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Great Movie & TV Quotations
 |
quotations in chronological order |
Classic or obscure quotations from a hundred-plus years of cinema,
added to as I remember or come upon them . . . .
"Come wiz me to ze Casbah."
— Charles Boyer as Pepé le Moko
Actually spoken only in the trailer for the 1938 film "Algiers", and not in the movie itself, starring Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr.
The phrase became well-known and oft-repeated (and further parodied) after the Chuck Jones animated short
"The Cats Bah" [Looney Tunes March 1954]; the speaker was Pepé le Pew, the French-accented over-amorous skunk.
"Though I've belted you and flayed you / By the living God that made you / You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din."
— read from the poem by journalist Rudyard Kipling in "Gunga Din" [Jan 1939]
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
— Clark Gable as Rhett Butler in "Gone With The Wind" [1939]
"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more."
— Judy Garland as Dorothy Gage in "The Wizard of Oz" [1939]
"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."
— Frank Morgan as The Wizard of Oz in "The Wizard of Oz" [1939]
"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."
Actually a quote from John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" 1939 novel, which is often mis-attributed to
John Wayne (who did say several similar lines on-screen). By the 1960s, the phrase had become rather a cliche,
and was used as such on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and on "The Jetsons" TV programs.
"Feets, don't fail me now."
— Willie Best as Alex in Bob Hope's "The Ghost Busters" [1940]
catch-phrase also used by other Afro-American actors, such as Stepin Fetchit & Mantan Moreland
"Rosebud."
— Orson Welles as Charles Foster Kane in "Citizen Kane" [1941]
"Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine."
— Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine in "Casablanca" [1942]
"Of all the websites, in all the world, you wandered into this one."
— webmaster G.E. Nordell
"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
— Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine at end of "Casablanca" [1942]
Dobbs: "If you're the police, then where are your badges?"
Gold Hat: "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't hab' to show you any stinkin' badges!"
— from "Treasure of The Sierra Madre" [1948] starring Humphrey Bogart
"All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."
— Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond in Billy Wilder's "Sunset Blvd." [1950]
"Fasten your seatbelts . . . It's going to be a bumpy night!"
— Bette Davis as Margo Channing in "All About Eve" [Fox Oct 1950]
watch short clip [6/2016 upload; 0:14] online at YouTube
"I now pronounce you man and wife. Proceed with the execution."
— Peter Bull as the German Ship's Captain, after marrying prisoners Charlie Allnut (Humphrey Bogart) and
Rose Sayer (Katharine Hepburn) in John Huston's "The African Queen" [1951]
"Klaatu barada nikto."
— the phrase that alien Klaatu (Michael Rennie) asked Helen (Patricia Neal) to deliver to the robot Gort
in case anything happened to Klaatu, in "The Day The Earth Stood Still" [1951]
"I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what
I am, let's face it." — Oscar-winner Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy in "On the Waterfront" [1954]
  | An aspiring prizefighter who runs errands for the local underworld witnesses the murder of a fellow dockworker who was going to testify to the Waterfront Crime Commission. When he meets the sister of the dead man, his conscience begins to assert itself.
Directed by Elia Kazan; script by Budd Schulberg; starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning, Leif Erickson, James Westerfield, Tony Galento, Tami Mauriello, John Hamilton, John Heldabrand, Eva Marie Saint, Martin Balsam & Nehemiah Persoff; won 8 Oscars: for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Brando), Best Supporting Actress (EMS), Best B&W Cinematography, Best Set Decoration, Best Editing; Oscar noms for Best Supporting Actor x 3 (Cobb & Malden & Steiger), Best Music Score; won DGA & WGA Awards; listed on National Film Registry (1989); listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Movies (10/2005)
Sony b&w DVD [10/2001] for $18.99 Sony b&w VHS [2/98] out of prodn/many used full credits from IMDb |
"I dunno, Angie. What do you wanna do?"
— Ernest Borgnine as "Marty" [1955]
"Nobody's perfect!"
— Joe E. Brown as Osgood Fielding III in Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot" [1959]
"Until that time, Eustice, until that time."
