Best ad-libs in movies.

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Strat-Mangler, May 15, 2019.

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  1. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    This thread is at #26 posts counting this one and you cite an already mentioned suggested improv? No offense, but let’s tighten it up a bit ;)
     
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  2. I seem to recall Robert Shaw, as Quint, told the USS Indianapolis story as an ad lib.
     
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  3. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    Burt Lahr's "Funny weather we're havin'" (I'm paraphrasing) in Wizard 0f Oz
     
  4. To make up for repeating an improv, I'll throw in the improv from Jaws where Quint squeezes the beer can and Richard Dreyfus crushes the Styrofoam cup.
     
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  5. Scooterpiety

    Scooterpiety Ars Gratia Artis

    Location:
    Oregon
    No, it was in the script and it was filmed in two takes.
     
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  6. Scooterpiety

    Scooterpiety Ars Gratia Artis

    Location:
    Oregon
    I believe William Shatner's "double dumb-ass on you!" from Star Trek IV was improvised, as was much of the dialogue in the scenes where Chekov and Uhura are asking for directions.
     
  7. blind_melon1

    blind_melon1 An erotic adventurer of the most deranged kind....

    Location:
    Australia
    THERE ARE SOME WHO CALL ME........................TIM?

    Possibly my favourite ad lib of all time :biglaugh:

     
  8. powerq

    powerq Forum Resident

    So, Indiana shot first. Han shot first. I see a pattern here.
     
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  9. swandown

    swandown Under Assistant West Coast Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Not technically an ad-lib, but when the kid says "Ask me again", he was actually breaking character to ask Kate Hudson to say her line again. But she thought he was ad-libbing, so she stayed in character and finished the scene. It's a cute little moment:

     
  10. swandown

    swandown Under Assistant West Coast Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    "I'm funny how? I mean, funny, like I'm a clown? I amuse you?"
     
  11. swandown

    swandown Under Assistant West Coast Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    "Michael Corleone says 'Hello'."
     
  12. swandown

    swandown Under Assistant West Coast Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Jack Nicholson was supposed to say, "YOU ALREADY HAVE THE TRUTH!"

    Tommy Lee Jones was supposed to say, "THAT'S NOT MY PROBLEM!"
     
  13. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto
    Not an ad-lib as it was planned. Nobody in the scene knew, though.
     
  14. mBen989

    mBen989 Senior Member

    Location:
    Scranton, PA
    Hey! I didn't eat the mousse.
     
  15. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto
    Naming the movie and actor would be nice. :)
     
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  16. mBen989

    mBen989 Senior Member

    Location:
    Scranton, PA
    Sorry!

    Michael Palin, Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
     
  17. Vinny123

    Vinny123 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    Vito Corleone slapping Johnny Fontaine’s face in The Godfather. “You could act like a man!”
     
  18. mmars982

    mmars982 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    I had read that it was ad-libbed in rehearsal (with only Pesci and Liotta), and they added it to the script because it was so good. No one else in the scene knew what was going to happen, so their uncomfortable reactions are genuine.

    It also apparently was based on a real life incident when Pesci was younger with a real wise guy he made angry by saying he was funny. I always wondered if whoever that was tells people about it when he watches the movie with anyone. "Hey, that was me!"
     
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  19. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto
    You're right. I wasn't.

    I looked it up out of curiosity and apparently, Pesci told the anecdote about how this happened to him when he was a young lad during rehearsal. Only Scorsese and Liotta knew about the scene but the rest of the supporting cast in the scene had no idea what was happening but they all thankfully stayed in character.

    Thanks for pointing that out. :)
     
  20. mmars982

    mmars982 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    You weren't really wrong, it wasn't exactly an ad-lib. I just find details like this fascinating. I can't imagine how actors stay in character and go with it when things like this happen, and sometimes they become the most famous scenes in cinema.
     
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  21. 2trackmind

    2trackmind Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA
    There are a ton of great ones by Chevy Chase in "Fletch".
     
  22. Timeless Classics

    Timeless Classics Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Tom Cruise improvised his Jack Nicholson impression in a "Few Good Men".... it made Demi Moore laugh! I've heard this wasn't scripted but Cruise threw it in there.

     
  23. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    This scene is almost certainly improvised, if not ad libbed:



    As funny as this movie is for English-only speakers, it's even funnier if you can follow the Japanese conversation too! (BTW, the Japanese man is asking Bill Murray how long has he been in Japan.)
     
  24. eflatminor

    eflatminor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nevada
    Gene Hackman as the blind priest in Young Frankenstein, when he said to the recently departed monster "I was going to make espresso"

    Apparently, the ad lib made the entire crew break up laughing, ruining the scene. However, Mel Brooks liked the line so much, he kept it in, which is why it's a quick fade to black.

     
  25. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    Warning: Dirty Words....
    Apparently, Benicio's reaction was real, and Stephen started hitting him, then they all 'broke'.
    Does that count?
     
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