Life Dances On (1937)

Louis Jouvet: Pierre Verdier, dit Jo

Quotes 

• Gangster #1 : The loot is in the fridge.

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : That's what's called cold cash.

• Le baron : What's new among the new girls? Any blondes?

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : Yes, Baron.

  Le baron : Perfect! Any nice ones?

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : Lovely.

  Le baron : One I can take home without worrying about the silver?

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : You can even give her your key.

• Gangster #2 : What if the cops nab us? Gotta think of everything.

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : Life is full of surprises.

• Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : I'll find someone for you. Something to eat?

  Christine Surgère : But, no.

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : It's good to call on pals when you're in trouble.

  Christine Surgère : But, Pierre.

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : No. No more "Pierre." Call me Jo. I'll call you Cricri. Sounds younger. You're still a looker.

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : Pierre.

  Christine Surgère : And they like 'em fresh-faced. Wrinkles get the customers down.

• Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : I'm not used to unselfish motives. Women usually come to see me for something in return.

• Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : I opened this club after my - troubles.

  Christine Surgère : It must be exciting.

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : I reign over waiters, part-time artists, easy music, and even easier women.

• Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : To think I held you in my arms.

  Christine Surgère : I was 16.

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : You weren't very discerning. We'd stroll through the country.

  Christine Surgère : We'd stop by the bridge.

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : It's all water under the bridge now.

  Christine Surgère : We'd wait for dusk.

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : It never failed us.

  Christine Surgère : We didn't speak.

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : Our minds were on other things. I'd kiss your neck, trembling.

  Christine Surgère : I'd close my eyes and pretend I didn't see you.

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : We were foolish. It was charming.

  Christine Surgère : We'd make plans.

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : More like dreams.

• Christine Surgère : You'd call me Clara d'Ellebeuse, from a poem by Francis Jammes.

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : And you'd call me "Bashful Pierre," because I was so shy. How pure we'd stay if we'd think of our youth more often. We lose sight of it as we live our lives and end up taking some strange paths, Clara d'Ellebeuse.

  Christine Surgère : Bashful Pierre. You were a peculiar boy.

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : Yes, long ago. That all happened in another world.

• Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : I was trying to remember.

  Christine Surgère : What?

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : That poem. Funny. There's a word I haven't said in ages: poem. "In the deserted park, frozen and vast, two shadows just walked past. Their eyes are extinct, their lips sag, their words are indistinct. In the deserted park, frozen and vast, two spectators conjured up the past. Our old ecstasy, do you recall? Why remember it at all? Does my name thrill you still?"

  Christine Surgère : "Does my soul still fill your dreams?"

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : "No. Oh, those days of sheer pleasure, with my lips..."

  Christine Surgère : "Pressed against yours."

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : "I'm sure."

  Christine Surgère : "The sky was so blue, hope soared so high."

  Pierre Verdier, dit Jo : "But hope fled, beaten, into darkening skies and they wandered off through fields and oats..."