Bad for Each Other (1953)
Charlton Heston: Col. Tom Owen M.D.
Photos
Quotes
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Dr. Tom Owen : [on the phone with his wife] Oh, I'm interviewing nurses, of course... Don't be silly, darling - of course she'll be fat and ugly. I do insist on good legs, though.
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Dr. Tom Owen : What are you looking for? Another moose head on your wall?
Helen Curtis : [laughs] You might be a good looking moose head, at that!
Dr. Tom Owen : Nobody's gonna collect me and hang me on any wall.
Helen Curtis : Any experienced collector will tell you, colonel, that prized items are always given special treatment.
Dr. Tom Owen : Just how much experience have you had?
Helen Curtis : A great deal. Perhaps too much. Twice married, twice divorced.
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Dr. Tom Owen : I've met women like you in half the capitals of the world. You've been everywhere, done everything, seen everything, had everything, and that's still not good enough.
Helen Curtis : I'm not interested in your diagnosis.
[She starts to leave; he grabs her and they kiss]
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Dr. Tom Owen : [showing her his new doctor's office] What do you think?
Mrs. Mary Owen : I was in an office like this once before. Floyd's. It ruined him.
Dr. Tom Owen : What ruined Floyd was that he forgot he came out of a hole in the ground. He wanted a social career. I want only one thing: Money. Look, Mom - I've got a chance at a jackpot. A lot of people with a lot of money think I'm a colorful character. Because I have the right sponsorship, they think I'm more than average.
Mrs. Mary Owen : You are more than average.
Dr. Tom Owen : Well, I'm not. But by the time they find that out, I'll have the security I want; then it won't matter.
Mrs. Mary Owen : You don't mean that. You're just saying it.
Dr. Tom Owen : How do you know what I mean?
Mrs. Mary Owen : I'm your mother.
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Dr. Tom Owen : [looking around his old home] It feels like I've been gone about two days.
Mrs. Mary Owen : Ten years! I can't believe it. All the places you've been, and all the things you've done. You look bigger.
Dr. Tom Owen : [laughs] It's the uniform.
[looking at his hands]
Dr. Tom Owen : Look, no coal dirt under the fingernails. Pop's scrubbing brush and your laundry soap finally paid off. Clean.
Mrs. Mary Owen : They're good hands. You're a good doctor.
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Dr. Tom Owen : It's been my experience that women who drink too much aren't silly - they're frustrated.
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Helen Curtis : I don't like to be kept waiting.
Dr. Tom Owen : You'll learn, if you hang around doctors long enough.
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Helen Curtis : Colonel, all I'm suggesting is that you take off your uniform and accept Dr. Gleeson's offer.
Dr. Tom Owen : His offer to do what? Patch up a bunch of neurotics and rich alcoholics like Rita Thornberg? In the army, I'm a doctor treating real patients. Here?
Helen Curtis : The rich get just as sick as the poor.
Dr. Tom Owen : Of course they do. When they're really sick, not developing imaginary illnesses.
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Helen Curtis : May I pay you a small compliment?
Dr. Tom Owen : If it's not too small.
Helen Curtis : I didn't get much sleep this morning because of you. There were four calls. All women. Asking about Colonel Tom Owen.
Dr. Tom Owen : Did you take their numbers?
Helen Curtis : I told them I saw you first. Occupied territory.
Dr. Tom Owen : You know, that might be fun. Being occupied.
Helen Curtis : It could be.
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Dr. Tom Owen : I asked you to marry me. I'd still like you to.
Helen Curtis : [laughs] Are you sure you want to marry a girl who can't do anything except write checks?
Dr. Tom Owen : You'll have a chance to learn a lot more than that. I'm quitting Gleeson.
Helen Curtis : You're going back to Coalville?
Dr. Tom Owen : I'm going back to medicine. There was no ghost surgery down in that mine tonight. I wasn't standing in for Gleeson or anybody else. I was on my own. That's the way it's got to be from now on. A man had to die to drive that into me.
Helen Curtis : What difference does it matter where you practice? A few hours ago, right here in this house, you told my aunt that a doctor's business was saving lives, no matter whose they were.
