Christopher Plummer
- Highest Rated: The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
- Lowest Rated: Where the Heart Is (1990)
- Birthday: Dec 13, 1929
- Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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From his 1950 debut onward, Christopher Plummer has been regarded as one of the most brilliant Canadian actors of his generation. His portrayal of Hamlet was a major ratings coup when telecast over the CBC in the early '60s. Following his first Broadway appearance in 1954 (among his New York stage credits are JB, Royal Hunt of the Sun and The Good Doctor), efforts were made to convert Plummer into an American matinee idol, most of these attempts were resisted by Plummer himself. His first two films, Stage Struck (1957) and Wind Across the Everglades (1958), set no new box office records, although the latter, directed by Nicholas Ray, did earn strong critical notices. Plummer was shown to better advantage in such live network-TV presentations as The Prisoner of Zenda and A Doll's House.In 1965, the actor was cast as Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, an assignment he despised, reportedly referring to the musical blockbuster as The Sound of Mucus. Nonetheless, and as Plummer has ruefully noted on many occasions, this one film did more to make the actor bankable in Hollywood than any previous effort. He went on to do steady, if varied, work throughout the rest of the century. Among Plummer's more notable films were The Return of the Pink Panther (1974), the British Empire extravaganza The Man W ho Would Be King (1975), 1979's Murder by Decree (in which he starred as Sherlock Holmes), Somewhere in Time (1980), the legendary 1983 miniseries The Thorn Birds, 1991's Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and 1995's Dolores Claiborne and Twelve Monkeys. In 1999, Plummer received some of the strongest notices of his career for his uncannily accurate portrayal of 60 Minutes anchor Mike Wallace in Michael Mann's The Insider. Throughout his long career, the actor has won many awards, including Tonys for the musical Cyrano and the one-man stage show Barrymore, and an Emmy for his work in the TV miniseries The Moneychangers. Genie nominated for performances in the films Ararat and Blizzard in 2002 and 2003 respectively, Plummer and his daughter Amanda were both nominated for Emmy awards for their television performances in 2005. Though the father would ultimately walk away empty-handed, the award would stay in the family when Amanda was bestowed the honor for her memorable guest appearance in an episode of Law and Order: Special Victim's Unit. With roles in such high profile theatrical releases including The New World, Inside Man, and The Lake House keeping Plummer very much in the spotlight, it was obvious that his talent and passion for acting were still as strong as ever. 2009 turned out to be one of his busiest and most successful years in a very long time. In addition to appearing in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, Plummer voiced the bad guy in Pixar's mega hit Up, and portrayed the legendary author Leo Tolstoy in Michael Hoffman's The Last Station. His work in that film, opposite Helen Mirren, earned the Canadian his first Academy Award nomination, as well as nods from the Screen Actors Guild, the Golden Globes, and the Independent Spirit Awards.He followed up and improved on that awards success in 2011 with his role as a senior citizen who comes out of the closet in Beginners. That performance garnered him the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Supporting Actor, as well as an Oscar in that same category. He also scored a box-office success as the head of the feuding Vanger clan in David Fincher's adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.Talent seems to run in Plummer's family: he and first wife, actress Tammy Grimes, are the parents of acclaimed actress Amanda Plummer.
