Personal Property (1937)
Robert Taylor: Raymond Dabney
Photos
Quotes
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Frank the Waiter : What shall it be sir, a dry martini?
Raymond Dabney : No, I think I'll have some whiskey, Frank. I'm a little depressed.
Frank the Waiter : Depressed? Well, don't drink whiskey, Mr. Raymond. Allow me to suggest a Champagne Cocktail. Drinks are like lifts, Mr. Raymond. Whiskey sends you down into the cellar and champagne up to the roof.
Raymond Dabney : Are you an old fool or an old philosopher, Frank?
Frank the Waiter : You have to be both, sir, to be a waiter.
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Crystal Wetherby : And while we're asking so many questions, why were YOU sent to jail?
Raymond Dabney : Murder.
Crystal Wetherby : I wish it had been suicide!
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Frank the Waiter : I have a little philosophy, sir. I borrowed it from the poet Browning. But, I improved it, sir, developed it a bit: Zest in quest. Keep going. Get somewhere.
Raymond Dabney : Going where? What's the quest?
Frank the Waiter : The quest is of no importance, sir. It's the zest that matters.
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Raymond Dabney : I dare you'll hate me by tomorrow.
Crystal Wetherby : Well, I'm not exactly fond of you now.
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Crystal Wetherby : Must you keep your eyes on me all the time?
Raymond Dabney : It's all in the line of duty and I love my work.
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Crystal Wetherby : All my real friends are as broke as I am and my family is in Des Moines, Iowa. Have you ever heard of Des Moines, Iowa?
Raymond Dabney : No. I haven't.
Crystal Wetherby : Well, that will give you a rough idea of where it is.
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Raymond Dabney : My crime wasn't so serious.
Cosgrove Dabney : Not so serious!
Raymond Dabney : Was it?
Cosgrove Dabney : To buy a motor car and sell it without having paid for it, not serious?
Raymond Dabney : You and Claude spend your whole lives buying woman's underwear on credit and immediately selling it!
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Raymond Dabney : As we see that though the late Mr. Wetherby's head was small, his feet were large.
Crystal Wetherby : Is that so. Well, with you, it's just the other way around.
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Raymond Dabney : Then, you married Mr. Wetherby.
Crystal Wetherby : I think he married me. I wasn't really noticing.
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Mrs. Burns : Catherine, dear, just where did we see "Ferguson" before? His face is so familiar.
Catherine Burns : Not to me it isn't.
Mrs. Burns : You never have any memory for faces.
Raymond Dabney : Could it have been in Cairo, Madam?
Mrs. Burns : Yes, of course, that's it. Cairo.
Catherine Burns : Just a minute, Mother, you've never been to Cairo.
Mrs. Burns : Oh, haven't I? I thought I had.
Raymond Dabney : Well, now that I think of it, I've never been to Cairo myself, Madam.
Mrs. Burns : That's funny. Have you ever been to Cairo, dear.
Catherine Burns : Not that I can remember, I haven't.
Mrs. Burns : Well, then, it can't have been in Cairo!
Catherine Burns : What a coincidence.
Raymond Dabney : It's a small world.
Mrs. Burns : We must get to the bottom of this, "Ferguson".
Raymond Dabney : By all means, Madam.
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Raymond Dabney : Your face seems strangely familiar to me.
Crystal Wetherby : [Sternly] So do your manners!
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Herbert Jenkins, Bailiff : When you settle with him, he'll go. In the meanwhile, don't you worry. He's a gentleman, you can see. He has his orders. Treat him right and he'll treat you right. There you are... the man in possession.
Crystal Wetherby : Wait a minute. What do you mean? Man in possession? Man in possession of what? Me?
Raymond Dabney : Well, you see that the order...
Crystal Wetherby : Will you let me get a word in edge ways! Who are you anyway?
Raymond Dabney : Bailiff of the County...
Herbert Jenkins, Bailiff : Eh, Sheriff's Officer, if you please.
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Crystal Wetherby : Would you be good enough to shut the door.
Raymond Dabney : I already shut the door.
Crystal Wetherby : On your way out!
Raymond Dabney : Oh, you mean you'd rather I left.
Crystal Wetherby : I mean I'd rather you hadn't come at all.
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Catherine Burns : Tell me, have you always been a butler?
Raymond Dabney : Oh, yes, Madam, for generations.
Catherine Burns : Oh, I see. The family profession?
Raymond Dabney : Yes. Handed down from father to son.
Catherine Burns : How would you like to work in America?
Raymond Dabney : America?
Catherine Burns : Oh, yes. All the best American families have English butlers. They are sort of handed down from mother to daughter.
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Raymond Dabney : Now, let's see, after the wedding, you'll be able to pay the bill and I'll be able to go.
