Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)

Tommy Lee Jones: Doolittle Lynn

Photos 

Quotes 

• Doolittle Lynn : Mr. Webb, me and Loretta are fixin' to get married, if it's alright with you.

  Ted Webb : Go ask Clary.

  [Doolittle walks through the house to the kitchen] 

  Doolittle Lynn : Mrs. Webb, me and Loretta is thinkin' about gettin' married tomorrow.

  Clara Webb : Go ask Ted.

  [Doolittle walks back onto the porch, then back into the house] 

  Loretta Webb : Doolittle, what are you doin'?

  Doolittle Lynn : Ted says go ask Clary; Clary says go ask Ted; I don't know.

  Loretta Webb : Wait 'til they go to bed; then you can catch them together. 'Less they'll keep you runnin' back and forth all night long.

• [Doolittle walks out of the door after an argument with Loretta] 

  Loretta Lynn : Doolittle; are you leavin'?

  Doolittle Lynn : [come back in the house]  Naw, Loretta; *I* ain't leavin'.

  [Loretta walks up to her parents' house] 

  Ted Webb : Well, look whose back!

  Loretta Lynn : Doolittle's done throwed me out.

  Clara Webb : Maybe it ain't to late to stop you from ruinin' your life.

  Ted Webb : I believe married life is makin' you fat, girl.

  Clara Webb : [to herself]  Oh, no!

• Loretta Lynn : [Doolittle buys Loretta a guitar]  Doolittle, I can't play that thing!

  Doolittle Lynn : Well, most people can't till they learn how, dammit!

• Radio station manager : Come off that *dumb* hillbilly act!

  Doolittle Lynn : You know, mister, if you knew Loretta, you'd know that ain't no act.

  Loretta Lynn : Thank you, Doo.

• Loretta Lynn : Dadgum it, Doo! You never ask me nothing! You just say, "Hey baby, here's the deal, take it or leave it." Well, it's drivin' me crazy, Doo!

  Doolittle Lynn : Well, hell, then let's go up to the house, call a lawyer and get a divorce. I'm tired of this bullshit.

  Loretta Lynn : I don't want no divorce! I just want the dadgum bedroom in the back of the house!

• Doolittle Lynn : Loretta, I am leaving Kentucky. I'm going out west to Washington to get me a job on a ranch or something. That damned ol' coal mine's got me buried alive.

  Loretta Lynn : Was you just gonna leave me?

  Doolittle Lynn : Just long enough to get the money to send for you.

  Loretta Lynn : What makes you think I'd come?

  Doolittle Lynn : 'Cause you're my wife, darling!

  Loretta Lynn : I'm your wife! Boy, you better think of a better reason than that.

  Doolittle Lynn : There ain't nothing for me in Kentucky, Loretta. Except a chest full of coal dust and bein' an old man time I'm 40. You ask your daddy. 'Sides that, you got to come with me, I love you.

  Loretta Lynn : You promised Daddy you wouldn't take me off far from home.

  Doolittle Lynn : Well, you just have to make up your mind, darling, whether or not you're his daughter or my wife. Get in. I'll take you back to the house. What are you doing in the bottom anyhow?

  Loretta Lynn : I come to see Doc Turner.

  Doolittle Lynn : You sick?

  Loretta Lynn : Yeah, I'm gonna have a baby.

  Doolittle Lynn : [laughs]  Oh, Lord, Loretta. You know, darlin', you might have found something that you know how to do.

• Loretta Lynn : I'm gettin' so sick of baloney.

  Doolittle Lynn : You are? Well, you know what they say about eatin' baloney, don't you?

  Loretta Lynn : No, what?

  Doolittle Lynn : Makes you horny.

  Loretta Lynn : What does that mean?

  Doolittle Lynn : [starts laughing]  Are you so dadburn ignorant, you don't know what "horny" means?

  Loretta Lynn : No, what does it mean?

  Doolittle Lynn : I ain't gonna tell you.

  Loretta Lynn : Doo! Doo, what does it mean? What does it mean?

• Loretta Lynn : [trying out a new song]  It goes like this "It'll be over my dead body, so get out while you can", then it drops down to "cause you ain't woman enough to take my man!"

  Doolittle Lynn : Where'd you come up with the idea for that song, Loretta?

• Doolittle Lynn : [after Loretta's first appearance on the Grand Old Opry]  What we got to do next is; figure out what to do next.

• Doolittle Lynn : [comes stumbling in drunk]  Happy anniversary, darlin'!

  Loretta Lynn : Yeah, it looks like you had a happy one. Y'know, Doo, most couples spend their anniversary together.

