eleanor in winter

A sketch of Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter:


I maintain that The Lion in Winter has the largest concentration of great dialogue in any movie ever made.

Some examples:

Prince John: "Poor John. Who says poor John? Don't everybody sob at once! My God, if I went up in flames there's not a living soul who'd pee on me to put the fire out!"
Prince Richard: "Let's strike a flint and see."

Eleanor: "I even made poor Louis take me on Crusade. How's that for blasphemy. I dressed my maids as Amazons and rode bare-breasted halfway to Damascus. Louis had a seizure and I damn near died of windburn... but the troops were dazzled."

Prince Geoffrey (to John): "If you're a prince, there's hope for every ape in Africa."

Henry II: "I've snapped and plotted all my life. There's no other way to be alive, king, and fifty all at once."

Prince Richard (to Eleanor): "You're so deceitful you can't ask for water when you're thirsty. We could tangle spiders in the webs you weave."

Henry II: "I could have conquered Europe - all of it - but I had women in my life."

Prince Richard: "He'll get no satisfaction out of me. He isn't going to see me beg."
Prince Geoffrey: "My you chivalric fool... as if the way one fell down mattered."
Prince Richard: "When the fall is all there is, it matters."

Eleanor: "I adored you. I still do."
Henry II: "Of all the lies you've told, that is the most terrible."
Eleanor: "I know. That's why I've saved it up until now."


And on and on...greatness...