Spicy movie quotes

By Lee Hyon-soo

When Koreans toast, they yell in unison “we-ha-yo,” which literally means “for the sake of.” One may ask, “For the sake of what?” But this toast is intentionally incomplete so that everybody may drink in honor of whatever he or she has in mind.

The most common toast here in North America seems to be “Here’s to your health.” The toast that I like most is “Here’s looking at you, kid.” This is what Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) said to Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Berman) in the movie “Casablanca.” For the sake of clarity, this toast can be paraphrased like this: “Here’s to the pleasure of just looking at you, kid.” In other words, Rick toasted the joy of having Ilsa in his sight.

In 2005 American Film Institute published a list of the top 100 quotes in American cinema. Of the total, the largest number of quotes comes from “Casablanca” with six quotes. Two movies, namely, “Gone with the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz” follow “Casablanca” with three quotes each.

Other than “Here’s looking at you, kid,” another famous quote from “Casablanca” is “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.” This is what Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) said to Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains) in the last scene of the movie.

One quote was selected from “Love Story”: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” This is what Jennifer Cavilleri Barrett (Ali MacGraw) said to her husband, Oliver Barett IV (Ryan O’Neil), when Oliver apologized to his dying wife.

“There is no place like home” is a commonly used phrase. I am surprised to learn that this phrase was originally a movie quote, spoken by Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) in “The Wizard of Oz.”

Another commonly used phrase is “Go ahead, make my day,” which is what Harry Callaghan (Clint Eastwood) uttered in “Sudden Impact.” This quote is much loved by tough guys.

“Sunset Boulevard” contains an amusing dialogue. A young writer accidently walked into a mansion and saw a female movie star, Norma Desmond (Gloria Garland), who was very famous in the silent picture days. He recognized her and said, “You used to be big.” To this, she responded with an imposing air: “I am big! It’s the pictures that got small.”

The American Film Institute ranked the selected quotes from 1st to 100th. The quote ranked No. 2 is “I will make him an offer he can’t refuse.” This is what Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) said in “The Godfather.” In the business world many people jokingly use this quote when they make a coercive offer in a high-handed manner.

The No. 1 honor went to a quote from “Gone with the Wind.” When Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) was about to leave Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) for good, she cried, “Oh, my darling, if you go, what shall I do?” To this, Rhett responded coolly by saying, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” The original line in Margaret Mitchell’s novel which was the basis for the movie is “My dear, I don’t give a damn.” With one word “frankly” added to the line in the movie, it has become much wittier ― so much so that it is considered the most memorable American movie quote of all time. It is no wonder that many people use Rhett Butler’s nonchalant line when they express their sense of indifference.

Presented above are some of popular movie quotes. These quotes, if used appropriately, will lend spice to your remarks.

The writer is a retired international banker who lives in Toronto, Canada. His other writings are posted on https://blog.daum.net/tom_hslee.