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
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Up
98% -
Knives Out
97% -
The Insider
96%
Filmography
Movies
Rating |
Title |
Credit |
Box
|
Year |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Last Full Measure | Actor | — | 2020 | |
Knives Out - Mord ist Familiensache | Harlan Thrombey | — | 2020 | |
97% | Knives Out | Harlan Thrombey | — | 2019 |
51% | Boundaries | Jack Jaconi | — | 2018 |
Limites | Jack Jaconi | — | 2018 | |
En famille | Actor | — | 2018 | |
79% | All the Money in the World | J. Paul Getty | $20.2M | 2017 |
79% | The Man Who Invented Christmas | Ebenezer Scrooge | $5.7M | 2017 |
42% | The Star | King Herod | $40.5M | 2017 |
75% | The Exception (The Kaiser's Last Kiss) | Kaiser Wilhelm II | $0.8M | 2017 |
Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom | Dr. West | — | 2017 | |
70% | Remember | Zev | $0.5M | 2016 |
Howard Lovecraft & the Frozen Kingdom | Actor | — | 2016 | |
Pixies | The Pixie King | — | 2015 | |
77% | Danny Collins | Frank Grubman | $4.3M | 2015 |
32% | Elsa & Fred | Fred | — | 2014 |
37% | Hector And The Search For Happiness | Professor Coreman | — | 2014 |
The Metropolitan Opera: Ceasar & Cleopatra | Caesar Executive Producer | — | 2014 | |
Caesar & Cleopatra | Actor | — | 2014 | |
The Legend of Sarila | Croolik | — | 2013 | |
38% | Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight | John Harlan II | — | 2013 |
Titans Of The Ice Age 3D | Narrator | — | 2013 | |
70% | Barrymore | John Barrymore Executive Producer | — | 2012 |
The Tempest Starring Christopher Plummer | Actor | — | 2012 | |
67% | The Tempest | Actor | — | 2012 |
86% | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Henrik Vanger | $102.6M | 2011 |
85% | Beginners | Hal | $5.8M | 2011 |
Sing-a-long-a Sound Of Music | Actor | — | 2011 | |
15% | Priest | Monsignor Orelas | $29.2M | 2011 |
The Tempest | Actor | — | 2010 | |
90% | My Dog Tulip | J.R. Ackerley | $0.3M | 2010 |
71% | The Last Station | Leo Tolstoy | $6.6M | 2010 |
64% | The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus | Doctor Parnassus | $7.6M | 2009 |
57% | 9 | #1 | $31.7M | 2009 |
98% | Up | Charles Muntz | $293M | 2009 |
Already Dead | Dr. Heller | — | 2008 | |
Madeline: Meet Me in Paris | Actor | — | 2008 | |
33% | Closing the Ring | Jack | — | 2007 |
49% | Man in the Chair | Glenn 'Flash' Madden | — | 2007 |
Autumn Hearts: A New Beginning | David Winters | — | 2007 | |
The Sound Of Music Sing-Along Edition | Actor | — | 2007 | |
Nuremberg: The Nazis Facing Their Crimes | Narrator | — | 2007 | |
36% | The Lake House | Simon Wyler | $52.4M | 2006 |
86% | Inside Man | Arthur Case | $88.5M | 2006 |
Alexander Revisited: Final Cut | Aristotle | — | 2006 | |
73% | Syriana | Dean Whiting | $50.9M | 2005 |
Four Minutes | Coach Archie Mason | — | 2005 | |
36% | Must Love Dogs | Bill | $43.9M | 2005 |
Our Fathers | Cardinal Bernard Law | — | 2005 | |
62% | The New World | Captain Christopher Newport | $12.5M | 2005 |
Alexander: The Ultimate Cut | Aristotle | — | 2004 | |
16% | Alexander | Aristotle | $34.3M | 2004 |
46% | National Treasure | John Adams Gates | $173M | 2004 |
67% | Blizzard | Santa Claus | — | 2003 |
12% | Cold Creek Manor | Mr. Massie | — | 2003 |
37% | The Gospel of John | Narrator | $3.9M | 2003 |
78% | Nicholas Nickleby | Ralph Nickleby | $1.4M | 2002 |
55% | Ararat | David | — | 2002 |
48% | Lucky Break | Graham Mortimer | — | 2002 |
Agent of Influence | Actor | — | 2002 | |
74% | A Beautiful Mind | Dr. Rosen | — | 2001 |
Blackheart | Holmes | — | 2001 | |
18% | Dracula 2000 | Van Helsing | $32.7M | 2000 |
Possessed | Archbishop Hume | — | 2000 | |
The Dinosaur Hunter | Actor | — | 2000 | |
Nuremberg | David Maxwell-Fyfe | — | 2000 | |
American Tragedy | Actor | — | 2000 | |
Hollywood Screen Tests | Actor | — | 2000 | |
The Dinosaur Hunter | Hump | — | 2000 | |
96% | The Insider | Mike Wallace | — | 1999 |
Hidden Agenda | Actor | — | 1999 | |
Madeline: Lost in Paris | Actor | — | 1999 | |
Full Disclosure | Actor | — | 1999 | |
The Clown at Midnight | Mr. Caruthers | — | 1999 | |
83% | Winchell | Franklin D. Roosevelt | — | 1998 |
The Conspiracy of Fear | Wakeman | — | 1998 | |
Babes in Toyland | Barnaby Crookedman | — | 1997 | |
The Arrow | Actor | — | 1997 | |
Skeletons | Rev. Carlyle | — | 1997 | |
Yanni: Tribute | Narrator | — | 1997 | |
89% | Twelve Monkeys (12 Monkeys) | Dr. Goines | — | 1995 |
Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron | Klaxon | — | 1995 | |
84% | Dolores Claiborne | Det. John Mackey | — | 1995 |
60% | Wolf | Raymond Alden | — | 1994 |
CrackerJack | Ivan Getz | — | 1994 | |
88% | Malcolm X | Chaplain Gill | — | 1992 |
Impolite | Naples O'Rourke | — | 1992 | |
20% | Rock-a-Doodle | Grand Duke | — | 1992 |
The First Circle | Actor | — | 1992 | |
Liar's Edge | Harry | — | 1992 | |
81% | Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country | Gen. Chang | — | 1991 |
