Back in 2005, the American Film Institute (AFI) took on the arduous task of compiling its list of the 100 best movie quotes of all time. Such lists are subjective by nature, but I've always thought that the AFI did a pretty good job. Of course, it omitted many favorite classic movie quotes...and thus, we have come up with our own list of 50 additional movie quotes. We focused on films from the classic era, so don't look for quotes from films released after the mid-1980s. The quotes below are not listed in any specific order. We also reserve the right to publish a sequel post in the future. Please add your favorite quotes in the comments section of this post!1. "That's the way it crumbles... cookie-wise." - C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) in The Apartment
2. "Make no mistake, I shall regret the absence of your keen mind; unfortunately, it is inseparable from an extremely disturbing body." - Professor Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper) to Sugarpuss O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck) in Ball of Fire
3. "I am Spartacus!" - Antoninus (Tony Curtis) and others in Spartacus (1960)
4. "He was my dog. I'll do it." - Travis (Tommy Kirk) to his mother in Old Yeller
5. "What I am trying to say is--only I'm not a poet, I'm an ophiologist--I've always loved you. I mean, I've never loved anyone but you." - Charles (Henry Fonda) to Jean (Barbara Stanwyck) in The Lady Eve
6. "Feed me!" - Audrey Jr. (the plant) in The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
7. "I never knew fear until I kissed Becky." - Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
8. "An intellectual carrot. The mind boggles." - Scotty (Douglas Spencer) in The Thing from Another World
9. "Klaatu barada nikto." - Helen (Patricia Neal) to Gort the robot in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
10. "And after you kissed me, I always used to wipe my mouth! Wipe my mouth!" - Mildred (Bette Davis) in Of Human Bondage (1934)
11. "And remember, my sentimental friend, a heart is not judged by how much you love--but by how much you are loved by others." - The Wizard (Frank Morgan) to the Tin Man (Jack Haley) in The Wizard of Oz
12. "And I offer myself to you, all of me. My heart. My lips. My legs. My calves. Do what you will. My love endures. Beat me. Kick me. I am yours." - Hawkins (Danny Kaye) in The Court Jester
13. "They seek him here, they seek him there. Those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven? Or is he in hell? That damned elusive Pimpernel!" - Sir Percy (Leslie Howard) in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
14. "Lordy, we got to have a doctor. I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies." - Prissy (Butterfly McQueen) in Gone With the Wind
15. "Eric Von Zipper adores you. And when Eric Von Zipper adores somebody, they stay adored." Eric Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck) in Beach Blanket Bingo
16. "Alone: bad. Friend: good!" - The Monster (Boris Karloff) in The Bride of Frankenstein
17. "Not to run on all fours. That is the law. Are we not men?" Sayer of the Law (Bela Lugosi) in The Island of Lost Souls (1932)
18. "When it comes, I won't even notice...I'll be too busy looking good." - Williams (Jim Kelly) on the subject of defeat in Enter the Dragon
19. "You know, you've got the brain of a four-year old child, and I bet he was glad to get rid of it." - Professor Wagstaff (Groucho Marz) in Horse Feathers
20. "You gentlemen aren't really trying to kill my son, are you?" - Clara Thornhill (Jessie Royce Landis) to the bad guys in North By Northwest
21. "I met a whole lot of hard-boiled eggs in my life, but you--you're twenty minutes." - Lorraine (Jan Sterling) in Ace in the Hole
22. "Welcome to Sherwood, my lady!" Robin Hood (Errol Flynn) to Maid Marion (Olivia de Havilland) in The Adventures of Robin Hood
23. "Attaboy, Clarence." - George Bailey (James Stewart) in It's a Wonderful Life
24. "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." - Mandy Patinkin in The Princess Bride
25. "You're tearing me apart! You, you say one thing, he says another, and everybody changes back again!" - Jim Stark (James Dean) in Rebel Without a Cause
26. "Why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?" Mr. Osborne (Robert Benchley) in The Major and the Minor
