William Holden: Mark Elliott
Photos
Quotes
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Mark Elliott : Are we going swimming?
Dr. Han Suyin : Mark, going out with you once was harmless enough. I don't want my seeing you to be awkward. Hong Kong has a peculiar code and malice is a pleasant pastime for women with nothing to do.
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Mark Elliott : What incredible hands you have. They curve like a Balinese dancer's.
Dr. Han Suyin : I have always been afraid of hands. Men's hands. I am not afraid of yours.
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Mark Elliott : You still think we have no destiny together?
Dr. Han Suyin : I have decided one thing. That you must decide. For you are stronger than I am.
Mark Elliott : No, I think you're the strong one.
Dr. Han Suyin : Then you are wrong. For you are gentle, and there is nothing stronger in the world than gentleness
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Mark Elliott : I really can't believe that you're a doctor, Doctor.
Dr. Han Suyin : What a shame we haven't a scalpel with us. I could make a slight incision to convince you.
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Dr. Han Suyin : So you're a reporter?
Mark Elliott : Please. A correspondent.
Dr. Han Suyin : What's the difference?
Mark Elliott : About $100 a week.
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Dr. Han Suyin : Do you know that in Peking the moon is larger than anyplace else in the world?
Mark Elliott : Now, that's very unscientific. It's the same size everywhere.
Dr. Han Suyin : Oh, no, the moon is larger in Peking - much larger than in Hong Kong and London.
Mark Elliott : All right. If you insist.
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Mark Elliott : I, uh, I'd like to explain about my wife. I'd like you to know that I tried to make a go of it. I'd like you to believe that. A great many mistakes are made in the name of loneliness.
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Mark Elliott : Say, when I called you earlier, they said you were doing a hysterectomy. What's a hysterectomy?
Dr. Han Suyin : Nothing that would interest you.
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Dr. Han Suyin : It wouldn't be good for you to see too much of me anyhow. Might even be harmful.
Mark Elliott : Oh? Why?
Dr. Han Suyin : I'm Eurasian. The word itself seems to suggest a certain moral laxity in the minds of some people. People never think of the meaning of words. They only feel them.
Mark Elliott : Well, you're talking about stupid people.
Dr. Han Suyin : Make no mistake, I.. I'm proud to be Eurasian. I like to think we combine the best qualities of both races. That we're the answer to race snobbery.
Mark Elliott : Well, you're certainly the answer to a lot of things for me.
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Mark Elliott : You know, in the last few weeks I've come alive. I like it.
Dr. Han Suyin : You've been good for me, Mark. I don't feel that the whole world is sick any longer.
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Dr. Han Suyin : I'm so happy, it frightens me. I have a feeling that heaven is unfair and is preparing for you and for me a great sadness because we have been given so much.
Mark Elliott : Darling, whatever happens, always remember: Nothing is fair nor unfair under heaven.
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Dr. Han Suyin : [upon learning that Mark is being sent to Korea as a correspondent] But... But why Korea?
Mark Elliott : North Korea invaded the South. They crossed the 38th parallel last night. There isn't much time. We have to pack.
Dr. Han Suyin : It's only a little war, isn't it?
Mark Elliott : That's hard to tell.
Dr. Han Suyin : Will it... Will it last long?
Mark Elliott : Oh, I don't think very long. A couple of weeks, maybe three.
Dr. Han Suyin : Could you possibly not go?
Mark Elliott : No, I could not possibly not go.
Dr. Han Suyin : I thought not. Our gorgeous lie did not even last the night.
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Dr. Han Suyin : Every woman in love should have a secret garden.
Mark Elliott : And every man in love should have a mountain.
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Mark Elliott : [voiceover of Mark, as Dr. Han Suyin reads one of his letters from Korea] I do not know what is to happen, darling. But this I do know: Life's greatest tragedy is not to be loved.
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Dr. Han Suyin : It seems that destiny never put us anywhere together at the same time.
Mark Elliott : Well, perhaps destiny intends something for us at last.
Dr. Han Suyin : I don't think so. I don't think destiny intends anything for us. Of that I am quite sure.
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Mark Elliott : [as he arrives to collect her for their date] You're wearing European clothes.
Dr. Han Suyin : It is the European side of me that is having dinner with you.
Mark Elliott : I don't suppose you'd go back in and change?
Dr. Han Suyin : I certainly would not.
Mark Elliott : I loved that dress you had on the other day.
Dr. Han Suyin : I'll make you a present of it.
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Dr. Han Suyin : Mark, like everyone else in Hong Kong you're at loose ends. I think you probably need a love affair, but I'm not the answer. I will make no mistakes in the name of loneliness. I have my work and an uncomplicated life. I don't want to feel anything again, ever.
Mark Elliott : A moment ago, you said that words had no meaning, that people have to feel.
Dr. Han Suyin : Let's not tax the day with self-analysis. The friends I was going to see have a house over there, right across the bay. Would you like to swim over and drop in on them?
Mark Elliott : Why not?
[they both swim off across the bay]
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Third Uncle : Suyin, you are a Chinese citizen. When your passport expires you may not be granted the right to practice in Hong Kong. Where would you go if this happened?
Mark Elliott : If Suyin wanted to practice medicine in China, I would live here.
Third Uncle : The new tapestry will be tightly woven, Mr. Elliott. You would not fit into its hard pattern.
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Mark Elliott : Now, darling, if you think it's unwise, I'll understand.
Dr. Han Suyin : To go on living, one must be occasionally unwise...
Dr. Han Suyin : Why are you smiling?
Mark Elliott : Oh, I don't know. The way you walk, the way you talk. Everything about you. I love you, Suyin.
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Fortune Teller : Have many children!
Mark Elliott : [Sceptically] HOW many?
Fortune Teller : Ten, maybe fifteen...
[Noticing Suyin's alarm]
Fortune Teller : Too many, look again.
