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!

[–] sports2119 19 years ago

Honestly, I think you could quote any line of this picture and find it clever or witty.

[–] rmm413-1 19 years ago

I think you're pretty much right. Even the bits of dialogue that no one typically brings up are still very cleverly written. With the masterful script and the superb delivery of the lines almost everything in the movie is memorable.

[–] jg67 18 years ago

Love,in a world where carpenters get resurrected...anything's possible.

She smiled to excess but chewed with real distinction.

I prayed for her to drop and smiled a little when she did.

It's not the power I feel deprived of. It's the mention I miss. There's no affection for me here. You wouldn't think I'd want that would you?

If I had managed sons for Louis instead of all those little girls I'd still be stuck with being queen of France and we should have not known each other. Such my angels is the role of sex in history.

I won't kiss her hairy cheek.

The sun was warmer then.

Eleanor you spoil me!

I plot and scheme a lot I know. It's how a queen in prison spends her time.

You're so deceitful you can't ask for water when you're thirsty.

My life when it is written will read better than it lived.

And when you die,which is regretable but necessary.

And Richard...promise anything.

I marvel at you after all these years still like a democratic drawbridge. Going down for everyone.

Well...that's how deals are made.

These are off the top of my head LOL but basically every line is a keeper.

"My left hand hasn't seen my right in twenty years." JJHunsecker

[–] gmorad 18 years ago

Mine is:

Eleanor: (to one of her necklaces)"I'd hang you from the nipples, but you'd shock the children."

Hearing Katherine Hepburn say the word "nipples" shocked me

[–] helen_of_troy19 18 years ago

I know there are a lot of lines better than this one, but the one that sticks with me is when Alais says to Eleanor: "Do you know what I should like for Christmas? I should like to see you suffer."

Depending on what mood I'm in its either very chilling or very funny.

[–] jgravely 18 years ago

^^^ Her reply to that line always gets me. "Alais...just for you."

It's a dirty job, but I pay clean money for it.

[–] marktheaardvark 18 years ago

"Alais, in my time I've known contessas, milkmaids, courtesans, novices, whores, gypsies, jades, and little boys; but nowhere in God's western world have I found anyone to love but you." (blushing) "Oh, Henry."

[–] fantasygroupie 18 years ago

"I'm vilifying you, for God's sake, pay attention!"

Love that one. It gets me every time. And then:

"Hush, dear, Mother's fighting."

[–] jg67 18 years ago

"I won't kiss her hairy cheek." - John

It's a dirty job,but I pay clean money for it.

[–] vice69 18 years ago

Eleanor: You're not an assassin.
Prince Richard: Look again.

"Good evening, Clarice."

[–] wildviolet45 18 years ago

Eleanor: And that's to be the King

Geoffrey: And I'M to be his Chancellor. Has he told you? John will rule the country while I run it. That is to say he gets to spend the taxes that I raise.

Eleanor: How nice for you.

Geoffrey: It's not as nice as being King.

[–] DrinkFromTheSameFountain 12 years ago

Yeah, I liked what came right after that line.

[–] mooninbalance 18 years ago

My God, seeing all these lines in one place and out of context only convinces me all the more that this is some of (if not *the*) most extrordinary dialogue of all time.

[–] Sunflower64 18 years ago

The whole movie is brillaint but one of my favorites is:

Eleanor: You have a gift for hating.
Geoffrey: You're the expert. You should know.

So chilling. And the fact that its between a mother and a son just doubles the effect.

I love Geoffrey. Middle Child Syndrome gone very very wrong.

I feel sullied and unusual...

[–] blondieblonde 17 years ago

I do so agree with you about the dialogue. Each line is honed to rapier sharp perfection. I always find something new to appreciate about this wonderful film.

I have to admit that one of my favorite lines (oh, and there are soooo many) is Eleanor's musings regarding Geoffrey and John, "Simon Pure and Simon Simple"

I find that I wait each exchange with baited breath. The writing is so good that a school of goldfish couldn't mess it up. But as with so many things, the original is still the best. (and I love Glenn Close and Patrick Stewart)

[–] GrowingFamily (271) 7 years ago

Agreed! There are so many memorable lines in this movie. There's hardly a minute that goes by without hearing another gem. I wish they would make more cerebral movies like this one. The witty and clever dialogue is a joy to listen to.

