Greatest Movie Mis-Quotes: Some of the most classic film lines or scenes are really only legendary and/or apocryphal , or they are merely movie misquotes , but after many years of repetition and being misquoted in subsequent films, they have become part of the filmgoing public's consciousness. Many of these examples are film quotes that were either commonly attributed wrongly, or in fact were never actually spoken.

Title Screen(s) Film Misquote(s)



Only Angels Have Wings (1939) In Only Angels Have Wings (1939), Cary Grant said the name 'Judy' numerous times to costar Rita Hayworth (playing a character named Judith McPherson), such as: "Hello, Judy" - but never repeated her name in rapid succession. The phrase: "Judy...Judy...Judy" has often been falsely attributed to Cary Grant. "Helly, Judy."

Play clip from Only Angels Have Wings (1939): [Note: Cary Grant vaguely recalled that at a party he attended, someone introduced Judy Garland by saying, "Judy, Judy, Judy" and the phrase was attributed to him. A 1960 New Yorker ad for several Judy Garland albums ("Judy! Judy! Judy!") reinforced the incorrect quote.]



The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) The most beloved family film, The Wizard of Oz (1939) has had many problems with one of its most famous lines spoken by Judy Garland (as Dorothy Gale) to her dog Toto: "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

Play clip from The Wizard of Oz (1939): It's generally misquoted as: "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

or

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto." A misquote was heard in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) when the two Szalinski siblings, Amy (Amy O'Neill) and Nick (Robert Oliveri), realized that they had been miniaturized and trapped in a plastic garbage bag in their backyard: Amy Szalinski: "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto."

Nick Szalinski: "I don't think we're in the food chain anymore, Dorothy."

Play clip from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989):



Knute Rockne: All American (1940) Quite often, an actual quote has been adapted or abbreviated. This is the original lengthy famous line in the film Knute Rockne: All-American (1940), spoken by team coach Knute Rockne (Pat O'Brien) as a pep-talk to his losing Notre Dame team during half-time: "And the last thing he said to me, 'Rock,' he said, 'sometime when the team is up against it and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper."

Play clip from Knute Rockne: All-American (1940): It has often been stated simply as: "Win one for the Gipper."

or

"Win this one for the Gipper." [Note: In the film, Knute Rockne was recalling what his most famous player, George Gipp (portrayed by Ronald Reagan), had said earlier: "Ask 'em to go in there with all they've got, win just one for the Gipper." George Gipp was a real-life football star who died young of pneumonia and provided an inspiring anecdote to his coach.]



The Maltese Falcon (1941) The last line of the film noirish detective story The Maltese Falcon (1941) was a two-line conversation between Police Sergeant Tom Polhaus (Ward Bond) and Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart): Polhaus: "It's heavy. What is it?"

Spade: "The uh, stuff that dreams are made of."

Polhaus: "Huh?"

Play clip from The Maltese Falcon (1941): Spade's unusual reference paraphrased Prospero's speech in Act IV of Shakespeare's The Tempest, although it was a misquote of: "We are such stuff as dreams are made on." (NOT "made of"). The actual final word of the film was the Sergeant's puzzled response: "Huh?" Many forget the real last word and believe that "The uh, stuff that dreams are made of" is the final line.



Casablanca (1942)

Play It Again, Sam (1972)

Moonraker (1979)





Cut Off (2006)

I Want Candy (2007, UK) "Play it again, Sam" - was a line never spoken by either Ingrid Bergman or Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942) to Sam (Dooley Wilson), the nightclub pianist and reluctant performer of the sentimental song 'As Time Goes By' (written by Herman Hupfeld). Variations on the line were spoken, however, by both leads in the 1942 film: Ingrid Bergman (as Ilsa Lund) requested of Sam:



"Play it once, Sam, for old time's sake...Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By'."

Play clip from Casablanca (1942) :





The closest Humphrey Bogart (as Rick Blaine) came to the phrase was his angry command to Sam:



"You played it for her, you can play it for me...If she can stand it, I can. Play it!"

Play clip from Casablanca (1942): When "Play It Again Sam" became the title of a Woody Allen comedy Play It Again, Sam (1972) that, in part, spoofed the classic 1942 film, the misquote was further reinforced. The misquote, "Play it again, Sam" was also heard in at least three other films, including Moonraker (1979), Cut Off (2006), and I Want Candy (2007, UK): During a well-choreographed fight sequence, as Bond (Roger Moore) threw a would-be Kendo assassin Chang (Toshiro Suga) through a gigantic ornate glass clock face and into a piano on the piazza below, he quipped:

"Play it again, Sam."

