Greatest Film Moments and Scenes

GREAT MOMENTS and SCENES FROM THE GREATEST FILMS

An extensive collection of the most famous, distinguished, unforgettable or memorable images, scenes, sequences or performances, many from the greatest films of all time

Part 11

D (continued)
The Deer Hunter (1978)	The opening scenes of the bonding friendship between the three major characters in the steel-town of Clairton, Pennsylvania: Steven (John Savage), Nick (Christopher Walken), and deer-hunter Michael (Robert De Niro); their pre-Vietnam deer hunting trip scene with Michael's philosophical discussion about his "one-shot" ideal when shooting deer, and his "This is this" speech toward an unprepared Stan (John Cazale); the controversial and horrifying Russian Roulette sequence when the three captive prisoners of the Vietnam War are forced to provide deadly entertainment for their sadistic captors; and an additional round of Russian roulette for money in a Saigon gambling den when Michael speaks to his nihilistic buddy Nick about "one shot" and plays again to rescue him; the image of a grief-stricken Michael cradling his dying friend's bloodied head after one last fateful game; and the final poignant scene at the breakfast wake when the young men sing "God Bless America" after Nick's death when his body is brought home - and they reverentially (freeze-framed) raise their beer mugs to Nick, as Michael toasts "Here's to Nick", in Michael Cimino's Best Picture-winning Vietnam era film
The Defiant Ones (1958)	The scene of escaped, shackled-together convicts Johnny Jackson (Tony Curtis) and Noah Cullen (Sidney Poitier) talking together while fugitives, with Poitier bringing poignancy to his strident role: Jackson: "I'm just tellin' you the facts of life" Cullen: "I don't wanna hear it. I've been listenin' to that stuff all my life. From my wife: 'Be nice.' They throwed me in solitary confinement and she said: 'Be nice.' A man shortweight'd me when I turned in my crops. She'd say: 'Be nice, or you get in trouble.' She'd teach my kid that same damn thing"; and the classic image of the clapsed white and black hands of the two desperately trying to help each other board a speeding train - Cullen reaches back to pull Jackson up, but can't save him and sacrifices his own freedom by jumping off; and Noah's singing of the blues song "Long Gone", at the conclusion of Stanley Kramer's social-conscience film
Delicatessen (1991, Fr.)	The montage set-piece, called the "Squeaky Bedsprings" scene, that takes place in an apartment building above a ground floor butcher's shop-delicatessen; above him as newly-hired handyman and circus clown Louison (Dominique Pinon) paints the ceiling with a roller, the cannibalistic butcher/landlord Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) is making love to his mistress Mme. Plusse (Karin Viard) on a squeaky bed - other tenants (the butcher's bespectacled near-sighted daughter Julie (Marie-Laure Dougnac) playing a cello with a metronome, a woman beating a dusty rug, a man pumping a bike tire, Louison rolling on paint to the ceiling, an old woman knitting, the toy-making Kube brothers testing out a noise-making novelty toy that moos, etc.) keep synchronized in symphonic rhythm ("squeak squeak", "pound pound", "tick tock", "click click") to the squeaking springs in increasingly sped-up tempo until the butcher climaxes (when a cello string breaks, the bike tire explodes, the painter falls to the floor, etc.); also the numerous instances of suicidal psychotic Aurore Interligator (Sylvie Laguna) attempting to kill herself with Rube-Goldberg setups, including her climactic bizarre attempt to kill herself with an overdose of pills, a shotgun, a noose hanging, a Molotov cocktail, and gas inhalation -- all unsuccessful; and the outrageous scene at film's end in which Louison and Julie purposely flood a bathroom to escape her murderous father - resulting in a torrent of water filling the entire tenement building and cleansing the filth - leading to the butcher's death by a sharp Australian boomerang and the final image of Julie and Louison on the roof playing the cello and a musical saw with the sky turning blue, in Jean- Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's black comedy set in a post-apocalyptic 1950s France (of the future)
