"Great movie quotes become part of our cultural vocabulary. When you consider that any phrase from American film is eligible, you realize this is our most subjective topic to date. We expect nothing less than a war of words as we reignite interest in classic American movies."
Jean Picker Firstenberg,
Director and CEO, American Film Institute
SELECTION CRITERIA AFI distributed a ballot with 400 nominated movie quotes to a jury of over 1,500 leaders from the creative community, including film artists (directors, screenwriters, actors, editors, cinematographers), critics and historians.
Jury members were asked to choose up to 100 movie quotes from a comprehensive list, including entries such as "Here's lookin' at you, kid" (CASABLANCA), "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" (GONE WITH THE WIND), "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" (SHE DONE HIM WRONG), "May the Force be with you" (STAR WARS), "Houston, we have a problem" (APOLLO 13), "Snap out of it!" (MOONSTRUCK), "You can't handle the truth!" (A FEW GOOD MEN), "I'll be back" (THE TERMINATOR) and "Show me the money!" (JERRY MAGUIRE).
Due to the extensive number of memorable movie lines in American film, jurors could also write in votes for up to five quotes that may not already appear on the ballot.
Jurors were asked to consider the following criteria in making their selections:
MOVIE QUOTE
A statement, phrase or brief exchange of dialogue spoken in an American film.* (Lyrics from songs are not eligible.)
CULTURAL IMPACT
Movie Quotes that viewers use in their own lives and situations; circulating through popular culture, they become part of the national lexicon.
LEGACY
Movie Quotes that viewers use to evoke the memory of a treasured film, thus ensuring and enlivening its historical legacy.
*AFI defines an American film as an English language motion picture with significant creative and/or financial production elements from the United States. Additionally, only Movie Quotes from feature-length American films released before January 1, 2004, will be considered. AFI defines a feature-length film as a motion picture of narrative format that is typically over 60 minutes in length.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE BALLOT
Chronologically, the ballot spans from 1927, with the first full-length sound film, THE JAZZ SINGER: "Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't heard nothin' yet!" to 2002 and "My precious" from THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS.
CASABLANCA has seven quotes in AFI's ballot, making it the most represented film.
THE WIZARD OF OZ is the second most represented film with six quotes.
Humphrey Bogart has 10 quotes on the ballot, the most represented male actor. Al Pacino and the Marx Brothers follow with six quotes each and Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, James Stewart, Woody Allen and Jack Nicholson are all represented with five quotes each. Funnymen Peter Sellers and Mike Myers each have four quotes represented.
Bette Davis, Greta Garbo, Judy Garland and Vivien Leigh each have four memorable movie quotes on the ballot.
Billy Wilder is the top represented writer with 13 quotes, some co-written with I.A.L. Diamond, Charles Brackett and Raymond Chandler. Frances Ford Coppola has nine quotes represented, with seven coming from THE GODFATHER Trilogy. Mario Puzo, Coppola's collaborator on THE GODFATHER trilogy, has a total of eight quotes. Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch each have seven quotes (all from CASABLANCA), followed by Woody Allen with six and Cameron Crowe, William Goldman and Stanley Kubrick with five quotes each.
1939 is the most represented year with 19 movie quotes. 1942 has 17 quotes and 1980 has 12.
List of the 100 winning movie quotes
List of the 400 nominated movie quotes
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