Bugsy (1991)

Warren Beatty: Bugsy Siegel

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Quotes 

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Twenty dwarves took turns doing handstands on the carpet. Twenty dwarves took turns doing handstands on the carpet. Twenty dwarves took turns doing handstands on the carpet...

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Light your cigarette?

  Virginia : Sure. The way you were staring at me, I thought you were going to ask for something more exciting.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Like what?

  Virginia : Use your imagination.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : I'm using it.

  Virginia : ...Let me know when you're finished.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : The Flamingo will make our gambling interests legitimate! Meyer, listen, we've known each other since we were too young to fuck. When did I ever ask you to just close your eyes, shut off the thinking, and just leap ahead with something on faith? Never, huh? But I'm asking you now. Do this.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Everybody deserves a fresh start every once in a while.

• Harry Greenberg : [Ben "Bugsy" Siegel is taking the train from New York to LA. Harry Greenberg, among those seeing him off, stayed behind to ask Ben for $50,000. Train starts in motion]  You ain't gonna kill me Ben, are you?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : [Ben gives him money]  I'm going to try very hard to forget that this ever happened.

  Harry Greenberg : I owe you my life, Ben.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : I'd say that's a fair assessment.

  Harry Greenberg : God bless you Ben.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Bend your knees, Harry.

  Harry Greenberg : Bend my knees?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : When you jump from the train, bend your knees to soften the impact.

  Harry Greenberg : Bend my knees. Okay Ben. Sure thing.

  [leaves] 

• Virginia : Do you always talk this much before you do it?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : I only talk this much before I'm going to kill someone.

  [they kiss] 

• "Bugsy" Siegel : [talking to Cohen after Cohen robbed him]  Well, if I were you, I'd give that money back by seven o'clock tonight.

  Mickey Cohen : [shouting]  Fuck you! Look at me. Fuck you! And if I was you I'd shut my fuckin' mouth and watch my step! Yeah, Smiley! Or would ya like me to blow your fuckin' Adam's apple down your spine?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : [calmly]  Excuse me, but aren't we in a public place? Maybe we'd both be better off if you just toned down your rhetoric one notch.

  Mickey Cohen : Maybe we'd both be better off if I left you altogether and never saw your fuckin' face again.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : You thought you could steal from ME?

• "Bugsy" Siegel : [Virginia has just thrown an ashtray at him, leaving him bleeding from the head]  That's not pleasant.

• Virginia Hill : [lights a cigarette]  Were you under the impression that l was a virgin?

  Bugsy Siegel : No, no, no, l just thought maybe there was somebody you hadn't fucked.

  [Virginia throws an ash tray, hit's Bugsy's head] 

  Bugsy Siegel : That's not pleasant.

  Virginia Hill : You listen to me, mister. You fucked around and I fucked around. You wanna to tell me your stories? Fine. Then, I'll tell you mine. You wanna bury the past where it belongs, we can do that too. But don't try playing these sulky little games with me. What we share should be goddamn good enough. And if it isn't, then we should call it quits right here. What'll it be?

• Bugsy Siegel : I got to know the truth.

  Mickey Cohen : The truth is: who the fuck ever knows what's going on in the mind of any broad?

• Woman on Train : This has been four of the most wonderful days I've ever spent.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : I got to tell you, a lot of it was in the motion of the train.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : I'm buying this house from you.

  Lawrence Tibbett : This house isn't for sale.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Ah, sure it is. Everything's for sale.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Bugsy? What do you mean "Bugsy"?

  Lawrence Tibbett : I beg your pardon.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : A bug is nothing. A bug does not exist. The word has no meaning. It's used out of ignorance or malice. You know what a bug is? A bug is a colloquialism. It has no basis in reality. Insects include a variety of living creatures. They fly. They crawl. They do many things. None of them can be called a bug!

• Jack Dragna : We run a smooth, little operation out here. With all due respect to you, Meyer Lansky, Charlie Luciano, Joey A, and whoever the fuck else you represent, I suggest you spend your time in California looking for broads, which we got plenty of and the finest in the world and which I understand is right up your alley. There's a subject I think I can help you out on. With phone numbers, whatnot, but if you're coming to me, looking to do business, I'm afraid I'm completely disinterested.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Uninterested. Disinterested means impartial. Uninterested means not interested.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : You guys have an unusual sense of humor.

  Jack Dragna : You know what I think? I think what they say about you is true. I think you're out of your fucking mind.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : I'm sure you're right. I'm sure you're right about everything. I'm sure you're right about the misery and the torment and I'm sure you're right about what you want.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Mickey, look, I'm expanding - and I'm thinking, if I'm going to expand why do it with the guys who got taken? Why don't I expand with the guy who took 'em?

