[Ads-l] Quote Origin: I Never Forget a Face, But I=?UTF-8?Q?=E2=80=99ll_?=Make an Exception in Your Case

Tue Feb 4 04:01:59 UTC 2025

The QI article has now been updated. Peter and Ben are acknowledged.
Thanks for your help!
Garson

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/04/26/forget-a-face/

On Fri, Jan 31, 2025 at 9:48 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks for finding a valuable match Peter, and thanks for your astute
> investigation, Ben.
>
> There is a pertinent match in the Internet Archive within a 1962 book
> titled "Hello, Hollywood" which reprints a piece that is reportedly
> from the Dec. 30, 1935 issue of the Hollywood Reporter. I checked the
> ProQuest database issues of Hollywood Reporter and could not find a
> pertinent patch in any issue. The Dec. 30, 1935 only has 12 pages in
> ProQuest. Apparently, the ProQuest scans are incomplete for some
> issues. The Google snippet from Peter contains a different article
> that says "Continued from Page 63". So the issue should be much longer
> than 12 pages.
>
> The article "Harpo, Chico, Groucho and Scenario" by George Oppenheimer
> has a character named Lyons who uses the punchline under examination.
> Lyons was probably based on Groucho (or a composite of the Marx
> Brothers). Lyons delivered lines and performed actions which he
> ascribed to Marx Brothers movies (although the attributions may be
> inaccurate).
>
> George Oppenheimer was a screenwriter and script doctor. He was one of
> the three writers of the 1937 Marx Brothers film "A Day at the Races".
> Screenwriters had difficulty dealing with Groucho.
>
> Year: 1962 Copyright
> Book: Hello, Hollywood: A Book About the Movies by the People Who Make Them
> Editors: Allen Rivkin and Laura Kerr
> Chapter: Harpo, Chico, Groucho and Scenario by George Oppenheimer
> Note: Article reprinted from Hollywood Reporter, Dec. 30, 1935
> Start Page 287, Quote Page 288 and 289,
> Publisher: Doubleday & Company, New York
> Database: Internet Archive
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> "It's funny. I'm sure I know you. I never forget a face."
> "Neither do I," answered Lyons, "but I'm going to make an exception in
> your case. Horsefeathers, second reel."
> It was useless. The man was a maniac and then I looked again. There
> was pain in Lyons' eyes ... real acute suffering.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Fri, Jan 31, 2025 at 9:18 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Fri, Jan 31, 2025 at 6:21 PM mr_peter_morris at outlook.com <
> > mr_peter_morris at outlook.com> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Hollywood_Reporter/CFVCuIBIiPoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22never+forget+a+face%22+%22an+exception%22&dq=%22never+forget+a+face%22+%22an+exception%22&printsec=frontcover
> > >
> > > ... I'm sure I know you . I never forget a face . " " Neither do I , "
> > > answered Lyons , " but I'm going to make an exception in your
> > > case . Horsefeathers , second reel .
> > >
> > > Hollywood Reporter, circa 1935 or 6, usual caveats
> > >
> > > Horsefeathers was a Marx Brothers movie, but checking a
> > > transcript it doesn't seem to include the quote.
> > >
> >
> > That quote appears to be in an article entitled "Harpo, Chico, Groucho and
> > Scenario" by George Oppenheimer (begins on p. 61). However, Google Books
> > evidently combined two items here. The first part is the Dec. 28, 1935
> > issue of Hollywood Reporter (with "USSR Quits 'Inspired' Pix" as the
> > headline on the front page), but that has a different periodical appended
> > to it. I checked that issue of Hollywood Reporter on ProQuest and the
> > Oppenheimer article isn't there (the issue only has 8 pages).
> >
> > Oppenheimer, by the way, has a screenwriting credit for the 1937 Marx
> > Brothers movie "A Day at the Races."
> >
> >
> >
> > > =======================
> > >
> > > Here's another early cite, November 28 1936
> > > Motion Picture Herald
> > >
> > >
> > > https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Motion_Picture_Herald/LVbLJb9z-wcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22never+forget+a+face%22+%22make+an+exception%22&dq=%22never+forget+a+face%22+%22make+an+exception%22&printsec=frontcover
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ------ Original Message ------
> > > From "ADSGarson O'Toole" <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> > > To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > > Date 29/01/2025 19:34:46
> > > Subject Quote Origin: I Never Forget a Face, But I’ll Make an Exception
> > > in Your Case
> > >
> > > >Here is a match for the quip in the subject line which appeared in the
> > > >syndicated Hollywood gossip column of Sidney Skolsky:
> > > >
> > > >[ref] 1936 November 18, Daily News, Hollywood by Sidney Skolsky, Quote
> > > >Page 62, Column 1, New York, New York. (ProQuest) [/ref]
> > > >
> > > >[Begin excerpt]
> > > >Groucho Marx, on meeting a prominent actress, said: "I never forget a
> > > >face--but I'm going to make an exception in your case."
> > > >[End excerpt]
> > > >
> > > >This citation occurred a bit before the 1937 citation in "The New Yale
> > > >Books of Quotations". Here is a link to the updated QI article:
> > > >
> > > >https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/04/26/forget-a-face/
> > > >
> > > >Feedback welcome
> > > >Garson
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org