Assembled by Dave DeBord
Hey, kids! It’s another installment! Here are a dozen quotes. A few easy, a few very easy, and maybe a couple of less easy memorable phrases from a dozen movies. One from Iowa, one from the last newsletter, and some originally heard on the stage. Can you identify the movie (and actor) that immortalized these lines?
1. “I’m no fool. I’ve killed the boss. You think they’re
not going to fire me for a thing like that?”
2. “You’ve had no experience, you see things in black and white—a
man as an angel or a devil. That’s the young idealist in you. And that
isn’t how the world runs, Jeff. Certainly not government or politics.”
3. “Two single men should not have a house cleaner than my mother’s.”
4. “See! You don’t understand! I could have had class. I coulda
been a contender. I coulda had class and been somebody. Real class. Instead
of a bum—which is what I am.”
5. “Maycomb was a tired old town in 1932 when I first knew it... It was
hotter then. A man’s shirt collar was wilted by nine o’clock in
the morning.”
6. “I warn you, Jedediah, you’re not going to like it in Chicago.
The wind comes howling off the lake, and the Lord only knows if they ever heard
of Lobster Newburgh.”
7. “Honey, when you have a little disadvantage like that, you just have
to cultivate something else to take its place. You have to cultivate charm,
or vivacityor charm.”
8. “How can I lose? Twelve ball. How can I lose? Because you were right.
It’s not enough to have talent. You gotta have character too. Four ball.
Yeah, I sure got character now. I picked it up in a hotel room in Louisville.”
9. “I’m 36 years old. I have a wife, a child and a mortgage and
I’m scared to death that I’m turning into my father . . . I never
forgave him for getting old. . . . By the time he was as old as I am now, he
was ancient. . . . He must’ve had dreams, he never did anything about
them. . . . For all I know he may have heard voices, too, but . . . he sure
didn’t listen to them. The man never did one spontaneous thing in all
the years I knew him. . . . Damn, I’m afraid of what’s happening
to me. . . Something tells me this may be my last chance to do something about
it.”
10. “George here doesn’t cotton too much to body talk. Paunchy here
isn’t too happy when the conversation moves to muscle.”
11. “With enough courage, you can do without a reputation.”
12. “You bastards! You finally did it! You blew it up! Damn you all to
hell!”