Continuing the countdown of the American Film Institute’s top 100 movie lines (2005)
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63. “Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?”
- The Graduate, 1967
Spoken by Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock
Some trivia:
In the famous promotional still for this film, Dustin Hoffman is seen in the background framed by Mrs. Robinson's shapely leg. The leg in that photo didn't belong to Anne Bancroft, however; it belonged to a then-unknown model, Linda Gray, who appeared in Dallas and Models Inc, and who also later played Mrs. Robinson in a London stage musical of The Graduate.
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The song "Mrs. Robinson" was not written for the movie; it was the working title of a song Paul Simon was then writing and was originally called "Mrs. Roosvelt", about Eleanor Roosevelt. Director Mike Nichols decided to include it in the film but Simon and Art Garfunkel only sing the chorus, none of the verses of the later hit song. Additionally, the chorus portion sung contains some lyrics not featured in the more popular "final" version of the song.
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The Simpsons’ episode ‘Lady Bouvier’s Mother’ has granddad Abraham Simpson running from the church with Marge’s mother when she is about to marry Mr Burns and departing on a bus, much like the final scenes of The Graduate.
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62. “What a dump.”
- Beyond the Forest, 1949
Spoken by Bette Davis as Rosa Moline
I have not seen or heard of this movie before following up this list, although anyone who has watched Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf will be familiar with Elizabeth Taylor echoing the line “What a dump!” and haranguing George about the movie it came from. See it at:
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The following is a summary of the plot, not exactly a feelgood flick:
Rosa Moline is the neglected wife of a small-town Wisconsin doctor. She grows bored and becomes infatuated with a visiting Chicago businessman. She extorts money from her husband's patients and uses the cash to flee to Chicago, but the businessman does not welcome her. She returns home and becomes pregnant by her husband. The businessman has a change of heart and follows her to Wisconsin. He wants her back, but not her baby, so she attempts to abort by throwing herself down a hill, gets peritonitis and dies.
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Bette Davis was so unhappy about making this movie that she told Jack Warner: "If you want me to finish the film, let me out of my contract". Warner was only too happy to accept, because Davis was his highest-paid star and her last few movies had been unsuccessful, ending 18 years with the studio.
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61. “Say ‘hello’ to my little friend.”
- Scarface, 1983
Spoken by Al Pacino as Tony Montana
When director Brian De Palma submitted the film to the MPAA, they gave it an "X rating". He then made some cuts and resubmitted it a second time; again the film was given an "X rating" (one of the reasons apparently being that Octavio the clown was shot too many times). He yet again made some further cuts and submitted it a third time; yet again it was given an "X". De Palma refused to cut the film any further to qualify it for an R. He and producer Martin Bregman arranged a hearing with the MPAA. They brought in a panel of experts, including real narcotics officers, who stated that the film was an accurate portrayal of real life in the drug underworld and should be widely seen. This convinced the 20 members of the ratings board to give the third submitted cut of the film an "R rating" by a vote of 18-2. However, De Palma surmised that if the third cut of the film was judged an "R" then the very first cut should have been an "R" as well. He asked the studio if he could release the first cut but was told that he couldn't. However since the Studio execs really didn't know the differences between the different cuts that had been submitted, De Palma released the first cut of the film to theaters anyway. It wasn't until the film had been released on videocassette months later that he confessed that he had released his first unedited and intended version of the film.
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Tammy Lynn Leppert, who played the female distraction to Manny in the lookout car during the bloody chainsaw shower scene, disappeared on July 6, 1983 under suspicious circumstances. She has never been seen or heard from since.
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Tony's "little friend" is an M16 assault rifle with an M203 40mm grenade launcher attached to the barrel.
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60. “Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into.”
- Sons of the Desert, 1933
Spoken by Oliver Hardy as Ollie
During the shooting, Stan Laurel was also seeing someone else, Virginia Ruth Rogers, even though his divorce from his first wife was not yet final. Rogers even filled in as a crowd scene extra and also stood closely by during the filming of the rooftop downpour scene. As the soaking wet Laurel finished shooting, she threw a towel around him, rushed him to his dressing room, ran a hot shower, and made him a hot toddy of whiskey, lemon and sugar. She said Laurel began to cry in gratitude, noting how his wife never took any interest in his work or showed her concern for him in that way. Rogers later became his second (and fourth!) wife.
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59. “As God as my witness, I’ll never be hungry again.”
- Gone With the Wind, 1939
Spoken by Vivien Leigh as Scarlet O’Hara
Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to be nominated for, and win, an Academy Award.
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First color film to win the Best Picture Oscar.
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Reportedly, one of the reasons stated by David O. Selznick as to why he fired George Cukor as director was that Cukor, a homosexual, would be unable to properly direct the love scenes between Rhett and Scarlett; hence he was replaced by macho director Victor Fleming. Although he was dismissed from the production, Cukor continued to privately coach both Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland at their request on weekends, unbeknownst to both Selznick and Fleming.
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Vivien Leigh later said that she hated kissing Clark Gable because of his bad breath, probably caused by his false teeth, a result of excessive smoking.
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Margaret Mitchell's inspiration for her book title came from the 13th line of the Ernest Dowson poem "Cynara"--"I have forgot much Cynara! Gone with the wind."
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