Movie Quote of the Day (‘Clueless,’ In Which Dad Scares His Little Girl’s Date)

Mel Horowitz (played by Dan Hedaya): [To his daughter’s new boyfriend] “Anything happens to my daughter, I got a .45 and a shovel.  I doubt anybody would miss you.”—Clueless (1995), screenplay by Amy Heckerling, based very loosely on Jane Austen’s Emma, directed by Amy Heckerling

You don’t have to read this dialogue to know Mel has killer instincts, even if the accompanying photo didn't convince you. He’s a litigator, okay?

Many fathers, I think it can be said, share his protective instincts toward a daughter—though not perhaps to the extent of mayhem. Once, I heard a woman say to her boss, “I bet you’ll follow your daughter by car when she goes out with a boy for the first time.”

“Who says they’ll get off the front porch?” the boss answered.