Day 3 of Noirvember: Today’s Top 10 Quotable Quotes
He ended up with exactly nothing.
Without any fanfare, today I’m pleased to offer up some of my favorite noir lines from some of my favorite noir bad boys. Enjoy!
“I got everything by talking fast in a world that goes for talking. And ended up with exactly nothing.” Dana Andrews in Fallen Angel (1945)
“A minute ago we were talkin’ about reputations. Well, you got quite a reputation yourself. You’re supposed to be a troublemaker. Okay. Make some.” Albert Dekker in The Killers (1946)
“Don’t ask me no favors – I can’t be bribed, see. Besides, you ain’t got enough money to bribe me.” Jay C. Flippen in Brute Force (1947)
“I’d fit into your gang perfectly. I could maim and disfigure people for you, and shoot up the ones you don’t like.” Broderick Crawford in The Mob (1951)
Did he really study to get that stupid?
“You dumb ox. I oughta knock your brains out. You musta studied to get that stupid.” Raymond Burr in Desperate (1947)
“Don’t you tell me what to do. You ask me if I wanna do it.” Howard DaSilva in They Live By Night (1948)
“Doing the right thing never works out. In this world, you turn the other cheek and you get hit with a lug wrench.” Brian Donlevy in Impact (1949)
“I’ve got just the place for me and you. A little room upstairs that’s too small for you to fall down in. I can bounce you around off the walls – that way we won’t be wasting a lot of time while you get up off the floor.” William Bendix in The Glass Key (1942)
“If you’re smart, you can be a hero. If you’re dumb, you can be dead.” Ted DeCorsia in The Enforcer (1951)
“My old man always said, ‘Liquor doesn’t drown your troubles – just teaches ‘em how to swim.’” Gene Lockhart in Red Light (1950)
Join me tomorrow for Day 4 of Noirvember!
Terrific lines. The essence of noir. Snappy,brutal, true.
Thanks, Vienna! There are so many GREAT ones, aren’t there??
Gee, I was feeling pretty cheerful a moment ago. Now I feel a chip on my shoulder and I’m ready to go outside and start a fight with somebody. Just wait til my husband gets home!
‘You musta studied to get that stupid.’ Love it.
Great Quotes! I especially love the last one where liquor doesn’t drown your troubles, just teaches them how to swim. Classic!