The film: Does The Godfather really need an explanation? The 1972 flick — the first in the saga of Don Corleone (Marlon Brando) and his clan — is still the mobster movie, more than 35 years later.
The line: "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse."
The setup: Uttered by Corleone (and copied by hordes of would-be mimics) in reference to a studio head who has refused to offer a part to singer Johnny Fontane (played by Al Martino). That, um, offer? It's on display in one of the movie's iconic scenes, when the executive in question wakes up with a bloody horse head in his bed.