Dreamboat (1952)

Clifton Webb: Thornton Sayre, Dreamboat, Bruce Blair

Photos 

Quotes 

• Carol Sayre : Did you realize at the time what a bad actor you were?

  Thornton Sayre : My child, at the time those films were made, I was recognized as one of the few real talents in Hollywood. Furthermore, I ranked second in a nationwide popularity poll.

  Carol Sayre : Who was first?

  Thornton Sayre : Some stupid police dog. I've forgotten his name. But I'll have you know that my salary was three times more than his.

• Thornton Sayre : Doctor, get hold of yourself!

• Thornton Sayre : Apparently, my tired Juliet, your opinion of my acting ability is not shared by Hollywood. I have here a contract awaiting my signature, the terms of which would turn your green eyes red with envy.

• Gloria Marlowe : And, what were you when I co-starred you in my pictures? An obscure ham, riding on my ability, and you knew it. That's why you quit Hollywood before you were thrown out.

  Thornton Sayre : There's one little mistake, my dear. I quit Hollywood before you were thrown out.

• Dr. Mathilda Coffey : Stay where you are. Don't come one step nearer.

  Thornton Sayre : But I haven't moved. It was you who followed me in here.

  Dr. Mathilda Coffey : I have to find out the truth about you, no matter what may happen to me.

• Gloria Marlowe : What? You making pictures in Hollywood today?

  Thornton Sayre : Why not? Hollywood learned to talk after you left. There's an increasing demand for people with something to say.

• Carol Sayre : Are you sure those pictures were meant to be shown to the public?

  Thornton Sayre : Times and moral standards have changed, my child.

• Dr. Mathilda Coffey : You know, Thornton, I've liked you ever since you first came here. I've liked you very much.

  Thornton Sayre : Uh, thank you, doctor. I've admired you too. You're a very brilliant person.

  Dr. Mathilda Coffey : But has it ever occurred to you that I'm also a woman?

  Thornton Sayre : [as she presses toward him]  Yes. Right now as a matter of fact.

• Gloria Marlowe : What were you when I found you on that California campus? A third-rate professor with a fourth-rate future.

  Thornton Sayre : Discovered by a fifth-rate actress with a mentality that defies classification.

• Carol Sayre : That waitress - the way she reacted to your kiss, I .. I felt as though I was peeking through a keyhole.

  Thornton Sayre : Naturally. Those pictures were designed to capitalize on the vicarious cravings of middle-aged glandular cases.

• [Reading aloud] 

  Denham : Ham. To be or not to be...

  Thornton Sayre : Denham, the word "Ham" is not to be read; neither as part of the soliloquy nor as a self-condemnation of your own performance. It is an abbreviation of "Hamlet," the character who is speaking.