• George : Ben, she is who she is. You ain't going to change her. What man ever changed a woman?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : I don't go by what other man have done. I believe in fresh starts.

  George : Fresh starts?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Hey, without fresh starts you and me would have been history before we were 19.

• Meyer Lansky : Ben, I don't understand this desert thing of yours. What are we - bedouins? What's wrong with concentrating on Cuba? You got legalized gambling down there too. You're right off the coast of Florida. It's like another state.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Yeah, maybe it's like another state, but it's not another state. A foreign country, Meyer, can always throw you out. Nevada *is* another state. And it's open. If we do this thing right, if we follow the hotel with the schools, the churches, and the synagogues, we build all the things that give a city backbone, we'll be in charge before you know it.

  Meyer Lansky : In charge of what?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : The state! And if you got a state, the whole country's within your reach.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Of course I feel responsible for Harry. I know I brought him in in the first place. But, Meyer, we always knew Harry wasn't playing with a full deck, but for the jobs we had to have him do, we both thought he was okay for that, right?

• Harry Greenberg : Ben, I thought I was dreaming.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : That's okay. I always think I'm dreaming.

  Harry Greenberg : That's true. So what do you think, Ben? Am I dreaming or am I really out here in Hollywood with you?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : You're here, Harry.

  Harry Greenberg : Thank God. If I was anyplace else, I'd be dead.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : [to Virginia]  I just wish the two of us could be alone in Coney Island, eating a couple of fucking hot dogs at Nathan's.

• Meyer Lansky : Can you come up with that kind of money?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : No problem.

  Meyer Lansky : Would you stop with the "no problems"? What are you going to do to get the money?

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Considering the insulting word you used to describe Virginia, I think that you owe both of us an apology.

  Joey Adonis : Oh, you do?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Yeah.

  Joey Adonis : Well, why don't you suck your apology outta my dick.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Joey, what a thing to say. Put it out. Pull it out. You embarrassed? Pull it out. Do you want me to mine out first. Here. Hey, take a look at this.

  [unzips pants, then punches Joey in the face and beats him severely, then stops] 

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Can ya hear me, Joey? You're lucky I didn't drink a lot today. Your apology's accepted.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : I just want you to answer the question that I'm really asking; how much money have you stolen from this hotel?

  Virginia : Hey, look, I've done a hundred times the amount of work I would have to do to justify taking anything I could get my hands on!

  "Bugsy" Siegel : How much did you get your hands on?

  Virginia : NOTHING! Not a cent! And I could've taken a LOT too! And you wouldn't have known the difference because you're an irresponsible, unrealistic, unreliable, undependable, philandering fuck!

• "Bugsy" Siegel : We're going to take a trip.

  Virginia : Oh, yeah? You're going to take a trip!

  "Bugsy" Siegel : To our destiny: Las Vegas!

  Virginia : Las Vegas? You couldn't drag me to that sand-hole, rattrap with a fishnet.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : We are gonna build a garden of Eden in the desert! A hotel! But not a hotel. You know what it is? It's an oasis! It's an oasis with a casino. It's legal, it's Nevada. And we're gonna have palm trees and pools, we'll have rose gardens more beautiful than Versailles, and we're gonna design them all ourselves!

  Virginia : Get away from me!

  "Bugsy" Siegel : We're gonna have the greatest entertainers in the world! We'll have Jolson, Kantor, and Durante, we'll have Gary Cooper, Victor Mature, all of 'em, honey. We'll have Dana Andrews, honey, and they're all just hanging around, because it'll be the most beautiful, most spectacular place they've ever been invited to, and *you* are gonna own five and three quarters percent of the whole thing. And that's gross, not net! We're going to be the greatest hosts in the west. And we're going to name it - after you. We're going to call it: The Flamingo.

• Bugsy Siegel : It just makes me sick inside, when I don't bring pleasure to someone that I admire. Does this bring you pleasure, Larry?

  Lawrence Tibbett : Oh my goodness, yes.

  Bugsy Siegel : Then why don't l see you smiling?

• Bugsy Siegel : Let's get started. Time is vicious when you take it for granted.

• Bugsy Siegel : All right, l'll give you the benefit of the doubt... and l will assume that you didn't know that no one calls me that.

• Virginia Hill : Do me a favor, would you? It's the only favor I'll ever ask you.

  Bugsy Siegel : Anything.

  Virginia Hill : Finish your drink, get the fuck out of here and never come near me again.

• Bugsy Siegel : l figured l'd run into you. Would you ever have called me?

  Virginia Hill : l was planning to wait a while.

  Bugsy Siegel : When?

  Virginia Hill : Oh, ten years.

  Bugsy Siegel : Ten years? Why?

  Virginia Hill : Well, I guess I figured since all we're gonna do is bring each other misery and torment...

