“Here’s looking at you, kid.” “Open the pod bay doors, please, Hal.” “I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
Everyone has their favourite movie quote. So much so that we have collated another 50 of our favourites (in date order). So…Lights, camera… action! Take 3.
1: “You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!” The Jazz Singer (1927)
Al Jolson was so excited about his rendition of “Dirty Hands, Dirty Face” that he spontaneously uttered the line before segueing into “Toot, Toot, Tootsie.” The line was going to be cut but the director Sam Warner insisted it stay.
2: “One morning, I shot an elephant in my pyjamas. How he got into my pyjamas, I don’t know.” Animal Crackers (1930)
This was the last film the Marxes would shoot at Paramount’s Astoria Studios in Queens, New York. Part of this complex is now the home of The American Museum of the Moving Image, which has a wonderful permanent display of equipment and paraphernalia from movies and television.
3: “I never drink wi-i-ine.” Dracula (1931)
Bela Lugosi (Dracula) was by all accounts a strange, deliberately theatrical man, who drew attention to himself with stylized behaviour. He made his foreignness an asset, and in Hollywood and New York used his sinister, self-mocking accent to advantage.
4: “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Since Dorothy (Garland) first uttered it 80 years ago; this line has popped up in countless TV shows and movies, from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids to Avatar.
5: “We’ll always have Paris.” Casablanca (1942)
Screenwriter Julius Epstein recalled, “I wrote a note to (producer) Hal Wallis telling him how terrible (the script for Casablanca) was. He put it in a drawer. Thereafter, any time we had an argument about anything, he would open the drawer, pull out that note and hand it to (me) to read.”
6: “I don’t want them to love me, I want them to fight for me.” Patton (1970)
The ivory-handled revolvers George C. Scott wears in the opening speech were actually George S. Patton’s bona-fide revolvers.
7: “You’re a big man, but you’re in bad shape. With me it’s a full time job. Now behave yourself.” Get Carter (1971)
As a thriller it’s colder and more brutal than anything British cinema has produced before. It’s mood so unyielding that the viewer does not even question whether Michael Caine really could be a Geordie hood returning home for his brother’s funeral. There’s humour, but it’s so bleak it causes grimaces more than laughs.
8: “If she was here I’d probably be just as crazy now as I was then in about 5 minutes. Ain’t that ridiculous?… Naw, it ain’t really.” The Last Picture Show (1971)
Peter Bogdanovich had originally offered the role of “Sam the Lion” to James Stewart, who liked the part but had already committed to a TV series. The role was then offered to Ben Johnson. At 9 minutes and 54 seconds, Johnson’s performance in the movie is the shortest to ever win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
9: “I bet you can squeal like a pig.” Deliverance (1972)
Burt Reynolds’ breakthrough role. Transforming him from a TV / B-movie actor to a film superstar. This is the movie Reynolds appeared in as opposed to The Godfather; he was being considered for the part of Michael Corleone; but Brando said if Burt Reynolds is in my movie I will quit.
10: “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.” The Godfather (1972)
Richard Castellano, who played Clemenza, ad-libbed “take the cannoli,” riffing on an earlier scene where his character’s wife asks him to pick up the dessert on his way home.
11: “Seen Johnny Boy?” Mean Streets (1973)
This marks the first film collaboration of director Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro. They would go on to make nine films together: Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), New York, New York (1977), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1982), Goodfellas (1990), Cape Fear (1991), Casino (1995), and The Irishman (2019).
12: “Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown.” Chinatown (1974)
Director Roman Polanski said that in staying true to the tradition of Raymond Chandler’s detective stories, he shot the whole movie from the perspective of the main character. Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is present in every scene of the film.
13: “Jesus, I must be crazy to be in a loony-bin like this.” One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Kirk Douglas, who owned the rights, planned to star in it, but by the time they got around to making the film, he was too old. His son Michael Douglas produced the film.
14: “Is it safe?” Marathon Man (1976)
Sir Laurence Olivier played the character Dr. Christian Szell, based on Dr. Josef Mengele. Head S.S. Doctor of Auschwitz, who was in hiding in South America when this movie was produced.
In The Boys from Brazil (1978), Olivier played Ezra Lieberman, a Jewish Nazi hunter (based on Simon Wiesenthal), who tracks down Dr. Josef Mengele (played by Gregory Peck). Olivier received Academy Award nominations for both roles.
15: “Yo, Adrian! It’s me, Rocky.” Rocky (1976)
After producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff became interested in the script, they offered Sylvester Stallone an unprecedented $350,000 for the rights. He had $106 in the bank, no car, and was trying to sell his dog because he couldn’t afford to feed it, but he refused to sell unless they agreed to allow him to star in the film.
16: “La-di-da, la-di-da, la la.” Annie Hall (1977)
Alvy’s (Woody Allen) sneezing into the cocaine was an unscripted accident. When previewed, the audience laughed so loud that director Allen decided to leave it in, and had to add footage to compensate for people missing the next few jokes from laughing too much.