Dr. Tom Owen : A few hours ago, I was still looking for guarantees. I thought that's what I wanted: Security. I just learned that the only security, the only guarantees, the only chance a man's got to win is the way he uses what is given to work with. That's why I'm quitting Gleeson and going back to Coalville.
Helen Curtis : I could never get used to Coalville.
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Dan Reasonover : [reading the engagement notice in the newspaper] Is this true?
Dr. Tom Owen : There's no reason to sound like a district attorney, Dan. Of course it's true. We were going to tell you tonight.
Dan Reasonover : I'd better tell you a few things first. You know what Helen means to me; I'd do anything in the world to make her happy. You don't know what you're stepping into.
Dr. Tom Owen : I'll take my chances on her.
Dan Reasonover : You'll never get a chance. It's not easy for a man to say things like this about his own daughter, but she'll destroy you the same way she destroyed the others. Her backyard is full of the bones of explorers.
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Joan Lasher : I haven't seen all the surgery in the world, but I know the best when I see it. And surgeons like you come along only once in a long, long while. You are a fine doctor. All you need is your hands. Keep them clean.
Dr. Tom Owen : I intend to.
Joan Lasher : You can't. Not the way you've been going. Good night, doctor!
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Dr. Tom Owen : [following his examination] I'm afraid you'll have to cut down on cigarettes.
Lucille Grellett : [coyly] No, seriously. Am I alright?
Dr. Tom Owen : You just need something to quiet your nerves.
Lucille Grellett : Well, I'm sorry to have caused you all this trouble, Tom.
Dr. Tom Owen : No trouble at all, Lucille. As long as you feel relief.
Lucille Grellett : I certainly do.
Dr. Tom Owen : Glad I was able to help. You can get dressed now, Lucille.
Lucille Grellett : Will I be seeing you at the Sutton's party Friday night?
Dr. Tom Owen : Helen did say something about it, yes.
Lucille Grellett : Good! I hope you'll recognize me with my clothes on!
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Mrs. Roger Nelson : I've waited six weeks to say this to you: Thank you for saving my life.
Dr. Tom Owen : Dr. Gleeson did that.
Mrs. Roger Nelson : You've already demonstrated that you're a brilliant surgeon. Now, don't try to prove you're a bad liar.
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Dr. Tom Owen : You've been around long enough to know that a doctor's success depends on who he treats, not how well.
Joan Lasher : [angrily] I'm sorry, doctor. I haven't been around that long.
Dr. Tom Owen : Well, what have we here? A nurse with ideals?
Joan Lasher : My father taught me to believe that everybody had them.
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Dr. Tom Owen : Small towns are just like big ones, except in one way: They have less of everything.
Joan Lasher : They have enough for me.
Dr. Tom Owen : The only difference between Crowley's patients and mine is that mine pay more.
Joan Lasher : I'm sorry you see it that way.
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Dr. Homer Gleeson : Did you find anything wrong with Miss Grellett?
Dr. Tom Owen : There was nothing to find.
Dr. Homer Gleeson : I figured that. The lengths to which that type of girl will go to get attention.
Dr. Tom Owen : [smiles] She got attention. $250 worth.
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Dan Reasonover : When she was 21, I gave her a fortune. Parasites of two continents clustered around her like bees around a honeypot.
Dr. Tom Owen : I'm interested in your daughter - not her money.
Dan Reasonover : Maybe right now you're not. Funny thing about money - it's very easy to get used to. I don't want you to be like the others, Tom. I want you to be a man with a profession, not just the husband of a rich woman.
Dr. Tom Owen : Look. I'm a doctor. I'll always be a doctor. No matter whom I marry.
Dan Reasonover : Are you sure?
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Dr. Tom Owen : You know, you were beginning to impress me - money, style, honesty; I might have known there'd be something wrong with you.
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Helen Curtis : Are you quite sure she'll be alright?
Dr. Tom Owen : She lost about three ounces of blood; the human body contains thirteen pints, so I don't think she has much to worry about.
Helen Curtis : I must say, you were very impressive, the way you handled it.
Dr. Tom Owen : Cub Scouts do it every day, for merit badges.