22 quotes
A Proposal Amidst Uncertainty
Roger
If we ever get out of this alive, let's go back to New York on the train together, all right?
Eve
Is that a proposition?
Roger
It's a proposal, sweetie.
Eve
What happened to the first two marriages?
Roger
My wives divorced me.
Eve
Why?
Roger
Well, I think they said I led too dull a life.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Intrigue and Survival in Unlikely Circumstances
Vandamm
What possessed you to come blundering in here like this? Could it be an overpowering interest in art?
Roger
Yes, the art of survival.
Eve
He followed me here from the hotel.
Leonard
He was in your room?
Roger
Sure. Isn't everybody?
Roger
I didn't realize you were an art collector. I thought you just collected corpses...I'll bet you paid plenty for this little piece of sculpture...She's worth every dollar of it, take it from me. She puts her heart into her work. In fact, her whole body.
Vandamm
Has anyone ever told you that you overplay your various roles rather severely, Mr. Kaplan? First, you're the outraged Madison Avenue man who claims he's been mistaken for someone else. Then you play the fugitive from justice, supposedly trying to clear his name of a crime he knows he didn't commit. And now, you play the peevish lover, stung by jealousy and betrayal. It seems to me you fellows could stand a little less training from the FBI and a little more from the Actors Studio.
Roger
Apparently, the only performance that will satisfy you is when I play dead.
Vandamm
Your very next role. You'll be quite convincing, I assure you.
Roger
I wonder what subtle form of manslaughter is next on the program. Am I to be dropped into a vat of molten steel and become part of a new skyscraper, or are you going to ask this female to kiss me again and poison me to death?
Roger
Who are you kidding? You have no feelings to hurt.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Final Goodbye and Moving On
Eve
I want you to do a favor for me. A big, big favor.
Roger
Name it.
Eve
I want you to leave right now. Stay far away from me and don't come near me again. We're not going to get involved. Last night was last night and it's all there was and that's all there is. There isn't going to be anything more between us. So please, goodbye, good luck, no conversation, just leave.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Suspense in Every Direction
Taglines
From the killer plane in the cornfield to the cliff-hanger on George Washington's nose, it's suspense in every direction!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Plan to Dispose of Evidence
Leonard
You're not taking her on the plane with you?
Vandamm
Of course I am. Like our friends, I too believe in neatness, Leonard. This matter is best disposed of from a great height, over water.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Dangerous Game of Tag
Taglines
It's a deadly game of "tag" and Cary Grant is "it"!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Master of Suspense's Greatest Tale
Taglines
The Master of Suspense weaves his greatest tale!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Theatrical Abduction and Unreasonable Expectations
Roger
And what the devil is all this about? Why was I brought here?
Vandamm
Games, must we?
Roger
Not that I mind a slight case of abduction now and then, but I have tickets for the theatre this evening, to a show I was looking forward to and I get, well, kind of unreasonable about things like that.
Vandamm
With such expert play-acting, you make this very room a theatre. My secretary is a great admirer of your methods, Mr. Kaplan. Elusiveness, however misguided ...
Roger
My name is Thornhill, Roger Thornhill! It's never been anything else ... So obviously, your friends picked up the wrong package when they bundled me out here in the car.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Moment of Connection Between Characters
Roger
Now where were we?
Eve
Here.
[They kiss again passionately.]
Roger
Yes. Nice of you to have opened the bed.
Eve
Yes.
Roger
Only one bed.
Eve
Yes.
Roger
That's a good omen, don't you think?
Eve
Wonderful.
Roger
You know what that means?
Eve
Hmmm.
Roger
What? Tell me.
Eve
It means you're going to sleep on the floor.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Doubts and Deceit Among Characters
Leonard
You must have had some doubts about her yourself. You still do.
Vandamm
Rubbish.
Leonard
Why else would you have decided not to tell her that our little treasure here has a belly full of microfilm?
Vandamm
You seem to be trying to fill mine with rotten apples.
Leonard
Sometimes the truth does taste like a mouthful of worms.
Vandamm
The truth? I've heard nothing but innuendos.
Leonard
Call it my woman's intuition, if you will, but I've never trusted neatness. Neatness is always the result of deliberate planning.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Friendship and Independence in Uncertain Times
Roger
To a long and lasting friendship, meaning from now on, I'm not going to let you out of my sight, sweetheart.
Eve
I'm afraid you'll have to.
Roger
Oh no.
Eve
I do have plans of my own, you know, and you do have problems.
Roger
Well, wouldn't it be nice if my problems and your plans were somehow connected? Then we could always stay close to each other and not have to go off in separate directions. Togetherness, you know what I mean?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Sensitivity to Inquisitive Eyes
Ticket Seller
Something wrong with your eyes?
Roger
Yes, they're sensitive to questions.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Thrilling Chase Across America Unfolds
Taglines
The Master of Suspense presents a 3000-mile chase across America!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Nature of Advertising Exaggeration
Roger Thornhill
Ah, Maggie, in the world of advertising, there's no such thing as a lie. There's only the expedient exaggeration. You ought to know that.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Love and Murder at First Sight
Taglines
It's love and murder at first sight!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Complexities of Honesty in Relationships
Roger
Oh, you're that type.
Eve
What type?
Roger
Honest.
Eve
Not really.
