He Never Said That!--Famous movie quotes that were never said
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The best lines that never were
Movie quotes are part of our popular culture. We've all used them. Old ones ("I have a feeling we're not in Kansas any more") or newer ones ("Show me the money!"). However, you may be surprised to know that some of the most popular and oft-quoted movie lines we use were never actually said. Erroneous lines or misquotes have often become indelibly etched into our consciousness. You may have used some faux-quotes yourself. Here are eight of the most often quoted non-quotes.
"Play It Again, Sam"
This is the most quoted line from CASABLANCA, one of the greatest films ever. However, this line was never uttered by any character in the film. At one point, Ingrid Berman's Isla character asks piano player Sam to, "Play it once for me, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By'." Later, Humphrey Bogart's Rick says to Sam, "You know what I want to hear! You played it for her, you can play it for me!"
"Me Tarzan, you Jane!"
This iconic phrase has been used so often, not only in regards to Tarzan, but it's also been repeated as a joke in many jungle adventures. Too bad the line was never said by Tarzan. In the 1932 adventure film TARZAN THE APE MAN Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) tries teaching Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) to talk. She points to herself and says "Jane", and then points to him and says "Tarzan." He mimics this by pointing to himself and saying "Tarzan?" and then pointing to her and saying "Jane?" But he never says "Me" or "You".
"Judy, Judy, Judy."
Every Cary Grant imitator uses this line when impersonating Grant. Cary Grant once said he was tired of being asked to say it, especially since he never said it in the first place. In the film ONLY ANGLES HAVE WINGS he does say the name Judy (Who was played by Rita Hayworth) many times, but never three times in a row. Ironically, he does say "Susan, Susan, Susan" in the film BRINGING UP BABY but no one ever uses this quote.
"You Dirty Rat!"
James Cagney impersonators love to use this line, but Cagney himself never did. In ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES, Cagney snarls "You dirty...!" and slugs a guy, but he never says "Rat". In BLONDE CRAZY, Cagney says, "Why that dirty, double-crossing rat!".
"COME WITH ME TO THE CASBAH"
Charles Boyer has become famous for this line he never said. It is often attributed to the film ALGIERS, but he never said it in that movie. the quote actually comes from a cartoon parody of the film starring Pepe Le Pew. The line would often be used by the cartoon skunk, but Boyer never said it.
"BEAM ME UP, SCOTTY"
This is one of the lines that immediately comes to mind when most people think of STAR TREK. However, not in any of the TREK films nor the classic 1960s TV series was this line ever uttered. Captain Kirk used several variations on the line ("Beam us aboard", "Four to beam up," etc.) but more commonly used the word "Energize" to order himself and his fellow crewmen teleported back up to the ship.
"I Vant To Suck Your Blood!"
Sorry vampire fans, but this line was never said by Bela Lugosi in DRACULA. He never said he vanted to do any such thing. He does say "The blood is the life!" but that's the closest he comes. The line has been misused many times, including the excellent ED WOOD, but Lugosi never said these words.
"I'd Never Belong to Any Club That Would Let Me Join".
Many Groucho-philes debate about which movie this classic comedy quip by Groucho Marx came from. The truth is, it was never linked with any particular movie. It comes from famous anecdotes about the great comedian. However, it is misquoted. The real story is that a movie magazine wrote a story about Groucho that wasn't true. Groucho wrote to the editor saying that their magazine was the worst piece of junk ever printed and only idiots read it, and if they ever write another untrue story about him, he was going to cancel his subscription. This story has been twisted and tweaked over the years until it became the "club" line.
These are some of the most famous never-said quotes. There are others and I may get to them in the future. For now, think about these next time you hear someone use one of this non-quotes.
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Interesting how many of these quotes turn out to be misquotes Rob. One of my favourites is Sherlock Holmes, who never said 'Elementary my dear Watson' in any of Conan Doyle's printed stories. I believe the phrase was first used in a newspaper review, and only after that in a 1929 movie.
Entertaining and informative Hub!
Great read of classic movie misquotes. Well compiled and shatters many an urban myth.The Game is Afoot!
A fun hub Rob. I remember once watching a whole bunch of classic James Cagney films hoping to catch him saying "You dirty rat!" sadly he didn't.
Here's another Cagney misquote,from White Heat - "Top of the world Ma!" but what he actually says is "Made it ma. Top of the world!" Close enough. :)
One more common misquote, "Frankly Scarlett, I don't give a damn". Rhett Butler actually says "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."
Now I don't have to see those movies.
A good hub. I knew most of those were misquotes but not logosi's line or Groucho's joke. They do sound right though.
This is all very true. Another famous incorrect quote is "Luke, I am your father!" :) Great Hub, very informative, thanks for posting. Voted up!
Great hub Rob, there are tons of famous movies with the wrong quotes but I think you have picked the best and most famous ones.....I think impressionists(talk about a industry that is struggling....is Rich Little even alive?) are too blame for lots of the misquotes....I enjoyed reading this hub..voted up and useful.
Thank you, Robwrite, for your informative hub. Nice to know the truth.
Huh! Who knew?? I love this! Now I can call people out XD
Congrats on your hub being named to the Hub Page recommended hubs....I am happy they picked one of your hubs.
Love this hub! Voted awesome. Good job.
Hey great article Rob, I love the old black & whites! Spot on with every movie especially Bogart, Cagney, Cary, Johnny. GREAT.
I like horror movies
What a fun hub you've written. Love to read about movie trivia like this.
It's amazing what the human brain will do in terms of making us hear what we want to hear. I would have sworn I had heard some of these quotes in the original films.
Very entertaining
Brings back memories. I could have sworn Cagney said, "You dirty rat!" Maybe it's because, as kids, we said it all the time :-)
Great Hub.
I think it is time to break open your record book and check to see what your record for most comments is....because I think it is about to be broken with this hub.
Anything to break that hub count record, but I really enjoyed this hub! Please may we have some more, to misquote Oliver Twist?
This is a great hub! It's fun to think of the movie references we use every day (i.e. "what a dump") along with the ones we misquote each day. Haha! Though if we first hear these quotes from another source (say Woody Allen's Play It Again, Sam or Looney Tunes) are we really misquoting? Or are we just forgetting what we're quoting it from? Heehee! Either way. Impressionists are the source of some of the misquotes ("Judy, Judy, Judy" certainly) but, others I think are just due to forgetting exactly how a quote went over time. They didn't have videos back then, so if you saw "Blonde Crazy" once and then didn't see it again for 5 years or so, you could easily misremember "why that dirty, double-crossing rat" as "you dirty rat". So, I guess you can't be too hard on people for having bad memories. ;)
Oh! And "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore" is a misquote too! It's a paraphrase of the real quote, "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." ;)
Great hub on my favorite subject - movies. And then there are quotes that are overused, like "I think you're gonna need a bigger boat." If that's a correct quote from "Jaws" that is...
Very funny :) Weird how that happened! Voted up!
I particularly enjoyed the Play It Again, Sam! My buddies and I argue all the time about if that quote was in that movie.
People tend to hear what they want to hear...especially when it is uttered over and over again. Good examples and I am sure there are many, many more. Thanks for posting, it was an interesting read.
HAH...too cool!! I was as guilty as the next guy on pretty much all of those. I see you have a few involving movies. I'm going to read them all, and I'm kind of a film buff myself, and am fascinated by them. Well done, my friend :)TR
And I plan on visiting each and every one :)TR






























Fullerman5000 Level 4 Commenter 10 months ago
This was fun and very entertaining. Great read man. voted up and awesome