Orson Welles Quotes in Spaced Invaders (1990)

[the sheriff watches a surveillance tape as the "War of the Worlds" broadcast on the radio finishes - he pauses it and sees the Martian spaceship flying past]

Orson Welles: So if your doorbell rings, and nobody's there, that was no Martian. It's Halloween.

Sheriff Sam Hoxly: You wanna bet?

Orson Welles: Visions are worth fighting for. Why spend your life making someone else's dreams?

Edward D. Wood, Jr.: Do you know that I've even had producers re-cut my movies?

Orson Welles: I hate when that happens.

Edward D. Wood, Jr.: And they always want to cast their buddies. It doesn't even matter if they're right for the part.

Orson Welles: Tell me about it. I'm supposed to do a thriller for Universal. They want Charlton Heston as a Mexican.

Orson Welles: You really are a god created actor Richard. Those weren't just words you see. I recognize 'The Look'.

Richard Samuels: The Look?

Orson Welles: The bone deep understanding that your life is so utterly without meaning that simply to survive you have to reinvent yourself. Because if people can't find you, they can't dislike you. You see if I can be Brutus for 90 minutes tonight; I mean really be him, from the inside out; then for 90 minutes I get this miraculous reprieve from being myself. That's what you see in every great actor's eyes.

Orson Welles: [to standing ovation] How the hell do I top this?

Orson Welles: Where is thou ukulele?

Richard Samuels: I think some asshole... doth... stole it

Orson Welles: Do you know Booth Tarkington's "The Magnificent Ambersons?" Tarkington was a family friend. The character of Eugene, the inventor, is based on my father who died when I was fifteen. My mother when I was nine. "Ambersons" is about how everything gets taken away from you.

Orson Welles: Look at us, Runyon. Me without my story and you without your girl. We can't ever tell what will happen at all, can we? Once I stood in Grand Central Station to say goodbye to a pretty girl. I was wild about her. In fact, we decided we couldn't live without each other, and we were to be married. When we came to say goodbye we knew we wouldn't see each other for almost a year. I thought I couldn't live through it - and she stood there crying. Well, I don't even know where she lives now, or if she is living. If she ever thinks of me at all, she probably imagines I'm still dancing in some ballroom somewhere... Life and money both behave like quicksilver in a nest of cracks. And when they're gone we can't tell where - or what the devil we did with 'em...

John Houseman: This is an infinitely rewarding partnership, Orson. You go around smashing everything, you disenfranchise every friend, every supporter we have. And then I'm left desperately trying to clean up your mess. Because I am the one who ends up making the apologies, making the corrections, and making the ten thousand phone calls...

Orson Welles: And I'm out acting in "The Shadow" and "The March of Time" and every other piece-of-shit radio show in this city, just to pour my money into this son-of-a-bitch theater that you're supposed to be running.

John Houseman: That I'm 'supposed to be running?' I am killing myself trying to run it!

Orson Welles: Cinna is Shakespeare's indictment of the intelligentsia. He's a lofty, Byronic figure.

Orson Welles: [seeing new handbill] This is completely inadequate. Very possibly the worst looking thing I've ever seen in my life.

John Houseman: We've just had 50,000 of them printed.

Orson Welles: They're not entirely bad.

John Houseman: I've always said the play would be better on a bare stage.

Orson Welles: Actually, Hallie said that.

John Houseman: No, I said it first.

Orson Welles: No you didn't.

John Houseman: Yes I did.

Orson Welles: No, you didn't!

John Houseman: Yes, I did!

Orson Welles: No, you DIDN'T!

John Houseman: Yes, I BLOODY WELL DID!

Orson Welles: Oh, *fine*, Jack! You win, you've got the biggest creative dick, okay?

John Houseman: Thank you.

Marc: I am faithful to the ideals of the party.

Orson Welles: I am faithful to the party of ideas.

John Houseman: You are faithful to the idea of a party.

Orson Welles: No one should be afraid of an idea!

Orson Welles: [First lines, narrating, as graphic archival images of war and strife in Italy are shown] Oh, yes. The Second World War was quite a disaster for poor old Italy. Their Fascist leader, Mussolini, had teamed up with Hitler and thought he was on a winning ticket. Then, Benito was shot by Partisans and strung up by his heels in the local square... Now, in 1948, the country is still leaderless, broke, and heading for chaos. Sure, the rich are still rich... If you're not in furs, you're in rags. People are starving and disillusioned, and getting angrier by the day. Meanwhile, the black market is booming: with a fistful of lire, you can get yourself just about whatever you want.

Orson Welles: [Still narrating, as a news photo of an assassinated aristocrat man and wife is shown - both shot in the head] If you still harbor a grudge or two from the war, it's a fine time to lay your mind to rest.

Brewster: [Pete Brewster, Lucky Luciano and Luciano's henchman have driven Welles out to a deserted stretch of dirt road and forced him out of the car] You call yourself an American?

'Lucky' Luciano: Listen - he's just another name on that list. I say we waste him. Let the Reds take the rap.

'Lucky' Luciano: [Luciano's henchman punches and beats Welles, who falls to the ground. Henchman then approaches Welles and points a pistol to his head] You got somethin' to say about that, Mr. Welles? Somethin' smart?

Orson Welles: [Thug, with gun to Welles' head, racks the slide on his pistol] Christ, Pete, stop him! You gotta' stop him!

Brewster: [Coldly indifferent] I don't have to stop him. You heard what he said: you're just a name on a list.

Orson Welles: [Welles, in pain, grunts and groans on the ground]

Brewster: How can we possibly shoot you, when you played such a sterling part for Uncle Sam? You know that "list"... when we first planted it and you made such a big splash with it in the Press - well, it was more than I could have hoped. You know the best part? Originally, you weren't even on the list. You know why?... You're not that important. You were kind of an afterthought.

'Lucky' Luciano: You're not worth the bullet, Mr. Welles.

Brewster: [Welles, still on the ground, glares up at him] Don't judge me! The war never stopped. It just went underground. We simply have to win. Now, it's all about sacrifices, and whether you're tough enough to make them.

Orson Welles: Maybe you made too many, Pete. I remember when you had a soul, not just a job.

Brewster: You're entitled to your opinion.

Orson Welles: It's a free country.

Brewster: [Walking back to the car, leaving Welles lying in the road] Fuck you, Orson.

Orson Welles: Fuck you, Pete.

[Brewster and the others drive off, leaving Welles deserted in the road]

Orson Welles: [Last lines, narrating] And what in the end did I do? I made a crummy picture, and not a lot of difference. It's not as if things would have been any better had the Communists got in. "Same shit," as my friend would say, "different flies." Still, one HELL of a trip... So that just about wraps it up. And when people ask me if all this was true, well, like I say, if you're looking for facts, pick up the history book - just be sure to check who wrote it.

Orson Welles: So tell me...

Tommaso Moreno: The war... the facists brought people here to torture them

Orson Welles: People... only ghosts, only ghosts

Tommaso Moreno: Some of these ghosts, they won't lay down

Brewster: I don't care who does what to whom in this country, but you're an American citizen, that makes you my responsibility. You're so lucky not to be floating face down in the Tiber right now. So please, finish your lousy movie and try to stay out of trouble for five minutes.

Orson Welles: Maybe you're right.

Brewster: I know I'm right.

Orson Welles: It is a lousy movie.