27 quotes
Defiance and Challenge in Cape Fear
Max Cady
Counselor? Counselor, is that you? Counselor, come out, come out, wherever you are! I ain't no white trash piece of shit, I'm better than you all! I can outlearn you, I can outread you, I can outthink you, and I can out-philosophize you. And I'm gonna outlast you! You think a couple whacks to my good ol boy guts is gonna get me down? It's gonna take a hell of a lot more than that, Counselor, to prove you're better than me! "I am like God, and God like me! I am as large as God! He is as small as I! He cannot above me, nor I beneath Him be!" ], 17th century! Counselor? Counselor? Could you be there? Could you be there? Counselor? I wonder if you're here. Ah, fuck it. You're here, you ain't here. What the fuck's the difference?
[after fighting off Kersek's thugs while Bowden watches; [Angelus Silesius|Silesius; whistles]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Consequences of Provocation and Self-Defense
Max Cady
It's not necessary to lay a foul tongue on me, my friend. I could get upset. Things could get out of hand. Then in self defense, I could do something to you that you would not like, right here.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Self-Education and Legal Knowledge in Prison
Max Cady
I learned to read during my stretch. First, Spot Goes to the Farm, then Runaway Bunny, then law books mostly. Did you know that after I discharged you, I acted as my own attorney? Applied several times for an appeal. Mm-hmm. So, here we are - two lawyers, for all practical purposes, talking shop.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Reflections on Cape Fear's Enchantment
Danielle Bowden
My reminiscence: I always thought that for such a lovely river, the name was mystifying - Cape Fear - when the only thing to fear on those enchanted summer nights was that the magic would end, and real life would come crashing in.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Confrontation Between Lawyers Escalates Tension
Max Cady
Forget about that restraining order, Counselor?! You're well within 500 yards! Well, here we are, Counselor! Just two lawyers workin it out!
[laughs]
Sam Bowden
I'M GONNA KILL YOU!
Max Cady
You already sacrificed me, Counselor!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Letting Go of the Past to Live
Danielle Bowden
We never spoke about what happened, at least not to each other. Fear, I suppose, that to remember his name and what he did would mean letting him into our dreams. And me, I hardly dream about him anymore. Still, things won't ever be the way they were before he came. But that's all right, because if you hang onto the past, you die a little every day. And for myself, I know I'd rather live. The end.
[whispers]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unexpected Revelations About a Troubling Past
Danielle Bowden
You're not the drama teacher, are you?
Max Cady
Maybe I'm the ].
[smiling; [w:Big Bad Wolf|big bad wolf]
Danielle Bowden
Um... so you're that guy that's been hanging around the house? You're the one that killed my mom's dog?
Max Cady
Your mom's dog was killed?
[feigning surprise]
Danielle Bowden
Yeah.
Max Cady
I didn't even know anything about that. That's a shame. That's a damn shame.
Danielle Bowden
Yes, it was.
Max Cady
What kind of dog was it?
Danielle Bowden
Um... I don't know. He was just... he was, um, fluffy and...
Max Cady
Fluffy?
Danielle Bowden
Mm-hmm. So you didn't do that?
Max Cady
Of course I didn't do that.
Danielle Bowden
Okay...
[sighing]
Max Cady
I wouldn't do that.
Danielle Bowden
So why... what are you doing here then?
Max Cady
Well, I came to meet you, to be honest with you.
Danielle Bowden
W-Why? I mean--
Max Cady
Cause... I wanted to meet you, see what you were like. I see you're a nice person. That's all.
Danielle Bowden
Just... you're not gonna hurt me, are you?
Max Cady
No, I'm not gonna hurt you at all. There's no hurtin here, Danielle. Tween us, there's no anger, nothin'. Just a search for truth. I mean, did you judge me, did you get angry at me when you caught me smokin the grass? Hmm?
Danielle Bowden
No.
Max Cady
But your parents, they judged you. They got plenty angry at you, didn't they?
Danielle Bowden
Yeah.
Max Cady
Mm-hmm. They punished you for their sins. What did they do?
Danielle Bowden
They, uh... My dad... They just yelled a whole lot and, um... My mom cried... and, and my dad said I couldn't drive the Cherokee.
