The Glass Wall (1953)

Gloria Grahame: Maggie

Photos 

Quotes 

• Peter : Tell me. Is there not work for everyone here in America?

  Maggie : Almost everyone.

  Peter : So, how it happens that a girl like you steals a coat?

  Maggie : I don't know. I was cold. I needed a coat.

  Maggie : [thinking about what she just said]  More than that, I was fed up, I guess.

  Maggie : [standing up]  Did you ever put tips on shoe laces?

  Peter : Tip on shoelaces?

  Maggie : Yeah. That's what I did for two years.

  Maggie : [gesturing about her work]  There's a big steal machine here, see, and over here, a giant spool of shoelace. You pull it out like this, twenty-seven inches at a time, all day. And then you stamp a pedal and a ton of steel bangs down, cuts the lace and rolls the tip on. Bang like that, and again. Bang, all day. You're scared you'll smash your finger. At the same time, you gotta keep your eye on the assistant foreman. Because every time he comes by he pinches you. You do this until your brain goes numb, and you get thirty-five bucks a week. And then, all of a sudden, you have an appendix attack, an operation, and you're out flat on your back. And you just can't get back on you're feet. And you get fed up. And you want to strike back at somebody, anybody!

  Maggie : [after she heaves a sigh]  And you steal a coat.