Writing
Addison DeWitt (George Sanders) opening narration: “Margo Channing is a star of the theater. She made her first stage appearance at age four in Midsummer Night’s Dream. She played a fairy and entered, quite unexpectedly, stark naked. She has been a star ever since. Margo is a great star, a true star. She never was or will be anything less, or anything else.” – ALL ABOUT EVE – Joseph L. Mankiewicz – 1950
Addison (George Sanders) voice over intro: “Those of you who do not read, attend the theater, listen to unsponsored radio programs, or know anything about the world in which you live, it is perhaps necessary to introduce myself. My name is Addison Dewitt. My native habitat is the theater. In it, I toil not, nether do I spin. I am a critic and commentator. I am essential to the theater.” – ALL ABOUT EVE – Joseph L. Mankiewicz – 1950
Addison DeWitt (George Sanders): “Why not read my column to pass the time? The minutes will fly like hours.” – ALL ABOUT EVE – Joseph L. Mankiewicz – 1950
Karen (Celeste Holm): “A part in a play? You would do all that,just for a part...in a play?” Eve (Anne Baxter):“I’d do much more for a part that good.” – ALL ABOUT EVE – Joseph L. Mankiewicz – 1950
Margo Channing (Bette Davis) to Karen (Celeste Holm) in their car, stranded, thinking out loud: “Funny business, a woman’s career – the things you drop on your way up the ladder so you can move faster. You forget you’ll need them again when you get back to being a woman. That’s one career all females have in common, whether we like it or not; being a woman. Sooner or later, we’ve got to work at it, no matter how many other careers we’ve had or wanted. And in the last analysis, nothing’s any good unless you can look up just before dinner, or turn around in bed, and there he is. Without that, you’re not a woman. You’re something with a French provincial office or a book full of clippings, but you’re not a woman. Slow curtain, the end.” – ALL ABOUT EVE – Joseph L. Mankiewicz – 1950
“That I should want you at all suddenly strikes me as the height of improbability. But that in itself is probably the reason. You’re an improbable person, Eve, and so am I. We have that in common. Also our contempt for humanity and our inability to love and be loved, insatiable ambition and talent, we deserve each other.” – Addison DeWitt (George Sanders) to Eve (Anne Baxter.) – ALL ABOUT EVE – Joseph L. Mankiewicz – 1950
“That I should want you at all suddenly strikes me as the height of improbability. But that in itself is probably the reason. You’re an improbable person, Eve, and so am I. We have that in common. Also our contempt for humanity and our inability to love and be loved, insatiable ambition and talent, we deserve each other.” – Addison DeWitt (George Sanders) to Eve (Anne Baxter.) – ALL ABOUT EVE – Joseph L. Mankiewicz – 1950
“I never asked Watergate. I simply asked what were Hunt’s duties at the White House. They volunteered he was innocent when nobody asked if he was guilty.” – Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) ,working on the Watergate story. “Be careful how you write that.” – Howard Simons (Martin Balsam) – ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN – William Goldman – 1976
Antonio Solieri (F. Murray Abraham): “Are you sure you can’t leave them and…and then come back again?” Constanza Mozart (Elizabeth Berridge): “It’s very tempting, sir, but it’s impossible. I’m afraid. Wolfgang would be frantic if he found them were missing, you see, they’re all originals.”
Solieri: “Originals?” Constanza: “Yes, sir, he doesn’t make copies.” Solieri: “These are…originals?” – AMADEUS – Peter Shaffer – 1984
Adoring receptionist praising Melvin for his writing: “How do you write women so well?” Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) clearly perturbed: “I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability.”– AS GOOD AS IT GETS – Mark Andrus / James L. Brooks – 1997
Carol (Helen Hunt), sitting on the edge of the bathtub, partially covered by the towel: “Stop staring. Do a vase.”
Simon (Greg Kinnear), suddenly wanting to paint again, awed by her beautiful form: “But you’re beautiful, Carol. Your skin, your long neck, the back, the line of you. You’re why cavemen chiseled on walls.”– AS GOOD AS IT GETS – Mark Andrus / James L. Brooks – 1997
“Eating greens is a special treat. It makes long ears and great big feet. But it sure is awful stuff to eat. I made that last part up myself.” Thumper to Bambi – BAMBI– Larry Morey / Perce Pearce / & collaborators – 1942