17: “Stanley, see this? This is this. This ain’t something else. This is this. From now on, you’re on your own.” The Deer Hunter (1978)
Various critics objected to the Russian roulette sequences, suggesting that such activity never took place in the Vietnam War. Director Michael Cimino was planning on the scenes to cause controversy and simply stated that no one could be certain of the accuracy.
18: “This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off.” Alien (1979)
Director Ridley Scott stated that in casting the role of Ripley, it ultimately came down to Sigourney Weaver and Meryl Streep. The two actresses had been college mates at Yale. Ultimately, Weaver was offered the job because Streep was mourning the death of her partner John Cazale (Deer Hunter) at the time of casting.
19: “The horror… the horror…” Apocalypse Now (1979)
Marlon Brando improvised a lot of Kurtz’s dialogue, including an 18-minute speech, two minutes of which survived the final cut. At the end of the speech, Brando reportedly said to director Francis Ford Coppola, “Francis, I’ve gone as far as I can go. If you need more, you can get another actor.”
20: “Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?” Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Harrison Ford actually outran the boulder in the opening sequence. Because the scene was shot twice from five different angles, he had to outrun it ten times. Ford’s stumble in the scene was deemed to look authentic and was left in.
21: “All those moments will be lost in time… like tears in rain.” Blade Runner (1982)
Replicant Rutger Hauer came up with many inventive ideas for his characterization, like the moment where he grabs and fondles a dove. He also improvised the now-iconic line.
22: “All I have in this world is my balls and my word and I don’t break them for no one.” Scarface (1983)
Brian De Palma’s Scarface is a loose remake of the 1932 movie of the same name, which is also about the rise and fall of an American immigrant gangster. The producer Martin Bregman, saw the original on late night TV and thought the idea could be modernized – though it still pays respect to the original film.
23: “Wait a minute, Doc. Ah… Are you telling me that you built a time machine… out of a DeLorean?” Back to the Future (1985)
Co-writer Bob Gale realized he hit gold when he decided a DeLorean should be the time machine. But, once filming began, Universal’s product placement team got an offer from Ford that would have paid $75,000 (about $170,000 today) if the time machine was switched to a Mustang. Gale’s response: “Doc Brown doesn’t drive a Mustang!”
24: “I feel the need…the need for speed.” Top Gun (1986)
In preparation for his role, Tom Cruise was allowed to take three rides in the F-14 Tomcat. He vomited during the first trip, but was okay during the other two. Cruise’s flight suit was later put on display at Planet Hollywood.
25: “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” Wall Street (1987)
With dialogue like this, it was no surprise Michael Douglas went on to win an Oscar for Best Actor. This is the first feature film to show a character using a cordless mobile cellular telephone!
26: “This is my rifle. There are many others like it, but this one is mine.” Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Every Marine is, first and foremost, a rifleman. All Marines must memorize the “Rifleman’s Creed,” which was created in 1942 by Marine Brigadier General William H. Rupertus.
27: “I wish I was big.” Big (1988)
The “Zoltar” machine was a prop developed for the film. It harks back to similar fortune-telling machines from the turn of the 20th century, most of which contained female gypsy characters. The Zoltar name was trademarked and a line of the machines is available.
28: “Welcome to the party, pal!” Die Hard (1988)
Ironically, Bruce Willis, sneered at for being an all-American hero by the head German terrorist, is actually more German than most of the villains; Alan Rickman was English and Alexander Godunov was Russian. Willis was born on 1955 in West Germany to an American father and a German mother.
29: “Men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.” When Harry Met Sally (1989)
The orgasm scene was filmed at Katz’s Deli, an actual restaurant on New York’s E. Houston Street. The table at which the scene was filmed now has a plaque on it that reads, “Where Harry met Sally…hope you have what she had!”
30: “It’s a good job we’re not having soup, or else I’d put me head in it and drown myself.” Shirley Valentine (1989)
A rarity in film, Pauline Collins’ character Shirley engages the cinema audience by looking straight into the camera as she voices her thoughts, a technique called “breaking the fourth wall”. The film’s director Lewis Gilbert earlier directed Michael Caine as the titular Alfie (1966) in which he also spoke his thoughts directly to the viewer.
31: “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” GoodFellas (1990)
In The Real Goodfella (2006), Henry Hill claimed that Robert De Niro would phone him seven to eight times a day to discuss certain things about Jimmy’s character, such as how Jimmy would hold his cigarette.
32: “I would’ve stayed for 2,000.” Pretty Woman (1990)
Richard Gere and Julia Roberts had obvious chemistry upon their first meeting. However, Gere was not planning on taking the role. He was on the phone ready to turn down the part when Roberts slid him a Post-it note with the words “please say yes” written on it. He accepted the role right then.
33: “Mr. Pink: Why am I Mr. Pink? Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Quentin Tarantino was originally going to play Mr. Pink, although he made a point of letting all the other actors audition for the part. When Steve Buscemi came in to read for it, Tarantino told him that he really wanted the part for himself, and that the only way Buscemi could possibly wrestle it from him was to do a killer audition. Buscemi duly complied.
