Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Charles Chaplin: Henri Verdoux - Alias Varnay - Alias Bonheur - Alias Floray
Photos
Quotes
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Henri Verdoux : Wars, conflict - it's all business. One murder makes a villain; millions, a hero. Numbers sanctify, my good fellow!
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Henri Verdoux : It's the approach of death that terrifies.
The Girl : I suppose, if the unborn knew of the approach of life, they'd be just as terrified.
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Priest : May the Lord have mercy on your soul.
Henri Verdoux : Why not? After all, it belongs to Him.
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Henri Verdoux : This is a ruthless world and one must be ruthless to cope with it.
The Girl : That isn't true. It's a blundering world and a very sad one, yet a little kindness can make it beautiful.
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Henri Verdoux : I have made my peace with God, my conflict is with man.
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Prosecutor : Never, never in the history of jurisprudence have such terrifying deeds been brought to light. Gentlemen of the jury, you have before you a cruel and cynical monster. Look at him!
[all heads turn to face Verdoux, who turns around himself to look behind]
Prosecutor : Observe him, gentlemen. This man, who has brains, if he had decent instincts, could have made an honest living. And yet, he preferred to rob and murder unsuspecting women. In fact, he made a business of it. I do not ask for vengeance, but for the protection of society. For this mass killer, I demand the extreme penalty: that he be put to death on the guillotine. The State rests its case.
Judge : Monsieur Verdoux, you have been found guilty. Have you anything to say before sentence is passed upon you?
Henri Verdoux : Oui, monsieur, I have. However remiss the prosecutor has been in complimenting me, he at least admits that I have brains. Thank you, Monsieur, I have. And for thirty-five years I used them honestly. After that, nobody wanted them. So I was forced to go into business for myself. As for being a mass killer, does not the world encourage it? Is it not building weapons of destruction for the sole purpose of mass killing? Has it not blown unsuspecting women and little children to pieces? And done it very scientifically? As a mass killer, I am an amateur by comparison. However, I do not wish to lose my temper, because very shortly, I shall lose my head. Nevertheless, upon leaving this spark of earthly existence, I have this to say: I shall see you all... very soon... very soon.
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The Girl : Yet life is wonderful.
Henri Verdoux : What's wonderful about it?
The Girl : Everything. A spring morning, a summer's night, music, art, love...
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Reporter : You'll have to admit, crime doesn't pay, does it?
Henri Verdoux : No, sir. Not in a small way.
Reporter : What do you mean?
Henri Verdoux : To be successful in anything, one must be well-organized.
Reporter : You're not leaving the world with that cynical remark?
Henri Verdoux : To be idealistic in this moment would be incongruous, don't you think?
Reporter : What's all this talk about good and evil?
Henri Verdoux : Arbitrary forces, my good fellow. Too much of either will destroy us all.
Reporter : We can never have too much good in the world.
Henri Verdoux : Trouble is, we've never had enough. We don't know.
Reporter : Listen, Verdoux, I've been your friend all through the trial. Now, give me a break, a story with a moral to it! You, the tragic example of a life of crime.
Henri Verdoux : I don't see how anyone can be an example in these criminal times.
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Henri Verdoux : Despair is a narcotic. It lulls the mind into indifference.
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Henri Verdoux : Business is a ruthless business, my dear.
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Henri Verdoux : This is a ruthless world and one must be ruthless to cope with it.
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Henri Verdoux : [indicating her fancy, chauffeured automobile] But you and, uh, all this, uh... What happened?
The Girl : Oh, the old story: "From rags to riches." After I saw you, my luck changed. I met a munitions manufacturer.
Henri Verdoux : Ah! That's the business *I* should have been in.
The Girl : Yes. It'll be paying big dividends soon.
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The Girl : Well, if you must know, I'm just out of jail.
Henri Verdoux : What were you in for?
The Girl : What's the difference? "Larceny," they called it.
Henri Verdoux : "Larceny"?
The Girl : Petty larceny... Pawning a rented typewriter.
Henri Verdoux : Dear, dear. Couldn't you do better than that? What did you get?
The Girl : Three months.
Henri Verdoux : So this is your first day out of jail?
The Girl : Yes.
Henri Verdoux : I see... Poor dear. Ah, well, nothing is permanent in this wicked world. Not even our troubles.
