# Worst single-line delivery in a movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2004, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778 "2004-04-24T06:16:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/41 "2004-04-25T15:48:36Z")
The Matrix “Bilogy” is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. The dialogues are crap and I am dissapointed in my fellow dopers for not mentioning a single line of them: “You only know someone when you fight him” (or something lie that). Thank god that wasn’t the first line of the movie because I would have left right then. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/42 "2004-04-25T16:16:36Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > The full line is usually rendered as “Yonda lies da castle of my fadda, da Caliph” and it’s from _The Black Shield of Falworth_ (1954), one of Curtis’ first starring roles. > > It’s Shatner-related, but Stephen Collins gets some of the dumber lines near the end of _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ including describing a human’s ability to “leap beyond logic” and “As much as you wanted the _Enterprise_, I want _this!_” Further searching finds this quote from an article and interview with Curtis: “Yeah,” Mr. Curtis said almost bashfully, in the Bronx accent immortalized by lines like “Yonder is the valley of the sun and my father’s castle.” (Contrary to various inconsistent authorities, Mr. Curtis attributes it to “The Prince Who Was a Thief,” 1951.) ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/43 "2004-04-25T16:51:30Z")
Adriaaaaan! ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/44 "2004-04-25T17:20:14Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > "Anthony Hopkins infamous “Fava beans and a nice chianti” line from _Silence of the Lambs_… What ruins it for me is that lip smacking thing after the line. Hannibal Lector’s character in the books is much too dry and restrained to ever do anything like that. In the book that line is delivered so casually and drily that it almost goes unnoticed. Hopkins made the character too cartoonish and actually detracted from his intelligence and darkness with that choice. It’s always bugged me. Hmn. I agree it’s pretty cartoonish, but I’m not sure Lecter wouldn’t have done it. He’s a monster, after all. Dry and restrained some of time, certainly, but there’s a moment in one movie when we see him in “attack mode”, ie. about to try and bite someone’s face off. It may be when he goes for Ed Norton, or I seem to remember a conversation with Starling while he’s chained up… anyway, it’s out there somewhere. Both are moments when he wants to scare someone by showing them what he really is. And his face becomes cartoonish there too. Really freakish. Just because we seldom see that side of him, we might assume he is an essentially dry, restrained chap. I propose, however, that we are seeing the eyes painted on the butterfly: the superficial disguise of an essentially maniacal, evil, jibbering, mugging, screeching, slobbering devil. This makes his quiet charm all the more striking, all the more _upsetting_. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/45 "2004-04-25T17:21:16Z")
> [@Rico](#): > > I nominate **John Wayne** in _The Greatest Story Ever Told_, a 1960s movie about the life of Jesus. > > He played the bit part of the centurion who actually nailed Jesus to the cross. His one line in the movie came after Jesus died, and Wayne is shown in silhouette, with a backdrop of storm clouds gathering and lightning flashing. “Truly, this man was the Son of God.” came out as The Duke, nothing more, nothing less. It was laughingly bad. > > […] I’m a little surprised that John Wayne has not been disqualified under TSR (I know that he’s an icon, but IMHO his stinkers far outweigh his successes). But what really surprises me—especially since [Cecil](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_016.html) has mentioned it—is that the following classic from **The Conqueror** has not yet been nominated: > [@](#): > > “There are moments fer wisdom, Juh-mooga, then I listen to you–and there are moments fer action–then I listen to my blood. I feel this Tartar wuh-man is fer me, and my blood says, ‘TAKE HER!’” Believe me, Cecil’s transliteration, though authentic, doesn’t do it justice. It’s simply howlingly bad. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/46 "2004-04-25T18:27:15Z")
**STOP THE THREAD! WE HAVE A WINNER!!** This has to be the worst of the worst, delivered in one of the most over-the-top bible epics ever produced, _The Ten Commandments_, starring Charleton Heston having the said blocks of granite pried from his cold dead fingers. Ol’ Moses is experiencing some angst and is expressing his doubts to the lovely and heavily mascara-ed Nefretiri (second cousin to Nefertiti, I’m assuming). The following ensues: “Oh Moses, you stubborn, splendid adorable fool,” she tells the prophet, who has spent the afternoon making bricks with his enslaved Jewish brethren. “You can worship any God you like, as long as I can worship you.” Bwa-hahahahahahahahaha ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/47 "2004-04-25T18:29:04Z")
Forgot to mention the actress: Anne Baxter ---
**Author:** ![Marconi\_Schmeese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@Marconi\_Schmeese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_Schmeese)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/48 "2004-04-25T18:59:00Z")
How about Keanu Reeves in Speed, “Speed it up.” I can’t help but die laughing every time. ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/49 "2004-04-25T19:50:29Z")
Maggie Smith in"Divine Secrets of the Ya\_Ya Sisterhood. everytime she said Bebe’. It just grated on my ears Bad enough to have a British Actress playing a southern lady but a Louisinana one at that. Ms. Smith sounded more affected than natural. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/50 "2004-04-25T22:46:13Z")
> [@Monstre](#): > > BUT… it’s use **annoys the hell out of me** in ATOC, when Anakin says it. > > The line should convey a sense of “hey, things **seem** okay, but they’re really not”. Instead, Anakin says it when he is TIED TO A POLE, and three dealy-looking monsters are being led out into the arena to EAT him and his friends… > > “I’ve got a baaaad feeling about this…” > > **Thank you, Darth Obvious Boy** I happen to like humorous irony, myself… ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/51 "2004-04-25T23:03:03Z")
In _Bulworth,_ when Halle Berry says to Warren Beatty, “You’re my nigger.” But I don’t think anybody could’ve carried off that line. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/52 "2004-04-25T23:32:45Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > OK, so this is another one which doesn’t count as an otherwise-good actor - but Andie McDowell’s “Is it still raining? I hadn’t noticed” at the end of _Four Weddings…_ is just dreadful. Yep, that’s what struck my mind when I read the thread title. The rest of that movie is so wonderful, why oh why did they have to cast Andie McDowell 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Riqay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Riqay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riqay)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2004, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/53 "2004-04-25T23:53:22Z")
Since Keanu Reeves has already been added to the thread (despite falling under the Shatner Rule), I’ll toss in another of his gems – one of my all time most hated lines in any movie. In Francis Ford Coppola’s _Bram Stoker’s Dracula_, Keanu plays Jonathan Harker. Early in the film, as he’s traveling to his first meeting with the Count, he calls out to his carriage driver: “Bye the bye, how far is it to the castle?” That line made me hate the entire movie, despite Winona’s lovely turn as Mina. Incidently, Gary Oldman, not entirely known for underplaying his roles, could probably be cited for some major offenses in this picture, too. ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/54 "2004-04-26T00:32:17Z")
I only mention this line because my wife recently bought the movie: “Looney Tunes: Back in Action” OK, are you done laughing? In the first third, there’s a scene in Las Vegas in which Jenna Elfman meets runs into Brendan Fraser, who apparently had made off with Daffy Duck. During a quiet moment in the ensuing car chase, she turns to him and says: “You took . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . my DUCK!” Now, the line is nothing. A little funny, but not very complicated. Four words, each a syllable in length. How hard can it be to say it? You can say it fast (“Youtookmyduck!”), you can emphasize each word (“You . . . took . . . my . . . duck!”), you can say it backwards (“Duck my you took!”) See the periods? Each one represents an eon that had to pass before she could finish her line. She had enough time to take a breath, eat a four-course meal, throw it all back up and finish her sentence. Given all the possible ways to speak that sentence, Elfman took the one that was blazingly, distinctively, memorably incompetent. She’s an actor with a genuine talent for mediocrity. ---
**Author:** ![AzRaek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/azraek/32/16739_2.png) [@AzRaek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AzRaek)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/55 "2004-04-26T02:46:24Z")
I envision a sequel…“Dude, Where’s My Duck?” ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/56 "2004-04-26T05:06:22Z")
According to [Leonard Maltin,](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000348/bio) Tony Curtis never uttered the infamous “Yonda lies da castle of my fodda.” ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/57 "2004-04-26T10:41:28Z")
> [@Riqay](#): > > Since Keanu Reeves has already been added to the thread (despite falling under the Shatner Rule), I’ll toss in another of his gems – one of my all time most hated lines in any movie. > > In Francis Ford Coppola’s _Bram Stoker’s Dracula_, Keanu plays Jonathan Harker. Early in the film, as he’s traveling to his first meeting with the Count, he calls out to his carriage driver: > > “Bye the bye, how far is it to the castle?” > > That line made me hate the entire movie, despite Winona’s lovely turn as Mina. > > Incidently, Gary Oldman, not entirely known for underplaying his roles, could probably be cited for some major offenses in this picture, too. Heh-heh. The first time my wife and I watched it I was guessing the lines _before_ they were spoken… _Wolves howl offscreen_ Me (in spooky voice): “It’s the children of the night… MWAHAHAHA” Oldman (a beat later): “Ahhhh… the children of the night.” (no mwahahahaha). On and on, throughout the movie. It was a much more pleasurable experience than watching it straight-up would’ve been. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778.md?page=2)