Cape Fear (1991) - Quotes

Taglines: [from TV spot] He paid his debt to society. Now he's paying back his lawyer.

Taglines: Sam Bowden has always provided for his family's future. But the past is coming back to haunt them.

Taglines: There is nothing in the dark that isn't there in the light. Except fear.

Max Cady: [laughs] Forget about that restraining order, Counselor?! You're well within 500 yards! Well, here we are, Counselor! Just two lawyers workin it out!

Sam Bowden: I'M GONNA KILL YOU!

Max Cady: You already sacrificed me, Counselor!

Max Cady: [holding Sam at gunpoint] The people call Samuel J. Bowden! Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?!

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: [pointing her the gun] You sit, Danielle! Don't you make light of your civic duty, darling! You're the jury!

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: [Cady hits him in the face and Danielle is screaming] It's...

Max Cady: [looking in the camera behind him; addressing again to Sam; looking again behind him; to Sam] 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?

Sam Bowden: [Cady hits him again] Cady, it was fourteen years ago. I can't remember that--

Leigh Bowden: [screams] How can he answer when you're hitting him like that?!

Max Cady: [to the camera behind him; turns to Sam] Because he's perjuring himself, Your Honor. He knows damn well exactly what it said! Don't you?!

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: [looking at Leigh and Danielle] Because I know he brutally raped her and he beat her--

Max Cady: [hits Sam again] TALK TO ME! I'M STANDIN HERE!

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: [screaming] YOU WERE MY LAWYER! YOU WERE MY LAWYER! That report could've saved me FOURTEEN YEARS!

Sam Bowden: [begrudgingly] You're probably right.

Max Cady: [disgusted; [Virgil; [w:Inferno (Dante)|guidin' you through the gates of Hell!] 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?!

Sam Bowden: [saddened] A lawyer should represent his client...

Danielle Bowden: [lying on her bed in a shirt and underwear] This isn't... gonna work, you know.

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: [pointing in her face as she tries to look away] 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?

Sam Bowden: Did he touch you?

Danielle Bowden: [laughing slightly] What?

Sam Bowden: What are you laughing about? Why are you smiling? I'm asking you a question - did he touch you?

Sam Bowden: [shaking her; realizing that he has scared her] 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.

Danielle Bowden: No...!

Sam Bowden: [trying to comfort her] No, I'm sorry. Wait, honey, I'm sorry--

Danielle Bowden: [pushing him away] GET OUT OF HERE! GET OUT OF HERE!

Danielle Bowden: You're not the drama teacher, are you?

Max Cady: [smiling; [w:Big Bad Wolf|big bad wolf] Maybe I'm the ].

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: [feigning surprise] Your mom's dog was killed?

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: [sighing] Okay...

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: [chuckles slightly] Um... yes, I did.

Max Cady: I know. You know, I think I might have found a companion. A companion for that long walk to the light.

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.

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.

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.

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: [pointedly] A woman. Some fat, hairy, ugly hillbilly's wet dream.

Sam Bowden: [after a short silence, uncomfortably] Look, I realize that you suffered in prison...

Max Cady: [dismissively] Suffered".

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.

Max Cady: [smiling, after grabbing the keys from the car] 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?

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: [continuing] Gains a pound a year till he's about 60. Me? I dropped a pound every year in my sentence.

Sam Bowden: [remembering] Atlanta, 1977.

Max Cady: [looks at keys; finally gives them back] You got it. July. Fourteen years since I held a set of keys.

Sam Bowden: [trying to diffuse the tension] You look good, healthy.

Max Cady: [places his cigar in his mouth] 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.

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: [apprehensively] Have you been following me?

Max Cady: [shrugging] It's a small town. Everywhere you turn, we're gonna run into each other.

Sam Bowden: [starting the car] Take care, Mr. Cady.

Max Cady: You too.

Max Cady: [coldly, dropping all pretense] You're gonna learn about loss.

Sam Bowden: [stopping the car] What?

Prison Guard 1: Anyone coming for you, Cady?

Prison Guard 2: What about your books?

Max Cady: Already read em.

Lieutenant Elgart: [on Cady's tattoos] I don't know whether to look at him or read him.

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.

Danielle Bowden: [whispers] 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.

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.

Max Cady: [singing] 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!

Max Cady: Tonight, you're gonna learn to be an animal! To live like an animal and to die like one!

Max Cady: [Danielle throws scalding grease over him; lights a flare and holds it aloft; lets boiling wax drip on his skin] 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.

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.

Max Cady: [after fighting off Kersek's thugs while Bowden watches; [Angelus Silesius|Silesius; whistles] 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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Max Cady: [watching passing teenaged girls] 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.