Most of you reading this have never heard of the movie, Out Of The Past and are wondering why the hell I’m doing a list of the top ten quotes from it. That’s a fair a question. 1947′s Out Of The Past, is one of the definitive Film Noirs. Don’t know what that means? Look that shit up. A favorite of Flintheart, it is considered to be the greatest B-Movie ever made. I’ll spare you the majority of the details, but pot head and certified badass, Robert Mitchum stars as Jeff Bailey, a private detective hired to find shady business mogul Whit Sterling’s (Kirk Douglas) woman Kathie. It appears that Kathie unloaded her gun on Whit and fled the country with his cash. Mostly told through flashbacks, what follows is a series of double crosses, murders and revenge, anchored by some of the most misogynistic one liners ever uttered in a film. What makes the film though, is Mitchum as the laconic loaner, clearly stoned and never breaking a sweat or his stride no matter what.
#10
Kathie Moffat: I’m sorry he didn’t die.
Jeff Bailey: Give him time.
#9
Kathie Moffat: Don’t you see you’ve only me to make deals with now?
Jeff Bailey: Build my gallows high, baby.
#8
Jeff Bailey: Let’s go down to the bar. You can cool off while we try to impress each other.
#7
Whit Sterling: You’re gonna take the rap and play along. You’re gonna make every exact move I tell you. If you don’t, I’ll kill you. And I’ll promise you one thing: it won’t be quick. I’ll break you first. You won’t be able to answer a telephone or open a door without thinking, ‘This is it.’ And it when it comes, it still won’t be quick. And it won’t be pretty. You can take your choice.
#6
[Petey and Jeff watch Meta walking away]
Petey: Nice!
Jeff Bailey: Awfully cold around the heart.
#5
Kathie Moffat: Oh, Jeff, I don’t want to die!
Jeff Bailey: Neither do I, baby, but if I have to I’m gonna die last.
#4
Ann Miller: She can’t be all bad. No one is.
Jeff Bailey Well, she comes the closest.
#3
Kathie Moffat: Oh Jeff, you ought to have killed me for what I did a moment ago.
Jeff Bailey: [dryly] There’s time.
#2
Jeff Bailey: You can never help anything, can you? You’re like a leaf that the wind blows from one gutter to another.
#1
Kathie Moffat: Can’t you even feel sorry for me?
Jeff Bailey: I’m not going to try.
Kathie Moffat: Jeff…
Jeff Bailey: Just get out, will you? I have to sleep in this room.
