Rob Reiner Sneaking His Hat From Spinal Tap Into The Princess Bride Is My Favorite Story About The Beloved Director

The list of beloved Rob Reiner movies is hardly a short one, but for me, the top of the list has to be This Is Spinal Tap. I adore the original mockumentary, but only slightly lower on my personal list is The Princess Bride, which I’ve watched dozens of times over the years. That film, which you can watch with a Hulu subscription, also has one of my favorite movie easter eggs of all time. If you didn’t know, the hat that Marty DiBergi (Reiner) wears in This Is Spinal Tap makes a subtle appearance in The Princess Bride. Here’s how that happened.

How The Hat Got There

The story has become a bit of a legend in recent years, but Reiner first laid out the basics of the story in the liner notes of the soundtrack for The Princess Bride. Reiner approached Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler about handling soundtrack duties for the fantasy film, and Knopfler, like almost every rock star, loved Spinal Tap. The guitarist had one request, however: he would do the music, but the hat would have to make an appearance in the movie.

Reiner took him seriously, though in those same notes, Knopfler admitted he was only joking. One problem Reiner had was that the actual hat from This Is Spinal Tap was missing. No worries, he simply got the prop department for The Princess Bride to recreate the blue Navy hat with “USS OORAL SEA OV-4B” written on it (with the very ’80s laurels on the bill). If you’re wondering how Reiner would work a modern hat into a fantasy movie set in ye olden times, look closely at the wall in the grandson’s room; it’s back there with all the other stuff behind Fred Savage.

It’s Not The Princess Bride's Only Connection To Spinal Tap

While the hat may be the most subtle connection to Spinal Tap in The Princess Bride, it’s not the only one, of course. Obviously, Rob Reiner directed both movies, and two cast members from Spinal Tap are part of The Princess Bride cast. Christopher Guest, who plays Nigel Tufnel in This Is Spinal Tap, also plays the villain Count Tyrone Rugen in The Princess Bride. Billy Crystal, who you might not even recognize at first as a mime in Spinal Tap, of course, plays Miracle Max in The Princess Bride.

Reiner loved working with the same actors over the years. Crystal and Reiner also teamed up for arguably the best rom-com of all time, When Harry Met Sally, and Guest and Reiner have worked together on these two movies, and what will now be Reiner’s final film, the 2025 movie release, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. Guest himself is semi-retired now.

The world lost an icon with the tragic murder of Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle, and it was little things like this, sticking a small prop from an earlier movie in a new one, that endeared him to so many people around Hollywood and, indeed, around the world.