Play clip from Moonraker (1979):





Cut Off (2006)

"Play it again, Sam."





- "Well, play it again, Sam."

- "...That was a misquote from Casablanca, by the way."



During an autobiographical book signing tour for her book Members Only, semi-retired adult porn star Candy Fiveways (Carmen Electra) was signing her DVD for a fan, who told her that his name was 'Sam' and that he had watched one of her films so many times that he had worn out the disk. She quipped and urged him: "Well, play it again, Sam." His friend, next in the book-signing line, told Candy that the previous customer had just misquoted: "That was a misquote from Casablanca, by the way." She claimed that she was a fellow film buff and knew the misquote: "I knew it was a misquote, by the way."

Play clip from I Want Candy (2007): (excerpt) [Note: However, contrary to popular belief, the Marx Brothers' spoof A Night in Casablanca (1946) did NOT contain the line.]



Casablanca (1942) In Casablanca (1942), Humphrey Bogart never said: "Drop the gun, Louis." However, he did give the following warning: "Not so fast, Louis. Nobody is gonna be arrested. Not for a while yet."

Play clip from Casablanca (1942):



Casablanca (1942) The last line of Casablanca (1942) is also often misquoted (and the name Louis, pronounced 'Louie' (in French), is often mis-spelled as Louie). The correct line, spoken by Humphrey Bogart, is: "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Play clip from Casablanca (1942): It is often mis-stated as: "This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

or

"I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."



The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

Blazing Saddles (1974)

The Ninth Configuration (1980)

Gotcha! (1985)

UHF (1989)

Troop Beverly Hills (1989) One of the most oft-quoted lines in cinema history was in director John Huston's The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948): "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!"

Play clip from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948): (short) (long) [Note: The line was derived from the 1935 novel by B. Traven that consisted of the following similar dialogue, with some Spanish obscenities added in: "All right, "Curtain shouted back. "If you are the police, where are your badges? Let's see them."

"Badges, to god-damned hell with badges! We have no badges. In fact, we don't need badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges, you god-damned cabrón and ching' tu madre! Come out there from that s--t-hole of yours. I have to speak to you." ] It has often been misquoted or paraphrased, notably in director Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles (1974), spoken by a Mexican bandit (Rick Garcia) as: "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!"

Play clip from Blazing Saddles (1974): The line of dialogue has also been misquoted in a number of films, including The Ninth Configuration (1980), Gotcha! (1985), "Weird Al" Yankovic's UHF (1989), and Troop Beverly Hills (1989): - "Famous lines from famous movies."

- "Oh, Frankie, your mother forgives me!"

- "Victor McLaglen in The Informer. "

- "We don't need no stinkin' badges."

- " The Treasure of Sierra Madre ."

Play clip from The Ninth Configuration (1980) :





Manolo (Nick Corri): "Don't show me your badges, we don't know nothing about no stinking badges."

Gotcha! (1985)





Animal Deliveryman (Cliff Stephens): "Well, let's see. I got one aardvark, one flamingo, four porcupines, two armadillos, three badgers..."

Raul Hernandez (Trinidad Silva): "Badgers??? Badgers??? We don't need no steenkin' badgers!"

Play clip from UHF (1989) :





Rosa the Maid (Shelley Morrison): "Patches? We don't need no stinkin' patches."

(She was referring to the patches of the Wilderness Girls Troop)

Troop Beverly Hills (1989)



Fallen Angel (1945)

Beyond the Forest (1949)

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) The following popular catchphrase has multiple origins, and probably goes way back. It was first heard in the movies in Otto Preminger's film-noir Fallen Angel (1945). Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews): "What a dump!"

June Mills (Alice Faye): "It isn't so bad."

Play clip from Fallen Angel (1945): It was most famously uttered by Bette Davis (as Rose Moline) in Beyond the Forest (1949). Rose Moline (Bette Davis): "What a dump!"

Play clip from Beyond the Forest (1949): It was not popularized until heard in the opening scene of the 1961 Edward Albee play, upon which the highly-acclaimed film Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) was based. In the film, the exact same line was uttered by actress Elizabeth Taylor (as drunken and discontented 52 year-old wife Martha) as the opening line of dialogue, upon entering their living room - she even parodied Bette Davis' mannerisms, exclaiming: "What a dump!" She then berated her professor-husband Richard Burton (as George) for not remembering the film the line was from: "...What's it from, for Christ's sake?...some damn Bette Davis picture, some god-damned Warner Bros epic."