27. "The old man was right, only the farmers won. We lost. We'll always lose." - Chris (Yul Brynner) in The Magnificent Seven (1960)
28. "Help me!" - The Fly (1958)
29. "Fat Man, you shoot a great game of pool." - Fast Eddie (Paul Newman) in The Hustler
30. "They're coming to get you, Barbra." - Johnny (Russell Streiner) in Night of the Living Dead (1968)
31. "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." - Maxwell Scott (Carleton Young) in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
32. "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that." - HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey
33. "Well, come see a fat old man sometime! Hyah!" Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) in True Grit (1969)
34. "Chance is the fool's name for fate." Guy Holden (Fred Astaire) in The Gay Divorcee
35. "Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again." - Mrs. de Winter, Rebecca (1940)
36. "My mother--a waitress!" Veda (Ann Blyth) in Mildred Pierce (1945)
37. "I'm his brother-in-law, Sister. And this is his mother, Sister, and this is my wife, his sister, Sister." - Willie (Walter Matthau) in The Fortune Cookie
38. "We looked for the good in them, and we found it, didn't we?" Reverend Ford (Karl Malden) in Pollyanna
39. "Confound it, madam, my language is most controlled. And as for me morals, I lived a man 's life and I'm not ashamed of it. And, I can assure you no woman's ever been the worse for knowing me and I'd like to know how many mealy-mouthed bluenoses can say the same." - Captain Daniel Gregg in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
40. "All right then, run, lady, and you keep on running. Buy yourself a bus ticket and disappear. Change your name, dye your hair, get lost--and then maybe, just maybe, you're gonna be safe from me." Ben (Paul Newman) to Clara (Joanne Woodward) in The Long, Hot Summer
41. ""I don't use a pen. I write with a goose quill dipped in venom." - Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb) in Laura
42. "Stand up. Your father's passing." - Reverend Sykes (William Walker) in To Kill a Mockingbird
43. "You're not too smart, are you? I like that in a man." - Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner) in Body Heat
44. "It must have been tough on your mother, not having any children." - Ann (Ginger Rogers) in 42nd Street
45. "It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done. It's a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known." - Sydney Carton (Ronald Colman) A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
46. "Sir Wilfred, you've forgotten your brandy." - Miss Plimsoll (Elsa Lanchester) in Witness for the Prosecution
47. "I steal." - Paul Muni's haunting final line in I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
48. "Lord, you sure knew what you were doing when you brung me to this very cell at this very time. A man with ten thousand dollars hid somewhere, and a widder in the makin'." - Reverend Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) in The Night of the Hunter
49. "Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright." - Maleva the gypsy (Maria Ouspenskaya) in The Wolf Man
50. "If any of you are ever in trouble, no matter what, you just dial 'O' for O'Malley." - Father O'Malley (Bing Crosby) in The Bells of St. Mary's
Oh, what marvelous memories are conjured up by those quotes! #8 is a particular favourite, as is #15 and #49 and...
ReplyDeleteHere's five of my faves:
"He'll regret it to his dying day, if ever he lives that long." - Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen) in "The Quiet Man"
"I doubt that you played Russian Roulette all the time with your father." - Sir Alfred DeCarter (Rex Harrison) in "Unfaithfully Yours"
"I'm almost resigned to living on what I earn." - Lesgate/Swann (Anthony Dawson) in "Dial M for Murder"
"It's as red as The Daily Worker and twice as sore." - Sugarpuss O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck) in "Ball of Fire"
"Fortunately, I keep my feathers numbered for just such an emergency." - Foghorn Leghorn (Mel Blanc) in "All Fowled Up"
Great additions! I love that other quote from the very quotable BALL OF FIRE.
DeleteThe mind boggles:
ReplyDelete"Oh, I'm a pushover for streptococcus." Sugarpuss O'Shea in "Ball of Fire"
"You tred heavily; but, you speak the truth." King Fisal in "Lawrence of Arabia".
