Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster Quotes in The Aviator (2004)

Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: All right, let's get down to business. Let's talk turkey. My investigation...

[He nearly bursts into laughter]

Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: My investigation has turned up a lot of dirt. It could be really embarassing if this stuff got out. I'd like to save you from that embarassment.

Howard Hughes: That's very kind of you, Owen.

Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: My committee has the power to hold public hearings. I'd like to spare you from that.

Howard Hughes: [smirks] Would you, now?

[Brewster abruptly drops his silverware]

Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: Look, do you wanna go down in history as a war profiteer, Howard? Is that what you want?

Howard Hughes: [gravely] What do you want, Owen?

Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: You agree to support my C.A.B. bill, and I won't hold public hearings.

Howard Hughes: I can't do that, Owen. Can't do that. The C.A.B. bill would kill TWA.

Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: Sell T.W.A. to Pan Am. You'll get a good price. You'll get a fair price, I'm telling you.

Howard Hughes: And then...? Then you won't go public?

Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: Right. That's right. The investigation's closed. Nobody knows a thing. It's better for everybody.

[pause]

Howard Hughes: You know, Owen, I'm still wondering one thing. The picture of the llama you got last year. Where'd you sail from?

Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: [disinterested] We didn't sail. We flew.

Howard Hughes: You flew?

Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: Yeah.

Howard Hughes: Ah.

[Brewster stops chewing abruptly, realizing what Howard's implying]

Howard Hughes: [leans in] Are you sure you want to do this, Owen? You want to go to war with me?

Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: It isn't me, Howard. It's the United States government. We just beat Germany and Japan. Who the hell are you?

Howard Hughes: [getting up from the table] You tell Juan Trippe something for me, all right? Tell him thanks for the flowers. And he can kiss both sides of my ass.

[leaves]

Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: ...we would like him to reappear. Would you ask him to return?

Howard Hughes: No, I don't think I will.

Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: Will you try to have him return?

Howard Hughes: No, I don't think I'll try.

Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: You don't think you'll try?

Howard Hughes: No, I don't think so.

Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: [talking of Howard Hughes] I'll have him dragged here to Washington. I want to see the whites of his lies.

Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: [about Hughes] Well, we have a long list of particulars. Chief among them is that he defrauded the American government of $56 million while we were at war, when we could least afford it. While brave men were dying on the beaches of Normandy, Mr. Hughes was picking the pocket of the American taxpayer.

Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: All right this has gon on long enough. Juan Tripp is a great American. His airline has advanced the cause of commercial aviation in this country for decades. Juan Tripp is a patriot. Juan Tripp is not a man who's interested in making money.

Howard Hughes: Well, I'm sure his stockholders would be happy to hear that.

[Everybody starts laughing]