Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Ralph Meeker: Mike Hammer

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Mike Hammer : You're never around when I need you.

  Velda : You never need me when I'm around.

• Christina Bailey : You have only one real lasting love.

  Mike Hammer : Now who could that be?

  Christina Bailey : You. You're one of those self-indulgent males who thinks about nothing but his clothes, his car, himself. Bet you do push-ups every morning just to keep your belly hard.

• Mike Hammer : An ordinary little girl gets killed and it rings bells all the way to Washington. There's gotta be a pitch... I picked up a girl. If she hadn't gotten in my way, I wouldn't have stopped. She must be connected with somethin' big.

• Gas station attendant : [seeing Mike in a new car]  Oh, the Jag wasn't good enough for you, huh?

  Mike Hammer : Yeah, the ashtrays were all full.

• Mike Hammer : Okay, how much did they give you? I'll top it.

  Eddie Yeager : You can't top this. They said they'd let me breathe.

• Lt. Pat Murphy : Mike, why don't you tell us what you know? Then step aside like a nice fella and let us do our job.

  Mike Hammer : What's in it for me?

• Christina Bailey : Get me to that bus stop and forget you ever saw me. If we don't make it to the bus stop...

  Mike Hammer : We will.

  Christina Bailey : If we don't, remember me.

• Velda : Christina Georgina Rossetti. Poetess, English, born 1830, died 1894. Your Christina was being held in that hospital for interrogation... What's the point of all this, if it's any of my business?

  Mike Hammer : She told me if I dropped her off at the bus station, I could forget her. But if she didn't make it, she said, "Remember me."

  Velda : So, remember her. She's dead. But I'm not dead. Hey, remember me?

  Mike Hammer : Yeah. I remember you from somewhere.

• [first lines] 

  Mike Hammer : You almost wrecked my car! Well? Get in!

• Friday : Who are you?

  Mike Hammer : Who am I? Who are you?

  Friday : I'm Friday. I'd have been named Tuesday if I'd been born on Tuesday. I'm Carl's sister, half-sister. Same mother, different father. You know, you're not like the others - Carl's friends, I mean.

  Mike Hammer : Maybe that's because I'm not his friend.

  Friday : Oh, wonderful. Then you can be my friend, all mine; nothing to do with Carl.

• [Lily is hiding in Mike's apartment] 

  Mike Hammer : *They* tried to get her last night.

  Velda : They? A wonderful word. And who are they? They're the nameless ones who kill people for the great whatsit. Does it exist? Who cares? Everyone everywhere is so involved in the fruitless search for what? Why don't you turn her over to Pat? It's his job to protect her, if she needs protection. Or to question her if that's what's needed. Why are you always tryin' to make a noise like a cop?

• Mike Hammer : What's this all about? I'll make a quick guess. You were out with some guy who thought "no" was a three-letter word. I should have thrown you off that cliff back there. I might still do it. Where are ya headed?

  Christina Bailey : Los Angeles. Drop me off at the first bus stop.

  Mike Hammer : Do you always go around with no clothes on?

• Mike Hammer : We're gonna steer away from these penny-ante divorce cases for a while. I've got a line on something better. That girl I picked up was mixed up in something big.

  Velda : And a cut of something big could be something big.

  Mike Hammer : I want you to find out all you can about her.

  Velda : First, you find a little thread, the little thread leads you to a string, and the string leads you to a rope, and from the rope you hang by the neck. What kind of a girl was she, this friend of yours, Christina?

• Friday : Will you be my friend?

  Mike Hammer : What do I have to do?

  Friday : I want to be a close friend. Ask me something.

  Mike Hammer : And no matter what it is, the answer's 'yes', isn't it?

  Friday : Maybe.

  Mike Hammer : Let's see how good you are at spelling. Can you spell the word "no"?

  Friday : N-O spells "no."

  Mike Hammer : That's a good girl. Now you practice saying that. Because one of the best ways to be friendly is to know when to say no.

• Mike Hammer : So you're a fugitive from the laughing house.

• Lt. Pat Murphy : Let the big slob sit there and think about his girl. What's likely to happen to her?

  Mike Hammer : I didn't know.

  Lt. Pat Murphy : You didn't know. Do you think you'd have done any different if you had known?