"I should be very sorry to see my neighbor's children devoured by wolves." Waldo Lideckker in "Laura"
"If manners prevent us speaking the truth; then, we will be without manners." "How Green was My Valley" I forget the son's name.
I especially like that quote from Waldo (Clifton Webb had some great lines and delivered them well).
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TObzZWVDHU
ReplyDeleteAh, INHERIT THE WIND--one of my favorite movies!
DeleteWow, Rick, you have some really great ones on your list. My faves of yours are 2, 10, 14, and 21.
ReplyDeleteMy all-time favorite movie quote, I think, provides the key to the longevity of marriages of that generation. It's from The Best Years of Our Lives.
After Peggy (Teresa Wright) tells her mom and dad (Myrna Loy and Fredric March) that they can't understand how it is for Fred and her, because everything's always been so perfect for them, Myrna looks at Fred and speaks these wisdom-filled words:
"We never had any trouble? How many times have I told you I hated you and believed it in my heart? How many times have you said you were sick and tired of me, that we were all washed up? How many times have we had to fall in love all over again?"
Rick, Lots of my own favorites on your list - from The Apartment, The Lady Eve (there are so many great lines in that movie), Horse Feathers, The Major and the Minor, Liberty Valance, The Gay Divorcee, Laura, A Tale of Two Cities. Very fond of “You’re not too smart, are you? I like that in a man,” from Body Heat.
ReplyDelete"I never knew fear until I kissed Becky." -- I understand some of my old boyfriends said something like that -- hardy har. Really great list, Rick. Makes me want to re-watch ALL of those movies. I think the most moving is #45, and the most clever is #4. Oh shoot, I like them all!
ReplyDeleteI meant that the most clever is #41, not 4!
ReplyDeleteGreat list from some awesome films. I loved seeing you include "The Wizard of Oz", "The Adventures of Robin Hood", "The Court Jester", "The Scarlet Pimpernel", "Laura" and even unconventional choices like "Enter the Dragon". We love to quote from these films around our family household. You have made some remarkable selections, Rick!
ReplyDeleteFANTASTIC!! So many of these made me smile.
ReplyDeleteAurora
Great list, Rick.
ReplyDeleteProbably my favorite movie quote is the last line from SOME LIKE IT HOT: "Well, nobody's perfect." Just thinking about it makes me smile - every time.
I like that it's on the original list. But I love your additions too, Rick. Especially the one from THE WOLF MAN. Number 49. I also like the Hal the computer quote from 2001 and 'Chance is a fool's name for fate," from the Fred Astaire movie - SO funny.
But there's also another quote from that movie or maybe from THE GAY DIVORCEE: "You're the snake in the gardener of Eden." At least that's what it's always sounded like to me, fractured as it was by the always hilarious Erik Rhodes as Rudolpho Tonetti.
I also love Number 9. I mean, who wouldn't?
A couple of others:
"The vessel with the pestle is the brew that is true." from THE COURT JESTER.
"Get it?"
"Got it."
"Good."
from THE COURT JESTER
"Mellow greetings yookie-dookie'" uttered :(improbably) by Cary Grant in THE BACHELOR AND THE BOBBY-SOXER.
"Tarzan, Jane."
"What are the 39 steps?" shouted in the crowded theater by Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) near the end of the movie.
"My middle name is Lawrence too, my parents had no imagination." Bob Hope in THE GHOSTBREAKERS.
"I'm not guilty."
"I DON'T CARE!" from THE FUGITIVE. (Although this is probably too new a film.)
My mind is otherwise blank so that will be it, quote-wise for now.
Great post, Rick.
Meant to add that it's Bob Hope as a character named Larry Lawrence. Jeez. I forgot the part that makes the quote funny.
ReplyDelete"I wish I knew how to quit you!" - Brokeback Mountain
ReplyDelete