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of All Time by the Writer's Guild of America |
A subset of the list, chosen 10 years later in 2015, was composed of the 101 Funniest Screenplays of All-Time. The new list spanned 86 years of great comedy screenwriting, from The Gold Rush (1925) to Bridesmaids (2011).
![]() that "The Greatest Films" site has selected as the "100 Greatest Films". |
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of All Time by the Writer's Guild of America (part 1, by reverse ranking) |
|
Film Title (Year and Director) |
Scriptwriter(s) and Original or Adapted Source Material | Memorable Line of Dialogue
(Performer/Film Character) |
|
![]() (1946; dir. Alfred Hitchcock) |
Written by Ben Hecht | "I'm a fatheaded guy, full
of pain. It tore me up not having you." — Cary Grant as T. R. Devlin |
|
Memento (2000; dir. Christopher Nolan) |
Screenplay by Christopher Nolan,
based on the short story "Memento Mori" by Jonathan Nolan |
"Just because there are
things I don't remember, doesn't mean my actions are meaningless. The
whole world doesn't just disappear when you close your eyes, does it?" — Guy Pearce as Leonard |
|
![]() (1969; dir. Sam Peckinpah) |
Screenplay by Walon Green and Sam Peckinpah, story by Walon Green and Roy Sickner | "When you side with a man,
you stay with him. And if you can't do that, you're like some animal.
You're finished. We're finished. All of us." — William Holden as Pike Bishop |
|
![]() (1940; dir. John Ford) |
Screenplay by Nunnally Johnson, based on the novel by John Steinbeck | "We are the people that
live." — Jane Darwell as Ma Joad |
|
![]() (1956; dir. John Ford) |
Screenplay by Frank S. Nugent, based on the novel by Alan Le May | "That'll be the day." — John Wayne as Ethan Edwards |
|
The
Hustler (1961; dir. Robert Rossen) |
Screenplay by Sidney Carroll & Robert Rossen, based on the novel by Walter Tevis | "Admit it. I'm the best
you ever seen, Fats. I'm the best there is. And even if you beat me, I'm
still the best." — Paul Newman as Fast Eddie Felson |
|
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986; dir. Woody Allen) |
Written by Woody Allen | "I had a great evening;
it was like the Nuremberg Trials." — Woody Allen as Mickey Sachs |
|
Patton (1970; dir. Franklin J. Schaffner) |
Screen Story and Screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North, based on "A Soldier's Story" by Omar H. Bradley and "Patton: Ordeal and Triumph" by Ladislas Farago | "We're not just going to
shoot the bastards. We're going to cut out their living guts and use them
to grease the treads on our tanks." — George C. Scott as General George S. Patton |
|
Do The Right Thing (1989; dir. Spike Lee) |
Written by Spike Lee | "Who told you to step on
my sneakers? Who told you to walk on my side of the block? Who told you
to be in my neighborhood?" — Giancarlo Esposito as Buggin' Out |
|
![]() (1960; dir. Alfred Hitchcock) |
Screenplay by Joseph Stefano, based on the novel by Robert Bloch | "Mother… What is the
phrase? She isn't herself today." — Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates |
|
The Verdict (1982; dir. Sidney Lumet) |
Screenplay by David Mamet, based on the novel by Barry Reed | "I changed my life today.
What did you do?" — Paul Newman as Frank Galvin |
|
Sideways (2004; dir. Alexander Payne) |
Screenplay by Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor, based on the novel by Rex Pickett | "Come on, man…. Hemingway,
Sexton, Plath, Woolf. You can't kill yourself before you're even published." — Paul Giamatti as Miles Raymond |
|
Forrest Gump (1994; dir. Robert Zemeckis) |
Screenplay by Eric Roth, based on the novel by Winston Groom | "Mama always said, 'Life
is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.'" — Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump |
|
Field
of Dreams (1988; dir. Phil Alden Robinson) |
Screenplay by Phil Alden Robinson, based on the book by W.P. Kinsella | "Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta): "Is this heaven?" Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner): "No, it's Iowa." |
|
8 1/2 (1963; dir. Federico Fellini) |
Screenplay by Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano, Brunello Rondi. Story by Fellini, Flaiano | "Happiness consists of
being able to tell the truth without hurting anyone." — Marcello Mastroianni as Guido Anselmi |
|
Harold and Maude (1971; dir. Hal Ashby) |
Written by Colin Higgins |
"I haven't lived…
But I've died a few times." — Bud Cort as Harold Chasen |
|
La Grande Illusion (1937; dir. Jean Renoir) |
Written by Jean Renoir and Charles Spaak | "The theater is too deep
for me. I prefer bicycling." — Jean Gabin as Lieutenant Maréchal |
|
The Princess Bride (1987; dir. Rob Reiner) |
Screenplay by William Goldman, based on his novel | "My name is Inigo Montoya.
You killed my father. Prepare to die!" — Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya |
|
![]() (1954; dir. Alfred Hitchcock) |
Screenplay by John Michael Hayes,
based on the short story by Cornell Woolrich |
"She's too perfect, she's
too talented, she's too beautiful, she's too sophisticated, she's too
everything but what I want." — James Stewart as L.B. "Jeff" Jefferies |
|
Cool
Hand Luke (1967; dir. Stuart Rosenberg) |
Screenplay by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson, based on the novel by Donn Pearce | "I can eat fifty eggs." — Paul Newman as Luke Jackson |
|
Being
There (1979; dir. Hal Ashby) |
Screenplay by Jerzy Kosinski, inspired by the novel by Jerzy Kosinski | "There will be growth in
the spring." — Peter Sellers as Chance |
|
Witness (1985; dir. Peter Weir) |
Screenplay by Earl W. Wallace
& William Kelley, story by William Kelley and Pamela Wallace &
Earl W. Wallace |
"Listen, lady, you take
my picture and I'm going to rip off your brassiere and strangle you with
it." — Harrison Ford as John Book |
|
The Producers (1968; dir. Mel Brooks) |
Written by Mel Brooks | "How could this happen?
I was so careful. I picked the wrong play, the wrong director, the wrong
cast. Where did I go right?" — Zero Mostel as Max Bialystock |
|
Rocky (1976; dir. John G. Avildsen) |
Written by Sylvester Stallone | "Adrian!" —Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa |
|
Adaptation (2002; dir. Spike Jonze) |
Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman, based on the book "The Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean | "Coffee would
help me think…. Coffee and a muffin." — Nicolas Cage as Charlie Kaufman |
|
![]() (1980; dir. Martin Scorsese) |
Screenplay by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin, based on the book by Jake La Motta with Joseph Carter and Peter Savage | "You win, you win. You
lose, you still win." — Joe Pesci as Joey La Motta |