Michael Caine and THAT catchphrase

[Guy Barry]

Assuming this section is actually for "not a lot of people know that" type facts, I'll start with one about the phrase "not a lot of people know that" itself.

The phrase didn't originate with Michael Caine as many people think.  It originated (in a slightly different form) with Peter Sellers in a 1972 interview on Parkinson:

Not many people know that. This is my Michael Caine impression. You see, Mike's always quoting from the Guinness Book of Records. At the drop of a hat he'll trot one out. 'Did you know that it takes a man in a tweed suit five-and-a-half seconds to fall from the top of Big Ben to the ground?' Now there's not many people who know that!

Peter Sellers subsequently used it in his answering machine message, as Michael Caine found out when he phoned Peter Sellers and ended up listening to an impression of himself.  He then started parodying Peter Sellers' impression of him, and so became associated with the catchphrase himself.

[alexanderhoward]

The catch-phrase Barry Norman was known for, 'And why not?' was invented by Rory Bremner.

[Guy Barry]

It's like Max Bygraves' catchprase "I wanna tell you a story". That actually originated with Mike Yarwood.

[barbados]

Most catchphrases originated from impressionists

[Guy Barry]

Jul 11, 2024 17:47:04 GMT barbados said:

Most catchphrases originated from impressionists

I can't actually think of any beyond the three already mentioned.  Do you have other examples?

[barbados]

Without thinking too hard, Dennis Healey ne ver called anyone a silly billy. Hughie Green never said “I mean that most sincerely folks”

[efros]

Jimmy Cagney never said "You dirty rat", he came close with this one


James T. Kirk never said "Beam me up Scotty!"

Wiki article

[Guy Barry]

Jul 11, 2024 18:11:16 GMT barbados said:

Without thinking too hard, Dennis Healey never called anyone a silly billy. Hughie Green never said “I mean that most sincerely folks”

They both came from Mike Yarwood as well didn't they? He has a lot to answer for...

[tetsabb]

And, famously, Sherlock Holmes never said 'Elementary, my dear Watson'
He said 'elementary' numerous times, and frequently ejaculated 'my dear Watson', but never together.

[Guy Barry]

Jul 13, 2024 16:53:20 GMT tetsabb said:

And, famously, Sherlock Holmes never said 'Elementary, my dear Watson'
He said 'elementary' numerous times, and frequently ejaculated 'my dear Watson', but never together.

But where did the line come from?  I was always under the impression that it came from the films with Basil Rathbone, but it seems that I'm completely mistaken.  It appears to date from the early 1900s, though no one's sure of the exact origin.

This article suggests that it may have originated in William Gillette's play Sherlock Holmes, which opened in London in 1901, though the script actually has the line as "elementary, my dear fellow". It was certainly being parodied around that time (there's a 1901 newspaper article including the line "elementary, my dear Potson"). The first definite citation appears to be from The Times Dispatch, Richmond, Virginia in August 1909:

Half a year before the first installment of Wodehouse’s serial, the astronomer and Harvard professor Edward C. Pickering claimed that there was a way of signalling to the planet Mars. It all depended on correct positioning of mirrors that should reflect the sunlight. “Elementary mathematics,” as Pickering expressed it himself. Or as that statement was commented in an American news item: “‘Elementary, my dear Watson,’ as Sherlock Holmes was wont to say. ‘Elementary.’”

P.G. Wodehouse also used the line in Psmith, Journalist, which was originally serialized in 1909-10.

There's even more on the possible origins of the phrase in this article from QI. (That's the American "Quote Investigator" site, of course, not any other similarly named site  )

[Bondee]

Jul 13, 2024 17:42:29 GMT Guy Barry said:

Jul 13, 2024 16:53:20 GMT tetsabb said:

And, famously, Sherlock Holmes never said 'Elementary, my dear Watson'
He said 'elementary' numerous times, and frequently ejaculated 'my dear Watson', but never together.

But where did the line come from?

Chris will be able to give us the answer to that when he gets back from the wild west.

[Guy Barry]

Jul 13, 2024 20:46:52 GMT Bondee said:

Jul 13, 2024 17:42:29 GMT Guy Barry said:

But where did the line come from?

Chris will be able to give us the answer to that when he gets back from the wild west.

If he can do better than the two articles I've cited, I shall be extremely impressed!

[crissdee]

Sadly, you will have to remain unimpressed....

AFAIK, it originated with William Gillette, but it seems I was wrong about that. I shall peruse my Conan Doyle bookcase later and see if I can dig up anything more conclusive....