We all have our favorite sayings from movies of the past.
In three of my earlier bulletins,
I listed some memorable one-liners such as “Of all the gin joints
in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine” spoken by Humphrey Bogart
in “Casablanca”, Gloria Swanson’s famous “Sunset Boulevard” emphatic statement
“I am big. It’s the pictures that got small” and Clark Gable’s often quoted
“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!” from “Gone With The Wind”.
In addition to such brief sayings, there are countless notable
and often amusing verbal exchanges between different movie characters
and I thought I’d gather a random group of them together.
I hope that they bring back a few memories…
Richard Gere as millionaire Edward Lewis:
“I told you not to pick up the phone”
Julia Roberts as prostitute Vivian Ward:
“Then stop calling me!”
From “Pretty Woman”
(Buena Vista: 1990)
Screenplay by J.F. Lawton.
Directed by Garry Marshall
Glenn Close as career woman Alex Forrest:
“You’re here with a strange girl being a naughty boy”
Michael Douglas as New York lawyer Dan Gallagher:
“I don’t think having dinner with anybody’s a crime”
Glenn Close:
“Not yet”
From “Fatal Attraction”
(Paramount: 1987)
Screenplay by James Dearden.
Directed by Adrian Lyne. ]
Gert Frobe (left) & Sean Connery in “Goldfinger” (United Artists)
Sean Connery as British agent James Bond
about to be annihilated by a giant laser beam:
“Do you expect me to talk?”
Gert Frobe as gold tycoon Auric Goldfinger:
“No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!”
From “Goldfinger”
(United Artists: 1964)
Screenplay by Richard Maibaum & Paul Dehn
from the novel by Ian Fleming.
Directed by Guy Hamilton.
Geena Davis as Thelma Dickinson:
“Wait, what? You wanna go to Mexico from Oklahoma
but you don’t wanna go through Texas?”
Susan Sarandon as Thelma’s best friend
Louise Sawyer:
“Thelma, you know how I feel about Texas!
We’re not going that way!
Geena Davis:
“Yeah I know, Louise, but we’re running for our lives. I
mean, can’t you make an exception? I mean look at the map…
the only thing between Oklahoma and Mexico is Texas. Look!”
From “Thelma And Louise”
(MGM: 1991)
Screenplay by Callie Khouri.
Directed by Ridley Scott.
Talia Shire as Rocky’s girlfriend Adrian Pennino:
“Einstein flunked out of school, twice”
Burt Young as Paulie, Adrian’s brother:
“Is that so?”
Talia Shire:
“Yeah. Beethoven was deaf. Helen Keller was blind.
I think Rocky’s got a good chance”.
From “Rocky”
(United Artists: 1976)
Written by Sylvester Stallone.
Directed by John G. Avildsen.
Peter Sellers (left) and Graham Stark in “The Pink Panther Strikes Again”
Peter Sellers as the bumbling, accident-prone Inspector Clouseau
checking in at a German hotel and seeing a dog:
“Does your dog bite?”
Graham Stark as the Munich Hotel clerk:
“No”
Peter Sellers as Clouseau pets the dog:
“Nice doggie”
The dog then barks and bites Clouseau…
Peter Sellers:
“I thought you said your dog did not bite”
Graham Stark:
“That is not my dog”.
From “The Pink Panther Strikes Again”
(United Artists: 1976)
Screenplay by Frank Waldman & Blake Edwards.
Directed by Blake Edwards.
Whitney Houston as superstar Rachel Marron:
“Well you don’t look like a bodyguard”
Kevin Costner as Frank Farmer:
“What’d you expect?”
Whitney Houston:
“Well, I don’t know. Maybe a tough guy”
Kevin Costner:
“This is my disguise”
From “The Bodyguard”
(Warner Bros: 1992)
Screenplay & Story by Lawrence Kasdan.
Directed by Mick Jackson.
John Belushi as paroled prisoner Jake Blues:
“How are you gonna get the band back together, Mr. Hot Rodder?
Those cops have your name, your address…”
Dan Aykroyd as Jake’s brother Elwood:
“They don’t have my address. I falsified my renewal.
I put down 1060 West Addison.
“1060 West Addison? That’s Wrigley Field!”
From “The Blues Brothers”
(Universal: 1980)
Screenplay by John Landis.
Directed by John Landis.
John Travolta (Left) & Samuel L. Jackson in “Pulp Fiction” (Miramax)
John Travolta as hitman Vincent Vega:
“You know what they put on French fries in Holland instead of ketchup?”
Samuel L. Jackson as fellow hitman Jules Winnfield:
“What?”
John Travolta:
“Mayonnaise.”
Samuel L. Jackson:
“Goddamn!”
John Travolta:
“I seen ‘em do it man, they fu**in’ drown ‘em in it!”
From “Pulp Fiction”
(Miramax: 1994)
Written by Quentin Tarantino.
Stories by Quentin Tarantino & Roger Avary.
Directed by Quentin Tarantino.
Dooley Wilson & Ingrid Bergman in “Casablanca” (Warner Bros)
Ingrid Bergman as Rick Baine’s former lover
Ilsa Lund:
“Play it once Sam, for old times’ sake”
Dooley Wilson as Sam, the singer & pianist:
“I don’t know what you mean, Miss Ilsa”
Ingrid Bergman:
“Play it Sam, play ‘As Time Goes By’
Dooley Wilson:
“Oh I can’t remember it, Miss Ilsa,
I’m a little rusty on it”
Ingrid Bergman:
“I’ll hum it for you: “Da-dy da-dy da dum,
da-dy de-dee-da-dum”
From “Casablanca”
(Warner Bros: 1942)
Screenplay by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein
& Howard Koch.
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Marilyn Monroe as model and aspiring actress
Miss Claudia Caswell:
“Tell me this, do they have auditions for television?”
George Sanders as sardonic theater critic Addison DeWitt:
“That’s all television is, my dear, nothing but auditions”
From “All About Eve”
(20th Century Fox: 1950)
Marie Dressler (left) & Jean Harlow in “Dinner At Eight” (MGM)
Jean Harlow as sexy young Kitty Packard:
“I was reading a book the other day”
Marie Dressler as veteran actress Carlotta Vance:
“Reading a book?”
Jean Harlow:
“Yes, it’s all about civilization or something…a nutty kind of a book.
Do you know that the guy says that machinery is going to take the place
of every profession?”
Marie Dressler, looking sexy Jean Harlow up and down, replies:
“Oh my dear, that’s something you need never worry about!”
From “Dinner At Eight”
(MGM: 1933)
Screenplay by Frances Marion &
Herman J. Mankiewicz.
Directed by George Cukor.
The earlier movie dialog “Door To Yesterday” bulletins which I mentioned
in the opening paragraph above were “Who Said What?” (Vol.3, No.2),
“Famous Last Words” (Vol.3, No.19)
and “Talking Pictures” (Vol.4, No.3).
Please send any comments or suggestions to
Rock on.
Alan Warner
© Alan Warner, 2021.
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