Mr. Banks Quotes in Mary Poppins (1964)

Mary Poppins: You *are* the father of Jane and Michael Banks, are you not?

[pause]

Mary Poppins: I said, you *are* the father of Jane and Michael Banks.

Mr. Banks: Well, really - yes, of course. And you brought your references, I presume; may I see them?

Mary Poppins: Oh, I make it a point never to give references. a very old-fashioned idea, to my mind.

Mr. Banks: Is that so? We'll have to see about that one then, won't we?

Mary Poppins: Now the, the qualifications... item one: a cheery disposition. I am *never* cross. Item two: rosy cheeks... obviously. Item three: play games, all sorts. Well, I'm sure the children'll find my games *extremely* diverting.

Mr. Banks: Now this paper, where did you get it from? I - I thought I tore it up.

Mary Poppins: Excuse me. Item four: you must be kind. I *am* kind, but *extremely* firm.

[looking suspicious]

Mary Poppins: Have you lost something.

Mr. Banks: [banging his head against the fireplace flue] Ah! Yes, you see... I thought that...

Mr. Banks: [singing] I feel a surge of deep satisfaction, much as a king astride his noble steed.

[speaks]

Mr. Banks: Thank you.

[sings]

Mr. Banks: When I return from daily strife, to hearth and wife, how pleasant is the life I lead!

Mrs. Banks: Dear, it's about the children...

Mr. Banks: Yes, yes, yes.

[sings]

Mr. Banks: I run my home precisely on schedule. At 6:01, I march through my door. My slippers, sherry, and pipe are due at 6:02. Consistent is the life I lead!

Mrs. Banks: George, they're missing!

Mr. Banks: Splendid, splendid.

[sings]

Mr. Banks: It's grand to be an Englishman in 1910! King Edward's on the throne, it's the age of men! I'm the lord of my castle, the sovereign, the liege!

[speaks]

Mr. Banks: I treat my subjects, servants, children, wife with a firm but gentle hand, noblesse oblige.

[sings]

Mr. Banks: It's 6:03, and the heirs to my dominion are scrubbed and tubbed, and adequately fed. And so I'll pat them on the head, and send them off to bed. Ah, lordly is the life I lead!

[speaks]

Mr. Banks: Winifred, where are the children?

Mrs. Banks: They're not here, dear.

Mr. Banks: What? Well, of course they're here! Where else would they be?

Mr. Banks: Just a moment, Mary Poppins. What is the meaning of this outrage?

Mary Poppins: I beg your pardon?

Mr. Banks: Will you be good enough to explain all this?

Mary Poppins: First of all, I would like to make one thing quite clear.

Mr. Banks: Yes?

Mary Poppins: I never explain anything.

[exits]

Mr. Banks: [singing] With tuppence for paper and strings, you can have your own set of wings! With your feet on the ground you're a bird in flight, with your fist holding tight to the string of your kite! Oh, oh, oh, let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height! Let's go fly a kite, and send it soaring! Up through the atmosphere, up where the air is clear! Oh, let's go... fly a kite!

Mrs. Banks: As a matter of fact, since you hired Mary Poppins, the most extraordinary things seem to have come over the household.

Mr. Banks: Is that so?

Mrs. Banks: Take Ellen, for instance. She hasn't broken a dish all morning.

Mr. Banks: Really? Well, that is extraordinary.

Mrs. Banks: Oh, George, you didn't jump into the river. How sensible of you!

[Mr. Banks kisses her]

Constable Jones: [into phone] It's all right, sir, he's been found! No, *alive*! Or so I presume, he's a-kissin' the Mrs. Banks.

Mrs. Banks: I've been so worried, what happened at the ba...

[Mr. Banks picks her up and whirls her around]

Mr. Banks: I've been sacked! Discharged! Flung into the street!

[singing]

Mr. Banks: A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down! Tra-la-laaa-lalalalala!

Ellen: Gone off his crumpet, that's what he's done. Dotty as you please.

Mrs. Banks: But you're always saying that you wanted a cheerful and pleasant household.

Mr. Banks: Winifred, I should like to make a slight differentiation between the word cheerful and just plain giddy irresponsibility.

Mrs. Banks: I'll try to do better next time.

Mr. Banks: Next time? My dear, you've engaged six nannies in the last four months. And they've all been unqualified disasters.

Mr. Banks: What's all this? What's all this? What's all this? What's all this?

Mr. Banks: You see, Michael, you'll be part of Railways through Africa.

Mr. Dawes Sr.: Exactly.

Mr. Banks: Dams across the Nile.

Mr. Dawes Sr.: The ships, tell them about the ships.

Mr. Banks: Fleets of ocean greyhounds.

Mr. Dawes Sr.: More, tell them more!

Mr. Banks: Majestic self-amortizing canals.

Mr. Dawes Sr.: Oh, it fires the imagination!

Mr. Banks: [singing] Plantations of ripening tea all from...

Mr. Banks, Mr. Dawes Sr., Mr. Dawes Jr, Mr. Tomes, Mr. Mousley, Mr. Grubbs: [singing] Tuppence: prudently, thriftily, frugally invested in the...

Mr. Dawes Sr.: To be specific...

Mr. Banks, Mr. Dawes Sr., Mr. Dawes Jr, Mr. Tomes, Mr. Mousley, Mr. Grubbs: [singing] In the Dawes, Tomes, Mousley, Grubbs, Fidelity Fiduciary Bank.

Ellen: Coo, there's a whole queue of nannies outside, sir. Shall I show them in?

Mr. Banks: Ellen, I said 8:00 and 8:00 it shall jolly well be. You see? 12 seconds to go. 10... 9... 8...

Mrs. Banks: Posts! 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1!

Mr. Banks: Ellen, it is now 8:00.

Ellen: Yes, sir.

Mr. Banks: I have told you time and time again, Ellen, that I dislike being hurried into things.