SENIOR JOURNAL.COM - Senior Citizens Information and News

Front Page    Search     Contact Us     Advertise in Senior Journal

E-mail this page to a friend!

Frankly, My Dear, It's a Damned Memorable Line...

Top 100 Memorable Movie Lines in 100 Years Picked by Experts

GONE WITH THE WIND's 'Frankly, My Dear, I Don't Give a Damn' Tops AFI's List of 100 Greatest Movie Quotes of All Time

June 22, 2005 - The American Film Institute (AFI) revealed the top movie quotes of all time in AFI's 100 Years - 100 Movie Quotes, a three-hour special television event on CBS hosted by actor and action star Pierce Brosnan with commentary from many of Hollywood's most celebrated actors and filmmakers. A jury of 1,500 film artists, critics and historians selected "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," spoken by Clark Gable in the celebrated Civil War romance epic, GONE WITH THE WIND as the most memorable movie quote of all time. These lines will bring back memories for senior citizens.

Rounding off the rest of the top 10 were classic lines spoken in films from the thirties all the way through the eighties including: "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse," from THE GODFATHER (#2), "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," from ON THE WATERFRONT (#3), "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," from THE WIZARD OF OZ (#4), "Here's looking at you, kid," from CASABLANCA (#5), "Go ahead, make my day," from SUDDEN IMPACT (#6), "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up," from SUNSET BLVD (#7), "May the Force be with you," from STAR WARS (#8), "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night," from ALL ABOUT EVE (#9) and "You talking to me?" from TAXI DRIVER (#10).

   The Honorees Are ...

   #                 Quote                     Movie                   Year

   1   Frankly, my dear, I don't give    GONE WITH THE WIND            1939

        a damn.

   2   I'm going to make him an offer    GODFATHER, THE                1972

        he can't refuse.

   3   You don't understand! I coulda    ON THE WATERFRONT             1954

        had class. I coulda been a

        contender. I could've been

        somebody, instead of a bum,

        which is what I am.

   4   Toto, I've got a feeling we're    WIZARD OF OZ, THE             1939

        not in Kansas anymore.

   5   Here's looking at you, kid.       CASABLANCA                    1942

   6   Go ahead, make my day.            SUDDEN IMPACT                 1983

   7   All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm       SUNSET BLVD.                  1950

        ready for my close-up.

   8   May the Force be with you.        STAR WARS                     1977

   9   Fasten your seatbelts. It's       ALL ABOUT EVE                 1950

        going to be a bumpy night.

   10  You talking to me?                TAXI DRIVER                   1976

   11  What we've got here is failure    COOL HAND LUKE                1967

        to communicate.

   12  I love the smell of napalm in     APOCALYPSE NOW                1979

        the morning.

   13  Love means never having to        LOVE STORY                    1970

        say you're sorry.

   14  The stuff that dreams are         MALTESE FALCON, THE           1941

        made of.

   15  E.T. phone home.                  E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL    1982

   16  They call me Mister Tibbs!        IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT      1967

   17  Rosebud.                          CITIZEN KANE                  1941

   18  Made it, Ma! Top of the world!    WHITE HEAT                    1949

   19  I'm as mad as hell, and I'm       NETWORK                       1976

        not going to take this anymore!

   20  Louis, I think this is the        CASABLANCA                    1942

        beginning of a beautiful

        friendship.

   21  A census taker once tried to      SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE     1991

        test me. I ate his liver

        with some fava beans and a

        nice Chianti.

   22  Bond. James Bond.                 DR. NO                        1962

   23  There's no place like home.       WIZARD OF OZ, THE             1939

   24  I am big! It's the pictures       SUNSET BLVD.                  1950

        that got small.

   25  Show me the money!                JERRY MAGUIRE                 1996

   26  Why don't you come up sometime    SHE DONE HIM WRONG            1933

        and see me?

   27  I'm walking here! I'm walking     MIDNIGHT COWBOY               1969

        here!

   28  Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time       CASABLANCA                    1942

        Goes By.'

   29  You can't handle the truth!       FEW GOOD MEN, A               1992

   30  I want to be alone.               GRAND HOTEL                   1932

   31  After all, tomorrow is            GONE WITH THE WIND            1939

        another day!