  [notices the guitar] 

  Loretta Lynn : What's that?

  Doolittle Lynn : Oh, that's your anniversary present, baby. Happy anniversary.

  Loretta Lynn : My anniversary present! Doo, sometimes I think you got a washer missin' in your brain. I can't play that thing!

• Doolittle Lynn : [has just tasted Loretta's cooking for the first time]  Make many pies, Loretta?

  Loretta Lynn : Naw, this is the first one.

  Doolittle Lynn : How much salt that recipe call for?

  Loretta Lynn : Shoot, you don't put salt in a pie! You put in flour and eggs and sugar and... oh no.

  Doolittle Lynn : Makes sense though; salt and sugar are both white.

• Loretta Lynn : I ain't no singer, Doo. I can't sing for no strangers.

  Doolittle Lynn : Yes, you can. I done fixed it up for you. There ain't no problem.

  Loretta Lynn : You didn't ask me nothin' about it!

  Doolittle Lynn : How the hell can I ask you somethin' about it if you run off and hide like a stupid hillbilly?

  Loretta Lynn : Don't call me that. I may be ignorant, but I ain't stupid. Why do you want me to sing so much for anyway?

  Doolittle Lynn : 'Cause I'm proud of you when you sing.

  Loretta Lynn : Doo, I'm glad I make you proud, honey, but I can't sing in front of people. I just can't!

  Doolittle Lynn : Yes, you can, baby. You're gonna sing for these old boys in here in the morning, and next week you're gonna be up on that stage singing for all these people here, if I have to kick your st-, ignorant hillbilly ass every step of the way!

• [the morning after the wedding night] 

  Loretta Lynn : This stuff's cold.

  Doolittle Lynn : That's because it froze between here and the damn restaurant. You want a hot breakfast, you got to go with me.

  Loretta Lynn : I ain't going in there having all them people looking at me knowing what we've been doing in here.

  Doolittle Lynn : Hell's Bells, Loretta. You think this is somethin' the rest of the world ain't caught onto yet? They don't give a damn.

  Doolittle Lynn : Hell's bells, Loretta, do you think this is something the rest of the world ain't caught on to yet? They don't give a damn. Baby, it's just a little rough the first time, that's all.

  Loretta Lynn : Didn't seem too rough on you.

  Doolittle Lynn : Well, you better get used to it, darling, because that's what a damn marriage...

  Loretta Lynn : I ain't gonna get used to you gettin' on me and sweatin' like an old pig!

• Loretta Lynn : The Grand Ole Opry! What if they won't let me in?

  Doolittle Lynn : They'd better let us in, I done spent all the money on these donuts. Besides that, how are they gonna keep us out? We're number 14! Nationwide.

• Doolittle Lynn : Well, there ain't no sense in walkin' when you can ride. Come on!

  Loretta Lynn : I ain't gettin' in that thang.

  Doolittle Lynn : You ain't never rode in a car before, have you?

  Loretta Lynn : That ain't no car. Looks like something from Mars.

  Doolittle Lynn : Mars? Gal, what the hell do you know about Mars anyway? I'll bet you ain't never been past the mouth of this hollow. Come on now, get in this thing.

  Loretta Lynn : I said I ain't gettin' in it and I ain't. If you like me so much, you can walk me home.

  Doolittle Lynn : Oh, Lord, them pies ain't the only thing salty about you, are they? Wait a minute! Wait, we'll walk it, then. Wait!

• Doolittle Lynn : [as Loretta is putting the babies to bed]  Baby, I was just thinking... we got an anniversary coming up and I was wondering what kind of anniversary present you wanted.

  Loretta Lynn : Hmm... well, I ain't got no wedding ring yet.

  Doolittle Lynn : Wedding ring! Bullshit!

  Loretta & Mooney's child : Ah, bullshit!

  Loretta's child : Ah ha ha ha!

• Doolittle Lynn : Hey, Loretta? I'm gonna bring my jeep up here and take you for a ride.

  Loretta Webb : You ain't gonna get that thing up this holler.

  Doolittle Lynn : There ain't nothing I can't do, girl, once I set my mind to it.

• Loretta Webb : You sure cuss a lot, don't ya?

  Doolittle Lynn : Yeah, I do. Cuss, drink, chase wild women.

• Loretta Lynn : What you get me a guitar for?

  Doolittle Lynn : 'Cause I like the way you sing.

  Loretta Lynn : Do you really think I sing good?

  Doolittle Lynn : Baby, I know you do.

