Cinderella (1950)

Luis Van Rooten: King, Grand Duke

Photos 

Quotes 

• [last lines] 

  [as Cinderella prepares to try on the slipper] 

  Grand Duke : Come, my child.

  [beckons to the Herald, who runs forward carrying the slipper. The stepmother sticks out her cane and trips him, causing the slipper to shatter into pieces] 

  Grand Duke : Oh, no! Oh, no, no. Oh, no. Oh, this is terrible. The King! What will he say?

  [clutches throat] 

  Grand Duke : What will he *do*?

  Cinderella : But perhaps, if it would help...

  Grand Duke : [sobbing]  No, no, nothing can help now. Nothing!

  Cinderella : [bringing out the other glass slipper]  But, you see, I have the other slipper.

• [as the Duke tries to tell the King Cinderella has run away] 

  Grand Duke : Your Majesty...

  The King : So he's proposed already! Tell me all about it.

  Grand Duke : Well, Sire...

  The King : Who is she? Where does she live?

  Grand Duke : Well, I didn't get a chance...

  The King : Oh, no matter, we've more important things to discuss. Arrangements for the wedding, invitations, a national holiday, all that sort of thing.

  Grand Duke : But, but, Sire...

  The King : Here, here, have a cigar. Take a few more.

  Grand Duke : But, but, but...

  The King : Better practice passing these out, eh?

  Grand Duke : But, but, but, if you'd only listen...

  The King : [takes out sword]  And, for you, my friend...

  Grand Duke : Your Majesty, please...

  The King : A knighthood. I hereby dub you, sir... er, er, by the way, what title would you like?

  Grand Duke : Sire, she got away.

  The King : Sir "She Got Away... " A peculiar title, but if that's what you... She WHAT?

  [he shows a angry face, scaring the Grand Duke] 

  The King : Why, you, you, you traitor!

  Grand Duke : Now sire, remember, your blood pressure!

  The King : TREASON!

  Grand Duke : No, sire, no!

  The King : SABATOGE! You were in league with the prince all along!

  Grand Duke : I tried to stop her! But she vanished into thin air!

  The King : A likely story!

• [as the King chases the Grand Duke for letting Cinderella get away] 

  Grand Duke : But it's true, Sire! All we could find was this glass slipper!

  The King : The whole thing was a plot!

  Grand Duke : But Sire, he loves her. He won't rest till he finds her, and he's determined to marry her.

  Grand Duke : [dodges sword] 

  The King : What? What did you say?

  Grand Duke : The Prince, Sire! Swears he'll marry none but the girl who fits this slipper.

  The King : He said that, did he?

  [kisses the glass slipper] 

  The King : Ha-haaa, we've *got* him!

  Grand Duke : [cuts the chandelier both of them are hanging onto; there's a scream and a crash] 

  Grand Duke : But Sire, this slipper may fit any number of girls.

  The King : That's his problem. He's given his word; we'll hold him to it.

  Grand Duke : No, no, your Highness. I'll have *nothing* to do with it.

  The King : You'll try this on every maid in my kingdom. And if the shoe *fits*...

  [runs his sword under the Duke's nose] 

  The King : Bring her in.

  Grand Duke : [stammers]  Y-y-y-y-yes, Your Majesty.

• The King : I give up. Even I couldn't expect the boy to...

  Grand Duke : Well, if I may say so, Your Majesty, I did try to warn you; but you, Sire, are incurably romantic.

  [chuckles] 

  Grand Duke : No doubt you saw the whole pretty picture in detail. The young prince bowing to the assembly. Suddenly, he stops. He looks up. For lo... there she stands. The girl of his dreams. Who she is or whence she came, he knows not, nor does he care, for his heart tells him that here, here is the maid predestined to be his bride.

  [Unbeknown to him, the very events he has described have occured as he spoke] 

  Grand Duke : [chuckles]  A pretty plot for fairy tales, Sire. But in real life, oh, no. No, it was foredoomed to failure.

  The King : Failure, eh? Ha-ha! Take a look at *that*, you pompous windbag!

• [as the Prince bows uninterestedly to the various female ball guests] 

  The King : Ah! The boy isn't cooperating.

  Page : Mademoiselle Leonora Mercedes de la Tour. Daughter of Colonel and Madame de la Tour.

  The King : I can't understand it! There must be at least one who'd make a suitable mother...!

  Grand Duke : Shh! Sire!

  The King : Er, a suitable wife.

• The King : My son has been avoiding his responsibilities long enough. It's high time he married and settled down.

  Grand Duke : Of course, your Majesty, but we must be patient...

  The King : I AM PATIENT!

  [throws an inkwell] 

• [as the Duke is about to leave] 

  Cinderella : Your Grace? Your Grace! Please, wait. May I try it on?

  Stepmother : Oh, pay no attention to HER.

  Anastasia : It's only Cinderella.

  Drizella : Our scullery maid...

  Anastasia : From the kitchen!

  [the Duke watches Cinderella come down the stairs, focusing hopefully on her tiny feet] 

  Stepmother : It's ridiculous.

  Drizella : Impossible.

  Anastasia : She's out of her mind!

  Stepmother : [stepping between Cinderella and the Duke]  Yes, yes, just an imaginative child!

  Grand Duke : [imperiously]  Madam, my orders were: *every* maiden!

• Grand Duke : Your Majesty, I see no point in beating about the bush. I regret to inform you, Sire, that the young lady has disappeared, leaving behind only this glass slipper.

  [the Duke is talking to an empty chair] 

  Grand Duke : Yes. I'll do it.

  [pauses, then hears the King snoring] 

  Grand Duke : No. I... just... can't.

• [after both stepsisters fail trying on the glass slipper] 

  Grand Duke : You are the only ladies of the household, I hope, er, I presume?

• The King : When the boy proposes, notify me immediately!

  Grand Duke : [Mocking the King, not realizing he hasn't left the room yet]  "Notify me immediately!"

  The King : ...and REMEMBER!

  [the Duke jumps and breaks his monocle in shock] 

  The King : If anything goes wrong...

  [slices finger across his throat menacingly] 

• [as the Grand Duke tries to stop Cinderella from leaving the ball] 

  Grand Duke : Mademoiselle! Señorita!

  [picks up her glass slipper] 

  Grand Duke : Just a moment!

  [Cinderella climbs into her coach and it races off] 

  Grand Duke : Guards! Guards! Stop that coach! Close those gates!

  [the coach slips through the gates just as they close] 

  Grand Duke : [panicked, desperate]  FOLLOW THAT COACH! *OPEN* THOSE GATES!