JULY/AUGUST 2022
SPOTLIGHT
CLASSIC LINES IN CIMEMA
Text By Douglas Schwartz
Since the early twentieth century, movie audiences have been irresistibly drawn to the magical glow of the silver screen. Filmmakers
have been satisfying their desire in the form of drama, comedy, horror, science fiction and fantasy films. Regardless of the genre, one
fact cannot be ignored. Without writers, there would be no films to watch.
That's because, before a movie can make it to the screen, be it to theater palaces in the past, or big screen televisions in homes
today, the words in a script, whether original or adapted from a novel or play, must be written. That creative task lies in the minds
and hands of the writers.
Every so often, a particular line in a movie becomes as much of a star as the actor who brings it to life on the screen. I've compiled
my own personal favorite classic lines in cinema for this SPOTLIGHT and present them to you in the form of a challenge. Each
classic line has a number after it. The corresponding numbers with the movie titles are at the bottom of the SPOTLIGHT. Without
peeking, how many of the film titles do you know which contain the following classic lines? Ready? Let's get started.
have been satisfying their desire in the form of drama, comedy, horror, science fiction and fantasy films. Regardless of the genre, one
fact cannot be ignored. Without writers, there would be no films to watch.
That's because, before a movie can make it to the screen, be it to theater palaces in the past, or big screen televisions in homes
today, the words in a script, whether original or adapted from a novel or play, must be written. That creative task lies in the minds
and hands of the writers.
Every so often, a particular line in a movie becomes as much of a star as the actor who brings it to life on the screen. I've compiled
my own personal favorite classic lines in cinema for this SPOTLIGHT and present them to you in the form of a challenge. Each
classic line has a number after it. The corresponding numbers with the movie titles are at the bottom of the SPOTLIGHT. Without
peeking, how many of the film titles do you know which contain the following classic lines? Ready? Let's get started.
"He hates these cans!" (12)
"Feed me, Seymour!" (13)
"If I hold you any closer, I'll be in back of you!" (14)
"Which three books would you have taken?" (15)
"Thought is real. Physical is the illusion. Ironic, huh?" (16)
"You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow." (17)
"Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." (18)
"They drew first blood, not me." (19)
"To my big brother, George. The richest man in town." (20)
"I'll have what she's having." (21)
"Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" (22)
"I am not an animal! I am a human being!" (23)
"If you build it, he will come." (24)
"Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" (25)
"I am big! It's the pictures that got small." (26)
"A boy's best friend is his mother." (27)
"I don't have to show you any stinking badges!" (28)
"Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passin'." (29)
"All the flowers in the garden are blue." (30)
"Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night." (31)
"What we've got here is failure to communicate." (32)
"It's alive! It's alive!" (33)
"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the war room!" (34)
"They call me Mister Tibbs!" (35)
"Here's Johnny!" (36)
"Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!" (37)
"I see dead people." (38)
"I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that." (39)
"The stuff that dreams are made of." (40)
"I am serious, and don't call me Shirley." (41)
"It was Beauty killed the Beast." (42)
"They're coming to get you, Barbara." (43)
"You're gonna need a bigger boat." (44)
"I've been rich and I've been poor. Believe me rich is better." (45)
"They're here already! You're next!" (46)
"It's amazing, Molly. The love inside, you take it with you." (47)
"Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." (48)
"Fill your hands, you son of a bitch!" (49)
I saved the following classic line from cinema for last because I feel it best relates to the time we're living in.
"Feed me, Seymour!" (13)
"If I hold you any closer, I'll be in back of you!" (14)
"Which three books would you have taken?" (15)
"Thought is real. Physical is the illusion. Ironic, huh?" (16)
"You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow." (17)
"Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." (18)
"They drew first blood, not me." (19)
"To my big brother, George. The richest man in town." (20)
"I'll have what she's having." (21)
"Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" (22)
"I am not an animal! I am a human being!" (23)
"If you build it, he will come." (24)
"Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" (25)
"I am big! It's the pictures that got small." (26)
"A boy's best friend is his mother." (27)
"I don't have to show you any stinking badges!" (28)
"Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passin'." (29)
"All the flowers in the garden are blue." (30)
"Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night." (31)
"What we've got here is failure to communicate." (32)
"It's alive! It's alive!" (33)
"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the war room!" (34)
"They call me Mister Tibbs!" (35)
"Here's Johnny!" (36)
"Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!" (37)
"I see dead people." (38)
"I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that." (39)
"The stuff that dreams are made of." (40)
"I am serious, and don't call me Shirley." (41)
"It was Beauty killed the Beast." (42)
"They're coming to get you, Barbara." (43)
"You're gonna need a bigger boat." (44)
"I've been rich and I've been poor. Believe me rich is better." (45)
"They're here already! You're next!" (46)
"It's amazing, Molly. The love inside, you take it with you." (47)
"Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." (48)
"Fill your hands, you son of a bitch!" (49)
I saved the following classic line from cinema for last because I feel it best relates to the time we're living in.