— Jackie Gleason as MSgt. Maxwell Slaughter in "Soldier In The Rain" [Allied Artists Nov 1963]
 | A sentimental comedy of the peacetime U.S. Army; a goofy supply sergeant idolizes a corrupt Master Sergeant and hopes that they will go into business together when they retire • Produced & co-written by Blake Edwards; directed by Ralph Nelson; co-written by Maurice Richlin, based on the William Goldman novel; music by Henry Mancini; starring Jackie Gleason, Steve McQueen, Tuesday Weld, Tony Bill, Tom Poston, Ed Nelson, Lew Gallo, Rockne Tarkington, Paul Hartman, John Hubbard & Adam West
Allied Artists widescreen b&w DVD [8/2009] for $16.49 Key Video b&w VHS [undated] out of prodn/used 11"x17" poster from Amazon for $9.99 27"x40" poster from Amazon for $29.00 full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia | |
 | based on the 1960 novel by William Goldman Dell movie tie-in mass pb [1/63] out of print/used Atheneum hardcover [1/60] out of print/used |
"Live long and prosper."
— various episodes & movies of "Star Trek" from 1966 forward
"Wanna Walnetto?"
comedian Arte Johnson as Tyrone Horneigh, the dirty-old-man character
"Verrry eenteresting . . ."
comedian Arte Johnson as the German soldier character
"Look THAT up in your Funk and Wagnall's."
show host Dan Rowan
— on various episodes of the "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" TV series from 1967 to 1973
"I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."
— the space ship's HAL 9000 computer in Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" [1968]
"Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"
— Clint Eastwood as
"Dirty Harry" [1971]
"The way to make money is in real estate, not movies!"
— character Bertrand in François Truffaut's "La Nuit Américaine" [1973]
"It's just a flesh wound."
This phrase is such a cliché that it was extended into absurdity
in "Monty Python and The Holy Grail" [1975]
"You’re gonna need a bigger boat."
— character Brody (Roy Scheider) in "Jaws" [1975]
"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
— Peter Finch as Howard Beale in "Network" [M.G.M. Nov 1976]
 | Aging network news anchor Howard Beale is fired, and his on-air tirade – "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!" – causes a sensation among his viewers, so he is rehired and given his own show. Directed by Sidney Lumet; written by Paddy Chayefsky; starring Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Robert Duvall, Beatrice Straight & Ned Beatty; won Oscars for Best Script, Best Actor [Finch], Best Actress [FD], Best Supporting Actress [BS], nominated for Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Actor [WH], Best Supporting Actor [NB], Best Cinematography, Best Editing; won BAFTA for Best Actor [Finch], nominated for 8 more; won W.G.A. Award for Best Original Script
Warner Home Video color Blu-ray [2/2011] for $9.69 Warner widescreen color DVD [2/2006] 2 disks for $10.91 M.G.M. color VHS [5/96] for $6.99 full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia novelization by Sam Hedrin Penguin movie tie-in mass pb [11/76] out of print/used |
"I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other
people and I require the same from them."
— John Wayne as John Bernard Books in the movie “The Shootist” [1976]
"I love the smell of napalm in the morning."
— Robert Duvall as LtCol Bill Kilgore in "Apocalypse Now" [1979]
"Remember, no matter where you go, there you are."
— Buckaroo Banzai in "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension (Part 6)" [1984]
— Pigkiller in "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" [1985]
— and by hundreds of others since it was written down by Chinese philosopher Confucius [551-479 B.C.E.]
"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works."
— Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" [1987]
"If you build it, they will come."
— Kevin Costner as Ray Kinsella in "Field of Dreams" [1989]
[after Sally loudly fakes an orgasm in a busy delicatessen]
"I'll have what she's having."
— Estelle Reiner as Older Woman Customer in "When Harry Met Sally" [1989]
"Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There's no crying!
THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!"
— Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan in "A League of Their Own" [1992]
"You gonna do somethin' or just stand there and bleed?"
— Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp in "Tombstone" [1993]
"My momma always said, Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get."
