“In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed. They produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy, and peace. And what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.”
The scene: The main character Harry Lime is trying to convince an old friend of his to join his life of crime. Orson Welles, who plays Harry Lime, is an acting legend. He is able to come up with full monologues off the top of his head, and this is his most famous line throughout his acting career. It is a quote that many people still talk about today.
Forrest Gump
“My name is Forrest Gump. People call me Forrest Gump.”
The scene: Forrest Gump and Bubba meet for the first time. Tom Hanks carried this film with so many one-liners people use to this day. He plays this character perfectly and improvises his lines to support his role.
When he introduces himself to Bubba, he delivers this unscripted line that perfectly matches the attributes of Forrest Gump. The movie was such a hit when it was released in 1994 that it managed to score a whopping six Oscars, not to mention the 74 nominations it received on top of that. Now that’s impressive!
Dr. Strangelove
*Uncontrollable Nazi salute*
The scene: Dr. Strangelove addressed the president, and when he did, he did it with a Nazi salute. “Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” came out all the way back in the mid-60s. The movie was a hit at the time, as it got 4 Oscar nominations.
The saluting and Nazi behaviors he incorporated into the role of his character really made him stand out in this film. At first, the film started out as a vague concept, but it quickly began to gain more identity because of characters like his.
Apocalypse Now
The character: Colonel Kurtz, who was played by the late Marlon Brando, only appears within the last 20 minutes of the film. Marlon Brando and Francis Ford Coppola collaborated to make this an epic war film. And they managed to do so swimmingly as the movie gained not one but two mighty Oscars.
Some critics have even dubbed it the greatest movie to rise out of the Vietnam War experience. Coppola turned his script into a paper hat instead of actually reading the lines. So, Brando was forced to come up with a new dialogue. Luckily it all worked out swell in the end.
A Few Good Men
"You can't handle the truth!" The scene: Kaffee played by Tom Cruise, is questioning Jessup, played by Jack Nicholson, in a courtroom about the orders given to the Marine defendants. Shortly after Tom Cruise got his claim to fame in “Top Gun,” he starred in the drama-thriller “A Few Good Men,” alongside Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore.
The movie was released in 1992, but it was Nicholson who was responsible for this brilliant one-liner. This statement is constantly repeated in everyday arguments all the time. Can you believe that this was completely unscripted? Jack Nicholson made this line up on the spot, and ultimately created one of the most popular one-liners in history.