Some Movie Titles and Where They Originated [a list in progress]

PATHS OF GLORY (1957, dir. Stanley Kubrick) "...And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave / Awaits alike th' inevitable hour: / The paths of glory lead but to the grave." Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard Thomas Gray (lines 34-36). Gray himself gained a measure of glory after this marvellous poem was published. For the rest of his life he was known as 'Elegy Gray'.

LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (1945, dir. John M. Stahl) "But, howsoever thou pursu’st this act, /
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive /
Against thy mother aught; leave her to heaven, /
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge, /
To prick and sting her." Hamlet , Act 1, Scene 5, lines 92-96.

KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (1949, dir. Robert Harner) "Kind hearts are more than coronets, / And simple faith than Norman blood." Lady Clara Vere de Vere Alfred, Lord Tennyson (lines 55-56). I believe these lines are actually quoted in the movie.

THE THIN RED LINE (1998, dir. Terrence Malik) "Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy how's yer soul?" / But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll..." Tommy Rudyard Kipling. The thin line of heroes is red because Kipling was writing about soldiers of the British Empire, who wore bright red jackets as part of their uniform.

CHARIOTS OF FIRE (1981, dir. Hugh Hudson) "Bring me my bow of burning gold! /
Bring me my arrows of desire! /
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold! /
Bring me my chariot of fire!" The New Jerusalem William Blake. A poet and an artist, amongst other talents, Blake painted The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in the Sun , which featured in the novel and movie Red Dragon.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1995, dir. Bryan Singer) "CAPTAIN RENAULT: Major Strasser has been shot. Round up the usual suspects." Casablanca Murray Burnett and Joan Alison. Btw, I wonder how many viewers of the earlier movie realise that 'Casablanca' translates as 'Whitehouse'.

STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY (1991, dir. Nicholas Meyer) "...But that the dread of something after death, / The undiscover'd country from whose bourn / No traveller returns..." Hamlet , Act 3, Scene 1, lines 88-90.

STRAW DOGS (1971, dir. Sam Peckinpah) "Heaven and earth are ruthless, and treat the myriad creatures as straw dogs; / the sage is ruthless, and treats the people as straw dogs." Tao Teh Ching Lao Tzu (Book 1, poem 5)

BAND OF BROTHERS (2001, dir. David Frankel, Tom Hanks, et. al.) "And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, /
From this day to the ending of the world, /
But we in it shall be remember'd; /
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; /
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me /
Shall be my brother..." King Henry V, Act IV, Scene 3, lines 62-67. See also this version of this famous speech.

THE DOGS OF WAR (1981, dir. John Irvin) "And Cæsar’s spirit, ranging for revenge, /
With Ate by his side come hot from hell, /
Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice /
Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war..." Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 1, lines 295-298.

OUT OF AFRICA (1985, dir. Sydney Pollak) "There is always something new out of Africa." - Natural History Pliny the Elder, Roman scholar & scientist (23 AD - 79 AD).