By Sarah Ribeiro
Life — and love — are constantly inspired by the movies. Even if they just inspire pick-up lines.
In the height of award season, Badoo.com offered female users from across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand the chance to select their favorite from a list of ten movie pick-up lines to start online conversations.
“This is a study of pick-up lines in action”, says Louise Thompson, Badoo’s Director of PR. “And not just any lines but Hollywood’s finest.”
Badoo then analyzed the data on 1,000 interactions using the lines. They were able to gauge which lines were most picked by women to use on men and which lines got the highest response rate from men.
The line picked most by women was first delivered by Audrey Hepburn to Cary Grant in Charade (1963): “I don’t bite, you know . . . unless it’s called for.”
According to Jo Hemmings, a behavioral psychologist, relationship and dating coach, this naughty pick-up line makes sense for women to choose. As she tells Badoo, “It’s slightly quirky, with an element of naughtiness and sexuality about it — but in a fun way.”
The pick-up line that got the highest response from men was originally delivered by Bette Davis in The Cabin in the Cotton (1932): “I’d love to kiss you, but I just washed my hair.”
Badoo observed that older movie lines were more successful than newer ones to snag a partner. “The old lines do seem better — sharper, wittier, snappier”, says Thompson. “In fact, we found it much harder to find strong candidates from recent movies. They don’t seem to write them like they used to.”
In fact, the only contemporary pick-up line that made the list was from Natalie Portman’s 2011 movie, No Strings Attached: “You give me premature ventricular contractions… You make my heart skip a beat.” It was ranked fifth out of ten by women, and seventh out of ten by men.
This highlighted the other notable finding of Badoo’s study: that the lines women favor are not the ones to which men are most likely to respond.
Check out Badoo’s lists for yourself:
The Lines Most Picked By Women To Approach Men:
— “I don’t bite, you know … unless it’s called for.” Audrey Hepburn (Reggie) to Cary Grant (Peter) in “Charade” (1963)
— “You don’t have to say anything… Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle don’t you?” Lauren Bacall (“Slim”) to Humphrey Bogart (Harry) in “To Have and To Have Not” (1944)
— “You don’t know how hard it is being a woman looking the way I do.” Kathleen Turner (Jessica Rabbit) to Bob Hoskins (Eddie) in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” (1988)
— “Was that cannon fire, or is it my heart pounding?” Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa) to Humphrey Bogart (Rick) in “Casablanca” (1942)
— “You give me premature ventricular contractions… You make my heart skip a beat.” Natalie Portman (Emma) to Ashton Kutcher (Adam) in “No Strings Attached” (2011)
— “Would you be shocked if I put on something more comfortable?” Jean Harlow (Helen) in “Hell’s Angels” (1930.)
The Lines Getting The Best Response From Men:
— “I’d like to kiss you, but I just washed my hair.” Bette Davis (Madge) in “The Cabin in the Cotton” (1932)
— “Don’t worship me till I’ve earned it.” Shirley MacLaine (Aurora) in “Terms of Endearment”(1983)
— “You don’t have to say anything… Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle don’t you?” Lauren Bacall (“Slim”) to Humphrey Bogart (Harry) in “To Have and To Have Not” (1944)
— “Was that cannon fire, or is it my heart pounding?” Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa) to Humphrey Bogart (Rick) in “Casablanca” (1942)
— “I don’t bite, you know … unless it’s called for.” Audrey Hepburn (Reggie) to Cary Grant (Peter) in “Charade” (1963)
— “You aren’t too smart, are you? I like that in a man.” Kathleen Turner (Matty) to William Hurt (Ned) in “Body Heat” (1981)
What’s your go-to pick-up line from a movie? Share it with us below.
