Movie Lines I want to use myself someday.

Forget for a moment the famous Sunset Boulevard movie quote "we didn't need words...we had faces then!" from poor Norma Desmond.

Every time I see one of those "Top 100 movie quotes" lists, I am always frustrated to see the SAME DAMN MOVIE QUOTES mentioned every time. Including the one above! I no longer give a crap that Rhett didn't give a damn, and no, I am not talking to you, and yes, you are the only one here.

As an AVID (OK, some call it obsessed) fan of movies from the silent and pre code era, I come across movie lines all the time that should never have faded into obscurity. Some of the most banal, formulaic movies of that era STILL managed to include at least one fantastic one liner (sometimes making up for the time wasted watching YET another Gene Raymond attempt at comedy).

Here are some examples of great movie quotes that you probably never heard of:

The Film: Baby Face (1933)

This fantastic precode film stars the GREAT Barbara Stanwyck. It's basically about a girl getting revenge on men for using her. Here she is explaining her MO to her maid:

"You know what's in this case?" she asks her maid..."Half a million bucks"
and then she nails the line:
Barbara Stanwyck delivers this line with all her heart...and because of that, you kinda know her man is screwed.

The Film: Remember the Night (1940)

This is one of the best holiday films I ever encountered. Screw George Bailey...here is Barbara again, verbally smacking Fred MacMurray down after he hands her a drink in his apartment, after thinking he has lured her there on "nasty pretences":

"One of these days, one of you men is going to start one of these scenes differently, and we girls will drop dead from surprise."

The Film: Three Loves has Nancy (1938)

This otherwise banal film is redeemed by two things...Robert Montgomery being present (he could make a 3 and 1/2 hour film of paint drying worth watching) and the following punch line:

"I've had a lovely evening...this wasn't it."

That's a line I HAVE to use sometime!

The Film: Dodsworth (1936)

Besides being one of the BEST FILMS EVER MADE, this film is chock full of fantastic scenes of dialogue and situations. It's a film about a marriage, people aging and changing and the consequences of those changes. The following represent only two of the lines I love:

After trying to have a conversation with her obviously pissed off husband:

I want to say this line while in a contract negotiation at work someday. I'll print it on an index card for easy reference.

and later on in the film, when the pissed off husband simply can't take it anymore:

what a fantastic sentiment!

The film: Footlight Parade (1933)

Besides being a phenomenally funny film, boasting wisecracks... James Cagney... Joan Blondell AND Busby Berkeley numbers, this film rates of the BEST one liners of all time.

Joan Blondell has had ENOUGH of James Cagney's cheap hussy girlfriend. Time to take out the trash:

OUCH! Did I mention you simply don't ever piss off Joan Blondell?

I've seen tons of Blondell films (the woman made like 30 a year during the early thirties!) and NO ONE ever gets one over on her. She's the BEST DAME EVER.


The Film: The Big Street (1941)

Now this film is great, cause Lucille Ball plays a BITCH FROM HELL who tortures poor, feeble Henry Fonda. I am not exaggerating. One scene involves him pushing her from New York to Florida. In her wheelchair. The dialogue is pure Damon Runyan, so lots of of gangsta speak and dems and dos and the like.

and then this little gem of a line shows up towards the end:

I actually sat up on the couch and re-wound that one to hear it again. Some lines are so ridiculous that they require mention!

The Film: Grapes of Wrath (1940)

Now, this film is a classic of the first order. Everything from cinematography to dialogue to acting is spot on. One of my favorite character actors of the 1930's, John Qualen, delivers the following line:

Now, it's not a punchline, but the statement is the whole movie, in one line. THAT'S great writing.

The Film: Humoresque (1946)

Ahh, Joan. You can always rely on Joan for great dialogue and punch lines. However, this one is always overlooked. Here she is explaining to her newest boy toy why she drinks:

"One was a cry baby and one was a cave man...between the two of them I said goodbye to girlhood"

This line is great for several reasons. One of which is that by 1946, Joan's girlhood was such a distant memory that I couldn't believe she could say the line without laughing!

There are many, many more examples, but it takes time to get the photos of the scenes! I will leave you with the following silent movie slide, taken from ONE OF THE BEST FILMS EVER MADE...1928's The Crowd:

See? You don't even need sound to pull off a great one liner!