Following is a list of movie misquotes, ordered by release date. Quotes may be changed for a number of reasons. Long ones, such as Apocalypse Now's "I love the smell of napalm ..." or Gold Hat's rant about badges in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, may be shortened. Sometimes misquotes improve the "rhythm or cadence" of the original; for example, Mae West's "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" becomes "Why don't you come up and see me sometime?" [1]
| Misquote | Actual line(s) | Character | Actor/actress | Film | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Well, here's another fine mess you've gotten us into. [2] | Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into. | Various | Oliver Hardy | Various, starting with The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case | 1930–1959 |
| Me Tarzan, you Jane. [1] | Jane Parker [pointing to herself]: Jane. Tarzan: Jane. Jane [pointing to Tarzan]: And you? You? Tarzan: Tarzan, Tarzan. Jane: Tarzan! Tarzan [pointing first to Jane, then to himself]: Jane. Tarzan. Jane. Tarzan. Jane. Tarzan. ... |
Tarzan | Johnny Weissmuller | Tarzan the Ape Man | 1932 |
| Why don't you come up and see me sometime? [3] | Why don't you come up sometime and see me? | Lady Lou | Mae West | She Done Him Wrong | 1933 |
| Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? [4] | Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all? | Evil Queen | Lucille La Verne (voice) | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | 1937 |
| Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn. [3] [4] | Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. | Rhett Butler | Clark Gable | Gone with the Wind | 1939 |
| Toto, I don't think we’re in Kansas anymore. [4] | Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore. | Dorothy Gale | Judy Garland | The Wizard of Oz | 1939 |
| Play it again, Sam. [1] [4] | Play it, Sam. Play " As Time Goes By". | Ilsa Lund | Ingrid Bergman | Casablanca | 1942 |
| Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges! [5] | Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges! | "Gold Hat" | Alfonso Bedoya | The Treasure of the Sierra Madre | 1948 |
| I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille. [4] | All right, Mr. DeMille. I'm ready for my close-up. | Norma Desmond | Gloria Swanson | Sunset Boulevard | 1950 |
| Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride. [3] | Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night. | Margo Channing | Bette Davis | All About Eve | 1950 |
| Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me? [4] | Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you? | Benjamin Braddock | Dustin Hoffman | The Graduate | 1967 |
| Do you feel lucky, punk? [1] [4] | You've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk? | Dirty Harry | Clint Eastwood | Dirty Harry | 1971 |
| We're gonna need a bigger boat. [4] | You're gonna need a bigger boat. | Chief Martin Brody | Roy Scheider | Jaws | 1975 |
| I love the smell of napalm in the morning. It smells like victory. [1] | I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like victory. | Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore | Robert Duvall | Apocalypse Now | 1979 |
| Luke, I am your father. [4] | No, I am your father. | Darth Vader | James Earl Jones | The Empire Strikes Back | 1980 |
| Greed is good. [1] [4] | The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. | Gordon Gekko | Michael Douglas | Wall Street | 1987 |
| If you build it, they will come. [1] [5] | If you build it, he will come. | A voice | Ray Liotta | Field of Dreams | 1989 |
| Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. [5] | Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. | Forrest Gump | Tom Hanks | Forrest Gump | 1994 |
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Justin Thomas Kay (January 15, 2010). "Movie Misquotations". The New York Times.
- ^ "Laurel and Hardy: 40 funny moments". The Daily Telegraph. January 18, 2016.
- ^ a b c Brian Galindo (May 1, 2013). "20 Famous Movie Lines That You Have Been Saying Wrong". BuzzFeed.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lexy Perez (June 30, 2017). "From 'Star Wars' to 'Jaws': 22 Films That Are Famously Misquoted". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ a b c Stacy Conradt (July 31, 2018). "10 Famous Movie Lines You're Probably Misquoting". Mental Floss.