- "Bugsy" Siegel: Twenty dwarves took turns doing handstands on the carpet. Twenty dwarves took turns doing handstands on the carpet. Twenty dwarves took turns doing handstands on the carpet...
- Virginia: Well
- [laughs]
- Virginia: my oh my, you're pretty ferocious for a mom's concern, aren't ya? The rest of the time you're just some good-looking, sweet-talking, charm-oozing, fuck-happy fellow with nothing to offer but some dialogue. Dialogue is cheap in Hollywood Ben. Why don't you run outside and jerk yourself a soda.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: Light your cigarette?
- Virginia: Sure. The way you were staring at me, I thought you were going to ask for something more exciting.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: Like what?
- Virginia: Use your imagination.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: I'm using it.
- Virginia: ...Let me know when you're finished.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: The Flamingo will make our gambling interests legitimate! Meyer, listen, we've known each other since we were too young to fuck. When did I ever ask you to just close your eyes, shut off the thinking, and just leap ahead with something on faith? Never, huh? But I'm asking you now. Do this.
- Harry Greenberg: [Ben "Bugsy" Siegel is taking the train from New York to LA. Harry Greenberg, among those seeing him off, stayed behind to ask Ben for $50,000. Train starts in motion] You ain't gonna kill me Ben, are you?
- "Bugsy" Siegel: [Ben gives him money] I'm going to try very hard to forget that this ever happened.
- Harry Greenberg: I owe you my life, Ben.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: I'd say that's a fair assessment.
- Harry Greenberg: God bless you Ben.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: Bend your knees, Harry.
- Harry Greenberg: Bend my knees?
- "Bugsy" Siegel: When you jump from the train, bend your knees to soften the impact.
- Harry Greenberg: Bend my knees. Okay Ben. Sure thing.
- [leaves]
- Cab Driver: You do know who this house belongs to, don't you? Bugsy Siegel.
- Harry Greenberg: No. No, no. Don't ever call him that.
- Cab Driver: Everybody calls him that out here.
- Harry Greenberg: Not to his face. You could bet your life on that. Things may have changed, but not that much.
- Virginia: Do you always talk this much before you do it?
- "Bugsy" Siegel: I only talk this much before I'm going to kill someone.
- [they kiss]
- "Bugsy" Siegel: [talking to Cohen after Cohen robbed him] Well, if I were you, I'd give that money back by seven o'clock tonight.
- Mickey Cohen: [shouting] Fuck you! Look at me. Fuck you! And if I was you I'd shut my fuckin' mouth and watch my step! Yeah, Smiley! Or would ya like me to blow your fuckin' Adam's apple down your spine?
- "Bugsy" Siegel: [calmly] Excuse me, but aren't we in a public place? Maybe we'd both be better off if you just toned down your rhetoric one notch.
- Mickey Cohen: Maybe we'd both be better off if I left you altogether and never saw your fuckin' face again.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: [Virginia has just thrown an ashtray at him, leaving him bleeding from the head] That's not pleasant.
- Virginia Hill: [lights a cigarette] Were you under the impression that l was a virgin?
- Bugsy Siegel: No, no, no, l just thought maybe there was somebody you hadn't fucked.
- [Virginia throws an ash tray, hit's Bugsy's head]
- Bugsy Siegel: That's not pleasant.
- Virginia Hill: You listen to me, mister. You fucked around and I fucked around. You wanna to tell me your stories? Fine. Then, I'll tell you mine. You wanna bury the past where it belongs, we can do that too. But don't try playing these sulky little games with me. What we share should be goddamn good enough. And if it isn't, then we should call it quits right here. What'll it be?
- Bugsy Siegel: I got to know the truth.
- Mickey Cohen: The truth is: who the fuck ever knows what's going on in the mind of any broad?
- Woman on Train: This has been four of the most wonderful days I've ever spent.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: I got to tell you, a lot of it was in the motion of the train.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: I'm buying this house from you.
- Lawrence Tibbett: This house isn't for sale.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: Ah, sure it is. Everything's for sale.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: Bugsy? What do you mean "Bugsy"?
- Lawrence Tibbett: I beg your pardon.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: A bug is nothing. A bug does not exist. The word has no meaning. It's used out of ignorance or malice. You know what a bug is? A bug is a colloquialism. It has no basis in reality. Insects include a variety of living creatures. They fly. They crawl. They do many things. None of them can be called a bug!