"I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take this anymore!" (50)
So, there you have it. My short list of classic lines from cinema. How many of them did you recognize? If you are a film buff like I am,these classic lines are a literary reminder of the creative magic of the films in which they can be found.
Perhaps the most important thing to take away from this SPOTLIGHT is that without writers, there would be no movies, novels,
poetry or stage plays. The creative arrangement of words by writers can cause fear, laughter, happiness and sadness. Writers, in
fact, are the storytellers of human emotion.
I believe that writers, and all artists for that matter, also have the power to help lift humanity out of the predicament we currently find
ourselves in by exposing what's right with the world, as well as what needs to be fixed. Creativity, after all, is the antidote for
destruction...the antithesis of evil. While it is true that a picture is worth a thousand words, a thousand words may, in fact, help to
create a future with a much brighter picture!
ANSWERS
(1), (2) and (3) The Wizard of Oz 1939
(4), (5) and (6) Gone with the Wind 1939
(7) and (8) Casablanca 1942
(9) Citizen Kane 1941
(10) Shane 1953
(11) Come Back, Little Sheba 1952
(12)The Jerk 1979
(13) Little Shop of Horrors 1986
(14) A Day At The Races 1937
(15) The Time Machine 1960
(16) What Dreams May Come 1998
(17) To Have and Have Not 1944
(18) The Princess Bride 1987
(19) First Blood 1982
(20) It's A Wonderful Life 1946
(21) When Harry Met Sally… 1989
(22) Sons of the Desert 1933
(23) The Elephant Man 1980
(24) Field Of Dreams 1989
(25) White Heat 1949
(26) Sunset Boulevard 1950
(27) Psycho 1960
(28) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948
(29) To Kill A Mockingbird 1962
(30) I made this line up just to mess with
the most ardent film buffs. It doesn't
exist in any movie that I know of.
(It's fun being a writer!)
(31) All About Eve 1950
(32) Cool Hand Luke 1967
(33) Frankenstein 1931
(34) Dr. Strangelove 1964
(35) In the Heat of the Night 1967
(36) The Shining 1980
(37) Planet of the Apes 1968
(38) The Sixth Sense 1999
(39) 2001: A Space Odyssey 1968
(40) The Maltese Falcon 1941
(41) Airplane! 1980
(42) King Kong 1933
(43) Night of the Living Dead 1968
(44) Jaws 1975
(45) The Big Heat 1953
(46) Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956
(47) Ghost 1990
(48) Dead Poets Society 1989
(49) True Grit 1969
(50) Network 1976
(1), (2) and (3) The Wizard of Oz 1939
(4), (5) and (6) Gone with the Wind 1939
(7) and (8) Casablanca 1942
(9) Citizen Kane 1941
(10) Shane 1953
(11) Come Back, Little Sheba 1952
(12)The Jerk 1979
(13) Little Shop of Horrors 1986
(14) A Day At The Races 1937
(15) The Time Machine 1960
(16) What Dreams May Come 1998
(17) To Have and Have Not 1944
(18) The Princess Bride 1987
(19) First Blood 1982
(20) It's A Wonderful Life 1946
(21) When Harry Met Sally… 1989
(22) Sons of the Desert 1933
(23) The Elephant Man 1980
(24) Field Of Dreams 1989
(25) White Heat 1949
(26) Sunset Boulevard 1950
(27) Psycho 1960
(28) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948
(29) To Kill A Mockingbird 1962
(30) I made this line up just to mess with
the most ardent film buffs. It doesn't
exist in any movie that I know of.
(It's fun being a writer!)
