24. King Kong (1933)
The Misquote: "Twas Beauty killed the beast."
The Real Quote: "Oh, no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast."
Why It Was Misquoted: Alright, this may be a slight one, but it certainly has an effect on the film. The original King Kong was a big, simple creature feature, not falling into the dogmatic meta humour of Peter Jacksons remake, summing its smarts in its final line, drolly delivered by Robert Armstrongs Carl Denham. His delivery, however, drags out the It was, making it sound like Twas. Given the films esteemed stature in cinema history and how the Twas makes it more old-timey, its clear to see why it stuck.
23. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
The Misquote: "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille."
The Real Quote: "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."
Why It Was Misquoted: At a first glance, this makes quite a bit of sense; the cutting down of the line to make easier to remember and thus the misquote increased quotability. However, it severely cuts down the emotion of the scene, putting Gloria Swansons Norma Desmond seemingly in a postion of control and sidelining that the whole stage set up is a lie in favour of faux-seductiveness.
22. Forrest Gump (1994)
The Misquote: "My mama always said, 'Life is like a box of chocolates.'"
The Real Quote: "My mama always said, 'Life was like a box of chocolates.'"
Why It Was Misquoted: Life is a constant, ongoing thing, so why one earth would you talk about it in the past tense? Well aside from the fact that it shows Forrests verbal ticks from the off, it simply comes from the fact that his mother is dead. He uses the past tense because thats how he regards both her and the quote. Its clear to see why the less depressing, more rounded comment has become the popular one.