Cinephiles
We’ve all been there. A famous movie line is tossed around in casual conversation and next thing you know, someone has to ruin the moment by acting out the scene.
Well, this is my homage to those screenwriters who work in solitary confinement to create those famous lines that do so much more. Words that can bail us out or redeem us. Words that make us laugh. Make us smile. Make us cry. Most importantly…make us feel.
Some of you may blurt out the obvious….the cast, characters, the movies, the Director. But it’s a true cinephile that knows the answer for the screenwriter.
Now for the no brainers….
“You can’t handle the truth”
Jack Nicholson as Melvin Udall – As Good As It Gets. Screenwriters – James L. Brooks & Mark Andrus
“Oh Aunty ‘Em”
Judy Garland as Dorothy – The Wizard of Oz. Writers – L. Frank Baum (novel) & Noel Langley (adaptation)
“You had me at hello”
Rene Zellwegger as Dorothy Boyd – Jerry Maguire. Screenwriter – Cameron Crowe
Cinephile Quiz. Grab a pen and paper, take your best guess. Absolutely NO PEEKING. I mean it.
- “Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops.”
- “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.
- “I coulda been a contender, I coulda been somebody.”
- “Mama, face it. I was a slut all of the time.”
- “Why do they call him Uno?”
- “She’s my sister. She’s my daughter.”
- “I do wish we could chat longer. But I’m having an old friend for dinner.”
- “Rosebud.”
- “The darkest corners of my mind may be the highlight of your day.”
- ”I only like two kinds of men: domestic and imported.”
- “One drink’s too many. A hundred’s not enough.”
- “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it. “
- “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”
- “I was born when she kissed me. I died when she left me. I lived a few weeks while she loved me.”
- ”Shut up and deal.”
- “She’s not a commodity. She’s your daughter.”
- “You changed your name TO Latrine?”
- “She’s a fake. But she’s a real fake.”
- “Plastics.”
- “It only hurts when I make love.
- “It ties the whole room together.”
1. ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, Warner Bros., 1944
ACTOR Cary Grant as Mortime. SCREENWRITERS Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein. DIRECTOR Frank Capra
2. APOCALYPSE NOW, United Artists, 1979
ACTOR Robert Duvall as Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore. SCREENWRITERS Francis Ford Coppola, John Milius. DIRECTOR Francis Ford Coppola
3. ON THE WATERFRONT, Columbia, 1954
ACTOR Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy. SCREENWRITER Budd Schulberg (articles suggested by Malcolm Johnson).
DIRECTOR Elia Kazan
4. BUTTERFIELD 8, MGM, 1960
ACTOR Elizabeth Taylor as Gloria Wandrous. SCREENWRITERS John Michael Hayes, Charles Schnee. DIRECTOR Daniel Mann
5.WINNING AT ALL COSTS screenplay
SCREENWRITER Maggie Franks. See Portfolio
6.CHINATOWN, Paramount, 1974
ACTOR Faye Dunaway as Evelyn Mulwray. SCREENWRITER Robert Towne. DIRECTOR Roman Polanski
7. SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, Orion, 1991
ACTOR Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lechter. SCREENWRITER Ted Tally. DIRECTOR Jonathan Demme
8. CITIZEN KANE, RKO, 1941
ACTOR Orson Welles as Kane. SCREENWRITERS Herman J. Mankiewicz, Orson Welles. DIRECTOR Orson Welles
9. THE EXCHANGE screenplay
SCREENWRITERS Mary Dobon & Maggie Franks. See Portfolio
10. I’M NO ANGEL, Paramount, 1933
ACTOR Mae West as Tira. SCREENWRITER Mae West. DIRECTOR Wesley Ruggles
11. THE LOST WEEKEND, Paramount, 1945
ACTOR Howard Da Silva as Nat. SCREENWRITERS Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder. DIRECTOR Billy Wilder
12. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, Universal, 1962
ACTOR Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. SCREENWRITER Horton Foote (screenplay); Harper Lee (novel). DIRECTOR Robert Mulligan
13.THE USUAL SUSPECTS, Columbia, 1995
ACTOR Kevin Spacey as Roger ‘Verbal Kint. SCREENWRITER Christopher McQuarrie. DIRECTOR Bryan Singer
14. IN A LONELY PLACE, Columbia, 1950
ACTOR Humphrey Bogart as Dixon Steele. SCREENWRITERS Edmund H. North, Andrew Solt. DIRECTOR Nicholas Ray
15. THE APARTMENT, United Artists, 1960
ACTOR Shirley MacLaine as Fran. SCREENWRITERS Billy Wilder, and I. A. L. Diamond. DIRECTOR Billy Wilder
16. STAGEMOM, screenplay
SCREENWRITER Maggie Franks. See Portfolio
17.ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS, 1993
ACTOR Richard Lewis as Prince John. SCREENWRITERS Mel Brooks, J.D. Shapiro, Evan Chandler. DIRECTOR Mel Brooks
18. BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S, Paramount, 1961
ACTOR Martin Balsam as O.J. Berman. SCREENWRITER George Axelrod. DIRECTOR Blake Edwards
19. THE GRADUATE, Embassy Pictures, 1967
ACTOR Walter Brooke as Mr. McGuire. SCREENWRITERS Buck Henry, Calder Willingham. DIRECTOR Mike Nichols
20. RANDY R
SCREENWRITER Maggie Franks. See Portfolio
21. THE BIG LEBOWSKI, Working Title Films, 1998
ACTOR Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey Lebowski – The Dude. SCREENWRITER Ethan Coen. DIRECTOR Joel Coen