Murphy Beds in the Movies

Murphy Beds in the Entertainment Industry

Murphy beds have been featured in many old black and white films, modern movies, television series and even in cartoons. Who can forget those hilarious scenes with someone getting trapped in a Murphy bed? Here is a list of movies and television shows where a Murphy bed has appeared.

Murphy Beds in the Movies
Murphy Beds on TV
Murphy Beds in Cartoons
UPDATES

Murphy bed photo courtesy of
Old Creek Wall Bed Factory

The "Murphy bed" or wall bed is a bed that folds

up into the wall to create extra space when it’s

not in use. It was invented by William L. Murphy

in 1916. (21)

Murphy Beds in the Movies

Honeymoon Hotel (1934)
"Some nice sight gags involving the Bugville Fire Department and the rescue efforts at the hotel are next, with our couple trapped in their room by some quite lively flames-so they jump in their "Murphy bed" and it folds back into the wall. Later, after the hotel has been leveled and the fire is out, they emerge, the husband puts a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door and they go back into the wall again and we see the closing sight gag on the exposed underside of the bed." (1)

Union City (1980)
"When Lipscomb finally catches the thief, he accidentally kills him and stows the body in a "Murphy bed" in a vacant apartment." (2)

Spy Hard (1996)
Alexandra Paul plays the woman in the "Murphy bed." (3)

Nothing but Pleasure (1940)
Nothing but Pleasure has a terrific sequence involving a drunk woman who wanders into Buster's motel room, and Buster's efforts to get her into a "Murphy bed." (4)

Vivacious Lady (1938)
The scenes with the "Murphy bed" in Roger's apartment are among the funniest and sexiest every filmed. I'm surprised this got by the censors back then. (5)

Bath TubPerils (1916)
Through the usual Keystone laws of physics, Mace ends up (in his pajamas) inside a "Murphy bed" in Anna's room, where her husband finds him. This leads to a chase, though not a climactic one. Mace hides in a steamer trunk. (6)

Meet Boston Blackie (1941)
Blackie uses around-back chair to lock Cecelia in her "wall bed." (7)

Fatty's Reckless Fling (1915)
"The rousing finale involves an odd sort of "Murphy bed" that slides back and forth between the two apartments, occupied by various personnel on each trip." (8)

One A.M. (1916)
"The highlight of the film is his encounter with the Murphy bed, which seems to have a mind of its own. This is probably the first film one could identify as a Chaplin classic; it's a comic ballet." (9)

Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966)

Murphy bed photo by David Boyle CC-BY

Tom and Lily hide Didi in a "wall bed", then in the basement, and finally in a fire locker behind the house. But all attempts to conceal Didi fail. (10)

Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)
"There are actually sight gags with a "Murphy bed" here, possibly the last time such a prop would be used in a contempo-set comedy." (11)

You Only Live Twice (1967)
"Beginning the case in Hong Kong, Bond is enclosed in Murphy bed by Ling and seemingly machine-gunned to death." (12)

Million Dollar Mystery (1987)
".. . . a slapstick encounter with a Murphy bed.(13)

Fireman Save My Child (1954)
When Harry later becomes trapped in his "Murphy bed" and his wife sounds an alarm, Firehouse 12 shows up wearing their silly band outfits, causing Spencer to suspend them all. (14)

*According to a Wikipedia article , Murphy beds have also appeared in films such as "Silent Movie" and "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"

Silent Movie
"In Mel Brooks' Silent Movie, a hotel's neon sign advertises "Murphy Beds — Charming to the Unsophisticated" (15)

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World In It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Phil Silvers gets thrown from the fire truck ladder, through a window and onto a "Murphy bed", which promptly retracts into the wall. (16)

Murphy Beds on TV

Laverne & Shirley (1976)
"The girls open these doors in someone's apartment and the bed hits the floor. They try to put it back but it seems this bed has a mind of it's own! They walk near it and it lifts itself off the ground. They step back...it goes back. Finally they tackle the bed like football players and it sends them both up into the wall space and up & down until they come flipping out of there, land on their feet and slam it back shut!" (17)

Love American Style - Love and Murphy's Bed (1971)
An electric "Murphy bed "provides a hiding place for several people. (18)