Play clip from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966):



Knock on Any Door (1949) Actor John Derek (Bo Derek's future husband) in his first major film role (as young Italian hoodlum Nick Romano in the Chicago slums, who was accused of murdering a cop) stated the following line in the classic Humphrey Bogart film noir Knock on Any Door (1949), directed by Nicholas Ray. He told his girlfriend Emma (Allene Roberts) that his motto or credo in life remained as: "What I used to say still goes. Live fast, die young and have a good-looking corpse!"

Play clip from Knock on Any Door (1949): The last part of the phrase was fairly original (derived from the text of the 1947 novel written by the African-American novelist Willard Motley), while the phrase "live fast and die young" dated back to the early 1900s. [Note: The saying, although wrongly modified as “Live fast, die young and leave a good-looking corpse!” has often been wrongly attributed to actor James Dean - a quintessential symbol of disenfranchised youth.]



White Heat (1949) In the classic gangster film White Heat (1949), James Cagney's triumphant shout atop a oil tank before blasting himself into oblivion has often been erroneously quoted. The actual line was: "Made it, Ma. Top of the world!"

Play clip from White Heat (1949): The line was not : "Top of the world, Ma!"



All About Eve (1950) Bette Davis' most famous film line as aging, jealous stage actress Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950) was delivered after she took another stiff drink during a birthday party. She walked over to the staircase, turned, and told everyone to buckle up their airplane seatbelts (cars didn't have seatbelts in the 1950s!): "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night."

Play clip from All About Eve (1950): The line has often been misquoted, substituting the word "ride" for "night." "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride."



Sunset Boulevard (1950) (aka Sunset Blvd.)

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) In the closing of the classic film noir Sunset Boulevard (1950), faded silent film star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) descended her marble staircase as she warned famed movie director Cecil B. DeMille (as Himself) that she was approaching the camera for a close-up: "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup."

Play clip from Sunset Boulevard (1950): Many times, the line has been misquoted as: "I'm ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille." The line was misquoted in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) by Daniel Hillard/Mrs. Doubtfire (Robin Williams), while speaking to Frank (Harvey Fierstein) as he/she was made up: - "I feel like Gloria Swanson."

- "You look like her mother."

- "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille."

Play clip from Mrs. Doubtfire (1993):



Alice in Wonderland (1951) In Disney's animated classic Alice in Wonderland (1951), the Cheshire Cat (voice of Sterling Holloway) has often been erroneously thought to have said: "We're all mad here." The actual lines in the film were: - "Of course, he's mad too."

- "But I don't want to go among mad people."

- "Oh, you can't help that. Most everyone's mad here. You may have noticed that I'm not all there myself."

Play clip from Alice in Wonderland (1951): In Lewis Carroll's original novel, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland published in 1865, however, the extended quote was: "But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad." "How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."



Son of Ali Baba (1952) One of the more interesting misquotes was attributed to actor Tony Curtis. In many tributes and obituaries when he died in the year 2010, he was quoted as having said the following line with a heavy New York accent: "Yonder lies the castle of my father."

OR

"Yonda (or yonda) lies da castle of my fodder (faddah, fodda, or fadda)." Although many sources claimed that Curtis said the line in The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951) and/or The Black Shield of Falworth (1954), Curtis didn't utter the above quote in either film. However, a variation on the line was spoken by Curtis in Son of Ali Baba (1952): "This is my father’s palace. And yonder lies the Valley of the Sun."

Play clip from Son of Ali Baba (1952):





Tea and Sympathy (1956) Director Vincente Minnelli's melodramatic Tea and Sympathy (1956) began as playwright Robert Anderson's stage play, debuting in NYC in 1953. The controversial film was about bullying and social prejudice against "unmanly" prep school student Tom Lee (John Kerr), who was shown understanding and friendship by Laura Reynolds (Deborah Kerr) - the lonely, frustrated wife of Bill (Leif Erickson), the school's coach. The film's title came from his description of his wife's role at the school, when she completed his sentence: - Bill: "All you're supposed to do is once in a while give the boys a little tea..."

- Laura: "...tea and sympathy."

Play clip from Tea and Sympathy (1956): The Rolling Stones 1969 song Let It Bleed, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (and performed by Mick Jagger), modified the line in one of the verses: She said, "My breasts, they will always be open

Baby, you can rest your weary head right on me

And there will always be a space in my parking lot

When you need a little coke and sympathy."

Play clip of Let It Bleed (1969): [Note: The acclaimed film, bowdlerized and with a tacked-on ending, should have ended with Laura's advice to Tom: "Years from now, when you talk about this, and you will, be kind."

Play clip from Tea and Sympathy (1956): ]



Alfie (1966, UK)

Educating Rita (1983, UK) In the UK film Alfie (1966, UK), Michael Caine (as the title character) said a lot of phrases such as: "(You) know what?"

