionary, and HenryRollins playing... Henry Rollins the cyborg medic).

* Jim Jarmusch's ''Film/DeadMan'' has almost an entire cast of them. Crispin Glover as the philosophical but illiterate train fireman, Robert Mitchum (in his final role) as the shotgun-toting town boss, Iggy Pop as a crossdressing, bible-thumping psychopath, Billy Bob Thornton as a creepy mountain man, and Alfred Molina as the racist missionary.

* Forest Whitaker as the genial pool hustler in ''TheColorOfMoney''.

* WillFerrell...

* ''StarWars''

** From the original ''StarWars'' trilogy, Boba Fett had only a handful of speaking lines and appeared for a total of ten minutes throughout, but was so popular he was written in to the prequel and even has books focused on him. It's probably the outfit.
** For ''ANewHope'', this also applies to none other than who would become ''the'' central character of the Star Wars saga, BigBad Darth Vader. He has ''nine minutes'' of screentime in the entire movie, yet became the most popular and iconic of all the Star Wars characters, and one of the most infamous villains of all time!
** Even more so with his appearance in ''RevengeOfTheSith'' (in the suit, that is); the film was built up and marketed to lead to that scene; in the final film, Vader is shown in the suit for less than ''three minutes''.
** Also from the original trilogy, the reaction from the owner of The Rancor after Luke is forced to kill it.

* Figwit, short for "Frodo is grea... who is ''that?''" in ''[[TheLordOfTheRings The Fellowship of the Ring]]''. ''Three seconds'' of screen time, but [[FlightOfTheConchords Bret McKenzie]] had such a large cult following that they even gave his character lines in ''Return of the King.''

* In ''AmericanPie'', then-unknown John Cho's one-scene appearance as the MILF guy. Not only did this scene popularize the term "MILF," Cho arguably went on to have the best career out of all the young actors in the film. It resulted in a movie roll being written just for him - the part of Harold in ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle.''

--> '''Sulu''': Attention: John Harrison. This is Captain Hikaru Sulu of the USS Enterprise. A shuttle of highly trained officers is on its way to your location. If you do not surrender to them immediately, I will unleash the entire payload of advanced long-range torpedoes currently locked on to your location. You have two minutes to confirm your compliance. Refusal to do so will result in your obliteration. And If you test me, you will fail.
* ''Judgment At Nuremberg'' features SpencerTracy, Creator/BurtLancaster, RichardWidmark, Creator/MarleneDietrich, JudyGarland, and WilliamShatner. Every single one of them is at the top of their game... and then MontgomeryClift blows them all out of the water with a seven and a half minute performance that got him a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

* Marissa Jaret Winokur's sullen fast-food server, Janine ("You are ''so busted!''"), in ''Film/AmericanBeauty''. At a screening of the film, the character's smug little smirk at AnnetteBening not only elicited laughs from the audience, but actual ''applause''.

* [[PixarRegulars John Ratzenberger]] as the swashbuckling repairman in ''House II: The Second Story''.

* ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'', has Sir PatrickStewart turn up as King Richard in a parody of ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves''.

** Nick Moran made a short but impressive appearance as the leader of a gang of snatchers in ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows part 1''
** Also in ''Hallows'', Bill Nighy ''is'' Rufus Scrimgeour, inexplicably Welsh Minister for Magic, symbol of strength, beacon of hope to the Wizarding World! Gets maybe two minutes.

* JohnBarrowman appears in ''Film/TheProducers'' remake, as the lead tenor on "Springtime For Hitler". The results are amazing.

* Ben Stein in, of course, ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff''. "Bueller? Bueller?" Also, CharlieSheen as the hoodlum in the scene in the police station with Jeannie near the end. "You wear too much makeup. My sister wears too much makeup. She looks like a whore."

* DenisLeary has a few brief scenes in ''Film/DemolitionMan'' as Edgar Friendly, where he basically does his own act for 5 minutes.