- Jack Dragna: We run a smooth, little operation out here. With all due respect to you, Meyer Lansky, Charlie Luciano, Joey A, and whoever the fuck else you represent, I suggest you spend your time in California looking for broads, which we got plenty of and the finest in the world and which I understand is right up your alley. There's a subject I think I can help you out on. With phone numbers, whatnot, but if you're coming to me, looking to do business, I'm afraid I'm completely disinterested.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: Uninterested. Disinterested means impartial. Uninterested means not interested.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: You guys have an unusual sense of humor.
- Jack Dragna: You know what I think? I think what they say about you is true. I think you're out of your fucking mind.
- Mickey Cohen: I know you're a big shot, but make it quick. Will ya? I got a hot date waitin' for me and I don't have time to be schmoozed by the likes of you.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: I'm sure you're right. I'm sure you're right about everything. I'm sure you're right about the misery and the torment and I'm sure you're right about what you want.
- Mickey Cohen: He needs me. He just said so. Ain't you been listening? Or, have you been too busy learning lines for your fairy acting jobs you took?
- "Bugsy" Siegel: Mickey, look, I'm expanding - and I'm thinking, if I'm going to expand why do it with the guys who got taken? Why don't I expand with the guy who took 'em?
- George: Ben, she is who she is. You ain't going to change her. What man ever changed a woman?
- "Bugsy" Siegel: I don't go by what other man have done. I believe in fresh starts.
- George: Fresh starts?
- "Bugsy" Siegel: Hey, without fresh starts you and me would have been history before we were 19.
- Meyer Lansky: Ben, I don't understand this desert thing of yours. What are we - bedouins? What's wrong with concentrating on Cuba? You got legalized gambling down there too. You're right off the coast of Florida. It's like another state.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: Yeah, maybe it's like another state, but it's not another state. A foreign country, Meyer, can always throw you out. Nevada *is* another state. And it's open. If we do this thing right, if we follow the hotel with the schools, the churches, and the synagogues, we build all the things that give a city backbone, we'll be in charge before you know it.
- Meyer Lansky: In charge of what?
- "Bugsy" Siegel: The state! And if you got a state, the whole country's within your reach.
- Meyer Lansky: Famous isn't good, Ben. For Clark Gable, it's good. For Joe DiMaggio, it's good. Famous for you is not good.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: Of course I feel responsible for Harry. I know I brought him in in the first place. But, Meyer, we always knew Harry wasn't playing with a full deck, but for the jobs we had to have him do, we both thought he was okay for that, right?
- Harry Greenberg: Ben, I thought I was dreaming.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: That's okay. I always think I'm dreaming.
- Harry Greenberg: That's true. So what do you think, Ben? Am I dreaming or am I really out here in Hollywood with you?
- "Bugsy" Siegel: You're here, Harry.
- Harry Greenberg: Thank God. If I was anyplace else, I'd be dead.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: [to Virginia] I just wish the two of us could be alone in Coney Island, eating a couple of fucking hot dogs at Nathan's.
- Meyer Lansky: Benny's always put women first. That's what makes him Benny. Only this time it's one women that's got him instead of the whole damn female race. So, I believe Benny would accept anything that broad told him.
- Meyer Lansky: Can you come up with that kind of money?
- "Bugsy" Siegel: No problem.
- Meyer Lansky: Would you stop with the "no problems"? What are you going to do to get the money?
- Meyer Lansky: Benny's got one basic problem: he doesn't respect money. The truth is he's not even interested in money for himself off this deal. He's interested in the idea.
- Mob Boss: What idea?
- Meyer Lansky: Building something. Making something. Benny's a dreamer. Lookit, I'm not excusing it. I'm explaining it.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: Considering the insulting word you used to describe Virginia, I think that you owe both of us an apology.
- Joey Adonis: Oh, you do?
- "Bugsy" Siegel: Yeah.
- Joey Adonis: Well, why don't you suck your apology outta my dick.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: Joey, what a thing to say. Put it out. Pull it out. You embarrassed? Pull it out. Do you want me to mine out first. Here. Hey, take a look at this.
- [unzips pants, then punches Joey in the face and beats him severely, then stops]
- "Bugsy" Siegel: Can ya hear me, Joey? You're lucky I didn't drink a lot today. Your apology's accepted.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: I just want you to answer the question that I'm really asking; how much money have you stolen from this hotel?