34: “God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man.” Jurassic Park (1993)
Steven Spielberg oversaw the post-production of this movie via video link while in Poland filming Schindler’s List (1993). He later called it one of the hardest times in his life as a filmmaker: the filming of the Holocaust-themed Schindler’s List took such an emotional toll on him that his enthusiasm for this movie had almost waned. He said that he needed an hour per day to muster up the energy to comment on digital dinosaurs and answer trivial questions from the special effects crew.
35: “They call it Royale with cheese.” Pulp Fiction (1994)
If John Travolta’s character had been hiding out in Italy rather than France, the line would have been “They call it a McRoyal DeLuxe.” If he’d been in Japan, he might have skipped the beef and tried the “Filet-O-Shrimp Burger.”
36: “Another wedding invitation. And a list. Lovely.” Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Inspiration for this movie came when co-executive producer and writer Richard Curtis was flipping through some old diaries and realized that he had been to seventy-two weddings in ten years.
37: “Mama says, ‘Stupid is as stupid does.'” Forrest Gump (1994)
Forrest Gump may have popularized the phrase, but it’s actually a variant of the old adage, “Handsome is as handsome does,” which appears in, among other places, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Herman Melville’s Billy Budd.
38: “That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.” Babe (1995)
When actor James Cromwell first heard about Babe, which is based on Dick King-Smith’s novel, “I thought it sounded silly, I was mostly counting the lines to see how much of a role the farmer had.” But by that point, Cromwell was already sold on the script, intrigued by what he called the “sophisticated yet pure-of-heart piglet.” And he clearly made the right call: The part earned Cromwell an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
39: “To infinity and beyond!” Toy Story (1995)
Buzz Lightyear’s catchphrase is actually a variation of the line “Beyond the infinite,” which appears as one of the title cards in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
40: “Houston, we have a problem.” Apollo 13 (1995)
Hollywood doing a little historical revisionism: In real life, astronaut Jim Lovell said, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”
The film depicts astronauts Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise aboard Apollo 13 for America’s third Moon landing mission.
41: “Shut up – you had me at hello.” Jerry Maguire (1996)
“It was a straight-up tip of the hat to Billy Wilder and the last line of The Apartment,” says writer-director Cameron Crowe. “I always loved it when Shirley MacLaine said to Jack Lemmon, ‘Shut up and deal.’ It was the favourite last line to any movie in my family growing up. We loved it. So for Jerry Maguire, I wanted Renee to just cut him off and say it.
42: “Show me the money!” Jerry Maguire (1996)
Not only does the shirtless Cuba Gooding Jr. gyrate and repeat “Show me the money!” on the phone, but he insists that Maguire scream it back at him. The celebrated scene made Gooding an instant success and propelled the actor to a Best Supporting Actor Oscar win.
43: “I’m the king of the world!” Titanic (1997)
Director James Cameron repeated the line as he accepted the movie’s best picture Oscar. Despite becoming one of the cult lines from the movie, it seems Leonardo DiCaprio (who played Jack) had to be persuaded to say it.
44: “I see dead people.” The Sixth Sense (1999)
As Haley Joel Osment says this line, the camera pans over Bruce Willis’ face. That worried producer Frank Marshall, who thought it might give away the movie’s twist. Test audience, though, didn’t have a clue.
45: “Heaven sent you here to this place, Dirk Diggler.” Boogie Nights (1997)
Leonardo DiCaprio was originally offered the role of Dirk Diggler. He liked the screenplay, but turned it down because he had already signed on to film Titanic (1997). DiCaprio suggested Mark Wahlberg for the role.
46: “FUBAR!” Private Ryan (1998)
Steven Spielberg cast Matt Damon as Pvt. Ryan because he wanted an unknown actor with an all-American look. He did not know Damon would win an Oscar for Good Will Hunting (1997) and become an overnight star before the film was released.
47: “I want you to hit me as hard as you can.” Fight Club (1999)
To prepare for their roles, Edward Norton and Brad Pitt took basic lessons in boxing, taekwondo and grappling, Prior to principal photography, Pitt also visited a dentist to have the cap on his chipped tooth removed.
48: “What is the Matrix?” The Matrix (1999)
Will Smith was approached to play Neo, but turned down the offer in order to star in Wild Wild West (1999). He later admitted that, at the time, he was “not mature enough as an actor” and that, if given the role, he “would have messed it up”. He had no regrets, saying that “Keanu was brilliant as Neo.”
49: “Wilsoooooooon!” Cast Away (2000)
Nobody else can emote over a volleyball named Wilson like Tom Hanks and the slow disappearance of his sole friend, and death goes down in one of cinema’s most tragic.
50: “Chewie, we’re home.” Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Harrison Ford considers director J.J. Abrams a “communications genius” for his decision to use the line in the movie’s trailer. “It was kind of the key in the door. Familiarity was unlocked at that moment,” said Ford.
Source: www.afi.com, www.hollywoodreporter.com, www.radiotimes.com, en.wikipedia.org www.vulturehound.co.uk and www.thrillist.com