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Henri Verdoux : It's the approach of death that terrifies.
The Girl : I suppose if the unborn knew of the approach of life, they'd be just as terrified.
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The Girl : It's nice seeing you again, You'll never realise what your kindness meant to me.
Henri Verdoux : Kindness is a convenient thing at times, My dear.
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Henri Verdoux : [the priest visits Verdoux in his jail cell, shortly before execution] Ah, Father. And what can I do for you?
Priest : Nothing, my son. I want to help you, if I can. I've come to ask you to make your peace with God.
Henri Verdoux : I *am* at peace with God. My conflict is with Man.
Priest : Have you no remorse for your sin?
Henri Verdoux : Who knows what sin is? Born as it was from God's fallen angel. Who knows the ultimate destiny it serves? After all, what would you be doing without sin?
Priest : Exactly what I'm doing now, my son: trying to help a lost soul in distress.
Priest : [clanking noises are heard] They're coming. Let me pray for you.
Henri Verdoux : As you wish. But I don't think these gentlemen want to be kept waiting.
Priest : May the Lord have mercy on your soul.
Henri Verdoux : Why not? After all, it belongs to him.
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Henri Verdoux : Everyone needs love.
The Girl : Something's happened. You seem to have lost your zest for bitterness.
Henri Verdoux : Perhaps I have no more use for it since I've given up the fight.
The Girl : There's always something to fight for.
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Henri Verdoux : [after almost getting drowned] Where's my hat?
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The Girl : You don't like women, do you?
Henri Verdoux : On the contrary, I love women. But I don't admire them.
The Girl : Why?
Henri Verdoux : Women are of the earth. Realistic. Dominated by physical facts.
The Girl : What nonsense!
Henri Verdoux : Once a woman betrays a man, she despises him. In spite of his goodness and position, she will give him up for someone inferior. That someone is more, shall we say, "attractive."
The Girl : How little you know about women!
Henri Verdoux : [coyly] You'd be surprised.
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Henri Verdoux : When the world looks grim and dark, I think of another world.
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Henri Verdoux : I suppose that's one of the ironies of life: Doing the wrong thing at the right moment.
Marie Grosnay : Or, shall we say, the right thing at the wrong moment.
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The Girl : Must you know the reason for everything?
Henri Verdoux : It might help a little if we did.
The Girl : Life is beyond reason. That's why we must go on - if its only to fulfill your destiny.
Henri Verdoux : [chuckles] My destiny.
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[first lines]
Henri Verdoux : [voice over] Good evening. As you see, my real name is Henri Verdoux. And for thirty years I was an honest bank clerk, until the Depression of 1930, in which year I found myself unemployed. It was then I became occupied in liquidating members of the opposite sex.
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Henri Verdoux : [quizzing The Girl on her marriage] Tell me about him.
The Girl : That's a long story. He was wounded in the war. A hopeless invalid.
Henri Verdoux : An invalid?
The Girl : That's why I loved him. He needed me, depended on me. He was like a child. But he was more than a child to me. He was a religion, my very breath. I'd have killed for him. No, love is something very real and deep. I know that. However...
[reaches for the glass of wine]
Henri Verdoux : Pardon me, I believe there's a little cork in that wine.
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Henri Verdoux : Love?
The Girl : There is such a thing. I was in love once.
Henri Verdoux : You mean you were physically attracted by someone.
The Girl : It was more than that.
Henri Verdoux : I suppose women are capable of something more.
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The Girl : That isn't love.
Henri Verdoux : What is love?
The Girl : Giving, sacrificing. The same thing a mother feels for her child.
Henri Verdoux : Did you love that way?
The Girl : Yes.
Henri Verdoux : Whom?
The Girl : My husband.
Henri Verdoux : [stunned] You're married?
The Girl : I was. He died while I was in jail.
Henri Verdoux : [relieved] I see.
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Henri Verdoux : You'd better go before your philosophy corrupts me. You can go out this way.
The Girl : Good night and thank you.
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Henri Verdoux : [pressing some franc notes into her hand] Come, it's very late and you're tired. Here, this will tide you over for a day or so. Good luck.
The Girl : Thank you. Oh, this is too much!
Henri Verdoux : [he fetches her coat as she breaks down weeping over his generosity]
The Girl : Silly carrying on this way. I was beginning to lose faith in everything. Then this happens and you want to believe all over again.
