94 Fun Facts About Famous Movie Quotes

Which 1939 film features the line "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore"?

The Wizard of Oz (1939): Dorothy says it to her dog as she steps out of the sepia farmhouse into Munchkinland, the moment the film bursts into Technicolor; the AFI ranked the line #4.

In which film does a character say "I'll be back" before driving a car through a police station?

The Terminator (1984): Arnold Schwarzenegger struggled to pronounce the contraction and asked to say "I will be back", but James Cameron refused to change it; the AFI ranked the line #37.

Which actor says "Here's looking at you, kid" as Rick Blaine in the 1942 classic?

Humphrey Bogart's toast was not in the draft scripts and is said to have come from something he told Ingrid Bergman between takes; he has five lines on the AFI list, more than any other actor.

Which Star Wars film first brought "May the Force be with you" to cinema audiences?

A New Hope (1977): General Dodonna says it first, before the Death Star attack, though the AFI credits Han Solo's version as quote #8.

In which movie does Tom Hanks say "My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates"?

Forrest Gump (1994): he says it to a stranger on a bus-stop bench in Savannah, where he sits telling his life story for most of the film, and adds that you never know what you're gonna get; the AFI ranked it #40.

Which movie features the catchphrase "To infinity and beyond!"?

Toy Story (1995): Buzz Lightyear, voiced by Tim Allen, believes he is a real space ranger; in 2008 NASA flew a Buzz figure to the International Space Station, where it stayed for 15 months.

Which film features Leonardo DiCaprio shouting "I'm the king of the world!"?

Titanic (1997): Jack shouts it from the ship's bow, and director James Cameron repeated it on stage as he lifted his Best Director Oscar; the AFI ranked the line #100.

Which character says "Just keep swimming" in Finding Nemo?

Dory was first written as a male fish, until director Andrew Stanton heard Ellen DeGeneres change the subject five times in one sentence on her sitcom and cast her.

Which 1975 thriller features the line "You're gonna need a bigger boat"?

Jaws (1975): Roy Scheider's Chief Brody says it after his first close look at the shark; it is usually misquoted as "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

Which superhero movie features the line "With great power comes great responsibility"?

Spider-Man (2002): both Uncle Ben and Peter say it in Sam Raimi's film; the line first appeared as closing narration in Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962.

Which actress repeats "There's no place like home"?

Judy Garland says it as Dorothy to make the ruby slippers take her home; the shoes were silver in L. Frank Baum's book, and MGM made them ruby to stand out in Technicolor.

In The Godfather, who first says "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse"?

Don Vito Corleone promises it to his godson, a singer a studio boss refuses to cast; the offer turns out to be the head of the man's prize racehorse, left in his bed.

Which 1992 courtroom drama features the line "You can't handle the truth!"?

A Few Good Men (1992): Jack Nicholson's Colonel Jessep snaps it under Tom Cruise's cross-examination, then admits ordering the "code red" and is arrested in the courtroom; the AFI ranked the line #29.

Which film features the quote "Here's Johnny!" as a character breaks through a door with an axe?

The Shining (1980): Jack Nicholson improvised the line, borrowing Ed McMahon's nightly introduction of Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show; Kubrick, living in England, missed the reference and nearly used another take.

Which movie features the line "Nobody puts Baby in a corner"?

Dirty Dancing (1987): Patrick Swayze's Johnny Castle says it as he pulls Baby away from her parents' table for the final dance; the AFI ranked the line #98.

Which 1989 baseball film features the quote "If you build it, he will come"?

Field of Dreams (1989): Kevin Costner's farmer hears the whisper in his cornfield and builds a ballpark there; the line is often misquoted with "they" for "he", and the AFI ranked it #39.

Which actor growls "Go ahead, make my day" at a diner robber holding a waitress hostage?

Clint Eastwood says it as Inspector Harry Callahan in Sudden Impact (1983), the fourth film in the series, not the 1971 original the line is usually pinned on.

Which film ends with its heroine vowing "After all, tomorrow is another day!"?

Gone with the Wind (1939): Scarlett O'Hara says it moments after Rhett walks out on her, resolving to go home to Tara and find a way to win him back; the AFI ranked the line #31.

Which child actor whispers "I see dead people" to Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense?

Haley Joel Osment says it as Cole Sear while the camera creeps toward Bruce Willis's face, a hint at the twist that the filmmakers feared was too much of a giveaway but left in.

Which movie features the line "There's no crying in baseball!"?

A League of Their Own (1992): Tom Hanks's manager Jimmy Dugan bellows it at a weeping Rockford Peaches player; the AFI ranked the line #54.

