Chaplin (1992)

Anthony Hopkins: George Hayden

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Quotes 

• Charlie Chaplin : The truth is I'd have been a total disaster if I hadn't invented The Tramp.

  George Hayden : Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you about the way you've written that.

  Charlie Chaplin : I mean, the words just poured out. It practically wrote itself. Remember, I'd only been with Sennett for a month. Oh, that magical moment as I walked through the wardrobe door. I felt possessed. I could feel *him* calling out to me. The Tramp.

  George Hayden : Bullshit! And you know it.

  Charlie Chaplin : But the truth is so boring, George!

• [about Hetty Kelly] 

  George Hayden : But you didn't even kiss her!

  Charlie Chaplin : Don't you think I know that?

• George Hayden : My Charlie, you weren't even thirty. You was the most famous man in the world, with your own studio, named after you. Couldn't you just enjoy it?

  Charlie Chaplin : I can now, but couldn't then. It meant too much.

• Charlie Chaplin : That's not what dogged me, George. It wasn't that.

  Charlie Chaplin : It was... it was the knowledge that if you did what I did for a living-if you were a clown-and you had a passion to tell a particular kind of story... something... beyond... but you only had the one chance to get it right. And I never did.

  Charlie Chaplin : One never does, but, uh, you know that. That's not... the problem. It's when you feel you're getting really close... but you can't make it the rest of the way. You're not good enough. You're not complete enough. And despite all your fantasies you're second rate.

  George Hayden : Charlie.

  Charlie Chaplin : Human. That's very hard.

• [first lines] 

  George Hayden : Ha ha ha ha ha. Come on Charlie stop messing about, we really have to get down to it now. I just hope our friendship survives the day, that's all.

  Charlie Chaplin : Ha George, don't be so melodramatic.

  George Hayden : Well, it's your autobiography Charlie. And as your editor I have to tell you that parts of the manuscript are pretty vague, to say the least. I mean for instance, your mother. Now when did she first lose control? We need to know those facts.

  Charlie Chaplin : It's hard to say. She could be so wonderful, on good days...

• Charlie Chaplin : Of course everything changed when America's sweetheart came on the scene.

  George Hayden : You mean Mary Pickford?

  Charlie Chaplin : Yes, I always found her to be something of an undersized bitch, but Doug fell for her like a ton of bricks.

• George Hayden : We've got to deal with the problem, Charlie. You married her. All your life, you've bedded down with the babies. Your readers will want to understand.

• George Hayden : Upper regional domes...

  Charlie Chaplin , George Hayden : Immensely expansive.

  George Hayden : That's how you describe Joan Barry in your book. She was very - she was well-endowed, is that what you mean?

  Charlie Chaplin : Yes

• George Hayden : Ah yes, tell me, when did you start to work on "The Great Dictator"?

  Charlie Chaplin : '38.

  George Hayden : '38. Everyone thought you were crazy then. Then, when the second World War broke out, you became a genius overnight.

  Charlie Chaplin : Well, not to those who thought I was a Communist.

• George Hayden : You know what it was, don't you?

  Charlie Chaplin : What?

  George Hayden : Sex.

  Charlie Chaplin : Sex.

  George Hayden : Yes. Sex.

  Charlie Chaplin : It's odd, you know, but I don't think I've ever looked at a woman without measuring that - possibility between us. At the same time, I'm not all that interested. Never during work. I suppose it was only when I wasn't working, that I was - vulnerable.

• George Hayden : Lita was your second wife, okay? She gave you two sons, whom you adored. This book is over 500 pages long. Yet, you only devote five lines to her. Why?

  Charlie Chaplin : I hated the bitch.

• Charlie Chaplin : Paulette. She was wonderful.

  George Hayden : Her personality, you mean?

  Charlie Chaplin : No.

  George Hayden : You mean in bed?

  Charlie Chaplin : No. Well, that was good. No, she's the only one who didn't take me for a fortune.