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Henri Verdoux : [to his son] Peter, don't pull the cat's tail. You have a cruel streak in you. I don't know where you get it.
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Henri Verdoux : These are desperate days, my dear. Millions starving and unemployed.
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The Girl : However, tell me about yourself!
Henri Verdoux : I much prefer to talk about something pleasant.
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Henri Verdoux : A dreamer. It's in your eyes. Deep pools of desire, that can never be fulfilled or understood.
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Henri Verdoux : You better go before your philosophy corrupts me.
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Marie Grosnay : Why, you hardly know me.
Henri Verdoux : I've always known you. From the moment we met, I knew there was a wordless understanding between us. It was in your eyes, Madame. They are beautiful. Like the luminous of distant stars. I often wonder, who are you in the dark?
Marie Grosnay : I don't quite understand.
Henri Verdoux : I can't express it in words. Only a symphony could say it. Music of the spheres.
Marie Grosnay : My dear, I'm not as ethereal as all that.
Henri Verdoux : Your everything. Saint, sinner, snake and gazelle, all in one. I can't forget you.
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Annabella Bonheur : Oh, those dirty crooks! If they double-crossed me, I'll...
Henri Verdoux : I'll tell you if you were double-crossed or not. Hmm. Just as I thought. Phony. Fake!
Annabella Bonheur : What?
Henri Verdoux : Glass, you silly ass! Glass.
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Jean La Salle : How do you feel?
Henri Verdoux : Oh, very abstract. Very abstract.
Jean La Salle : Pull yourself together old man. Remember, the worst is yet to come.
Henri Verdoux : That's true. Oh, what am I saying? It seems to be my day of faux pas.
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Marie Grosnay : Now that Yvonne's gone, I'm a little afraid of you.
Henri Verdoux : Afraid? Why?
Marie Grosnay : You know what happened the last time we were alone.
Henri Verdoux : I'm sorry. I - I allowed my emotions to get the better of me. I promise you, it will *never* occur again.
Marie Grosnay : Oh, don't say that.
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Henri Verdoux : What book is that you're reading?
The Girl : Schopenhauer.
Henri Verdoux : Do you like him?
The Girl : So so.
Henri Verdoux : Have you read his treatise on suicide?
The Girl : Wouldn't interest me.
Henri Verdoux : Not if the end could be simple? Say, for instance, you went to sleep, and without any thought of death there was a sudden stoppage. Wouldn't you prefer it to this drab existence?
The Girl : I wonder.
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Henri Verdoux : Now tell me the truth: you're just out of hospital or a jail. Which is it?
The Girl : What do you want to know for?
Henri Verdoux : Because I want to help you.
The Girl : Philanthropist, huh?
Henri Verdoux : Precisely. And I ask nothing in return.
The Girl : [dismissively] What is this, the Salvation Army?
Henri Verdoux : [shrugs] Very well, if that's the way you feel, you're at liberty to go on your way.
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Henri Verdoux : Ah, you're tired. So immediately after supper I shall take you to your hotel.
The Girl : You're very kind. I don't understand why you're doing all this for me.
Henri Verdoux : Why not? Is a little kindness such a rare thing?
The Girl : I was beginning to think it was.
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Henri Verdoux : [removing her overcoat] What's that?
The Girl : [revealing what was under the coat] Kitten. Poor little thing. I picked it up in the doorway.
Henri Verdoux : You like cats, huh?
The Girl : Not particularly, but it was all wet and cold. I don't suppose you have a little milk you could give it?
Henri Verdoux : On the contrary, I have. You see, the prospects are not as gloomy as you think.
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The Girl : Do I sound that pessimistic?
Henri Verdoux : You do, but I don't think you are.
The Girl : Why?
Henri Verdoux : To be out on a night like this, you're an optimist.
The Girl : An optimist? I'm anything but that.
Henri Verdoux : Up against it, eh?
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Henri Verdoux : What difference does age make?
Marie Grosnay : A great deal to a woman.
Henri Verdoux : I venture to say that you were never as attractive as you are now.
Marie Grosnay : You're very kind.
Henri Verdoux : On the contrary, I'm very frank. No doubt, you were extremely beautiful as a young girl; but, your youth could never compete with your age now. Your - ripeness. Your luxuriousness.