Max Cady
I'd say they punished you for their sins, and you resent that, and you should resent it. But Professor Do-Right has a little advice for you. You shouldn't damn em. Don't judge em. Just forgive em, for they know not what they do.
Danielle Bowden
Well, um, why do you hate my father?
Max Cady
I don't hate him at all. Oh, no, I pray for him. I'm here to help him. I mean, we all make mistakes, Danielle. You and I have. At least we try to admit it. Don't we?
Danielle Bowden
Yeah...
Max Cady
Mm-hmm. But your daddy, he don't. Every man carries a circle of hell around his head like a halo. Your daddy, too. Every man, every man has to go through hell to reach his paradise. You know what paradise is?
Danielle Bowden
No.
Max Cady
Salvation. Cause your daddy's not happy. Your mommy's not happy. And you know what? You're not happy. Are you?
Danielle Bowden
No, I'm not.
Max Cady
You thought about me last night, didn't you?
Danielle Bowden
Um... yes, I did.
[chuckles slightly]
Max Cady
I know. You know, I think I might have found a companion. A companion for that long walk to the light.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Justice and Revenge in Cape Fear
Taglines
He paid his debt to society. Now he's paying back his lawyer.
[from TV spot]
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Max Cady's Call for Companionship
Max Cady
On Jordan's stormy branks I stand! Oh, who will come with me? I am bound for the promised land! I am bound for the promised l-... land! I am bound for the promised land!
[singing]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Cost of Commitment and Freedom
Max Cady
I am going to teach you the meaning of commitment. Fourteen years ago, I was forced to make a commitment to an eight-by-nine cell, now you are going to be forced to make a commitment. You could say I'm here to save you.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Tension Between Characters Escalates in Confrontation
Claude Kersek
You know, I've been in a real bad mood lately. Shame, ain't it? You know what you can do to brighten my mood?
Max Cady
No.
Claude Kersek
Get the hell out of here. I don't mean just this whole town, I mean the whole goddamned state. I don't wanna see you, I don't wanna hear you, and I don't wanna smell you. Now leave.
Max Cady
Now, I like to-- Are you my friend?
Claude Kersek
No, I'm not your friend.
Max Cady
Oh, cause I thought maybe you were my friend, because I like to plan my comings and goings with friends. But if you're not my friend and you're planning my comings and goings, I'd call that presumptuous. In fact, I'd call it downright rude.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Nature of Fear in Light and Dark
Taglines
There is nothing in the dark that isn't there in the light. Except fear.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Haunted by the Past and Family Responsibilities
Taglines
Sam Bowden has always provided for his family's future. But the past is coming back to haunt them.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Discussion of Legal Implications and Abduction
Lieutenant Elgart
Well, at the very least, we nail him for the dog. Now what happened? You let the dog out, Cady abducted him?
Sam Bowden
No, no, uh... we didn't let the dog out.
Lieutenant Elgart
Cady came into your house? Now that's illegal entry with intent--
Sam Bowden
Yeah, but he, uh, he didn't come into the house. Now look, I'm not a cop, I don't know exactly how he did it, I just know that he did it, somehow.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Conflicted Perspectives on Observation and Interpretation
Lieutenant Elgart
I don't know whether to look at him or read him.
[on Cady's tattoos]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Courtroom Tension and Family Dynamics
Max Cady
The people call Samuel J. Bowden! Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?!
[holding Sam at gunpoint]
Sam Bowden
Cady, somebody's got to man the boat. We're heading into unprotected water!
Max Cady
Do you swear?!
Danielle Bowden
I'll do it, Dad--
Max Cady
You sit, Danielle! Don't you make light of your civic duty, darling! You're the jury!
[pointing her the gun]
Sam Bowden
All right, all right, okay! I swear to tell the truth. What do you wanna know?
Max Cady
Was a prior sexual history ever prepared in connection with my defence? Was a prior sexual history ever prepared in connection with my defence?!
Sam Bowden
It's...
