21 quotes
Struggling Between Love and Independence
Sam
Fran, my darling, you're not drifting away from me.
Fran
I hope not.
Sam
Oh, no. You and I, Fran, after all these years. All right, I'll give it up. I won't go home.
Fran
But, you've, you've got to go home. You've simply got to. I can't stand being torn like this any longer. Oh, I'm sorry for all the mean things I've said to you. But if you and I are gonna go on together, you've simply got to let me alone this summer. Oh, don't look so hurt, and please don't be angry. Oh, be as angry as you like, if it does any good! Remember, I, I did make a home for you once, and I'll do it again, only you've got to let me have my fling now! Because you're simply rushing at old age, Sam, and I'm not ready for that yet.
The Complexities of Travel and Home
Sam
You've lived abroad. What's it like?
Edith
That depends on what one's after, as you would say.
Sam
When a man has no more job and his wife wants a fling there are worse things than travel. It wouldn't do for me though. No, not long, it wouldn't. For a steady thing, give me America. For Americans, that is.
Edith
Drifting isn't nearly so pleasant as it looks.
Sam
Why don't you give it up?
Edith
One drifts for lack of a reason to do anything else.
Sam
Well, what do you want?
Edith
What do you suppose any lone woman wants?
Desire for Connection Amidst Uncertainty
Fran
Can't we stay and have our nightcap down here?
Capt. Lockert
Why not?
Fran
We can't go off and leave everything as perfect as this. That'd be ridiculous. I'd like to stay right here and see the dawn.
Capt. Lockert
You don't think he'll roar around the ship and shoot when he finds me here?
Fran
Who, Sam? Oh, no. No, he's got all the old-fashioned virtues, except jealousy.
Expression of Daily Affection
Sam Dodsworth
Did I remember to tell you today that I adore you?
Choosing Home and Connection Over Separation
Fran
Why don't you go home?
Sam
Without you?
Fran
Yeah. Get yourself a new lease on life and come back here and join me. Why don't ya?
Sam
I wouldn't want to go home without you.
Fran
I can see you're not enjoying yourself in Paris. I'm only thinking of your pleasure. If you've got a mind, you wouldn't ask me to leave. I just made nice friends.
Sam
I don't think they're so nice. I don't, and I don't see what you see in them.
Fran
They all belong to the smartest crowd in Paris.
Sam
You think the real thing in Paris would hang out with a couple of hicks like us? What else are we? I'm just an ordinary American businessman and I married the daughter of a Zenith brewer who's flying high these days.
Fran
I suppose you know what you mean by that.
Sam
Why won't you sit at a cafe with me?
Fran
Smart people don't.
Sam
I'm not smart.
Fran
I am.
Sam
You ought to be smart enough not to care what people think.
Reflections on Age and Youthfulness
Edith
I hadn't realized it was your birthday.
Fran
No? Wish I hadn't. No woman enjoys getting to be 35.
Edith
When you're my age, you look back on 35 as a most agreeable time of life.
Fran
I hope I look as young as you do when I'm your age.
Edith
You're almost sure to, my dear.
Clashing Views on Civilization and Acceptance
Fran
Oh, you're hopeless. You haven't the mistiest notion of civilization here.
Sam
Yeah, well, maybe I don't think so much of it, though. Maybe clean hospitals, concrete highways, and no soldiers along the Canadian border come near my idea of civilization. There are 20 million automobiles in America. Now, I've contributed something to every single one of them from my own personal civilization. And if that isn't more than knowing how to order dinner as your friend the madam...
Fran
You don't want to learn. I could teach you. I belong here. They accept me here.
Sam
Yeah? Well, I'm gonna get out of this town and back to doing something, and take you along.
Fran
Well, I'm not going, Sam.
Sam
Oh, yes, you are.
Fran
No, I'm not. I think you and I need a vacation from each other.
Sam
Well, I don't feel that way about it. I think I've been weak with you long enough.
Fran
Besides, I've rented a villa with Renee for the summer at Montreux on Lake Geneva in Switzerland. I've signed the lease.
Sam
Well, I think you might have told me.
Fran
I got my own money.
