Neither the Godfather nor 007 can top Rhett Butler when it comes to being the most quotable character in the movies.
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," the rakish Butler's famous line from the 1939 classic Gone With the Wind, as spoken by Clark Gable, was named the
most memorable movie quote in a poll by the American Film Institute.
"I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse" from 1972's The Godfather was No 2, and Marlon Brando, who spoke those words, also claimed No 3 with his line from 1954's On the Waterfront: "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."
The American Film Institute, a top US film education group, annually conducts a poll of favourite movie moments, genres and characters. This year, AFI asked some 1500 creative industry professionals for their favourite quote.
"They get into our (everyday language)," said AFI director Jean Picker Firstenberg. "They become a common language that we all can relate to and empathize with." Judy Garland as Dorothy in 1939's The Wizard of Oz telling her little dog, "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," came in at No 4. Completing the top five was Humphrey Bogart as nightclub owner Rick Blaine from 1942's Casablanca with: "Here's looking at you kid." The top 100 quotes were dominated by classic movies, with the most recent from 1983's Sudden Impact, in which Clint Eastwood, playing tough cop "Dirty" Harry Callahan, tells a crook, "Go ahead, make my day." That quote came in at No 6.
Super spy 007's "Bond, James Bond" from 1962's Dr No, which starred Sean Connery, landed at No 22.
Firstenberg said quotes from classic films most likely topped the list because it took a long time for the sayings to work their way into popular culture, but once they do, the words tend to stick around for decades.
- REUTERS
