Casablanca – The Most Quoted and Mis-Quoted Movie of All Time!

This isn’t purely subjective—it’s backed by the most authoritative measure available: the American Film Institute’s (AFI) 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes list (2005), compiled by a jury of 1,500 film artists, critics, and historians. They evaluated quotes for cultural impact (how much they’ve entered everyday language) and legacy. Casablanca has six entries in the top 100—more than any other film. 

Here are its quotes from the AFI list (with rankings):

• #5: “Here’s looking at you, kid.” (Rick Blaine / Humphrey Bogart)
• #20: “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” (Rick Blaine / Humphrey Bogart)
• #28: “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.'” (Ilsa Lund / Ingrid Bergman)
• #32: “Round up the usual suspects.” (Capt. Louis Renault / Claude Rains)
• #43: “We’ll always have Paris.” (Rick Blaine / Humphrey Bogart)
• #67: “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” (Rick Blaine / Humphrey Bogart) 

No other movie comes close in this metric. Gone with the Wind (1939) and The Wizard of Oz (1939) each have three quotes (including the AFI #1 overall: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” from Gone with the Wind). The Godfather (1972) has the #2 quote (“I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse”) and several other memorable lines, but fewer total entries. 

Other highly quotable films often cited in fan polls, reader-voted lists, and articles (especially comedies where people quote entire scenes in daily life) include:

• The Princess Bride (1987) — “Inconceivable!”, “As you wish”, “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya…”
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) — “It’s just a flesh wound”, “I fart in your general direction”
• Forrest Gump (1994), The Big Lebowski (1998), Caddyshack (1980), Anchorman, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off — these dominate “most quotable” reader lists because they’re endlessly riffed on. 

As you read through the six lines from Casablanca, you might be thinking, they left one out— where is the line “Play it again, Sam.” It’s not on the list? Why not? The answer is really quite simple. It was never spoken. And yes, we are absolutely positive it was never spoken.

What is said in the film

The iconic piano scene with “As Time Goes By” has two key moments, but neither matches the popular version:

• Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) asks Sam (Dooley Wilson) to play the song:
  “Play it once, Sam. For old times’ sake.”
  (Sam pretends not to remember.)
  “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.'”
• Later, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) tells Sam:
  “You played it for her, you can play it for me… If she can stand it, I can. Play it!”

People often condense and paraphrase these into the smoother, more repeatable “Play it again, Sam” (and wrongly credit it to Bogart). It’s a classic case of the movie’s emotional power making the idea of the line feel so right that our memories “improve” it.

How the misquote became legendary

The phrase exploded into popular culture thanks to Woody Allen. 

• In 1969, Allen wrote a Broadway play called Play It Again, Sam. 
• In 1972, it became a hit film starring Allen himself (with Diane Keaton and directed by Herbert Ross).

The entire story is about a neurotic film critic (Allen’s character) who’s obsessed with Casablanca. He watches the ending repeatedly, tries to live his life like Humphrey Bogart’s Rick Blaine, and even gets “advice” from a Bogart ghost. The movie opens with the actual Casablanca airport scene and ends with a deliberate homage—using the misquoted title as a punchline to the whole fantasy. 

By naming the play/film Play It Again, Sam and making Casablanca the central cultural reference point, Allen turned a slight misremembering into a widely recognized catchphrase. Suddenly everyone “knew” the line—even though they were actually quoting Woody Allen quoting (incorrectly) Casablanca.

So, for enduring cultural penetration and sheer volume of iconic, reusable lines, Casablanca stands alone with six lines in the top 100 movie lines of all time. Seven, if you want to count “Play it again, Sam.” Its dialogue has been part of the national lexicon for over 80 years. If you’re measuring by “most quoted” in the sense of how often lines pop up in conversation, media, or pop culture references, that’s the one.