— Tom Hanks as "Forrest Gump" [1994]
"Show me the money. Oh-ho-ho! SHOW! ME! THE! MONEY! A-ha-ha! Jerry, doesn't it make
you feel good just to say that! Say it with me one time, Jerry."
— Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Rod Tidwell in "Jerry Maguire" [1996]
"Shut up, just shut up. You had me at 'hello'."
— Renée Zellweger as Dorothy Boyd in "Jerry Maguire" [1996]
"In the end all you have is your story and all you can do is to try to live a good one."
— opening narration of "Australia" [2008]
"Aal izz well!"
— motto of main character portrayed by Aamir Khan in "3 Idiots" [India blockbuster 2009]
"Release the kraken!"
— Liam Neeson as the god Zeus in "Clash of The Titans" [2010]
"Find the ones who haven't given up – they are the future."
— actor-producer George Clooney in "Tomorrowland" [2015]
Research Required
So many quotes, so little time ...
"I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse." ~~ The Godfather
"I'll be back." ~~ The Terminator 1984
"Are you talkin' to me?" ~~ "Taxi Driver"
"What we have here is a failure to communicate." ~~ "Cool Hand Luke"
"It's good to be the king." ~~ Mel Brooks
"Wax on. Wax off." ~~ from Karate Kid
"Surely, you can't be serious." / "I am serious. And don't call me Shirley."
American Film Institute's "100 Years ... 100 Movie Quotes" TV special [CBS-TV June 2005]
Directed by Gary Smith; written by Bob Gazzale; hosted by Pierce Brosnan; announcer voice by Randy Thomas
official A.F.I. webpage •
credits at IMDb •
entry at Wikipedia
listing of the 400 nominees at A.F.I. website {288KB .PDF file}
B o o k s
 | "The Movie Quote Book" [1980] by Harry Haun
Harper & Row 9¼x7¼ pb [1983] out of print/used Lippincott & Crowell 9¼x7½ pb [1980] out of print/used Random House Value Publng 9¼x7¼ hardcover [3/86] out of print/used Lippincott 9x6 hardcover [1980] out of print/used | |
 | "The Alfred Hitchcock Quote Book: What He Said, Memorable Lines From His Films, What Others Said About Him" [1993] by Laurent Bouzereau
Citadel/Carol Publng 8x5¼ pb [6/93] out of print/used see also Magic Lantern Video & Book Store's Alfred Hitchcock [1899-1980] Page | |
 | "Great Movie Lines: They're Everybody's Favorite Film Quotes, How Many Can You Identify?" [1993] by Dale Thomajan
Kindle Edition from Ballantine Books [2/2011] for $11.99 Ballantine Books 8¾x5 pb [6/93] for $15.00 | |
 | "The Little Black & White Book of Film Noir: Quotations From Films of The 40s & 50s" [1993] Edited by Peg Thompson & Saeko Usukawa
Arsenal Pulp Press 4¼x3 mini-book [8/93] for $4.95 see also Films Noir Festival Pages at BlackHat Mystery Bookstore | |
 | "Comedy Quotes From The Movies: Over 4,000 Bits of Humorous Dialogue From All Film Genres, Topically Arranged and Indexed" [1993] by Larry Langman & Paul Gold Over 4,000 of the funniest, wittiest, and most outrageous snatches of film dialogue, culled from sixty years of film comedy. McFarland & Co. 9x6 pb [12/94] for $35.00 McFarland Classics library 9x6¼ hardcover [12/93] for $45.00 | |
 | "Famous Movie Quotes" [1995] by Alan Lane
Santa Monica Press mass pb [1995] out of print/used Santa Monica Press mass pb [1995] out of print/used | |
 | "The Women's Book of Movie Quotes" [1995] Compiled & edited by Jeff Bloch Citadel Press 6¼x6¼ pb [3/95] out of print/used | |
 | "The Dictionary of Film Quotations: 6,000 Provocative Movie Quotes From 1,000 Movies" [1995] Compiled by Melinda Corey & George Ochoa
