Favorite lines.

I have watched these films so many times that the lines start to become engraved upon my memory. And a few of them are so useful in my daily life that I employ them regularly, without attribution. Most of the time, it is my wife who is the beneficiary of these lines, spoken in the same cadence, if perhaps not a perfect mimicry of the film. She knows the films as well as I, so it is usually recognized, but I use them among the benighted masses as well, and they know nothing, so I can smile knowingly. The three lines from Midnight Cowboy that I use a lot are:

1. I'm walkin' here! -- usually addressed to my dear wife when the two of us are both working around the house at the same time. She has a way of always getting underfoot. Or is it me that always has a way of getting overfoot? No matter.

2. I'm fallin' apart here! -- Normally spoken to my beloved on a Sunday night when I scan the chaotic wasteland that is my school work files. Occasionally spoken when I have a bad cold or have descended into a black depression. In other words, almost every day.

3. It don't say nothing about you. (repeat with emphasis) This one is rarer, and, again, my wife is the usual beneficiary. You may not recall this line. It is said by Joe Buck to Ratso when they are "invited" to the party by the two weirdo's.

Oh, a word about names. My recollection of the rules for what form of name to use in essays goes something like this. In journalism, a (real) man's name is cited in full the first time it appears in the body of a news article. Each subsequent time, he is referred to by his last name alone. A woman gets the full name first, then Ms. so and so each subsequent time. A woman's last name is never cited alone.

In fiction (or film) analysis, things are simpler. Just use the form of the name most common in the film. Familiarity is not allowed in journalism, but it is welcome in analysis. A first reference might be full name. After that, simple is best. It should then be Joe and Ratso, not Buck and Rizzo. And certainly not Rico. By the way, I think in the credits they are listed as Joe and Ratso.

Important also to separate the actor from the character. It would be bad form to say "Jon Voigt says 'I ain't a fer real cowboy...." In terms of the film, it is Joe Buck who says that, not Jon Voigt, despite the fact that Voigt does mouth the words. In Citizen Kane, one should refer to Kane, Susan Alexander, Jed Leland, Bernstein, (does he have a first name?) Thatcher, Kane's mother, Rosebud, the nurse, Thompson, the reporter.

Speaking of Kane, there's a lot of lines I use from Kane:

1. A pack of money-mad pirates.
2. A wasted day.
3. My reasons satisfy me.
4. You're gonna need more than one lesson, and you're gonna get more than one
5. It’s an antique
6. To ... buy things.
7. We’re lucky. We live in a palace
8. Thanks for the use of the hall
9. That’s when you’ve gotta fight ‘em
10. Have the warden send me a letter
11. You can’t do this to me
12. Don't worry about me, Gettys.
13. And a happy new year
14. You’re awful funny aren’t ya?
15. Hmm… yes and no.
16. Impossible, Impossible