Expressions of Love and Commitment
Sam
Edith, I've spent six short weeks with you in this house, and I can't imagine ever being without you again.
Edith
I can't imagine being without you, either. I think I must love you a great deal.
Sam
God bless you for that.
Conflict Over Relationship Decisions
Sam
She's dropped the divorce. She's going home on the Rex day after tomorrow from Naples. I've got to go with her.
Edith
I won't let you.
Sam
What else can I do?
Edith
I won't let you go back to her.
Sam
I know this is a jolt. It's a jolt to me too.
Edith
I won't see you killed by her selfishness.
Sam
You don't understand. It'll be tough on her with all the talk there'll be.
Edith
I love you, and she doesn't. You're miserable with her.
Sam
I know.
Edith
A moment ago, you had the whole world in your hands. I won't let her take it away from you.
Sam
She's not taking it away.
Edith
You were a young man a minute ago. I know everything's starting again. You shriveled the same way, every letter you got from her.
Sam
I can't think.
Edith
You're wrong to go back...
Sam
Please, be fair. She's in a hole. She needs me.
Edith
She does not need you, and you might think of me.
Sam
I am thinking of you.
Edith
One word from her, and you trot back.
Sam
You've got to be patient with me.
Edith
What is this hold she has over you?
Sam
I've got to take care of her. A man's habits get pretty strong in 20 years. I'll go into town and make the reservations. It's giving you up that hurts.
Longing for a Life Beyond Zenith
Fran
Why, if we weren't tied to this half-baked Middle Western town...
Sam
Fran, don't start knocking Zenith.
Fran
Darling, I'm not knocking Zenith. But have you ever thought what Zenith means to me? You go down to the plant and deal in millions and have a marvelous time. I go down to the kitchen and order dinner. Then there's the ladies luncheon and bridge, always the same ladies. Then dinner... same people we dined with last week. After dinner, poker for the men and women for the women. There's talk of children and doctors and servants and the garden club...
Sam
Thought you liked the garden club.
Fran
I can't go on liking the same things forever and ever. Oh, Sammy darling, I want all the lovely things I've got a right to. In Europe, a woman of my age is just to the point where men begin to take a serious interest in her. I won't be put on the shelf for my daughter when I can still dance longer and better than she can. After all, I've got brains and, thank heavens, I've still got looks. Nobody takes me for over 32. 30 even. Oh Sammy, darling, I'm begging for life. No, I'm not. I'm demanding it.
Sam
I see how you feel. All right, I'll enjoy life now if it kills me, and it probably will.
Exploring the Boundaries of Marriage and Divorce
Sam
You want to divorce me then?
Fran
Why should I want to divorce you? You're my husband.
Sam
You couldn't very well divorce me if I weren't.
A Moment of Reflection Between Friends
Edith
Let's sit down, if you've got a moment.
Sam
Time is something I have nothing else but.
Edith
How's Mrs. Dodsworth? I remember her with much pleasure.
Sam
She's fine. I haven't got her along this trip.
Edith
She doesn't like traveling?
Sam
Does anyone? I expect most people travel to get away from themselves. I've been at it three months now. I'm glad to hear why.
Edith
Alone?
Sam
I'm getting used to it now. All museums look alike. All American Express offices look alike.
Edith
You knew I live here. You might've looked me up.
Sam
I've gotten out of the way of looking folks up.
Edith
The education, how's that coming along?
Sam
I gave it up. I found myself learning things I didn't want to learn.
Embracing Freedom in Retirement
Sam Dodsworth
I'm out to make a new life for myself. I'm out to learn how to enjoy my leisure, now I've retired. I've been doing things people expected of me always. I want to feel free. I want to sit under a linden tree with nothing more important to worry about than the temperature of the beer, if there is anything more important.
Desire for Freedom and New Beginnings
Fran
After 20 years of doing what was expected of us, we're free.
Sam
I'm just as keen on this trip as you are. I'm rarin to go. I've always wanted to see London and Paris.
Fran
I want much more than a trip out of this, Sam. I want a new life, all over from the very beginning. A perfectly glorious, free, adventurous life.