Deliverance (1972)	The rousing "Dueling Banjos" sequence - a banjo challenge between Drew (Ronny Cox) and a demented boy; the thrilling whitewater canoe trip down the rapids with numerous point-of-view shots of the river and rapids; the grisly and shocking sexual molestation scene as a degenerate, redneck backwoods mountain man rapes a pig-squealing and anguished Bobby (Ned Beatty) in his underwear, the intense discussion scene about what to do with the body, Ed's (Jon Voight) scaling of a sheer bluff at night to kill the mountain man and then his descent; and the final nightmarish view of a hand rising from the river, in John Boorman's tense action-adventure film
The Desperate Hours (1955)	The two strong performances of cold-blooded escaped con Glenn Griffin (Humphrey Bogart) and his crafty hostage and family head Dan Hillard (Fredric March) with his family held in their suburban Indiana home, in William Wyler's crime thriller
Destry Rides Again (1939)	Bawdy saloon singer "Frenchy" (Marlene Dietrich) belting out songs, such as You've Got That Look (That Leaves Me Weak) while wearing a feather boa and See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have, her placement of gold coins down her cleavage (prompting a censored line of dialogue voiced by Gyp Watson (Warren Hymer): "There's gold in them thar hills"), and the 2-minute, hair-pulling female wrestling brawl (the roughest in film history) between Frenchy and the wife of a man she has cheated, the fight's breakup when new sheriff Destry (James Stewart) pours water over them, and Frenchy's death - a heroine's sacrifice for Destry, in the final scene, in George Marshall's western comedy
Detour (1946)	The almost non-stop, voice-over narration in the nightmarish flashbacks of fatalistic, self-pitying, down-and-out Al Roberts (Tom Neal), the foggy NY scene of Roberts walking with girlfriend/night-club singer Sue Harvey (Claudia Drake) and discussing their impossible future together; the pick up of vulturous and despicable hitchhiker Vera (Ann Savage) and her knowledge of his true identity ("You're a cheap crook and you killed him") - that Roberts accidentally 'killed' businessman Charles Haskell (Edmund MacDonald), stole his car and adopted his identity while hitchhiking in Arizona enroute to Hollywood; Roberts' fateful feelings about the blackmailing, castrating and exploitative Vera - such as: "That's life - whatever way you turn, Fate sticks out a foot to trip you up," the accidental strangulation of Vera by a telephone cord through a closed door - a second disastrous twist of fate signified by the in-and-out of focus shots from the POV of Roberts in a deranged mental state, and his imagining of his arrest (to appease the Hays Code censors of the time) in a tawdry diner, in Edgar Ulmer's great B-film noir
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) (aka All That Money Can Buy)	The dramatic courtroom scene in which silver-tongued orator/lawyer Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold) argues to save Jabez Stone's (James Craig) soul from the devil "Mr. Scratch" (Walter Huston) in front of a jury of damned souls, and the last fade-out image of the defeated but never down Scratch on the fence looking at the camera/audience for his next 'victim' - breaking the fourth wall, in William Dieterle's classic fantasy tale
The Devil in the Flesh (1946, Fr.) (aka Le Diable au Corps)	The passionate love scenes between a 17 year-old schoolboy Francois Jaubert (Gerard Philipe) and older married woman - WWI French military nurse Marthe Graingier (Micheline Presle), in Claude Autant-Lara's romance drama
Devil's Advocate (1997)	The high-above New York rooftop negotiation sequence in which John Milton (Al Pacino) offers aspiring Florida attorney Kevin Lomax (Keanu Reeves) fame and fortune, Milton's perversely-seductive performance as the head of a multi-national law firm, the hallucinatory descent into hell for Kevin's troubled wife Mary Ann (Charlize Theron) - especially the scene in the church when she confesses that Milton "made me do it"; the dipping of Milton's finger into baptismal holy water to make it boil and his hysterical laugh in curtains of flames - and his climactic, fiery monologue in which he calls God an "absentee landlord" and reveals himself as the charismatic, evil Satan himself - as he tempts Lomax with nude, redheaded co-worker and half-sister Christabella Adrioli (Connie Nielsen) in his office ("It's time to step up and take what's yours") - and the scene of the wall sculpture mural with naked people that comes to life - when Lomax speaks of his own free-will and shoots himself in the head as Milton screams: "NOO!" -- and the wall mural erupts in flames; and the final curtain-closing line from a morphed press man: "Vanity - definitely my favorite sin" - accompanied by the Stones' "Paint It Black," in the finale, in director Taylor Hackford's occult horror drama