[Cady hits him in the face and Danielle is screaming]
Max Cady
I'm sorry, Your Honor. I agree. That was argumentative. An investigator did prepare a prior sexual history on the alleged victim, true? I can ask leading questions, Your Honor, he is a hostile witness! And would you care to tell the court what the gist was of this report?
[looking in the camera behind him; addressing again to Sam; looking again behind him; to Sam]
Sam Bowden
Cady, it was fourteen years ago. I can't remember that--
[Cady hits him again]
Leigh Bowden
How can he answer when you're hitting him like that?!
[screams]
Max Cady
Because he's perjuring himself, Your Honor. He knows damn well exactly what it said! Don't you?!
[to the camera behind him; turns to Sam]
Sam Bowden
It said that she was promiscuous. It said that she had three different lovers in one month--
Max Cady
At least three! At least three! And did you show this report to the D. A.?!
Sam Bowden
No, no...
Max Cady
No, huh?! I only discovered it after I petitioned to represent myself, six years into my sentence! But there it was in the court file! But back in 77, you buried it, Counselor! Would you care to tell the jury why?! Would you care to tell the court why?!
Sam Bowden
Because I know he brutally raped her and he beat her--
[looking at Leigh and Danielle]
Max Cady
TALK TO ME! I'M STANDIN HERE!
[hits Sam again]
Sam Bowden
Just because she was promiscuous didn't give you the right to rape her! You bragged to me that you beat two prior aggravated rapes! You were a menace!
Max Cady
YOU WERE MY LAWYER! YOU WERE MY LAWYER! That report could've saved me FOURTEEN YEARS!
[screaming]
Sam Bowden
You're probably right.
[begrudgingly]
Max Cady
YOU SELF-RIGHTEOUS FUCK! I'm ], Counselor, and I'm ] We are now in the Ninth Circle, the Circle of Traitors! Traitors to country! Traitors to fellow man! Traitors to God! You, sir, are charged with betrayin the principles of all three! Can you please quote to me the American Bar Association's Rules of Professional Conduct, Canon Seven?!
[disgusted; [Virgil; [w:Inferno (Dante)|guidin' you through the gates of Hell!]
Sam Bowden
A lawyer should represent his client...
[saddened]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Negotiating Value and Perception
Sam Bowden
How much do you want, Mr. Cady?
Max Cady
How much do I want what?
Sam Bowden
How much money do you want?
Max Cady
Money? Counselor, do I look destitute to you?
Sam Bowden
Well, I'm open to discussion within reasonable limits.
Max Cady
You ever been a woman?
Sam Bowden
What?
Max Cady
A woman. Some fat, hairy, ugly hillbilly's wet dream.
[pointedly]
Sam Bowden
Look, I realize that you suffered in prison...
[after a short silence, uncomfortably]
Max Cady
Suffered".
[dismissively]
Sam Bowden
There's no question about that--
Max Cady
Suffered". You don't know what suffering is, Counselor. Like it says in Galatians 3, "Have ye suffered so many things in vain?" Yeah, I learned from the get-go in the joint to get in touch with the soft, nurturin side of myself, the feminine side.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Prison Life Reflected in Tattoos
Max Cady
I understand, I'm not your type, too many tattoos. Thing is, there isn't much to do in prison except desecrate your flesh.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Tradition of Savoring Fear in the South
Claude Kersek
No, you're scared. But that's okay. I want you to savor that fear. The South evolved in fear: fear of the Indian, fear of the slave, fear of the damn Union. The South has a fine tradition of savoring fear.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Confrontation Over Freedom and Memory
Max Cady
Free as a bird, apparently. You go wherever you want with whomever. That much freedom could maybe get a fella into trouble, what do you think?
[smiling, after grabbing the keys from the car]
Sam Bowden
I'd like my keys.
Max Cady
Could it be you don't remember me?
Sam Bowden
Oh yeah, sure, I remember you. You were at the movie house the other night.
Max Cady
Oh, I'm disappointed. I'm hurt.
Sam Bowden
I would like my keys.
Max Cady
Max Cady. You look the same. Maybe 15 pounds heavier. But they say the average man gains a pound a year till he's about--
Sam Bowden
Oh, come on...
Max Cady
Gains a pound a year till he's about 60. Me? I dropped a pound every year in my sentence.
