Northbrook Quotes in The Prince and the Showgirl (1957)

Northbrook: It all goes back to the Holy Roman Empire. The grand duke is a nephew by marriage of the Emperor Franz Josef of Austria.

Fanny: No wisecracks about Austria.

Northbrook: I sincerely hope no wisecracks about anything. In these troubled times the lightest remark can have bad repercussions.

Fanny: I can see the history books: "The War of Elsie's Remark."

The Foreign Office: Do you mean to say, Northbrook, that you know nothing about Carpathia whatever?

Northbrook: Don't even know where the beastly place is for a start.

The Foreign Office: How long have you been in the foreign office?

Northbrook: Fifteen years, sir, but I'm in the Far Eastern Department.

The Foreign Office: Now that's no excuse. What would you think if I knew nothing of Siam?

Northbrook: Don't think I'd mind much.

The Foreign Office: That sort of remark will get you nowhere, Northbrook.

Northbrook: Not even out of this job?

The Foreign Office: Certainly not! Your predecessor has had a riding accident and you are now in his saddle.

Elsie Marina: [about dress] Say, is it all right over the you-know-what?

Fanny: Wonderful over the you-know-what.

Fanny: [Northbrook comes out from behind screen] What do you think?

Northbrook: Very nice.

Fanny: Is that all you can say?

Northbrook: Very nice indeed.

Northbrook: Aren't you confusing this embassy with a private room at Romano's?

Elsie Marina: Why not? Except up there it's a longer run from the sofa to the door.

Northbrook: I'm sure, sir, her sense of comme il faut will -

Charles, the Prince Regent: She has as much sense of comme il faut as a rhinocerous.

Northbrook: [beat] Do I gather, sir, that the evening was not an entirely happy one?

Charles, the Prince Regent: Northbrook, this British understatement of yours I begin to find irritating.

The Queen Dowager: Mr. Northbrook, who was that creature? Was it an anarchist?

Northbrook: No, ma'am!

The Queen Dowager: Then who was it?

Northbrook: A young lady, ma'am, called Miss Elsie Marina.

The Queen Dowager: [pause] Ah. Fetch her to me.