In which 1976 film does Robert De Niro improvise 'You talkin' to me?' at his own reflection?

Taxi Driver (1976): screenwriter Paul Schrader said De Niro made up Travis Bickle's mirror monologue himself, in a scene of Travis rehearsing his quick draw; the AFI ranked the line #10.

Which Godfather character says "Leave the gun, take the cannoli"?

Peter Clemenza (Richard Castellano) steps out of the car to relieve himself while Rocco Lampone shoots Paulie Gatto, then gives the order as he walks back.

Which actor delivers the line "Why so serious?" in The Dark Knight?

Heath Ledger's Joker says it while telling how he got his scars, a story he tells differently each time; Ledger won the Oscar for the role after his death.

What does Darth Vader actually say when he reveals he is Luke's father?

No, I am your father is the real line: David Prowse was fed a decoy line on set to protect the twist, James Earl Jones dubbed the true one, and the name Luke never appears in it.

The misquote "Play it again, Sam" grew out of a scene in which film?

Casablanca never contains the line: Ilsa says 'Play it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By', and Rick later says 'Play it'; the misquote became Woody Allen's 1972 film title.

Which 1995 film turned an astronaut's real "we've had a problem" into "Houston, we have a problem"?

Apollo 13 gives the line to Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell, but Jack Swigert spoke first on the real flight, and the screenwriter changed the tense because the true words sounded as if the danger had passed.

Which film's villain recalls eating a census taker's liver "with some fava beans and a nice Chianti"?

The Silence of the Lambs (1991): Anthony Hopkins's Hannibal Lecter says it to Clarice Starling through the cell glass, then adds his hissing slurp; the AFI ranked the line #21.

In Jerry Maguire (1996), who says the line "You had me at hello"?

Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger) cuts off Jerry's long speech in front of her sister's divorcee support group, telling him to shut up first; it is one of two lines from the film on the AFI list.

Which 1987 film features the quote "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good"?

Wall Street (1987): Michael Douglas's Gordon Gekko says it in his speech to the Teldar Paper shareholders' meeting; the AFI ranked the line #57, and it is usually shortened to three words.

Which Terminator film features the line "Hasta la vista, baby"?

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991): Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800 says it before shooting the frozen T-1000 to pieces, a phrase young John Connor taught him; the AFI ranked the line #76.

What does Hannibal Lecter actually say when Clarice Starling first walks up to his cell?

Good morning is all he says on her first visit; the misquoted Hello, Clarice is never spoken in the 1991 film, and only turns up, over the phone, in the 2001 sequel Hannibal.

Which 1976 film gave us "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"?

Network (1976): Peter Finch's unravelling anchorman Howard Beale urges viewers to shout it from their windows; the AFI ranked the line #19.

Which Vietnam War film features the line "I love the smell of napalm in the morning"?

Apocalypse Now (1979): Robert Duvall's surf-mad Lt. Col. Kilgore says it on a beach he has just had firebombed so that his men can surf there in safety.

'Rosebud', a dying man's single word, drives the whole mystery of which 1941 film?

Citizen Kane (1941): Rosebud is the first word spoken, Charles Foster Kane's dying utterance that a reporter spends the film chasing; it turns out to be his childhood sled, and the AFI ranked the line #17.

Which 1950 film features the line "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up"?

Sunset Boulevard (1950): Gloria Swanson's Norma Desmond says it as the closing line, descending her staircase toward the newsreel cameras; the AFI ranked it #7.

Which 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film contains the line "A boy's best friend is his mother"?

Psycho (1960): Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) says it to Marion Crane over supper in the motel parlor; Hitchcock shot it cheaply with his television crew, and the AFI ranked the line #56.

In which film does Marlon Brando say "I coulda been a contender"?

On the Waterfront (1954): Marlon Brando's Terry Malloy says it to his brother Charley in the back of a taxi; the AFI ranked it #3, and De Niro recites the speech in Raging Bull.

Which Bond film first features the line "Bond, James Bond"?

Dr. No (1962): at a casino card table Sylvia Trench gives her name surname first, and Sean Connery's Bond answers in kind as he lights a cigarette; the AFI ranked the introduction #22.

Which 1989 Robin Williams film features the quote "Carpe diem, seize the day, boys"?

Dead Poets Society: Robin Williams's teacher John Keating whispers it as if from long-dead former pupils, telling his class that those boys are now fertilizing daffodils; the AFI ranked it #95.

