by Lillyswawa

Created on: April 25, 2010

"I'll get you, my pretty... and your little dog, too!" Who could forget Margaret Hamilton's famous line in 1939 as The Wicked Witch in, The Wizard of Oz?

Over the decades, Hollywood has had a strong hand in wooing us, soothing us, stunning us, and scaring us half to death, - with words that stir the imagination and pique the emotions within.

"Mama always said, 'Life is like a box o' choc'lates. You never know what you're goin' ta get'"! Yeah, Forrest, that's exactly right! Thanks for that.

David O'Selznick discovered her on the back lot of MGM, where she was introduced to him against the fiery backdrop of Atlanta burning. Her name  - Vivien Leigh. Her coquettish line in the epic movie, Gone With The Wind - "Fiddle-dee-dee!" You have GOT to be kidding! No. The line was silly but, the outcome of her work on the film, hardly insignificant. She won the hearts of the American public, not to mention an Oscar for Best Actress. (Too bad the actor playing opposite her Scarlett didn't fair as well at the Awards ceremony. His line was actually a bit more famous - "Frankly, my dear, I don' t give a (bleep)!")

Bette Davis was an icon in the 1940's and 50's with films like: Dark Victory ("It's time to go in now." - a line of calm resolve in the face of impending death) and, then, - a line of resignation in, Now, Voyager ("Let's not ask for the moon. We have the stars.")

But, certainly, no line is more memorable than that of one in Davis's film, All About Eve, in which she plays an aging actress fearful of replacement by a recent up-and-coming starlet. At her fortieth birthday party, she issues a warning to her invited guests: "Fasten your seat belts! It's going to be a bumpy ride."

A line need not be long to be memorable. Sally Field (an actress whose acting skills, in this writer's opinion, have been highly under rated for years) plays a mother to Julia Roberts, whose character eventually succumbs to diabetes and liver failure in, Steel Magnolias. She (Sally) gives an believably moving performance. In the emotional grave site monologue, she screams out, "Why!"

In one word, she touches us.

Another example of a short, but deliberate 'slap in the face' with a line occurs in the film, Moonstruck, when Cher assaults a 'moon-eyed' Nicholas Cage with a curt "Snap out of it!"

Some lines mean exactly the opposite of what they seem to be saying...

At the end of a tumultuous friendship, Meg Ryan reluctantly admits her love for Billy Crystal's character in, When Harry Met Sally with: "and, I hate you, Harry... I really hate you."

And, others mean just what they say...

"I'm just a girl standing in front of a boy,...asking him to love her."  

Ah-h-h, Hollywood.

"You had me at 'Hello'".

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