James Cromwell credited as playing...
Dudley Smith
- Captain Dudley Smith: I wouldn't trade places with Edmund Exley right now for all the whiskey in Ireland.
- Captain Dudley Smith: Have you a valediction, boyo?
- Jack Vincennes: [gasping out a name] ... Rollo Tamasi.
- [laughs, painfully, to himself as he dies]
- Captain Dudley Smith: Edmund, you're a political animal. You have the eye for human weakness, but not the stomach.
- Ed Exley: You're wrong, sir.
- Captain Dudley Smith: Would you be willing to plant corroborative evidence on a suspect you knew to be guilty, in order to ensure an indictment?
- Ed Exley: Dudley, we've been over this.
- Captain Dudley Smith: Yes or no, Edmund?
- Ed Exley: No!
- Captain Dudley Smith: Would you be willing to beat a confession out of a suspect you knew to be guilty?
- Ed Exley: No.
- Captain Dudley Smith: Would you be willing to shoot a hardened criminal in the back, in order to offset the chance that some... lawyer...
- Ed Exley: No.
- Captain Dudley Smith: Then, for the love of God, don't be a detective. Stick to assignments where you don't have...
- Ed Exley: Dudley, I know you mean well, but I don't need to do it the way you did. Or my father.
- Captain Dudley Smith: At least get rid of the glasses. I can't think of another man in the department who wears them.
- Captain Dudley Smith: Go back to Jersey, sonny. This is the City of the Angels, and you haven't got any wings.
- Captain Dudley Smith: [Captain Smith briefs the squad room on Jack Vincennes' death; Exley is standing beside him] Sergeant Vincennes was killed by a .32 slug to the heart. Time of death, approximately 1 a.m. Although he was found in Echo Park, preliminary forensics indicates his body was most likely moved. I want two-man teams to scour that entire neighborhood. Our justice must be swift and merciless. That is all.
- Captain Dudley Smith: [Exley starts to leave with the other officers] Edmund, might I have a word with you? We're trying to run down a lead on an associate of Vincennes. The records check has led to a dead end.
- Ed Exley: What's the name?
- Captain Dudley Smith: Rollo Tomasi. Have you ever heard Vincennes mention him?
- Ed Exley: [poker-faced] No. No, I haven't.
- Captain Dudley Smith: Well, it's probably nothing. Still, keep your eyes open, eh, boyo?
- [Captain Smith exits as Exley glares at him from behind]
- Ed Exley: A naked man with a gun? Do you really expect anyone to believe that?
- Bud White: Get the fuck away from me.
- Ed Exley: How's it gonna look in your report?
- Bud White: It'll look like justice. That's what the man got. Justice.
- Ed Exley: You don't know the meaning of the word, you ignorant bastard.
- Bud White: Oh yeah, well you think it means getting your picture in the paper. Why don't you go after criminals for a change, instead of cops?
- [punches Exley in the shoulder and then starts to walk away]
- Ed Exley: Stensland got what he deserved, and so will you.
- [a furious White tries to attack Exley, only to be restrained by the Captain and by several other cops]
- Captain Dudley Smith: It's best to stay away from a man when his blood is up.
- Ed Exley: His blood is always up.
- Captain Dudley Smith: Then perhaps you should stay away from him altogether.
- Captain Dudley Smith: You'll do as I say, and ask no questions. Do you follow my drift?
- Bud White: In technicolor, sir.
- Ed Exley: Rollo Tomasi.
- Captain Dudley Smith: Who is he?
- Ed Exley: You are. You're the guy who gets away with it. Jack knew it, and so do I.
- [Exley has to perform the interrogation]
- Jack Vincennes: Are you sure Golden Boy is up to the task, Cap?
- Captain Dudley Smith: Oh, I think you'd be surprised what the lad is capable of.
- Captain Dudley Smith: Bud White is a valuable officer.
- Ed Exley: White's a mindless thug.
- Captain Dudley Smith: No, Edmund, he's just a man who can answer yes to those questions I've asked you from time to time.
- Captain Dudley Smith: I admire you as a policeman - particularly your adherence to violence as a necessary adjunct to the job.
- Captain Dudley Smith: [interrogation at the Victory Motel] Reciprocity, Mr. Hudgens, is the key to every relationship.
- Captain Dudley Smith: What's this all about, boyo?
- Jack Vincennes: Part of it has to do with a murder. I've been working with Ed Exley on it.
- Captain Dudley Smith: You're narco, Jack, not homicide. Since when do you work with Edmund Exley?
- Jack Vincennes: Well, it's a private investigation.
- Captain Dudley Smith: Ah.
- Jack Vincennes: I messed something up; I'm trying to make amends.
- Captain Dudley Smith: Don't start trying to do the right thing, boyo. You haven't had the practice.
- Bud White: Well, Captain, what do you want?
- Captain Dudley Smith: Call me Dudley.
- Bud White: Dudley... what do you want?
- Captain Dudley Smith: You're a bit of a puzzlement to me these days, Wendell. You don't seem to be your old cruel self anymore. And I had such grand plans for your future.