Sometimes only film noir will do. That post-War black & white cinema of existential dread, a landscape of shadowy city streets; seedy bars; and smoke-filled cop precincts. A nighttime universe populated with dangerous dudes and devious dames. But what I find so much fun in these movies is the snappy, hard-boiled dialogue. I’ve compiled a list of favorite exchanges from these movies.
“Two people dead, just so we can live without working. Why? Why did you do it? Why do you have to murder people? Why can’t you let them live?” (Gun Crazy)
“She reminds me of the first woman who ever slapped my face.” (Road House).
”I’d hate to take a bite out of you. You’re a cookie full of arsenic.” (Sweet Smell of Success).
“The next person that says Merry Christmas to me, I’ll kill them.” (The Thin Man).
“I’ve met a lot of hard-boiled eggs in my time, but you- you’re twenty minutes.” (Ace in the Hole).
“In this world you turn the other cheek and you get hit with a lug wrench.” (Impact).
“What I like about you is you’re rock bottom. I wouldn’t expect you to understand this, but it’s a great comfort for a girl to know she could not possibly sink any lower.” (The Big Steal).
“You don’t seem very sorry.” “I am sorry. Sorry that I got caught.” (The Strange Love of Martha Ivers).
“I treated her like a pair of gloves. When I got cold, I called her up.” (The Big Combo).
“Maybe she was right, and maybe Christmas comes in July. But I didn’t believe it.” (Dead Reckoning).
“He was a ladykiller. But don’t get any ideas- I ain’t no lady.” (Nocturne).
“You open that window again, I’ll throw you out of it.” (The Street With No Name).
“You can’t just go round killing people whenever the notion strikes you. It’s not feasible.” (Born to Kill).
“I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor. Believe me, rich is better.” (The Big Heat).
“Money isn’t dirty, just people.” (Pushover).
“You know, this’ll be the first time I’ve ever killed anyone I knew so little and liked so well.” (Murder, My Sweet).
“I used to live in a sewer. Now I live in a swamp. I’ve come up in the world.” (No Way Out).
“Personally. I’m convinced that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young.” (Mildred Pierce).
“I don’t mind if you don’t like my manners. I don’t like them myself. They’re pretty bad. I grieve over them on winter evenings.” (The Big Sleep).
“Well I can only think of fifteen, twenty reasons why you two should never be happy.” (The Postman Always Rings Twice).
“I wouldn’t give you the skin off a grape.” (Kiss of Death).
“What kind of a dish was she? The sixty-cent special- cheap, flashy, strictly poison under the gravy.” (The Narrow Margin).
“I ain’t afraid of cops. I was brought up to spit whenever I saw one.” (Laura).
“I don’t think I’ll have to kill her. Just slap that pretty face into hamburger meat, that’s all.” (The Killing).
“I want you to consider yourself my guest. We’ll have a couple of drinks. And then I’m going to knock your teeth out.” (The Glass Key).
“If I ever catch you around here again, they’ll have to pick you up with a sieve.” (I Wake Up Screaming).
“She can’t be all bad. No one is.” “Well, she comes the closest.” (Out of the Past).
“I haven’t lived a good life. I’ve been bad, worse than you can know.” “You know that’s good, because if you actually were as innocent as you pretend to be, we’d never get anywhere.” (The Maltese Falcon).
“Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money- and a woman. And I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the woman. Pretty, isn’t it?” (Double Indemnity).
“You make me sick to my stomach.” “Well, use your own sink. And let me know when the target practice starts!” (The Narrow Margin).
“Just pick up the sofa and throw it at her. That’ll make her catch on.” (Dark Passage).
“That’s life. Whichever way you turn, fate sticks out a foot to trip you.” (Detour).
“You got any happy money?” “Happy money?” “Yeah, money that’s going to make me happy. What else?” (Pickup on South Street).
“Why do you make me do it? You know you’re gonna talk! I’m gonna make you talk! I always make you punks talk. Why do you do it? Why?” (On Dangerous Ground).
“I said I liked it. I didn’t say I wanted to kiss it.” (In a Lonely Place).
“Do me a favor. Keep away from windows. Somebody might…blow you a kiss.” (Kiss Me Deadly).
“A man eats an apple. He gets a piece of the core stuck between his teeth. He tries to work it out with some cellophane from a cigarette pack. What happens? The cellophane gets stuck in there too. Anna? What’s the use. I knew that somehow I’d wind up seeing her that night.” (Criss Cross).
“Are you decent?” “Me????” (Gilda).
These are great. My favorite-especially in this time- “You can’t just go round killing people whenever the notion strikes you. It’s not feasible.”
Fun post. They don’t write nasty like they used to!
“Dark Passage” always was one of my favorites. The subjective camera before Bogart get his “plastic surgery” was genius.
And the surreal moments, like empty streets and all of a sudden there’s one cop when the story needs it.
Mink would play the Agnes Moorehead role in a remake.
Excellent read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing a little research on that. And he just bought me lunch because I found it for him smile Therefore let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch!