In 2005 the American Film Institute compiled a list of best film quotes, as selected by judges who came from the fields of film artists, critics and historians. Selection criteria of the quotes included cultural impact and legacy, for example, to what extent the quote had become part of everyday language, and the memories of the film as a result of the quote. Selections were from films shown in American cinemas, hence there is a weighting for American films. There have also been many superb films since 2005: the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Queen to name just a couple. Nonetheless the list is fun to consider.
Following are Numbers 90-86 in a countdown of those 100 movie lines, on their own at first to enable you to see if you can identify the film and the actor speaking the line. This is followed by an identification and some trivia.
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90. “ A martini. Shaken, not stirred.”
89. "Tell 'em to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper.”
88. "Listen to me, mister. You're my knight in shining armor. Don't you forget it. You're going to get back on that horse, and I'm going to be right behind you, holding on tight, and away we're gonna go, go, go!"
87. "Sawyer, you're going out a youngster, but you've got to come back a star!"
86. "Attica! Attica!"
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90. “ A martini. Shaken, not stirred.”
Spoken by Sean Connery as James Bond in Goldfinger (1964)
Some trivia:
- When Shirley Bassey recorded the theme song, she was singing as the opening credits were running on a screen in front of her, so that she could match the vocals. When she hit her final high note, the titles kept running, and she was forced to hold the note, until she almost passed out.
- Author Ian Fleming partially based the title character of his original 1959 novel 'Goldfinger' on the controversial Modernist architect Erno Goldfinger. When he learned that Fleming was naming the villain of his new James Bond novel 'Goldfinger,' the architect threatened to file a lawsuit against Fleming's publisher in an effort to stop the book's publication. Fleming's publisher then contacted the author to inquire whether Fleming might consider renaming the character, and the novel. Fleming replied that he'd be delighted to alter the name...if he could change the name of the character--and the novel--to "Goldprick." Fleming's publisher quietly settled the architect's lawsuit out of court.
- In the Ian Fleming novel, Pussy Galore is a lesbian, which is why she gives Bond the cold shoulder to start with. Her team are known as the Cement Mixers. Ian Fleming based the character of Pussy Galore on neighbour, friend and lover Blanche Blackwell. The "Pussy" name itself was derived from real life WW2 Special Operations Executive agent Pussy Deakin, aka Livia Stela, a friend of Fleming’s wife. The Pussy name is also said to have been named after Fleming's pet octopus. The octopus also inspired the title of the James Bond short story and the film Octopussy (1983). Octopussy was also the name of a coracle boat given to Ian Fleming by Blanche Blackwell as a present for her stay at Goldeneye. "Goldeneye" was Fleming’s nickname for his beachfront house in Jamaica where (between 1952 and 1964) he wrote the Bond novels and short stories. It was named for the contingency plan that the SIS, whose members included Fleming himself, devised in the event of a Nazi invasion of Spain.
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89. "Tell 'em to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper.”
Spoken by Pat O’Brien as Knute Rockne in Knute Rockne, All American (1940).
This is a biographical film which tells the story of Knute Rockne, Notre Dame football coach, played by Pat O'Brien. The film also features Ronald Reagan as player George “The Gipper” Gipp.
Trivia:
- Although the disease from which George Gipp dies in the movie is not named. In real life he died from complications from a strep throat.
- The full line is: “The last thing George said to me, 'Rock,' he said, 'sometime when the team is up against it and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go out there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper.'"
- Reagan later used the line “Win one for the Gipper” as a slogan in his Presidential bid, he having come to be referred to as The Gipper because of his role in this movie. At the 2004 Republican National Convention President George W Bush quoted the line in his acceptance speech, stating "We can now truly win one for the Gipper," shortly after Reagan’s death.
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88. "Listen to me, mister. You're my knight in shining armor. Don't you forget it. You're going to get back on that horse, and I'm going to be right behind you, holding on tight, and away we're gonna go, go, go!"
Spoken by Katherine Hepburn as Ethel Thayer in On Golden Pond (1981)
Trivia:
The brown Fedora worn by Henry Fonda belonged to Spencer Tracy and was given to Henry Fonda by Katherine Hepburn on the first day on the set. Henry Fonda, overwhelmed with the gesture, painted a still life watercolour of the three hats he wore in the film and gave the original to Katherine Hepburn as a gift. He had 200 lithographs made of the painting and sent one to every person who worked on the film. Each copy was numbered and personally signed by Fonda thanking each person by name. In her autobiography, Hepburn wrote that she gave the painting to screenwriter Ernest Thompson. After Fonda's death, she found the painting to be a sad reminder of him and Spencer Tracy.
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87. "Sawyer, you're going out a youngster, but you've got to come back a star!"
Spoken by Warner Baxter as Julian Marsh in 42nd Street (1933)
I make a confession: I have never seen On Golden Pond, nor the one which follows, Dog day Afternoon. However, I have seen 42nd Street on numerous occasions, I love it. It has everything that the old time musicals offered, plus more:
- Busby Berkeley aerial choreography;
- salacious camera angles in supposedly innocent dancing numbers;
- Ruby Keeler (Mrs Al Jolson) tapping and singing in her film debut;
- a young Dick Powell;
- Bebe Daniels singing "You’re Getting to be a Habit With Me” comparing being in love to being hooked on drugs; and, of course,
- the superb production number as the finale, 42nd Street. . .
Trivia:
- At the end of the "42nd Street" number, Billy and Peggy pull down a curtain or shade with the word "Asbestos" written on it. This can be a confusing reference to 21st-century viewers, who may only be familiar with asbestos as a mineral composite which is now known to cause the lung cancer mesothelioma, but during the first part of the 20th century, asbestos was an often-used flame-retardant component in building materials. It also would have been a reference familiar to theatre people, since live-performance theaters were at the time required to have a curtain made of asbestos that would separate the stage from the audience in the event of an on-stage fire. In that context, the presence of the curtain in the film is the movie's way of implying that whatever Billy and Peggy are going to do behind the curtain, it will surely be "hot."
- The film was so financially successful that it saved Warner Brothers from bankruptcy.
- The groom (Clarence Nordstrom), in the "Shuffle Off To Buffalo" sequence, sings to the bride (Ruby Keeler): "I'll go home and get my panties, you'll go home and get your scanties". In the early 1930s, in the US and Europe, the word for yhe undergarment "panties" was synonymous with "undies" and applied to both men and women.
Bonus:
Ruby Keeler's finale in 42nd Street:
Colourised version:
Ruby Keeler's granddaughter Sarah Lowe taps and sings with film of Ruby:
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86. "Attica! Attica!"
Spoken by Al Pacino as Sonny Wortzik in Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Trivia:
- Al Pacino’s now legendary shouting to the crowd of "Attica! Attica!" was an improvisation. Pacino credits assistant director Burtt Harris with giving him the idea.
- The outdoor sequences were actually filmed in cold weather. So that their breath would not be visible, the actors placed ice in their mouths before each take.
- During production, Al Pacino reportedly only slept a couple hours a night, ate sparingly, and would sometimes take cold showers; this was in order to emphasise Sonny's disheveled, exhausted and yet wired appearance.
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