- Prof. Henry Jarrod: Once in his lifetime, every artist feels the hand of God, and creates something that comes alive.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: I'm afraid that the visit of a such distinguished critic may cause my children to become conceited. To you they are wax, but to me, their creator, they live and breathe.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: Here we have two great lovers from the past. Cleopatra Queen of Egypt and Marc Antony, their last meeting. You'll recall that Antony, believing Cleopatra to be dead, killed himself with his own sword. When Cleopatra discovered what had happened, she quickly followed her lover.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: Here's President Lincoln and his assassin John Wilkes Booth. One of my few concessions to the macabre.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: Everything I ever loved has been taken away from me, but not you, my Marie Antoinette, for I will give you eternal life.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: I'm rebuilding my exhibition from the ground up. I'm going to give the people what they want. Sensation. Horror. Shock. Send them out in the streets to tell their friends how wonderful it is to be scared to death.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: People say they can see my Marie Antoinette breathe; that her breast rises and falls. Look at her eyes. They follow you where ever you go. She's very real to me.
- Bruce Allison: You know her eyes do follow you.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: They're made of glass, more's the pity, the exact size and color of the original. They're inserted into the sockets from inside by way of the hollow neck before the head is attached to the body.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: [speaking to the figure of Marie Antoinette] Forgive me, my dear, for discussing your intimate secrets.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: [to the men accompanying him] Oh, I'm sorry. I lose myself at times.
- Sidney Wallace: Professor, if people knew what you have inside these walls, you couldn't accomodate the crowds. What you need here is exploitation - more advertising.
- Bruce Allison: Thats exactly what I've been telling him.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: Oh, my partner wouldn't agree. He's not happy here. He wants to invest in something else. Mr. Wallace, would you care to become a partner in this venture? Would you buy him out?
- Sidney Wallace: You know, I might take you up on that offer, if my lawyers approve and the price is right.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: With your support I could do wonders. I'd make any sacrifice.
- Sidney Wallace: Unfortunately, I'm leaving this weekend for Egypt. I'm financing some excavations there. However, I'll be back in three months - then I'll be glad to discuss the deal.
- Cathy Gray: [Sue is helping Cathy with her corset] Pull it tighter Sue. Pull it tighter! I want a waist like Anna Held's.
- Sue Allen: If I pull it any tighter you're not going to be able to breathe.
- Cathy Gray: Oh. Oh, that's alright, I don't need much breath anyway. As my late friend Matty used to say, "If a girl don't watch her figure, the men won't."
- Sue Allen: Matty? Wasn't that the man you were going to marry?
- Cathy Gray: Yes, but he hung himself instead.
- [giggling]
- Cathy Gray: Oh Matty was such a card.
- Sue Allen: Well where's your new friend going to take you tonight?
- Cathy Gray: To the Hauffman House for dinner, then to Tony Pastor's for the vaudeville show.
- Sue Allen: That sounds like fun.
- Cathy Gray: Oh, yeah he's a free spender, alright. A little bit older than I like them; but, awfully distinguished looking.
- Cathy Gray: Is he nice?
- Sue Allen: Oh, awfully nice. A real gentleman. Except, when he's had a couple of drinks in him. That's to be expected. I'm moving up!
- [stops and breathes in slowly]
- Sue Allen: I'm moving up in the world, honey. No girl ever hits the jackpot till after she passes 14th street.
- Sgt. Jim Shane: [looking at the wax figure of Joan Of Arc who resembles Cathy Gray] That's a copy of her face alright, but she didn't look that way the night we saw her at Ma Flannigan's rooming house.
- Lt. Tom Brennan: Not so composed, huh.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: [heavy with menace after Sue unwigs Cathy] You shouldn't have done that, my dear!
- [last lines]
- Lt. Tom Brennan: You know, Shane, by the time this guy gets out of Sing Sing, this head will grow a long beard.
- Sue Allen: [watching can-can dancers perform] It's exciting. Do nice people come here?
- Scott Andrews: Of course. These Sunday matinees are very popular.
- Sue Allen: I don't know. It doesn't seem proper. All those girls showing their - their talents.
- Scott Andrews: You never saw a show like this in Provincetown!
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: Was it murder or suicide? Only time will tell.
- [misquoting Hamlet]
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: Foul deeds will rise, Though all the world o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes.
- Matthew Burke: You ever thought of what would happen if we had a fire here? In the cellar, there are six barrels of wax. Wax is paraffin based. It's highly inflammable. This place would go up like a paint factory.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: Burn? Burn all of my people? You think I'm a murderer?
- Matthew Burke: Stop dreaming, will you? These dummies are insured for $25,000. That's $12,500 for each of us. You wouldn't need Wallace, you'd have enough to begin again.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: No, I'd rather die myself than see my friends destroyed; I won't let you do it, and I'll kill you if you try!
- Matthew Burke: Don't be stupid! All you have to do is strike a match, and the thing is done.
- [Lights the fire and begins to scorch the wax museum]
- Matthew Burke: Who cares a hang about history and wax.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: There are people in the world who love beauty.
- Matthew Burke: But, more who want sensation, shock!
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: Morbidly curious, huh, I won't cater to that.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: I put in a Chamber of Horrors. Murder, torture, executions. Scare the living daylights out of people. I don't care for that kind of patronage.
- Matthew Burke: You're a great artist. A genius sculptor. But, I'm just a common, ordinary businessman, and I want a quick return on my investment. I've got $20,000 sunk in this historic peep show.
- Matthew Burke: A man has to be a little nuts to be a good showman. The sooner I'm out of it, the better.
- Matthew Burke: Where would you like to go, baby? Atlantic City?
- Cathy Gray: No. Niagara Falls. We can get the license in Buffalo.
- Matthew Burke: License?
- Cathy Gray: Yeah, you know, legitimate.
- Cathy Gray: Look at me! Not too long ago I was down on Delancey Street. And tonight I'm moving right up there among the bright lights on 23rd.
- Sue Allen: Now, when you get up there tonight, don't drink too much.
- Cathy Gray: Oh, don't worry. I won't. He keeps trying to pour the liquor into me, but, I always manage to keep my head. After all, now that I'm going regular with a Swell, I got social obligations.
- Cathy Gray: Your not like me Sue. You never could be. You've got all the brains and all I got is - what I got.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry the Eighth and the mother of Queen Elizabeth, with the executioner Henry borrowed from the French King, so that Anne's head would be cleaved from her body without too much pain. He was a thoughtful husband, Henry. It was he who invented the shortcut to divorce.
- Sidney Wallace: I expect great things of Scott. I consider him one of our most promising young sculptors. Has he been working hard?
- Sue Allen: Oh, he never knows when to stop.
- Scott Andrews: Sue's been posing for me.
- Sidney Wallace: In deed, a lovely subject.
- Sue Allen: Thank you.
- Sue Allen: I just don't understand how it can seem so real.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: That's the finest compliment I've ever received.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: Once in his lifetime, every artist feels the hand of God and creates something that comes to life. So it was with my Marie Antoinette and I loved her. But, she's gone now. Horribly destroyed. Perhaps you will help me to bring her back? You will come to see me?
- Sue Allen: I'd be glad to.
- Sidney Wallace: I gamble on Jarrod. He's strange, unpredictable; but, I think he's a man of integrity.
- Sgt. Jim Shane: I followed him through his bender. You know, sometimes this guy gets the shakes so bad, you expect to see his teeth fall out.
- Prof. Henry Jarrod: The exhibits in this room will be added to, from time to time, as various crimes are committed. You will read about them in your newspaper, and see them enacted here in waxen tableaus.
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