The Devils (1971, UK)	The demented, overwrought and offending excesses: sexual debauchery, a hunchbacked, sexually-tormented and possessed Mother Superior Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave), naked nuns engaged in orgies and self-flagellating masturbation with a large-scale effigy of Jesus (this "rape of Christ" sequence was censored), torture, hideous exorcistic practices, the killing of Huguenots, and the execution of womanizing, vain, rebellious liberal-activist priest Father Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) by burning at the stake after he faced questioning and persecution for his 'diabolic possession' of the local repressed Ursuline nuns, in Ken Russell's blasphemous, shocking, repulsive and flamboyant film about the repressive 17th century when sexuality was equated with Satanism (an adaptation of Aldous Huxley's "The Devils of Loudon")
Dial M for Murder (1954)	The scene of plotting husband Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) calling his wealthy wife Margo Wendice (Grace Kelly) on the phone by dialing M, the murder set-up - and the 3-D effect of Margo reaching back - into the audience from the screen - searching for a weapon (a pair of scissors) to defend herself and kill hired assassin Captain Lesgate (Anthony Dawson) by stabbing him in the back; and the concluding scene in which the guilty Tony opens the door with the crucial key retrieved from the rug on the stairs - enters, turns and realizes he has been found out, in Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller
Die Hard (1988)	The breathtaking, tense, nail-biting action sequences in a 40-story Los Angeles (Century City) high-rise corporate headquarters building on the 30th floor during a Christmas Eve party - pitting New York City cop John McLane (Bruce Willis) against villainous internationalist terrorist Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman); McLane's famous line: "Yippee-kay-ay-mutherf--ka!" and the scene of his walking barefoot on glass; also the final tense showdown in which Gruber plunges to his death, and McLane's dangling escape from the rooftop via a firehose, in director John McTiernan's action-thriller blockbuster
Diner (1982)	The classic episodic rites-of-passage film of the late 5os centered around a Baltimore diner (Fells Point), with many fast-paced, late night, often mindless discussions (with overlapping dialogue) between six post-high school male friends; the diner argument scene in which wise-cracking Modell (Paul Reiser) eyes an exasperated Eddie's (Steve Guttenberg) roast-beef sandwich ("You gonna finish that?") but Shrevie (Daniel Stern) ends up taking a bite out of it; and the scene between a married couple - a neglected and under-appreciated Beth (Ellen Barkin in her screen debut) and exasperated music-obsessed 'Shrevie' when he complains about her improper alphabetical/categorical filing of his treasured record collection - she has placed a blues record in the R & B section, and her lack of knowledge of Charlie Parker; the scene of football fanatic 'Eddie' trivia-quizzing his fiancee about pro football as a requisite to getting married in a few days; the intensely passionate debate about the best make-out music (Johnny Mathis vs. Frank Sinatra) with the blunt answer: "Presley"; and Earl's (Mark Margolis) attempt to eat all the items listed on the left side of the diner's menu; also the set-piece joke in a movie theatre of scheming 'Boogie' (Mickey Rourke) sticking his privates into a bowl of popcorn during a first date, in writer/director Barry Levinson's period comedy film
