- Carol Sayre: Did you realize at the time what a bad actor you were?
- Thornton Sayre: My child, at the time those films were made, I was recognized as one of the few real talents in Hollywood. Furthermore, I ranked second in a nationwide popularity poll.
- Carol Sayre: Who was first?
- Thornton Sayre: Some stupid police dog. I've forgotten his name. But I'll have you know that my salary was three times more than his.
- Thornton Sayre: Apparently, my tired Juliet, your opinion of my acting ability is not shared by Hollywood. I have here a contract awaiting my signature, the terms of which would turn your green eyes red with envy.
- Gloria Marlowe: And, what were you when I co-starred you in my pictures? An obscure ham, riding on my ability, and you knew it. That's why you quit Hollywood before you were thrown out.
- Thornton Sayre: There's one little mistake, my dear. I quit Hollywood before you were thrown out.
- Dr. Mathilda Coffey: Stay where you are. Don't come one step nearer.
- Thornton Sayre: But I haven't moved. It was you who followed me in here.
- Dr. Mathilda Coffey: I have to find out the truth about you, no matter what may happen to me.
- Gloria Marlowe: And why do you think you were so popular in those films on television? Because I made you a star again. By deceiving all of those nice little women into believing that you were the greatest lover since Casanova. Ho, ho, ho, what a laugh. You've got a heart as cold as a frozen halibut. And, you couldn't act your way out of a wet paper bag.
- Gloria Marlowe: What? You making pictures in Hollywood today?
- Thornton Sayre: Why not? Hollywood learned to talk after you left. There's an increasing demand for people with something to say.
- Carol Sayre: Are you sure those pictures were meant to be shown to the public?
- Thornton Sayre: Times and moral standards have changed, my child.
- Dr. Mathilda Coffey: You know, Thornton, I've liked you ever since you first came here. I've liked you very much.
- Thornton Sayre: Uh, thank you, doctor. I've admired you too. You're a very brilliant person.
- Dr. Mathilda Coffey: But has it ever occurred to you that I'm also a woman?
- Thornton Sayre: [as she presses toward him] Yes. Right now as a matter of fact.
- Gloria Marlowe: What were you when I found you on that California campus? A third-rate professor with a fourth-rate future.
- Thornton Sayre: Discovered by a fifth-rate actress with a mentality that defies classification.
- Carol Sayre: That waitress--the way she reacted to your kiss, I .. I felt as though I was peeking through a keyhole.
- Thornton Sayre: Naturally. Those pictures were designed to capitalize on the vicarious cravings of middle-aged glandular cases.
- [Reading aloud]
- Denham: Ham. To be or not to be...
- Thornton Sayre: Denham, the word "Ham" is not to be read; neither as part of the soliloquy nor as a self-condemnation of your own performance. It is an abbreviation of "Hamlet," the character who is speaking.
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