Roger
Good, because honest women frighten me.
Eve
Why?
Roger
I don't know. Somehow they seem to put me at a disadvantage.
Eve
Because you're not honest with them?
Roger
Exactly.
Roger
The moment I meet an attractive woman, I have to start pretending I have no desire to make love to her.
Eve
What makes you think you have to conceal it?
Roger
She might find the idea objectionable.
Eve
Then again, she might not.
Eve
I'm Eve Kendall. I'm twenty-six and unmarried. Now you know everything.
Roger
Tell me. What do you do besides lure men to their doom on the Twentieth Century Limited?
Eve
I'm an industrial designer.
Roger
Jack Phillips. Western sales manager for Kingby Electronics.
Eve
No, you're not. You're Roger Thornhill of Madison Avenue, and you're wanted for murder on every front page in America, and don't be so modest.
Roger
Whoops!
Eve
Oh, don't worry, I won't say a word.
Roger
How come?
Eve
I told you. It's a nice face.
Roger
Is that the only reason?
Eve
It's going to be a long night.
Roger
True.
Eve
And I don't particularly like the book I've started.
Roger
Ahhh.
Eve
You know what I mean?
Roger
Uh, let me think. Yes, I know exactly what you mean...
[Pause]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Complexity of Personal Responsibility and Relationships
Roger
Now you listen to me, I'm an advertising man, not a red herring. I've got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon me, and I don't intend to disappoint them all by getting myself "slightly" killed.
The Professor
If I thought there was any chance of changing your mind, I'd talk about Miss Kendall, of whom you so obviously disapprove.
Roger
Yes, for using sex like some people use a fly swatter.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Playful Exchange on Maturity and Attraction
Eve
I'm a big girl.
Roger
Yeah, and in all the right places too.
[They share a lingering kiss.]
Eve
You know, this is ridiculous, you know that don't you?
Roger
Yesss.
Eve
I mean, we've hardly met.
Roger
That's right.
Eve
How do I know you aren't a murderer?
Roger
You don't.
Eve
Maybe you're planning to murder me right here tonight?
Roger
Shall I?
Eve
Please do.
[Another long kiss.]
Roger
Beats flying, doesn't it?
Eve
We should stop.
Roger
Immediately.
Eve
I want to know more about you.
Roger
What more could you know?
Eve
You're an advertising man, that's all I know.
Roger
That's right. The train's a little unsteady.
[They shift positions]
Eve
Who isn't?
Roger
What else do you know?
Eve
You've got taste in clothes, taste in food...
Roger
...and taste in women. I like your flavor.
Eve
You're very clever with words. You can probably make them do anything for you. Sell people things they don't need. Make women who don't know you fall in love with you.
Roger
I'm beginning to think I'm underpaid.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unintended Consequences of Falling in Love
Eve
I guess I had nothing to do that weekend, so I decided to fall in love.
Roger
That's nice.
Eve
Eventually, the Professor and his Washington colleagues approached me with a few sordid details about Philip. They told me that my relationship with him made me uniquely valuable to them.
Roger
Mm-mmm. So you became a Girl Scout, huh?
Eve
Maybe it was the first time anyone ever asked me to do anything worthwhile.
Roger
Has life been like that?
Eve
Mm-mmm.
Roger
How come?
Eve
Men like you!
Roger
What's wrong with men like me?
Eve
They don't believe in marriage.
Roger
I've been married twice.
Eve
See what I mean?
Roger
Now I may go back to hating you: it was more fun.
[They kiss passionately]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Son's Plea for Understanding
Roger Thornhill
Mother, this is your son, Roger Thornhill...No, no, Mother. I have not been drinking. No, no. These two men, they poured a whole bottle of bourbon into me. No, they didn't give me a chaser.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Dangers of Deception and Misunderstanding
Clara Thornhill
You gentlemen aren't really trying to kill my son, are you?
The Professor
We do nothing...That's right, nothing. Oh, we could congratulate ourselves on a marvelous stroke of good fortune. Our non-existent decoy George Kaplan created to divert suspicion from our actual agent has fortuitously become a live decoy... What can we do to save him, without endangering our own agent?...We didn't invent our non-existent man and give him the name of George Kaplan, establish elaborate behavior patterns for him, move his prop belongings in and out of hotel rooms for our own private amusement. We created George Kaplan and labored successfully to convince Vandamm that this was our own agent hot on his trail for a desperately important reason...If we make the slightest move to suggest that there is no such agent as George Kaplan, give any hint to Vandamm that he's pursuing a decoy instead of our own agent, then our agent working right under Vandamm's very nose will immediately face suspicion, exposure and assassination, like the two others who went before.
Vandamm
That wasn't very sporting, using real bullets.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Childhood Innocence and Adult Conversations
Roger
Now, what can a man do with his clothes off for twenty minutes? Couldn't he have taken an hour?
Eve
You could always take a cold shower.
[she takes off his jacket]
Roger
That's right. When I was a little boy, I wouldn't even let my mother undress me.
Eve
You're a big boy now.
Roger
Yes, tell me. How does a girl like you get to be a girl like you?
Eve
Lucky, I guess.
Roger
No, not lucky. Naughty, wicked, up to no good. Ever kill anyone? Because I bet you could tease a man to death without half trying. So stop trying, huh?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.