Film Quotes by Charles Laughton

Dr. Harvey: Jonathan I have a very pleasant surprise for you!
Jonathan Reynolds: How long will you be gone?

Leonard Vole: But this is England, where I thought you never arrest, let alone convict, people for crimes they have not committed.
Sir Wilfrid: We try not to make a habit of it.

Anthony Keane, Counsel for the Defense: Does the name of Margaret Wells convey anything to you?
Andre Latour, Paradine's Valet: [hesitating] Yes, sir.
Anthony Keane, Counsel for the Defense: What does that name convey to you?
[Latour doesn't respond]
Anthony Keane, Counsel for the Defense: Well, I must try to help your memory. I put it to you that some years ago you were engaged to Margaret Wells of Three Rivers, Quebec; that on your wedding day she left you at the church door and went off with a saddler named Richard Truton.
Andre Latour, Paradine's Valet: That is finished! That is in the past!
Judge Lord Thomas Horfield: Your question may be relevant, Mr Keane; its relevance escapes me.
Anthony Keane, Counsel for the Defense: M'lord, I submit that the witness has shown, in his evidence and also in his behavior, an almost pathological bias against, not only my client, but against all women.
Judge Lord Thomas Horfield: I may be stupid, but I fail to understand what this jilting has to do with the case; after seeing the witness and observing his appearance and bearing, I should be inclined to regard the young lady's conduct as pathological, not his.

Anne Boleyn: [referring to her involvement in little Elizabeth's birth] But Henry, didn't I have a hand in it?
King Henry VIII: Of course.
[smiles wickedly at Anne]
King Henry VIII: But I gave you the idea.
[laughter from Anne and the courtiers]

Orange Povey: You cold-gutted shark.
Capt. William Kidd: Ahh!... You're a flatterer.

Adam Mercy: May it please your Majesty, I accuse this man of piracy and murder!
Capt. William Kidd: Was ever a gentleman so misfortunate?
King William III: Lock him up in Newgate. He's to be held for the next session of the Court of Oyez and Terminer - there to be tried for his life.
[the palace guards grab Captain Kidd]
Capt. William Kidd: Hands off me, you scum! All I done was for the credit and for the honor and glory of England!

Albert Lory: Well, the truth is I wanted to kill George Lambert, but I don't think I could have done it. I'm too weak. I'm a coward. Well, everyone knows it; even the prosecutor. That's why he's making fun of me.

Capt. Bonney: If I weren't a pirate I'd cry.

Capt. William Kidd: Are we such callous rascals that we'd leave a dead comrade without commending his soul to his new master?
[the pirates gather around the dead man]
Capt. William Kidd: Here lieth one who through treachery and avarice would ahve placed in jeopardy the lives of honest men. And here may he lie forever in the sands of Madagascar. Rest in peace.

Capt. William Kidd: But however we do it, it must be legal-like and honest.
Cyprian Boyle: Stick to ways you're familiar with.
Capt. William Kidd: Why, you pox-raddled villain, I can be as honest as any man if I have the incentive!