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 Introduction: Film speeches are normally
delivered orally and directed at an audience of three or more
people, although there can be exceptions. They are usually persuasive-type
speeches, either designed to promote or to dissuade, and they
are highly quotable.
Key to Iconic Symbol:
 - Entries in Blockbuster Video's Top 20 Best Film Speeches and Monologues with ranking number (#)
Note: The films that are marked
with a yellow star  are the films that
"The Greatest Films" site has selected as the 100 Greatest Films
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Film and Brief Title |
Speech |
Example |
Inherit the Wind (1960)
 Questioning
the Bible's Scientific Authority on the Witness Stand
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Henry Drummond's
(Spencer Tracy) questioning examination on the witness stand of
opponent and prosecuting attorney Mathew Brady (Fredric March) on
the Scientific Authority of the Bible: ("You believe that every
word written in this book should be taken literally?...Now
what about this part right here, where it talks about Jonah being
swallowed by the whale? You figure that really happened?...Now
I recollect a story about Joshua -- Joshua making the sun stand
still. As an expert, do you tell me that that's as right as the
Jonah business? That's a pretty neat trick...If, in
the beginning, there were just Cain and Abel, and Adam and Eve,
where did this extra woman come from?...The Bible is
a book. It's a good book. But it is not the only book....So,
you, Mathew Harrison Brady, through oratory or legislature or whatever,
you pass on God's orders to the rest of the world! Well, meet the
Prophet from Nebraska! Is that the way of things?! Is that the way
of things?! God tells Brady what is good! To be against Brady is
to be against God!") during the "Monkey Trial" -
forcing Brady to exasperatingly declare: ("All of you know --
what I said was -- what I believe -- I believe in the truth of the
book of Genesis! Exodus! Leviticus! Numbers! Deuteronomy! Joshua!
Judges! Ruth! 1st Samuel! 2nd Samuel! 1st Kings! 2nd Kings! Isaiah!
Jeremiah! Lamentations! Ezekiel --") |
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Psycho (1960)
"She
Wouldn't Even Harm a Fly" Speech
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Norman Bates/Mother's
(Anthony Perkins, but "Mother's" voice supplied by Virginia
Gregg) "She wouldn't even harm a fly", in voice-over:
("It's sad when a mother has to speak the words that condemn
her own son. I couldn't allow them to believe that I would commit
murder. They'll put him away now, as I should have, years ago. He
was always bad and in the end, he intended to tell them I killed
those girls and that man. As if I could do anything except just
sit and stare, like one of his stuffed birds. Oh, they know I can't
even move a finger and I won't. I'll just sit here and be quiet,
just in case they do suspect me. They're probably watching me. Well,
let them. Let them see what kind of a person I am. I'm not even
gonna swat that fly. I hope they are watching. They'll see. They'll
see and they'll know and they'll say, 'Why, she wouldn't even harm
a fly.'") |
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The Hustler (1961)
"You Don't Know What Winning Is"
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After winning the ultimate returning pool match with Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason), hotshot pool player "Fast" Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) indicted himself and his greedy manager/promoter Bert Gordon (George C. Scott) for being inhumane
and driving girlfriend Sarah Packard (Piper Laurie) to suicide: ("We really stuck the knife in her, didn't we, Bert?...Boy, we really gave it to her good....Then we twisted it, didn't we, Bert? Of course, maybe that doesn't
stick in your throat, 'cause you spit it out just the way you spit out everything
else. But it sticks in mine. I loved her, Bert. I traded her in on a pool
game. But that wouldn't mean anything to you because who did you ever care
about. 'Just win,' 'Win!' you said, 'win, that's the important thing.'