Exploring the World and Self-Discovery
Sam Dodsworth
I'm out to see the world I haven't seen and get a perspective on the USA. I might get to know myself at the same time. I might even get to know my wife.
The Challenge of Embracing Leisure in Retirement
Sam
She wants me to learn how to enjoy my leisure, now that I'm retired. But what it boils down to - well, I've been doing things myself for a long time now. I thought I'd give things a chance to do something to me.
Edith
The education of an American.
Sam
Yes, you might call it that.
Edith
How long have you given yourself?
Sam
Six months.
Edith
To get all that done?
Sam
Oh, I'll be homesick by then.
Misunderstandings in Social Expectations
Capt. Lockert
You're taking a wickedly unfair advantage of me. I only thought I was doing what was expected of me.
Fran
What I expected of you?
Capt. Lockert
Not you alone, Fran. There's a tradition about this sort of thing. I thought civilized people knew where an innocent flirtation stops. For a civilized woman who's been married as long as you have, you're making a great deal of a small matter.
Fran
It's not a small matter to me. I offer you my most abject apology.
Capt. Lockert
If I might offer you one small word of advice, give up starting things you're not prepared to finish. It's quite evident they only lead you out of your depth.
Fran
You think I'm not equal to your impudence? Look at the exhibition you're making of yourself.
Capt. Lockert
I? Any modern schoolgirl could compete with this situation. You've got the most childish misconception of yourself. You think you're a woman of the world, and you're nothing of the sort.
Struggles of Love and Commitment
Sam
Have things got this bad, Fran? I'm too tired to talk tonight. If things have got this bad, they've got to stop altogether. Now, I'm willing to do anything I can to make you happy. I love you. You know that. But if we're going on together, as you said to me back in Paris, I'm saying it now, if we are going on together, we've got to beat it right back home where we belong.
Fran
Is that your idea of making me happy?
Sam
I'm not taking any more chances on another Arnold Iselin. Oh, I know this friendship with Kurt is harmless enough, but you might get fascinated.
Fran
You think I might? You really think I might? Well, I love Kurt, and Kurt loves me, and I'm going to marry him. He asked me tonight...You've never known me. You've never known anything about me, not what I had on or thought or the sacrifices I've made....I'll be happy with Kurt. I'm fighting for life! You can't drag me back!
Sam
Will you get your divorce here?
Fran
Yes, I suppose so.
Sam
I wish you'd put it off for a couple of months.
Fran
Why?
Sam
I'd like you to feel sure of Kurt. That's all.
Fran
Well, it's my funeral now, isn't it?
Sam
Yes, I guess so. I'll have to get used to that idea. I guess I can.
Confrontation and Decision on B Deck
Fran
I do think you might meet me halfway. After all, as I look back, I don't blame myself. I can't really. You were a good deal at fault too.
Sam
Steward.
Steward
Yes, sir.
Sam
Take this check, go to suite seven on B deck...get the suitcase with that number on it and bring it here right away. I'm not sailing with you.
[to Fran]
Fran
You're not sailing?
Sam
No, I'm not. You and I can't make a go of things any longer.
Fran
This is the man I loved for 20 years.
Sam
This is the man who's loved you.
Sam
I'm not taking another chance, because I'm through, finished.
Fran
What's going to become of me?
Sam
You'll stop getting younger someday.
Fran
Are you going back to that washed-out expatriate in Naples?
Sam
Yes, and when I marry her, I'm going back to doing things.
Fran
Do you think you'll ever get me out of your blood?
Sam
Maybe not. But love has got to stop someplace short of suicide.
Steward
But the gentleman will miss the boat!
Fran
HE'S GONE ASHORE! HE'S GONE ASHORE!
Fear and Vulnerability in Relationships
Fran
You've got to take care of me. You really have, Sam. I don't trust myself. I'm afraid of myself.
Sam
You're afraid, sweetheart?
Fran
Yes, I am. I'm just a wooly American like you after all. If you ever catch me trying to be anything else, will you beat me?
Sam
Well, will I have to beat you very long at a time?
Fran
Oh, Sam, come in and finish your breakfast.
Reflections on Happiness and Age Differences
Baroness
Have you thought how little happiness there can be for the old wife of a young husband?