Danielle Steel's 'Secrets' | Mel Wexler | — | 1991 | |
36% | Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead | Howard | — | 1991 |
Firehead | Colonel Garland Vaughn | — | 1991 | |
Young Catherine | Sir Charles | — | 1991 | |
Miracle Planet | Actor | — | 1990 | |
Red Blooded American Girl | Dr. Alcore | — | 1990 | |
A Ghost in Monte Carlo | The Grand Duke | — | 1990 | |
First Emperor of China: IMAX | Actor | — | 1990 | |
10% | Where the Heart Is | Homeless Gent | — | 1990 |
Nabokov on Kafka: Understanding "The Metamorphosis" | Vladimir Nabokov | — | 1990 | |
Mindfield | Doctor Satorius | — | 1989 | |
The First Emperor of China | Actor | — | 1989 | |
L'Homme qui plantait des arbres (The Man Who Planted Trees) | Actor | — | 1988 | |
Nosferatu a Venezia (Nosferatu in Venice) (Vampire in Venice) | Paris Catalano | — | 1988 | |
Gandahar (Light Years) | Metamorphis | — | 1988 | |
Shadow Dancing | Edmund Beaumont | — | 1988 | |
Making of a Legend: Gone With the Wind | Actor | — | 1988 | |
Souvenir | Ernst Kestner | — | 1988 | |
A Hazard of Hearts | Sir Giles Staverly | — | 1987 | |
I Love N.Y. | John Robertson Yeats | — | 1987 | |
National Geographic | Actor | — | 1987 | |
The Gnomes' Great Adventure | Actor | — | 1987 | |
The Happy Prince | Actor | — | 1987 | |
51% | Dragnet | Whirley | — | 1987 |
70% | An American Tail | Henri | — | 1986 |
The Boss' Wife | Mr. Roalvang | — | 1986 | |
The Boy in Blue | Knox | — | 1986 | |
Tin Soldier | Narrator | — | 1986 | |
Ordeal by Innocence | Leo Argyle | — | 1985 | |
Lily in Love | Fitzroy Wynn / Roberto Terranova | — | 1985 | |
The Final Chapter? | Actor | — | 1985 | |
77% | Dreamscape | Bob Blair | — | 1984 |
Little Gloria...Happy at Last | Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt | — | 1984 | |
Prototype | Dr. Carl Forrester | — | 1983 | |
The Scarlet and the Black | Col. Herbert Kappler | — | 1983 | |
The Amateur | Professor Lakos | — | 1982 | |
Little Gloria: Happy at Last | Actor | — | 1982 | |
Dial M for Murder | Tony Wendice | — | 1981 | |
75% | Eyewitness | Joseph | — | 1981 |
Being Different | Narrator | — | 1981 | |
The Gnomes | Actor | — | 1980 | |
61% | Somewhere in Time | William Fawcett Robinson | — | 1980 |
The Shadow Box | Brian | — | 1980 | |
29% | Starcrash | The Emperor | — | 1979 |
88% | Murder by Decree | Sherlock Holmes | — | 1979 |
Arthur Miller on Home Ground | Actor | — | 1979 | |
57% | Hanover Street | Paul Sellinger | — | 1979 |
Riel | Actor | — | 1979 | |
Highpoint | James Hatcher | — | 1979 | |
67% | The Silent Partner | Harry Reikle | — | 1978 |
International Velvet | John Seaton | — | 1978 | |
The Assignment | Captain Behounek | — | 1977 | |
Aces High | Capt. 'Uncle' Sinclair | — | 1976 | |
96% | The Man Who Would Be King | Kipling | — | 1975 |
60% | Conduct Unbecoming | Maj. Alastair Wimbourne | — | 1975 |
84% | The Return of the Pink Panther | Sir Charles | — | 1975 |
The Spiral Staircase | Dr. Joe Sherman | — | 1975 | |
The Hooker Cult Murders | Jim Henderson | — | 1973 | |
30% | Waterloo | Wellington | — | 1970 |
67% | Battle of Britain | Squadron Leader Colin Harvey | — | 1969 |
Royal Hunt of the Sun | Atahualpa | — | 1969 | |
The High Commissioner | Sir James Quentin | — | 1968 | |
50% | The Night of the Generals | Field Marshal Rommel | — | 1967 |
Oedipus The King | Actor | — | 1967 | |
Triple Cross | Eddie Chapman/"Fritz Grauman" | — | 1967 | |
36% | Inside Daisy Clover | Raymond Swan | — | 1966 |
84% | The Sound of Music | Capt. von Trapp | — | 1965 |
100% | The Fall of the Roman Empire | Commodius | — | 1964 |
Wind Across the Everglades | Walt Murdock | — | 1958 | |
Stage Struck | Joe Sheridan | — | 1958 |
TV
Rating |
Title |
Credit |
Year |
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The View
1997
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Guest |
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Shakespeare Uncovered
2013-2018
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Host |
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Charlie Rose
2013-2017
|
Guest |
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Conan
2010
|
Guest |
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Great Performances
2000
|
John Barrymore |
|
|
The Talk
2010
|
Guest |
|
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The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003
|
Guest |
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Sunday Morning
2011-2018
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Appearing |
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American Experience
1988
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Voice Narrator |
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Nature
1982
|
Narrator |
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The World of David the Gnome
1985-1988
|
Narrator |
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Madeline
