| “ | Oh, ain't that a pretty sight? I bet they don't even lock their doors. | „ |
| ~ Sam's first and most famous line. |
| “ | Say your prayers, little rat! | „ |
| ~ Switchblade Sam threatening to kill Dennis. |
Switchblade Sam is the the main antagonist of the 1993 John Hughes family film Dennis the Menace, which is based on the American comic strip of the same name. Unlike the other characters, Switchblade Sam was never referred to by his name, neither when spoken to nor when spoken about.
He was portrayed by Christopher Lloyd, who also played Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Merlock in DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, Dr. Heep in Baby Geniuses, Rasputin in Anastasia, The Hacker in Cyberchase, Lord Imaru in The Secret Treasure of Machu Picchu, Professor Plum in Clue, Stan Cruge in Santa Buddies, Bill Crowley in I Am Not a Serial Killer, Master Xehanort in Kingdom Hearts, Kruge in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Helgait in The Mandalorian, Mr. Clipboard in Foodfight!, and Pachacamac in Knuckles.
Biography[]
Switchblade Sam is first seen travelling clandestinely on a train. At one moment, he decides to jump out from it and it turns out that the train was exactly at Dennis Mitchell's town. Sam arrives in the village and is more than happy because he notices people never lock their doors (probably because the crime rate is non-existent) so he could steal nearly whatever he wants.
Taking advantage of the situation, Switchblade Sam commits a series of robberies in the village and is noticed by the police chief, who suspects he might be trouble, and advises him to leave town. His robberies include a doll and an apple.
One day, Dennis' neighbor and frequent victim, George, is chosen to host his garden club, having spent nearly forty years cultivating a rare orchid that will finally bloom at night. During the party, Dennis opens the garage door, which knocks down the entire refreshment table, and is sent inside as punishment. While George, his wife and their guests await the flower's nighttime presentation, Switchblade Sam decides to rob the Wilson's house. Sam searches the house thoroughly, finding nothing of interest at first but he finds George's collection of old coins. Fascinated by that, he quickly steals it and runs away before Dennis comes down and notices the theft. Alerting George of the crime, Dennis distracts everyone from the flower's brief bloom. Enraged, George tells Dennis he is a pest and that he does not want to see him or talk to him again. Dennis, deeply hurt by Wilson's words, runs away into the woods in sadness and is grabbed by Switchblade Sam.
Switchblade Sam has decided to leave the town before the police come after him. He decides to make Dennis his hostage. However, Dennis annoys Sam, first by showing off his slingshot, and shooting a marble into a tree, which ricochets and hits Sam in the forehead, then Dennis tries to work on the campfire, but accidentally flings a hot coal into the seat of Sam's pants. At this point, Sam decides to tie Dennis up, but his way of doing so is insufficient against Dennis's tiny legs, as Dennis frees himself without difficulty. Showing Sam the correct way to tie him up, Dennis handcuffs his captor, but drops the handcuff keys into Sam's huge pot of baked beans. Dennis force feeds Sam all the beans in an attempt to retrieve the key, but presumably feeds him all the keys as well. Dennis then accidentally bludgeons Sam twice more with a log and a stolen jewelry box, and sets him on fire with a blanket that he accidentally dragged through the campfire. Sam jumps in the river to put out the flames, but struggles to stay afloat as he's still in handcuffs. Dennis helps him out with a rope system, but Sam is now prepared to murder Dennis with his switchblade in revenge for all the mishaps.
Dennis discovers and recognizes George's stolen coins and realizes Sam is the thief who robbed the Wilsons. Sam attempts to murder Dennis by stabbing him but is trapped in the rope caught by a passing train. The next morning, Dennis returns home with the captured but half-conscious Sam in the wagon. Sam is taken into custody, and Dennis naively returns to him his switchblade. As a final act of revenge, Sam attempts to stab him with it, but the policeman Chief Bennett closes the police car door on Sam's hand, sending the weapon into the sewer and his freedom down the drain. He moans in pain before being driven off to the post. Although not shown in the movie, Sam will most likely be imprisoned for his crimes.
Personality[]
He is a traveling vagrant and robber (though that criminal "profession" goes by another term "thief") who is not against violence - in fact, he is aptly named as he carries around a switchblade knife (hence the name) with him and has no problems with threatening children in order to get what he wants.
Despite the comedic nature of the film, Switchblade Sam was actually a rather dark, dangerous, and intimidating villain, at least until Dennis (unintentionally) found ways to outsmart the criminal, after which he lost his threat status, as he became the focus of numerous slapstick mishaps in a manner similar to Harry and Marv from the first two Home Alone movies.
Where Switchblade Sam is from remains unknown, but he's most likely not from Chicago. That assumption can be supported by the fact that, after he had jumped out of a train, Switchblade Sam described the city as a "pretty sight" where people "don't even lock their doors", as well as the fact that, when he was first confronted by the police who didn't recall ever seeing him before, Switchblade Sam claimed, "Maybe that's because I ain't never been around here."
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