Al Pacino's Tony Montana, grenade launcher in hand, yells 'Say hello to my little friend' in which 1983 film?

Scarface (1983): Tony Montana shouts it as he opens fire on the gunmen storming his mansion, a last stand that ends with him shot in the back and floating in his own pool; the AFI ranked it #61.

Which 1974 film gave us 'Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer'?

The Godfather Part II (1974): Michael Corleone says his father taught him the maxim in that very room, explaining why he will stay friendly with the man who tried to have him killed; the AFI ranked it #58.

Which screen legend sighs "I want to be alone" as a weary ballerina in Grand Hotel?

Greta Garbo says it as the fading dancer Grusinskaya; the famously private star later insisted she had only ever said she wanted to be let alone, which she called a very different thing.

Which 1933 film ends with the line 'It was Beauty killed the Beast'?

King Kong (1933): showman Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) says it over the ape's body at the foot of the Empire State Building; the AFI ranked the closing line #84.

Which 1927 film includes the line "You ain't heard nothin' yet!"?

The Jazz Singer (1927), the first feature film with synchronized speech, has Al Jolson reuse his own stage catchphrase, already heard in his 1926 short A Plantation Act; the AFI ranked it #71.

Which Kubrick film has the line "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here, this is the War Room!"?

Dr. Strangelove (1964): Peter Sellers's President Muffley scolds a general and the Soviet ambassador for brawling over a hidden camera, while his own bombers fly to start a nuclear war; the AFI ranked it #64.

Which actor screams "Soylent Green is people!" at the end of the 1973 film Soylent Green?

Charlton Heston, as Detective Thorn, screams it as he is carried off wounded at the end of Soylent Green (1973); the AFI ranked the line #77, and the film was Edward G. Robinson's last.

How does the Evil Queen actually address her mirror in Disney's Snow White (1937)?

Magic Mirror on the wall is how Disney's queen puts it, after first summoning the Slave in the Magic Mirror; the doubled Mirror, mirror is how the queen of the Grimm tale says it.

Which 1967 prison film gave us "What we've got here is failure to communicate"?

Cool Hand Luke (1967): the Captain (Strother Martin) says it after striking Luke for a smart remark; the AFI ranked it #11, and Guns N' Roses sampled it to open their 1990 song Civil War.

Who delivers the deadpan "I'll have what she's having" in When Harry Met Sally...?

Rob Reiner's mother, Estelle Reiner, delivers the order as a Katz's Delicatessen customer; the line was Billy Crystal's idea, and the AFI ranked it #33.

Which 1967 film features Sidney Poitier's retort "They call me Mister Tibbs!"?

In the Heat of the Night (1967): a Mississippi police chief sneers at the name Virgil and asks what they call him up in Philadelphia, and the retort became the title of the 1970 sequel; the AFI ranked it #16.

Which line does Dustin Hoffman's Ratso Rizzo shout at a cab in Midnight Cowboy?

"I'm walkin' here!" is Ratso's shout at a New York cab; Hoffman has said the cab strayed into a take and he stayed in character, an account others on the film have disputed, and the AFI ranked the line #27.

Who has "always depended on the kindness of strangers" in A Streetcar Named Desire?

Blanche DuBois says it to the doctor who has come to take her to a mental hospital, going quietly once he speaks to her gently; the AFI ranked the line #75.

Al Pacino's improvised 'Attica, Attica' chant to a street crowd comes from which 1975 film?

Dog Day Afternoon's assistant director Burtt Harris whispered to Pacino to bring up the Attica prison riot, and Pacino improvised the whole exchange with the crowd.

Which 1988 action film has its hero taunt a terrorist with the cowboy whoop "Yippee-ki-yay"?

Die Hard (1988): asked whether he thinks he is John Wayne or Rambo, Bruce Willis's John McClane says he was always partial to Roy Rogers, then signs off with the whoop when called a cowboy.

"Well, nobody's perfect!" is the closing line of which Billy Wilder comedy?

Some Like It Hot (1959): Joe E. Brown's Osgood delivers it after Jack Lemmon confesses he is a man; Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond wrote it as a placeholder, and the AFI ranked the line #48.

Which film has a Mexican bandit sneer "We ain't got no badges!" while posing as a lawman?

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948): Alfonso Bedoya's bandit chief Gold Hat says it while claiming to be a federale, and later comedies such as Blazing Saddles trimmed it into the version most people quote.

"Open the pod bay doors, HAL" is a plea from which film?

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): astronaut Dave Bowman makes the request from outside the Discovery and HAL 9000 refuses; the AFI ranked the line #78 and HAL the #13 screen villain.

