The Winds of War (TV Mini Series)
Defiance (1983)
Robert Mitchum: Victor 'Pug' Henry
Quotes
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[Gray points at his map]
Rear Adm. Talbot Gray : Here: Chicago, St. Louis, Pensacola. We've got 53 old-type scout bombers, SBU-1s and 2s that have been declared surplus. We wanna get them back to Chance-Vought, Stratford, Connecticut. That's the manufacturer. Get all US Navy markings and special equipment removed. Our British friends will pick them up as-is and fly them to a carrier standing off Halifax. Now, for obvious reasons involving the Neutrality Act, this is touchy business. The idea is to get this done without leaving a conspicuous trail of blood, guts, and feathers.
Victor 'Pug' Henry : Aye-aye, sir.
Rear Adm. Talbot Gray : I'll put a plane at your disposal.
Air Commodore Burne-Wilke : We have 60 pilots on hand and waiting. How soon do you suppose we could have those planes, captain?
Victor 'Pug' Henry : Day after tomorrow, late afternoon. Would that be convenient? It'll take some time to get those markings off.
Air Commodore Burne-Wilke : Day after tomorrow, you say?
Victor 'Pug' Henry : Yes. The stragglers, if any, could come along on the deck of the next available cargo ship.
Air Commodore Burne-Wilke : Actually, we were thinking more in terms of a week from now. You see, we've given some of our fliers leave, and it'd require a bit of rounding up.
Victor 'Pug' Henry : Thursday. That gives you four days.
Air Commodore Burne-Wilke : Four days?
[to Gray]
Air Commodore Burne-Wilke : You do think that's feasible.
Rear Adm. Talbot Gray : He says so.
Air Commodore Burne-Wilke : Well, then I'd better get right at this one. Admiral, Captain Henry.
Victor 'Pug' Henry : Commodore.
[Burne-Wilke exits]
Rear Adm. Talbot Gray : Day after tomorrow, eh?
Victor 'Pug' Henry : Admiral, I didn't really think that those fliers were all ready and waiting.
Rear Adm. Talbot Gray : Well, Thursday's cutting it close enough.
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[Pug enters the Oval Office as President Roosevelt and Admiral Gray study a painting of a sailing ship]
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt : Hello there, captain. You know the chief of BuAir, I understand.
Victor 'Pug' Henry : Admiral Gray.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt : What about this picture, Pug? You like it?
Victor 'Pug' Henry : It's fine, sir. Of course, I'm a sucker for sea scenes.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt : So am I, but do you know he's got the rigging wrong? What about that, Pug? All the man had to do was paint a sailing ship. That was his whole job and he got the rigging wrong. Well, that thing isn't gonna hang in here.
[to Admiral Gray]
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt : Well, Talbot, what about it? Are we gonna put Pug Henry to work on that little thing? Will he do?
Rear Adm. Talbot Gray : Well, if you assign Pug Henry to paint a square rigger, Mr. President, you might not recognize it, but he'd get the rigging right.
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[Pug and Pamela run into Fred Fearing at a pub in London]
Fred Fearing : Aren't you the sly one, Reverend Henry. She's small, but saucy.
Victor 'Pug' Henry : She's the daughter of a friend of mine.
Fred Fearing : Of course, Talky Tudsbury. Old pal of mine too.
Victor 'Pug' Henry : Exactly right. That's who she is. Her fiancé is an RAF pilot who is missing in action.
Fred Fearing : Just so, and she might enjoy a little consolation.
Victor 'Pug' Henry : And how would you enjoy getting knocked on your ass?
Fred Fearing : You mean it?
Victor 'Pug' Henry : I mean it.
Fred Fearing : [awkwardly] Uh, how's Rhoda?
Victor 'Pug' Henry : She misses me, New York stinks, she's bored, and the weather is unbearably hot.
Fred Fearing : Situation normal. Good old Rhoda.