Great Movie Lines

Great Movie Lines

The film classic “Casablanca” produced an amazing number of iconic quotes including “I am shocked, shocked!” and “Round up the usual suspects”. Most lists of memorable movie lines include “Here’s looking at your kid” at the very top. The origin of the line was from the Casablanca cast’s penchant for playing poker during filming breaks. Humphrey Bogart taught Ingrid Bergman how to play and used the phrase to explain a poker hand where the King, Queen, and Jack all look at you. Bogart went on to improvise the line in the movie.

So, let’s look at the background of some other memorable movie lines.

Clark Gable was allowed to utter the word “damn” in Gone with the Wind” because one month before filming, an amendment was made to the 1930 Motion Picture Production Code that allowed the use of “hell” or “damn” if the word’s usage was deemed “ essential and required for portrayal, in proper historical context.”

Marlon Brando was depressed throughout the filming of “On the Waterfront”. Brando thought his performance was embarrassing and he objected to much of the movie’s dialogue. He was so critical of the script for his classic back seat scene with Rod Steiger that director Elia Kazan stood back and allowed the two great actors to direct themselves. And thus, “You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.”

“Taxi Driver” screenwriter Paul Schrader claimed that there was no specific dialogue for the scene where Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) talks to himself in the mirror. De Niro used a routine that he heard at a New York comedy club and voila “You talking to me?”

The “Mad as Hell” speech delivered by Peter Finch in “Network” was filmed in just one and a half takes. Finch was too exhausted to do any more. Soon after, Finch appeared on The Johnny Carson show to promote “Network”. The next day, Finch suffered a fatal heart attack but was eventually awarded the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Roy Scheider’s most famous line from “Jaws” was an inside joke. The movie’s producers were extremely cheap and ‘You’re gonna need a bigger boat,’ became a catchphrase for anytime anything went wrong such as filming being compromised by turbulent waters or lunch being late.

Because of his thick Austrian accent, the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) had difficulty saying the word “I’ll”. He asked director James Cameron to change ‘I’ll be back” to “I will be back.” Cameron refused and Schwarzenegger required multiple takes to master the line which became Arnold’s catchphrase for all Terminator sequels.

In “The Sixth Sense”, Haley Joel Osment tells Bruce Willis “I see dead people”. It was meant as a hidden clue to the eventual revelation of the film. The camera focuses on Willis as he listens to the little boy’s confession which was meant to signify that Willis’ character was dead. The producers worried that the line gave away too much too soon. However, the clue was surely missed by me and everyone else I know that needed to immediately rewind the DVD and watch the movie a second time.

Hit and Miss
Director Stanley Kubrick tried to remove Jack Nicholson’s classic improvised ‘Here’s Johnny” line from “The Shining”. Kubrick resided in England and didn’t understand that Nicholson was mimicking Ed McMahon’s famous introduction of Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show”.

“The Wizard of Oz” gave us numerous iconic lines such as “We’re not in Kansas anymore”. Interestingly, the producers tried to remove ‘Over the Rainbow’” from the film because they thought that it was too long and depressing for young audiences. It’s difficult to imagine the movie without Judy Garland’s signature song especially since her vocal abilities were the reason she was chosen for the lead role instead of Shirley Temple.

Finally, you probably know this, but the words “Play it again Sam” were never spoken in “Casablanca”.

Frankly, I don’t give a damn.

Have a great weekend. I’ll be back !