• Doolittle Lynn : Deal is, Loretta, you can sing in every little honky tonk in the country. There's thousands doing it and they ain't getting nowhere and they never will. The thing that's gonna give you the edge is getting yourself a record. And the next step's even more important than that and that's getting people to play the dad-burned thing, but right now what you and me have to worry about... is you making the best doggone record you can, it all depends on that, darling.

  Loretta Lynn : Boy, Doo, I didn't know you knew so much about the music business.

  Doolittle Lynn : I don't. I'm just figuring it out as I go along, listening to people talk.

• Doolittle Lynn : Loretta, this ol' mountain top is gonna be covered in wildflowers in six weeks' time, what the hell are you doing bringing plastic ones up here?

  Loretta Lynn : Because they don't die. The real ones just die.

  Doolittle Lynn : Darlin'...

  Loretta Lynn : Like everything else.

• Doolittle Lynn : Girl, you sure got over being bashful fast.

  Loretta Lynn : I just done what you said, just opened my mouth and out it come. I couldn't even stop. I didn't have no more notion of what I was gonna say than a rabbit.

  Doolittle Lynn : You keep on being a rabbit then, darlin'.

• Doolittle Lynn : Darlin', if you don't want it, I ain't gonna make you do nothing you don't wanna do. It's your choice. We'll just go back to what we was doing, that's all.

  Loretta Lynn : I want it.

  Doolittle Lynn : What?

  Loretta Lynn : I said I want it!

  Doolittle Lynn : Baby, I can't hear you!

  Loretta Lynn : I wanna be a singer, Doo! I want it real bad. I want it real bad.

• Loretta Lynn : Doo, they liked me.

  Doolittle Lynn : Yeah, baby, they loved you. They loved you!

• Doolittle Lynn : I want you to mind your manners around here or I'm gonna whip some hind ends.

• Doolittle Lynn : Got another one of your headaches, don't you? Just like your daddy. Coal dust give him the headache. I guess I'm what's giving 'em to you.

• D.J. : If you're on the charts, you're gonna get played.

  Doolittle Lynn : What charts?

  D.J. : [chuckles]  You got a hit record. You don't know that? That really isn't an act, is it? Look here, Cash Box magazine, came out today. You're number 14 - nationwide. You really didn't know.

• Doolittle Lynn : Hey, darling, how about Saturday night let's get us one of them babysitters and - go honky-tonkin'?

  Loretta Lynn : You mean together?

  Doolittle Lynn : Yeah,

  [chuckles] 

  Doolittle Lynn : Together.

• Doolittle Lynn : Tell you one thing that army showed me. There's a whole big world out yonder. Showed me I ain't about to spend my life buried in no coal mine, neither. Ain't no future in it, not a damn bit. And that's what I'm interested in, mainly, course, is the future. You got any plans for the future?

  Loretta Webb : Not that I know of.

• Doolittle Lynn : [on their wedding night]  Loretta, you ain't supposed to wear a nightgown over your clothes.

  Loretta Lynn : I'm freezing, Doo.

  Doolittle Lynn : Get on in there and take off everything, but your nightgown now. Go on, Loretty. Go on!

• Loretta Webb : I can't breathe. I feel like I'm gonna faint.

  Doolittle Lynn : Well, that's the way you're supposed to feel when you're in love.

  Loretta Webb : It is?

• Loretta Lynn : [Doo gives Loretta a book called "Sex for Newlyweds"]  My gosh, Doo, this has got pictures in it.

  Doolittle Lynn : Oh, Loretty, that there book, that thing's helped millions of people the world over. I thought it might do us a little good.

  Loretta Lynn : I can't read this book, Doo. It's got all 'em great big ol' words in it. Look at this one. Look! That dadgum word is a foot long. Now, what's a foot-long word supposed to mean, huh? Oh, Doo, I don't need no book to tell me what's wrong. You just need to be a little more patient and gentle with me, honey, that's all. I just need a little more time.

  Doolittle Lynn : Give you a little more time. Well, let me add up all these damn things I'm supposed to give you some more time on. You need a little more time to learn how to cook. You need a little more time to learn how to clean the damn house. Plus. you need a little more time to learn how to love your man the way you're supposed to. Goddamn, is there anything that you know how to do right now?

• Doolittle Lynn : Don't you know he'd rather cut off his arm than have to whip you like that? What you mean running off like that with that wild boy?

  Loretta Webb : I love him, Mommy.

  Doolittle Lynn : You do no such a thing. Stay away from that Doolittle Lynn or I'll give you worse than what your Daddy did.