Children of Paradise (1945)

Marcel Herrand: Pierre-François Lacenaire

Photos 

Quotes 

• Pierre-François Lacenaire : His Lawyer says, "Above all, don't talk." The Priest: "Confession is half-remission." He confesses. The Judge: "You Killed and confessed. Perfect. Off with your head." The fellow, disappointed protests: "But confession is half-remission!" The Judge: "True but justice must be done. So we'll just cut off half your head."

• Pierre-François Lacenaire : What a splendid destiny! To love no one, to be alone. To be loved by no one. To be free.

• Garance : Still writing plays?

  Pierre-François Lacenaire : Yes, in my idle moments.

  Garance : "Misconduct" A tragedy?

  Pierre-François Lacenaire : No, a slightly ribald farce. I loathe tragedy. Such an inferior genre. Characters who kill one another, yet never get hurt. How depressing.

• Pierre-François Lacenaire : I don't love you, but you are the only woman for whom I have no contempt.

• Pierre-François Lacenaire : The mere thought of them killing each other, over a woman, because of me, comforts me.

• Pierre-François Lacenaire : [Reading a book in bed]  "Yet I'll not shed her blood nor scar that whiter skin than snow and smooth as monumental alabaster. Yet she must die, else she'll betray more men. Put out the light, and then - " Yes, let's put out the light. Good night, Desdemona. Good night, Othello.

  Garance : [singing in the next room]  I am as I am, I'm made as you see. When I feel like laughing, I laugh heartily. I love those who love me. Am I really to blame? If a man that I love, is never the same?

• Pierre-François Lacenaire : Never look back at the past, my angel. It leaps at your throat like a mad dog.

• Pierre-François Lacenaire : And the man in white? Do you think your friend, the mime, is happy? To think I had the absurd notion of killing him. Comical, no? One might as well stab at a breeze or a moonbeam.

• Pierre-François Lacenaire : People! Actors aren't people. They're every man and no man.

• Pierre-François Lacenaire : We could have done astounding things together. I'd spill torrents of blood to give you rivers of diamonds.

  Garance : I'd settle for less.

• Pierre-François Lacenaire : Here comes Judgment Day.

• Pierre-François Lacenaire : Here's my guardian angel!

  [In walks Garance] 

• Pierre-François Lacenaire : I am well informed. For example, I knew about your return at once. I learned where you were living and with whom.

  Garance : Nothing escapes you.

  Pierre-François Lacenaire : And I know they've put my angel in a gilded cage.

• Pierre-François Lacenaire : Is it not absurd to ask people who they are?

  Édouard, Count de Montray : Excuse me?

  Pierre-François Lacenaire : That's why they're so evasive. They give you the easy reply: a name, a title. But who they are really, who they are deep down, they conceal with great care.

• Édouard, Count de Montray : How do you ply your talents these days?

  Pierre-François Lacenaire : Since you ask, I'm putting the finishing touches on something that will cause a sensation.

  Édouard, Count de Montray : A tragedy, no doubt.

  Pierre-François Lacenaire : No, a comedy, a farce. Or a tragedy, if you prefer. It's all the same. There's no difference. Or very little. For example, if a king is deceived, it's a tragedy of infidelity. He's deceived not by his wife...

  Frederick : But by Fate.

  Pierre-François Lacenaire : Yes, Fate. But if it's a poor devil like you or me, Monsieur de Montray - and I use "me" as a figure of speech - it's no longer a tragedy, but mere buffoonery, a sorry tale of cuckolds.