The Big Combo (1955)
Richard Conte: Mr. Brown
Photos
Quotes
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Mr. Brown : So you lost. Next time you'll win. I'll show you how. Take a look at Joe McClure here. He used to be my boss, now I'm his. What's the difference between me and him? We breathe the same air, sleep in the same hotel. He used to own it!
[yelling into McClure's sound magnifier that is in his ear]
Mr. Brown : Now it belongs to me. We eat the same steaks, drink the same bourbon. Look, same manicure,
[lifting and pointing at McClure's hand]
Mr. Brown : same cufflinks. But there's only one difference. We don't get the same girls. Why? Because women know the difference. They got instinct. First is first, and second is nobody.
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Leonard Diamond : She's under arrest, Mr. Brown.
Mr. Brown : What's the charge?
Leonard Diamond : Homicide.
Mr. Brown : That's ridiculous, she wouldn't kill a fly.
Leonard Diamond : She tried to kill herself
Mr. Brown : Is that a crime?
Leonard Diamond : It happens to be against two laws: God's and Man's. I'm booking her under the second.
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Mr. Brown : I'm gonna give you a break. I'm gonna fix it, so you don't hear the bullets.
[Removes a character's hearing aid]
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Mr. Brown : Diamond, the only trouble with you is, you'd like to be me. You'd like to have my organization, my influence, my fix. You can't, it's impossible. You think it's money. It's not. It's personality. You haven't got it. You're a cop. Slow. Steady. Intelligent. With a bad temper and a gun under your arm. With a big yen for a girl you can't have. First is first and second is nobody.
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Mr. Brown : Now, Benny, who runs the world? Do you have any idea?
Bennie Smith : Not me, Mr. Brown.
Mr. Brown : That's right, not you, but a funny thing, they're not so much different from you, but they've got something. They've got it, and they use it. I've got it;
[pointing to McClure]
Mr. Brown : he hasn't. What is it, Benny? What makes the difference...? Hate! Hate is the word, Benny! Hate the man that tries to beat you. Kill 'em, Benny! Kill 'em! Hate him till you see red, and you'll come out winning the big money, and the girls will come tumblin' after. You'll have to shut off the phone and lock the door to get a night's rest.
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Mr. Brown : Joe, tell the man I'm gonna break him so fast, he won't have time to change his pants. Tell him the next time I see him, he'll be in the lobby of the hotel, crying like a baby and asking for a ten dollar loan. Tell him that. And tell him I don't break my word.
Leonard Diamond : You must have done something pretty fine to get as high as you are, Mr. Brown. I'm looking into that. I'm gonna open you up, and I'm gonna operate. I hate to think of what I'll find.
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Mr. Brown : Where'd you get that outfit?
Susan Lowell : What's wrong with it?
Mr. Brown : I like you better in white. You've got a dozen white dresses. Why don't you wear them?
Susan Lowell : White doesn't please me anymore.
Mr. Brown : A woman dresses for a man. You dress for me. Go put on something white!
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Mr. Brown : Book me, Small Change.
Leonard Diamond : Alright, take him out, Sam.
Sam Hill : To the bullpen?
Leonard Diamond : No, back to the gutter.
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Joe McClure : Mr. Brown is a very reasonable man. You don't know him.
Leonard Diamond : Oh, is he? Well I'm not. I intend to make life very difficult for your Mr. Brown.
Joe McClure : You shouldn't talk like that, Lieutenant. You're overstepping your authority.
Mr. Brown : Joe, the man has reason to hate me. His salary is $96.50 a week. The busboys in my hotel make better money than that. Don't you see, Joe? He's a righteous man.
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Mr. Brown : Why did you do it, Joe?
Joe McClure : I told you, he pulled a gun on me.
Mr. Brown : I'm trying to run an impersonal business. Killing is very personal. Once it gets started, it's hard to stop.
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Joe McClure : I guess I'm getting too old to handle a gun.
Mr. Brown : Yeah, maybe you're just getting too old, Joe.
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Mr. Brown : If they take you to police headquarters, shoot yourself in the head. It'll make everything a lot simpler.
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Leonard Diamond : I'll wait until I can put you on trial for murder.
Mr. Brown : Whose murder, Lieutenant?
Leonard Diamond : Mine, if necessary.
Mr. Brown : Don't push too hard.
Leonard Diamond : It's my sworn duty to push too hard.
Mr. Brown : Diamond, the only trouble with you is, you'd like to be me. You'd like to have my organization, my influence, my fix. You can't. It's impossible. You think it's money, it's not. It's personality. You haven't got it, Lieutenant, you're a cop. Slow, steady, intelligent, with a bad temper, and a gun under your arm. And with a big yen for a girl you can't have. First is first, and second is nobody.
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Joe McClure : He pulled a gun on me. What did you want me to do?
Mr. Brown : With your kind of brain, there's nothing else you could do.
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Mr. Brown : [Joe considers shooting Brown before handing him his gun] See what I mean, Joe? Two seconds ago you had this gun in your hand. We're all alone here. The thought of using it flashed through your mind. But you couldn't. But you didn't hesitate to use it on Dreyer. Why? Because he was a little man, Joe, like you, a little man. You've got a soft job and good pay. Stop thinking about what might've been. And who knows? You may live to die in bed.