What one-word career tip does Mr. McGuire give Benjamin in The Graduate?

Plastics: Mr. McGuire takes Benjamin aside at a party in his honour, checks that he is listening, and promises there is a great future in it; the AFI ranked the single word #42.

In Marathon Man, what does Nazi dentist Szell keep asking as he drills Babe's teeth?

"Is it safe?" is all Laurence Olivier's Szell asks as he drills: he wants to know whether he can safely collect his diamonds from a New York bank, a secret Dustin Hoffman's baffled student knows nothing about.

Which 1970 film closes with a line about "never having to say you're sorry"?

Love Story (1970): Oliver repeats Jenny's line to his father at the end; two years later Ryan O'Neal's character in What's Up, Doc? hears it and calls it the dumbest thing he ever heard.

What did Barbra Streisand greet with "Hello, gorgeous" at the 1969 Academy Awards?

Her Oscar statuette: accepting Best Actress for Funny Girl in a tie with Katharine Hepburn, Streisand greeted the award with her character's first line in the film; the AFI ranked it #81.

"The first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club" is spoken by whom?

Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) welcomes the men to Fight Club (1999) and recites its rules while the Narrator (Edward Norton) looks on; the twist later reveals the two are one man.

First Lady Barbara Bush quoted which teen comedy's "Life moves pretty fast" to Wellesley's 1990 graduates?

Ferris Bueller's Day Off: Barbara Bush credited Ferris by name in her commencement address, then joked that she would not tell George the students had clapped more for Ferris than for him.

"I feel the need—the need for speed!" from Top Gun inspired the name of what?

A video game series: Electronic Arts' racing games The Need for Speed, launched in 1994, borrowed the line that Maverick starts and Goose joins in to finish; the AFI ranked it #94.

Which president quoted "Where we're going, we don't need roads" in a State of the Union?

Ronald Reagan quoted Doc Brown's line in his 1986 State of the Union address, a year after Back to the Future had Doc scoff at the idea of Reagan, an actor, as president.

In Pulp Fiction, what does Vincent say the French call a Quarter Pounder?

Royale with Cheese: Vincent tells Jules the French use the metric system, so they would not know what a Quarter Pounder is, and adds that a Big Mac there is Le Big Mac.

"I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way" is said by which animated character?

Jessica Rabbit says it to detective Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988); Kathleen Turner voiced her without screen credit, and Amy Irving sang her nightclub number.

"I drink your milkshake!" is an oilman's taunt in which 2007 film?

There Will Be Blood (2007): Daniel Day-Lewis's oilman gloats that his wells have already drained the land a preacher has come to offer him; Paul Thomas Anderson said he found the milkshake image in 1920s congressional testimony.

Mae West's "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" was said to which actor?

Cary Grant: Mae West says it to his mission captain in She Done Him Wrong (1933), then flipped the wording in I'm No Angel later that year; the AFI ranked it #26.

In Airplane!, who replies "I am serious, and don't call me Shirley"?

Leslie Nielsen had spent decades as a straight dramatic actor, which is why the directors cast him to deliver the absurd reply deadpan; the role remade him as a comedy star.

A little girl intones "They're here" in front of a static-filled TV in which 1982 film?

Poltergeist (1982): five-year-old Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) says it after a ghostly hand reaches out of the screen and an earthquake shakes the family awake; the AFI ranked the line #69.

"Win just one for the Gipper" comes from a 1940 biopic about which football coach?

Knute Rockne, All American (1940): Ronald Reagan played the dying Notre Dame star George Gipp, whose deathbed plea Pat O'Brien's Rockne relays to the team; the AFI ranked the line #89.

Bette Davis warns "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night" in which film?

All About Eve (1950): Bette Davis's Margo Channing says it at her own party, gulping down another martini before marching to the stairs; the AFI ranked the line #9.

"It's alive!" is shouted in which 1931 horror film?

Frankenstein (1931): Colin Clive's Henry Frankenstein shouts it as his creature first stirs; his next boast, that he now knew what it felt like to be God, was cut by censors as blasphemy.

Faye Dunaway screams "No wire hangers!" while playing which Hollywood star?

Joan Crawford: in Mommie Dearest (1981), based on her daughter Christina's memoir, she finds an expensive dress on a wire hanger in the girl's closet late at night and flies into a rage.

Which actor, as the slave Antoninus, leaps up to shout "I'm Spartacus!" in the 1960 epic?

Tony Curtis's Antoninus shouts it when the Romans offer the captured rebels a pardon for pointing out their leader; the rest take up the cry, and Crassus has them all crucified.

