When it comes to pop culture criticism, Stephen King primarily uses social media to praise books, film, and television – from his appreciation of the Showtime series Yellowjackets to his stamp of approval for Halloween Ends – but he certainly doesn’t love everything. He has previously named the worst horror movie he’s ever seen and let the world know that he walked out of Michael Bay’s Transformers, and now he is polling his followers to determine the worst line of dialogue in cinema history.
King posed the question on his personal Twitter account this past weekend while posting about 1951’s Quo Vadis – a film that features the outdated line “Lovely women should not have to think deeply.” Following up a couple posts about the movie, the author wrote:
Okay, so now that I’m thinking of it:YOUR NOMINATION FOR THE WORST LINE OF DIALOGUE IN A MOVIE!February 11, 2023
Offering his two cents on the subject, Stephen King followed his post with his own nomination… though it’s worth noting that it’s a line with a legacy similar to “Play it again, Sam” from Casablanca and “Luke, I am your father” from The Empire Strikes Back – which is to say that it’s a misquote and spurious:
What Stephen King is referencing – traditionally quoted as “Yondah lies da castle of my foddah” – has long been attributed to Tony Curtis in the 1951 film The Prince Who Was A Thief (given some anachronistic flair via Curtis’ Brooklyn accent). However, according to Snopes, it’s not real. The actor doesn’t deliver that line in that particular film. Instead, it seems people confuse it with dialogue from 1952’s Son of Ali Baba – which features the quote, “This is my father’s palace, and yonder lies the Valley of the Sun.”
Stephen King’s contribution to the conversation may have been a misquote, but people replied to the post with some very real and terrible lines from the history of cinema. For example, there is this infamous bit from 2000’s X-Men:
X-Men (2000) This absolute corker delivered by Storm. pic.twitter.com/csvEdRhrywFebruary 11, 2023
Multiple people also chimed in with suggestions from the notorious Jennifer Lopez/Ben Affleck movie 2003 Gigli:
“It’s turkey time. Gobble gobble..” Jennifer Lopez in Gigli ???? pic.twitter.com/UG3Vwvcka5February 12, 2023
And those who have disdain for the 1970 movie Love Story won’t soon forget, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”
I thought we retired this category fifty years ago. pic.twitter.com/VGvmcXNUOXFebruary 12, 2023
Personally speaking, I laugh and shake my head whenever I hear the line, “I like you the first time I laid eyes on you. I say, ‘She’s a tiger!'” from 1983’s Scarface. Of course, this is an eternal conversation, as bad movies featuring awful dialogue are always debuting.
Of course, it always feels better to focus on the best of cinema instead of the worst, and Stephen King’s movies are filled with excellent and memorable lines, from “I’m your number one fan” in Misery to “Get busy living or get busy dying” in The Shawshank Redemption. You can read more about these brilliant contributions to cinema with our ranking of the best Stephen King movies of all time. For more related reading, you can also check out my Adapting Stephen King column, and stay up to date with all of the projects in the works with our Upcoming Stephen King Movies and TV guide.
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