Closing Lines Help Vintage Movies Rise Above Today's Inferior Fare

Summary

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For example, as 1939's epoch-making "Gone With the Wind" wound down to its sad conclusion, the radiant Vivien Leigh (Scarlett O'Hara) matter-of-factly chirped: "I'll think about it tomorrow." Recalling Scarlett's life and times depicted over nearly four hours on screen, what she said was absolutely appropriate.

In context, perhaps the most chilling closing line was uttered by serial killer Anthony Perkins in Alfred Hitchcock's peerless "Psycho" (1960). Wrapped in a shawl while seated in a police interrogation room, a fiendish smile crept across Perkins' virtuous countenance. Glancing at his arm, he muttered to himself: "I'm not even going to swat that fly," as his face eerily morphed into a skull.

One of the best, most disturbing endings in Hollywood's "film noir" era of 1945-60 was in 1947's "Nightmare Alley." A famous "mentalist" played by handsome Tyrone Power became a sideshow "geek" who groveled on all fours and ate live chickens.

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Closing Lines Help Vintage Movies Rise Above Today's Inferior Fare

"Mother of Mercy, can this be the end of Rico?" -Edward G. Robinson, "Little Caesar" (1930)

If you're a classic movie lover like me, you may have a special place in your memory for some of the distinctive lines that ended your favorite films. And in many cases, some of these truly unfor...

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