(NOTE: The program discussed below has now been broadcast, and this article has been edited to reflect that.)
We all have our favorite quotes from films; some of them have found their way into common usage to the point where people sometimes don't quite remember where they came from. Lines like "Make my day" and "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" can be heard every day, it seems. And now it's time for a panel of experts to let us know which ones really are the best, if not the most oft-quoted.
In the latest of its series of yearly spectaculars, the American Film Institute (AFI) broadcast its "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes" program -- counting down the 100 greatest quotes from American movies, as chosen by experts of the motion picture community -- in a fascinating and mostly entertaining three-hour television event on CBS on June 21, 2005, hosted by the most recent James Bond, Pierce Brosnan.
Some of our favorite classics were well-represented. Casablanca and The Wizard of Oz ranked one-two for the largest number of nominated quotes among films. Humphrey Bogart was number one among nominated actors, while Bette Davis, Greta Garbo, Judy Garland and Vivien Leigh each had four to lead the actresses.
There were 400 nominees, chosen by the AFI. (For the Complete List, visit their site.) Along with the two lines quoted above (from Dirty Harry and Gone With the Wind, respectively), there are dozens of our favorite lines that ended up in the top 100. Here are many of the choices, including all of the top 20, all linked to sound files so you can hear them as they were actually spoken (and I'm happy to say that most of them were listed here before the program aired):
1. Clark Gable - Gone With The Wind (1939): "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
2. Marlon Brando - The Godfather (1972): "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse."
3. Marlon Brando - On The Waterfront (1954): "I coulda been a contender."
4. Judy Garland - The Wizard Of Oz (1939): "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
5. Humphrey Bogart - Casablanca (1942): "Here's looking at you, kid."
6. Clint Eastwood - Sudden Impact (1983): "Go ahead, make my day."
7. Gloria Swanson - Sunset Boulevard (1950): "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."
8. Harrison Ford - Star Wars (1977): "May the force be with you."
9. Bette Davis - All About Eve (1950): "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night."
10. Robert Deniro - Taxi Driver: (1976)"You talkin' to me?"
11. Strother Martin - Cool Hand Luke (1967): "What we've got here is failure to communicate."
12. Robert Duvall - Apocalypse Now (1979): "I love the smell of napalm in the morning."
13. Ryan O'Neal - Love Story (1970): "Love means never having to say you're sorry."
14. Humphrey Bogart - The Maltese Falcon (1941): "The stuff that dreams are made of."
15. E.T. - E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982): "E.T. phone home."
16. Sidney Poitier - In The Heat Of The Night (1967): "They call me Mister Tibbs!"
17. Orson Welles - Citizen Kane (1941): "Rosebud."
18. James Cagney - White Heat (1949): "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!"
19. Peter Finch - Network (1976): "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
20. Humphrey Bogart - Casablanca (1942): "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
23. Judy Garland - The Wizard of Oz (1939): "There's no place like home!"
28. Ingrid Bergman - Casablanca (1942): "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By'."
30. Greta Garbo - Grand Hotel (1932): "I want to be alone."
31. Vivien Leigh - Gone With The Wind (1939): "After all, tomorrow is another day!"
32. Claude Rains - Casablanca (1942): "Round up the usual suspects."
34. Lauren Bacall - To Have and Have Not (1944): "You know how to whistle, don't you..."
35. Roy Scheider - Jaws (1975): "You're gonna need a bigger boat."
36. Mexican Bandit - The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948): "We don't need no badges!"
43. Humphrey Bogart - Casablanca (1942): "We'll always have Paris."
46. Bette Davis - Now, Voyager (1942): "We have the stars."
48. Joe E. Brown - Some Like It Hot (1959): "Nobody's perfect."
49. Colin Clive (Dr. Frankenstein) - Frankenstein (1931): "It's alive!"
51. Clint Eastwood - Dirty Harry (1971): "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?""
53. Groucho Marx - Animal Crackers (1930): "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas."
59. Vivien Leigh - Gone With The Wind (1939): "As God is my witness..."
60. Oliver Hardy - Sons Of The Desert (1933): "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!"
62. Bette Davis - Beyond the Forest (1949): "What a dump!"
64. Peter Sellers - Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964): "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the War Room!"
67. Humphrey Bogart - Casablanca (1942): "Of all the gin joints in all the world..."
73. Edward G. Robinson - Little Caesar (1930): "Is this the end of Rico?"
79. Robert Hays and Leslie Nielson - Airplane! (1980): "Surely you can't be serious."
82. John Belushi & Friends - National Lampoon's Animal House (1978): "Toga! Toga!"
84. Robert Armstrong - King Kong (1933): "It was beauty killed the beast."
87. Warner Baxter - 42nd Steet (1933): "You've got to come back a star."
97. James Cagney - Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942): "My mother thanks you, my father thanks you..."
99. Margaret Hamilton - The Wizard of Oz (1939): "I'll get you, my pretty..."
For a complete list of winners, visit the American Film Institute (if you can get through!).
And here are sound files from some of the other nominees that we liked but that didn't make the cut, in alphabetical order by film title:
Another discussion of the program from The Greatest Films.
And one from Video ETA, with more alternative quotes.
