The MacGuffin is one of the popular storytelling methods that has been present in the world of cinema for decades now. One reason for its popularity is that it can appear in movies of various genres, making for a lot of options. A MacGuffin is usually an object that the heroes are very invested in and want to get for themselves.
The whole story tends to revolve around the search for the object, only for the heroes and the viewers alike to realize that the object is essentially worthless, or it remains mysterious. The most iconic MacGuffins in movies lend something special to the story and make it easy for the viewers to remember it.
5 Rosebud In Citizen Kane (1941)
One of the best examples of a MacGuffin is just one word. The word of a dying man, a lonely rich man, who utters it before he passes away. But what does 'Rosebud' mean? That's what the reporter Jerry is trying to find out. Except for the fact that's not what Citizen Kane is about. It tells the complicated story of Kane's life, how he became powerful and rich and also managed to alienate all people in his life.
As such, the movie comes across as the tragic life story of one man, with a focus on everything he does and faces over the years. Citizen Kane is kinder to its audience than other movies that feature a MacGuffin, but not to the characters, as the journalist never finds out that 'Rosebud' was a sled Kane had in his childhood.
4 The Secret Military Data In The 39 Steps (1935)
Alfred Hitchcock is primarily known as a horror director, despite the fact that he focused on thrillers and spy movies in his career. He was a master of subverting expectations and making it seem like something was more important even though it wasn't. That's the case for the British movie The 39 Steps in which a group of interested parties wants to get their hands on military secrets. As Hitchcock likes to do, he primarily focuses on an innocent man pulled into a dangerous situation against his will.
The main hero, Richard, is a tourist falsely accused of murder, and he has to escape the police and the criminals alike, as well as try and prove his innocence. Even though it might originally seem the military secret will be the main focus of the movie, instead, it pays attention to how Richard will solve the problem he finds himself in. The 39 Steps helped introduce the concept of a MacGuffin, even though Hitchcock would only name it a few years later.
3 The Briefcase In Pulp Fiction (1994)
Whenever a mysterious object is important to multiple people in the movie, the chance is high it could turn out to be a MacGuffin. As the characters grow invested in the object, so do the viewers. In the case of the famous Quentin Tarantino movie, the audience wants to know what's inside the briefcase that's so important to both Jules and Vincent. Most movies would have provided an answer to that question in the end but Pulp Fiction doesn't.
Judging by the movie's popularity and high ratings on movie databases, it doesn't diminish its quality in the slightest. In fact, quite the opposite - the mystery around the briefcase helped build the movie's reputation. It led the fans to create multiple theories about what could be in the briefcase. One of the popular theories states that it could even hide Vincent's soul!
2 The Diamond Necklace In Titanic (1997)
James Cameron's legendary movie Titanic, one of the most profitable movies of all time, starts and ends with the diamond necklace called the Heart of the Ocean. Brock Lovett is searching for the precious jewel and when he sees it on an old drawing found in the ship's remains, it leads him to Rose who then proceeds to tell him the story of her love affair with Jack and of the ship's sinking portrayed in great detail in the movie.
However, even though the necklace makes several appearances in the story, Titanic is primarily about Rose's love for Jack and her struggle for freedom. That's best manifested by the fact that Rose keeps the necklace and throws it in the ocean in the movie's finale, even though she could have easily sold it for millions of dollars. But Rose doesn't really care about the necklace and neither does the movie in the end.
1 The Two Million Dollars In No Country For Old Men (2007)
Two million dollars is a lot of money, and it has the potential to change people's lives. In the modern western crime drama No Country for Old Men, the money does change the characters' lives - but for the worse, because multiple people die when they try to get their hands on the money. It all starts when Llewellyn Moss takes the two million dollars from a drug deal that went south.
Primarily because of Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh, one of the most chilling movie killers of all time, those who come in contact with money usually don't live long. In the end, the movie is primarily about crime and destruction, not about the money itself, and it only serves as a catalyst for horrible events, a goal that people are chasing no matter how dangerous it is.