James Cagney yells "Made it, Ma, top of the world!" atop a gas tank in which film?

White Heat (1949): Cagney's gangster Cody Jarrett fires into the tank beneath him and shouts it to the dead mother who always promised him the top of the world, just before it explodes; the AFI ranked it #18.

Who says "Children of the night, what music they make"?

Count Dracula says it as wolves howl outside his castle while he welcomes Renfield; Bela Lugosi had already played the count on Broadway, and the AFI ranked the line #83.

Which gunfighter does a boy beg to "come back" at the end of a 1953 Western?

Shane rides out of the valley wounded, telling young Joey Starrett there's no living with a killing; Brandon deWilde earned an Oscar nomination as the boy, and the AFI ranked the cry #47.

"La-dee-da, la-dee-da" is a catchphrase of the title character in which Woody Allen film?

Annie Hall (1977): Diane Keaton's Annie uses the nervous verbal tic on first meeting Alvy Singer after tennis; the AFI ranked it #55.

"We rob banks" is the blunt self-introduction in which 1967 film?

Bonnie and Clyde (1967): Warren Beatty's Clyde Barrow says it as he introduces himself and Bonnie to a farmer, who just stares back; the AFI ranked the three-word line #41.

In E.T., which toy does the alien rewire into a transmitter so he can "phone home"?

Speak & Spell: E.T. gets the idea from a Buck Rogers comic strip in which the hero calls for help, then builds his transmitter around the talking spelling toy from parts found in the house.

"Hakuna matata", the motto in The Lion King, means "no worries" in which language?

Swahili: more than a decade before Timon and Pumbaa sang it, the phrase ran through the Kenyan pop hit Jambo Bwana, which Boney M. covered as Jambo — Hakuna Matata.

Sean Bean's "One does not simply walk into Mordor" is spoken by which character?

Boromir says it at the Council of Elrond in The Fellowship of the Ring (2001); the line became such a popular meme template that Sean Bean has called it his unintended legacy.

Which Star Wars character cries "It's a trap!" during the Battle of Endor?

Admiral Ackbar's first instinct on realising it is to retreat; Lando Calrissian persuades him to fight on and buy the strike team time to bring down the Death Star's shield.

The AFI credits "Shaken, not stirred" to which 1964 Bond film?

Goldfinger (1964) is the first film in which Bond himself orders it that way; in the series' first film it was the villain who said the words while offering him the drink.

The Room's "You are tearing me apart, Lisa!" was lifted from which James Dean film?

Rebel Without a Cause (1955): James Dean's Jim Stark screams the line at his bickering parents; Tommy Wiseau, who idolized Dean, reused it for Johnny's outburst in The Room (2003).

Brad Pitt's desperate "What's in the box?" comes from which David Fincher film?

Seven (1995): Brad Pitt's Detective Mills screams it when a delivery arrives in the desert finale; Pitt insisted the ending stay, with his character killing John Doe after learning what the box holds.

The "This is Sparta!" meme comes from Leonidas kicking whom into a pit in 300?

A Persian herald: the messenger of Xerxes had demanded earth and water as tokens of submission and sneered at Queen Gorgo, so Leonidas kicks him into the well in 300 (2006).

"If you ain't first, you're last" is advice from whose absent father in Talladega Nights?

Ricky Bobby lives by the line his father Reese drops at his school career day, until Reese admits years later that it was nonsense he said while high.

Dirty Harry's "Do I feel lucky?" speech is about which handgun?

.44 Magnum: Harry Callahan calls it the most powerful handgun in the world as he dares a wounded bank robber to guess whether he has fired six shots or only five; the AFI ranked the speech #51.

Cher Horowitz's catchphrase "As if!" belongs to which 1995 film?

Clueless (1995): Alicia Silverstone's Cher Horowitz uses the dismissal throughout Amy Heckerling's update of Emma, and it titled Jen Chaney's 2015 oral history of the film.

"You stay classy, San Diego" is the signature sign-off of which news anchor?

Ron Burgundy, Will Ferrell's anchor in Anchorman (2004), reads out whatever the teleprompter shows, so his rival Veronica Corningstone rewrites his sign-off into an insult to the whole city.

Kevin in Home Alone scares off intruders using which fictional gangster film?

Angels with Filthy Souls, a fake 1940s gangster picture parodying 1938's Angels with Dirty Faces, was shot for Home Alone (1990) and got a sequel, Angels with Even Filthier Souls, in Home Alone 2.