[–] MIchiganJFrogg (-35) 7 years ago

[deleted]

[–] GrowingFamily (271) 7 years ago

Well, thank you! Maybe Blondie will find this message board one day. It is a great movie and I'm sure there are many out there who think so but they have been scattered to the winds when IMDb closed. Peter O'Toole is incredible. He was robbed of the Oscar both times, for sure. Yeah, this is a very cynical portrayal of family life, but, never dull! I've read a little about Eleanor of Aquitaine and she lead an amazing life. The writing is superb in this movie and to me, it's what makes it so special. Hopefully, I'll see you around the boards at some other good movies!

[–] film-collector 18 years ago

"We did it! You were in the next room when we did it!"

[–] ElenaYakovna 18 years ago

Oh what fun! My favorite film and everyone knows all the best bits!!

One of my favs (also mentioned above):

Henry: How was your crossing? Did the Channel part for you?
Eleanor: It lay flat when I told it to. I didn't think to ask for more.

Sums her up quite nicely.

AND

Eleanor to her boys: Richard, don't look sullen, dear, it makes your eyes go small and piggy. John, you're so clean and neat. Henry takes good care of you. [slight pause] Geoffrey! [no other remarks]

I feel so sorry for the guy.

Must watch this again very soon . . .

UPDATE: I've noticed several references on this board to Geoffrey being the "middle" child. NOT! He's actually the fifth child of Henry and Eleanor and the fourth son. There are an additional two daughters and then John (the "baby").

[–] Sunflower64 18 years ago

Well technically if you're not the eldest and you are not the youngest, you're A middle child, no matter how many other siblings there are. Geoffrey was just the middle child in this movie, because none of the other children were present besides the three remaining sons.

I feel sullied and unusual...

[–] jg67 18 years ago

"Oh what fun! My favorite film and everyone knows all the best bits!"

Isn't it great?!

"Eleanor to her boys: Richard, don't look sullen, dear, it makes your eyes go small and piggy..."

"...and your chin look weak." You can't forget the clincher. lol

It's a dirty job,but I pay clean money for it.

[–] ElenaYakovna 18 years ago

Ah, yes. Thank you. I knew I was forgetting something, but the clincher in that scene is still the disdainful, "Geoffrey!" Can you imagine your mother dismissing you so thoroughly simply by saying your name? Very chilly!

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] jg67 18 years ago

"But the troops were dazzled!"

Great line. And it's all in the pause between 'but' and 'the'. Love it.

It's a dirty job,but I pay clean money for it.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] shani-3 18 years ago

Eleanor: "And when you're dead, which is regrettable but necessary, what of frail Alais an her pruny prince? You don't think Richard's going to wait for your grotesque to grow?"

Henry: "You wouldn't let him do that!"

Eleanor: "LET him? I'd PUSH him through the nursery door!"

Yeah, they're dead; they're all messed up...

[–] mackay254 15 years ago

"LET him? I'd PUSH him through the nursery door!"

That's my favourite too.

[–] gallum666 18 years ago

Richard: "In a world where babies are born with humpty backs and dogs go mad and bite their masters, what in the name of god is un-natural"

[–] blzoe 18 years ago

"Dear, dear...whatever shall we do with Mother?".

de gustibus non est disputandum

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] kniesers 18 years ago

"I'll teach you prancing, lamb, and leaps and flips."

I used to say that to my newborn son all the time.

[–] gaby01575 18 years ago

Henry, bellowing: "WHEN A KING IS ON HIS ASS, NOBODY SLEEPS!"

True, almost every line is a quotable quote and I was laughing myself silly sometimes while wathcing it.

[–] rrb 18 years ago

Henry: Is it rich, despising me? Is it rewarding?
Eleanor: No, it's terrible.
Henry: Then stop it!
Eleanor: How? It's what I live for.

Eleanor: Henry --
Henry: Hm?
Eleanor: I don't much like our children.

Geoffrey: Christmas! Warm and rosy time. The hot wine steams, the yule log roars, and we're the fat that's in the fire.

Eleanor: Oh, I've got you, got you, got you!

Henry: Poor Eleanor, if only she had lied.
Eleanor: She did. She said she never loved your father.

Eleanor: Let him? Why I'd push him through the nursery door.

--in fact, the entire Henry/Eleanor confrontation scene from Act II.