Tales of Manhattan (1942)

Henry Fonda: George

Photos 

Quotes 

• George : I know my own tailcoat, when I see it!

  Diane : Well, you didn't know it last night!

  George : Well, I wasn't exactly as sharp as a rowboat last night.

• Edgar : Remember, this is *his* tailcoat.

  George : My tailcoat is his tailcoat.

  Edgar : Correct!

  George : His tailcoat is my tailcoat.

  Edgar : And his letter...

  George : Is my letter. I don't understand any of it.

• Diane : I thought you were deem. Yes, that's the word, deem. I thought you stayed home at nights and solved chess problems. You know, maiden free and all that sort of thing. But, now!

  George : Now, you don't think I'm deem?

  Diane : I don't think you're deem. And there isn't any chess. And you certainly haven't any problems!

• Diane : Don't you roar? Like she says you do?

  George : Oh, that. Yes, naturally, a lion roars.

  Diane : George, will you roar now?

  George : No. I'm not in the mood.

  Diane : Aw, George, come on. Please, just for me!

  George : No. I feel silly.

  Diane : Aw, George.

  [caressing his face] 

  Diane : Please.

  George : Well - - eow.

  Diane : That's not a lion. It's a pekingese!

  George : Oh - ROAR! Oh, you're scared now, huh?

  Diane : I'm not scared. I mean - I mean - Aw, now, wait. Just a minute.

  [lifts up a chair and points it's legs to George] 

  Diane : Lions can be tamed, too. Go on back! Back! Come on, back. Back! Back, come on! Back! Back! Back! - Back. Down! Down! There, that's a good lion.

  George : Oh, we lions have our gentle moments. A lion shall lie down with a lamb and all that.

• Diane : Tell me George, what's she like?

  George : Well, she's - she's - she's lovely. You know, sitting there like that, you look a lot like her.

  Diane : I do?

  George : Yes! Same long lashes, same little nose, same sunlit hair, same laughing eyes.

• Diane : I don't write letters. I wish I did. It must be fun to write things like: Strange how you're giving me thoughts I've never had before. How being near you is not like being near anyone else.

  George : That's the best part of the letter.

  Diane : Huh? How knowing you - is different from knowing anyone else in the whole world. Is that right, George?

  George : It's perfect.

  Diane : I'm glad you like it.

• George : Would you like hear what I wrote her?

  Diane : Yes, I'd love to!

  George : Your voice is like a sunrise, like a garden in bloom, like a bird against the sky.

  Diane : Do more, George.

  George : Why don't you be kind and set me free. Or, why don't you be kinder and hold me forever and ever. - You don't mind my quoting that, do you?

  Diane : Oh, no! Of course not. It's wonderful.

• Diane : Brush your lips across my cheek, my dear.

  George : Is that from the letter?

  Diane : Oh, no. Out of my head. I just wanted to hear what it would sound like.

  George : It sounded wonderful. Let's see what this sounds like: I want more than anything in the world to hold you in my arms.

  Diane : Letter?

  George : No, head.

  Diane : There was darkness for a long, long time. And suddenly the light came - and the light was you.

  George : Letter?

  Diane : Head.

  George : Darling, now and from the beginning. Head, Diane.

  Diane : These moments we have - are ours forever.

  George : Letter?

  [Diane shakes her head no] 

  George : These moments we have...

  Diane : Head?

  George : Heart.

  [kiss] 

• Diane : George, how do people know when they're really in love?

  George : Well, first I guess they find out they like to be together and then they find out they kind of think the same things and, I guess after awhile, they get so they even - say the same things, at the same time.

  Diane : And that's the way you know?

  George : Well, I'm just guessing.

  Diane : Well, your guess would be my guess too.

  Diane , George : It must be wonderful when it happens -

  [look at each other] 

  Diane , George : - like that.

• Harry Wilson : I'm sorry, Diane. But, I kinda put George on the spot. You see, his tailcoat really isn't my tailcoat, it's his tailcoat.

  George : No, it's not really my tailcoat, it's Edgar's tailcoat.

  Edgar : It's not really my tailcoat. It's Luther's tailcoat. No, no, it's not Luther's tailcoat, it's Mr. Orman's tailcoat and he's in the hospital.

  Harry Wilson : You see, my tailcoat...

  Diane : Just a minute, I think it's better if nobody explains anything to anybody.