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Original poster

Where the heck does this quote come from ?

86 replies

VenusInfers · 23/09/2022 19:02

Okay hive mind, show me what you can do!
I think the quote is from an old British movie -

"Everyone's been terribly, terribly kind..."

Possibly a classic male British actor? Anyone got any suggestions? It's driving me MAD! 😬

OP posts:
Incrediblebuttrue · 23/09/2022 20:16

Cary Grant isn't in Vertigo but I think he says something similar in North by Northwest.

TwoBlondes · 23/09/2022 20:17

To go a bit lowbrow, Sergeant Wilson in Dad's Army!

VroomVrooom · 23/09/2022 20:17

Not helpful, but Edith used to say ‘terribly’ to mean ‘very’ on Downton a lot.

You don’t hear it often these days.

thinkfast · 23/09/2022 20:20

Made me think of Brief Encounter

GeorgiaGirl52 · 23/09/2022 20:24

Doctor Who - "The Pyramids of Mars"

Penquinoa · 23/09/2022 20:26

Elephant Man, a comedian used to do an impression saying those words in the voice of John Merrick, but I can't remember which comedian sorry 😶

ShirleyJackson · 23/09/2022 20:27

John Hurt in The Elephant Man.

lennylion · 23/09/2022 20:28

Penquinoa · 23/09/2022 20:26

Elephant Man, a comedian used to do an impression saying those words in the voice of John Merrick, but I can't remember which comedian sorry 😶

Jeremy Hardy? As soon as I read it, I heard Jeremy Hardy's voice in my head

Everylittlethingsgonnabealright · 23/09/2022 20:39

Edwardandtubbs · 23/09/2022 19:56

It's from The Elephant Man which I believe is John Hurt. OH and I say it to each other all the time!

But it was his performance in David Lynch’s The Elephant Man which really lasered his personality on cinemagoers’ minds: all the more remarkable as he had to be entirely encased in prosthetics. He was John Merrick, the man who was tormented and exploited for his disfigurements in a Victorian freak show - only to find himself arguably exploited more insidiously by a notionally more kindly, liberal doctor: Frederick Treves, played by Anthony Hopkins. His quaveringly sensitive, refined, yet defiantly insistent voice – “Everyone has been very kind....” – became much imitated, much parodied.

amp.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2017/jan/28/john-hurt-a-virtual-folk-memory-of-wisdom-and-acting-peter-bradshaw

Rogue1001MNer · 23/09/2022 20:42

I thought the ladykillers?

At the end when the police tell her to keep it
(Trying not to do spoilers)

RegeJeanPageMeOnMyCellphone · 23/09/2022 20:42

There’s a site where you can search film quotes. Nothing on the exact wording given but there are the results

I’m hearing it as Hugh Grant in the Pirate scientist film!

MargotMoon · 23/09/2022 20:52

That website is brilliant!

Edwardandtubbs · 23/09/2022 20:57

VenusInfers · 23/09/2022 20:05

Argh@Edwardandtubbs I can't find that quote, but it feels so right!!!!

I'm afraid I've only actually seen the film once, yonks ago, it's just become a common family saying in our house....so no idea where in the film he says it, sorry!

MrsMontyD · 23/09/2022 21:04

I'm sure it's been quoted as what John LeMesurier said on his death bed, whether he was quoting someone else thought ??

MrsMontyD · 23/09/2022 21:05

No, I'm wrong, similar though 😂

Original poster
VenusInfers · 23/09/2022 21:34

I'm back!

@RegeJeanPageMeOnMyCellphone - yes that website is AMAZING! I hadn't seen it before tonight. Sadly, none of those quotes is quite right. Dammit. 😔

@Everylittlethingsgonnabealright @Edwardandtubbs I'm going to see if that one is what he is thinking of - it's the closest we've got so far!

@Rogue1001MNer I'll check that suggestion out - thanks!

Great work all! And if there are more suggestions, I'm keen to hear them.

OP posts:
willingtolearn · 25/09/2022 20:08

Sorry I disappeared, thought it had been solved.

this is the script database imsdb.com/scripts/Elephant-Man,-The.html

If you CTRL F and type the phrase you find it

It's about half way through when Merrick is in the hospital

SausagePourHomme · 25/09/2022 20:10

i thought elephant man straight away!

willingtolearn · 25/09/2022 20:12

This is the context : There is an uncomfortable silence. Merrick releases it. Carr

Gomn, nervously clears his throat.

CARR

How are you feeling today?

MERRICK

I feel much better. Thank you for

asking. And you?

CARR

I'm feeling very fit, thank you. How

is your bronchitis?

MERRICK

I feel much better. Thank you.

CARR

Are you comfortable here?

MERRICK

Everyone has been very kind. I am

extremely grateful.

TREVES

Mr. Merrick likes the food here.

Don't you John?

MERRICK

Oh yes! It is much better than what

I am used to.

Pixiedust1234 · 25/09/2022 20:18

Wasn't the Paddington bear guy in Downton Abbey? They had a couple of deaths so would it have been him receiving condolences at a funeral?

Original poster
VenusInfers · 25/09/2022 20:28

I am sorry to report that it is NOT The Elephant Man. 😢

My chum had already thought of John Hurt and, sadly, it’s not him. He is going to check out Brief Encounter as he has seen it so could, theoretically, be the source. He is immensely grateful for all the suggestions if a bit puzzled by the Pyramids of Mars one and has not yet given up hope!

OP posts:
willingtolearn · 25/09/2022 20:40

Close...but no cigar

Good luck OP

Always4Brenner · 25/09/2022 21:59

I’m positive it’s Anna Neagle as Florence nightingale. Let me check.

maximist · 25/09/2022 22:04

It sounds very Noel Coward-like to me, but I can't pin down an exact source..l

Always4Brenner · 25/09/2022 22:08

I can’t find the script but it’s right at the end after being given a medal on behalf of the king she then says I only did my duty.