There are some gems of such great comical attire within this movie. My particular favourite is this one:
Van Skyler: You French upstart!
Poirot: Belgian upstart, please Madam.
I just find it funny the way he says it!
What are your favourites?
(And yes, I know there are not that many, but, it nice to remember.)
Well mine would be Jackie and Simon before the shooting...
Jackie: Salame? Didn't she have some fellows head cut off? Should happen to someone else I know, haha...
Simon: Don't you think have had enough?
J: Enough what?
S: To drink.
J: To drink! What business is it of yours?!
S: None, I suppose.
J: Damn right,... what's the matter Simon? Afraid?
S: Afraid of what?
J: Afraid,... tell this charming young woman the story of my life.
I really must be going...
J: Oh, no wait! It's a very sad tale, a three hankey story if you're easily moved.
S: For god's sake Jackie...
J: What?!
(best part)
S: Go to bed and stop making a fool of yourself!
J: Oh, Simon says I'm making a fool of myself, Simon says go to bed. Bed,... You make me sick!
S: GO TO BED!
J: YOU CAN'T TREAT ME LIKE THIS! *smashes glass on floor*
S: NOW LOOK JACKIE...
J: I'LL KILL YOU FIRST!
S: JACKIE!
*Jackie fires a shot*
S: ARGH!
Love it ever since the age of twelve, used to know the entire Poirot monologue too, but have forgotten that one by now.
I also like this one:
Jackie (to Hercule Poirot): You must be mad!
I recall Poirot said something in reply, can't remember what, though.
Oh, and this:
Mrs. Otterbourne: Barkeep, this crocodile's lost it's croc!
"Bleep...bleep...bleep...You have 500 new messages." (Dialtone)
Tipsy Mrs. Otterbourne (the divine Angela Lansbury): You musht be the Famuose French Sloot Hercules Poridge.
shareThe best bit in the TV remake has Frances de la Tour as Mrs Otterbourne, worried about falling into the Nile:
"Wouldn't it be dreadful, Mister Poirot, to be nibbled by haddock?!"
I laughed so much that I had to rewind and watch it all over again.
Yeah, Angela Lansbury was GREAT. I loved the scene at the hotel when she talks poor David Niven into dancing (Poirot has wisely chosen to ask Miss Rosalee instead of her). When they walk towards the dance floor, take a close look at David Niven's facial expression - absolutely priceless! And of course the way they do the tango, OMG! LOL.
DOTN is really an all-time classic, packed with monster actors, and almost all of them prove their great sense of humor.
Tipsy Mrs. Otterbourne (the divine Angela Lansbury): You musht be the Famuose French Sloot Hercules Poridge.
But Poirot's comeback is priceless - "Belgian SLOOT!"
I like the silly rhymes, such as vicar/liquor, that Jacqueline "drunkenly" recites before "shooting" Simon. They aren't in the novel. Can anyone post them, and/or tell me where they are from?
shareIf the clergyman's daughter drinks nothing but water, she's certain to finish on gin.
If the aunt of the vicar has never touched liquor, just wait till she finds the champagne.
If the wife of a divine has never touched wine, you can bet she'll end up with the scotch.
Thanks very much indeed, blue!
shareYou have all missed my absolute favorite line, delivered by Bette Davis (natch):
Mrs. van Schuyler (referring to Bowers) "The ROASTING afternoon sun may do wonders for those jaundiced jowls of hers."
Manager of the Karnak: "We have found it! We have found it! Oh goody goody! Oh goody goody gumdrops!"
I always laugh at that line.
i stopped the movie to write those down! they were one of my favorite parts, even though they were not in the book, when i saw it at the theatre when it came out.
shareThey are the end couplets of each verse in Rudyard Kipling's The Sons Of The Suburbs.
shareBravo!
http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poems_suburbs.htm
_______________________
What in the wide, wide world of sports is a-goin' on here?
James Ferguson: You damned froggy eavesdropper!
Hercule Poirot: Belgian! Belgian eavesdropper if you please.
Madame Van Schuyler: You perfectly foul French upstart!!!
Hercule Poirot: Belgian upstart Madam.
The last line of the movie would just have to be the best, and the most poignant.
When Poirot quotes from Moliere:
"La grande ambition des femmes doit inspirer l'amour."
