# The most memorable no-line, one line, or never seen again person/char. in a movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 2, 2012, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154 "2012-08-02T06:46:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/81 "2012-08-03T15:22:28Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > The main joke there was that he was the mayor in 1957. Dear god. In the thousands of times I’ve seen that movie, I never caught that. Do you mean 1955? ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/82 "2012-08-03T16:02:20Z")
Edie McGlurg in _Planes, Trains, and Automobiles_ has one scene with just a couple of lines, if I recall correctly. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie. I don’t remember the scene being integral to the plot. I do remember “You’re fucked.” ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/83 "2012-08-03T16:08:49Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > … the character Wedge in Star Wars is memorable … [QUOTE=Battle Pope] I’ve always liked Gold Leader: “Stay on target… stay on target!” Exactly the kind of (non-Jedi) guy you want leading your attack on a giant death sphere. [/QUOTE] How about **Porkins** , from that same scene? Porkins has to be one of the shortest-lived named characters in all of film — as measured from the time of his introduction to the time of his death. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/84 "2012-08-03T16:26:53Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Dear god. In the thousands of times I’ve seen that movie, I never caught that. Do you mean 1955? Except [he’s not](http://backtothefuture.wikia.com/wiki/Red_Thomas) (though I originally thought so, too). Fox ad-libbed the name for the bum, and what came out the same as the 1955 mayor’s nickname. In character, you could either take it that Marty knew the bum by nickname, or that he mistook the bum for “Red” Thomas, whose picture he’d seen while in 1955. Either way, the bum doesn’t look anywhere near old enough to have been the guy on the poster in 1955. Oh, and it’s “Crazy drunk driver.” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/85 "2012-08-03T16:50:29Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > The one-armed guy from “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” who has a little speech about how long he’s been seeking revenge on Tuco. And then Tuco shoots him. It’s the same guy from the very beginning of the film, when three guys go into a saloon, shots ring out, and Tuco comes flying out the window. There’s also the shopkeeper from later in the movie. Tuco goes in just as he’s trying to close up, puts together a revolver out of the best pieces, tries it out, and then robs the store with the same gun. Was going to nominate him, but I found a clip online and he has a few more lines of dialog than I remembered. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/86 "2012-08-03T17:34:06Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I have to add Chief from One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest with his single line “Juicy Fruit”. But Chief Broom has one line before that, and many lines afterward. > [@bibliophage](#): > > Mr. Maguire in _The Graduate_ actually has a few lines, but all in one scene, and he’s onscreen for less than a minute. His most famous line is “Plastics.” Marceau in _Silent Movie_, and “Plastics” are the two I would have suggested. > [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > It came on some cable channel tonight so I watched that scene carefully. The boy seen on camera appears to be doing some mighty fancy fretwork if he’s not actually playing. I first heard the real story just a couple of years after the movie’s release. The short version: _[Banjo Boy | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/deliverance.asp)_ . ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/87 "2012-08-03T17:41:56Z")
Tim Brooke-Taylor’s scene in the original Willy Wonka movie. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT-Tmr4VtTQ) ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/88 "2012-08-03T19:10:24Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Tim Brooke-Taylor’s scene in the original Willy Wonka movie. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT-Tmr4VtTQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT-Tmr4VtTQ) I love this! It’s a classic! “I am now telling the computer EXACTLY what it can do with a lifetime supply of chocolate!” ---
**Author:** ![sliv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@sliv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sliv)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/89 "2012-08-03T21:12:19Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > That honking guy on the freeway in [Clear and Present Danger](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKOtvcIssZk). > > [spoiler]It’s not mentioned explicitly, and it’s a little unclear in the film—he might have just been trying to pass—but it certainly _looks_ like he’s trying to warn Cathy and put himself between them and Miller’s van. > > I always liked that bit—just some no-name guy, we never even see their face, just trying to do the right thing on the spot.[/spoiler] This! Exactly what I popped on to this thread to mention. He’s also in the book. I’ve sometimes wondered what that guy’s day looked like… ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/90 "2012-08-03T23:41:57Z")
How about the girl that the old guy saw once, for a minute, in his youth, and yet never a day goes by that he doesn’t think of her? She’s not even onscreen once in the movie, yet she’s famous! ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/91 "2012-08-04T00:34:13Z")
I’ve mentioned her in a thread before, but the teenage daughter of Robert deNiro’s character in Midnight Run. She only has a couple of one-word answers and then a sentence where she tries to give her babysitting money to her dad. Maybe it doesn’t count because from the first time we see her to our last glimpse of her is about three minutes, but I think it’s very memorable. [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxN2YIeYnWE) (watch from about the 2:00 minute mark to 6:45) ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/92 "2012-08-04T01:24:16Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > The one-armed guy from “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” who has a little speech about how long he’s been seeking revenge on Tuco. And then Tuco shoots him. > > “If you’re going to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk!” Gotta mention Arch Stanton When it comes this Movie. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/93 "2012-08-04T08:59:38Z")
I think this guy qualifies, it took some [good thinking, Ray](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-sALU_hveA). Also Sean Connery in the Robin Hood with Costner only has a couple lines, doesn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/94 "2012-08-04T12:14:32Z")
Bill Paxton in the original Terminator. “Nice night for a walk?” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/95 "2012-08-04T20:16:30Z")
Maybe this is too much content, but… The old guy at _The Godfather_ opening party, who is repeatedly rehearsing his little speech to the Godfather, which is all of a couple of sentences, and who never does get it right. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/96 "2012-08-04T20:38:06Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > The old guy at _The Godfather_ opening party, who is repeatedly rehearsing his little speech to the Godfather, which is all of a couple of sentences, and who never does get it right. He wasn’t that old. That was Luca Brasi, who appeared in a number of later scenes. Maybe you’re thinking of the funeral director (he was older) who asks Don Vito for revenge against the men who raped his daughter? He only appears in one very poignant later scene. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/97 "2012-08-04T20:41:28Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Character not important to a plot? Okay, he’s got more than one line, but they could have cut the whole scene. He stole the movie. > > Glengary Glen Ross. The guy who says “Coffee is for closers.” You’re right — they could have cut the whole scene. It never appeared in the play. David Mamet wrote the scene for the movie, and (IIRC) specifically for Alec Baldwin. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/98 "2012-08-04T21:19:41Z")
Well, he’s a no-line character, so [Morn](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Morn) would seem to count, even though he appears in nearly every episode of DS9. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/99 "2012-08-04T21:38:31Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > There are a couple of one scene characters in _Fargo_, I’ll go with [Mr. Mohra](http://www.second-take.com/2012/03/great-scene-1-fargos-mr-mohra.html). Yah. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154/100 "2012-08-05T00:47:50Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Bill Paxton in the original Terminator. > > “Nice night for a walk?” Nice night to check out post 59. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-memorable-no-line-one-line-or-never-seen-again-person-char-in-a-movie/630154.md?page=6)