I apologize that I can't come up with a brilliant example off the top of my head, but here goes:

In the opening scene of The Golden Compass, Lyra hides in a wardrobe (what a genius, that Philip Pullman) and listens in on a revelatory board meeting.

What's your favorite scene in which a character conceals himself, or herself, in order to listen in or spy on somebody else?

No electronic surveillance allowed. The character has to hide in the room, or the cave, or the ship, or whatever, and as a result ends up witnessing or hearing something important...

These scenes are usually an example of sloppy storytelling. They usually entail villains speaking to each other in an unnecessarily expository fashion, in order to fill in the blanks for the viewers. What's a *good* scene of amateur spying?

Kenneth Branagh in Much Ado about Nothing

Shakespeare used the device a lot ... Hamlet and Othello come to mind as well.

The Incredibles - Elastigirl "drops into" the guardroom to find out where Mr. Incredible is being held.

Buster Keaton in "The General" - Back then it wasn't a (movie) cliché

Is anyone else wondering how obscure Jeff's "Today's favourite" series is going to get? Tomorrow's favourite. "Best scene where a sith Lord reveals to a trainee Jedi that he is, in fact, his father".

They are such a lot of fun though. I'll be thinking on these all evening.

Matt

How about Jim Hawkins in the apple barrel in Treasure Island? Isn't there a film version (perhaps the Disney one with Robert Newton and Bobby Driscoll) where one of the pirates fetches an apple out of the barrel with a knife blade at the end of the scene?

I kinda wanna say that happens in the Muppet version...?

The Dan in Real Life bathtub scene.

All of The Conversation.

The Judge in Red.

Thanks, but as per the earlier description:

Well. Nevermind then.

Vern Tessio, under the porch digging for his pennies, overhear's his brother Billy talking to bad boy Ace about discovering the body of Roy Brower, setting up the journey down the railroad tracks in Stand By Me.

You might be right ... I've watched at least four film versions, including that one, so it's possible to get elements of them mixed up ...

John McClane on top of the elevator in Die Hard, writing names and details on his forearm.

Indy on the hillside in Raiders "I don't know, I'm making this up as I go.".

Young Indy in the cave Last Crusade "It belongs in a museum!"

In literature, there's always Sherlock Holmes pretending to be a wax dummy of himself in The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone, but if this tale has ever been effectively filmed, I haven't seen it.

There's a long scene built around this very dynamic in The Lion in Winter, where's it's about three layers deep IIRC--Henry discovers each of his sons hiding in King Philip's room.

One could also say this is a central dynamicin Wings of Desire and Faraway, So Close. Same thing with It's a Wonderful Life, where George and Clarence spend much of the movie hiding in plain sight.

There's a wonderful scene in Becket, where Brother John, the zealous young monk, overhears the candid confession of Thomas.

How about Sam dropping eaves?

2001: A Space Odyssee - Does HAL reading Frank and Dave's lips as they talk in the pod count? Actually that's more the speakers hiding.

To Kill a Mockingbird: Scout Finch, cumbered in her mangled ham costume, hears (and glimpses just a bit of) the attack on her brother Jem and then the fight between his mysterious savior and the would-be murderer. It's not intentional, but it's important.

combining art and faith...there will always be Hamlet: the young dane's decision not to kill his uncle amidst his prayers a particular fav...act 3 scene 3

for the uncomfortable and near the edge...
Blue Velvet (1986) David Lynch's slam dunk of Jeffrey(Kyle MacLachlan) hiding in the closet...listening in on Frank Booth(Dennis Hopper) and Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini)