12 Most Memorable Michael Caine Movie Quotes

5. "Shadows? On me lungs? I've been eaten away. This is the end of me! Oh, God in heaven help me." (Alfie)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4dkYaeNLuc Though Zulu was Caine's first major role, it was his performance in the title role in Alfie that put him on the map. Caine was at his most lascivious as a young womanizing cad who carries on affairs with married women. The film is filled with great Caine quotes about romancing "birds," but one of the most memorable lines comes from Alfie's vulnerability during one of the more dramatic points of the movie. Throughout the film Alfie is faced with adult responsibility when he begins to realize that his youthful charm isn't what it once was. One of those problems he faces is when a doctor tells Alfie that he has tubercular shadows on his lungs. After seeing a funeral passing outside the window seconds later, a hyperventilating Alfie yells about his own possible death before collapsing to the ground. Naturally, in the very next scene Alfie is back to his cavalier ways. But even though the line might come off humorously and over-the-top, it is a brief moment of mental anguish that betrays Alfie's impending dilemma. In a film filled with dialogue about Alfie's self-confidence, it stands out for being a rare moment of weakness.