first appearance - What is the origin of the dialogue "take me instead of her/him"? - Movies & TV

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In many Hollywood horror
movies the last climactic scene features the dialogue "take me instead". For example,
Dark Water (2005), The Exorcist and
The Ring 2.

So what is the
origin of this famous dialogue?

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class="normal">Answer

The theme
of sacrifice oneself for another is quite common in film and literature, so finding the
origin may be impossible.

However, searching
href="http://www.subzin.com/search.php?title=&imdb=&q=%22Take%20me%20instead%22&search_sort=Oldest&genre=-1&type=All">Subzin,
the earliest mention I found of "take me instead" is from The Battle of
China (1944):

1:34:30 General, I beg you to let the girl go
01:34:36 She is
innocent
01:34:40 Take me instead

The
first specifically horror film is The Gate
(1987)

01:15:06
No!
01:15:08 Come back here!
01:15:11 Take me
instead!
01:15:13 Come back!
01:15:15 What do you
want? Another sacrifice?
01:15:17 Come back! Take me
instead.
01:15:21 Come back.
01:15:23 Come
back.