The Barefoot Contessa (1954)

Edmond O'Brien: Oscar Muldoon

Photos 

Quotes 

• Oscar Muldoon : You mean they're throwing punches?

  Jerry : Don't be silly - neither one of them has had his hands closed since the day he was born!

• Harry Dawes : What I tell Maria to do, she will do - with her shoes on, that is.

  Oscar Muldoon : What's her shoes got to do with it?

  Harry Dawes : Nothing.

• Oscar Muldoon : [voiceover]  It is entirely possible that Maria D'Amata went to her grave without ever once being inside of the Stork, El Morocco, Ciro's or the Mocambo. You got to admit *this* is not normal!

• Oscar Muldoon : Is any man rich enough to own a government?

  Alberto Bravano : I will not answer vaguely, Mr Muldoon. Yes

• Oscar Muldoon : [voiceover]  Once a year, on the French Riviera, one of the most beautiful seashores on God's earth, the international set gathers the way an annual fungus gathers on a beautiful tree. It's quite a set! It's as if ordinary human beings, living ordinary lives, had suddenly vanished from the earth - and the world was suddenly full of butterflies shaped like people. They are all happy, all the time. Some of them are happy because they are beautiful. And some of them have to be happy because they are nothing but rich. Some of the international set are happy because they are dogs. Don't laugh. There's a beauty parlour in Cannes - just for dogs. But the happiest of the international butterflies are those who live as if they never left the cocoon.

• Oscar Muldoon : We understand you got a lot of talent! And that's the one thing that could make Mr Kirk Edwards fly all the way here from Rome - all the way from California, you might say. Talent! And where other men go for a pretty face or a pair of legs, talent is what Mr. Kirk Edwards worships.

• Oscar Muldoon : Something to eat, Señorita? Ah, Waiter! Mangiare? Poco di vino , Señorita?

  Maria Vargas : Do you speak Spanish, Señor?

  Oscar Muldoon : Oh, just a couple of words.

  Maria Vargas : Not even that. One of them is Italian. Speak only English, please.

• Oscar Muldoon : Afraid you'll be lonely, far away in Hollywood? There's no reason why, after a time, we can't send for your mother. After all, a girl likes to have her mother with her. Right?

  Maria Vargas : I would not like to have my mother with me.

  Kirk Edwards : Why not?

  Maria Vargas : Because, I do not like my mother.

• Oscar Muldoon : You can't get away with this!

  Harry Dawes : You're being disloyal, Oscar. You're stealing dialogue from television

• Oscar Muldoon : This is no time for you to be artistic. Remember, this is money out of your pocket too, so take no chances.

• Oscar Muldoon : [voiceover]  Maria D'Amata. Whatever "it" is - you name it. Whether you're born with it or catch it from a public drinking cup, Maria had "it".

• Oscar Muldoon : If there's one thing I know about, it's Mr. John Q Public.

  [phone rings] 

  Oscar Muldoon : He wants clean people on the screen for his children to look at. Don't let the eggheads tell you he wants high-class acting and fine stories and fancy dialogue.

  [phone rings] 

  Kirk Edwards : Oscar, the phone.

  Oscar Muldoon : He wants to forget his troubles for awhile and look at clean people. He wants to escape! He don't wanna see drunks, hop heads, sex maniacs

  [phone rings] 

  Oscar Muldoon : divorcees, communists, murderers. And no children of murderers! He's got enough of that at home.

• Oscar Muldoon : This I cannot figure. This doesn't mean it can't be figured. You could fill a big, fat book just with what I haven't been able to figure since I was 12 years old.

• Oscar Muldoon : Just this once, Kirk, why don't you empty your own ashtrays?

• Oscar Muldoon : [voiceover]  From Scarsdale to Singapore, they loved her.

• Oscar Muldoon : I'm just as normal as you are, Buster! Remember that in the years ahead when you're directing cigarette butts on television!

• Oscar Muldoon : [voiceover]  In the world of pretense, a pretender is the best thing you can be.

• Oscar Muldoon : Now you're beginning to realize that maybe she knew more about problem relatives than you do. Maybe the public heart is something you can't put on a chart or poster with just money.

• Oscar Muldoon : One thing you can't beat about Southern California - the air at night. Sure pity the people that have to breathe it in the day time

• Kirk Edwards : I'm sure you don't mean that. Every mother should be loved.

  Maria Vargas : If they deserve it.

  Oscar Muldoon : We can work all that out later, too