[continuing]
Sam Bowden
Atlanta, 1977.
[remembering]
Max Cady
You got it. July. Fourteen years since I held a set of keys.
[looks at keys; finally gives them back]
Sam Bowden
You look good, healthy.
[trying to diffuse the tension]
Max Cady
Thank you, cause it's a struggle to stay healthy in the joint. But you wouldn't know bout that, would ya? If you were me, they'd stick you with the white trash. They don't strike a lick of work all day. In fact, this little ol cigar is my only vice... cause I needed a vice in the joint, to remind me I was human.
[places his cigar in his mouth]
Sam Bowden
Well, what brings you to New Essex?
Max Cady
Oh, the climate. Boy, the South. I'm thinkin of settlin right down here in New Essex, Counselor.
Sam Bowden
Have you been following me?
[apprehensively]
Max Cady
It's a small town. Everywhere you turn, we're gonna run into each other.
[shrugging]
Sam Bowden
Take care, Mr. Cady.
[starting the car]
Max Cady
You too.
Max Cady
You're gonna learn about loss.
[coldly, dropping all pretense]
Sam Bowden
What?
[stopping the car]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Reflections on Loss and Discovery
Max Cady
They're great at that age, ain't they? All those discoveries ahead of em. You're lucky, Counselor. My own daughter, she don't even know me. After I went inside, her mama told her I was dead - which, in a way, I was.
[watching passing teenaged girls]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Cady's Indifference to Outside Influence
Prison Guard 1
Anyone coming for you, Cady?
Prison Guard 2
What about your books?
Max Cady
Already read em.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Embracing Instincts in a Hostile World
Max Cady
Tonight, you're gonna learn to be an animal! To live like an animal and to die like one!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Transformation of Max Cady
Max Cady
Are you offering me something hot? Let's get something straight here. I spent fourteen years in an eight by nine cell surrounded by people who were less than human. My mission in that time was to become more than human. You see? Granddaddy used to handle snakes in church, Granny drank strychnine. I guess you could say I had a leg up, genetically speaking.
[Danielle throws scalding grease over him; lights a flare and holds it aloft; lets boiling wax drip on his skin]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Resilience Against Hatred in Adversity
Judge
Let me quote our great Negro educator, Mr. Booker T. Washington: "I will let no man drag me down so low... "...as to make me hate him.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Confronting Isolation and Reality
Danielle Bowden
This isn't... gonna work, you know.
[lying on her bed in a shirt and underwear]
Sam Bowden
What isn't going to work?
Danielle Bowden
Locking us in, hiding us from the world.
Sam Bowden
Oh, don't be so dramatic, Danny.
Danielle Bowden
Making me stay outta school...
Sam Bowden
Well, you're going back to school tomorrow. And put some clothes on, you're not a little kid anymore.
Danielle Bowden
Yeah, and why am I going back to school tomorrow? What are you gonna do?
Sam Bowden
That's none of your concern, Danny.
Danielle Bowden
Dad... he didn't force himself on me, you know. I know you'd like to think that he did. But I think he was... I think he was just trying to make a connection with me, y'know?
Sam Bowden
Now, Danny, I want you to listen to me, all right? No. You understand? No. There will never be any connection between you and Max Cady. You understand that?
[pointing in her face as she tries to look away]
Sam Bowden
Did he touch you?
Danielle Bowden
What?
[laughing slightly]
Sam Bowden
What are you laughing about? Why are you smiling? I'm asking you a question - did he touch you?
Sam Bowden
Danny, wipe that smile off your face! I'm asking you, did he touch you?! C'mon! Oh, n-no, wait, Danny, I'm sorry.
[shaking her; realizing that he has scared her]
Danielle Bowden
No...!
Sam Bowden
No, I'm sorry. Wait, honey, I'm sorry--
[trying to comfort her]
Danielle Bowden
GET OUT OF HERE! GET OUT OF HERE!
[pushing him away]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Confrontation of Authority and Identity
Max Cady
What you gonna do, arrest me? You a cop? Or were you a cop? Or were you not good enough to remain on the force, cause you know what? That's the feelin I'm gettin here.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.