of All Time by Premiere Magazine (reverse ranking) Part 3 Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 |
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Character Name | Played By | Film Title | Defining Moment |
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Blondie | Clint Eastwood | The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) | Blondie's writing-the-name-on-the-rock gambit before the climactic, operatic shootout. |
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Chance the Gardener | Peter Sellers | Being There (1979) | Chance's bland but insistent mantra, "I like to watch" that is misinterpreted by a love-deprived society wife Eve Rand (Shirley MacLaine). |
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John "Bluto" Blutarsky | John Belushi | National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) | Bluto's food fight scene in which he makes his face a zit - by filling his cheeks with mashed potatoes and spraying the contents onto a sorority girl. |
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Mrs. Robinson | Anne Bancroft | The Graduate (1967) | Mrs. Robinson's toss of Benjamin Braddock's (Dustin Hoffman) car keys into his fish tank, to make sure he drives her home. |
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John McClane | Bruce Willis | Die Hard (1988) and three later films | McClane's radioed reply to evil terrorist Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman): "Yippee-kai-yay, motherf--ker!" |
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Mary Poppins | Julie Andrews | Mary Poppins (1964) | Mary Poppins' singing of "Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!" to show her charges that tidying up the nursery can be fun. |
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Jules Winnfield | Samuel L. Jackson | Pulp Fiction (1994) | The foot massage sequence, the Ezekiel speech, the Quarter Pounder with Cheese dialogue, and the 'what' sequence. |
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Forrest Gump | Tom Hanks | Forrest Gump (1994) | Forrest's conversation with a bus-stop bench woman, including: "My momma always said life was like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get." |
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"Dirty" Harry Callahan | Clint Eastwood | Dirty Harry (1971) and four later films | Harry's reaction that the killer he just apprehended and tortured will be released because of the violation of his rights: "Well, the law's crazy!" |
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Jane Craig | Holly Hunter | Broadcast News (1987) | Jane's response, "No, it's awful," when her boss snaps: "It must be nice to always believe you know better - to always think you're the smartest person in the room." |
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The Terminator | Arnold Schwarzenegger | The Terminator (1984) and later films | The Terminator's quote: "I'll be back" at the police station slaughter, and his surgery upon his own skin and eyeball (his eyesocket glows red) in a motel room. |
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Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels | Dustin Hoffman | Tootsie (1982) | Dorothy's improvised on-air confession: "But...as a woman!" |
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Willy Wonka | Gene Wilder | Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) | Willy's whimsical entrance - first teetering with a cane, and ending with the execution of a perfect somersault. |
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Jake Gittes | Jack Nicholson | Chinatown (1974) and one later film | Jake's crafty rip of a city ledger page (under the sound of a fake cough), and use of an ethnic slur to fool a nursing home's corrupt director. |
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Alex Forrest | Glenn Close | Fatal Attraction (1987) | Alex's conversation with Dan (Michael Douglas) the morning that he leaves: "You thought you'd have a good time. You didn't stop for a second to think about me." |
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Dr. Evil | Mike Myers | Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and two later films | Dr. Evil's revelation about dominating the planet to his staff: "We shall hold the world ransom for...one million dollars!!" |
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Bonnie Parker | Faye Dunaway | Bonnie and Clyde (1967) | Bonnie's decision to kiss captured and humiliated Texas Ranger Frank Hamer (Denver Pyle) while a photograph is taken. |
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Ratso Rizzo | Dustin Hoffman | Midnight Cowboy (1969) | Ratso's shrill and improvised line to a cab driver, as he slaps on the car's hood: "I'm walkin' here!" in a cross-walk |
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Holly Golightly | Audrey Hepburn | Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) | Holly's kiss of Paul (George Peppard) in the pouring rain, while sheltering Cat under her coat. |
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Norma Desmond | Gloria Swanson | Sunset Boulevard (1950) | Norma's final appearance: "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." |
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King Kong | -- | King Kong (1933) | The Beast atop the Empire State Building, risking everything for his Beauty Ann Darrow (Fay Wray). |
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Daphne/Jerry | Jack Lemmon | Some Like It Hot (1959) | Daphne's repetition of a litany after a stern warning by Joe (Tony Curtis), in an all-female sleeping car of a train: "I'm a girl...I'm a girl...I wish I were dead...I'm a girl." |
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Captain Quint | Robert Shaw | Jaws (1975) | Quint's slippery slide into the jaws of the awaiting shark, and his speech about surviving the disaster at sea on the U.S.S. Indianapolis: "When he comes after you, he doesn't seem to be living until he bites you." |
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Marge Gunderson | Frances McDormand | Fargo (1996) | Pregnant Marge's near loss of her breakfast at a crime scene, but not due to the gore. |
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E.T. | -- | E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) | The moment that Elliott's bike (with E.T. in the basket) is propelled into the night sky by E.T.'s powers. |