Dinner at Eight (1933)	Scenes with all the great stars - Mrs. Oliver Jordan's (Billie Burke) hysteria over her dinner plans, Oliver Jordan's (Lionel Barrymore) nostalgic memories of his love for Carlotta (Marie Dressler), the image of Larry Renault's (John Barrymore) profile in a vivid but pathetic suicide scene by turning on the gas, and platinum blonde Kitty Packard (Jean Harlow) in memorable assault scenes upon husband Dan (Wallace Beery), and the shots of Kitty taking bites out of chocolates and putting the pieces back in the box; and the well-known show-stopping closing with priceless dialogue when Kitty makes conversation with Carlotta on their way into dinner --- Kitty: "I was reading a book the other day." Carlotta (staggering at the thought): "Reading a book!" Kitty: "Yes. It's all about civilization or something, a nutty kind of a book. Do you know that the guy said that machinery is going to take the place of every profession?" Carlotta (eyeing Kitty's costume and shapely physical charms): "Oh, my dear, that's something you need never worry about", in MGM's and George Cukor's sophisticated comedy/drama
Dirty Dancing (1987)	The repressed, sweaty, off-limits scenes of early 1960s 'dirty dancing' among the staff in their staff quarters; the character of the macho Catskill Mountains resort hotel resident dance instructor and sexy suitor Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) who ends up teaching 17 year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman (Jennifer Grey) expressive R 'n' B dance moves after she asks ("Dance with me") - to the tune of Don't You Feel Like Crying; also the scene of Johny teaching Baby other romantic moves when she strips down to her white bra and jeans; and Johnny's confrontation with 'Baby's' parents (mostly her protective father Dr. Jake Houseman (Jerry Orbach)) as he leads her to the dance floor ("No-one puts Baby in the corner!") and puts on a spectacular show in the film's finale, in Emile Ardolino's teen dance film
The Dirty Dozen (1967)	The ultimate 'guy's' movie with its exciting sequences of the training and then the behind-the-lines suicidal assault ("Operation Amnesty" composed of 16 separate steps) on a Nazi-filled French chateau by a dozen convicted murderers led by Major John Reisman (Lee Marvin) - only one of whom survives -- stoic Pole Joseph T. Wladislaw (Charles Bronson) -- in this popular action-war film from Robert Aldrich
Dirty Harry (1971)	The character of renegade San Francisco cop "Dirty Harry" Callahan (Clint Eastwood) with a powerful .45 Magnum, the spectacular opening bank robbery sequence that interrupts Harry's hot-dog lunch - a signature piece in cop films - in which a cornered and wounded black man while reaching for a gun hears the famous dialogue: "Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" - and the criminal's question as Harry walks away: "I gots to know" - with Harry obliging by pulling the trigger with the gun aimed at the man's head - it clicks on an empty barrel; the flood-lit Kezar stadium scene with the 50 yard-line questioning ("The girl? Where is she?...Where's the girl?") torture and arrest of psychotic serial killer Scorpio (Andy Robinson) by Callahan after wounding him, as the killer pleads ("I have the right for a lawyer") - ending with the lengthy pull-back helicopter shot into the darkness; and the final hi-jacked school bus scene (with Harry riding on the top of the bus) and quarry gun battle ending when the wounded killer hears another challenge with the same famous threatening lines of dialogue - and ends up shot, in Don Siegel's action-crime film - the first of many films featuring the "Dirty Harry" character
D.O.A. (1950)	The famous opening in which accountant/notary public Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien) - fatally poisoned (with a "luminous toxin") - enters the homicide division of a police station to report a murder -- when asked who was murdered, he delivers the classic reply: "I was"; the memorable film debut of Beverly Garland as feisty Miss Foster - secretary to a deceased import clerk; and the giggling, psychotic character of Chester (Neville Brand): with the words "Don't get cute. I'm just itchin' to work you over!" - reminiscent of Richard Widmark's Tommy Udo from Kiss of Death (1947); and Bigelow's learning that he was killed because he inadvertently and innocently notarized a bill of sale for stolen iridium; also the equally famous closing exchange after Bigelow fell dead to the floor in the police station after solving the mystery of his own murder: ("How shall I make out the report on him, Captain?" "Better make it... 'dead on arrival'"), in Rudolph Maté's nihilistic film noir
