As with everything that has to do with the movies, it is up to you whether the following list gets four stars or a turkey, but according to 10 leading film critics, in commemoration of a new publication called "The Guinness Book of Film," these are the 10 greatest movie quotes of all time:
1. "Bond -- James Bond." -- repeated in all 18 Bond films.2. "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine." -- Humphrey Bogart, "Casablanca."
3. "It's not the men in your life that count, it's the life in your men." -- Mae West, "I'm No Angel."
4. "I'll be back." -- Arnold Schwarzenegger, "The Terminator."
5. "Would you be shocked if I changed into something more comfortable?" -- Jean Harlow, "Hell's Angels."
6. "Life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're gonna get." -- Tom Hanks, "Forrest Gump."
7. "I could dance with you 'til the cows come home. On second thought, I'd rather dance with the cows until you came home." -- Groucho Marx, "Duck Soup."
8. "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." -- Clark Gable, "Gone With the Wind."
9. "You talkin' to me?" -- Robert De Niro, "Taxi Driver."
10. "Gimme a visky, ginger ale on the side -- and don't be stinchy, beby." -- Greta Garbo, "Anna Christie."
My vote for the greatest movie line of all time goes to the late Robert Shaw, who, as Captain Quint in "Jaws," looks at Roy Scheider, the landlubber sheriff trying to learn how to tie a knot, and says, "Nothin's easy, is it?"
It's a personal thing.
That barely noses out El Guapo, in "Three Amigos," when, in the middle of the desert, he opens the gift from his band of bandeleros and exclaims: "It's a sweater."
Second runner-up: Jim Carrey in "Dumb & Dumber," after Lauren Holly tells him the odds of them getting together are one in a million: "So you're saying there's a chance."
Third runner-up: Tommy Lee Jones in "The Fugitive," when Harrison Ford, at the edge of the cliff, says, "I didn't kill my wife," and Jones, the imperturbable Lt. Gerard, says, "I don't care."
I love movie lines. I wish I were as quick as the people in the movies and could have said: "I coulda been a contender" (Marlon Brando, "The Waterfront"), "Is it safe?" (Laurence Olivier, "Marathon Man"), "Who are those guys?" (Paul Newman, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"), "I can eat 50 eggs" (Paul Newman, "Cool Hand Luke"), "You had me at hello," (Renee Zellweger, "Jerry Maguire"), "Anybody want a peanut?" (Andre the Giant, "The Princess Bride"), "Why do we always cut these things so close?" (Michael J. Fox, "Back to the Future II").
Greatest opening movie line ever: "I had a farm in Africa" (Meryl Streep, "Out of Africa").
I asked the mayor for her favorite movie line. "It's from Casablanca," Deedee Corradini responded. "French and German officers are arguing and starting to fight in Rick's cafe. Rick steps in, saying, 'I don't like disturbances in my place. Either lay off politics or get out.' "
I asked Orrin Hatch for his favorite movie line. The senator, embroiled in the impeach-or-not-to-impeach process, voted for Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men" when he says: "The truth? You can't handle the truth!"
Frank Layden's favorite line is from "Pride of the Yankees," when Gary Cooper, playing Lou Gehrig, says, "I am the luckiest man on the face of the Earth."
SLOC's Shelley Thomas joined the elite film critics by casting a first-place vote for "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."
Ted Wilson's favorite movie line is in "The Empire Strikes Back" when Yoda trains Luke in the Force and says: "Do or do not; there is no try."
Which, when you think about it, is as good a segue as any into "Bond -- James Bond."
Lee Benson accepts faxes at 801-237-2527 and e-mail at (lbenson@desnews.com). His column runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday.