Neverisms

Never Say Never Again

Never Say Never Again was the first Bond film to have a title that was not written by Ian Fleming. With Kim Basinger playing the sultry Domino Petachi, the love interest to a middle-aged, but still handsome, Connery, the film was a commercial as well as a critical success. Film critic Roger Ebert loved the film, but he especially praised Connery’s performance:Sean Connery says he’ll never make another James Bond movie, and maybe I believe him. But the fact that he made this one, so many years later, is one of those small show-business miracles that never happen. There was never a Beatles reunion. Bob Dylan and Joan Baez don’t appear on the same stage anymore. But here, by God, is Sean Connery as Sir James Bond. Good work, 007.

Near the end of the film, Bond and Domino are lounging in a hot tub when they are interrupted by an emissary from the British Secret Service (played by English actor Rowan Atkinson), who pleads with Agent 007 to stay with the Service. The battle-weary Bond, who now seems ready to settle into retirement, replies, “Never again.” At that moment, Domino walks up to him and says, “Never?” And then, as Bond takes Domino into his arms, the film’s soundtrack kicks in with singers repeating the musical refrain, “Never. Never Say Never Again.” As the film comes to an end, Bond kisses Domino and breaks the time-honored fourth wall of stage and screen by giving a knowing wink to the audience. This final scene contains the only reference to the film’s title, and one could have easily gotten to the end of the movie and wondered, “So what does the title have to do with the movie’s plot?” And then, as the credits roll, we get a hint of an answer:

Title “Never Say Never Again” by Micheline Connery

After the film was released, Connery revealed the pledge he made to his wife more than a dozen years earlier—and her response. To honor her, he chose her reply as the title of his very last Bond film.

While Never Say Never Again is a great title, it’s not the most famous neverism to be used to title a film. That honor goes to the 1941 W. C. Fields cinema classic:

Never Give a Sucker an Even Break

In the late 1800s, a number of sayings about taking advantage of “easy marks” originated in gambling circles, and this one went on to become a signature line for W. C. Fields. Fields did not, however, author the line. Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations has long attributed the saying to E. F. Albee, a vaudeville impresario and grandfather of playwright Edward Albee. Ralph Keyes, in The Quote Verifier, says that Wilson Mizner is the probable author, most likely picking it up during his years as a gambler in California and Alaska. Fields, who was a pal of Mizner’s, first ad-libbed the line in his 1923 play Poppy, and he formally incorporated the saying in a 1936 film by the same title.

When Fields used the saying to title his 1941 film, the line became indelibly associated with him (although trivia fans love to point out that the line is never actually uttered in the film). More than three decades later, the saying was still so well known that Mel Brooks offered a slightly altered version as the tagline for his 1974 film Blazing Saddles: “Never Give a Saga an Even Break.”

The most fascinating neverisms, however, don’t occur in the titles of films or plays, but in the dialogue that is contained within them. Some lines that have achieved a legendary status in the theatrical world were first heard on the live stage:

Never fight fair with a stranger, boy.

You’ll never get out of the jungle that way.ARTHUR MILLER, from the character Ben

in Death of a Salesman (1949)

And almost all diehard cinema fans will remember this famous line:

Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgment.

This quotation comes from The Godfather, Part III (screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo). In the film, the aging Don Corleone (Al Pacino) offers this nugget of hard-won wisdom to nephew Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia), just after the young man heatedly talks about killing Joey Zasa, an enemy of the family. In offering his advice, Corleone is playing a kind of mentoring role to Mancini, his planned successor. A little later, the hotheaded nephew once again displays his impulsive nature when he exclaims, “I say we hit back and take Zasa out!” Don Corleone, once again dispenses more godfatherly advice:

Never let anyone know what you’re thinking.

While many neverisms have come from memorable stage and screen performances, others have come from actors dispensing key acting advice or passing along important lessons they’ve learned in their careers:

Never confuse the size of your paycheck with the size of your talent.MARLON BRANDO

Never take top billing. You’ll last longer that way.BING CROSBY

Never get caught acting.LILLIAN GISH

Never treat your audience as customers.

Always treat them as partners.JAMES STEWART

In the remainder of the chapter, we’ll continue our look at neverisms from the world of stage and screen. You’ll see more quotations from actors and actresses reflecting on their craft and their careers. You’ll find many more quotations from Hollywood films, and occasionally some from the small screen known as television. The cinematic world has produced many truly memorable lines, and some of the best have been neveristically phrased. When recalling great lines from actors, though, it is helpful to remember that those lines were actually written by someone else. So, in the pages to follow, I will try to identify the screenwriters as well as the actors who spoke their lines.

Never turn your back on an actor;

remember, it was an actor who shot Lincoln.ANONYMOUS

Never confuse the improbable with the impossible: “Burke’s Law.”GENE BARRY, as Captain Amos Burke, in a

1963 episode of the TV series Burke’s Law

In this popular 1960s television series, Gene Barry played a dapper Los Angeles millionaire who had been named chief of detectives for the L.A. Police Department. As he fought crime from his chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, Burke was famous for dispensing proverbial sayings to his young detectives, always ending them in his trademark manner: “Burke’s Law.” The series also included these neverisms:

Never walk away from a long shot.

Never call your captain unless it’s murder.

Never drink martinis with beautiful suspects.

Never give your girl and dog the same kind of jewelry.

Never resist an impulse, Sabrina. Especially if it’s terrible.HUMPHREY BOGART, to Audrey Hepburn,

in the 1954 Billy Wilder classic Sabrina

(screenplay by Wilder & Samuel A. Taylor)

This is the reply that business executive Linus Larrabee (Bogart) makes to the beautiful Sabrina Fairchild (Hepburn), after she waltzes into his office and announces, “All night long I’ve had the most terrible impulse to do something.”

Never settle back on your heels. Never relax.