Doctor Zhivago (1965)	The splendid sets, scenery and the epic cinematography of Freddie Young, the great scenes of war and the Russian Bolshevik Revolution, the czar's cavalry charge and execution of socialist marchers/students protesting in a Moscow square; the Christmas Eve wedding party during which mistreated Lara (Julie Christie) shoots her lecherous scoundrel/benefactor Victor Komarovsky (Rod Steiger) after he had told her that she was "a slut" - and then brutally assaulted her ("...Don't delude yourself [that] this was rape. That would flatter us both"); the scene of the transportation of exiles by train to the frozen countryside; the long, star-crossed love affair between poet-doctor Yuri Zhivago (Omar Sharif) (although married to loyal Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin)) and beautiful nurse Lara - who was married to passionate political activist Pasha Antipova (Tom Courtenay) - as Lara tells Yuri: "My dear, don't - please... We've been together six months on the road, in here. We haven't done anything you have to lie about to Tonya. I don't want you to have to lie about me..." - and her simple goodbye to him: ("Goodbye, Zhivago"); the brutal train ride through the Urals; Maurice Jarre's "Lara's Theme," the magical image of the winter fairyland of an ice-frozen house/castle (or dacha) of Varykino, and the scene of Lara's departure in a carriage-sled and Yuri's waving goodbye from an upstairs window where he has rubbed the ice off for one final look, the image of snow crystals dissolving into pretty yellow sunflowers in springtime and then into Lara's face; and the sentimental scene of Yuri's sighting of Lara on a Moscow street and his struggle to get to her before suffering a heart attack, in David Lean's romance epic based upon Boris Pasternak's novel
Dodge City (1939)	The scene of the spectacular free-for-all saloon brawl next door to a temperance meeting; also the climactic burning hijacked runaway train sequence, and the relationship between cattleman and Sheriff Wade Hatton (Errol Flynn in his first western) and Abbie Irving (Olivia de Havilland), in director Michael Curtiz' energetic landmark western
Dodsworth (1936)	The scene in their Parisian hotel room of youth-obsessed and self-centered wife Fran (Ruth Chatterton) telling her retired US auto industrialist husband Sam Dodsworth (Oscar-nominated Walter Huston) that she wants him to return to the US without her for the summer: ("You've got to let me have my fling now because you're simply rushing at old age, Sam, and I'm not ready for that yet"); and later her declaration of intentions to marry young German baron Kurt Von Obersdorf (Gregory Gaye): ("I'm fighting for life - you can't drag me back") and demand a divorce, followed by their parting at the train station when he tells her: "May I remember to tell you today that I adore you?"; and the scene of Kurt's stern baroness mother (Oscar-nominated Mme. Maria Ouspenskaya in her first Hollywood film) telling a devastated Fran that she won't allow her son's marriage: ("You will forgive if I observe that you are older than Kurt...Have you thought how little happiness there can be for the old wife of a young husband?"); and the confrontational scene on the cruise liner when Sam decides to leave his wife for good: ("I'm going back to doing things...Love has got to stop some place short of suicide"), to return waving in the final scene to divorcee Edith Cortwright (Mary Astor) in Naples, Italy, in William Wyler's Best Picture-nominated bittersweet romance drama
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)	Hyperactive Sonny (Al Pacino) during a Brooklyn bank robbery when hostages are taken, his chanted shouts of "Attica! Attica!" to encourage a mob outside the bank; and the impassioned police telephone call conversation between Sonny and his transvestite lover Leon (Chris Sarandon) in which he promises to purchase a sex-change operation, in Sidney Lumet's true crime drama