You don't know what winning is, Bert. You're a loser. 'Cause you're dead inside
and ya can't live unless you make everything dead around ya! Too high, Bert
- the price is too high. If I take it, she never lived. She never died. And
we both know that's not true, Bert, don't we, huh? She lived, she died. Boy,
you better, you tell your boys they better kill me, Bert. They better go all
the way with me, but if they just bust me up, I'll put all those pieces back
together again, then so help me, so help me God, Bert, I'm gonna come back
here and I'm gonna kill you.") |
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Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
"I Am Going to Tell Them the Truth" Confessional Speech
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Dr. Ernst Janning's (Burt Lancaster) brave, lengthy confession of his and every German citizen's Nazi War Crimes guilt during his hearing, to the protests of his own counsel Hans Rolfe (Maximilian Schell) who interrupted, claiming that Janning wasn't aware of the implications of his words: ("...I am aware. I am aware! My counsel would have you believe we were not aware of the concentration camps. Not aware. Where were we? Where were we when Hitler began shrieking his hate in Reichstag? Where were we when our neighbors were being dragged out in the middle of the night to Dachau?! Where were we when every village in Germany has a railroad terminal where cattle cars were filled with children being carried out to their extermination! Where were we when they cried out in the night to us. Were we deaf, dumb, blind?....My counsel says we were not aware of the extermination of the millions. He would give you the excuse: We were only aware of the extermination of the hundreds. Does that make us any the less guilty? Maybe we didn't know the details. But if we didn't know, it was because we didn't want to know... I am going to tell them the truth. I am going to tell them the truth if the whole world conspires against it. I am going to tell them the truth about their Ministry of Justice. Werner Lammpe, an old man who cries into his Bible now, an old man who profited by the property expropriation of every man he sent to a concentration camp. Friedrich Hofstetter, the "good German" who knew how to take orders, who sent men before him to be sterilized like so many digits. Emil Hahn, the decayed, corrupt bigot, obsessed by the evil within himself. And Ernst Janning, worse than any of them because he knew what they were, and he went along with them. Ernst Janning: Who made his life excrement, because he walked with them!") |
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Judge's Delivery of Janning's Sentencing by the Court
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Judge Dan Haywood's (Spencer Tracy) sentencing of Janning: ("...The principle of criminal law in every civilized society has this in common: Any person who sways another to commit murder, any person who furnishes the lethal weapon for the purpose of the crime, any person who is an accessory to the crime -- is guilty. Heir Rolfe further asserts that the defendant Janning was an extraordinary jurist and acted in what he thought was the best interest of this country. There is truth in this also. Janning, to be sure, is a tragic figure. We believe he loathed the evil he did. But compassion for the present torture of his soul must not beget forgetfulness of the torture and the death of millions by the Government of which he was a part. Janning's record and his fate illuminate the most shattering truth that has emerged from this trial: If he and all of the other defendants had been degraded perverts, if all of the leaders of the Third Reich had been sadistic monsters and maniacs, then these events would have no more moral significance than an earthquake, or any other natural catastrophe. But this trial has shown that under a national crisis, ordinary -- even able and extraordinary -- men can delude themselves into the commission of crimes so vast and heinous that they beggar the imagination. No one who has sat through the trial can ever forget them: men sterilized because of political belief; a mockery made of friendship and faith; the murder of children. How easily it can happen. There are those in our own country too who today speak of the "protection of country" -- of 'survival'. A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient -- to look the other way. Well, the answer to that is 'survival as what'? A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult! Before the people of the world, let it now be noted that here, in our decision, this is what we stand for: justice, truth, and the value of a single human being") |
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West Side Story (1961)
Farewell
To A Slain Lover
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Maria's (Natalie
Wood) anguished ranting at gang members, protecting slain lover
Tony's (Richard Beymer) body on the ground: ("Stay back!...
How do you fire this gun, Chino? By pulling this little trigger?!
How many bullets are left, Chino? Enough for you? Or you?
All of you! You all killed him! And my brother! And Riff! Not with bullets and knives!
With HATE! Well, I can kill now too, because now I have hate! How
many can I kill, Chino? How many -- and still have one bullet left
for me? Don't touch him!") and afterwards, her farewell to
Tony with: "Te adoro, Anton." |
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Days of Wine and Roses
(1962)
Offer
of Reconciliation
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Boozer Joe
Clay's (Jack Lemmon) powerful admission and offer of reconciliation
to his wife Kirsten (Lee Remick): ("You and me and booze -
a threesome. You and I were a couple of drunks on the sea of booze,
and the boat sank. I got hold of something that kept me from going
under, and I'm not going to let go of it. Not for you. Not for anyone.
If you want to grab on, grab on. But there's just room for you and
me - no threesome") |
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Gypsy (1962)
"I
AM Gypsy Rose Lee!"
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Louise Hovick/Gypsy
Rose Lee's (Natalie Wood) confrontational telling off of her overbearing
stage mother Mama Rose Hovick (Rosalind Russell): ("Nobody
laughs at me! Because I laugh first -- at ME! ME, from Seattle!
ME, with no education! ME, with no talent, as you kept reminding
me my whole life! Well, Mama, look at me now! I'm a STAR! Look!
