Bertram Fields, entertainment lawyer and author of several books, including “Royal Blood: Richard III and the Mystery of the Princes,” recounts his picks for most effective dramatic pauses in film.

1. “Tootsie.” “Dustin Hoffman, in drag as Tootsie, is at home entertaining an elderly man who has fallen in love with him/her. They are having drinks when Bill Murray, Hoffman’s roommate, walks in. Murray, who knows Tootsie is a man, takes in the scene, turns to Hoffman and, after a long pause, says, ‘You slut.’ ”

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2. “Treasure of the Sierra Madre.” “Bogart is in a trench. A Mexican bandit is a few feet away. The bandit shouts, ‘We are the Federales.’ Bogart responds, ‘If you’re the police, where are your badges?’ Pause. Then the bandit replies, ‘Badges? We ain’t got no badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges.’ ”

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3. “Some Like It Hot.” “At the very end of the film, Jack Lemmon, in drag, is trying to put off a suitor, played by comedian Joe E. Brown. Finally, out of frustration, he says, ‘I’m a man!’ Pause. His suitor says, ‘Well, nobody’s perfect.’ ”

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4. “Casablanca.” “Maj. Strasser, the German villain, has been killed and Claude Rains, the Vichy French police captain, knows he’s been killed by Rick, the American bar owner, played by Humphrey Bogart. But will Rains protect the killer when confronted with a group that is ready to seek revenge? The captain stares at Rick. Rick stares at the captain. Pause. Rains says, ‘Round up the usual suspects.’ Rick is safe.”

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5. “To Be or Not to Be.” “Jack Benny plays an actor. He’s doing Hamlet, and his actress wife, played by Carole Lombard, is in her dressing room. Lombard’s would-be lover, a flier, is in the audience. Benny begins his soliloquy onstage--the audience is rapt--and suddenly this idiot in the second row, the flier, gets up and squeezes past all these people. The flier knows the soliloquy will give him ample time to woo Lombard. Benny’s speech goes, ‘To be or not to be. That is . . . ‘ “Pause. [Flier scurries out.] “ ‘That is the question.’ ”