Three Rivers Press 9x7¼ pb [6/95] out of print/used | |
 | "We'll Always Have Paris: The Definitive Guide To Great Lines From The Movies" [1995] by Robert A. Nowlan & Gwendolyn Wright Nowlan
Compilation of more than 11,000 of the most memorable lines ever uttered on the silver screen. Categorized under 900 subjects; includes title of the film, speaker of the line, production company, year of release – and, when appropriate, a brief comment putting the quotation into context. Perennial pb [10/95] out of print/used | |
 | "What's That From?: The Ultimate Quiz Book of Contemporary Movie Lines" [1996] by Jai Nanda More than 1,000 quotes and questions from more than 250 contemporary films St. Martin's Griffin 8¼x5½ pb [2/96] for $14.99 | |
 | "Hard-Boiled: Great Lines From Classic Noir Films" [1996] by Peggy Thompson & Saeko Usukawa Chronicle Books 8¾x8 pb [3/96] out of print/used see also Film Noir Festival Pages at BlackHat Mystery Bookstore | |
 | "Western Movie Quotations" [1999] by Jim Kane McFarland & Co. hardcover [10/99] for $75.00 see also Western Movies Film Festival at 'Readers of the Purple Sage' Western Bookstore | |
 | "Cassell's Movie Quotations" [2000] by Nigel Rees Cassell 7¾x5 pb [5/2002] out of print/used Cassell 10x7¾ hardcover [10/2000] out of print/used | |
 | "The Quotable Walt Disney" [2001] Compiled by Dave Smith
Disney Editions 6½x5½ pb [4/2001] for $7.88 see also Walt Disney [1901-66] Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store | |
 | "I Know What You Quoted Last Summer: Quotes and Trivia From The Most Memorable Contemporary Movies" [2003] by Jai Nanda
St. Martin's Griffin 8x5½ pb [5/2003] for $14.99 | |
 | "Charlie Chan's Words of Wisdom: 600 Proverbs" [2003] by Howard M. Berlin Wildside Press 9x7 pb [8/2003] for $14.24 Wildside Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [8/2003] for $24.95 see also Magic Lantern Video & Book Store's Charlie Chan Movie Series Pages | |
 | "The Best Things Ever Said In The Dark: The Wisest, Wittiest, Most Provocative Quotations From The Movies" [2004] by Bruce Adamson
Allworth Press 7½x7½ hardcover [5/2004] out of print/used | |
 | "Frankly, My Dear: Quips and Quotes From Hollywood" [2005] by Shelley Klein Barron's Educational Series 7¾x5¼ hardcover [1/2006] for $14.99 Michael Omara hardcover [8/2005; status unclear] for $13.43 | |
 | "Its A Bitter Little World: The Smartest Toughest Nastiest Quotes From Film Noir" [2005] Edited by Charles Pappas
F&W Publns 6¼x5½ pb [10/2005] for $10.39 see also Films Noir Festival Pages at BlackHat Mystery Bookstore | |
 | "Movie Quotes To Get You Through Life" [2007] Compiled by Jim Silverstein Lulu.com 2nd Edition 9x6 pb [11/2008] for $19.95 | |
 | "The Quotable John Wayne: The Grit & Wisdom of An American Icon" [2007] Compiled by Carol Lea Mueller
Taylor Trade Publng 8x5 hardcover [10/2007] for $10.17 see also John Wayne [1907-79] Page at 'Readers of the Purple Sage' Western Bookstore | |
 | "You Can Quote Me On That, Volume III: Movie Quotes - Over 1,000 Quotes From More Than 400 Movies" [2010] by J.R. McManus
Outskirts Press 8½c5½ pb [8/2010] for $12.95 | |
 | "Tough Guy Wisdom: The Ultimate In Tough Guy Movie Quotes & Trivia" [2011] by Alain Burrese Kindle Edition from T.G.W. Books [12/2011] for 99¢ {sic} T.G.W. Books 8x5 pb [12/2011] for $9.99 "Tough Guy Wisdom II: Return of The Tough Guy" [2011] Kindle Edition from T.G.W. Books [2/2012] for 99¢ {sic} T.G.W. Books 8x5 pb [2/2012] for $9.99 "Tough Guy Wisdom III: Revenge of The Tough Guy" [2011] Kindle Edition from T.G.W. Books [3/2012] for 99¢ {sic} T.G.W. Books 8x5 pb [3/2012] for $9.99 | |