   32  Round up the usual suspects.      CASABLANCA                    1942

   33  I'll have what she's having.      WHEN HARRY MET SALLY          1989

   34  You know how to whistle, don't    TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT          1944

        you, Steve? You just put your

        lips together and blow.

   35  You're gonna need a bigger boat.  JAWS                          1975

   36  Badges? We ain't got no badges!   TREASURE OF THE SIERRA        1948

        We don't need no badges! I        MADRE, THE

        don't have to show you any

        stinking badges!

   37  I'll be back.                     TERMINATOR, THE               1984

   38  Today, I consider myself the      PRIDE OF THE YANKEES, THE     1942

        luckiest man on the face of

        the earth.

   39  If you build it, he will come.    FIELD OF DREAMS               1989

   40  Mama always said life was like    FORREST GUMP                  1994

        a box of chocolates. You never

        know what you're gonna get.

   41  We rob banks.                     BONNIE AND CLYDE              1967

   42  Plastics.                         GRADUATE, THE                 1967

   43  We'll always have Paris.          CASABLANCA                    1942

   44  I see dead people.                SIXTH SENSE, THE              1999

   45  Stella! Hey, Stella!              STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, A     1951

   46  Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for    NOW, VOYAGER                  1942

        the moon. We have the stars.

   47  Shane.  Shane.  Come back!        SHANE                         1953

   48  Well, nobody's perfect.           SOME LIKE IT HOT              1959

   49  It's alive!  It's alive!          FRANKENSTEIN                  1931

   50  Houston, we have a problem.       APOLLO 13                     1995

   51  You've got to ask yourself one    DIRTY HARRY                   1971

        question: 'Do I feel lucky?'

        Well, do ya, punk?

   52  You had me at "hello."            JERRY MAGUIRE                 1996

   53  One morning I shot an elephant    ANIMAL CRACKERS               1930

        in my pajamas. How he got in

        my pajamas, I don't know.

   54  There's no crying in baseball!    LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, A        1992

   55  La-dee-da, la-dee-da.             ANNIE HALL                    1977

   56  A boy's best friend is his        PSYCHO                        1960

        mother.

   57  Greed, for lack of a better       WALL STREET                   1987

        word, is good.

   58  Keep your friends close, but      GODFATHER II, THE             1974

        your enemies closer.

   59  As God is my witness, I'll        GONE WITH THE WIND            1939

        never be hungry again.

   60  Well, here's another nice mess    SONS OF THE DESERT            1933

        you've gotten me into!

   61  Say "hello" to my little friend!  SCARFACE                      1983

   62  What a dump.                      BEYOND THE FOREST             1949

   63  Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to   GRADUATE, THE                 1967

        seduce me.  Aren't you?

   64  Gentlemen, you can't fight in     DR. STRANGELOVE               1964

        here! This is the War Room!

   65  Elementary, my dear Watson.       ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK        1929

                                          HOLMES, THE

   66  Get your stinking paws off me,    PLANET OF THE APES            1968

        you damned dirty ape.

   67  Of all the gin joints in all      CASABLANCA                    1942

        the towns in all the world,

        she walks into mine.

   68  Here's Johnny!                    SHINING, THE                  1980

   69  They're here!                     POLTERGEIST                   1982

   70  Is it safe?                       MARATHON MAN                  1976

   71  Wait a minute, wait a minute.     JAZZ SINGER, THE              1927

        You ain't heard nothin' yet!

   72  No wire hangers, ever!            MOMMIE DEAREST                1981

   73  Mother of mercy, is this the      LITTLE CAESAR                 1930

        end of Rico?

   74  Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown.  CHINATOWN                     1974

   75  I have always depended on the     STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, A     1951

        kindness of strangers.

   76  Hasta la vista, baby.             TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY    1991

   77  Soylent Green is people!          SOYLENT GREEN                 1973

   78  Open the pod bay doors, HAL.      2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY         1968

   79  Striker: Surely you can't be      AIRPLANE!                     1980

        serious.

       Rumack: I am serious... and

        don't call me Shirley.

   80  Yo, Adrian!                       ROCKY                         1976

   81  Hello, gorgeous.                  FUNNY GIRL                    1968

   82  Toga!  Toga!                      NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL     1978

                                          HOUSE

   83  Listen to them. Children of the   DRACULA                       1931

        night.  What music they make.