  Bugsy Siegel : What? Why would we have to bring each other misery and torment?

  Virginia Hill : Because we both want, whatever we want, whenever we want it - and we both want everything.

• Virginia Hill : What l do with my time and my body is my business. Sit down, Alejandro.

  Alejandro : l demand satisfaction.

  Bugsy Siegel : [pulls out a gun]  Would this satisfy you, sweetie?

  Virginia Hill : Take a hike, will you? Why con't you go back to your Countess, you hypocritical son of a bitch. l hope she gives you syphilis! Let's get out of this joint, Alejandro.

• Meyer Lansky : When you get to Los Angeles, would you do us all a favor, don't call George. I know he's a good friend of yours; but, he's such a big-shot movie star now he attracts more attention than Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The whole trip's got to be quick and quiet.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : And amiable.

  Meyer Lansky : Very funny. 12 days: 4 days out, 4 days of diplomacy, 4 days back. No one even knows you were there.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : The shirt off my back. Do you want the shirt off my back? Because, I'd be happy to give you the shirt off my back. Here.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : If we make love, it will be the only time.

  Girl in Elevator : What if you like it?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : I know I'll like it.

• George : Don't get no ideas, Ben. You know how crazy Joey can get. No woman's worth a bullet between the eyes. Am I right or wrong?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Depends on whose eyes and which woman.

• Ronald the Butler : Is he expecting you?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Not unless he's psychic.

• George : Lana Turner lives there. Cesar Romero lives there. And Gary Cooper is in that house on the right. He paid 45 grand.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Houses are bringing in that kind of money out here?

  George : Sure - and more.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Too fast to put a ring on your finger?

  Virginia : Nothing's too fast that fits.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Why'd you come?

  Virginia : Well, it wasn't caution.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : That clown knows Mussolini? What do you think they do when they're together? Play golf? Trade jokes about carting people to the gas chambers?

  George : Hey, you know me. I stay out of politics.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Politics? This is war. He's Hitler's partner. He's our mortal enemy - and this effete count pals around with him?

  George : Take it easy, Ben. There's no sense in getting all worked up over something you can't do anything about. This is Hollywood.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : You pack quite a punch, don't you?

  Virginia : That wasn't a punch. It was slap. If I'd punched you you'd be stretched out across the floor.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : A guy with your balls must have more women lined up than the Latin Quarter.

• Virginia : If he knew I were here with you, the only thing he'd be trying to think through is which of us to kill first.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Do you want to kiss me as much as I want to kiss you?

• Mickey Cohen : How much?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : $5,000 - a week.

  Mickey Cohen : Does that include a blow job?

• "Bugsy" Siegel : How would he know she fucked Gene Krupa and a bullfighter?

  George : Well, it ain't exactly confidential info, baby blue eyes.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Do you want to fuck me?

  Jack Dragna : What?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : That's a simple question. Do you want to fuck me?

  Jack Dragna : Of course not.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : No? You sure?

  Jack Dragna : Of course, I'm sure.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Well, let me ask you this: do you want to rape me?

  Jack Dragna : This is crazy.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Shut up and answer the question. Do not lie to me! You stole from me. You stole from me and stealing is a form of rape. Did you think you could get away with it? Did you think you could steal from me? From Meyer Lansky, Charlie Luciano, and me and get away with it? That you could rape us and humiliate us? And get away with that? Give me an answer to that? Did you think you could get away with it or not?

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Now let me hear you oink like the treacherous, devious pig that you are! Come on! Come on! Get around there! Come on! Oink! Now! Oink! Oink! Oink! Oink!

• "Bugsy" Siegel : The Countess's husband is Mussolini's very good friend.

  Virginia : Yeah, I got it the first time. So what?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : The whole world is being destroyed by Hitler and Mussolini. I can do something about Mussolini.

  Virginia : Do something about Mussolini?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : I can stop him.

  Virginia : What do you mean - stop him?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : What do you think I mean?

  Virginia : Kill him? Kill Mussolini?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : I am using the Count to get to Mussolini.

  Virginia : You are going to kill Mussolini personally in the middle of a war? That is the most pathetic, asinine, ludicrous excuse I've ever heard. If you want to fuck some low-life Countess have the guts to say it and then go ahead and do it, and fuck yourself while you're at it.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Sugar, you don't get it. I am hatching a secret plan.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Now, bark - like the dog that you wish that you was decent enough to be. Bark! Bark!

• "Bugsy" Siegel : I just want to explain to you a few basic rules of aerodynamics.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Why be bogged down by petty limitations? Open your eyes to the horizons!

• "Bugsy" Siegel : I'm sorry, Joey. I know you were in love with her.

