Marshall and the Movies

I saw “Casablanca” for the first time (yes, I know that’s shocking) a few weeks ago and ogled at how many quotable lines there are.  I knew, “Here’s looking at you, kid,” and “at least we’ll always have Paris.”  But I had no idea it was the origin of “this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” or “round up the usual suspects.”  Not to mention that the movie is the reason for Warner Bros. theme song on their logo and the inspiration for the title “Play It Again, Sam.”  (Fun fact: no one ever says the words “play it again, Sam” in the movie.  It’s always a variation.)

I thought about it, and movies are quoted so often that we say certain lines enough to forget that they came from a movie at all.  A more modern example is “Mean Girls” for me.  I had been rattling off “she doesn’t even go here!” and “you go, Glen Coco!” for months on end – and I had seen the movie!

I think it’s a testament to the writers if their movie has the staying power to be quoted.  I don’t know if we’ll be quoting “Mean Girls” in 70 years, but surely some phrases are going to enter our average conversational phrase book.  I wouldn’t count out “why so serious?” from “The Dark Knight” for one of them.