Top 10 Famous Movie Quotes

A few weeks ago, while discussing that classic Wes Craven horror flick, “The Sound of Music,” I asked readers to send me a list of their favorite films and favorite movie quotes. Many of the emails I received were quite interesting. (I am, of course, using the definition of the word interesting that means, “Please start taking your medication again.”)

One reader is a big fan of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Bambi.” Another reader’s favorite movies are “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “The Exorcist.” And yet another reader loves the movie where Bruce Willis is a cop hiding on the upper floors of a high-rise building which has been seized by terrorists. Unfortunately, she couldn’t remember the title of the movie. But I know which one she means. It’s called “Fiddler on the Roof.”

In one of the email replies, a person sent me a link to a website that lists the Top Ten movie quotations of all time. I read through the famous quotes and realized that all ten of them are from “The Sound of Music.” Here they are:

10. When Captain von Trapp is hugging his children, right after singing with them for the first time, Maria hands the Captain a guitar and says, “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.’”

9. At the very beginning of the movie, when Maria is dancing and twirling in a mountain meadow and singing the title song, just as the music ends, she looks around, smiles, and says, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”

8. During the scene where Rolf rides up to the von Trapp mansion on his bicycle with a telegram, Captain von Trapp opens his jacket slightly to reveal a holstered revolver. He then glares at Rolf and says through clenched teeth, “Go ahead, make my day.”

7. When Maria first arrives at the von Trapp mansion, the butler Franz answers the door and expresses his annoyance at being bothered by visitors. He tells Maria, “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.”

6. When Max Detweiler is negotiating with the organizers of the Salzburg Music Festival and threatening that the von Trapp Family Singers will not appear, he shouts, “Show me the money!”

5. In the gazebo, right after the Captain and Maria sing “Something Good” and realize they are in love, the Captain holds her in his arms, gazes into her eye, and says, “Here’s looking at you, kid.”

4. When Maria and the seven children row a boat up to the dock, and then the boat tips over because they got excited at seeing the Captain, Kurt struggles to shore and in a spluttering voice says to Maria, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

3. In the scene where Max discusses his desire to become the musical agent for the nearby monastery choir, he tells the Baroness how he will negotiate with the leader of the monastery: “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

2. Early in the film, when the Reverend Mother sends Maria to be the governess for the seven von Trapp children, as Maria turns to leave the office, the Reverend Mother says, “May the Force be with you.”

1. Toward the end of the movie, when Liesl sees Rolf again, who by now is totally committed to the Nazis, he spurns Liesl’s expressions of love by sneering, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” 

Well, I’m pretty sure all ten quotations are from “The Sound of Music.” I might have to dig out my DVD of the film and watch it again just to be sure.