Barbary Coast (1935)

Joel McCrea: Jim Carmichael

Photos 

Quotes 

• Jim Carmichael : Aren't I ever gonna see you again?

  Mary 'Swan' Rutledge : Please, I'd like to remember it just like this: the rain, the fog, and a poet from Gramercy Park, with his bags of gold. Let's just leave it that way.

  Jim Carmichael : It's awfully hard to live poetry.

• Mary 'Swan' Rutledge : So, with a bag of gold, the prodigal returns to Gramercy Park. Licked!

  Jim Carmichael : Well, there won't be any bands to play, if that's what you mean, Ma'am.

  Mary 'Swan' Rutledge : Or any poems to write?

  Jim Carmichael : No, I guess not. I won't have much time for writin' poetry. Anyhow, I kinda run out of subject matter.

  Mary 'Swan' Rutledge : Write about a harpy who smiled at you and cheated you. Write about that!

• Jim Carmichael : No complaints. Wisdom was never bought at so cheap a price.

• Mary 'Swan' Rutledge : What's the matter?

  Jim Carmichael : I can't get over it.

  Mary 'Swan' Rutledge : Over what?

  Jim Carmichael : How beautiful a woman is. I'd almost forgotten, so help me.

• Mary 'Swan' Rutledge : You're the most peculiar desert rat I've seen yet.

  Jim Carmichael : Would you mind very much if I looked at you if I promise not to faint. Say, you're pretty wet, Ma'am. Don't you think you ought to hang those clothes of yours in front of the fire to dry?

  Mary 'Swan' Rutledge : Well...

• Mary 'Swan' Rutledge : Oh, you're leaving the West?

  Jim Carmichael : Yes. Shipping out like Sinbad with his loot. Here it is. You know, I've been pokin' around for this silly stuff for about two years. I keep expecting it to vanish like the figments of a dream. But, its safe now. That is, if I can get by the harpies of San Francisco.

  Mary 'Swan' Rutledge : The harpies?

  Jim Carmichael : Yes, Ma'am. Although, some people call them by other names.

• Mary 'Swan' Rutledge : What does a harpy look like?

  Jim Carmichael : Oh, they got snakes in their hair and cat's eyes and no hearts at all. You can always tell 'em, easy.

• Jim Carmichael : Hey! You don't want a couple of jackasses to remember me by?

• Old Atrocity : I kinda hate to see you go, son. But, things'll be more suitable in the East.

  Jim Carmichael : For poets - and failures.

• Jim Carmichael : Ma'am I don't know quite what to say.

  Mary 'Swan' Rutledge : Well, say it to somebody else! Not me. I've seen quite enough of you for one day or for one lifetime!

• Jim Carmichael : I'm stupid. Love's the only thing I've thought of or read about since I was knee-high. That's what I've always dreamed of. Of meeting somebody and falling in love. And when that remarkable thing happened, I was going to recite poetry to her for hours, about how her heart's an angel's wing and her hair the strings of a heavenly harp. Instead, I got drunk and hollered at her and called her a harpy. I'm pretty stupid.

• Jim Carmichael : Listen to me. There's something inside of people that can't be touched. They can stand in mud up to their necks, but, that thing inside stays bright and shiny.

  Mary 'Swan' Rutledge : Oh, I want to believe you!

  Jim Carmichael : Oh, you must believe me, because it's true. Loving wipes everything else! All this never existed. You'll see.