Superman (1978 film)

"[A cat burglar is climbing up the side of a building. He looks up and sees Superman standing there] Hi there. Something wrong with the elevator?"

"[lands holding a cat burglar] Officer! Uh, good evening, Officer Mooney. Well, they say confession's good for the soul. [takes a handful of stolen jewelry out of the burglar's bag] I'd listen to this man. Take him away."

"[After getting "clubbed" on the head by a crowbar by a thief; the crowbar shivers uncontrollably in the thief's hands] Bad vibrations?"

"[voiceover] Can you read my mind? Do you know what it is that you do to me? I don't know who you are. Just a friend from another star. Here I am, like a kid out of school. Holding hands with a god. I'm a fool. Will you look at me? Quivering. Like a little girl, shivering. You can see right through me. Can you read my mind? Can you picture the things I'm thinking of? Wondering why you are...all the wonderful things you are. You can fly. You belong in the sky. You and I...could belong to each other. If you need a friend...I'm the one to fly to. If you need to be loved...here I am. Read my mind."

"A chance for life, nonetheless...as opposed to us, you cannot ignore these facts! It's SUICIDE! No, it's worse. It's GENOCIDE...!"

"[answering criticism from the Council leader] My friends, you know me to be neither rash nor impulsive. I'm not given...to wild, unsupported statements. And I tell you we must evacuate this planet immediately!"

"[As he bids his infant son farewell before sending him to Earth] You will travel far, my little Kal-El. But we will never leave you...even in the face of our deaths...the richness of our lives shall be yours. All that I have, all that I've learned, everything I feel...all this, and more I...I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you...all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own, and see my life through your own eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father, and the father, the son. This is all I...all I can send you, Kal-El."

"Live as one of them, Kal-El, to discover where your strength and your power are needed. Always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage. They can be a great people, Kal-El; they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you...my only son."

"[watching Otis approaching the hideout] It's amazing that brain can generate enough power to keep those legs moving."

"Because if any human being were going to perpetrate such a fantastic hoax, it would've been me!"

"This is Lex Luthor. Only one thing alive with less than four legs can hear this frequency, Superman, and that's you. In approximately five minutes, a poison gas pellet containing propane lithium compound will be released through thousands of air ducts in the city, effectively annihilating half the population of Metropolis."

"I told you. That's Kryptonite, Superman. Little souvenir from the old home town. I spared no expense to make you feel right at home."

"[after he's explained how a meteor from Krypton can kill Superman] Doesn't it give you kind of a, a, a...shudder...of electricity through you to be in the same room with me?"

"[repeated line; screams bloody murder] MISS TESCHMACHER-R-R-R-R-R!!!!"

"I have to leave you now. No hard feelings. We all have our little faults. Mine's in California."

"[to Otis] Do you know why the number 200 is so vitally descriptive to both you and me? It's your weight and my I.Q."

"Some can read War and Peace and come away thinking it's an adventure story. Others can open the wrappers of chewing gum and unlock the secrets of the universe."

"You were great in your day, Superman. But it just stands to reason, when it came time to cash in your chips, this old "diseased maniac" would be your banker. Mind over muscle?"

"There's a strong streak of good in you, Superman. But then nobody's perfect...almost nobody."

"Lois, Clark Kent may seem like just a mild-mannered reporter, but listen, not only does he know how to treat his editor-in-chief with the proper respect, not only does he have a snappy, punchy prose style, but he is, in my forty years in this business, the fastest typist I've ever seen."

"[to Clark] Hey, dork. Jimmy Olsen."

"Boy: [opening narration] In the decade of the 1930s, even the great city of Metropolis was not spared the ravages of the worldwide depression. In the times of fear and confusion the job of informing the public was the responsibility of the Daily Planet. A great metropolitan newspaper, whose reputation for clarity and truth had become a symbol of hope for the city of Metropolis."

"Miss Teschmacher: Why is it I can't get it on with the good guys?"

"Desk Sergeant: [on seeing a boat in the middle of the street and Superman flying off] Mooney, first bottle's on me, let me get my hat."

"It was Tom Mankiewicz. I had known him since he graduated Yale as an "intellectual writer" who found himself writing James Bond [with his scripts for the 1970s films "Diamonds Are Forever", "Live and Let Die" and "The Man with the Golden Gun"] but always wanted to write something that was going to change the world. When we read what we had and we got permission for rewrite, I approached Tom and told him I was looking for two things: One, we have to convince the audience that a guy can really fly; the other is that this has to be a love story. The minute he heard that, he cottoned to it and decided to make the movie. I have a little cutout of Superman, it shows him flying in the cloud, and he was dragging a word on his cape: Verisimilitude. It came from Tom. We wanted to do this — and it's a comic book, but it had to have its own sense of reality. You don't parody it. That was the most important decision."

"You'll Believe a Man Can Fly!"

"The movie that makes a legend come to life."

"Look, up on the screen! It's Superman!"

"[from trailer] Once there was a civilisation much like ours, but with greater intelligence, greater powers, and a greater capacity for good. In one tragic moment, that world was destroyed. But there was one survivor. Because of the wisdom and compassion of Jor-El, because he knew the human race had the capacity for goodness, he sent us his only son. His name is Kal-El. He will call himself Clark Kent. But the world will know him... as Superman."

"Marlon Brando - Jor-El"

"Gene Hackman - Lex Luthor"

"Christopher Reeve - Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El"

"Margot Kidder - Lois Lane"

"Ned Beatty - Otis"

"Jackie Cooper - Perry White"

"Glenn Ford - Jonathan Kent"

"Trevor Howard - 1st Elder"

"Jack O'Halloran - Non"

"Valerie Perrine - Eve Teschmacher"

"Maria Schell - Vond-Ah"

"Terence Stamp - General Zod"

"Phyllis Thaxter - Martha Kent"

"Susannah York - Lara"

"Jeff East - Young Clark Kent"

"Marc McClure - Jimmy Olsen"

"Sarah Douglas - Ursa"

"Harry Andrews - 2nd Elder"