A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Jamie Lee Curtis: Wanda
Photos
Quotes
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Wanda : [after Otto breaks in on Wanda and Archie in Archie's flat and hangs him out the window] I was dealing with something delicate, Otto. I'm setting up a guy who's incredibly important to us, who's going to tell me where the loot is and if they're going to come and arrest you. And you come loping in like Rambo without a jockstrap and you dangle him out a fifth-floor window. Now, was that smart? Was it shrewd? Was it good tactics? Or was it stupid?
Otto West : Don't call me stupid.
Wanda : Oh, right! To call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people! I've known sheep that could outwit you. I've worn dresses with higher IQs. But you think you're an intellectual, don't you, ape?
Otto West : Apes don't read philosophy.
Wanda : Yes they do, Otto. They just don't understand it. Now let me correct you on a couple of things, OK? Aristotle was not Belgian. The central message of Buddhism is not "Every man for himself." And the London Underground is not a political movement. Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked them up.
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Archie : You make me feel free.
Wanda : Free?
Archie : Wanda, do you have any idea what it's like being English? Being so correct all the time, being so stifled by this dread of, of doing the wrong thing, of saying to someone "Are you married?" and hearing "My wife left me this morning," or saying, uh, "Do you have children?" and being told they all burned to death on Wednesday. You see, Wanda, we'll all terrified of embarrassment. That's why we're so... dead. Most of my friends are dead, you know, we have these piles of corpses to dinner. But you're alive, God bless you, and I want to be, I'm so fed up with all this. I want to make love with you, Wanda. I'm a good lover - at least, used to be, back in the early 14th century. Can we go to bed?
Wanda : Yeah.
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Wanda : What about my tits?
Otto : Does he get to handle them?
Wanda : Yes, he does. That's my forecast and I'll stand by it.
Otto : Would this also involve... nuzzling?
Wanda : Yes, I think three million dollars is worth a bit of nuzzling. Fifty percent chance of that.
Otto : Sucking?
Wanda : I thought you weren't jealous?
Otto : I'm not. I don't believe in jealousy, it's for the weak. One thing though. Touch his dick and he's dead!
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Wanda : Aristotle was not Belgian, the principle of Buddhism is not "every man for himself", and the London Underground is not a political movement. Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked them up.
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Otto : Ok... Ok... DISAPPOINTED. Son of a bitch. What do you have to do in this world to make people trust you?
Wanda : Shut up.
Otto : People are always taking advantage of me.
Wanda : Shut up and think.
[Otto pulls out a silenced pistol and fires two shots at the safe]
Wanda : What are you doing?
Otto : I'm thinking.
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Wanda : I looked at the clock... because I was saying to myself... It's five to seven, where could he be going with that sawed off shotgun?
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Wanda : The central message of Buddhism is not "every man for himself".
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Otto : I'm here because I'm bored. Bored hanging around this God-awful city. Shoving George's ugly pic... Talking to a lot of snotty, stuck up, intellectual British faggots. Jesus they're uptight they get rigor mortis in the prime of life in this country, standing there with their hair clenched.
Otto : [finds a letter from Archie to Wanda] Just, counting the seconds to the weekends so they can all dress up like ballerinas and whip themselves into a frenzy at the flat at 4. 2B St.
Otto : [recovering] To be honest I hate them. I mean pretending they're so fucking lawyer.
Otto : [recovering again] superior, so fucking superior with those phony accents.
Otto : [Ken peeks in the room] Not you Ken, you have a beautiful speaking voice... when it works.
Otto : [about Wanda] Son of a bitch!
Otto : [to Wanda, loudly] So, wanna have some lunch?
Otto : [quietly] Have you heard from him?
Wanda : Who?
Otto : Archie.
Wanda : [loudly] No I have to finish my hair!
Wanda : [quietly] No.
Otto : Nothing?
Otto : [loudly] Ok well I'm outta here!
Otto : [quietly] No plans to see him?
Wanda : No.
Wanda : [loudly] Ok. Bye Bro.
Otto : Bye Wanda!
[Punches Wanda's picture, hands it to Ken]
Otto : Oh Sorry.
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Wanda : I'll be right back, take your clothes off.
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Otto : Hello, K-K-K-Ken's p-p-pets!
[taps on fish tank]
Otto : Wake up!
[beats the water with a scrub brush]
Otto : Wake up Limey fish!
[to Wanda]
Otto : So... how are you going to get friendly with this lawyer?
Wanda : I don't know - I'll improvise.
[Otto gets fed up with the fish and tosses the scrub brush into the tank]
Otto : Fucking insects!
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Locksmith : No... there are no numbers, no identifying marks of any kind.
Wanda : But it is a safe deposit box key?
Locksmith : Oh, yes. But it could be any one in England, there are millions of them. Hotels, banks, offices... I'm sorry.
Wanda : [politely] Thank you.
[She gets up and heads for the door]
Wanda : [under her breath] *Fuck*!
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[Otto has just tried to woo Wanda by speaking mock Italian, she tells him to make the call to get rid of George, he does, but he continues speaking with an Italian accent]
Otto : [Italian accent] Ah, yes, I wonder if you could put me through to the police, per favor.
Wanda : [slaps him] Otto!
Otto : Ah!
[pauses, then realizes he needs to put his serious face on]
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Wanda : When he learned that your daughter's name is Portia, he said "Why did they name her after a car?"
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Wanda : Like nobody lies in England. Like Margaret Thatcher never lies.