- Virginia: Hey, look, I've done a hundred times the amount of work I would have to do to justify taking anything I could get my hands on!
- "Bugsy" Siegel: How much did you get your hands on?
- Virginia: NOTHING! Not a cent! And I could've taken a LOT too! And you wouldn't have known the difference because you're an irresponsible, unrealistic, unreliable, undependable, philandering fuck!
- "Bugsy" Siegel: We're going to take a trip.
- Virginia: Oh, yeah? You're going to take a trip!
- "Bugsy" Siegel: To our destiny: Las Vegas!
- Virginia: Las Vegas? You couldn't drag me to that sand-hole, rattrap with a fishnet.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: We are gonna build a garden of Eden in the desert! A hotel! But not a hotel. You know what it is? It's an oasis! It's an oasis with a casino. It's legal, it's Nevada. And we're gonna have palm trees and pools, we'll have rose gardens more beautiful than Versailles, and we're gonna design them all ourselves!
- Virginia: Get away from me!
- "Bugsy" Siegel: We're gonna have the greatest entertainers in the world! We'll have Jolson, Kantor, and Durante, we'll have Gary Cooper, Victor Mature, all of 'em, honey. We'll have Dana Andrews, honey, and they're all just hanging around, because it'll be the most beautiful, most spectacular place they've ever been invited to, and *you* are gonna own five and three quarters percent of the whole thing. And that's gross, not net! We're going to be the greatest hosts in the west. And we're going to name it - after you. We're going to call it: The Flamingo.
- Bugsy Siegel: It just makes me sick inside, when I don't bring pleasure to someone that I admire. Does this bring you pleasure, Larry?
- Lawrence Tibbett: Oh my goodness, yes.
- Bugsy Siegel: Then why don't l see you smiling?
- Bugsy Siegel: All right, l'll give you the benefit of the doubt... and l will assume that you didn't know that no one calls me that.
- Virginia Hill: Do me a favor, would you? It's the only favor I'll ever ask you.
- Bugsy Siegel: Anything.
- Virginia Hill: Finish your drink, get the fuck out of here and never come near me again.
- Bugsy Siegel: l figured l'd run into you. Would you ever have called me?
- Virginia Hill: l was planning to wait a while.
- Bugsy Siegel: When?
- Virginia Hill: Oh, ten years.
- Bugsy Siegel: Ten years? Why?
- Virginia Hill: Well, I guess I figured since all we're gonna do is bring each other misery and torment...
- Bugsy Siegel: What? Why would we have to bring each other misery and torment?
- Virginia Hill: Because we both want, whatever we want, whenever we want it - and we both want everything.
- Virginia Hill: What l do with my time and my body is my business. Sit down, Alejandro.
- Alejandro: l demand satisfaction.
- Bugsy Siegel: [pulls out a gun] Would this satisfy you, sweetie?
- Virginia Hill: Take a hike, will you? Why con't you go back to your Countess, you hypocritical son of a bitch. l hope she gives you syphilis! Let's get out of this joint, Alejandro.
- Meyer Lansky: When you get to Los Angeles, would you do us all a favor, don't call George. I know he's a good friend of yours; but, he's such a big-shot movie star now he attracts more attention than Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The whole trip's got to be quick and quiet.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: And amiable.
- Meyer Lansky: Very funny. 12 days: 4 days out, 4 days of diplomacy, 4 days back. No one even knows you were there.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: The shirt off my back. Do you want the shirt off my back? Because, I'd be happy to give you the shirt off my back. Here.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: If we make love, it will be the only time.
- Girl in Elevator: What if you like it?
- "Bugsy" Siegel: I know I'll like it.
- George: Don't get no ideas, Ben. You know how crazy Joey can get. No woman's worth a bullet between the eyes. Am I right or wrong?
- "Bugsy" Siegel: Depends on whose eyes and which woman.
- George: Lana Turner lives there. Cesar Romero lives there. And Gary Cooper is in that house on the right. He paid 45 grand.
- "Bugsy" Siegel: Houses are bringing in that kind of money out here?
- George: Sure - and more.
- Virginia: Let me guess. I'll bet Esta lives her life faithful to her one and only Ben who plays around like a jackrabbit on the side and lies about it through his teeth.