20 Idiotic Decisions Made By Characters In Quentin Tarantino Movies

17. Archie Gives Himself Away (Inglourious Basterds)

Lt. Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender) is tasked with meeting German actress Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) in a German tavern, and as he and various soldiers enjoy a drink, cantankerous Gestapo Officer Dieter Hellstrom (August Diehl) becomes suspicious of Hicox, noting his peculiar accent while speaking German. He manages to get away with this subterfuge, however, until he asks for three more drink glasses, holding up his three fingers to signify this. However, Germans do not signal the number three this way: typically they will use the thumb, index and middle finger, and so Hellstrom instantly clocks that Hicox is not the native that he claims to be. This leads to an epic gunfight which kills everyone except von Hammersmark (who is later killed by Hans Landa ), and it makes one think, if Hicox was going in as an infiltrator, it might've made sense to his research. That said, finger placement when signalling the number three probably wouldn't be on the top of your priority list, either.