The Apartment Quotes

Context

This line is spoken by Fran Kubelik (played by Shirley MacLaine) in the film The Apartment, directed by Billy Wilder (1960).

It's the final scene, and Fran Kubelik is racing up the stairs. Was that a gunshot she heard from C.C. Baxter's apartment? OMG—she's too late! But no, there stands C.C. in the doorway with a bottle of spewing champagne—thus the "POP." They sit down on the couch for a game of cards and C.C. confesses his love for her. Fran replies with equal parts flip and flirting, "Shut up and deal." Cue theme music. Roll credits. But here's a fun piece of movie trivia, the film's writers added "Shut up and deal" at the last minute.

Watch the clip here.

Where you've heard it

If you enjoying hanging out at casinos, or if you have one of those super-talkative friends you can't bring yourself to dis-invite to poker night, odds are good that you've heard this before.

Additional Notable References:

• Check out the rock group called Shut Up and Deal.
• There was the semi-autobiographical book called Shut Up and Deal about the shadowy underworld of professional gambling.
• Into Canadian films? Maybe this flick flew under your must-see radar: Shut Up and Deal.
• Futurama riffed on the quote.
• So did The Dixie Chicks.
• Yes, it's even on coffee mugs.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Rude? Pushy? Demanding? Even a tad surly? Sure, this quote's got all of that going for it. But it's not pretentious. We're talking about cards here, not Jeopardy.