The Formula (1980)

George C. Scott: Barney Caine

Photos 

Quotes 

• Barney Caine : Let me tell you something. If I didn't have a son that still loved me, I'd blow your fuckin' brains out all over that wall back there... right here, right now. But I'm not in the murder business... and you're not worth one more minute of my time.

• Barney Caine : You're not in the oil business; you're in the oil shortage business!

• Barney Caine : [to Sgt. Yosuta]  Check the car.

  Sgt. Yosuta : Lieutenant Caine, I gotta talk to you. You know, we're supposed to be working this case together, so let's get some ground rules straight-up front. I have a name and I'd like you to use it-understood?

  Barney Caine : You're absolutely right. I should have said, "Check the cars, Louis", or, "Would you be good enough to check the cars, Sergeant Yosuta?" but it's Sunday and I'm not with my son and it bothers me, so you'll forgive my sudden lack of charm, okay?

  Sgt. Yosuta : Okay.

  Barney Caine : Good. Now check the fuckin' car.

• Barney Caine : What about dinner, Hans?

  Hans Lehman, Prefect of Police Berlin : Impossible. Two terrorists escaped from Moabit Prison. You know, you have been fortunate in America so far. You haven't experienced organized terrorism.

• Barney Caine : Doctor, Mr. Reimeck told us that you had been captured by the Russians.

  Dr. Abraham Esau, Director Reich Energy : The Mongolians came into the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute. They swarmed into my office still wearing their white winter uniforms in May. They kept flushing my toilet over and over. Can you believe? The German nation defeated by men who have never seen a toilet.

• Barney Caine : You trade lives and human dignity for profit.

  Adam Steiffel, Chairman Titan Oil : "Money, not morality, is the principal commerce of civilized nations." Thomas Jefferson, 200 years ago. That is the philosophy that built this nation.

  Barney Caine : What do you know about this nation? When did you ever give a second thought to American citizens? You're the reason their money's worthless. You're the reason old people are eating out of garbage cans, and kids get killed in bullshit wars. You're not in the oil business, you're in the oil shortage business. You're an ivory tower hoodlum. A common street killer. I wish to Christ there was some way I could nail you...

  Adam Steiffel, Chairman Titan Oil : Well... you're gonna' be nailing the American Dream, Barney. Because it all started in the corner gas station. Remember, you used to take your bike down there and get free air. And daddy said, "Fill them up, Fred." And you go down to grandma's for Christmas dinner. Yeah. Then, when you got your first car, what did you do? You took your girl for a ride. There was Fred smiling by the pump there. He never let you down, because a gallon of gas never broke down. Well, it was oil that nourished the American Dream. We're the great American tit, Barney. And without it... ain't no America.

• Barney Caine : [Barney Caine to Adam Stieffel, Chairman, Titan Oil]  What do you know about this nation? Don't you ever give a second thought to American citizens? You're the reason their money's worthless. You're the reason old people are eating out of garbage cans, and kids get killed in bullshit wars. You're not in the oil business; you're in the oil SHORTAGE business! You're an ivory-tower hoodlum-a common street killer. I wish to Christ there was some way I could nail ya'.

• Paul Obermann, Chief Engineer Berlin Power & Light Co. : At the end of the war they had developed a truly remarkable catalyst. The catalyst lasted for over one million tons of coal.

  Barney Caine : Then the formula for that catalyst would still be considered secret?

  Paul Obermann, Chief Engineer Berlin Power & Light Co. : Without question. Whoever possessed the formula would need only coal and a basic chemical technology to be self-sufficient in energy.

  Barney Caine : Then it would follow that certain interests wouldn't exactly be thrilled with the introduction of mass-produced synthetic fuel made from coal.

  Paul Obermann, Chief Engineer Berlin Power & Light Co. : Obviously not. They would no longer enjoy huge profits from the scarcity of natural crude. The entire power structure in the world would shift from the Arabs and OPEC back to the United States. After all, Mr. Caine, America has the largest deposits of coal on this planet. The forces involved are colossal.

• Barney Caine : You see, professor, I'm a little tired of being lied to and shot at. And your phony nostalgia about the good old days doesn't impress me.

  Siebold : [Indignantly]  Don't play the sanctimonious American with me, mister. In all the years of the war, in all the great Allied raids, not one important hydrogenation plant was hit. And why? Because certain American oil companies shared chemical patents with the Third Reich. The Americans were in business with the Third Reich then. And the same partnership exists today. There is blood on your hands too, mister.

  [Lt. Caine gives the professor a hard look, says nothing, turns and leaves the room] 

• Paul Obermann, Chief Engineer Berlin Power & Light Co. : [Meeting at the Berlin Zoo, second floor aquarium, near closing time]  Keep your voice down, Mr. Caine. We have only a few minutes. Now ask your questions.

  Barney Caine : Did you see Tom Neeley early in January?

  Paul Obermann, Chief Engineer Berlin Power & Light Co. : Yes. We met several times.

  Barney Caine : Was Kay Neeley with him?

  Paul Obermann, Chief Engineer Berlin Power & Light Co. : On one occasion. We had dinner.

  Barney Caine : How did you come to know Tom?

  Paul Obermann, Chief Engineer Berlin Power & Light Co. : We met many years ago in Hamburg.

  Barney Caine : Under what circumstance?

  Paul Obermann, Chief Engineer Berlin Power & Light Co. : In the late spring of 1945,I was captured by the British and taken to their Intelligence Headquarters in Hamburg. Major Neeley was there on a temporary assignment. He worked with me and a Wehrmacht general named Kladen on a secret project, code name "Genesis."

  Barney Caine : What did Genesis stand for?

  Paul Obermann, Chief Engineer Berlin Power & Light Co. : Synthetic fuel.

  Barney Caine : When you say fuel, you mean gasoline?

  Paul Obermann, Chief Engineer Berlin Power & Light Co. : Yes, of course gasoline... Oil, propane, methane, thick lubricants, natural gas... even butter. All made from coal. The process is called hydrogenation.

  Barney Caine : How important was Genesis?

  Paul Obermann, Chief Engineer Berlin Power & Light Co. : The entire war-machine ran on synthetic fuel. Germany had no natural crude, but we possessed great quantities of coal. As does your country. The Genesis formula provided us with a pure synthetic oil producing no pollution. Come. We must go. They are closing.