  Joey Adonis : Are you kidding me? I'd never let myself fall in love with a slut like her.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : A deportation party for Charlie is a very nice gesture. It's horrible. They lock him up, now they kick him out of the country. What kind of a judicial system do we have? Meyer, I tell you, never trust a prosecutor.

• Virginia : You know, I've brought nothing but trouble to every man Who ever went on the line for me.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Good. That's what they get for trying to steal my girl.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Tell me what you really think of this David, the architect.

  Mickey Cohen : What about him?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : I mean, what - you think he's any good? There's something about him I don't like. I mean, what is this fucking red tie? What is that shit?

  Mickey Cohen : Hey, he's an architect. What do you want?

• George : Do you really want to trust a dame with your checkbook? I've never known a broad I'd give more than a couple hundred bucks to.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : I am not trusting a dame. I am not trusting a broad. I am trusting Virginia and I trust her completely.

• Charlie Luciano : This fucking building was supposed to cost a million dollars. All of a sudden it's climbing through the fucking roof. A hotel - a hotel - in the middle of the fucking Mojave Desert, 500 miles away from the nearest toilet bowl. And this movie star Hollywood shit of yours is no good! We don't want nobody looking at us, taking our picture, writing stories. it's bad enough what they do already. This Flamingo thing can take it out of control.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : You finished? 'Cause, first of all, The Flamingo is a legitimate operation. There won't be anything to hide. Secondly, the money you and Meyer put up was not a gift. This was a favor that I let you in on.

  Charlie Luciano : Fine. Fine, then let us out. Now. At cost. No profits.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : You want out? You're out!

• Virginia : I thought you said you wanted to spend all your time with me.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : Will you please let us take a fucking drive alone?

  Virginia : You can take your whole fucking life alone if that's what you want.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Did they ask Michelangelo what it would cost to paint the Sistine Chapel? Did they ask Shakespeare what it would cost to write "Macbeth"? If it costs a little more, it costs a little more!

• "Bugsy" Siegel : It's tough to be incognito in Hollywood.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Mickey, I don't want Virginia out of your sight, period. If you take a nap, have one of the other guys watch her. All right. Hello! One of the older guys.

• Charlie Luciano : One more thing, Ben. The broad.

  "Bugsy" Siegel : What broad?

  Charlie Luciano : Why have some broad handle our money?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : She's not a broad. People are going to have to learn to speak with respect when they speak about Virginia.

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Look, stay on top of Virginia, will you?

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Did you see the picture in "The Examiner" today? Worst one yet. Makes me look like I got no tan at all. I look like a fuckin' marshmallow.

• Virginia : How do you think it makes me feel watching you running around chasing after some little bimbo?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : I wasn't chasing her. She's an employee.

  Virginia : An employee? Of what?

• "Bugsy" Siegel : Meyer, I have found the answer to the dreams of America.

  Meyer Lansky : You want to be more specific?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : The Flamingo.

  Mob Boss : A bird?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : What do people fantasize about? Sex, romance, money, adventure. I'm building a monument to all of them.

  Vito Genovese : Are you talking about here? A whorehouse?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : No. I'm talking about a hotel. I'm talking about Las Vegas, Nevada. I'm talking about a place where gambling is allowed. Where *everything* is allowed. The whole territory is wide open. I'm talking about a palace, an oasis, a city. Do you know when the Hoover Dam is finished, electrical power is going to to be available on a massive scale in Las Vegas.

  Mob Boss : I don't follow. The Hoover Dam and fucking are connected how?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : By air conditioning! It's the wave of the future! Everything will be air-cooled. Every room, 72 degrees at all times. The casino will put Monte Carlo to shame. We'll have wall-to-wall carpeting, we'll have Italian marble, we'll have badminton courts, stables, we'll have a lightning-fast train going from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in an hour. We'll have planes back and forth. Meyer, we'll have our own airport!

  Meyer Lansky : I think what Ben is saying is it's a good place to trap people in to take their money. Is that what you're getting at here, Benny?

  "Bugsy" Siegel : No, much more. Much more!

• Meyer Lansky : Who's going to assassinate Mussolini? Come here. Lookit, Benny, don't fuck this up by trying to be funny.

  Bugsy Siegel : I'm not trying to be funny. Mussolini and Hitler have to be stopped. They're trying to knock off every jew on earth. If I don't do something about it, who will? A bunch of Italians? I can stop Mussolini.

  Meyer Lansky : Did you ever hear of the Allied Forces? Why don't you leave it to them?

  Bugsy Siegel : Your missing the point. The Allied Forces don't have the access. I have the access.

  Meyer Lansky : You have the access?

  Bugsy Siegel : One of Mussolini's best friends is the Count di Frasso. The Count di Frasso's wife, Dorothy, has the hots for me. She will get me right up close to this cocksucker Mussolini. I can blow him halfway to Siberia.