"The great ambition of women is to inspire love."
The Jackal
Yes, I like that one too. Especially the background music following and Niven's expression.
shareMy favorite line comes when Salome Otterbourne (Lansbury), who is in a drunken stupor, and Poirot (Ustinov) are leaving the salon. Poirot says something like, "Madame, that is the river!" The shot if from the salon.
You don't see them as they go out on deck, you only hear Poirot. It's a riot. I like, "This crocodile has lost its croc." too.
The manager of the Karnak had some wonderful lines.
"Never before have I encountered such a serpent in a first-class compartment."
"I grovel with mortification!"
His acting and expressions were great.
-bb
I loved Angela Lansbury in this film as the tipsy middle-aged author Salome Otterbourne. Especially the scene where she does the tango with David Niven.
My favourite exchanges came between Bette Davis as the bossy invalid Mrs Van Schuyler and the wonderful Maggie Smith as her nurse:
Mrs Van Schuyler: "This place is beginning to resemble a mortuary!"
Bowers: "Thank God you'll be in one before too long, you bloody old fossil!".
Maggie Smith as Bowers, to Mrs. Van Schuyler:
Are you looking at her picture, or at her pearls...?
Her voice as she says those words - priceless
The Dr.Bessner lines are pretty fun too;
"What? Are you scared of a little blood, like a young Maedchen?!"
"Well mein Herr, at least you can not suspect me! hohoho..."
"Oh, why not? You had a very good reason to kill her as I discovered last night..."
"That's pretty interesting doctor, are you sure that none of yours are missing?"
"What?? Now you think that I, Ludwig Bessner, have killed this miserable little femme da chambre?!"
"unanwendbar..."
"Un-anwendbar? Me?! Hohohoh. I have testified in some of the most complex psychological cases of the century! My testimony was used at Stuzarbutel" *Stuzarbutel* "...and saved Schatzarbutel from execution...ja... heheh"
"I must warn you, mademoiselle: Do not allow evil into your heart, it will make a home there."
If anyone has a copy of the novel, would you mind telling me what the actual line is from the book?
Main Hoon Kaun? - Diwali 2006share
@sposocke
I agree with you, about the "Unanwendbar" part. Funny as hell
But the name was not "Stuzarbutel".
It was "STUTZRUMPEL !!
What is, even in german, a very funny Name.
I also like the expression on Ustinovs Face as he repeat the name "Sutzrumpel"
@d-udo
Yea, it's great. Although I never quite understood the name, was always inaudible to me. I do speak German but have never heard of such a ridiculous name tbh. Closest thing I can think of is 'Rumpelstielzchen' which is part of a German fairy tale, but not a common name as such. Netherless, it's real funny how Dr. Bessner constantly gets enraged when he gets mocked. I really like his character and feel sorry for him when everyone enters the dining room after Louise has been killed and no one will sit at his table. He's an intelligent fellow, pretty open-minded (as his comments on 'Das Kapital' suggest) and he'd probably make good and interesting discussion over dinner. :)
@NY82 or so, can't see name now sry.
I'm a guy but there is indeed some truth in that quote from Maggie Smith.
It's "Audubon" guys,like the bird expert; not "Otterbourne".
shareJon Finch (Jim Ferguson) and Jack Warden (Bessner) in the ballroom.
Bessner: This chair is free, heh?
Jim: In this world nothing's free, Comrade.
To me, Angela Lansbury is the jem of this piece. But, it is Maggie Smith, who utters my favorite line.
Miss Bowers: It has been my experiance that men are least attracted to women who treat them well.
How true, Dame Maggie, how true.
MTP
How about this gem, which truly made me a Maggie Smith fan:
Van Schuyler: Shut up, Bowers. Just because you've got a grudge against [Lynette], or rather her father, no need to be uncivil.
Bowers: GRUDGE?? Melhouish (sp?) Ridgeway ruined my family!
VS: Well, you should be grateful. If he hadn't, you would have missed out on the pleasure of working for me.
Bowers: I could kill her on that score alone!
Meow!
How about one of Chudowry's first lines: "What a brilliant lack of complication".
"Please point that giraffe in another direction so we can get back to a pretty normal dialogue!"