   84  Oh, no, it wasn't the airplanes.  KING KONG                     1933

        It was Beauty killed the Beast.

   85  My precious.                      LORD OF THE RINGS: TWO        2002

                                          TOWERS, THE

   86  Attica! Attica!                   DOG DAY AFTERNOON             1975

   87  Sawyer, you're going out a        42ND STREET                   1933

        youngster, but you've got to

        come back a star!

   88  Listen to me, mister. You're      ON GOLDEN POND                1981

        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!

   89  Tell 'em to go out there with     KNUTE ROCKNE ALL AMERICAN     1940

        all they got and win just

        one for the Gipper.

   90  A martini. Shaken, not stirred.   GOLDFINGER                    1964

   91  Who's on first.                   NAUGHTY NINETIES, THE         1945

   92  Cinderella story. Outta nowhere.  CADDYSHACK                    1980

        A former greenskeeper, now,

        about to become the Masters

        champion. It looks like a

        mirac... It's in the hole! It's

        in the hole! It's in the hole!

   93  Life is a banquet, and most       AUNTIE MAME                   1958

        poor suckers are starving to

        death!

   94  I feel the need -- the need       TOP GUN                       1986

        for speed!

   95  Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys.  DEAD POETS SOCIETY            1989

        Make your lives extraordinary.

   96  Snap out of it!                   MOONSTRUCK                    1987

   97  My mother thanks you. My          YANKEE DOODLE DANDY           1942

        father thanks you. My sister

        thanks you. And I thank you.

   98  Nobody puts Baby in a corner.     DIRTY DANCING                 1987

   99  I'll get you, my pretty, and      WIZARD OF OZ, THE             1939

        your little dog, too!

   100 I'm king of the world!            TITANIC                       1997

  The Criteria

AFI distributed a ballot with the names of 400 nominated movie quotes to a jury of over 1,500 leaders in the creative community, including film artists (directors, screenwriters, actors, editors, cinematographers), critics and historians.

The jurors were asked to consider the following criteria in making their selections:

MOVIE QUOTE: A statement, phrase or brief exchange of dialogue spoken in an American Film. (Lyrics from songs are not eligible.)

CULTURAL IMPACT: Movie quotes that viewers use in their own lives and situations, thus circulating through popular culture and becoming part of the national lexicon.

LEGACY: Movie quotes that viewers use to evoke the memory of a treasured film, thus ensuring and enlivening its historical legacy.

*AFI defines an American film as an English language motion picture with significant creative and/or financial production elements from the United States. Additionally, only movie quotes from feature-length American films released before January 1, 2004 were considered. AFI defines a feature-length film as a motion picture of narrative format that is typically over 60 minutes in length.

This is the eighth annual special in AFI's celebration of the centennial of American cinema, following the critically acclaimed network specials: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes & Villains and AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs which consistently spark national discussions of America's film history among movie-lovers across the nation.

Multi Emmy Award-winner Gary Smith is the executive producer and director of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes. Former AFI Board Chair Frederick S. Pierce is the executive producer for AFI. Dann Netter ("The 2002 Emmy Awards") and Bob Gazzale ("AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to George Lucas") are the producers. SFM Entertainment LLC is the distributor of the program.

Sponsors of the series include General Motors, Pepsi, Johnson & Johnson, SBC Communications, Best Buy, Anheuser-Busch, Colgate-Palmolive, Gillette, Lowe's, SC Johnson, Sony, Breyer's Ice Cream, Merck and all major motion picture companies.

About AFI

AFI is a national institute providing leadership in screen education and the recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film, television and digital media. AFI trains the next generation of filmmakers at its world-renowned Conservatory, maintains America's film heritage through the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and explores new digital technologies in moviemaking through AFI's New Media Ventures. As the largest nonprofit exhibitor in the U.S., AFI On Screen offers year-round programming at the ArcLight Hollywood and the annual AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival, as well as at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, including the annual Silverdocs: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival. The annual almanac for the 21st century, AFI Awards honors the most outstanding motion pictures and television programs of the year, while AFI's 100 Years ... series has ignited extraordinary public interest in classic American movies. During the past 32 years, AFI's Life Achievement Award has become the highest honor for a career in Film.

More information about AFI can be found by visiting its Web site, located at www.AFI.com.

Click to More Senior News on the Front Page

Copyright: SeniorJournal.com