Look how I live! Look at my friends! Look where I'm going! I'm not
staying in burlesque! I'm moving! Maybe up, maybe down! But wherever
it is, I'm enjoying it! I'm having the time of my life, because
for the first time, it IS my life! And I LOVE it! I love every second
of it, and I'll be DAMNED if you're gonna take it away from me!
I AM GYPSY ROSE LEE, and I love her! And if you don't, you can just
clear out now!") |
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"I Made You" Revelation |
The bitter on-stage cursing soliloquy by Mama
Rose Hovick about her untalented daughter Louise ("Gypsy
Rose Lee") Hovick (Natalie Wood) after Gypsy's outburst,
explaining how she forced her daughters onto the vaudeville stage
to live out her own dreams of stardom, expressing all her heartbreak
and defiance: ("'I thought you did it for me, Mama'...'I
thought you did it for me, Mama'. I thought you made a no-talent
ox into a star because you like doin' things the hard way, Mama.
And you have no talent. Not what I call talent, Miss Gypsy Rose
Lee! I made you...I made you! And you wanna know why? You wanna
know what I did it for? 'Cause I was born too soon and started
too late, that's why. What I got in me...I could've been better
than ANY of you! What I got in me...what I've been holdin' down
inside of me...if I ever let it go...there wouldn't have been
signs BIG enough. There wouldn't have been lights BRIGHT enough!")
before launching into her famous sung/spoken number: "Roses
Turn" (dubbed by Lisa Kirk) |
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To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Closing Court Argument at the Robinson Rape Trial
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# 16
Lawyer Atticus Finch's (Gregory Peck) closing
argument to the jury, imploring them to acquit his falsely-accused
black client: ("To begin with, this case should never have
come to trial. The State has not produced one iota of medical
evidence that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took
place. It has relied instead upon the testimony of two witnesses
whose evidence has not only been called into serious question
on cross examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the
defendant. Now there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that
Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led, almost exclusively,
with his left [hand]. And Tom Robinson now sits before you, having
taken 'The Oath' with the only good hand he possesses -- his right.
I have nothing but pity in my heart for the chief witness for
the state. She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance, but
my pity does not extend so far as to her putting a man's life
at stake, which she has done in an effort to get rid of her own
guilt. Now I say guilt, gentlemen, because it was guilt that motivated her. She has committed no crime, she has merely
broken a rigid and time-honored code of our society. A code so
severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst as unfit
to live with. She must destroy the evidence of her offense. But
what was the evidence of her offense? Tom Robinson - a human being.
She must put Tom Robinson away from her. (He gestures, pushing
away with his hands.) Tom Robinson was to her, a daily reminder
of what she did. Now what did she do? She tempted a Negro. She
was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in
our society is unspeakable. She kissed a black man. Not an old
uncle, but a strong, young Negro man. No code mattered to her
before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards...Now
gentlemen, in this country, our courts are the great levelers.
In our courts, all men are created equal. I'm no idealist to believe
firmly in the integrity of our courts and of our jury system.
That's no ideal to me. That is a living, working reality. Now
I am confident that you gentlemen will review - without passion
- the evidence that you have heard, come to a decision, and restore
this man to his family. In the name of God, do your duty. In the
name of God, believe Tom Robinson.") |
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Wise
Words About How "It's a Sin To Kill a Mockingbird" |
Single father and small-town lawyer
Atticus Finch's (Gregory Peck) memories of owning his first gun
as a young teenaged boy and his father's wise words about responsibility:
("... I could shoot all the blue jays I wanted, if I could
hit 'em, but to remember it was a sin to kill a mockingbird...Well,
I reckon because mockingbirds don't do anything but make music for
us to enjoy. They don't eat people's gardens, don't nest in the
corncribs, they don't do one thing but just sing their hearts out
for us") |
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Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the
Bomb (1964)
Ultra-Patriotic
Glory Pep Talk
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Major T. J. "King" Kong's (Slim Pickens)
memorable patriotic speech delivered over the intercom to his
B-52 crew - a parody of the totally-loyal American sent on a glory
mission: ("Well, boys, I reckon this is it. Nuclear (pronounced
'nookular') combat, toe-to-toe with the Rooskies...Now look, boys.
I ain't much of a hand at makin' speeches. But I got a pretty
fair idea that somethin' doggoned important's going on back there.