1989-1996
|
Narrator |
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The Cosby Show
1984-1992
|
Jonathan Lawrence |
|
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Jesus of Nazareth
1977
|
Herod Antipas |
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QUOTES FROM Christopher Plummer CHARACTERS
- Zev
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Your voice has not changed.
- Zev
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I must finish. I must.
- Zev
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A Nazi is a bad person.
- Wellington
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Napoleon is not a gentleman.
- Duchess of Richmond
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What an Englishman you are!
- Wellington
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On the battlefield his hat is worth fifty thousand men. But he's not a gentleman!
- Henri
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Qu'est-ce que c'est? A little immigrant. Now they are coming by bottle.
- Fievel Mousekewitz
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Henri, what's that over there?
- Henri
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Oh, that is more America.
- Fievel Mousekewitz
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Can we go see it?
- Henri
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You will, my little American. Someday, you will.
- General Chang
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To be... or not to be?
- Leo Tolstoy
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Despite good cause for it, I have never stopped loving you.
- Sofya Tolstoy
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Of course
- Leo Tolstoy
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But God knows you don't make it easy
- Sofya Tolstoy
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Why should it be easy? I am the work of your life, you are the work of mine. That's what love is
- Leo Tolstoy
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She simply spoke the phrase, my phrase as if she had read my mind. In that moment, we both knew we would always be together. And for those first years, we were incredibly, terrifyingly, happy.
- Hal
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I said - look I love you and we’re great buddies but you know what I am. And then she says, that doesn’t matter. I’ll fix that.
- Hal
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I said look I love you and we're great buddies but you know what I am. And then she says, that doesn't matter. I'll fix that.
- John Klaxon
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Can you imagine how I must feel? Knowing that I am striving to create a world in which no Beethoven will ever be born?
- Van Helsing
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He hates God. He is repulsed by all things Christian. But these things do not kill him, no. They only fill him with a rage.
- Van Helsing
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For the first time I believe that there is someone else in the world like him, and he senses it. He senses his own blood.
- #1
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Sometimes fear...is the appropriate response.
- Captain Von Trapp
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You must find your life
- Captain Von Trapp
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You must find your life.
- Roberto Terranova
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One look at the wife and you know what the husband is like.
- Rosanna
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What?
- Roberto Terranova
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Blind.
- Roberto Terranova
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I'd chuck all this Elizabethan muck if I could just once make it big on the screen.
- General Chang
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We need breathing room.
- James T. Kirk
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Earth, Hitler, 1938.
- John Barrymore
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What's the line?! What's the line?!
- John Barrymore
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I don't have to tell you that divorces cost more than marriages... But god damn it they're worth it!
- Charles Muntz
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comon fredrickson spit it out
- Charles Muntz
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Come on Fredricksen spit it out.
- Carl Fredricksen
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(fredrickson spits false teeth at charles muntz)
- Carl Fredricksen
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[Fredricksen spits false teeth at Charles Muntz]
- #9
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I was right! You did send him out to die!
- #1
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He was old! He was weak!
- #5
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*gasp*
- #1
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Sometimes one must be sacrificed for the good of many.
- #7
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You coward!
- Hal
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You give very good relationship advice despite being so alone.
- Herr Zeller
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I've not asked you where you and your family are going. Nor have you asked me why I am here.
- Captain Von Trapp
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Well, apparently, we're both suffering from a deplorable lack of curiosity.
- Henrik Vanger
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The man who hires the detective should always be kept in the suspect list.
- General Chang
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We need breathing room.
- James T. Kirk
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Earth. Hitler, 1938.
- Mother Abbess
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Maria, these walls were not meant to shut out problems. You have to face them. You have to live the life you were born to live.
- Kurt
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I wonder what grass tastes like.
- Captain Von Trapp
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You brought music back into the house. I had forgotten.
- Frau Schmidt
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The Von Trapp children don't play. They march.
- Captain Von Trapp
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If the Nazis take over Austria, I have no doubt, Herr Zeller, that you will be the entire trumpet section.
- Kurt
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Only grown-up men are scared of women.
- Maria von Trapp
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When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window.
- #1
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They left us nothing. Nothing. Why do we have to right their wrongs?
- General Chang
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Don't wait for the translation! Answer me now!
- General Chang
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In space, all warriors are cold warriors.
- Lord Richard Hay
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If you would take the men into your confidence....
- Wellington
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If I thought my hair knew what my brain was thinking, I'd shave it off and wear a wig.
- Henrik Vanger
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You will be investigating thieves, bullies... the most detestable collection of people that you will ever meet. My family.
- Hal
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I don't want to just be theoretically gay. I want to do something about it.
- Wellington
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I don't need a white horse to puff ME up, by God!
- Sherlock Holmes
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When people are frightened, they turn to God. When they have no help from Him, they look to the Devil.
- Henrik Vanger
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You will be investigating thieves, misers, bullies. The most detestable collection of people that you will ever meet... MY FAMILY.
- Henrik Vanger
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You will be investigating thieves, misers, bullies. The most detestable collection of people that you will ever meet... MY FAMILY.
- Mikael Blomkvist
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[look's at framed flower's, then at Henrik] Who know's about this?
- Henrik Vanger
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Just me, the police, the killer, and know.... you.
- Henrik Vanger
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Just me, the police, the killer, and now.... you.
- Henrik Vanger
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This is Harriet, someone in the family murdered her. And for the past 40 year's, has been trying to drive me insane.
- Henrik Vanger
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You will be investigating thief's, misers, bullies, the most detestable collection of people that you will ever meet... my family.
- Monsignor Orelas
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To go against the church is to go against god.
- Leonard "Bones" McCoy
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We got a heartbeat! Lock and load, she's ready Jim!
- James T. Kirk
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Fire!
- General Chang
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To be... or not... to be...
- Hikaru Sulu
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Target that explosion and fire.
- General Chang
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I am constant as the northern star!
- Leonard "Bones" McCoy
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I'd give real money if he'd shut up...
- General Chang
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I am constant as the northern star!
- Leonard "Bones" McCoy
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I'd give real money if he'd shut up...
- Monsignor Orelas
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THE WAR IS OVER, PRIEST!
- Priest
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No, it is JUST beginning!
- Henrik Vanger
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Soon, you will know us all too well. With my apologies.
- Charles Muntz
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Adventure is out there!
- Henrik Vanger
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Soon you will know us all only, too well, with my apologies.
- Dr. Rosen
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Imagine if you suddenly learned that the people, the places, the moments most important to you were not gone, not dead, but worse, had never been. What kind of hell would that be?
- Hal
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Well let's say... let's say since you were little, and you've always dreamed of someday getting a lion. And you wait, and you wait, and you wait, and you wait and the lion doesn't come. Then along comes a giraffe. You can be alone, or you can be with the giraffe.
- Oliver
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I'd wait for the lion.
- Hal
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That's why I worry about you.
- J.R. Ackerley
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Dogs read the world through their noses and write their history in urine.
- The Emperor
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"Imperial Battleship, halt the flow of time!"
- The Emperor
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Imperial Battleship, halt the flow of time!
- Hal
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Okay. House, music.
- Captain Von Trapp
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Fraulein, is it to be at every meal, or merely at dinnertime, that you intend on leading us all through this rare and wonderful new world of... indigestion?