Today, J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye turns 75. Despite mixed early reviews, the book quickly became a touchstone of American literature, and an icon of American culture in general. It has been referenced in countless other forms of media over the last 75 years, but famously never been adapted into a film itself, at Salinger’s request. However, it has graced the silver screen in several cameo appearances, its uses ranging from characterization to clue to joke to major plot point.
I have collected a few of these appearances below, limiting the selections to films in which the book actually appears (whether actually read or not), as opposed to the many more in which it is merely mentioned. Still, I’m sure there are plenty I’ve missed—so add on to the list in the comments!
Wendy (Shelley Duvall) reads The Catcher in the Rye in The Shining, dir. Stanley Kubrick (1980)If you would like to go slightly insane considering the symbolic significance of this, may I direct you here.
Ray, aka “Mike” (Evan Holtzman) reading The Catcher in the Rye while he waits for a “hit man” in Hit Man, dir. Richard Linklater (2023)“He said he’d be the guy sitting alone reading Catcher in the Rye.”
“Which, historically speaking, is never a good sign.”
