Luigi Pistilli: Henry Pollicut

The Great Silence

Henry Pollicut

[English subtitled version]
Henry Pollicut: Pauline. A pleasure to see you. What can I do for you? Is there something you wanna buy?
Pauline Middleton: I didn't come to buy. I came to sell.
Henry Pollicut: And what are you sellin'?
Pauline Middleton: Our house. It cost at least five thousand dollars. I'll give it to you for a thousand... 'cause you like cheap things.

[English subtitled version]
Sheriff Gideon Burnett: Set a wagon outside of town and put as much food on it as you can spare. If they eat, they'll behave. And you women, all of you, stay inside. Understand? Now let's get moving. C'mon.
Henry Pollicut: Fill a wagon. So now, these bandits gotta be fought with bread and butter. When are we gonna see some law and common sense in this town?
Regina: When somebody hangs you.

[English subtitled version]
[Silenzio remembers his first encounter with Pollicut... a candle in the present match-cuts to a candle burning several years earlier, as Pollicut and two bounty killers ride towards Gordon's house, who is loading a rifle]
Silenzio's Mother: No, dear. You can't... you'd better surrender!
[Pollicut and the two killers walk up to the house]
Sheriff in Flashback: Gordon, I've got a warrant for your arrest. There's no sense for resistin'. Better let a lawyer prove you're innocent! I'll answer for your safety before you come to trial. Now act sensible. Safer for you if you're put in prison! But if you're not... some bounty hunter'll kill you for the reward!
Gordon Sr.: Okay, sheriff. I'm surrenderin'.
[Pollicut gestures to the two bounty killers to kill Gordon and his wife, and they do so by shooting them]
Young Silenzio: Ah! Dad, dad! Mama! Mama! Mama!
[as Gordon's son cries over the body of his mother, the bounty killer disguised as a sheriff enters, and throws away his star]
Sheriff in Flashback: Well, Pollicut? You got no call to worry about Gordon now.
Henry Pollicut: Maybe not. But the kid...
Sheriff in Flashback: Nah...
[the fake sheriff pulls out a bowie knife]
Sheriff in Flashback: He'll never talk again.
[match cut from candle in flashback to candle in the present: Gordon's son is Silenzio himself]

[English subtitled version]
Henry Pollicut: [showing his mutilated hand to Silenzio while raping Pauline] You cripple just to spite the men you hate... so nobody'll be able to use a gun - against you. Maybe you ruined my hand, but still, what I come here to get, it won't matter much!

[English subtitled version]
Loco: No. If you want me to kill him, put a good price on his head.
Henry Pollicut: You ought to do this for nothin'! It's in your own interest, Loco. Have you forgotten who he is?
Loco: I know him. He picks a fight, and when somebody draws, then, he shoots them!
[chuckles]
Loco: Then the law calls it "self-defence". Now, I'm no fool... he's too fast for me.
Henry Pollicut: But you're the man he's here to get. He's paid by Pauline. He'll pick a fight with you.
Loco: I can control my temper; he won't shoot off my thumbs.
Loco: [wiggles his thumb in front of Pollicut, who cringes] Uh-uh. And he ain't gonna kill me in self-defence, either. What did you want to get rid of Pauline's husband for? I shot him 'cause that's what you paid me for, but nothin' more. If you want people shot, you pay.

[English subtitled version]
Henry Pollicut: [about Silenzio] Well, Martin, will he come out of it? Alive?
Martin: I doubt it. When he left, he was leaking his blood all over the sidewalk.
Henry Pollicut: Let's hope that he lost it all. Where is he?
Martin: He's at the girl's house.

[English subtitled version]
Loco: It's all according to the law, you should know.
Henry Pollicut: Yes. You see sheriff, since our friend here has to have, er... irrefutable proof of identity, as the law requires, he, ah, shows the bodies and the reward posters when he collects. It's all quite precise.
Sheriff Gideon Burnett: Correct, huh? But, er... what's your interest in this? You're just a banker, and all you gotta do is advance me the money to pay off this man.
Henry Pollicut: Oh, true, true, of course, but aside from my small percentage, all cash is required to change hands in my presence... to make sure the bounty killer has been honest. The law is quite precise, sheriff.
Loco: In this town, as in the whole United States, the law's the important thing. Am I right?
Sheriff Gideon Burnett: All right! Pay him off and get rid of him.

[English subtitled version]
Henry Pollicut: [with a wad of cash in hand] May I ask what you need this for? It's a pretty good sum.
Pauline Middleton: No.
Henry Pollicut: I shouldn't have brought it up. Just the same... is this to pay a man for a certain crime?
Pauline Middleton: That's my business. Just tell me "yes" or "no"? Are you interested in my offer?
Henry Pollicut: Not really. You know you shouldn't crawl for money like this. I wouldn't take advantage of your situation for a thousand dollars. I want you to have it...
[He hands the money to Pauline and forcefully kisses her. She pushes him off her, spits at him and discards the money]
Pauline Middleton: I wish it were poison!

Regina: Pollicut! Pollicut! You dirty usurer. You have a good life, don't you? While this poor guy lies cold and dead, all because of you! It's you, bloodsucker, who gets the law to put prices on folks' heads so you can profit!
Henry Pollicut: That man was a criminal and he got what he deserves. If Pauline is in dire straits, I'll supply anything she wants.
Regina: Button your pants, you dirty old goat! Better to sleep in a doghouse than with you!

Henry Pollicut: What about the bandits? They know Loco's leaving so they'll be comin' down off the mountains.
Sheriff Gideon Burnett: Now you're talking through your hat. Do what I told you and nothin' will happen.

Sheriff Gideon Burnett: Hey, there's only three out there, and you're paying him for four. How come? Where's the fourth body?
Henry Pollicut: The negro makes four.