James T. Hart Quotes in The Paper Chase (1973)

Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.: Mr. Hart, here is a dime. Take it, call your mother, and tell her there is serious doubt about you ever becoming a lawyer.

James T. Hart: [pause, as he is leaving the room] You... are a son of a bitch, Kingfield!

Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.: Mr. Hart! That is the most intelligent thing you've said today. You may take your seat.

[first lines]

Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.: Mr. Hart, would you recite for us the facts of Hawkins versus McGee?

[looks up]

Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.: I do have you name right? You are "Mr. Hart"?

James T. Hart: [mumbles] Yes, my name's Hart.

Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.: You're not speaking loud enough, Mr. Hart. Will you speak up?

James T. Hart: Yes, my name's Hart.

Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.: Mr. Hart, you're still not speaking loud enough. Will you stand? Speak louder, Mr. Hart! Fill the room with your intelligence!

Franklin Ford III: Damn good.

James T. Hart: It was a good answer - not a complete analysis, not a hard question - but the point is, I did it. I did it in Kingfield's class, this is a goddamn dance.

James T. Hart: I found something. There's a room above the stacks that have all the professors' old notes from when they were law students here. They're just sitting there waiting. I want to see the notes... I want to see Kingsfield's notes on contracts.

Franklin Ford III: Oh no, I know what you're thinking.

[shakes head]

Franklin Ford III: Uh-uh.

Toombs: Kingsfield drove him mad. He's driven a lot of lawyers mad over the past 40 years that he's been teaching here. I heard he ripped up a 1-L this morning so bad, the guy lost his breakfast.

James T. Hart: That's true. That was me.

Hotel Manager: Oh my God. What have you been doing in this room? I just had this room decorated. I'm calling the police.

Franklin Ford III: If you kick us out, I'll swear to God I'll sue your Goddamn hotel for a million dollars. I'll burn it to the ground!

James T. Hart: Look, I know that the piece of paper we signed down there allows you to kick us out. But if you do that, I'm going to go to the newspapers. And I'm going to tell them that we're a dope ring running through this hotel. Yeah, I'm going to tell them that, and you're not going to get any more business. Now shut up, and get out!

James T. Hart: Hi.

Susan Fields: Hello.

James T. Hart: I was just walking by, and I saw your light.

Susan Fields: How nice. Come in.

James T. Hart: Professor Kingsfield?

Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.: Yes?

James T. Hart: I just wanted to say that I truly enjoyed your class.

Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.: That's fine, that's fine.

James T. Hart: What I mean is, you have really meant something to me, and your class has truly meant something to me.

Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.: What is your name?

James T. Hart: Hart.

Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.: Thank you, Mr. Hart. Thank you very much.

James T. Hart: When I was in college, I had three roommates. One was genius, and one was crazy, and one was inconsequential, kept to himself. It was genius who told me about Kingsfield; first guy to tell me all about Kingsfield. He read an article by him in "Life" or "Time" or something called "Contracts in Our Daily Lives". Make a long story short, genius took the law school admissions test, but didn't score high enough to get into Harvard. Genius.

James T. Hart: Why didn't you tell me you were Kingsfield's daughter?

Susan Fields: Well, I'm not his daughter very much. Why didn't you call me?

James T. Hart: Wait a minute. You were the one who left me in the park. Why didn't you call me?

Susan Fields: I knew I'd see you here today.

James T. Hart: You lied to me, Susan. You said that your last name was Fields.

Susan Fields: My last name is Fields. I'm married.