And I got a fair idea of the kind of personal emotions that some
of you fellas may be thinkin'. Heck, I reckon you wouldn't even
be human beins if you didn't have some pretty strong personal
feelings about nuclear combat. But I want you to remember one
thing - the folks back home is a countin' on ya, and by golly,
we ain't about to let 'em down. Tell ya somethin' else - this
thing turns out to be half as important as I figure it just might
be, I'd say that you're all in line for some important promotions
an' personal citations when this thing's over with. That goes
for every last one of ya, regardless of your race, color, or your
creed. Now, let's get this thing on the hump. We got some flyin'
to do.") |
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| Insane
Talk About One's Life Essence |
Insane
Air Force General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) expresses suspicions
that the Communists have conspired and polluted the "precious
bodily fluids" of the American people: ("Do you realize
that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway
to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk, ice
cream? Ice cream, Mandrake? Children's ice cream!...You know when
fluoridation began?...1946. 1946, Mandrake. How does that coincide
with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It's incredibly obvious,
isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily
fluids without the knowledge of the individual, and certainly without
any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works. I first
became aware of it, Mandrake, during the physical act of love...Yes,
a profound sense of fatigue, a feeling of emptiness followed. Luckily
I was able to interpret these feelings correctly. Loss of essence.
I can assure you it has not recurred, Mandrake. Women...women sense
my power, and they seek the life essence. I do not avoid women,
Mandrake...but I do deny them my essence.") |
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| US President's Telephone Conversation with the Soviet Leader During
a Nuclear Attack |
President
Merkin Muffley's (Peter Sellers) telephone conversation with Soviet
leader Dmitri Kissov about a pre-emptive US nuclear strike: ("...It's
a friendly call. Of course it's a friendly call. Listen, if it wasn't
friendly,...you probably wouldn't have even got it. They will not
reach their targets for at least another hour!") |
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| Checking
A Survival Kit |
Major Kong's
checking of the contents of his survival kit with his crew on board
the B-52, that includes: one .45 caliber automatic, two boxes of
ammunition, four days' concentrated emergency rations, one drug
issue containing antibiotics, morphine, vitamin pills, pep pills,
sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills, one miniature combination Russian
(pronounced 'Rooshan') phrase book and Bible, one hundred dollars
in rubles, one hundred dollars in gold, nine packs of chewing gum,
one issue of prophylactics, three lipsticks, and three pair of nylon
stockings, concluding with: ("Shoot, a fella could have a pretty
good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff") |
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A Man For All Seasons (1966)
More's
Own Defense After Condemnation
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Sir Thomas
More's (Paul Scofield) plea to the court after being found guilty
of high treason: ("Since the Court has determined to condemn
me, God knoweth how, I will now discharge my mind concerning the
indictment and the King's title. The indictment is grounded in an
act of Parliament which is directly repugnant to the law of God,
and his Holy Church, the Supreme Government of which no temporal
person may by any law presume to take upon him") |
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Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
More
Mind-Games to Play
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George's (Richard
Burton) gleeful proposal to play more married couples' mind-games:
("...OK, I know what we do. Now that we're through with Humiliate
the Host...and we don't want to play Hump the Hostess yet...how
about a little round of Get the Guests?") |
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Cool Hand Luke (1967)
The
Rules of the House
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New prisoners
are given the 'rules' of the house by floorwalker Carr (Clifton James): ("Them
clothes got laundry numbers on 'em. You remember your number and
always wear the ones that has your number. Any man forgets his number
spends the night in the box. These here spoons, you keep with ya.
Any man loses his spoon spends a night in the box. There's no playin'
grab-ass or fightin' in the buildin'. You got a grudge against another
man, you fight him Saturday afternoon. Any man playin' grab-ass
or fightin' in the buildin' spends a night in the box....") |
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"Failure to Communicate"
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The authoritarian Captain's (Strother Martin) famous "failure to communicate" speech after beating recalcitrant and rebellious chain gang member Luke (Paul Newman) with a billy club: ("You're gonna get used to wearin' them chains after a while, Luke, but you'll never stop listenin' to them clinkin'. 'Cause they're gonna remind you of what I've been sayin' - for your own good." (Luke: "I wish you'd stop bein' so good to me, Cap'n.") "Don't you ever talk that way to me." (The Captain savagely strikes him down.) "Never! Never! What we've got here is... failure to communicate. Some men, you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. And I don't like it anymore than you men.") |
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BEST FILM SPEECHES AND MONOLOGUES