 | "ACTOR: Quotes From The Most Successful Actors of All Time" [2017] by Lucas Smith 100-page Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [3/2017] for $4.99 98-page indep 9x6 pb [4/2017] for $12.99 | |
 | "Movie Quotes For All Occasions: Unforgettable Lines For Life's Biggest Moments" [2017] by James Scheibli, Foreword by Paul Scanlan
Kindle Edition from Mango Media [12/2017] for $5.58 Mango Media 7x5 pb [12/2017] for $11.52 | |
 | "Movie Quotes For Special Occasions: Toasts and Tributes For Weddings, Graduations, Birthdays, and All of Life's Special Moments" [2019] by James Scheibli
Kindle Edition from Mango Media [3/2020] for $13.99 Mango Media 7x5 pb [3/2020] for $13.39 |
Books of Quotations Page at Working Minds Philosophy website
Greek philosopher Plato [427-347 BCE] Quotations Page
Greek philosopher Aristotle [384-322 BCE] Quotations Page
Wm. Shakespeare [1564-1616] Quotations Page
French philosopher Voltaire [1694-1778] Quotations Page
Benjamin Franklin [1706-90] Quotations Page
Dr. Samuel Johnson [1709-84] Quotations Page
Thomas Jefferson [1743-1826] Quotations Page
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe [1749-1832] Quotations Page
Ralph Waldo Emerson [1803-82] Quotations Page
Abraham Lincoln [1809-65] Quotations Page
Henry David Thoreau [1817-62] Quotations Page
Mark Twain [1835-1910] Quotations Page
Friedrich Nietzsche [1844-1900] Quotations Page
Thomas Alva Edison [1847-1931] Quotations Page
Oscar Wilde [1854-1900] Quotations Page
Elbert G. Hubbard [1856-1915] Quotations Page
Louis D. Brandeis [1856-1941] Quotations Page
George Bernard Shaw [1856-1950] Quotations Page
Theodore Roosevelt [1858-1919] Quotations Page
Mahatma Gandhi [1869-1948] Quotations Page
philosopher Bertrand Russell [1872-1970] Quotations Page
G.K. Chesterton [1874-1936] Quotations Page
Winston Churchill [1874-1965] Quotations Page
humorist Will Rogers [1879-1935] Quotations Page
Albert Einstein [1879-1955] Quotations Page
philosopher H.L. Mencken [1880-1956] Quotations Page
Helen Keller [1880-1968] Quotations Page
Virginia Woolf [1882-1941] Quotations Page
Franklin Delano Roosevelt [1882-1945] Quotations Page
Eleanor Roosevelt [1884-1962] Quotations Page
R. Buckminster Fuller [1895-1983] Quotations Page
F. Scott Fitzgerald [1896-1940] Quotations Page
Wm. Faulkner [1897-1962] Quotations Page
Ernest Hemingway [1899-1961] Quotations Page
E.B. White [1899-1985] Quotations Page
John Steinbeck [1902-68] Quotations Page
philosopher Eric Hoffer [1902-83] Quotations Page
George Orwell [1903-50] Quotations Page
philosopher Ayn Rand [1905-82] Quotations Page
Robert A. Heinlein [1907-88] Quotations Page
Edward R. Murrow [1908-65] Quotations Page
John F. Kennedy [1917-63] Quotations Page
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. [1922-2007] Quotations Page
Edward Abbey [1927-89] Quotations Page
Dr. Maya Angelou [1928-2014] Quotations Page
Martin Luther King, Jr. [1929-68] Quotations Page
philosopher Werner Erhard [b. 1935] Quotations Page
philosopher G.E. Nordell [b. 1944] Quotations Page
dictator Donald J. Trump [b. 1946] Quotations Page
Steve Jobs [1955-2011] Quotations Page
Barack Obama [b. 1961] Quotations Page
author J.K. Rowling [b. 1965] Quotations Page
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