I was watching the 1981 suspense film
Eyewitness the other day. In one scene, Steven Hill and Morgan Freeman play a couple of police detectives trailing a loser named Aldo (James Woods), who may be a murderer. As they sit in their car, Hill's cop muses to his partner: "When he was a kid, Aldo must've wanted to be a suspect when he grew up."
 |
| "They call me MISTER Tibbs!" |
What a great line of dialogue! It got me thinking about other memorable lines of dialogue. In 2005, the American Film Institute (AFI) compiled a list of its top movie quotes of all time (click
here to peruse it). I always thought that was one of AFI's better lists; it was certainly entertaining. Of course, my favorite quote, spoken by Sidney Poitier in
In the Heat of the Night, only managed to claim the 16th spot. And somehow, Michael Rennie's classic "Klaatu barada nikto" was omitted altogether (perhaps AFI didn't count foreign language quotes...to include those foreign to Earthlings).
Aside from the obviously famous film quotes, my personal faves include:
Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe), as a laser inches toward James Bond's private parts: "I don't want you to talk, Mr. Bond. I want you to die!"
As they duel with swords, Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone) tells Robin Hood (Errol Flynn) that he's come to Nottingham once too often. Robin's retort: "After this, there'll be no need to come again."
In Jean Renoir's classic
The Rules of the Game, after several people make extremely questionable decisions, one character explains at the conclusion: "Everyone has their reasons."
Sometimes, a single word can make a memorable quote, such as Marlon Brando crying out: "Stella!"
Other times, the dialogue is part of a routine, such as Abbott & Costello's "Who's on first?" bit (which originated offscreen, but also was used in
The Gay Nineties). My favorite big screen comedy routine is from
The Court Jester and features Danny Kaye trying to remember if poison is in the chalice from the palace, the flagon with dragon, or the vessel with the pestle.
What I'd like to know is: What are some of
your favorite movie quotes?