Frasier
According to a discussion in the Nitrateville forum, there was a Murphy bed in Niles apartment in the 'Shangri La' episode of Frasier.(19)

Murphy Beds in Cartoons

Shuteye Popeye (1952)
"Popeye snores. . . . . Popeye, for some reason, also has a Murphy bed in his home, and goes back to bed, but the mouse slams Popeye into the wall by lifting up the bed. "(20)

UPDATES

Cheers - Season 9, Episode 12 (1991)
Sam's gets locked in the Murphy bed at the end of the episode "Honor Thy Mother."(22)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
"Valiant pulls down his Murphy bed from the far wall for a nap - to sleep off his crazy idea of getting involved in another Toon case."(23)

How I Met Your Mother: World's Greatest Couple (2006)
At Barney's apartment, "Lily is sitting on his couch. She then explains that she would never be there, except that earlier when she was trying to pull down her folding bed, she ended up pulling down the wall it was connected to, and being able to look into her neighbor's living room."(24)

The Cuckoos (1930)
“Bird rousts Sparrow, and they infiltrate the villain's lair - by checking in and getting a room for the night! Cue traditional Murphy bed gags.”(25)

Family Guy (Season 2 Episode 13)
An old couple was behind the Murphy bed when Brian and Stewie were trying to find a place to stay for the night in "Road to Rhode Island."(26)

Annie Oakley (1935)
“Sitting Bull, superbly played by an Indian who is billed as Chief Thunderbird, accompanies the Cody show on its travels”. ... “His adventure with the Murphy bed, which folds into the wall the minute his back is turned, is hugely comical.” (27)

"Hit the Ice" (1943)
Flash (Bud) and Tubby (Lou) are would-be news photographers mistaken for Detroit hit men who wind up at a fancy ski resort with bank robbers. ... "Lou's antics: Mishaps involving a Murphy bed and a fire ladder."(28)

What Happens in Vegas (2008)

"Because Joy had been living with her boyfriend, she must move into Jack's grimy no-bedroom apartment, sleep on his Murphy bed and sanitize his kitchen and bathroom." (29)

Subub Surprises the Burglar (Edwin S. Porter, 1903)
A one-minute film in which a burglar breaks into a man's room while he is sleeping in a Murphy bed, at which point the Murphy bed folds up into the wall and the man, now awake, fires at the burglar through six holes underneath the bed. The burglar explodes in a cloud of smoke, the bed folds down, and the man joyously claps, slaps his knees, bounces, and hops on the bed celebrating his victory.(30)

TV appearance: 'Allo'Allo!, Season 7, Episode 1: Von Flockenstuffen In Command (1991):
"Leclerc and Fanny are brought down in the town square after the helium runs out, where they are then arrested and sent to prison. Since Von Klinkerhoffen's nervous breakdown, General Von Flockenstuffen has taken command, much to the chagrin of Von Strohm, Gruber, Bertorelli, and Helga. Edith manages to forge her own papers to release Fanny and Leclerc just as Von Smallhausen has himself arrested to interrogate the couple about the British airmen. Ultimately, the forged papers are discovered, and the newlyweds hide back at the cafe. Unfortunately, their spring-loaded Murphy bed has now pinned them behind the wall..." (31)

Phffft (Mark Robson, 1954)
In this screwball comedy starring Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon, Holliday shows Lemmon her bed, which slides out of the wall with the push of a button. They have just been divorced, so the bed does not stay out for very long; but Lemmon, delighted by the device, playfully continues pressing the button to make it pop out again, while Holliday, unamused, keeps pressing the button to make it retract. The film ends, like all screwball comedies, with the couple remarried. They kiss, the bed spontaneously slides out of the wall, they fall into it, and "The End" appears.

The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941)
This Murphy bed appearance is perhaps the subtlest in film history, but it is totally legitimate. Notice that Sam Spade's bed disappears after the first couple of scenes in his apartment. We never see him store it in the closet, but we can definitely infer that that is where it has gone. Note that the closet is open in the scenes with the bed, while it is closed in the scenes without the bed. Also note the beginning of Chapter 7 of Dashiell Hammett's novel: "In his bedroom that was a living room now the wall-bed was up..."

References