His Majesty O'Keefe (1954)

Burt Lancaster: Capt. David Dion O'Keefe, Narrator

Photos 

Quotes 

• Capt. David O'Keefe : Goodbye, Fatumak. Thank you for everything. Goodbye!

  Fatumak, Medicine Man : There are no goodbyes between friends.

  [handing him a necklace] 

  Fatumak, Medicine Man : This is the whale's tooth of remembrance until we meet again.

• Capt. David O'Keefe : [waking up to see a gun being pointed at him]  Why am I being killed?

  Bob Harris : I'm an old sea hand, O'Keefe. I've taken women aboard ships myself.

  Capt. David O'Keefe : You're wrong, Harris. I want to marry her.

  Bob Harris : To save your life!

  Capt. David O'Keefe : If that's what you think, you better pull the trigger!

  Bob Harris : You do love her?

  Capt. David O'Keefe : And I'll make her a good husband!

  Bob Harris : [lowers his gun]  Be good to her.

• Capt. David O'Keefe : Where did I go wrong, old man?

  Fatumak, Medicine Man : We all lose our way sometimes.

  Capt. David O'Keefe : [repeating]  Where did I go wrong?

  Fatumak, Medicine Man : The whale that swallows the dolphin chokes and dies, but the whale who lives without greed is the king of the sea.

• Sien Tang, Dentist : How wonderful to be a seafaring adventurer, to cross the vast oceans and visit distant corners of the globe.

  Capt. David O'Keefe : Get on with the tooth.

  Sien Tang, Dentist : Unfortunately, for me, the ocean is merely a sea of misty dreams.

• Capt. David O'Keefe : Only Fey gathered in the old way has any value.

• Capt. David O'Keefe : I don't understand. You offer them a fortune for a few coconuts, and they refuse to work. Yet they go out and kill themselves for six pieces of stone. I give up.

  Alfred Tetins : I thought you would... *I* did twenty years ago.

• Fatumak, Medicine Man : [to Herr Tetins, as O'Keefe is leaving Yap Island on the German steamship]  He'll be back.

  Capt. David O'Keefe : [narrating]  Sure I'd be back... There *had* to be a way to make these people work.

• Capt. David O'Keefe : [applying for a loan at the South China Bank in Hong Kong]  I want to buy the "Malayan Queen." She's up for sale at 30,000 Pounds.

  Beldon, Hong Kong Banker : Let me understand you: you want the South China Bank to advance you 30,000 Pounds, for the purpose of buying the "Malayan Queen"?

  Capt. David O'Keefe : That's right.

  Beldon, Hong Kong Banker : Against what security?

  Capt. David O'Keefe : [holds up some gold coins]  These. Plus my reputation.

  Beldon, Hong Kong Banker : But Captain, things aren't done this way. It simply isn't banking.

  Capt. David O'Keefe : Why not?

  Beldon, Hong Kong Banker : I could never explain it to my stockholders. It would cost me my job.

  Capt. David O'Keefe : Beldon, I'll tell you what you do: you *keep* your job.

  [gets up and walks out] 

• Capt. David O'Keefe : [Sien Tang is offering O'Keefe the use of an old Chinese Junk]  What's your offer?

  Sien Tang, Dentist : I will furnish crew and supplies. And we'll divide the profits between us.

  Capt. David O'Keefe : How do you know you can trust me?

  Sien Tang, Dentist : Who is there in Hong Kong that would not trust Captain O'Keefe?

  Capt. David O'Keefe : A few bankers.

  Sien Tang, Dentist : Men of little vision.

• Alfred Tetins : What are you trying to prove? Money, power, the driving ambition to reach the top? Has it ever occurred to you that everyone cannot be a king?

  Capt. David O'Keefe : Why not?

• Capt. David O'Keefe : What's the matter? Doesn't that sound exciting?

  Dalabo aki Dali : I can't dance.

  Capt. David O'Keefe : [laughs]  Well, we can't let you turn into an old maid because of that. I'll teach you to dance.

  Dalabo aki Dali : Show me! Show me.

  Capt. David O'Keefe : Give me your hand. No, this one. Put your arm around me. Higher. - You can't dance without music. I have a book that tells you all about it. I'll bring it from the junk tomorrow.

  Dalabo aki Dali : Let's get it now! Come on.

• Capt. David O'Keefe : Well, look what we've got here? Well, show us the dress.

  [Dali opens her cape] 

  Capt. David O'Keefe : Oh, no, Dali. You put on the negligee. It's all right. I'll explain it later - when we're married.

• Dalabo aki Dali : I'm going to America - when I get married.

  Capt. David O'Keefe : When did this happen?

  Dalabo aki Dali : Oh, I don't know. Papa says I mustn't wait much longer because I'm 17 already.

  Capt. David O'Keefe : You are getting old.

• Capt. David O'Keefe : Love. It isn't always like a little spark that burst into a great flame. Very often, love grows slowly. And that's the very best kind of love.

• Capt. David O'Keefe : Quiet. Men of Yap, hear me. The defeat of Bully Hayes will be told and retold throughout the South Seas by his men. That's why I set them free. And each time the tale is told, the power of this island will grow and grow. You've seen the last of scum like Bully Hayes. And pirates and slavers will return no more.

• Capt. David O'Keefe : He's dead.

  Dalabo aki Dali : That shouldn't stop, His Majesty O'Keefe.

• [last lines] 

  Capt. David O'Keefe : We'll be waiting.