"(You) Know what I mean?"

"(Do) you know..."

"I don't know..."

"...I don't want to (wanna) know." However , Alfie never said: "(And) not a lot of people know that" - although the catchphrase (in many variations) was attributed to him for many decades. Caine claimed that it was actually Peter Sellers who had impersonated his voice with the phrase on his telephone answering machine: ("This is Michael Caine, Peter Sellers is out. Not many people know that"). Sellers repeated the humorous phrase during an appearance and impersonation of Michael Caine on BBC-TV's The Michael Parkinson Show in 1972. "It takes a man in a tweed suit five and a half seconds to fall from the top of Big Ben to the ground. Now there's not many people know that!" The phrase was also given to Caine (as the character of Dr. Frank Bryant) as an in-joke in the film Educating Rita (1983, UK), who drunkenly spoke: "Did you know that Macbeth was a maggoty apple? Not many people know that!" [Note: Caine's first trivia book published in 1986, Almanac of Amazing Information, was sub-titled: "Not Many People Know That." Proceeds from the book went to a charity: the National Playing Fields Association. Another published in 1988 was sub-titled: "And Not Many People Know This Either!"]



Cool Hand Luke (1967) The tagline from Cool Hand Luke (1967) has often been modified from its original. In its most famous utterance, the Captain (Strother Martin) said to recalcitrant chain gang prisoner Luke (Paul Newman): "What we've got here is (pause) failure to communicate."

Play clip from Cool Hand Luke (1967): (Captain's line) It was NOT: "What we have here is a failure to communicate." However, the line with the word 'a' added was later sarcastically repeated (by character Luke to the prison warden before he was shot) -- as: "What we got here is a failure to communicate."

Play clip from Cool Hand Luke (1967): (Luke's line)



The Graduate (1967)

The Ladies Man (2000)

(National Lampoon's) Van Wilder (2002) (aka Van Wilder: Party Liaison)

A Walk to Remember (2002) In The Graduate (1967), Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) made a statement and then asked a question of the Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) character. As he naively asked his question, the camera shot under her upraised leg, framing Ben underneath: - Benjamin: "For God's sake, Mrs. Robinson, here we are, you've got me into your house. You give me a drink. You put on music, now you start opening up your personal life to me and tell me your husband won't be home for hours... Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?"

Play clip from The Graduate (1967): (short version) (long version) He did NOT ask either of these two questions: "Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?"

or

"Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson?" Shortly later upstairs in her home, Mrs. Robinson went further and asked Benjamin: "Would you like me to seduce you?...Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

Play clip from The Graduate (1967): The misquote (in a number of variations) was heard in a few films, for example, The Ladies Man (2000), Van Wilder (2002), and A Walk to Remember (2002). Drunk and lying back on a waterbed, salacious radio-show host Leon Phelps (Tim Meadows) asked loyal producer Julie Simmons (Karyn Parsons) - who had accidentally fallen on top of him:

"Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?"

The Ladies Man (2000)





Ms. Doris Haver (Cynthia Fancher): "Mr. Wilder, are you trying to seduce me?"

Van Wilder (Ryan Reynolds): "Who, me? No! Hey, hey..."

(National Lampoon's) Van Wilder (2002)

Play clip from (National Lampoon's) Van Wilder (2002) :





Jamie Sullivan (Mandy Moore): "Are you trying to seduce me?"

Landon Carter (Shane West): "Why? Are you seducible?"

A Walk to Remember (2002)

Play clip from A Walk to Remember (2002):



Planet of the Apes (1968) In Planet of the Apes (1968), captured astronaut George Taylor (Charlton Heston) screamed at one of the apes: "Take your stinkin' paws off me, you damn dirty ape!"

Play clip from Planet of the Apes (1968): He did NOT say: "Get your stinkin' paws off me, you damn dirty ape."



The Italian Job (1969, UK) In the original British caper film The Italian Job (1969, UK) about a gang stealing gold bullion from a bank vault in Turin, Italy, this famous quote was heard from Cockney gangster Charlie Croker (Michael Caine) as the film ended: "Hang on a minute, lads, I’ve got a great idea."

Play clip from The Italian Job (1969): He did not say: "I've got an idea."

or

"Hang on, lads. I've got a great idea." [Note: From the same film, the following line was voted the favorite film one-liner in a 2003 poll of 1,000 British film fans, reported in The Telegraph. "You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!"

Play clip from The Italian Job (1969): It demoted the previous most favorite line down to the # 2 spot - Rhett Butler's (Clark Gable) retort to Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) in Gone With the Wind (1939) - see earlier:] "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!"