(31) All About Eve 1950
(32) Cool Hand Luke 1967
(33) Frankenstein 1931
(34) Dr. Strangelove 1964
(35) In the Heat of the Night 1967
(36) The Shining 1980
(37) Planet of the Apes 1968
(38) The Sixth Sense 1999
(39) 2001: A Space Odyssey 1968
(40) The Maltese Falcon 1941
(41) Airplane! 1980
(42) King Kong 1933
(43) Night of the Living Dead 1968
(44) Jaws 1975
(45) The Big Heat 1953
(46) Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956
(47) Ghost 1990
(48) Dead Poets Society 1989
(49) True Grit 1969
(50) Network 1976
All content in this SPOTLIGHT © copyright the respective artists. All rights reserved.
We'll begin with a really easy one. Try to guess the
name of the film in which the following classic line is
spoken. "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas
anymore." (1) Sorry, but if you said, Ben-Hur, you
are incorrect.
Next is the equally famous line from the same movie…
"There's no place like home." (2) That line is so well
known that I wouldn't be surprised to learn that
members of isolated tribes deep in the Amazon
rainforest can answer that one!
Here's one more classic line from the same film...
"I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!" (3)
If you've seen the movie on television about a million
times (like I have) in which these first three classic
lines appear, you're probably feeling pretty cinema-
sure of yourself. Let's move on.
Released the same year as the last film, the following
movie has more than one classic line in it as well.
Perhaps the most famous one (the most famous in any
film?) is, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." (4)
This is closely followed by "I don't know nothin' 'bout
birthin' babies!" (5) and, "After all, tomorrow is another
day." (6) Another movie with a classic line trifecta.
Here's another film with more than one classic line.
Two of the most famous are..."Here's looking at you,
kid" (7) and, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a
beautiful friendship" (8) Do you think you have a
perfect score so far? Great!
One extremely classic line in cinema history has
just one word in it...namely, "Rosebud." (9) Not only
is that a single word classic movie line, it is also the
first word spoken in the film...and, the rest of the
movie revolves around the meaning behind the word.
How's that for a powerful example of a seven-letter-
word classic line?!
The movie in which the following classic line is spoken
(actually, shouted) will be easy to guess even if you've
never seen the film (if you haven't, you should!)
because the title of the movie is in the line. "Shane...
come back!" (10) Here's a hint. The title of the film
is not, Come Back...though those two words are
indeed part of the title as well as the entire classic line
"Come Back, Little Sheba." (11) That one is such a
giveaway that it should have come with free popcorn!
So much for the easy ones, especially with the
accompanying movie posters. I now present some
other classic lines in cinema. Some are also relatively
easy, even to non-cinema buffs. Others are a little
harder. Here goes.
name of the film in which the following classic line is
spoken. "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas
anymore." (1) Sorry, but if you said, Ben-Hur, you
are incorrect.
Next is the equally famous line from the same movie…
"There's no place like home." (2) That line is so well
known that I wouldn't be surprised to learn that
members of isolated tribes deep in the Amazon
rainforest can answer that one!
Here's one more classic line from the same film...
"I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!" (3)
If you've seen the movie on television about a million
times (like I have) in which these first three classic
lines appear, you're probably feeling pretty cinema-
sure of yourself. Let's move on.
Released the same year as the last film, the following
movie has more than one classic line in it as well.
Perhaps the most famous one (the most famous in any
film?) is, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." (4)
This is closely followed by "I don't know nothin' 'bout
birthin' babies!" (5) and, "After all, tomorrow is another
day." (6) Another movie with a classic line trifecta.
Here's another film with more than one classic line.
Two of the most famous are..."Here's looking at you,
kid" (7) and, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a
beautiful friendship" (8) Do you think you have a
perfect score so far? Great!
One extremely classic line in cinema history has
just one word in it...namely, "Rosebud." (9) Not only
is that a single word classic movie line, it is also the
first word spoken in the film...and, the rest of the
movie revolves around the meaning behind the word.
How's that for a powerful example of a seven-letter-
word classic line?!
The movie in which the following classic line is spoken
(actually, shouted) will be easy to guess even if you've
never seen the film (if you haven't, you should!)
because the title of the movie is in the line. "Shane...
come back!" (10) Here's a hint. The title of the film
is not, Come Back...though those two words are
indeed part of the title as well as the entire classic line
"Come Back, Little Sheba." (11) That one is such a
giveaway that it should have come with free popcorn!
So much for the easy ones, especially with the
accompanying movie posters. I now present some
other classic lines in cinema. Some are also relatively
easy, even to non-cinema buffs. Others are a little
harder. Here goes.
