MovieChat Forums > The Lion in Winter (1968) Discussion > WHich is your FAVORITE line?

WHich is your FAVORITE line?

posted 19 years ago by irot13
185 replies | jump to latest

Every sentence of this masterpiece is either wity, funny, sarcasitic, poetic, dramatic, or just plane awesome. Anyway - their all top notch! Thank god they got actors worthy of them! Post your favorites. This might help: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063227/quotes

My favorite are:

Prince Geoffrey: I know. You know I know. I know you know I know. We know Henry knows, and Henry knows we know it.
[smiles]
We're a knowledgeable family.

[Upon seeing his wife after she arrives for Christmas Court]
Henry II: HA! What shall we hang... the holly, or each other?

Eleanor: In a world where carpenters get resurrected, everything is possible.

[first lines]
Henry II: Come for me!

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] mooninbalance 19 years ago

Cruelist is Henry's reply to his son Geoff's remark:

G:"You don't think much of me, do you?

H: "Much? I don't think of you at all."

[–] vscutaro 19 years ago

Eleanor: Doesn't every family have its ups and downs.

[–] phyrkrakr 16 years ago

Henry, did you ever love me?

No.

Good.

[–] oglenspirit 19 years ago

Eleanor: I could peel you like a pear and even God would call it justice!

[–] lv6662001 19 years ago

"Eleanor: I could peel you like a pear and even God would call it justice"

that line always comes to mind when I think about the film,just the way she did it,it wasnt overdone(Bette Davis would of ruined it)it was just right

theres too much to say,the dialogue in the dungeon in the end was really powerful

What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

[–] kbncincy 18 years ago

Henry: you're like a democratic drawbridge, going down for everybody...
Eleanor: at my age there's not much traffic anymore

Other great Henry lines -- I'm vilifying you, for God's sake pay attention! ..... when you hurt me, I'll cry out.......that's the only way to be King, alive & 50 all at once--my God, I've got a decade on the pope!.........{you can have} impromptu trips to see Richard wherever he's killing people.........I know I'm winning and I know I'll win, but what the next move is, I haven't the foggiest -- God, but I do love being King!

[–] beezdotcom 15 years ago

Bette Davis would of ruined it

No, Bette Davis would've ruined it. (contraction of 'would have')

But I agree with your premise.

(Sorry, I'm not usually such a snarky nitpicker - but that one in particular always bugs me.)

[–] Hatshepsutely 16 years ago

Yes, yes!! This line gave me goosebumps.

Who would give a law to lovers? Love is unto itself a higher law. -Boethius 524 AD

[–] the_spanner85 19 years ago

"If you're broken it's because you're brittle!" -- Eleanor

Cheers,
The Spanner.

[–] Nolegirl97 12 years ago

[Eleanor talking to her jewelry]: I'd hang you from the nipples, but you'd frighten the children

I nearly peed myself when she said that, it was so unexpected.

"The only exercise I take is walking behind the coffins of friends who took exercise."

[–] mjm-33 19 years ago

John to Geoffrey [after Geoffrey exposes him to Henry (and everyone else) from his hiding place behind the tapestry - after his plotting against Henry with the King of France]:

"You t_rd!"

It is so hilariously absurd and perfectly in character for John as portrayed in this film.

Henry: Ah, but I do LOVE being King!

[–] khmmo 19 years ago

Of course hes got a knife, you've got a knife, I've got a knife, its 1163 and were all barbarians.
or something along those lines.
"A mnetal travelor needs no baggage, buts aren't you glad I brought my crystal and my china?" Karen Blixen, Out of Africa

[–] monvalleygeorge 18 years ago

I think this one is the best...this film is in many ways anachronistic, for example, that quote from Oscar Wilde about a cynic...but, yes...in spite of a heritage of almost 1200 years of Christianity, with the background of Hebraism and the best of the Greek and Latin cultures thrown in, they WERE barbarians...maybe not Henry...but he and Becket were the two most exceptional Englishmen of the age. But what are we to make of the earlier king-Henry I, perhaps...this Henry's grandfather-who, faced with opposition from his bishops, had them all castrated? Or old Eleanor herself...when her darling Richard was wounded in battle, fatally, by a crossbow bolt he had the crossbowman brought to him and forgave him. After he died "ye olde bitche" had the man skinned alive.

[–] juliaz3 18 years ago

I think it's meant to be anachronistic, especially the line about the knives and "it's 1183 and we're barbarians". They're not portraying history, they're portraying a dysfuntional family in a historic setting.

[–] SweaterCannons 15 years ago

The adjective "first-class" is used twice, and it struck me as anachronistic.

Near the beginning, Eleanor says it:
"You're good. You're first class, Geoff."

About halfway through, Henry says it:
"You've got promise, lad. That's first-class thinking."

I understand it being anachronistic, but this one thing, for some reason, seemed really out of place. Almost as if they'd said "groovy."

[–] davidandrews27 10 years ago

I have to agree here with "You t_rd!" It's abrupt and refreshing amid all the glittering, edged badinage, and appropriate to the John character, who is incapable of subtleties. It comes in at just the right moment to point up how good the other dialogue is. I saw the film on an airplane, and everyone in the cabin with headsets on roared at that moment - something one doesn't forget.

[–] eli-jolley 19 years ago

Henry II: It's good to be King.

[–] mizfinney 19 years ago

Eleanor: (to one of her necklaces)"I'd hang you from the nipples, but you'd shock the children."
"I'm Eleanor and I can look at anything."
Philip: (to Henry) "Piss on your peace."
John: "You're a stinker and you stink."

[–] portia1972 19 years ago

Henry says something about when pigs fly and Eleanor, defying his scoffing, says "There'll be pork in the trees by morning!"

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Mr_Beale 19 years ago

Well, what family doesn't have it's ups and downs?

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[–] wessiegurl 19 years ago

Eleanor: I could peel you like a pear and God himself would call it justice!

[–] Louisville88 19 years ago

Eleanor: I gave the church up out of boredom I can do the same for you. Love me little lamb, or leave me.

Eleanor: Henry's bed is Henry's province. He could people it with sheep for all I care, which on occasion he's done.

Eleanor: We could fill a country village with country girls who've bore you sons. Come, help me count the bastards!

Henry: Lets have the tally. How many bedspreads have you spread out on?

There are many many more.

[–] sports2119 19 years ago

John : "Who ever says 'Poor John.'My God if my body were up in flames theres not a living soul who'd piss on me and put the fire out."

Richard: "Let's strike a flint and see. "

Also.......

John- "You stink you know that. You're a stinker and you stink."

Geoffery- "If your a prince there's hope for every ape in Africa."

[–] rmm413-1 19 years ago

John : "Who ever says 'Poor John.'My God if my body were up in flames theres not a living soul who'd piss on me and put the fire out."

Richard: "Let's strike a flint and see. "

Yeah, I really like that one too.

I also like particularly this exchange:

Eleanor: What would you have me do? Give out? Give up? Give in?
Henry II: Give me a little peace.
Eleanor: A little? Why so modest? How about eternal peace? Now there's a thought.

And this one:

Eleanor: I adored you. I still do.
Henry II: Of all the lies you've told, that is the most terrible.
Eleanor: I know. That's why I've saved it up until now.

[–] barburso 19 years ago

A few gems not yet mentioned:

Henry: Did the waters of the Channel part for your crossing?
Eleanor: They lay flat when I told them to. I didn't think to ask for more.

Philip: Of course, that's what tapestries are for.

Henry: Richard finds his way into so many legends. Lets hear yours and see how it compares.