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Part 3 |
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Part 3 |
Introduction: These are many of the best-known opening lines, fade-ins, and first words of dialogue heard throughout cinematic history - the initial opening words of films sometimes heard even before the title credits. In quite a few cases, the memorable opening lines are also some of the greatest lines in film history. They often reveal a vital truth about the film, introduce the film, or help to define what the film was all about. The words, often spoken by an off-screen narrator or character, often help to set a mood or tone before the film begins, and they are often great one-liners. See also Greatest Last Words and Closing Film Lines.
(chronological, by film title - Part 3) Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 |
| Famous Opening Line | Film Title |
| "On Sunday, August 13th, 1961, the eyes
of America were on the nation's capital, where Roger Maris was hitting home
runs #44 and 45 against the Senators. On that same day, without any warning,
the East German Communists sealed off the border between East and West Berlin.
I only mention this to show the kind of people we're dealing with - REAL
SHIFTY!" |
One, Two, Three (1961) |
"Watch this shot now. Shoot man. Go." |
West Side Story (1961) |
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“He was the most extraordinary man I ever knew.” |
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) |
| “Maycomb was a tired old town, even in 1932 when I first knew it. Somehow, it was hotter then. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon after their three o'clock naps. And by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frosting from sweating and sweet talcum. The day was twenty-four hours long, but it seemed longer...” | To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) |
| “Don't tell me, you didn't know it was loaded.” | Charade (1963) |
| “My car's thirsty. Can I please have some water?” “God is good. He has sent me a big, strong man.” |
Lilies of the Field (1963) |
| “Excuse me...my name's Barrett, sir.” | The Servant (1963) |
| “As in every stone of this size, there is a flaw.” | The Pink Panther (1964) |
| (sung) "The hills are alive, With the sound of music..." | The Sound of Music (1965) |
| “This is a story of long, long ago, when the world was just beginning.” | One Million Years, B.C. (1966) |
| “Hey boy, what you doin' with my Mama's car? Wait there!” | Bonnie and Clyde (1967) |
| “Hello, gorgeous.” | Funny Girl (1968) |
| “Please, sir, I want some more.” | Oliver! (1968) |
| “Here you are, sir. Main Level D.” | 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) |
| “Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou nor thy sons with thee least ye shall die...” | The Wild Bunch (1969) |
| “What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful and brilliant? That she loved Mozart and Bach, the Beatles, and me?” | Love Story (1970) |
| “Radar!” “Yes, sir.” |
M*A*S*H (1970) |
| "...Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." | Patton (1970) |
| (voice-over) “There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence.” | A Clockwork Orange (1971) |
| “Death ends a life, but it does not end a relationship, which struggles on in the survivor's mind toward some resolution which it may never find.” | I Never Sang For My Father (1971) |
| “I believe in America. America has made my fortune. And I raised my daughter in the American fashion. I gave her freedom, but - I taught her never to dishonor her family. She found a boyfriend, not an Italian...Two months ago, he took her for a drive, with another boyfriend. They made her drink whiskey. And then they tried to take advantage of her. She resisted. She kept her honor. So they beat her like an animal...She was the light of my life - my beautiful girl. Now she will never be beautiful again..." | The Godfather (1972) |
| "Come on, boys! The way you're lolly-gaggin' around here with them picks and them shovels, you'd think it was 120 degrees. It can't be more than 114. (laughter) Dock that Chink a day's pay for nappin' on the job." | Blazing Saddles (1974) |
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“All right, Curly, enough's enough. You can't eat the venetian blinds. I just had 'em installed on Wednesday.” |
Chinatown (1974) |
| "Whoa, there!" [clip-clopping of coconut shells before and after] | Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) |
| "Do you think they'll come, sir?" | Murder By Death (1976) |
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"There's an old joke: Two elderly women are at a Catskill Mountain resort. And one of 'em says: 'Boy, the food in this place is really terrible.' The other one says: 'Yeah, I know. And such small portions.' Well, that's essentially how I feel about life. Full of loneliness and misery and suffering and unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly." |
Annie Hall (1977) |
| “Will you just watch the hair? You know, I work on my hair a long time and you hit it. He hits my hair.” | Saturday Night Fever (1977) |
| “In the decade of the 1930's, even the great city of Metropolis was not spared the ravages of the worldwide depression. In the times of fear and confusion, the job of informing the public was the responsibility of the Daily Planet, a great metropolitan newspaper whose reputation for clarity and truth had become a symbol of hope for the city of Metropolis.......” | Superman: The Movie (1978) |
| “Long ago, the great Frith made the world. He made all the stars, and the Earth lived among the stars. He made all the animals and birds, and at first, he made them all the same. Now, among the animals in these days was El-Ahrairah, the prince of rabbits. He had many friends, and they all ate grass together. But after a time, the rabbits wandered everywhere, multiplying and eating as they went. Then Frith said to El-Ahrairah, 'Prince Rabbit, if you cannot control your people, I shall find ways to control them.'...” (narrated prologue) | Watership Down (1978) |
| “Saigon. S--t! I'm still only in Saigon. Every time I think I'm gonna wake up back in the jungle...” | Apocalypse Now (1979) |
| “I am not a bum. I'm a jerk. I once had wealth, power, and the love of a beautiful woman. Now I only have two things: my friends and... uh... my thermos. Huh? My story? Okay. It was never easy for me. I was born a poor black child. I remember the days, sittin' on the porch with my family, singin' and dancin' down in Mississippi.” | The Jerk (1979) |
| “'Chapter One. He adored New York City. He idolized it all out of proportion.' Uh, no, make that: 'He-he...romanticized it all out of proportion. Now...to him...no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin.' Ahhh, now let me start this over...” | Manhattan (1979) |
| "I'm Statler." "I'm Waldorf. We're here to heckle The Muppet Movie." |
The Muppet Movie (1979) |
| (Male announcer): "The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the red zone." | Airplane! (1980) |
| "In 1988, the crime rate in the United States rises four hundred percent. The once-great city of New York becomes the one maximum-security prison for the entire country. A fifty-foot containment wall is erected along the New Jersey shoreline, across the Harlem River, and down along the Brooklyn shoreline. It completely surrounds Manhattan Island. All bridges and waterways are mined. The United States Police Force, like an army, is encamped around the island. There are no guards inside the prison. Only prisoners and the worlds they have made. The rules are simple. Once you go in, you don't come out." | Escape From New York (1981) |
| “The life of a playwright is tough. It's not as easy as some people seem to think.” | My Dinner with Andre (1981) |
| “Norman. Come here. Come here, Norman. Hurry
up. The loons! The loons! They're welcoming us back.” “I don't hear a thing.” |
On Golden Pond (1981) |
| "The Hovitos are near. The poison is still fresh, three days. They're following us." | Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) |
Greatest
Opening Film Lines and Quotes