Crystal Wetherby : Go? Go where?
Raymond Dabney : Well, after all, you are going to be married, you know.
Crystal Wetherby : Well, yes.
Raymond Dabney : You don't want two men in possession, do you?
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Raymond Dabney : As a matter of fact, I had the offer of a job today.
Crystal Wetherby : That's nice. Who from?
Raymond Dabney : I think its a rather a good job, too. It's in America.
Crystal Wetherby : Oh, Mrs. Burn's, by any chance?
Raymond Dabney : No. Miss Burns.
Crystal Wetherby : Miss Burns! Well of all the cheek!
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Crystal Wetherby : Well it is just you and me and the flowers.
Raymond Dabney : And the trees.
Crystal Wetherby : And the bees.
Raymond Dabney : And the breeze.
Crystal Wetherby : And the birds.
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Raymond Dabney : What kind of contest was this? Bathing beauties?
Crystal Wetherby : Well, it was sort of intellectual. What do you mean bathing beauties?
Raymond Dabney : Are you intellectual too?
Crystal Wetherby : Well, I had to think of a slogan for canned fish.
Raymond Dabney : A slogan for canned fish? What did you think of?
Crystal Wetherby : Would you really like to know?
Raymond Dabney : Certainly!
Crystal Wetherby : If you can't fish, canned fish.
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Crystal Wetherby : What's your big idea?
Raymond Dabney : Simply this, I can't evaporate; but, I can cooperate - as part of my duties.
Crystal Wetherby : Well?
Raymond Dabney : I was thinking that I might butle for you.
Crystal Wetherby : Butle? Eh, what's butle?
Raymond Dabney : Well, that's the infinitive of butler. I butle. Thou butleist. He butles.
Crystal Wetherby : You mean you'd...
Raymond Dabney : Yes! I know something about wines and you saw this morning how I handle a tray. So, tonight I'll be the butler instead of the Sheriff's officer. What do you say?
Crystal Wetherby : What do I say? It's a grand idea!
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Raymond Dabney : Haven't we met somewhere before?
Crystal Wetherby : No, we have not.
Raymond Dabney : Very foolish of us, wasn't it?
Crystal Wetherby : That is a matter of opinion.
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Bobby at Crystal's House : He's only doing his duty, ma'am.
Raymond Dabney : Duty, ma'am.
Crystal Wetherby : Is it his duty to follow me all over the place?
Bobby at Crystal's House : I'm afraid it is. They're entirely within their rights.
Crystal Wetherby : Within th... well, I like that. Who do you think you are anyway?
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Raymond Dabney : Well, I have to see that you don't remove all the furniture during the night.
Crystal Wetherby : Oh, you read my mind.
Raymond Dabney : Heh, heh, heh. Now you read mine.
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Raymond Dabney : [bringing Crystal a breakfast tray, and wearing clodhopper boots and a too-small Alpine hat with a huge ostrich feather] As you see, though the late Mr. Wetherby's head was small, his feet were large.
Crystal Wetherby : Oh, is that so? Well, with you, it's just the other way around.
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Crystal Wetherby : No, all my real friends are as broke as I am, and my family's in Des Moines, Iowa. Uh, have you ever heard of Des Moines, Iowa?
Raymond Dabney : No. Nope, I haven't.
Crystal Wetherby : Well, that'll give you a rough idea of where it is.
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Raymond Dabney aka Ferguson : Heartbreaking farewell of two brothers. Passionate embrace in rose garden. English reserve broken by last minute emotions.
Claude Dabney : Balderdash! Balderdash!
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Crystal Wetherby : Well, Mr. Sheriff man.
Raymond Dabney aka Ferguson : Uh, Sheriff's officer, please.
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Claude Dabney : What could you say, what could you...
Raymond Dabney aka Ferguson : Well, I could easily tell her a few lies about you. I could say that you only pretended to be well off. That, uh, that you're nothing but a cheap fortune hunter. That you only wanted her money - that you don't have a penny of your own.
Claude Dabney : Do you insinuate that Crystal was marrying me for my money?
Raymond Dabney aka Ferguson : Well, what else would she marry you for?
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Crystal Wetherby : Well, good morning, Lloyd. Where have you been?
Raymond Dabney aka Ferguson : Oh, out in the garden chatting with a friendly worm.
Crystal Wetherby : How nice. You seem to know everyone.
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Raymond Dabney aka Ferguson : I was thinking that I might buttle for you.
Crystal Wetherby : Uh, buttle, uh, what's buttle?
Raymond Dabney aka Ferguson : Well, that's the, the uh, that's the infinitive of butler - I buttle, thou buttlest, he buttles.
[sic]
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Crystal Wetherby : Well, here's to my creditors.
Raymond Dabney aka Ferguson : May you never be able to pay them.