The Great Escape (1963)
James Garner: Hendley 'The Scrounger'
Photos
Quotes
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Hendley : Colin's not a blind man as long as he's with me. And he's going with me!
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Colin : You know, he's right. he's right. I really shouldn't go. My eyes have been getting worse and worse. I think they call it progressive Myopia. I can see things up here.
[looks at pin]
Colin : yes I can see it well, but, you're just a blur.
Hendley : I know. Ah, Hell, we'll make it in great shape. Colin, do you have any tea?
Colin : Yes, of course.
Hendley : Let's have some.
Colin : Splendid.
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Hendley : Come on, Roger. We all know the score here, at least... most of us do. Your idea of this escape is to... start another front, to foul up the Germans behind the lines. All right, that's fine, that's fine. But once we get passed that barbed wire, once we have them looking all over Germany for us, that mission is accomplished. Afterwards, we have some ideas of our own.
Bartlett : You mean getting home? Back to your family and children?
Hendley : That's right.
Bartlett : Good God, man. Do you really believe I haven't thought about that, too?
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Bartlett : Not Colin. He'd be an appalling hazard to the whole escape. That must be my decision.
Hendley : You want to talk about hazards? Let talk about hazards. Lets talk about you. You're the biggest hazard we have. The Gestapo has you marked. No one has said you can't go.
Bartlett : That's true, and I have thought about the Gestapo. But if you're asking me how a far a commanding officer is allowed to go, or dare go, or should be permitted to play God, I can't answer you.
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Hendley : Right.
Bartlett : Dennis, maps and surveys. Colin, you'll take your usual job. Eric, have you thought how you're going to get rid of this dirt?
Ashley-Pitt : Yes, I have. The usual places. I hadn't anticipated three tunnels, but we'll manage.
Sorren : Roger, who's going to handle security for all this?
Bartlett : You are. I want a system of stooges covering this compound from front to back, checking every goon in and out. I want a signal system so perfect that if ever a ferret gets within fifty feet of any of the huts in which we're working, we can shut down without a sign.
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Danny : [preparing to start the escape tunnel] We're ready.
Bartlett : Big enough?
Danny : It's perfect. Right through the middle of the foundation.
[with his chalk, he writes "17" in the corner of the concrete]
Bartlett : Good luck to us, Danny.
Hendley : [quietly to Mac] Why seventeen?
MacDonald : This is the seventeenth tunnel Danny's started.
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Werner 'The Ferret' : What do you do here by the truck?
Hendley : I'm stealing tools.
Werner 'The Ferret' : For stealing tools, cooler.
Hendley : I was only kidding. I wasn't stealing tools.
Werner 'The Ferret' : Oh, you're American.
Hendley : Yes, and you're a German.
Werner 'The Ferret' : Of course. Why do you come to Germany? Why fight for England, your enemy?
Hendley : Enemy? What are you talkin' about?
Werner 'The Ferret' : In 1812, they burned your capital.
Hendley : That's propaganda.
Werner 'The Ferret' : It's in the history books.
Hendley : It's pure propaganda.
Werner 'The Ferret' : I read it! And now, go away from here. If you steal tools, cooler.
Hendley : Yeah, no tools.
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Blythe 'The Forger' : You're the scrounger.
Hendley : Yes, that's right.
Blythe 'The Forger' : I'll need a camera.
Hendley : What kind?
Blythe 'The Forger' : A good one. A 35mm F2.8 with a focal plane shutter should do all right.
Hendley : All right.
Blythe 'The Forger' : And film, of course.
Hendley : Oh, of course.
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Hendley : Well, what do you think, Navy?
Ashley-Pitt : I must say it's an interesting first twenty minutes.
Willie : I'd say we made fools of ourselves.
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Hendley 'The Scrounger' : [Referring to the moonshine they're drinking] You know what that is?
Blythe 'The Forger' : I'll tell you what it isn't. It isn't Napoleon Brandy... .
